As Li Zicheng's army slaughtered the city gates, the Ming Dynasty, which had risen and fallen for more than two hundred years, was dying step by step. The Chongzhen Emperor sent all his sons out of the palace, and after forcing his harem concubines to die, he left only two young daughters, ready to kill them with his own hands and kill themselves, lest they be trampled and abused by the rebel army. Chongzhen took the sword and walked towards her 6-year-old daughter, who had already been stabbed to death in horror when she turned back to dodge.
Chongzhen, who was overwhelmed with all thoughts, continued to swing his sword at the 15-year-old Princess Changping, who tried to block the blade with his hand, but it was the mantis arm that took the car, and her father actually cut off one of her arms. Looking at Princess Changping, who was lying in a pool of blood, she had fainted in the past, and Chongzhen finally threw her sword down to the back mountain and hanged herself.
However, everyone thought that the dead Princess Changping had just fainted, and the eunuchs and palace ladies were afraid that the princess would be humiliated after being captured, so they found someone to change into the princess's clothes to replace the princess, and secretly sent the real Princess Changping into the home of her maternal grandfather Zhou Kui. The Zhou family saw that Princess Changping was dying, and originally only planned to take care of the aftermath for her, but she did not expect that Princess Changping actually survived with this breath and a strong will.
Somehow this matter reached the ears of the Qing court, and at this time, the Qing court conformed to the will of the people, and claimed that its overthrow of the Ming Dynasty was in accordance with the will of heaven, and there was no hatred with the old people of the Ming Dynasty, and it would certainly treat the descendants of the Ming Dynasty royal family well. At this time, the Qing Dynasty minister Dorgon proposed to give preferential treatment to the female relatives of the Ming Dynasty imperial family, and reward gold and silver jewelry, etc., in order to find all the descendants of the Ming Dynasty's imperial family. Originally, Princess Changping had been living in the Zhou family, and looked forward to the ming dynasty prince who was exiled to the people to one day restore the Ming Dynasty and rewrite the glorious history of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the crown prince Zhu Cixiu learned that the Qing court treated the Ming orphans so favorably, and learned that his sister lived in the Zhou family, desperately found the Zhou family, and prepared to enjoy preferential treatment with Princess Changping. This is because Zhou Kui had already seen through the Qing court's treacherous plan, and despite Princess Changping's obstruction, he handed over the prince to the Qing dynasty minister Dolgun. Dorgon was very happy to face this former prince who had thrown himself into the net. Unable to kill the prince directly, he could only immediately order Zhou Kui and Princess Changping to identify this as a fake prince. Princess Changping preferred to die, but Zhou Kui was coerced and seduced, and from then on, the crown prince Zhu Cixi was executed, and Princess Changping's last hope of reviving the Ming Dynasty was shattered.
Princess Changping, whose family was broken, finally chose to accept the preferential treatment of the Qing court, and Princess Changping was very sad because her family country was broken and her relatives left one by one, and she proposed the idea of renunciation to the Qing Dynasty. However, the Shunzhi Emperor believed that this would violate his promise to treat the descendants of the Ming dynasty royal family well, so he promised her to Zhou Shixian, who had made a marriage contract, and held a grand wedding for the two of them, so that her treatment was the same as that of the Qing Dynasty. Despite this, Princess Changping was still difficult to accept the bitterness of reality because of the various pasts of family destruction, and eventually became depressed and widowed, and died at the fifth month of pregnancy.
From this point of view, the Ming government proposed by the Qing Dynasty to give preferential treatment to the descendants of the Ming dynasty royal family is nothing more than a cover for its own aggressive behavior in the name of justice. Princess Changping's life was so miserable, when she had just grown into a young girl with Tingting Yuli, she was cut off by her own father who had an arm cut off, her parents died, and her brothers and sisters were no longer alive. From the time of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, she was lonely, and her life was destined to be a tool used by the Qing court.