"An ordinary farmer married "Puyi's wife", and proudly said in his later years that this life is worth it", which makes people curious. How could an ordinary peasant marry Pu Yi's wife? What kind of story is this? And what kind of circumstances have intertwined the fates of ordinary people with those of the highest ruling class? Do they love each other? Or is it just a passive relationship? How did that concubine live by the side of the former emperor Puyi? Why did she end up leaving the palace and marrying an ordinary person? This must be full of hardships and twists and turns, let's wait and see this unique experience.
1. Wen Xiu entered the palace as a concubine and was favored and humiliated
During the Qing Dynasty, there were countless scholarly doors in the south of the Yangtze River, and there were many talents. Among them, the most prestigious is the Huai'an Zhou family. The Zhou family has attached great importance to the education of their children for generations, paid attention to the origin of family learning, and their protégés are all over the Ministry of Rites, which can be described as a real scholarly family. Wen Xiu, who was 16 years old at the time, was born in such a prominent family.
Wenxiu has been immersed in rich knowledge since he was a child, familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, and poetry and praise are all-encompassing. She is talented, beautiful, and gentle, and is regarded as the successor of the Zhou family in Huai'an. And at this moment, fate threw an unparalleled surprise and challenge at her.
In 1909, the Qing dynasty set things right, and Pu Yi was put on the throne of the last emperor. The Qing Dynasty was dying, from the family members in the palace to the ordinary people, all hoping that the new emperor could bring a new atmosphere to the country after he ascended the throne. Although the little emperor who was only 4 years old did not have a concubine, in order to choose a queen with both talent and virtue for the heir, the palace began to secretly look for the daughters of virtuous people from all over the world.
By chance, Pu Yi admired a group of portraits of ladies, and their outstanding talent and demeanor in Chinese embroidery made the emperor fall in love at first sight. In order to personally check the gates, Pu Yi ordered someone to summon Wen Xiu to leave the house to face the saint. This was undoubtedly a great honor at that time, but in order to maintain the style, the Zhou family immediately declined the summons.
However, the emperor's order was difficult to disobey, and in the end, under the urging of the higher authorities, Wenxiu had to leave her hometown and go to the Forbidden City alone. After arriving at the palace, Wen Xiu's words and deeds received special attention. Finally, on the occasion of the emperor's inspection, Pu Yi was deeply impressed by Wenxiu's talent and temperament, and named her a concubine in one go. Since then, the 16-year-old Huai'an daughter's family has opened a chapter of her life in the Forbidden City.
2. Pu Yi dreamed of regaining the throne, causing conflicts between husband and wife
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and the Qing Dynasty came to an end. As the last emperor, Pu Yi was forced to abdicate after the palace mutiny, away from the Forbidden City. In the years that followed, he wandered and lived a life of displacement.
However, as a generation of mediocre emperors, Pu Yi was obsessed and cherished the delusion of reascending the throne. In 1917, at the instigation of the Japanese, he attempted to rebuild the so-called "Chinese Empire" in the northeast. For this reason, Japan even supported him to become emperor in Changchun and established the puppet regime of "puppet Manchukuo".
In the face of Pu Yi's ulterior motives, Wen Xiu was deeply worried and distressed. As a true patriot, how could she tolerate Pu Yi becoming a pawn of the Japanese, colluding with foreigners and harming national interests? When Pu Yi confided in her about his ambition to return to power, Wen Xiu unceremoniously rejected it.
"Your Majesty, this is playing with fire! How can you be deceived by the Japanese and do such a thing that is contrary to the interests of the country and the nation? I can't stand it anymore! ＂
"This palace is to regain power, what qualifications do you have! Pu Yi was completely indifferent to Wen Xiu's dissuasion.
The two argued endlessly, and the conflict intensified. Pu Yi began to alienate Wenxiu and simply moved to live with Empress Wanrong. As a concubine, Wenxiu's status naturally cannot be compared with the queen of the main room, and can only be left out in the cold.
Seeing that no one listened to his opinions, Wen Xiu completely lost the right to speak beside Pu Yi. As the days passed, she could only watch helplessly at the former emperor, regardless of the overall situation for her own selfishness. Pu Yi's indifference to Wenxiu and the fact that he has no heirs made the contradiction between the two unable to be bridged, and the relationship plummeted.
3. Wen Xiu bravely "rested" the emperor
In the face of Pu Yi's increasingly absurd behavior, Wen Xiu's heart was extremely painful. At one point, she thought about ending this desperate marriage, and at one point even prepared to kill herself for it.
Fortunately, under the persuasion of her close cousin, Wen Xiu was freed from a desperate situation. Her cousin told her that suicide would not only be useless, but would make her voice unhearable. Only by living and bravely taking the helm of your life is the right choice.
"Sister, how can you just give up? Pu Yi has deviated from his original intention, but don't you still have your own ideals and pursuits? Leaving him is the way to protect yourself! ＂
Wen Xiu thought about her cousin's advice over and over again, and finally made up her mind to divorce Pu Yi. Although when she was given the title of concubine, she had made an oath never to disobey the emperor's order, but now it seems that the oath has long been broken.
One day in August 1935, Wen Xiu mustered up the courage to write a "letter of divorce" by herself, that is, in ancient times, the wife applied for divorce from her husband. When the little eunuch delivered the letter of resignation to Pu Yi, Pu Yi was furious and scolded wildly.
"It's a shame! As a concubine, how dare you be so presumptuous, where do you start with the resignation? ＂
But Wen Xiu didn't care about Pu Yi's anger. The next day, she published the news of her divorce from Pu Yi in the newspaper, on the grounds that "she couldn't bear Pu Yi's scolding, she couldn't bear the humiliation, she couldn't bear the beating and scolding of the eunuch, and she was forced to divorce."
This is undoubtedly a precedent that has never been seen in the past, and an imperial concubine was so brave to "leave" the emperor and publicly announced the news of the divorce. At that time, the whole society was in an uproar, public opinion was spreading, and no one was blind to it.
4. A rough life after divorce
After divorcing Pu Yi, Wen Xiu's life fell into confusion. As a palace maid who has never stepped out of the deep palace, she knows nothing about the outside world. And with the divorce, she also lost all her privileges and status in the palace.
Initially, Wenxiu tried to pursue a career in the education sector, and with her years of experience in the palace, she successfully applied for a private primary school. However, it was not long before the school was discriminated against and suppressed by the authorities, and eventually had to be closed. Wenxiu suffered heavy losses and collapsed.
Life is in a predicament, and Wenxiu can only run into walls everywhere, barely surviving by opening a small business. For a while, she set up a street stall selling art; I also tried to do some temporary work in a shop; I also worked in a pharmacy for a while. But no matter what she does, she can't escape the haze of poverty.
Just when Wenxiu was about to give up hope, a chance happened to let her enter the newspaper office and become a proofreader. Although the work is monotonous and boring, at least there is a regular salary income. Wenxiu was grateful, immersed in hard work, and put all her energy into her work.
In this way, Wenxiu gradually regained the hope and motivation of life in the new environment. She is willing to be lonely, dedicates all her efforts to her career, and lives a simple and bottom-line life. Although life is far from being peaceful, she no longer wants to look back on the glory and wealth of the past, but hopes to be able to fight the water and get a new life by herself.
5. Marry Liu Zhendong and live an ordinary life
After years of hard life, Wenxiu became increasingly tired, and she began to yearn for a new journey in life. At this moment, a warm-hearted person appeared and pointed her the way to happiness.
This warm-hearted man was the president of the newspaper. Over the years, he has not only watched Wenxiu work diligently in the newspaper, but also felt the extraordinary connotation from her life. As a close friend, the president naturally hopes that Wenxiu can get his own happiness.
One day, the president invited Wenxiu to be a guest and introduced her to a blind date - Liu Zhendong. Liu Zhendong is an ordinary farmer from a poor family, but he is honest and kind. As soon as he saw Wenxiu's graceful demeanor, Liu Zhendong was attracted by her temperament. He sincerely expressed his heart to Wen Xiu, hoping to marry her.
For this stranger's proposal, Wen Xiu was a little hesitant at first. She has lived in the deep palace since she was a child, can she adapt to the life of an ordinary family? But the president insisted that it was Liu Zhendong's simple personality that could best give Wenxiu an ordinary and stable home.
After repeated consideration, Wen Xiu finally made up her mind to marry Liu Zhendong, a farmer she had never met. In order to hide her past as a palace maid, she chose not to reveal any of her life experience, and planned to start a new life that she had never seen before.
In this way, Wenxiu married into the Liu family, completely stayed away from the noisy city, and lived an ordinary rural life. At first, she was not used to working on the farm, but she soon became accustomed to this new and austere way of life.
As the days passed, Wen Xiu found that she was not as difficult as she imagined. There is a considerate husband by his side, although the family is surrounded by walls, but the two are happy. Coupled with the innocent laughter of children can often be heard, Wenxiu's heart finally gained the peace that she had been looking forward to for a long time.
It was this seemingly ordinary married life that allowed Wenxiu to let go of all the glory and pain of the past and re-embrace the transience and beauty of life. Since then, she has completely stayed away from strife and right and wrong, and has spent the rest of her life in this peaceful home.