Wu Zetian: The Girl Who Would Not Stay Quiet (Part 1)
A fourteen-year-old palace girl claims she can tame the emperor's wildest horse — and the palace never forgets her.
一千三百多年前的唐朝，出了一位中国历史上最特别的女人——武则天。More than 1,300 years ago, in the Tang dynasty, there lived one of the most extraordinary women in Chinese history: Wu Zetian.在中国几千年的历史上，她是唯一一位自己当上皇帝的女人。In several thousand years of Chinese history, she is the only woman who became emperor in her own name.
六二四年，武则天出生在一个有钱的家庭，从小读书，聪明又大胆。Wu Zetian was born in 624 into a wealthy family; she read books from childhood and was clever and bold.十四岁那年，她被送进皇宫，成了唐太宗的一个地位很低的妃子。The year she turned fourteen, she was sent into the imperial palace and became one of Emperor Taizong's lowest-ranking consorts.
传说，唐太宗有一匹性子很烈的马，谁也不能驯服它。Legend has it that Emperor Taizong had a horse with a fierce temper that no one could tame.
年轻的武则天却说：“给我三样东西就够了：一条铁鞭子、一个铁锤子、一把刀。”But the young Wu Zetian said: "Give me three things and that will be enough: an iron whip, an iron hammer, and a knife."“先用鞭子打它；它不听话，就用锤子打它的头；还不听话，就用刀杀了它。”"First strike it with the whip; if it doesn't obey, hit its head with the hammer; if it still doesn't obey, kill it with the knife."
大家都很吃惊：这个女孩子，怎么一点儿都不害怕？Everyone was shocked: how could this young girl be so completely unafraid?可是在皇宫里的十二年，她的地位一直没有变。Yet in her twelve years in the palace, her rank never changed.
六四九年，唐太宗去世了；按照规矩，她被送到庙里，当了尼姑。In 649, Emperor Taizong died; following the rules, she was sent to a temple and became a Buddhist nun.对很多女人来说，这就是一生的结束，可是武则天不想就这样安静地过完一生。For many women, that would have been the end of the story — but Wu Zetian had no intention of quietly living out her life like this.
新皇帝唐高宗没有忘记她；几年后，他把她接回了皇宫。The new emperor, Gaozong, had not forgotten her; a few years later, he brought her back to the palace.这一次，她再也不安静了：六五五年，她当上了皇后。This time, she would not stay quiet: in 655, she became empress.
后来，唐高宗生了重病，头疼得连大臣们送来的文件都看不了。Later, Emperor Gaozong fell seriously ill — his head hurt so badly that he could not even read the documents his ministers sent him.于是，武则天开始帮他处理国家大事。So Wu Zetian began to handle the affairs of state for him.大臣们向皇帝报告的时候，她就坐在一张帘子后面，听着每一句话。When the ministers reported to the emperor, she sat behind a curtain, listening to every word.
慢慢地，大家都明白了：真正做决定的人，不是皇帝，而是帘子后面的那个女人。Slowly, everyone came to understand: the person really making the decisions was not the emperor, but the woman behind the curtain.
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