Empress Wu Zetian had four children, with her eldest son Li Hong appointed crown prince in the first year of the Xianqing era. His tutor, the imperial advisor Guo Yu, assigned him to study the *Zuo Commentary*.
When reading the historical story of Prince Shangchen of Chu who forced his father King Cheng of Chu to commit suicide in a brutal struggle for the throne, Li Hong asked, "How could Shangchen not even spare his own father?" "For power, some people will stop at nothing. Your Highness, you must be wary!" Guo Yu replied.
Empress Wu Zetian, hungry for power, slandered Empress Wang and Consort Xiao before the emperor. The indecisive Emperor Gaozong, poor at handling family affairs, flew into a rage and demoted both to commoners. But Wu wasn't satisfied. She secretly sent agents to their prison and had them both strangled. Their brothers were exiled to Lingwai. Wu was then crowned empress, and on her advice, the emperor changed Empress Wang's family surname to "Python" and Consort Xiao's to "Owl." The new empress declared, "Let the world know: those bearing the names of venomous snakes and evil birds all meet a miserable end."
Crown Prince Li Hong felt his mother had gone too far, and couldn't help recalling the words his tutor Guo Yu had once taught him.
Consort Xiao had two daughters, Princess Yiyang and Princess Xuancheng, both imprisoned in the palace and denied marriage well into their forties. Li Hong knelt before the Empress and pleaded, "The princesses are innocent and have been confined long enough—they should be allowed to marry." Empress Wu flew into a rage, snapping, "Since the Crown Prince is pleading for those two wretches, I suppose I must grant it—but no decent man would ever want them." She then ordered two palace guards to become their husbands.
The imperial advisor Ming Chongyan, a master of esoteric arts, had gained Empress Wu Zetian's deep trust. He reported to her, "The Crown Prince often speaks of his displeasure with your actions, Your Majesty."
"His Highness the Crown Prince will one day be emperor—if he lives, there is no place for me..." Wu Zetian said darkly.
In 675 AD, during the Tang Dynasty, Crown Prince Li Hong accompanied Emperor Gaozong to the Hebi Palace for a banquet. After drinking a few cups of wine, the 24-year-old prince died that very night for no apparent reason.
Li Hong's younger brother Li Xian was appointed crown prince. When the emperor fell ill, he entrusted the heavy responsibility of overseeing state affairs to the prince. Li Xian handled matters with decisive judgment, earning praise from all court officials, who believed he would surely become a brilliant ruler in the future.
Ming Chongyan, however, spread rumors that Li Xian was actually the son of Empress Wu's sister, Lady Han, stirring up a storm of gossip throughout the court.
Li Xian understood his mother well and knew he could not protect himself
"Plant melons beneath the yellow terrace, when ripe they scatter far. One picking makes the melons thrive, a second leaves them sparse, a third may still be borne, but strip them bare and you'll return with only vines in arms." The meaning is: once all melons are picked, only useless vines remain, implying that repeated harm to the innocent will ultimately lead to political failure.
While the emperor and empress were away from Chang'an in the eastern capital Luoyang, Ming Chongyan was suddenly assassinated. Empress Wu suspected the crown prince was behind it and had someone report that the prince had hundreds of suits of armor hidden in the Eastern Palace. Empress Wu told the emperor, "The crown prince is plotting rebellion. We must place righteousness above family loyalty and show him no mercy." So Li Xian was deposed and made a commoner.
Li Xian was exiled to Bazhou. When Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne, Empress Wu Zetian had already seized control of the court. She dispatched her trusted general, Qiu Shenji, to serve as Li Xian's guard, and soon through Qiu Shenji, she forced Li Xian to commit suicide.
"Bao Man Zhai Gua" later came to refer to fabricating charges and implicating the innocent.
Source: *Collection of Yuefu Poems*, "Miscellaneous Ballads and Folk Songs IV"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "抱蔓摘瓜" came to describe fabricating charges and implicating the innocent.