You must have heard the following story.
Concubine Zhen was one of the favorite concubines of the Guangxu Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. However, her fate changed overnight.
The story takes place during the Qianlong period, and Concubine Zhen is young and beautiful, intelligent and capable, and is deeply loved by the Guangxu Emperor. However, it aroused the jealousy of Empress Longyu, and in order to rule out this threat, other concubines plotted to murder Concubine Zhen.
One night, Concubine Zhen was lured by other palace maids to the well of the harem. She was not aware of the trap, and as she approached the well, other concubines suddenly appeared and pushed her into the well. Concubine Zhen was terrified, she struggled frantically to climb up, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not escape the deep bottom of the well.
Concubine Zhen was drowned, her body was left at the bottom of the well, and the other palace maids quietly fled, burying this terrifying secret deep in their hearts. However, Concubine Zhen's ghost did not leave, she was trapped at the bottom of the well, and she kept letting out heart-rending screams, which made everyone feel frightened and uneasy.
Before Concubine Jane was pushed down the well, she had a nightmare. She dreamed that she had been pushed into a deep well and then kept falling, unable to stop. When she woke up, she felt chills all over her body, as if this nightmare heralded her inevitable fate.
The death of Concubine Zhen shrouded the entire harem in shadows, and other palace maids became less and less trusting of each other. After Concubine Zhen was pushed down the well, the other concubines gradually lost their minds, and they began to dream of Concubine Zhen's ghost frequently, feeling fear and pain.
At this moment, there was the ghost of Concubine Zhen, and the people in the harem felt uneasy and fearful. Some heard Concubine Jane's crying at the bottom of the well, while others saw her appear in dreams at night. Even during the day, there are people who feel a pair of eyes staring at them, which makes people shudder.
In this situation, Emperor Guangxu felt very uneasy. He loved Concubine Zhen dearly, but he could not tolerate such horrific events in his own court. He decided to take steps to eliminate this unease and fear in the harem.
Emperor Guangxu summoned all the palace maids and announced the news that Concubine Zhen had been reborn and would no longer return to the harem. In order to calm Concubine Zhen's ghost, the Qianlong Emperor ordered that the bottom of the well be sealed to show that Concubine Zhen had been rested. He also built an altar dedicated to Concubine Zhen's soul, and asked all the palace maids to pray together, hoping that Concubine Zhen's ghost would be calmed.
Over time, the restlessness and fear in the harem gradually dissipated. Concubine Zhen's ghost no longer appeared, and the Qianlong Emperor gradually regained his peace. However, this horrific event left a deep imprint that will forever be etched in the hearts of everyone in the harem.
Imperial Concubine Gongshun (February 27, 1876 – August 15, 1900), also known as Concubine Zhen, of the Tatara clan, daughter of Hube Right Attendant Changxu, Manchurian Red Banner Manchuria, Emperor Guangxu, and the most favored concubine of Guangxu.
Now let's see why Concubine Zhen had to die
The article "My Two Aunts - Concubine Zhen and Concubine Jin" once relayed the memories of the palace maid surnamed Bai: "Sister Bai said that in order to take revenge, Longyu colluded with Li Lianying and the eunuchs in Concubine Zhen's palace to put a man's boots in Concubine Zhen's palace in a vain attempt to slander her for adultery. Sister Bai was also tortured for this matter.
According to the grandfather's oral memoir "My Grandfather Xiao De Zhang" written by Xiao De Zhang (the last chief eunuch chief in the late Qing Dynasty) and his step-grandson Zhang Zhongchen. Guangxu once used a large amount of pearls and jadeite to make a cheongsam for Concubine Zhen, and one day Concubine Zhen wore this cheongsam and Guangxu for a walk in the imperial garden, and it happened that Empress Dowager Cixi was also walking here, and when he saw Concubine Zhen's cheongsam, he said angrily, "I haven't worn it so well, you a concubine actually dare to wear it." Guangxu and Concubine Zhen immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed to plead guilty. Cixi immediately asked Cui Yugui, the second chief eunuch with him, to take off the cheongsam. After returning to the palace, he also beat Concubine Zhen with 30 bamboo poles. This incident caused Cixi to resent Concubine Zhen.
This offended the Empress and the Empress Dowager, do you say that Concubine Zhen can still have a good life? Of course, just because of this little thing it will not kill her. In order to consolidate her position, Concubine Zhen even directly relied on the favor of the emperor in the later period to directly dare to do government affairs, which made Cixi even more angry, but what finally made Cixi and Concubine Zhen fall out was that after the siege killing in the process of "changing the law", her son actually wanted to kill his mother, which made Cixi disappointed in Guangxu, and she guessed that Concubine Zhen was also involved in this scheme, so she beat him into the cold palace. In the last years of Cixi, she was afraid that after her death, Concubine Zhen would come and throw the coffin and whip the corpse, so she secretly executed Concubine Zhen.