In the Zhenshun Gate at the northern end of the Ningshou Palace of the Forbidden City in Beijing, there is an ancient well, which is the only ancient well open to tourists in the Forbidden City, for decades, the legend about it has never been extinguished, people have hyped up its mystery, eccentricity, surprise, and countless film and television works have been derived from it, which is the famous Zhenfei Well.
Here is buried a young soul - she was only 25 years old and died at the bottom of the well, she was once a favored concubine of the emperor and the empress, like a pearl shining in the harem, her indomitable and free soul is committed to this ancient well, and she is different from the dynamic image of the women of her contemporaries, breaking the rigid asceticism of the Qing Dynasty.
The world knows the heroic spirit of the six gentlemen of Wushu "to leave the liver and gallbladder for two kunluns", but she does not know that there is another gentleman in the deep palace who strongly supports the change of the law of Wushu, and she does not hesitate to offend the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, the Western Empress Dowager Cixi.
She, the Manchurian Tatra clan, is known in history as Zhenfei, and the ancient well "Zhenfei Well" named after her, is also silently telling the humiliation and unwillingness of this legendary woman in the long years and the deep palace.
He entered the palace and had a good relationship with his mother-in-law, and was promoted to the throne five years later
Princess Zhen was born in Manchuria with the Red Banner, her grandfather Yutai was the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and her father Changshu was once the right attendant of Hubu. Princess Zhenfei was not from a low birth, and she was also a Miss Qianjin of the family of an official eunuch, plus she was extremely clever and clever, "only Princess Zhenfei was obedient and pleasing to people," the Zhenfei recorded in the "National News and Preparation" was a smart, clever, vibrant, and smiling little girl.
With many advantages, Princess Zhen was valued by Empress Dowager Cixi in the draft of the fifth day of October 1888, in this draft, in addition to the internal candidate for empress, Empress Dowager Cixi's niece Yehenara Jingfen, there were two pairs of sisters selected, one of which was Changxu's two daughters, Zhen and Jin.
Empress Xi was very satisfied with the two little girls, in her opinion, appearance was not an absolute factor in the selection of the queen concubine, and the door and morality were her priorities, and at this time, the two girls, one twelve years old and one fourteen years old.
Two months after entering the palace, the last wedding of the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty was held as scheduled, and Yehenara Jingfen was supposed to be named Empress Longyu, while The two little girls zhen and jin were named zhen concubines and jin concubines respectively, and lived in Jingren Palace and Yonghe Palace.
The thirteen-year-old girl, who is exactly the age between the girl and the young girl, not only has a delicate mind, but also has the intelligence and spirit of a young girl, and the concubine at this time is quite loved by empress Dowager Xi. In 1889, when the Yunnan female painter Miao Jiahui entered the palace to paint for Cixi, Cixi knew that Zhen Concubine loved painting, and specially asked Miao Jiahui to teach her personally.
In the twentieth year of Guangxu, Cixi celebrated her sixtieth birthday and promoted the two sisters Zhen and Jin to the throne.
The palace maid surnamed Bai, who served Zhenfei, once recalled: "Zhenfei was beautiful and virtuous, and when she first entered the palace, she was very much loved by Cixi. Empress Longyu was rude, and Concubine Jin was loyal and honest, so Cixi preferred Zhenfei a little, and she also turned a blind eye to Guangxu's exclusive favorite, Zhenfei.
Empress Dowager Cixi had a unique skill of writing with both hands at the same time, and this skill Cixi only taught Zhenfei alone, and for a long time, Cixi rewarded her courtiers with words such as "Fushou Dragon and Tiger", most of which were written by Zhenfei.
There are many rules in the palace, jewelry and headdresses must be upright when prostrating, can not swing, the head must be uneven, these rules even the always upright Empress Longyu can not be well mastered, but Zhenfei will learn it. With Cixi's permission, Concubine Zhen would also preside over the activities in the palace in place of the empress, and even when she went to the Yuanmingyuan, Cixi would also take Concubine Jin and Empress Longyu with her, leaving Guangxu and Princess Zhen alone.
It can be seen that in the early days, Cixi did love Zhenfei very much, 13 to 18 years old, is the highlight of Zhenfei's life, with the double love of her husband and mother-in-law, she began to gradually pamper herself, and gradually lost the favor of Empress Dowager Cixi, and there were many gaps with her sister, but these are not enough to mention, what really pushed Zhenfei into the abyss was the four punishments she experienced.
2. Betraying the official Title, being framed by the Empress for being unclean, and wearing a scepter to cause infertility
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records that in October of the same year that Princess Zhenfei was promoted to the throne, she was demoted to a nobleman for disobeying the empress, and even her sister Concubine Jin was also affected and demoted to the throne, not only that, Zhenfei was also punished by the "wearing a cane", that is, taking off her clothes and beating her back with a round and flat stick, and the harem had never had an imperial concubine received such a humiliating and harsh punishment, and the root of Zhenfei's punishment was the betrayal of the official.
The Qing Dynasty empress dowager's concubine Lu was not very high, plus Zhenfei did not know how to be frugal, spent a lot of money, and soon ran out of money, she hit the crooked idea on the road of selling officials, what the grand eunuch Li Lianying could do, how could I not do it?
Princess Zhen was usually exposed, loved novelties, often fiddled with the camera that Cixi thought was a "magic trick", and walked in the palace in men's clothes, which had greatly caused Cixi and Empress Longyu to be greatly dissatisfied, and it was the time of the Battle of Jiawu and the year when the national treasury was in vain, she did not care about the danger of the country, and she was still fishing in Dalai, which touched Cixi's reverse scales, and it was impossible not to give her a dismount.
On October 28, the 20th year of Guangxu, the Taiyi Pulse Case recorded that Zhenfei "convulsed and closed her breath, her teeth were closed tightly", "personnel did not wake up, her muscles and veins fluttered around her", "cold fever, pain in the tendons and veins around her body"... In the book "The Last Empress Longyu I Know", Empress Longyu recalled that Zhenfei was pregnant as early as before the "Dressing Staff", and this punishment directly led to her small birth, and there was no possibility of childbirth.
After this punishment, Cixi disposed of all the eunuchs and palace ladies around Concubine Zhen, either charging the army or expelling them or killing them, implicating hundreds of people.
This incident made the carefree eighteen-year-old girl completely awakened, she had thought that she could do whatever she wanted with the emperor's favor, but the situation was clear, she had to compromise, it turned out that the entire Qing Dynasty was the Western Empress Dowager Cixi, and her emperor husband was just a puppet.
The once naïve Concubine Zhen began to become depressed and displeased, gathered her sharpness and sharpness, and warmed and comforted each other in the palace with Guangxu, until the twenty-first year of Guangxu, when the precious person and sister returned to the concubine position.
However, even if Zhenfei was more cautious, she was punished again--Empress Longyu was dissatisfied with Zhenfei's special favor, put one of the man's shoes in Zhenfei's palace, slandered Zhenfei's uncleanness, and Zhenfei was severely beaten on the back with a bamboo pole stained with yellow paint, and later Empress Longyu did the same, cutting off the clothes of a play in the palace and putting it into Zhenfei's palace, framing her again, and Zhenfei was beaten again.
Then, because Princess Zhen was strolling around the imperial garden in the pearl robe made for her by Guangxu, Cixi was furious, and even she and the empress could not wear such a treasure, and you little concubine dared to go so far! Although Zhenfei and Guangxu immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness, Cixi did not spare her, and asked the second governor Cui Yugui to take off the pearl robe on Zhenfei's body, and after returning to the palace, she beat her with thirty bamboo poles.
If it is said that who is the most beaten concubine, Zhenfei ranks second, no one dares to rank first, every punishment seems to be a simple harem fight, but in fact, it is the imperial power struggle between the Western Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, Zhenfei's new wave of Western learning ideas made the Guangxu Emperor lift his spirits, he began to lose more and more of Cixi's control, feeling that it was difficult to control Guangxu, his own power was threatened, Cixi started from Zhenfei, killing chickens and monkeys.
The incompetent Guangxu Emperor could only double his favor for Zhenfei after each punishment, and this monopoly led to the dissatisfaction of Empress Longyu, adding oil and vinegar to Cixi to tell Zhenfei's various crimes, so vicious that Zhenfei eventually became a victim of political struggle.
Third, he was imprisoned in the cold palace, ate and dressed like begging and was abused, and died tragically in the well at the age of 25
Zhenfei grew up in Guangzhou, influenced by Western thought, more avant-garde, so when the Guangxu Emperor received Kang Youwei and decided to implement the reform and reform law, Zhenfei tried her best to support the Guangxu Emperor's change, in the memories of Zhenfei's niece and Zhang Lander, Zhenfei was the solid backing and supporter of the Guangxu Emperor, she conveyed the secret affairs of the palace to the Restoration Party, and also discussed state affairs with the Guangxu Emperor, and strongly recommended her former teacher Wenting style to the Guangxu Emperor.
Unfortunately, this vigorous restoration and change of law was brutally strangled by Cixi, Cixi sent the Pengshu change, the six gentlemen of Wushu died tragically, Guangxu was also forced to kneel in the court, confessing his guilt, Zhenfei went forward to plead guilty, begging the empress dowager to forgive Emperor Guangxu, which caused Cixi to be angry, Zhenfei and Guangxu Emperor This move was undoubtedly a signal to declare war and seize power to her, and Zhenfei was thus "dressed in the court staff" and "imprisoned in the cold palace".
The Beisanso where Zhenfei was imprisoned was a place where the Ming Dynasty nurses were nursing. Princess Zhenfei was imprisoned thereafter, the main door was firmly nailed, the door was locked from the outside, the meal and face wash were passed in and out of the window, and she was not allowed to talk to others on weekdays, and she could only go to the toilet once a day.
Every 15th day of the first month, there will be an old eunuch on behalf of Cixi to give a lecture, Zhenfei kneels on the ground, the old eunuch points to her nose to count the charges, and Zhenfei listens to the training and then prostrates her head to thank her.
At this time, Zhenfei was only a girl in her early twenties.
She described her as withered and dressed like a beggar, and after experiencing the punishment of the scepter and being imprisoned in such a harsh environment, Zhenfei actually survived, only because she firmly believed that Guangxu could definitely reorganize the dynasty and regain real power, and that was also her day out.
But Zhenfei did not wait for that day after all.
In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, the guns of the Eight-Nation Alliance army rang out loudly, and there was chaos in the palace, Cixi wanted to flee with Guangxu, and before leaving, Cixi remembered Zhenfei who was still in the Northern Third House, so she asked the eunuch to bring Zhenfei here, first coaxing Zhenfei to say that she wanted to jump into the well together, Zhenfei refused, and Cixi asked Cui Yugui to push Zhenfei into the well on the grounds that "after the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, I was afraid that Zhenfei's beauty would attract them and would damage the royal face", and asked Cui Yugui to push Zhenfei into the well, "then there was a sound of twisting, and then there was a bang, thinking that Zhenfei had fallen into the well."
In Cui Yugui's recollection, the details of this tragic past are even richer, he and Wang Dehuan pushed Zhenfei into the well together, and Zhenfei shouted from beginning to end to see the emperor, until she fell into the well, shouting: "Emperor, repay the favor in the next life!" ”
25-year-old Zhenfei, when she was about to die, said words as sharp as a knife, without trembling at all, she said, "I am not guilty of death" and "you run away from you, the emperor should not escape", after being abused in the cold palace for three years, she can still say these words, Cui Yugui feels "very remarkable".
Zhenfei is still the same Zhenfei as before, and Cixi is a raw egg hitting a stone, even if she knows that it is a situation where her head is broken and bleeding, she must bump into it.
That day, the twentieth day of the seventh lunar month in 1900, seemed to be the incompatibility between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, but in fact, the undercurrent of the imperial power struggle was finally materialized.
On that day, she ended her 25-year-old young life, blooming in Shaohua and withering in the late summer. Modern people remember Zhenfei, mostly remembering her in the stormy Qing Dynasty, as a woman who can accept fresh ideas, dare to be flexible, think Westernized, and not accept the spirit of defeat.
She was the loser of the struggle for imperial power and a free and unyielding soul.