Chen Shimei had a chance to pick up a life before he was executed, when Bao Zheng made it clear to him that if he could recognize his wife, Bao Zheng could ask the emperor to exempt him from the death penalty, but Chen Shimei refused, and he did not recognize his wife until he died.
Qin Xianglian is Chen Shimei's wife, she is gentle and virtuous, filial to her in-laws, and is recognized as a good wife and mother. When Chen Shimei was preparing for the imperial examination, she relied on Qin Xianglian to manage it at home, and kept the house in order.
Soon after the two got married, Chen Shimei went to Beijing to take the imperial examination, and her elderly parents and young children were all taken care of by Qin Xianglian, but Qin Xianglian had no complaints.
She knows what the future means to a man, how long her husband has been preparing for this exam, and more importantly, if he can get fame, the fate of their family will be completely rewritten.
At that time, Qin Xianglian, who had bid farewell to her husband, didn't know what fate was waiting for her, nor did she know how cold-blooded her husband was, she just prayed silently for her husband in her heart, hoping that he could successfully arrive in the capital to gain fame and return to his hometown.
Although Chen Shimei's character is not good, she has some ability, and her written test results are among the best, and she is also very generous and decent in the palace examination, which is very favored by the emperor.
Generally speaking, the champion, the list eye and the tanhua are selected by the emperor after the palace examination is personally inspected, and the level of the people who enter the palace examination after layers of screening and "fighting" is often very similar, therefore, the champion still depends on a little luck.
Chen Shimei's luck is obviously good, he was born with a dignified appearance, he is also tall, and he has no stage fright in the face of the emperor's examination, so he successfully became the champion of that year.
The news of Chen Shimei's top prize in the examination soon spread back to his hometown, Qin Xianglian was both excited and happy, she knew that her husband would definitely work in the capital in the future, so she happily waited at home for her husband to pick up the family in Beijing.
Who would have thought that this would be several years, until her in-laws died one after another, she could not set foot on the road to the capital, so she had no choice but to take her in-laws' tablets and young children to Beijing to find a husband.
However, when she came to the capital, she learned that Chen Shimei had already become a concubine and lived a happy life with the princess, and she seemed to have been completely forgotten in her hometown.
Chen Shimei was very frightened when he learned that Qin Xianglian came to look for him, he did not tell the princess that he had a wife in his hometown, and in order to save his future, he was determined to kill his wife and children.
Fortunately, Qin Xianglian had a big life and escaped a catastrophe, knowing that her husband was going to kill her, Qin Xianglian was desperate, she didn't expect that the husband she thought about day and night would be such a ruthless person.
Grief and despair, she decisively chose the newspaper, so the matter involved the court, so in the end, the selfless Lord Bao Zhengbao personally investigated.
The truth soon became clear, and the emperor was furious, he didn't expect that the champion he had appointed, the princess's concubine, would be such a vicious person, and he would deceive himself and the princess.
Before the emperor ordered Chen Shimei's execution, Bao Zheng told Chen Shimei that if he could recognize Qin Xianglian, his wife, he might still have a chance of life, but Chen Shimei refused.
He knew that once he recognized this wife, he would admit the fact that he had abandoned his wife and children and ignored his elderly parents in his hometown, which would undoubtedly damage his reputation, and he would rather die than admit this infamy in that era when reputation and filial piety were very important.
Chen Shimei finally died under the dragon's head, and she did not recognize Qin Xianglian's position as a wife until her death.
