Love and hate, power and conspiracy, play out in this power game. The two sisters were originally flesh and blood, but they killed each other because of jealousy and ambition. The conflict between Sun Quan's eldest daughter Sun Dahu and his second daughter Sun Xiaohu has a long history, stemming from Sun Quan's different attitudes towards his two daughters. One is pampered, the other is left out in the cold, planting the seeds of jealousy. Over time, this jealousy turned into hatred, which eventually led to tragedy between sisters. What is the reason for the opposition between the two sisters? How did their conflict escalate? What dark conspiracy is hidden in this game of thrones? Let's find out.
The imbalance of paternal love
In the first year of Huanglong (229), Sun Quan gave birth to his first child, Sun Dahu, during his reign. This little princess, who was born in the center of power, has been loved by Sun Quan since she was a child. As the eldest daughter of the royal concubine, Sun Dahu's status is naturally extraordinary. Sun Quan treated her differently and pinned his hopes more on this child.
Six years later, Sun Quan married his new favorite, Wang, and gave birth to a third child, Sun He, in the second year of Chiwu (236). Sun He has been alert and clever since he was a child, and he is deeply loved by Sun Quan. Sun Quan often wrapped him around and gave him all kinds of generous courtesies. On the other hand, the second daughter Sun Xiaohu, although she is not as favored as Sun Dahu, her status is also better than that of other children.
However, as Sun He grew older, Sun Quan became more and more fond of this smart and lovely son. He no longer favored his eldest daughter Sun Dahu as before, but devoted most of his energy to Sun He. This imbalance of fatherly love made Sun Dahu more and more jealous of Sun and his little uncle, and jealousy gradually grew in his heart.
Sun Quan's approach undoubtedly ignited the fuse of the sisters' grievances. Although Sun Dahu was once the pearl of his father's palm, Sun Quan's love for her did not last long. With the new Madame Wang entering the harem and the birth of Sun He, Sun Quan's preference for Sun Dahu gradually shifted. This made Sun Dahu feel lonely and couldn't let go.
In the social environment of the time, the attitude of the father was crucial. As a daughter under the patriarchal system, Sun Dahu has longed for her father's recognition and attention since she was a child. And Sun Quan's partiality towards Sun He's mother and son undoubtedly deprived her of her due rights and status. Since childhood, Sun Dahu has been resentful and jealous of Sun and his mother and son.
This long-hidden jealousy was the bane of the sisters' grievances later. Sun Dahu regarded Mrs. Wang and Sun He as her biggest enemies, but she didn't know that this was the beginning of her emotional distortion. Over time, this jealousy only grows and eventually turns into the seeds of hatred, the deadly bane of the sisters' cannibalism.
Harem Controversy
Just as Sun Quan's harem was fighting openly and secretly, an unusual fire suddenly hit the palace of Sun Wu. The fire not only burned down the harem, but also affected the surrounding buildings of the palace, causing heavy damage. After investigation, the fire turned out to be caused by Sun Quan's eldest daughter Sun Dahu and second daughter Sun Xiaohu.
Things have to start with Sun Quan Xinna's favorite concubine, Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang is not only outstanding, but also favored by Sun Quan because of her birth to the crown prince. This naturally caused strong dissatisfaction among the original step trainers. In order to weaken Madame Wang's position, the foot trainer frequently slandered Madame Wang against Sun Quan, trying to win Sun Quan's favor again.
At the instigation of the foot trainer, the sisters began to secretly retaliate against Madame Wang. They secretly instigated their cronies to rebel against the ministers of the court, intending to disrupt the government and thus affect the reputation and status of Madame Wang. In addition, they also sent people to set fire to Madame Wang's palace and private residence on many occasions.
However, the situation did not turn out as the sisters had hoped. Sun Quan's affection for Madame Wang was deep-rooted and unaffected by these conspiracies. Not only that, the repeated provocation of the foot trainer also deepened Mrs. Wang's vigilance, but made Mrs. Wang more cautious and her relationship with Sun Quan more intimate.
In the face of Mrs. Wang's tough attitude, coupled with Sun Quan's protection and connivance, the conspiracy of the foot trainer and his two daughters did not succeed after all. Later, Mrs. Wang set a trap to induce Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu to show their hideous faces. In order to retaliate, the two sisters did not hesitate to set fire to the palace where Mrs. Wang lived, in an attempt to take the opportunity to hurt Mrs. Wang.
This was undoubtedly a serious provocation and open defiance against the royal authority. At the instigation of Mrs. Wang, Sun Quan finally ruthlessly dismissed the foot trainer from the harem, and imprisoned the two sisters, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu, away from the palace. Despite this, the sisters did not admit defeat, but secretly befriended the henchmen and continued to plot and slander Mrs. Wang and Sun He's mother and son.
This incident not only exacerbated the cruelty of the harem infighting, but also the fuse of the sisters' future conflicts and grievances. The shame of being imprisoned and suppressed made Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu hate Mrs. Wang and Sun He's mother and son even more, and vowed to regain their rightful position of power. Since then, the two sisters have embarked on a protracted revenge conspiracy, and they will make Mrs. Wang and Sun He mother and son pay a heavy price.
Court conspiracy
After being imprisoned, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu did not retreat, but used the power of the court party struggle to plot to regain power. They first targeted the crown prince Sun He and his mother, Mrs. Wang.
Sun He has been favored by Sun Quan since he was a child, and was canonized as the crown prince, and his power gradually increased. And Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu, as the eldest daughter and second daughter, were originally not inferior to Sun He, but now they have been imprisoned in the cold, and their resentment can be imagined. In order to get out of the predicament and regain power, they began to secretly make friends with henchmen, and carried out conspiracy and slander against the crown prince.
First of all, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu began to secretly instigate Wang Dao, Bu Liuwu and other henchmen to carry out activities in order to divide the momentum of the government and the opposition. They fabricated rumors and slandered Sun and his mother and son for being rebellious, intending to make Sun Quan suspicious of the crown prince. At the same time, the two sisters even bribed the ministers of the DPRK and China to expand their power in the government and the opposition.
With these means, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu quickly made a group of cronies in the government and the opposition, forming a powerful political group. They began to openly question the ability of the crown prince, accusing him of inaction, and suggesting that Sun He should be removed from the throne.
In addition, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu also set a trap to frame the princeling's henchman Zhu Ju and others for rebellion, resulting in Zhu Ju being killed. This is undoubtedly part of the huge pressure on Sun He. Under the covert manipulation of the sisters, the ruling and opposition camps gradually divided, and the prince group suffered heavy losses.
The most critical move is that Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu teamed up with King Lu and Sun Ba to rebel. They designed Sun Ba to secretly win over his cronies and create turmoil in the government and the opposition, intending to depose the crown prince Sun He and seize the throne. For a time, the Beijing division fell, the party struggle intensified, and the government and the opposition were almost split.
Under the impetus of this conspiracy force, the crown prince Sun He was under heavy pressure, and was finally expelled from the court by Sun Quan, and the throne was removed. Since then, the conspiracy of Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu has succeeded, and the position of the crown prince has been empty for a while. What they are trying to do is to take advantage of the chaos to seize power and regain a piece of the pie in the court for themselves.
However, at this time, Sun Quan no longer favored and connived at the conspiracy of his daughters. After the crown prince was deposed, Sun Quan severely punished Sun Ba, the king of Lu, and other henchmen and gave them to death. However, he did not punish Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu and allowed them to continue to wreak havoc in the court. This undoubtedly left a bane for an even greater family tragedy in the future.
Relatives intervened
After the court conspiracy failed, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu began to use the power of their relatives to further expand the blow to the princelings. They involve their husbands in an attempt to use their husbands' backgrounds to increase the pressure on them.
Sun Dahu's husband, Zhou Xun, was the nephew of Zhou Yu, a famous minister of Wu. Zhou Xun has read poetry and books since he was a child, and he is alert, which is deeply appreciated by Sun Quan. He was not only entrusted with important tasks, but also loved by Sun Quan because of Sun Dahu, and he can be described as a winner in life.
And Sun Xiaohu's husband Zhu Ju is from a rebel general who was originally from Eastern Wu. He is self-righteous and boastful. However, because of Sun Xiaohu's relationship, Sun Quan trusted him very much and entrusted him with important tasks.
With the help of their husband's power, the two sisters began to expand wildly and suppress the power of the princelings. Zhou Xun used the prestige of his father-in-law Zhou Yu to vigorously win over Sun Dahu's henchmen in the court; Zhu Ju relied on his martial arts and good fighting skills to recruit a group of military generals and cronies to serve Sun Xiaohu. Soon, the sisters' influence in Korea and abroad gradually grew.
With the support of their relatives, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu intensified their attacks on the crown prince Sun He. They instructed their cronies to spread words everywhere, fabricated rumors to slander Sun He, and even hinted that Sun He had rebellious intentions and intended to seize the heir. At their instigation, Zhu Ju and others publicly insulted the crown prince Sun He many times, causing the government and the opposition to be shocked.
In the face of such a rampant foreign relative force, Sun He really couldn't resist it. He had to turn to Sun Quan again and again, hoping that Sun Quan could suppress the arrogance of his relatives. However, Sun Quan failed to see the seriousness of the situation at this time, and had selfish intentions for Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu's behavior, and ignored them.
Soon, the situation was completely out of control. At the instigation of Zhu Ju, the henchmen were even more vicious to the prince, and even publicly burned the prince's palace, threatening to kill Sun and retaliate. This already constituted a serious threat and an open provocation to imperial power.
Faced with such a situation, Sun Quan was finally forced to take action and kill Zhu Ju, but he still showed mercy to Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu. This further intensified the sisters' revenge, and they tried their best to encourage Zhou Xun to intervene and expand the suppression of the crown prince.
With the influence of the Zhou Xun family, the suppression of the prince by the government and the opposition has become more unscrupulous since then. At one time, even Sun Quan's concubines joined the siege of the prince, which made the prince's situation worse.
Siblings
In the crackdown on the crown prince Sun He, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu did not stop there. Instead, they set out to deal with Sun Quan's favorite son, Sun He. A tragedy of sibling cannibalism began.
Relying on the conspiracy layout of the government and the opposition, Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu began to secretly instigate their henchmen and fabricate rumors to slander Sun He for being rebellious. They deliberately targeted Sun He's mother and son, intending to make Sun Quan suspicious of his son, thereby weakening Sun He's powerful position.
First, they instigated their henchmen to write satirical texts that slandered their grandson and mother and son. These words were hung in the streets and alleys of the Imperial City, with the intention of publicly attacking Sun He and creating public opinion pressure. At the same time, the sisters sent their cronies to secretly spread rumors that Sun and his mother and son were colluding with other races in an attempt to seize power.
In the face of such a fierce offensive, Sun He really couldn't protect himself. He had to turn to Sun Quan again and again, hoping that Sun Quan could come forward to calm the turmoil. However, Sun Quan turned a blind eye to his daughters' behavior and ignored them. This makes Sun He's situation even more dangerous.
Soon, the conspiracy of Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu gradually escalated. They not only continued to smear Sun He in the government and the opposition, but also secretly formed a party for personal gain, colluding with the generals to rebel. With the support of some military generals, the sisters even openly killed several Sun and his henchmen, and the bloody and brutal methods were heinous.
Faced with such behavior of his daughters, Sun Quan hesitated again and again, but decided to stop it. However, at this time, the situation was irreparable, the government and opposition camps had already split the two factions, and blood was about to rage in the imperial city.
Sure enough, when Sun Quan came forward to mediate, he was met with armed resistance from Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu. The two sisters commanded their cronies and personally led the army to kill Sun Quan and the princelings. For a time, the imperial city fell, and the pro-Yao Yan fell side by side, and the war spread all over the government and the opposition.
Eventually, after a fierce battle, Sun Quan personally subdued Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu's army. However, this civil unrest did not stop there, but intensified. After Sun Dahu and Sun Xiaohu were arrested, they continued to unleash a rebellion among their henchmen, igniting the war again.
After months of scuffle, Sun Quan finally gritted his teeth and sentenced the sisters to death, but the government and opposition camps were still divided. Although the conspiracy of the big tiger and the small tiger was quelled, the division within the royal family left an indelible wound, and the prelude to the change of dynasty began...