Let's start with the meaning of the cold palace
In fact, the "cold" in the cold palace refers to psychological coldness, and it is the place used by the emperor to imprison those concubines who have made big mistakes and fallen out of favor.
There is no fixed place in the cold palace, but they usually have some things in common, such as remote location, cold environment, sparsely populated, dark and damp, etc., the concubine who was beaten into the cold palace is equivalent to being exiled to a certain extent, and the standard of living has dropped significantly.
Therefore, many concubines who have been beaten into the cold palace, in order to reduce the suffering time, often choose to hang themselves, and they will be killed directly.
Let's talk about some famous cold palaces in history
There are several cold palace places in history that are more famous. For example, in the Changmen Palace of the Han Dynasty, Gillian was the heroine of the allusion "Golden House Zangjiao", but unfortunately after she was old and decrepit, the scumbag Liu Che began to abandon and became more and more cold to her.
However, Liu Che may be grateful for the emotions of the past, or he is afraid of the forces behind Gillian, and he is not too embarrassed for Gillian, Changmen Palace just let Gillian change her place of life, and the other treatment has not changed at all, this kind of cold palace career is even the good life that many concubines dream of.
However, Concubine Zhen of the Qing Dynasty "was not so lucky. Concubine Zhen offended Cixi because she supported the reform of the law, and was imprisoned in Jingqi Pavilion by the latter?
The three places in the north and the north have a hard time! The food is all in the specifications of slaves, and even the toilet can only be used once a day.
During the New Year's holidays or on the first and fifteenth days of each month, Cixi would send eunuchs to humiliate Concubine Zhen, and they would point to Concubine Zhen's head and reprimand her guilt, but Concubine Zhen could only kneel on the ground and listen respectfully, and after the reprimand, she had to kowtow to thank her.
What's even more tragic is that Concubine Zhen always believed that Guangxu would come to save her, gritted her teeth and endured two years of painful life, but when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, Cixi was so frightened that she planned to flee west overnight, but before leaving, she did not forget Concubine Zhen, and directly ordered the eunuch and palace maid to push her into the well, completely cutting off the hope of the latter.
Concubine Zhen was looking forward to it, waiting for not Guangxu's rescue, but Cixi's claws, it is not difficult to imagine how desperate she was in her heart at that time!
As the most powerful ninety-five supreme in ancient feudal society, the emperor can enjoy all kinds of privileges, such as the three wives and four concubines of the ordinary master's family, and they have seventy-two concubines in three palaces and six courtyards~, and even sit on the three beauties of the harem.
After the number of concubines increased, the emperor's happiness also increased, but at the same time they faced various choice problems: which concubine should they favor tonight?
However, there is only one emperor, even if they care about this matter, there will always be some concubines who will be left out in the cold, and even some concubines will fight each other in order to win the emperor's favor, frame each other, and finally the loser will be beaten into the cold palace and suffer from desolation and loneliness.
However, the interesting thing is that this cold palace, which makes the concubines talk about it, has a great attraction for the eunuchs, and they even compete for the opportunity to go to the cold palace to serve the concubines.
Why are the eunuchs so eager to "serve the concubines of the cold palace", and is there an ulterior motive?
1. Money temptation
In ancient times, the concubines who fell out of favor, once they were beaten into the cold palace, basically on the day when they did not turn over, in the cold palace, this remnant life, at this time, some eunuchs, went to rush to serve the concubines who were beaten into the cold palace, to send food, send some daily necessities, this into the cold palace of the concubine, is the matching phoenix "is not as good as chicken, food, in order to avoid the eunuch on the way to the deduction, you have to give the eunuch some benefits, some concubines, when they are beaten into the cold palace, they will still carry some private money, jewelry and the like.
When this eunuch came to serve the concubine, in order to have a better life in the cold palace in the future, the concubine had to take gold and silver jewelry and bribe these eunuchs, otherwise the eunuch would be unhappy, and the things sent to the concubines in the cold palace would probably be worse.
2. Emotional venting
This eunuch rushed to serve the concubine, and there was a more insidious purpose. On weekdays, the concubine is high, radiant, can enter the palace to be elected as a concubine, that appearance must be one in a million, although the concubine has entered the cold palace, but still beautiful, this eunuch will have a bad mind, although the eunuch is physiological, but there will still be that aspect of the requirements in his heart, and he will rush to serve the concubine in the cold palace.
When you go to serve the concubine, you will take the opportunity to blackmail the concubine, so that the eunuch can meet her psychological needs, this down-and-out concubine, in order to survive, can only agree to the needs of the eunuch, so this eunuch is equivalent to picking up a big bargain in vain, of course, he will rush to serve the concubine in the cold palace.
There is another situation: the eunuchs will also rush to serve the concubines in the cold palace. It is when this concubine is in power, she treats the eunuch as inappropriate, the eunuch hates this concubine in his heart, and when the concubine enters the cold palace, the eunuch will torture the concubine, just to take revenge.
Although the status of eunuchs in ancient times was not high, some smart people would not offend eunuchs, but would usually give eunuchs small favors.
3. Bet on fate
In a sense, serving the concubine of the cold palace can be regarded as a gamble that makes a steady profit without losing money, if you win the bet, you will soar directly, and there is no loss if you lose the bet. "Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, don't bully young people into poverty. This can also be used on concubines who have been beaten into the cold palace.
Although the vast majority of the concubines who were thrown into the cold palace did not end well, there are exceptions, if one day they come to regain the favor of the emperor, then the eunuchs who have lent a helping hand when they are most depressed will rise in status and directly become the masters of the eunuchs.
In "The Legend of Ruyi", the heroine Wulanala Ruyi was defeated in the harem battle and was sent to the cold palace, during which she suffered humiliation and abuse, almost everyone sneered at her, only the cold palace guard Ling Yunche^ showed her care and care.
Later, Ruyi came to work and returned to the position, and Ling Yunche rose step by step, although Ling Yunche did not escape being killed in the end, but it is undeniable that the good causes he once planted bore good results.
Therefore, the eunuchs scrambled to serve the concubines who were beaten into the cold palace, and it was possible to bet on fate, they thought that these cold palace concubines might make a comeback in the future, and planned to form a good relationship with them in advance through dedication.
Fourth, the picture is idle
In addition to the above reasons, the eunuchs may be eager to serve the concubines of the cold palace in order to have a leisure.
We have to understand who the eunuchs were? They have been in the service of the royal family since their birth, and they are stewards of the royal family at best, but they are just slaves of the royal family at worst.
Except for a few celebrities around the emperor, the vast majority of eunuchs are the lowest level of the harem, they must look at other people's faces when they do anything, and they must be cattle and horses every day to please their masters.
At the beginning, An Dehai was a big celebrity around Cixi, and many people flattered him, but in the end he was beheaded by Ding Baozhen to show the public, Cixi had no intention of taking revenge at all, in the end, he was just a slave from beginning to end, and no one would pity his life and death.
After An Dehai's death, Li Lianying became the second celebrity next to Cixi, but even he was still sentenced to a cane by Guangxu for violating taboos, even though Guangxu was already a puppet at that time.
In front of the royal family, the eunuchs almost couldn't raise their heads, and they trembled and walked on thin ice every day, for fear that one day they would lose their lives because of their mistakes, which made them under great psychological pressure at all times.
However, serving the concubines of the cold palace is completely different. Located in the cold palace, the eunuchs no longer need to kneel and lick each other like dogs, and even get the other party's flattery, work easily, with little pressure, and be at ease every day, where the eunuchs can really find the dignity of being a man, including the dignity of being a man, which is a good life that countless eunuchs dream of.
Therefore, countless eunuchs sharpened their heads and drilled into the cold palace.
After the concubine was sent to the cold palace, the eunuchs rushed to serve not because they were sympathetic, they were either seeking money and bribes, or to relieve negative emotions, or to bet on the fate of the concubine, or to find a decent job that was easy and comfortable.