Xiao Fengxian was a chivalrous prostitute in Beijing in the early years of the Republic of China, and she and the famous general Cai Yi had a love story that could be sung and wept, which became a topic of discussion for posterity.
Xiao Fengxian, formerly known as Zhu Xiaofeng, was born in Hangzhou in August 1900, and her life is described in one sentence in 4 words: fate is bumpy.
Her father was a fallen Manchu Military Attaché of the Eight Banners, who was dismissed and went to Hangzhou. After the death of his father, he was often abused because his mother was a partial house and was not welcomed by the Grand Madame. Her mother had to take her away from the Zhu family. Later, the mother also died, and the mother and son were bullied by the big house. Therefore, Xiao Fengxian and her birth mother left the Zhu family and wandered to Hangzhou, but the disaster was not alone, and soon the birth mother died of illness. Xiao Fengxian became an orphan and had no relatives.
Fortunately, a wet nurse surnamed Zhang took her in and changed her name to Zhang Fengyun.
When the Wuchang Uprising broke out, her mother was taking her to work as a maid at the home of inspector Fu in Zhejiang, and her mother took her to escape to Shanghai. The two wanted to live, and the nurse sent her to learn to sing, sell singing in Nanjing, and had the stage name "Xiao Fengxian". After returning to Shanghai with Boss Hu due to the war, 13-year-old Xiao Fengxian was already a small beauty. Soon, she followed Boss Hu to Beijing, then beijing, and sold singing and receiving customers in Yunjiban, Shaanxi Lane, one of the famous eight hutongs, because she was beautiful, she could pull erhu, play pipa, sing Peking opera, write lyrics, and became a famous prostitute in Beijing in the early years of the Republic of China.
At the age of 16, Xiao Fengxian ushered in a new turning point in her life, and she met the most important person in her life - Cai Yi. Cai Yi was a heavy yunnan overseer at the time, and because of his "non-cooperation" with Yuan Shikai, who wanted to misbehave, Yuan Shikai took the opportunity to put him under house arrest in the capital. Whenever Cai Yi wants to travel, he will be surrounded by three or five secret agents, and when he is bored, Cai Yi will dress himself up as a businessman and visit the eight hutongs. As a result, he was pulled into the brothel by the old bustard, and it was here that Cai Yi met Xiao Fengxian.
The two see each other as they were, and both fall in love. Cai Yi put aside all official duties, gathered with Xiao Fengxian all day, drank, played the piano, sang music, played around, was in love, it was difficult to give up, Mrs. Cai Yi learned of it, and made endless trouble, attacking Cai Yi for being with fireworks women, in fact, all this provided a great cover for Cai Yi to confuse Yuan Shikai, and Cai Yi also used the Bada Hutong as a contact with the outside world for secret contact.
Over time, Yuan Shikai gradually relaxed his vigilance against Cai E, and he also smiled at the people around him: "Cai E is also just a drunkard." ”
In mid-November 1915, on the eve of Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne, Cai Yi successfully escaped from the capital with the help of Xiao Fengxian and "fled" to Japan.
After that, Cai Yi launched the "Campaign to Woo Yuan", and with the successful development of the struggle to protect the country and seek Yuan, Xiao Fengxian's reputation as a "chivalrous prostitute" also spread throughout the country.
Soon, Yuan Shikai fell ill and died in the spit of the Chinese people, and subsequently, general Cai Yi, who was only 34 years old, also died of illness in Japan.
After Cai Yi's death, Xiao Fengxian was heartbroken, and she specially asked the famous scholar Yi Zongkui to write a pair of elegies to send to the sacrifice, the words of which were as follows: Ninety thousand miles south of the Heavenly Peng Wing, straight up to help him, pity him for the rest of his life, Pingshui met into a dream; eighteen years of northern rouge, self-sorrow, won the hero's confidant, and the peach blossom color is also thousands of autumns.
Later, in order to avoid the retaliation of Yuan Shikai's henchmen, Xiao Fengxian changed his name to Zhang Xianfei and went to the northeast in seclusion. Forced to make a living, she married a local division commander surnamed Liang. Later, there were frequent wars, and Liang Shi commander was also killed on the battlefield, and Xiao Fengxian was once again in trouble.
After liberation, Xiao Fengxian, who was already 50 years old, was still beautiful and radiant, and she did another amazing thing - marrying someone, this time she married Li Zhenhai, a boiler worker who was five years older than him, and became the stepmother of 4 children.
After marriage, Xiao Fengxian worked to subsidize the family, but once she had free time, she loved to dress up, often painted red thrushes, dressed very fashionably, and often performed talent shows such as playing erhu and playing the piano in the courtyard.
Soon, Li Zhenhai also died of illness, and she had to live a difficult life with Li Youcai and other stepsons. This dilemma did not change until 1951. In the spring of that year, Mei Lanfang went to Shenyang to perform and stayed at the government communication office guest house. One day, the doorman sent a note, the handwriting Juanxiu, signed by Xiao Fengxian, who had been missing for more than thirty years.
After reading the note, Mei Lanfang made an appointment and feasted on Xiao Fengxian. After Mei Lanfang learned about Xiao Fengxian's life experience, she was very sympathetic, and later under her contact and help, Xiao Fengxian was arranged to work as a health worker in the kindergarten.
After wandering for most of his life, he finally had a relatively decent job. However, god did not bless people, and soon, Xiao Fengxian suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and his body was not as good as a day. In 1954, Xiao Fengxian died at the age of 54.
In the early 1990s, a reporter from Shenyang Daily approached Li Youcai and asked about his stepmother, and he suddenly realized that his stepmother was a famous prostitute "Xiao Fengxian".