In the Forbidden City in Beijing today, there is a scenic spot called "Zhenfei Well", according to historical records, Zhenfei in the late Qing Dynasty was killed by falling into this well.
Princess Zhen was a Manchurian red flag bearer, he was of the Tara clan, talented and proficient in literature and history, and entered the palace with his sister Concubine Jin in the 14th year of Guangxu. After entering the palace, the 15-year-old sister was named Jin Concubine, and the 13-year-old sister was named Zhen Concubine.
Princess Jane
Princess Zhen lived with her uncle in Guangzhou, one of the earliest ports of commerce in the Qing Dynasty and in contact with the West relatively early. Therefore, Zhenfei came into contact with many open and advanced ideas, which made her different from other Manchurian noble ladies, and as soon as she entered the palace, she deeply attracted the Guangxu Emperor. On the first day of the first lunar month in the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), due to the sixtieth birthday of Cixi, the two sisters were promoted to concubines.
Guangxu was quite sad, the emperor was originally the supreme in the world, and most of the women he married were also one of the best in the world, but Guangxu was forced by Cixi to marry her niece Longyu, who looked ugly and hunchbacked, and Of course Guangxu did not like it. Princess Zhenfei was not only beautiful, but also had a lively personality, deeply influenced by the new things and ideas of capitalism, extremely advocating Western studies, and usually had her own unique views on Korean and Chinese affairs, which were very appetizing to Guangxu, and Guangxu liked her very much.
Empress Longyu was dissatisfied with her being snubbed, and because of this, she became angry with Concubine Zhen and suppressed her everywhere. In this regard, Cixi is more supportive, the niece is not favored, but Zhenfei and the emperor are glued together day by day, and Cixi is naturally not happy in her eyes.
Longyu
Zhenfei's behavior and style are active and open, especially fond of the photographic technology of foreigners, through relationships to buy cameras from foreigners, as soon as they have time to play in the palace, and even pull Guangxu and eunuchs to play. Cixi believed that the camera was a magic trick that would kill people's souls, and warned Zhenfei many times that she could not take pictures in the palace. Princess Zhen secretly took pictures, and later simply opened a Western photo studio outside the palace, and Cixi was very angry when she found out.
In addition, according to the records in the "National News preparation", Zhenfei once dressed as a man, sneaked into Guangxu's upper study, and even played a fold for Guangxu's reply. Cixi was conservative in her thinking and was extremely taboo about this matter. In the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), Cixi severely punished Zhenfei for "disobeying the empress dowager and still being flashy and disrespecting the family law", and Zhenfei was "stripped of her clothes" and beaten.
The emperor's concubines were openly punished in this way, which was extremely rare in the Qing Dynasty. Soon, however, because of a piece of clothing, Princess Zhen was once again reprimanded by Cixi for taking the staff. Guangxu ordered a pearl cheongsam to be made for Zhenfei with pearls and jadeite in stock, and as a result, Cixi knew about it, and she didn't want to fight: Even I was not willing to use so many pearl beaded robes, you a concubine dared to do this. What happened to want to be an empress, and who sealed it? The emperor is also too spoiled for you!
Guangxu, Zhenfei
Cixi asked the grand eunuch Cui Yugui to take off the pearl qipao on Zhenfei's body and gave Her 30 staffs. If it was only because of these things that did not make Zhenfei have the misfortune of killing herself, it was two things that really made Cixi kill.
1. Selling officials and knights. In the harem system of the Qing Dynasty, the concubines had 400 taels of silver per year, and Zhenfei usually spent a lot of money and huge expenses, in order to make up for the deficit, Zhenfei often recommended some officials to the Guangxu Emperor to obtain benefits. The "National News Preparation" records: "Lu Boyang entered forty thousand gold in Zhenfei, Zhenfei said to Emperor Dezong, and then Jian put the Shanghai Dao." As soon as Liu Kun, the governor of Jiang, learned of the matter, Boyang Was not in office for a month, and he was impeached. ”
Princess Zhen was bent on making money, and even sold the position of Sichuan Yanfa Dao to Yu Ming, who was illiterate. Later, the incident was known to all the dynasties, and the impact was extremely bad. In the Qing Dynasty, it was possible to sell officials, and the famous Li Wei was also from a buying official background, but Zhenfei was not a "franchise" private sale, so she was characterized by Cixi as "selling officials and knights", abusing power for personal gain, and "filling up private pockets".
Empress
Second, the pentagram variation method. After the disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, Guangxu witnessed the country's peril and vigorously advocated a change of law. As the leader of Western learning, Princess Zhen participated in it, firmly standing on the side of Guangxu, helping him with advice, and also using her personal eunuchs to help the emperor and the law changers outside. Because Guangxu tried to compete with Cixi for supreme power, angering Cixi, the Wushu Reform Law failed in just 103 days.
Zhenfei was one of Guangxu's main supporters and was a must-have target for Cixi. Subsequently, Guangxu was imprisoned in Yingtai, and Zhenfei was imprisoned in the North Third House in the Forbidden City, and was not allowed to go out. In the place where Princess Jane was imprisoned, only one window was alive, and the daily meal was passed through the window. In the first fifteenth day of the first month, there will be old eunuchs on behalf of Cixi who scold Zhenfei, which is called "reprimand by order.". Princess Jane had to kneel down to listen, and then prostrated her head in thanksgiving, saying that it was good to scold.
It was not only Zhenfei who was unlucky, but also implicated her sister Jinfei. Princess Jin was a useless honest person, and Cixi did not look down on her and demoted her to a nobleman.
Princess Jane stills
In 1900, with the help of the East Wind blown by the Boxers, Cixi declared war on the eleven powers of the Eleven Kingdoms with great pride. As a result, the Eight-Nation Alliance took advantage of the situation to attack the city of Beijing, and Cixi fled in a hurry. Before leaving, he ordered zhenfei to be summoned from the Beisan Institute, and coldly threw out a sentence: "The foreigners are going to enter the city, the soldiers are in chaos, if you are insulted, you will lose all your face, and I am sorry for the ancestors." Then Cixi reminded Zhenfei, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" ”
Cixi spoke very firmly, her chin raised, and she did not look at Zhenfei. Princess Zhenfei was stunned for a moment and said, "I understand that I have never disgraced my ancestors." Cixi then said, "You are young and prone to trouble! We have to avoid it, it is inconvenient to take you away. Princess Zhen said, "You can avoid it, you can leave the emperor to sit in the capital and maintain the overall situation." This sentence made Cixi furious, and immediately turned her face: "You are dying on the verge of death, and you dare to talk nonsense!" ”
Princess Jane shouted in disbelief, "I have no mortal sin!" The Emperor didn't let me die! Cixi was impatient and waved her hand. Cui Yugui and Wang Dehuan, who were beside them, pushed zhenfei into the well inside the Zhenshun Gate and drowned, only 25 years old. At this time, the Guangxu Emperor was trapped in Yingtai by Cixi, and there was no wind at all, and he thought that his beloved concubine was still staying in the palace!
On July 21, 26, Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled west. A year later, the Qing court made peace with the Eight-Nation Alliance, and Cixi Guangxu returned to Beijing, ordered the bones to be salvaged, buried in a coffin, and buried in the palace maid cemetery south of the Enjizhuang Eunuch Cemetery outside Fucheng Gate. Guangxu knew that Aifei was dead, and he was devastated but did not dare to say a word. He asked people to find a painting that had been hung in the Palace of Zhenfei and stop and look at it all day, as if he was stupid. To his death, he never spoiled any other concubine.
Although Zhenfei had done some wrong things, she was not a big traitor or evildoer, but her open and advanced thinking annoyed Cixi, the real ruler of the late Qing Dynasty. Ideological contradictions are the most difficult to resolve, and ideologically they stand against Cixi, can they have a good ending?
Poor woman.
[Reference: "National News", "Late Qing Court Records", "Yingtai Weeping Blood", etc.]