Is it true that Wu Zetian degraded peony?

Legend has it that when Wu Zetian was emperor, one winter, when she went to the back garden, she saw the garden withered, cold and lifeless. She thought, wouldn't it be beautiful if a hundred flowers bloomed overnight? So she ordered that the whole garden must bloom the next day.

The next day, it snowed heavily, but all huaxian still dared not disobey their orders. Colorful flowers bloom against the wind and snow, only peony does not open, not even a green leaf. So Wu Zetian ordered the peony to be demoted to Luoyang. But as soon as the peony arrived in Luoyang, it took root and sprouted and produced beautiful flowers. The queen ordered the peony to be burned. Although the branches were blackened, the flowers were more dazzling.

Peony is honored as the king of flowers because of its awe-inspiring righteousness and arrogance of not bowing to powerful people. Although the legend of Wu Zetian's demeaning peony is only an artistic fiction, the folk use peony stories to express the great national spirit of the Chinese nation, which is fearless of power and endless.