The last emperor Puyi's concubine embroidery
Puyi's wife Wen embroidered true face
"The room leak coincides with the rain", Wen Shan, the only relative and third sister Wen Shan, who was the only one beside Wen Xiu, died of illness again, and she felt even more miserable. Although there is also a half-sister "black big sister", she has broken off contact with this sister since entering the palace. More than 20 years ago, Wen Xiu desperately picked flowers for reading, and more than 20 years later, Wen Xiu desperately picked flowers for food.
Mr. Ma Xiwu also came to visit Wen Xiu at this time, and he recounted the scene he saw: "She moved and lived in a small courtyard. She was dilapidated and lived in only two huts; After a few years, she looked old and wore an old cheongsam of blue cloth. She said to me, 'Do you think I look like me? I conveyed the family's greetings to her and gave her a red paper bag (money), she seemed a little embarrassed, but accepted it anyway. Before leaving, she said to me with tears in her eyes, 'The guards here sometimes come to my trouble, and ask the seven brothers to talk to them and take care of them. ’”
Since this is the last time Mr. Ma Xiwu has seen the embroidery, he can leave a deep impression. Wen Xiu has become a very ordinary working woman, with little income, and has to endure the bullying of local snakes. She learned to be frugal again, gave up one of the two north houses she rented, and relied on her own hands to earn food, laundry, cooking, buying grain, buying coal, and all the household chores herself. At this time, some well-wishers saw that Wen Xiu's life was too bitter and persuaded her to marry again. If a suitable one can be found, Wen Xiu also agrees to remarry.
Given the lessons of the palace concubine's life, Wen Xiu pursues that kind of single-minded love, and she wants to find an unmarried man or a man who has died a wife and no children. She hopes that after marriage, she can get her husband's sincere love, and if she can't get her wish, she would rather be celibate and die without regret.
In the year of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Wen Xiu was 36 years old and was already middle-aged. There are still people who say kisses for others, but Wen Xiu is unwilling to surrender, and in order to avoid entanglement, she wants to move elsewhere. But where can she move? Wen Xiu went to find Big Sister Hei, who was a worker in Beihai Park, and if he could find a horticultural messenger, he would also be willing to do it. Sister Hei can only show Wen Xiu another way: let her find her cousin Liu Shan.
When Liu Shan settled down, he was helped by Jiang, the mother of Wen Xiu, and later became a bricklayer, with good skills and honest people, and now a family of 5 rents three bungalows in the back gate of Shiluma Street, Xicheng, Beijing. At this time, I listened to Wen Xiu's intentions, and without saying a word, I found a car to help Wen Xiu move his home. The life of the Liu family is very difficult. The so-called three rooms are actually just two rooms, one light and one dark, the inside is a small set, and there is another kitchen. Sleeping at night, Liu Shan and his wife lived in the innermost suite, Liu Shan's two daughters and Wen Xiu lived outside, and Liu Shan's son temporarily used wooden planks in the kitchen, withdrawing early and sleeping in the evening. Liu Shan's wife is a housewife, and in addition to household chores, she uses cardboard boxes for packaging and earns a few handmade coins to supplement the family.
After Wen Xiu came here, he couldn't bear to eat in vain, and he also pasted the carton with his cousin. After all, the income of the paste box is very small, and Wen Xiu always wants to help the Liu family a little more, so he took the initiative to go out to find some work. After Liu Shan said yes to the brick foreman who built the building, he asked Wen Xiu to be a small worker to pick ash and deliver bricks to the bricklayers. A woman who used to be an imperial princess and a slave at every turn, a woman who was accustomed to living the life of a noblewoman and chanting and painting poetry all day, could actually do this hard work? Wen Xiu has perseverance, she stands up and does it, gritting her teeth to do it. For half a month, Liu Shan saw that she really couldn't support it, so he quit her job for her and didn't let her suffer again.
Wen Xiu also wanted to find some other work, but there was no way out, so he had to go home and still paste the carton with his cousin.
A bricklayer has to feed 6 adults, and it is too difficult to maintain. Later, Liu Shan came up with another way. Shiluma Street is located in a downtown area, and there are many large organs of the Kuomintang on the street, such as the Beiping Party Department and the North China Daily, and passers-by commuting to and from work flow endlessly. One day, Liu Shan said to his wife and Wen Xiu: "Paste carton, there is a lot of time to build but there are no few documents to collect the bill, and the days are still tight." It is better to set up a paper cigarette stand at the intersection and sell some melons, fruits and peanuts, so that you can earn a few more. ”
Liu Shan's idea was also a little certain: he had a brother-in-law who specialized in wholesale paper cigarettes and fresh fruits, and the purchase was guaranteed. As for the cost of doing business, Liu Shan did not want to say, in fact, where would Wen Xiu not know? At this time, Wen Xiu had the last valuable thing at hand, that is, because he was particularly cherished, he had been reluctant to sell the beaded flower headdress for rice, which Liu Shan also knew, and he really thought of using it as a business capital.
Wen Xiu's mind is not on a piece of jewelry, the beaded flower is indeed her love object, and it is commemorative. However, for the sake of living, it is not a pity to sell. It's just that this street is messy, but it really embarrasses the embroidery. Isn't it quite elegant to be a teacher in Sicun Primary and Middle School? But it has also provoked so many rights and wrongs, and now he has to go to the road to make a foreign appearance, you must know that this kind of thing is like an imperial princess exhibition! Liu Shan is an honest man, he only wants to support his family, where did he expect to get this layer of responsibility? Wen Xiu is bitter in his heart, he can't say it, he lives in people's houses, he has to open his mouth to eat every day, and he can't do the work of picking ashes and handing bricks, and how can he do it if he puts up a stall and loses ugliness! If you are misunderstood and do not want to take out the bead flowers, you will not be able to wash it by jumping into the Yellow River.
Wen Xiu agreed hard, and shouted at the lively Shiluma Street. 'Cigarette rolls!' Hada Gate', 'Fortress', gold paper, please come with one! ”
A real imperial princess selling cigarettes on the street is a very true fact in modern Chinese history. Sure enough, as Wen Xiu expected, the truth soon spread, and the scoundrels who came to make unreasonable or ridicule brought endless troubles to Wen Xiu. Liu Shan then understood that a person with a historical identity like Wen Xiu was still not suitable to set up a stall on the street to sell! So, he only let his wife out on the street, and Wen Xiu still hid at home to paste paper boxes.
Soon, Liu Shan was hired to repair the house for the North China Daily, and learned that the newspaper needed a proofreader, so he asked the chief of the general affairs section of the newspaper to recommend Wen Xiu, and in order to show that Wen Xiu had a foundation in Chinese studies and was competent for proofreading work, he told her about her experience of entering the palace and studying in the royal court for ten years. Chief Ding was surprised and immediately reported to President Zhang Mingwei. President Zhang was extremely sympathetic to Wen Xiu's life, and immediately met with Wen Xiu and politely told her that he would come to work immediately.
Proofreading is hard but paid a fixed income. It's just that the years are not good, inflation is very strong, and the monthly salary has to be handed over to my cousin without delay, replaced with grain and briquettes, and the excess is converted into silver dollars.
Since the spread of Wen Xiu's life in the newspaper, people sympathize with her and want to help her settle down, which is really an endless number of suitors. Wen Xiu was also moved, there was really no need to abide by the royal rule of "no remarriage". Besides, living in the Liu family for a long time, how can the cousin not be picky? Sending people under the fence is inevitable gossip, after all, it is not a song!
President Zhang Mingwei admired Wen Xiu's talent and planned to introduce her to his aunt and cousin Liu Zhendong. Since the surrender of Japan, Zhang Mingwei has served as a special commissioner of the Propaganda Department of the Kuomintang Central Committee in North China and director of the North China Daily. This time, President Zhang wanted to introduce her to someone, which naturally added a layer of trust.
President Zhang asked his wife to talk with Wen Xiu, and Wen Xiu heard that Liu Zhendong was an old relative of the two generations of the Zhang family, and Geng was straightforward, so he agreed to meet. Wen Xiu is indeed cautious in considering remarriage this time, although it is a middle-aged remarriage, it will not be perfunctory. After he and Liu Zhendong met, they actually spent more than five months getting to know each other, which seems to be an authentic love.
During the contact between the two, Liu Zhendong deeply sympathized with Wen Xiu's experience, and Wen Xiu gradually understood Liu Zhendong and his person. He was originally from Henan, came from a poor background, was a diligent person, and had studied for several years, and by the age of 17 he had grown into a tall man and a big man, and then he was conscripted into the army. In the Kuomintang army, although he did not flatter and curry favor with his superiors, he did not want to die in war, gradually accumulated some military merits, and rose from soldier to major.
At the time of his acquaintance with Wen Xiu, he was working under Li Zongren, director of the Kuomintang Northern Parallel Battalion in Zhongnanhai, managing the treasury. This person has not yet married a wife when he is over 40 years old, and what Wen Xiu likes most is that he is straightforward and has no temper, especially he never throws flowers and grass and wanders the smoke street Willow Lane. Wen Xiu weighed again and again, and finally satisfied.
Before getting married, Liu Zhendong took out all his savings and handed it to Wen Xiu, asking her to buy furniture, buy clothes and supplies, and prepare for the wedding banquet. Liu Zhendong is an honest man, and he has always been cautious and cautious in his office, and he does not dare to engage in fraud. The savings were all saved from more than 20 years of official salaries. Because the paper money was unstable, he could exchange them into gold and silver dollars at any time and put them at the bottom of the box, and now that he finally had his own home, he took it out for his wife to use.
In the summer of 1947, Wen Xiu and Liu Zhendong held a grand wedding ceremony with 10 tables of shark fin mats at the "Dongxing Building" in Donghuamen, Beijing. "Dongxing Lou" is a very famous restaurant, at that time, "watching Mei Lanfang's play and eating Dongxing Lou's restaurant" were the two major pleasures of Beijingers. The man's main marriage was Liu Zhendong's top boss, Li Yuqing, the deputy chief of the Northern Parallel Battalion, who later served as the deputy chief of the residence of acting President Li Zongren, and the woman's main marriage was the clan brother Fu Gongqing. "Dongxing Building" is not very far from Zhongnanhai North Parallel, and Liu Zhendong's colleagues who came to celebrate the wedding were many and filled 10 tables.
At that time, Wen Xiu was 41 years old, and he had experienced many years of ups and downs, but his appearance was not old, and his skin was still very delicate and shiny. When she was full of shame and toasted the groom from table to table, could she not remember the scene of being canonized more than 20 years ago? But how could she be willing to relive that heartbreaking past? After marriage, Liu Zhendong rented three bungalows in Baimixiae Street, Xicheng, Beiping, decorated with newly added furniture, and hired an elderly maid to cook and do miscellaneous work.
Wen Xiu has a quiet home of her own, and she is the last thing she wants to mention in the palace. Take care of housework every day, do not go out easily, have leisure time to read and learn words, and keep your hands on the control. Wen Xiu likes Peking Opera, her voice is quite clear, sometimes the nephews who can play the piano come to see her, and on a whim, they have to sing a few Hua Dan and Qing Yi plays, which is really tasteful. Sometimes, the two of them can't help but mix their mouths, Liu Zhendong is a stubborn person, Wen Xiu also has a personality, and it is natural for his tongue to touch his teeth. However, after all, the two are not young, and it has become a thing of the past to treat each other in case of trouble, and the relationship between husband and wife is not bad.
In the summer of 1948, Li Zongren went to Nanjing to become vice president of the Kuomintang government, and the Northern Parallel Battalion survived in name only. Liu Zhendong discussed with Wen Xiu and decided to retire, use his savings to buy eight flatbed cars left by the Japanese, and become the boss who relies on renting a car to survive. He is rough and informative, and his popularity in the society is also good, and the rental car business is prosperous.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the situation suddenly became tense, and Li Yuqing, vice president Li Zongren's deputy minister, withdrew to Taiwan. Liu Zhendong also wanted to sell his belongings and go to Li Yuqing, but Wen Xiu was reluctant to run the new home on Baimi Xie Street that she had painstakingly managed.
The home on Baimi Xie Street was finally sold, and the eight flatbed cars were exchanged for a ferry ticket price, and the full furniture was exchanged for a ferry ticket price. But just as Liu Zhendong and Wen Xiu were about to go to Tianjin to buy tickets, the news of the fall of Tianjin came, and then Beiping City and more than 200,000 Kuomintang troops in the city were besieged like iron barrels.
Liu Zhendong then gave up the idea of fleeing south, exchanged the ticket money for white rice, and stayed with Wen Xiu in the empty room without furniture, waiting for the arrangement of fate with a feeling of anxiety.