Consort Xiao

Who was Consort Xiao?

Consort Xiao, imperial consort rank Shufei was a concubine of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. She was initially favored by him and bore him a son and two daughters -- Li Sujie and the Princesses Yiyang and Gao'an—but later, after her romantic rival Empress Wang introduced another concubine, Consort Wu, to Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Gaozong became enamored with Consort Wu. Empress Wang and Consort Xiao instead joined forces to try to counter Consort Wu, but in 655, Emperor Gaozong deposed both of them on accusations of witchcraft and replaced Empress Wang with Consort Wu. Soon, they were cruelly executed on the new Empress Wu's orders.