What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the emperor's concubines were mainly from the Eight Banners. According to the regulations, flag women over the age of 13 within the scope of the selection must be selected, and those who have not been selected are not allowed to marry each other privately. The draft is held every 3 years, and the selected ones either enter the imperial palace or are assigned to the prince, the imperial grandson, the prince, the county king, and the son of the prince and the county king.
Guangxu was fourteen years old, and in 1888 Zai Xiang (Guangxu) was 18 years old, and it was also time to reach the age of marriage. Compared with Shunzhi's 15-year-old marriage, Kangxi's 14-year-old, and Tongzhi's 17-year-old marriage, Guangxu was already a late marriage.
In the middle of the night after October 28, 1888, Cixi personally visited the Yiluan Hall of the Western Garden and read the 31 showgirls left behind after repeated screening, and finally left 8 of them. Jing Fen, the niece of Cixi and the daughter of her younger brother Gui Xiang; a pair of daughters of Dexin, the Inspector of Jiangxi; a pair of sisters of Changxu, the right attendant of the Rebbe; and the sister of Princess Hui of the Tongzhi Emperor.
Finally Guangxu personally selected the empress in the body and hall. Originally, Guangxu belonged to yi dexin's daughter, but Cixi obstructed it, so she had to choose Jingfen, the daughter of Cixi's niece Guixiang, and cixi did not stop doing two things, and directly selected a pair of daughters of Changxu as concubines, that is, later Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen.
Guangxu fifteen years, February 25, 1889, Guangxu married. At the time of Liangchenzi, Empress Jingfen (Longyu) set out from the mansion of Fangjia Hutong and entered the palace through the Great Qing Gate and the Taihe Gate. After completing a series of complicated ceremonies, they were sent to the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Cave Kunning Palace, while at the same time, the other two concubines of Guangxu, Jin and Zhen Er, were also welcomed into the Yikun Palace by the Shenwu Gate. This Guangxu wedding cost a total of 5.5 million taels of silver, which can be described as extremely luxurious.
This marriage, appointed by Cixi, forced Longyu and Zhenfei to take sides between Cixi and Guangxu, and buried the curse of the unfortunate fate of Guangxu, Zhenfei and even Longyu.
According to the literature and the photos left by the Qing Palace, Longyu had a mediocre appearance, a long face and a high forehead, "thin and slightly hunched, with bulging eyes and teeth". Zhen Concubine, who is only 13 years old, is not only younger than Longyu, but also has a good appearance, and is good at calligraphy and painting, chess, and can write plum blossom seal characters with both hands.
Because Zhen Concubine grew up in Guangzhou, in this city that was first open to foreigners in the Qing Dynasty, Zhen Concubine was able to get close to Western material civilization and various new things in the West, thus forming a cheerful and lively, informal character. After marriage, Zhen Concubine often accompanied the Guangxu Emperor to play and entertain in the palace, and "the decoration did not apply fat powder, did not like women's clothes, did not pull her hair in a bun, did not wear embroidered shoes, but took men's clothing as the best; every emperor, with a big pigtail hanging back, wearing a head with a top flower, wearing an arrow sleeve horse coat, and feet on green satin boots, was completely a beautiful young guard dress." Even, sometimes ," she put on the emperor's costume and pretended to be the Guangxu Emperor to walk in the palace", and sometimes "she also put on the costume of a eunuch to accompany the Guangxu Emperor to run errands in the Yangxin Hall". It is also said that at that time, photography technology had been introduced to China, and Zhen Concubine xi "studied photography" and "dressed arbitrarily and adopted various postures" in the court.
Compared with Zhen Concubine, LongYu was a peaceful and observant person, and deliberately maintained the same preferences as Cixi, especially the preference for watching drama.
One is a human, one is lively and cheerful, in contrast, Guangxu definitely likes Zhen Concubine, and naturally makes Longyu unhappy. He often complained to his aunt Cixi. As a result, the contradiction between Cixi and Zhen Concubine was intensified.
On February 6, 1894, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, on the occasion of Cixi's sixtieth birthday, Jin Concubine and Zhen Concubine, who had been in the palace for 5 years, were named Jin Concubine and Zhen Concubine. However, only nine months later, on November 26, the last day of the lunar month of October, Cixi ordered that Concubine Jin and Concubine Zhen be demoted to two consecutive levels and demoted to nobles. What is the reason for this?
Originally, Jiangsu's alternate Dao Lu Boyang and wood manufacturer Yuming were appointed as the Shanghai Dao and Sichuan Salt Tea Ceremony of "Anointing the World". This appointment caused an uproar, and the imperial history was folded and participated. After Cixi learned of this, she personally summoned Lu Boyang and Yuming, and found that the two were indeed rude in speech, claiming that Yuming, who had read the "Three Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Names", could not write. After further investigation, Cixi learned that both were officials who had been sold through Zhenfei, and could not help but be furious, ordering the capture and murder of Gao Wanzhi, a eunuch under Zhenfei's throne, punishing the eunuchs Changtai and Yonglu who served Zhenfei, expelling the palace women who served Zhenfei, and implicating dozens of people. At the same time, Empress Longyu was asked to strengthen her control over the six palaces, and to prevent concubines from interfering in state affairs before the emperor.
A year later, on December 26, 1895, Cixi sent someone to hold the festival and make precious people Zhenfei. More than two years later, in 1898, Cixi imprisoned Guangxu, and punished Zhenfei with a staff, removal of the ring, imprisonment in the remote North Three Houses, and then "forbidden to enter" the emperor. The war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law finally rose to a battle of life and death.
Why is there such a fire-and-blood incompatibility between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law? Investigate the reason for this, or the difference in personality.
Guangxu did not like Longyu and favored Zhenfei, which naturally caused Cixi to be unhappy. Princess Zhen's practice of wearing men's clothes and eunuch costumes and liking to take pictures also caused Cixi's dissatisfaction. She first crowned Zhenfei, then stripped her, and then restored her, one of the purposes was to make Zhenfei obey. Unfortunately, under the influence of her mother, Zhenfei has a stubborn personality and is not obedient. Such a character undoubtedly exacerbated Cixi's dissatisfaction with Zhenfei.
After Guangxu's marriage, he began to pro-government, and the defeat of Jia Wu stinged Guangxu and began to seek ways to change the law and try to become stronger, at this time, the imperial party of the imperial court and the hou party were tit-for-tat, and Zhenfei was regarded as a faction of the imperial party. Finally, on August 15, 1900, on the eve of the Eight-Nation Alliance's imminent invasion of the city of Beijing, Cixi fled with the Guangxu Emperor and other emperors. A day earlier, Cixi had ordered the eunuch Cui Yugui to push Concubine Zhen, who had been imprisoned for nearly two years, into a well outside the Ningshou Palace. Princess Zhen was only 24 years old at the time, and it had been nearly 12 years since she entered the palace at the age of 13.
In January 1902, after Cixi returned to Luang, she posthumously honored Zhenfei as a noble concubine.
On November 14, 1908, Guangxu died, and at 17:00 the next day, Cixi died in the Yiluan Hall.
In 1921, Emperor Puyi posthumously honored Concubine Zhen as an imperial concubine and posthumously honored her with the title of "Keshun".
In 1924, Princess Jin died and was buried side by side with Princess Zhen in the Guangxu Chongling Concubine Garden.
A harem life-and-death struggle, a pair of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law feud ended.