Speaking of King Qi Xuan, everyone should have an impression, and many of the idioms that we are familiar with are from the story of King Qi Xuan. For example: "Indiscriminate counting", "taking care of him left and right", "Gentleman's far kitchen" and so on. Although King Xuan of Qi was not a Ming emperor in history, during his reign, the State of Qi developed rapidly, prospered in culture, and strong in national strength. It can be said that it laid the foundation for the cultural situation of "a hundred schools of thought contending" in the Warring States period.
Logically, the king of a country, surrounded by three thousand beautiful women, would never be able to marry an ugly-looking woman. However, King Xuan of Qi married a strangely ugly salt-free woman.
In fact, the example of a king marrying an ugly wife has been around for a long time.
According to legend, the name of the Yellow Emperor's wife, "Concubine Mother", was an extremely ugly woman. "The mother-in-law is a puppet, and the good name cannot hide its ugliness", but because the mother-in-law is virtuous, the Yellow Emperor married her as a wife. It is said that the Yellow Emperor later defeated the Yan Emperor and destroyed Xuan You, both of whom had the help of his mother-in-law.
So, as the lord of a high country, King Qi Xuan, why would he marry a strange and ugly woman, and what kind of story is there in it?
Speaking of King Xuan of Qi marrying a saltless woman, there is also a good story during this period. Zhong Lichun, also known as Zhong Wuyan, is called Wuyan because she was a wuyan (present-day Dongping, Shandong) person, hence the name. It is said that the unsalted female bell leaves the spring, the chicken breast is hunched over, the front teeth protrude, the hair is thin, the skin and heels on the face are the same, the ugly is incomparable, the age is very old, and she has not married.
In addition, Zhong Lichun has a surprising appearance and does not like to sing and dance, but he is very concerned about national affairs, and has both moral integrity and ability with people and kindness.
In fact, in the early days of King Qi Xuan's reign, he was politically corrupt, and the court sang and danced all day long, drank and had fun, and had no intention of ruling the government. However, the saltless woman was extremely bold, although ugly, but never inferior, and even ran to the palace to see King Qi Xuan, and when they saw it, they shouted: "殆哉! After that, he began to complain about the shortcomings of the times, pointing out that the king was not only lustful, did not listen to the opinions of the sages, but also spent money indiscriminately, and so on.
It is said that a people's daughter who says such a great rebellious word will kill you more than a thousand times. But who knows, King Xuan of Qi listened to her and made sense, especially the first opinion should be corrected quickly, so he solemnly married Zhong Lichun as queen. Since then, King Xuan of Qi's diligent reforms have not only made the State of Qi the best of the Six Kingdoms, but also left behind two idioms: "Ugly victory without salt" and "self-recommendation pillow seat".
According to legend, Zhong Lichun not only has both moral integrity and ability, but also has courage and strategy on the battlefield.
Zheng Guangzu, one of the four masters of the Yuanqu, wrote a yuan miscellaneous drama called "Ugly Qi After No Salt Chain" (also called "Zhi Yong Ding Qi") according to the folk legend about Zhong Lichun. It is said that Qi Gongzi dreamed of Shu Yue at night, and shang dafu Yan Bao fulfilled his dream for him, believing that the wife he married was hidden in the countryside, and the luck of the times was not clear, and suggested that he go out of the city to hunt and search for ladies and sages. He happened to meet Zhong Wuyan, the daughter of Zhong Wuyan of the State of Qi, who was ugly but both literate and talented. When Yan Bao saw that she had spoken well, he persuaded Qi Gongzi to marry her as empress.
After that, the Prince of Qi not only followed Yan Bao's advice and married Zhong Wuyan, but also made her queen. At that time, the two kingdoms of Qin and Yan were eyeing the State of Qi and deliberately harassed the State of Qi, hoping to take the opportunity to humiliate the State of Qi. They designed for the State of Qi to send someone to untie the jade ring and play the pu string. With his amazing wisdom, Zhong Lichun not only perfectly solved these two problems, but also strategized and designed to anger the Qin and Yan countries, prompting the two countries to send troops to fight. After that, the two powerful armies were defeated on the battlefield, making the state of Qi worry-free.
In fact, in life, there are both moral integrity and ability, and there are brave and resourceful people on the battlefield to share worries for the country, and it is not unusual for such a woman to become the pillow person of King Qi Xuan.
However, some may worry that King Qi Xuan married Zhong Wuyan not out of genuine love for her, but out of political gain. In addition, there is also a saying that "there is no bell without beauty, and there is nothing to greet the spring in summer".
It is said that Zhong Wuyan and Xia Yingchun are both women around King Xuan of Qi, the former is ugly but intelligent, and the latter is beautiful but very stupid. Therefore, when King Xuan of Qi had something to do, he went to Zhong Wuyan for help; when the matter was over, he went to xia Yingchun to find fun. But in fact, there has never been such a statement, and Xia Yingchun is just a woman fiction of contemporary people.
However, it is not important whether it is a joke, what matters is whether King Xuan of Qi can really give Zhong Wuyan the same love?
As a woman, he was really worried about Zhong Wuyan's happy life, because King Xuan of Qi had stained the light of his ugly wife, which made posterity praise him and his reputation was thousands of years old. However, men are beautiful and greedy, but they are eternal nature, even if the mouth says that people do not look good, they still can't help but reveal their nature at a certain time. Moreover, the face of the ruler is often very thick, and it is unknown whether the person performs in front of him or the other person after him.
When King Xuan of Qi came out to see people, he took Zhong Lichun with him to show that he was virtuous and unsightly, and to lead by example and consolidate his own country. However, at night, there were three thousand beautiful ladies in the palace, and whether King Qi Xuan could really be in love with Queen Zhong Wuyan and his wife was probably another matter.
Although Zhong Lichun's virtuous virtues have been passed down from generation to generation and have been famous throughout the ages, as a woman, whether she has obtained the happiness that she expects in her heart cannot be studied or guessed. Perhaps, as a daughter, her heart is galloping, her heroism is not lost to men, and she does not pay attention to her children's love; or perhaps, although she has achieved great achievements in the world, her heart still cannot let go of her children's love.
However, behind the thousands of brilliance, she may just be a lonely red palace flower.
Resources:
["History, Volume 46, Tian Jingzhong Completed the Sixteenth Family", "The Biography of the Daughters of Lie, Volume 6", "The Ugly Qi Hou Wuyan Chain"]