In the afternoon of July 20, 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi took a nap, opened the tent and washed her face, and then left the Leshou Hall alone and went north, and did not allow the palace maids and eunuchs to follow, so she went north alone and entered the Yihexuan alone, and no one knew why Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly made such a move.
But everyone seemed to feel the solemnity of the atmosphere in the palace, and Empress Dowager Cixi, who had entered the Yihexuan, sat quietly there, waiting for Cui Yugui. Cui Yugui was the second in command of Empress Dowager Cixi and was deeply trusted by Empress Dowager Cixi, so when Empress Dowager Cixi decided to dispose of Concubine Zhen, she gave this task to Cui Yugui.
At that time, Cui Yugui was too busy to touch the ground, preparing to wait for Empress Dowager Cixi to ask for a meal sign after the meal, and it was at this time that Empress Dowager Cixi asked him to pass on the message to Zhenfei, so that Zhenfei did not arrive at the Yihexuan at the right time to wait. This matter may seem to outsiders to be nothing, but Cui Yugui feels unusual.
It is necessary to know that the summoning of concubines cannot be led out of the palace by one person, and according to the custom, this is an errand for two people. However, Empress Dowager Cixi only asked Cui Yugui to pass on the message, and Cui Yugui did not know how to do it for a while, so she had to consult Chen Quanfu, who was in charge of dispatching errands.
Chen Quanfu analyzed this matter for Cui Yugui, and since Empress Dowager Cixi asked Cui Yugui to do it alone, it showed that this matter could not be known to more people, but the rules were rules, and anything could not go beyond the rules, so Chen Quanfu suggested that Cui Yugui go to The Yihexuan's steward Wang Dehuan to pass on the message, after all, this matter should be handled in the Yihexuan.
Cui Yugui found Wang Dehuan, the two went together to the North Three, the North Three is the Cold Palace we know, originally this is not a cold palace, at least in the Ming Dynasty, here is still a place for the grandmother to retire, therefore, although it is remote, it is not desolate, but the environment is quiet, it is a good place for the elderly. However, in the Qing Dynasty, because of the remoteness of the geographical location, it became a cold palace, although there was still no change in the environment, but the mood was completely different.
The concubine who was locked up here was as if she had been forgotten, and Zhenfei lived in the westernmost of the three rooms in the north room, and since this house had lived in Zhenfei three years ago, the gate had been locked, and only a window could be opened, which was the channel for Zhenfei to contact the outside world, but the so-called connection was only to eat, drink, wash her face and send out through this end.
In addition, Zhenfei is not allowed to contact the outside world, and it is not allowed to cherish talking to others, the most difficult thing is the first and fifteenth of the month and various festivals, which should be rejoicing, but Zhenfei has to kneel down to listen to the old eunuch's reprimand, and after the reprimand, she will thank her. Princess Zhen lived for three years under the torture of such a waste, and she did not know when the Guangxu Emperor would be able to rescue her, but she never despaired, but waited, but she waited not for the Guangxu Emperor to save her, but for the summons of Empress Dowager Cixi.
Cui Yugui conveyed the will of Empress Dowager Cixi to the old eunuch guarding the door, and then was put in, this was Cui Yugui's first time to come to the Cold Palace, the Cold Palace was terriblely quiet, the silence that seemed to be able to hear the heartbeat made people feel afraid, Cui Yugui stayed in the palace for so long, what scene had not been seen? But he still felt sympathy for Zhenfei's situation, but this sympathy was not valuable to Zhenfei.
Princess Zhen combed a little after receiving the order, and then went out the door, and the three of them went to Yihexuan. Cui Yugui went first to reply to the will, and then Zhenfei went in and prostrated her head and said auspicious, quietly kneeling there with her head bowed and waiting for the coming fate, after so many years of dealing with Empress Dowager Cixi, Zhenfei knew that she was more fierce and less auspicious, but she still did not expect that Empress Dowager Cixi would take her life as soon as she came up.
Empress Dowager Cixi looked at the seemingly docile Concubine Zhen who was kneeling there and said, "Now that the foreigners have entered the city, there is a lot of chaos outside, and no one knows what will happen, in case of insult, it will be a loss of royal face, sorry for the patriarchs." But we're going out, and it's not convenient to take you with us. ”
The meaning of this, where can Princess Zhen not understand, but the three years of cold palace life did not grind away her edges and corners, she said directly to Empress Dowager Cixi: "You can go out and avoid it, but the emperor should maintain the overall situation in the capital." The irony of this is self-evident, and Empress Dowager Cixi is furious: "When you are dying, you dare to speak wildly." ”
Princess Zhen confronted her, "I will not sin to death." In the face of such a concubine, Empress Dowager Cixi simply stopped hiding and directly announced that Princess Zhenfei must die, and at that time, Princess Zhenfei still hoped to see Guangxu, Guangxu did not let her die, she would not die, but Empress Dowager Cixi did not give her this opportunity at all, and directly said to Cui Yugui: "Throw her into the well." ”
Cui Yugui, as Empress Dowager Cixi's confidant eunuch, naturally did not resist the disrespect, and he and Wang Dehuan pushed Zhenfei to the well inside the Shunzhen Gate, and then Cui Yugui pushed Zhenfei into the well. After Princess Zhen fell into the well, Empress Dowager Cixi left Yihexuan and fled to Xi'an the next day with the Guangxu Emperor and others.
A year later, the situation eased, And Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu prepared to return to Beijing, and it was Cui Yugui who took the lead for them, who was responsible for first entering Beijing to investigate the situation and investigate everything in the palace, and when Cui Yugui was sure that everything was safe, Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing with Emperor Guangxu. However, three days after Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing, she drove Cui Yugui out.
Later, when Cui Yugui mentioned this to the palace maid, he yelled that Empress Dowager Cixi was sorry for him, because Cui Yugui had become a ghost of death. In the "Tale of the Palace Women", Cui Yugui said to the Palace Women:
"Foreigners know about pushing Princess Zhen into the well, and in order to turn the face, they put the sin on my head." This is where the old lady's heart falls. Saying that she was sorry did not mean that she was cruel to me, in the end she still left me a small life, if you want to make up for me, what can I do? When I think about it, I'm afraid. ”
The execution of Zhenfei was carried out secretly, but after Zhenfei's death, this was no longer a secret, and after Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing, she needed to give a reasonable explanation for this, she could not admit that she had long had the intention of killing Zhenfei, but said that she had originally only frightened Zhenfei in order to make her obedient, but Cui Yugui directly threw Zhenfei into the palace. In this way, Empress Dowager Cixi plucked herself out of this matter, and it was precisely because Cui Yugui killed Concubine Zhen that Empress Dowager Cixi was sad and sad when she saw him, and could only drive him out of the palace.
Regarding this matter, Empress Dowager Cixi's younger brother, who was also Cui Yugui's father- and grandfather Gui, said to Cui Yugui, "Which temple does not have a dead ghost?" This was both to comfort Cui Yugui and to protect his sister, cui Yugui did this to be a ghost, for Cixi Tai back the pot, out of the palace, was sent to the Qingwang Palace, Cui Yugui was originally from the Qingwang Mansion into the palace.
After driving away Cui Yugui, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered someone to salvage Zhenfei's body and bury her in the palace maid cemetery, and also posthumously named Zhenfei a precious concubine, but all this could not be exchanged for Zhenfei's young life, she died only 25 years old, just like that, she was swallowed up by a well, and Empress Dowager Cixi put the blame on Cui Yugui.
After Cui Yugui was driven back to the Qingwang Palace, after a while, when the world had forgotten about this matter, Empress Dowager Cixi recalled Cui Yugui to the palace, and after empress Dowager Cixi's death in 1908, Cui Yugui left the palace again, which was also a real sense of leaving the palace.
After leaving the palace, Cui Yugui did not buy a house for himself to retire, but donated 680 acres of land to the Lima Guandi Temple and lived in the temple. This temple built during the Guangxu period became the place where the old, sick and weak eunuchs in the palace lived in their old age, and many eunuchs spent their old age here, especially after Cui Yugui donated so much land, there was a special eunuch compound, and everyone lived in it for the elderly, which was also considered to have a companion.
When Cui Yugui served Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace, he was a good person, so his popularity was very good, his reputation among eunuchs was good, his life after he left the palace was relatively calm, and he was not saddened by anyone, he was a more self-disciplined person, did not smoke or drink, had to go out every day to practice martial arts, and then went out to sneak around, look at the old acquaintances of the past, the days were also good, in his own words: "I live a happy life!" ”
But everyone will be old, Cui Yugui is no exception, in 1926, Cui Yugui, who was in his sixties, died of illness in the Temple of the Emperor Guandi because of gangrene, which can also be regarded as a good death.