d that the deposed empress
or some other of the palace women might return to favor, she determined
to sweep these possible perils from her path. At her command the unhappy
queens were drowned in a vase of wine, their hands and feet being first
cut off,--seemingly an unnecessary cruelty.

This merciless act of the empress, and her dominant influence in the
government, soon made her many enemies. But they were to find that she
was a dangerous person to plot against. Her son was proclaimed heir to
the throne, and the opposing officials soon found themselves in prison,
where secret death quickly ended their hostility.

Wou now sought to make herself supreme. At first assisting the emperor
in the labors of government, she soon showed a quickness of
apprehension, a ready wit in emergencies, and a tact in dealing with
difficult questions that rendered her aid indispensable. Step by step
the emperor yielded his power to her more skilful hands, until he
retained for himself only the rank while she held all the authority of
the imperial office.

Under her control China retained abroad the proud position which
Taitsong had won. For years war went on with Corea, who called in the
Japanese to their aid. But the allies were defeated and four hundred of
the war-junks of Japan given to the flames. The desert nomads remained
subdued, and in Central Asia the power of China was firmly maintained.
Now was the era of a mighty commotion in Southern Asia and the countries
of the Mediterranean. Arabia was sending forth its hosts, the sword and
the Koran in hand, to conquer the world and convert it to the Mohammedan
faith. Persia was in imminent peril, and sent envoys to China begging
for aid. But the shrewd empress had no thought of involving her
dominions in war with these devastating hordes, and sent word that
Persia was too far away for an army to be despatched to its rescue.
Envoys also came from India, but China kept carefully free from
hostilities with the conquerors of the south.

Kaotsong died in 683, after occupying the throne for thirty-three years.
His death threatened the position of the empress, the power behind the
throne. But she proved herself fully equal to the occasion, and made
herself more truly the ruler of China than before. Chongtsong, son of
the late emperor, was proclaimed, but a few days ended his reign. A
decree passed by him in favor of his wife's family roused Wou to action,
and she succeeded in deposing him an