The strangest beauty: Married to a gatekeeper, mother of 4 emperors, had strange dreams every time she was pregnant

Disobeying her parents, this beauty decided to marry the gatekeeper and gave birth to 8 children, 4 of whom became the most noble. The remaining 4 children were also noble and incomparable.

The beauty mentioned is Lou Zhaojun (501 - 562), title: Empress Shenwuming, was the Empress Dowager of the Northern Qi Dynasty, wife of Gao Huan. Of the 8 children she gave birth to, 4 later became Emperors and two girls became Empresses.

According to historical records, Lou Zhaojun was a beautiful woman who was also more knowledgeable about etiquette than others. When she reached the age of marriage, Lou Zhaojun had no shortage of suitors who wanted to offer dowry and ask for her hand in marriage. However, Lou Zhaojun had a stubborn personality since childhood and was spoiled, she wanted to be in charge of her own marriage. She did not like any of the rich young masters or the sons of officials.

In fact, Lou Zhaojun always thought that the person she would marry must be a great hero, talented beyond compare, and able to build a great career. One day, Lou Zhaojun went for a walk and saw Emperor Shenwu Gao Huan (at that time, he was still just a soldier guarding the gate in Pingcheng). She fell in love at first sight. Lou Zhaojun saw Gao Huan's dignified demeanor and extraordinary aura, and blurted out: "This man is my husband."

Afterwards, she secretly sent her maid to befriend Gao Huan, and repeatedly gave him money, telling him to bring the money to her house as a wedding gift. Although her parents were not pleased, they reluctantly accepted in the end.

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Husband's Noblewoman

The legendary story of Lau Zhaojun choosing her own husband has been mentioned many times by later generations. Especially, for the feudal concept of "where parents choose, children sit there" the above story is really strange. This further proves that Lau Zhaojun is not an ordinary beauty. Cao Quan's life from here also changed greatly and his wife Lau Zhaojun was a noble person.

After getting married, Lou Zhaojun and Gao Huan had a happy marriage. This beauty gave all of her family's assets to Gao Huan so that he could start his career, and at the same time made friends with heroes and great men everywhere. Lou Zhaojun also attended many times.

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In 525, the Six Towns Uprising broke out, and Gao Huan followed Du Luozhou and began his military career. After Du Luozhou was killed, he followed Ge Rong. In 528, thanks to an old friend's recommendation, Gao Huan abandoned Ge Rong and returned to assist Erzhu Rong (493 - 530), a powerful minister of the Northern Wei Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

By 532, when his power had grown strong enough, Gao Huan destroyed the Erzhu clan, eliminated the two deposed emperors, and established Pingyang Prince Yuan Xiu, also known as Emperor Xiaowu. Afterwards, Emperor Xiaowu appointed him as Shangzhuguo and Bohai Wang in the imperial court. Lou Zhaojun was also appointed as his princess.

In 535, Northern Wei split into Eastern Wei and Western Wei. Gao Huan was busy fighting in the west and rarely returned to the capital. At that time, Lou Zhaojun was pregnant.

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The Dream of the Dragon Being Cut in Half and the Fate of the First Child

It is said that Lou Zhaojun would have a strange dream every time she was pregnant, which also showed that all of her children were extraordinary. In 521, she gave birth to her first son, Gao Cheng. Before giving birth to her eldest son, Gao Cheng, Lou Zhaojun dreamed of a giant dragon, but it was cut in half.

In 547, Gao Huan died, and her son Gao Cheng inherited the title of king, and honored her as Princess Dowager Bohai. In 549, Gao Cheng was assassinated, and her second son Gao Yang succeeded to the throne.

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Dreaming of a dragon for the second time

When she was pregnant with her second son, Lou Zhaojun dreamed of the Heavenly Dragon. This was truly miraculous. It almost certainly signaled that the second son would become Emperor in the future. Indeed, Gao Yang later succeeded his brother. In 550, Gao Yang usurped the throne of Northern Wei and established Northern Qi. Lou Zhaojun was honored as Empress Dowager.

She kept dreaming about dragons when she gave birth to her next two sons.

When Lou Zhaojun was pregnant with her third son Gao Yan and her fourth son Gan Dan, she continued to dream of dragons. When she was pregnant with Gao Yan, she dreamed of a dragon lying on the ground, and when she was pregnant with Gao Dan, she dreamed of a giant dragon tossing in the sea.

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This foretells that these two sons would ascend the throne in succession, and each would be extraordinary. Gao Yan ascended the throne in the fall of 560, taking the title Yan'an and also known as Emperor Xiaozhao of Northern Qi. Gao Dan succeeded Gao Yan as Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi.

Signs of other pregnancies

She dreamed of dragons four times while pregnant with four sons and they all became emperors. As for the remaining two sons, when she was pregnant with them, Lau Trieu Quan saw mice crawling into her clothes. Later, neither of them succeeded to the throne and were only called kings.

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While pregnant with her two daughters, Lou Zhaojun dreamed of the moon in her arms. The elder daughter later became the empress of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the younger daughter became the empress of the Eastern Wei Dynasty.