In the eighth year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, Gao Yang deposed the Eastern Wei Emperor Yuan Shanjian and proclaimed himself emperor. After Gao Yang's death, the throne was passed to his son Gao Yin. Before Gao Yang died, he told his younger brother that he could seize his country, but he hoped to give Gao Yin a way out. However, things did not develop in the direction he expected. After Gao Yang's death, his half-brother Gao Yan killed his nephew and seized the throne. Gao Yan also died within two years. Before his death, he did not pass the throne to his son, but passed it directly to his younger brother Gao Zhan, thus saving his son's life. In the first year of Taining in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Gao Zhan ascended the throne and became Emperor Wucheng.
After Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he made his wife Hu the queen. But the Hu family was not actually very favored. Gao Zhan was interested in his sister-in-law, Gao Yang's wife Li Zu'e.
Li Zu'e was born in the famous Li family in Zhao County. She received a good education, had a quiet personality and was as beautiful as a flower. Gao Yang, a cruel and somewhat neurotic king, beat and killed people around him when he drank. Even his mother was humiliated by him, but she only loved Li Zu'e deeply and protected her everywhere.
After Gao Yang's death, although Gao Zhan coveted Li Zu'e, he did not dare to take action. After Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he no longer had any scruples and began to become unscrupulous. He often found excuses to visit Zhaoxin Palace where his sister-in-law lived. At first Li Zu'e resisted vigorously, but Gao Zhan threatened her son Gao Shaode's life. Li Zu'e had no choice but to commit herself to Gao Zhan. From then on, Gao Zhan
stayed in Zhaoxin Palace day and night, and Queen Hu was left out in the cold.
Queen Hu was very angry about this, but she did not stay alone in the empty room. Unable to bear the loneliness, she soon began to "have sex" with the eunuchs in the palace. However, the eunuch is not a real man and cannot satisfy her desires. There was a close minister beside Gao Zhan named He Shikai. He played the pipa well and was good at flattering. He was deeply trusted by Gao Zhan and often visited the court. After going back and forth like this, Queen Hu hooked up with him.
Gao Zhan himself likes to play a game called Zhihu, which is a game similar to Shuanglu in ancient times. He Shikai was a master at this, so he was often summoned to the palace to play this game with Gao Zhan. After Queen Hu hooked up with He Shikai, the two often had affairs in the Queen's palace under this pretext. Later, the two even blatantly flirted with each other by playing a handshake game in public. The ministers were very disgusted when they saw it, and told Gao Zhan that it was unethical for the queen to play the game of holding hands with her ministers, but Gao Zhan did not take it seriously at all.
It is said that Gao Zhan already knew about the adultery between Queen Hu and He Shikai, just because Queen Hu had evidence that he forced his sister-in-law, and he also liked He Shikai, a flattering villain, so he They just turned a blind eye to the matter between the two of them.