People often say: Since ancient times, emperors have many family affairs, and this sentence is also appropriate to describe the late Qing Emperor, such as the unhappy marriage between the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Longyu, which has also become a topic of discussion, and Princess Deling reveals the reason for unhappiness in the book... What's going on here? Below, let Xiaobian reveal it to you.
Guangxu was the eleventh emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and although he reigned for thirty-four years, it was Empress Dowager Cixi who was really in power. In terms of private life, Cixi also firmly controlled Guangxu, such as Empress Longyu, who was arranged by Cixi. According to Qing palace historical records, Empress Longyu was born in the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868) and was a Manchurian yellow flag bearer, and if calculated according to the generational division, Empress Dowager Cixi was still the aunt of Empress Longyu. In the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), under the hand-pick of Empress Dowager Cixi, Empress Longyu and the Guangxu Emperor married, after which he lived in Zhong pu Palace, but sadly, their married life was not happy. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1901), the Guangxu Emperor died, and was succeeded by the Xuantong Emperor Puyi, and Empress Longyu was also honored as the empress dowager, and died of illness at the age of 46 in the second year of the Republic of China (1913).
In the Qing Palace historical materials, there is no heavy description of Empress Longyu, and there are many wonderful stories compared with other empresses, so it looks more like an ordinary concubine, so people know very little about the real life of Empress Longyu. However, what we can be sure of from the limited historical data is that there is a gap between Empress Longyu and the Guangxu Emperor, not only has not been eliminated in a lifetime, but it has become larger and larger over time, thus making the lives of both of them unhappy.
First of all, Empress Longyu was 3 years older than the Guangxu Emperor, and before they married, the Guangxu Emperor was called the cousin of Empress Longyu, so Empress Longyu changed from a sister to a wife, which for a time also made it difficult for the Guangxu Emperor to accept. Secondly, Empress Longyu was not very good-looking, with a sword face recorded, and it can be seen from the photos that have been passed down to the present day that he is completely an ugly woman, so the Guangxu Emperor will not have a heart of admiration at all. Then, the Guangxu Emperor himself already had his favorite concubine, that is, Zhenfei, although she was finally thrown into the well by Empress Dowager Cixi and drowned, but after Zhenfei's death, Empress Longyu still did not get the love of Emperor Guangxu; finally, Emperor Guangxu and Empress Longyu knew in their hearts that this was a political marriage, a means for Empress Dowager Cixi to manipulate the two, so love became a victim of politics, so what happiness was there to talk about.
It is worth mentioning that Princess Deling once wrote a memoir called "Yingtai Weeping Blood Record", in which she recorded a lot of things about the Guangxu Emperor, some of which involved the feelings of Empress Longyu and the Guangxu Emperor before, letting us know that their misfortune is not only a problem of Guangxu, but also a certain responsibility for Empress Longyu.
In the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Longyu were only three or four months old, and at this time the palace ushered in a grand festival, so the emperor and empress had to sit together and eat and drink with others to celebrate the festival. At the beginning, everyone said that it was normal to laugh, and the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Longyu also drank from each other, but suddenly the Guangxu Emperor smiled at Empress Longyu, and as a result, Empress Longyu looked at Guangxu expressionlessly, and then put down her chopsticks and turned her head to leave, which made everyone present feel very inexplicable. The Guangxu Emperor also felt very confused, so he immediately wanted to call out to Empress Longyu, but after calling several times, Empress Longyu could not answer, and finally left without looking back--her purpose was that you made me unhappy, and I also let you taste the unpleasant taste.
The Guangxu Emperor was extremely embarrassed, and the anger in his heart may have been more than three feet high, but in the end he endured it. Later, the Guangxu Emperor did not go to Empress Longyu to ask why, but from then on the two of them rarely spoke, and there was no communication except for some etiquette. Although Empress Longyu and the Guangxu Emperor were husband and wife, Empress Longyu was also too disrespectful as an empress, which also shows that Empress Longyu was very sharp. In today's words, it is necessary for Guangxu to coax, but in fact, how could the emperor coax the empress? After all, there were still many concubines around the emperor, so Empress Longyu's behavior also made Emperor Guang very unhappy, so the gap between the two was getting bigger and bigger.
The Last Empress Longyu I Know by Yehenara Genzheng, Publisher: China Bookstore