According to historical records, Wu Zetian has 3,000 heads, which can be compared with male emperors. But there are many legendary elements in this statement, so you can't believe it all. But we can infer how many faces Wu Zetian has from the relevant records collected by various means.
There are many sources of Wu Zetian's face, the most important one is presented by Princess Taiping. As the saying goes, "Be full of warmth and lust." Ordinary people are still like this, not to mention Wuhou, who has the respect of the emperor and never gives in. She thought that emperors of past dynasties could have seventy-two concubines in three palaces and six courtyards. Should a woman be loyal to her wife? It's a long night, and it's unbearable to be lonely. Where is it like a queen? So she turned over a new leaf and chose "concubines". Of course, these "concubines" are tall and handsome men. Wu Shi is in power and supreme, and no one in Wenwu Palace dares to disobey orders. In order to please the queen, some court ministers recommended themselves as "handsome men" of Wu. Just like choosing beautiful women, they chose beautiful and healthy men. As a result, they were elected to the palace, and they all looked better than Pan An. However, it is enough to choose a good-looking concubine, but as a leader, it is not enough to have a handsome appearance. Although Wuhou is over 60 years old, he has a good way of keeping in good health, and his beauty is indeed the same as that of that year, but the physiological changes of people cannot be changed. Embroidery between Wei and Wu can't follow one's inclinations, and he always flies into a rage. Poor handsome Ben was tied up by guards within three to five days of entering the palace, thrown into Shouchi in the imperial garden and fed snakes and scorpions. Princess Taiping, as the daughter of Wuhou, has an eye for her mother's sufferings, so she went out to test herself. Finally, she found a rare "treasure" and gave it to her mother. It was a timely rescue. She was starving after martial arts. Zhang Yizhi, Zhang Changzong, Shen Nan Miao and monk Fan Hui, who were favored by Wu Zetian because of their "lofty ideals", were basically personally experienced and carefully selected by Princess Taiping. In the pleasure events of the Tang Dynasty, it became fashionable for mother and daughter to share a man. There are also men who feel good about themselves who "recommend themselves" to the Queen. According to Old Tang Book, Liu was recommended by his father, and Hou Xiangyun was also recommended. "Liang Bin is a handsome man; Hou Xiangyun, the governor of the left prison, is too strong and too Xue Huaiyi to worship himself in Chen Chen. " Besides the recommendation of her daughter, bureaucrats and Toy Boy, Wu Zetian often sent court officials to collect folk secrets. It is said that at that time, Shangguan Waner, a talented woman in the palace, had accepted such a task. Before Shangguan Waner set off, Wu Zetian gave her a lesson on how to choose a man face to face: a man's nose is big and straight, and he must be strong and powerful. After many ways, Wu Zetian's harem naturally had "three thousand faces" In order to manage these faces, in 698 AD, Tianhou Tian established the Crane Control Prison. Crane-controlled prison is a system established by Zetian dynasty, and its establishment is probably related to the Taoist worship thought after Emperor Ze. At the beginning of 699 AD, Tianhou Palace set up a crane supervisor and a priest. At the beginning of 700 A.D., Tianhou Palace changed the crane tube to Fengzhen House, which was managed by two brothers, Zhang Yizhi and Changzong, just like the "three palaces and six hospitals" in the past. The Zhang brothers are like "queens" and "concubines" in the East Palace and the West Palace.
As can be seen from the above, Wu Zetian's "three thousand faces" is unfounded, but it can't be wrong to say that she has many faces.