In the autumn of 1950, the 42-year-old Meng Xiaodong married Du Yuesheng, 62. However, unfortunately, the next year, Du Yuesheng died, leaving Meng Xiaodong alone.
Although the formal marriage between the two was only a short year, Meng Xiaodong was deeply loved by Du Yuesheng for many years.
Meng Xiaodong is Du Yuesheng's fifth wife, and there is no doubt that in the du family's large courtyard of deep houses, there are indisputable battles between the wives of each room.
Du Yuesheng's youngest son, Du Weishan, a well-known collector of ancient money in China, once revealed in his later years when he recalled his father: "In any room of the Du family, if you do not use your heart, you will lose the battle." Every wife has some staff officers around them to give them advice, how to compete for favors, how to seize power. ”
It can be seen how fierce the competition between Du Yuesheng's wives in order to compete for favors and power is. So, as his favorite five-room wife Meng Xiaodong, how did she compete for favors?
Before Meng Xiaodong married Du Yuesheng, she had a sensational marriage, and her ex-husband was mr. Mei Lanfang, a famous Peking Opera master.
In 1927, Meng Xiaodong, who was at the peak of her career, suddenly disappeared, and many newspapers and periodicals disclosed the news that she and Mei Lanfang had married and retired, but she did not live in the Mei House and was "hidden in the golden house".
However, Mei Lanfang stood up to refute the rumors, and the newspaper also published "Mei Ling's Recent News", saying: The place where Meng Xiaodong now lives is rented to her by Mei Lanfang, and the two are just landlords and tenants.
Are Mei Lanfang and Meng Xiaodong married in the end?
The answer is yes, except that they belong to the "hidden marriage" family. Of course, Meng Xiaodong did not want to have such a marriage, but because of love, she gave up her career, and even gave up her own reputation and followed her sweetheart.
In addition to Meng Xiaodong, Mei Lanfang also has two wives, Wang Minghua and Fu Zhifang.
Mei Lanfang's thinking is more traditional, the three wives and four concubines do not say, but also value the male protagonist outside the female protagonist, and do not let Meng Xiaodong, who has a strong sense of enterprise, continue to sing.
At the beginning, Meng Xiaodong, who was in the honeymoon period, did not care much, and when she was bored, she would learn drama, read books and practice words, learn cultural lessons, and she seemed to be accustomed to the life of "Golden House Hidden Jiao".
In the autumn of that year, Mei Lanfang experienced a terrible bloody case. A man who was infatuated with Meng Xiaodong, heard that the idol was married and no longer performed on stage, hated Mei Lanfang very much, and wanted to shoot Mei Lanfang, but he did not expect to shoot Zhang Hanju, a stalwart of the Mei Party, and killed him.
Meng Xiaodong, who was hiding in the golden house, was completely unaware of the bloody case that had occurred outside, and she did not know that Mei Lanfang's second wife, Fu Zhifang, was extremely dissatisfied with her.
For the sake of family harmony and reputation, Mei Lanfang temporarily snubbed Meng Xiaodong, which made her gradually dissatisfied.
In the spring of 1928, Mei Lanfang took Fu Zhifang out to Tianjin to perform together, which greatly stimulated Meng Xiaodong. Meng Xiaodong was angry and decided to go to Tianjin to perform on stage as a way to get revenge on her husband. After that, the relationship between the two was repaired and reconciled.
In 1930, Mei Lanfang's aunt, whom mei Lanfang regarded as her birth mother, died, and after Meng Xiaodong learned about it, she wore a white flower on her head and prepared to give her mother-in-law a ma dai filial piety. However, Fu Zhifang, who was pregnant at the time, threatened herself and her child and would not allow Meng Xiaodong to enter the gate of the Mei Mansion.
Meng Xiaodong cried and left, returned to her mother's house, and could not afford to be sick.
After that, Mei Lanfang struggled to save him, Meng Xiaodong always could not let go of him, the two of them superficially reconciled, but there were many mines buried around them.
In mid-1931, Meng Xiaodong heard a message. There were several high-ranking people in the Mei Party, who asked Mei Lanfang to abandon Meng Xiaodong and leave Fu Zhifang behind. Their reasoning was: "Meng Xiaodong is proud of people's hearts, she needs 'people to serve', while Fu Zhifang is easy-going and generous, she can 'serve people'." ”
After Meng Xiaodong knew, she was heartbroken, and in the 4 years of marriage, she had been injured to the skin. Therefore, he made up his mind to divorce Mei Lanfang.
At the turn of summer and autumn of this year, Meng Xiaodong went to Shanghai to complain to his girlfriend Yao Yulan. At this time, Yao Yulan was already Du Yuesheng's fourth-room wife.
Yao Yulan's mother, Xiao Lanying, is the first generation of Peking Opera actresses in China and is very accomplished. Yao Yulan, formerly known as Yao Guxiang, was born in Lao Dan, and after marrying Du Yuesheng, she still sang opera, but mostly charity performances or church meetings. Meng Xiaodong has a very good relationship with Yao Yulan and Xiao Lanying.
Her girlfriend was bullied, and Yao Yulan, who was a sister, was very angry, so she asked her husband Du Yuesheng to call Mei Lanfang in Beiping and tell Meng Xiaodong that she would ask a lawyer to file a divorce lawsuit.
Du Yuesheng likes Peking Opera and has a good relationship with the Peking Opera circle, often inviting Peking Opera actors to dinner and singing a few words when he is happy. His friendship with Mei Lanfang is also good.
Du Yuesheng did not mean to persuade him, he wanted Mei Lanfang to pay a sum of money, which was a compensation for Meng Xiaodong. Mei Lanfang did not want things to become too ugly, so she sold the garden house in Beiping Wuliang Adult Hutong and paid Meng Xiaodong 40,000 oceans.
Since then, mei lanfang and Meng Xiaodong's broken marriage has officially ended.
Yao Yulan fought to save her sisters, but what she never expected was that her husband Du Yuesheng had already secretly loved Meng Xiaodong. Fireproof and anti-theft anti-girlfriend, did not expect to find a love enemy for themselves, this love enemy is not ordinary, how can this be good?
Yao Yulan looked at her husband who loved her girlfriend deeply, although she was very angry, but because of the thinking of three wives and four concubines in the old era, she also saw it more openly, and often matched Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong. However, no matter how generous a woman is, she will fight for her own man and be jealous, not happy.
Du Weishan, the son of Yao Yulan and Du Yuesheng, once disclosed: "The relationship between her two (Meng Xiaodong and Yao Yulan) is good and bad, sometimes quarrelsome, and Meng Xiaodong will return to Beijing after a lifetime, and in a few months she will be fine." ”
Although Meng Xiaodong and Yao Yulan will quarrel over Du Yuesheng, Du Yuesheng is also the "lubricant" for her two good relationships.
Du Weishan said that when Meng Xiaodong was angry and returned to Beijing, he would still correspond with Yao Yulan, and the letter talked about life affairs, and Yao Yulan sometimes sent money to Meng Xiaodong. And Meng Xiaodong's Beijing friends come to Shanghai, and Yao Yulan will also entertain them warmly.
In the 30s, the relationship between Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong was not clear, but Du Yuesheng never hid his love for Meng Xiaodong.
According to Du Weishan, Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong formally interacted in the 1940s.
Du Yuesheng is the object of the stars of the Du family's wives, and Meng Xiaodong is Du Yuesheng's heart meat, naturally Meng Xiaodong will become the "thorn in the eyes" of the wives, and will be involved in the wives' open and secret struggle.
Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Du Yuesheng's first three wives, du family members, known as "Mrs. Qianlou", "Mrs. Second Floor" and "Mrs. Third Floor", lived in the old mansion on Hua Ge Zhen Road, while Mrs. Four lived in No. 16, Lai Fei Fang, Lai Fei Road.
Mrs. Qianlou is Du Yuesheng's original wife Shen Yueying, who was originally a servant by Mrs. Jin Rong's side, she is beautiful and understandable, and Du Yuesheng has always valued her.
Du Yuesheng gambled well, and Shen Yueying went out to gamble on the night of marriage, he originally wanted to win a little money by gambling, and then give it to his brother who urgently needed money, but he did not win money, but lost it, and also took shen Yueying's wedding clothes all away. This kind of absurdity is also done, and any woman will be angry. However, Shen Yueying has always tolerated him.
Therefore, it is also normal for Du Yuesheng to value this married couple who have suffered together, after all, he is a person who is moralistic and will not be too bad for his wife.
However, after the development, Du Yuesheng "became bad", liked beautiful girls, and married them into the door. No matter how generous Shen Yueying was, she couldn't stand being left out in the cold.
It is said that Shen Yueying, who was snubbed, was caught stealing with people, and he was depressed.
Du Weishan told a story of his mother Yao Yulan's struggle for favors:
Once, du Yuesheng's birthday, several wives discussed in advance, decided that everyone wore the same color and style of qipao that day, in order to appear "everyone is equal".
Yao Yulan told the staff about this matter, and everyone talked about it and gave her advice. After all, she was only the fourth wife, and if she wore the same clothes as other wives, she would definitely be in the back of the line and could not highlight her position. However, if she rebels, she will definitely be counted down by other wives.
After discussion, it was finally decided to wear the same clothes, but there is still a post.
On the day of Du Yuesheng's birthday party, Yao Yulan wore the same clothes as the other wives, which was not prominent among the wives. But within a few minutes, she quietly changed into another gorgeous, distinctive dress. In this way, among the wives, she is the most conspicuous and receives more attention from her husband.
Although Yao Yulan successfully attracted her husband's attention, the method used seemed to be a bit clumsy, and it was easy to make enemies and offend other wives. Fortunately, she did not live with the second and third-bedroom wives and avoided daily fights.
Du Yuesheng's second-room wife Chen Shuiying and the third-room wife Sun Peihao lived together, looked up and did not look down, all day long in the open and secret struggle, the two quarreled indisputable, there was a fight to win or lose, the third room was not inferior to the second room, Sun Peihao took his two sons to England for a long time.
So, how did Meng Xiaodong compete for favors?
Du Weishan disclosed: "I guess my father has had a crush on Meng Xiaodong for a long time. On the one hand, she sang well, and from the current point of view, she can also be called an artist. On the other hand, Meng Xiaodong is more scheming, and he is also very good at pleasing his father, and often tells jokes in front of my father to make him happy. ”
Du Yuesheng is a Fan of Peking Opera, and Meng Xiaodong, who likes to sing opera and sing very well, is very natural and loves Wuma. So, what is the reason that Meng Xiaodong will be scheming and making Du Yuesheng happy?
It turned out that in addition to speaking authentic Mandarin at meetings, Meng Xiaodong also spoke Shanghainese very well. Because she was born in Shanghai, although she lived in Beijing and Tianjin for a long time, she will not forget her hometown dialect. Du Yuesheng is used to speaking Shanghainese, so that the two of them can communicate smoothly.
Shanghai women speak softly and softly, coupled with Meng Xiaodong's dusty and touching temperament, listening to her tell stories and jokes is naturally a kind of enjoyment.
Du Yuesheng already loved Meng Xiaodong, plus the two could talk, it was even more "love to let go".
Don't underestimate the charm of language.
Take the fourth wife, Yao Yulan, who is also a famous Peking Opera actress, singing well and looking beautiful, but she still does not like Du Yuesheng like Meng Xiaodong.
One of the sticking points is that Yao Yulan's language talent is a little worse, she has been married to Du Yuesheng for many years and basically does not speak Shanghainese.
Years later, Du Weishan's wife asked her mother-in-law, Yao Yulan, "How do you communicate with my father?" ”
Yao Yulan said happily, "He can understand my speech, I can't understand his speech." ”
That is to say, du Yuesheng and Yao Yulan talk, there is a kind of "chicken with duck talking" helplessness, can not communicate well, ah, naturally will be more pampered to understand him more Meng Xiaodong.
After Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong were together, what was his relationship with Mei Lanfang?
In fact, the relationship between Du Yuesheng and Mei Lanfang has not changed because of Meng Xiaodong.
In 1947, Du Yuesheng celebrated his 60th birthday, and the China Grand Theater in Shanghai organized a 10-day church meeting, and Mei Lanfang and Meng Xiaodong both went to perform, but the two did not share the stage. 10 days of the big axis, Mei Lanfang accounted for 8 days, while Meng Xiaodong accounted for 2 days. However, Meng Xiaodong always avoided Mei Lanfang, and since then, he has not mentioned Mei Lanfang's three words in front of the Du family.
In May 1949, Du Yuesheng's family left Shanghai for Hong Kong, and Meng Xiaodong also left with them. At that time, Meng Xiaodong was nameless and unworthy, and it was inevitable that people would gossip, and since she chose to follow, at least it showed that she had feelings for him.
At this time, Du Yuesheng was not as beautiful as a few years ago, he could not take away his real estate in Shanghai, he did not have much cash in his hand, and he also had very serious asthma and a full medicine jar. If you don't mention his myths, it is estimated that he will be regarded as a sick old man.
And Meng Xiaodong is still slim, good looks and temperament, although she is 41 years old, but with her talent and fame, she will not fall into the point of embarrassment.
In this case, Meng Xiaodong still does not abandon Du Yuesheng and takes meticulous care of the generation of tyrants on this sickbed, what does she want? There was only one plausible explanation: she had deep feelings for him.
In the autumn of 1950, Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong held a wedding in Hong Kong. The wedding was not luxurious, there were not many people attending, and friends and relatives ate a meal and took a few photos.
However, on this day, Meng Xiaodong was very happy, and Du Yuesheng, who had been ill for a long time, was also very energetic.
Du Weishan said: "This marriage (the marriage of Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong) does not matter who has fulfilled whom, there are feelings between them. My father always valued her artistic achievements, and Meng Xiaodong also admired my father. Her marriage to her father was not a favor or a helpless choice. ”
In 1951, Du Yuesheng died of illness, and a generation of tyrants came to an end.
As soon as Du Yuesheng left, the Du family's wives and children also separated, and they drifted to zero. The following year, Yao Yulan and her children went to Taiwan, while Meng Xiaodong stayed in Hong Kong alone for 15 years, and did not go to Taiwan until 1967.
In her later years, Meng Xiaodong lived a bland life, rented a house to live alone, had no other financial resources, and lived on the money she had earned before and the inheritance given by Du Yuesheng, fortunately Yao Yulan and her children came to accompany her. At the age of 60, she died of illness.
Throughout Meng Xiaodong's life, the road to love is very bumpy, and the good thing is that she has been pampered and cared for by Du Yuesheng for many years. Although he left first, she had many good memories, and perhaps those were the ones that sustained her for the rest of her life.