As the wife of Puyi, the last emperor of China, their initial union was accompanied by political transactions. In 1922, Wan Rong, who had reached the age of 16, began to run for empress dowager at the request of her father, Guo Buluo Rongyuan. For Puyi, but there is not much interest, he is facing a list of candidates, left and right, after the selection, circled the plain-looking embroidery. The Jin Emperor's noble concubine (Duankang Emperor Guifei) on the side glanced at it, and naturally disagreed, one, the graceful appearance was dignified and beautiful, fresh and vulgar, and the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting were all-encompassing, and they were already well-known among the nobles. Second, this person's family is prominent. At her insistence, Puyi agreed and chose Wanrong as empress.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was nearing its end, which was a sign that everyone could see. How could she not know that she combined the advantages of Chinese and Western cultures, but she did not expect it to come so quickly.
In 1924, Feng Yuxiang launched the "Beijing Coup". On November 5, Puyi was expelled from the Forbidden City, and Wanrong also left the palace. After the two settled in Tianjin, Wanrong discovered that greater problems after marriage had emerged.
Puyi is not very interested in himself, and can pretend to be in front of others during the day, and like a stranger at night. At first, Wanrong thought it was her own problem, but when she talked to Shufei Wenxiu, she found that this was the norm. He Puyi has physical problems and cannot enjoy sexual affairs. Because when he was young, Puyi was often played with chickens by eunuchs and palace women, and over time, he suffered from a stubborn disease that could not have children. Since then, he has also been quite disgusted with the love affair between men and women. (Puyi: I am not gay)
For Wanrong, this cannot be tolerated and needs to be endured, after all, the education she received from childhood is obedience. And because of his decent behavior and identity, fortunately, Puyi is not very cold about it. For Wen Xiu, this is not the case, although she is also blindly obedient, but she is still snubbed and wronged. On August 23, 1931, she finally rose up to resist, Wen Xiu officially asked Puyi for a divorce, which caused a sensation in the world for a while, and the reason for the divorce was that she could no longer bear Puyi's snub of her, as well as the unfreedom in the palace, naturally, Puyi's physical incompetence was also announced to everyone.
This trouble of literary embroidery is known in history as the "Knife Concubine Revolution". Puyi was a little confused, as a nine-five-year-old, he was actually "Hugh" by a concubine, which was unbearable for himself, in view of this, he began to complain about Wanrong, because he thought that Wen Xiu had left, and Wanrong had also obstructed it.
It was hard to argue, but it was too late. In the following days, Puyi was awkward about how to look at her, and gradually snubbed her, and even began to hate. Under the supervision of the Japanese Kwantung Army, Wanrong became more and more depressed, and she began to smoke opium to numb herself, because of physical needs, she once abandoned her noble status and began to commit adultery with the guards around Puyi.
For this, Puyi is unaware. In his book "The First Half of My Life", he recalled: "In 1935, because she was pregnant and nearing the end of labor, I found out that there was a problem. I was angry and unwilling to let the Japanese know, and the only way to vent my anger was to vent my anger on her. In addition to expelling all those who were related to her or suspected, I also decided to divorce her. However, the Kwantung Army did not allow it at that time, and I did not dare to offend the Japanese. ”
Out of helplessness and anger, Puyi beat Wanrong into the cold palace, and in just two years, Wanrong, who used to be like a flower, became a madman who could not control herself at all, according to the recollection of the people who took care of her:
She (Wanrong) doesn't know how to freshen up anymore, and she's crazy and moody all day. Only one habit remains, and that is to smoke opium every day.
At this moment, Wanrong was locked in the house, completely isolated from the outside world, Puyi sent two eunuchs and two maids to serve her, perhaps he thought that he was also benevolent to the end, but he did not know that at this time, Wanrong was already ill, and her legs could not walk on the ground earlier. Locked in the house for a long time, her beautiful eyes also suffered from disease, and finally she could not see half a light, and when she saw people, she needed to cover them with a fan, and then look through the gap in the fan bone.
It was not easy, she was a little sober, but as soon as she saw her current situation, the tears kept falling, hoarsely scolding her father Rongyuan, scolding him for ruining his life for wanting to become the head of the country.
Around June 10, 1946 (see Saga Hiroshi's memoirs) or in late August (newspaper records at the time), Wanrong was held from Manchuria Prison to Yanji Prison in Jilin Province, where she died shortly thereafter.
Now it seems that people sigh, remembering the bright Qing Dynasty woman, the gentleness of that eye, slightly bowing her head, just like the shyness of a water lotus flower that is invincible to the cool breeze...
Wang Likun plays WanRong