Empress Liu (Li Cunxu's wife)

Empress Liu (劉皇后, personal name unknown) (died 926), formally Empress Shenminjing (神閔敬皇后, "the unassuming, suffering, and alert empress"), was the second wife and only empress of Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Tang. In traditional histories, she was regarded as a hoarder of wealth who, during her husband's reign, became extremely powerful, with her own orders carrying the same weight as his own. It was the killing of the major general Guo Chongtao by at her order in 926 that created a cascade of military rebellions that led to Emperor Zhuangzong's downfall and death; she was subsequently killed by his adoptive brother and successor Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong). rdf:langString