In that era of power struggle, an innocent princess was ill-fated and was caught in the whirlpool of the struggle between the royal family and the ministers. Who is she? Why did she have this kind of experience? What kind of ordeal did she go through? Where will she end up?
1. The first bloom of golden branches and jade leaves: the birth and growth of Princess Cuihua
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, soon after Emperor Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, he ushered in a golden baby - Princess Cuihua. This little princess from a wealthy family has been favored and loved by the guests since the day she was born.
In 1654 A.D., Emperor Shunzhi's concubine Yang was pregnant and gave birth, and the royal family finally ushered in a little princess. There were bursts of crying in the palace, but it was the voice of a century-old treeman, because the arrival of the little princess was undoubtedly a great joy for the government and the opposition. After learning of this good news, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang personally named the little princess "Cuihua", which means that she is like a green and delicate new sprout, waiting to serve the tender before the ice release, the spring breeze blows, and the blooming bright and fragrant.
As the only daughter of Shunzhi, Princess Cuihua has been deeply loved by the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang since she was a child. At that time, she was petite, with fair skin, a pair of bright big eyes full of innocent expressions, and her lively and lovely appearance made everyone in the Forbidden City impressed by her charm. The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang always carefully protects this "young seedling" in the greenhouse and takes care of her growth.
Since she was a child, Princess Cuihua has shown extraordinary talent, and at the age of six she was able to recite classic works from ancient to modern times. She is not only smart, but also learns what she is like, works diligently, and always makes the eunuchs and palace maids applaud. In addition to being brilliant, she also has an innocent nature, and often uses immature tricks to make the Queen Mother and the palace people laugh. This made the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang even more in love with her, not only giving her the honorific title of "Princess Heshuo", but also rewarding her with countless favors and treasures.
The years flew by, and the once naughty and cute little princess gradually grew up in the palace. As she grew older, Princess Cuihua also became dignified and beautiful, knowledgeable. She obeys the rules and etiquette, and is steady and old-fashioned, and her dignified and elegant temperament makes her stand out among many princesses, and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang appreciates her.
Second, the plot of planting willows and tying up powerful ministers
After the death of Emperor Shunzhi, Ao Bai began the road to power to rule the Qing Dynasty as regent. This person was originally from a humble background, but he won the appreciation of Emperor Shunzhi for his martial arts and good fighting, and his status rose all the way, and finally became the real power controller of the dynasty. The desire to worship power encroached on imperial power, and gradually made the emperor who was supposed to be authoritative a puppet.
At the beginning of Ao Bai's rise to power, he still behaved humbly and deferentially, but what he did secretly made the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the young Emperor Kangxi worried. Ao Bai did not follow the program of the court, handled military affairs without authorization, and secretly co-opted party henchmen in an attempt to control the government. His provocations to the imperial power became more and more explicit, and even the young Emperor Kangxi did not take care of them, making the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang feel deeply threatened.
In order to stabilize the imperial power, Xiaozhuang and Kangxi had to try their best to control the arrogant worship. While they obey some of Aobai's decisions, they secretly look for an opportunity to bring down the ambitious minister. But power has always been a thing that is difficult to give up, whenever Xiaozhuang and Kangxi want to suppress Aobai's power, Aobai will always counteract, resulting in more and more contradictions between the two sides.
In this power struggle that lasted for several years, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Emperor Kangxi patiently waited for a good opportunity. Fortunately, finally in the ten years of Kangxi, they found an opportunity to break through.
In order to show his appeasement and respect for the Aobai family, Xiaozhuang made a seemingly unintentional decision to marry the princess Cuihua, whom she loved, to Aobai's own nephew Nardu. This was not only a royal compliment to his courtiers, but also a means of sympathizing with the round house, so as to give Ao Bai a burst of favor and temporarily curb his ambitions.
Ao Bai was extremely happy to be able to marry the royal family, and thought that Xiaozhuang and Kangxi were sincerely treating them like cronies and ministers. So he readily agreed to the marriage, and instructed his nephew Nerdu Haosheng to serve Princess Cuihua without any neglect.
As soon as the wedding came, Princess Cuihua, who was only fifteen years old, married Nardu, who was in her early twenties. At the beginning of the marriage, the young couple were very affectionate and loved each other. But Princess Cuihua, as a smart person, saw very well that the ins and outs of this family affair were not out of ordinary.
Third, the hairpin head phoenix crown changed its feather coat, and there was no way back when he was in prison
Princess Cuihua's marriage is undoubtedly an important son in a very well-arranged political situation. Emperor Kangxi finally overthrew his confidant Aobai in ten years, arrested him and imprisoned him to punish his crimes. But for Princess Emerald Flower, the victory brought unexpected bad luck.
Once Ao Bai falls into the emperor's legal net, his henchmen will naturally not escape the impact. As the wife of Aobai's own nephew, Princess Cuihua bore the brunt of the attack and suffered from the rejection and revenge of Aobai's henchmen. Overnight, this aristocratic princess, who was once admired by tens of thousands of people, became a concubine with nothing, and her life fell into dire straits.
The first to stretch out the wolf claws to Princess Cuihua were the concubines of Aobai. These women originally had a lot of respect for Princess Cuihua, but once their master was killed, they began to take revenge in a frenzy. They sneered, humiliated Princess Cuihua's identity all the time, and even spit in front of her. Sometimes Princess Cuihua will deliberately let her do some extremely dirty housework, in order to see her ugly and humiliated.
Many of Aobai's sons and nephews also retaliated against Princess Cuihua. Some of them would punch and kick at every turn, insulting and slandering the former princess. There are also some nephews who kidnapped and imprisoned Princess Cuihua, subjecting her to inhuman abuse, and she is simply in prison.
Even the henchmen of Aobai are extremely vicious to Princess Cuihua. They saw her as a marionette, bullying her as much as they wanted. Some people regard her as a "toilet washer"-like existence, venting her dirty and filthy desires at will. Others secretly sent people to capture Princess Cuihua and torture her body with various tortures.
Under this inhuman treatment, Princess Cuihua was traumatized physically and mentally. She was originally born in a wealthy family and pampered, how could she have experienced such humiliation? Coupled with the fact that she had suffered so much physical abuse, her qi and blood became weaker and weaker, and her spirit began to go crazy. Sometimes she would suddenly go crazy and talk nonsense to herself, just like crazy.
Fourth, a boat crossed the siege and broke the siege, and the emperor's grace was reborn
After years of hardship, the Kangxi Emperor finally completely extinguished the threat to imperial power from the Aobai party. In order to curb the suspicion of the government and the opposition about the change in the political situation, Kangxi decided to adopt a policy of softness, restore the official status of the old ministers, and give mercy to those innocent people who were implicated in the worship of Ao.
Princess Cuihua, who is a relative of Aobai, is naturally also on the list of this amnesty. After years of physical and mental torture, she was finally free. However, what happened to this princess was too wronged, which made Emperor Kangxi have deep sympathy for her.
In order to express the royal family's apology and comfort to Princess Cuihua, in addition to giving her a lot of money, Kangxi also deliberately posthumously awarded her deceased husband Ne Erdu the title of a second-grade official. Since then, Princess Cuihua is no longer a cheap concubine, but a righteous concubine.
Not only that, Emperor Kangxi gave a secluded and quiet palace to Princess Cuihua to live in, so that she no longer had to be bullied and could spend her old age in peace. The eunuchs and concubines in the palace were also ordered to serve the princess who had suffered so much to show the royal favor.
got Kangxi's generous arrangement, and Princess Cuihua's life was completely reversed. Since then, she has lived a leisurely life without worrying about food and clothing, and without worries. However, these favors were only a consolation to her, and she had lost too much.
Her once lively, lovely, and innocent personality has completely disappeared after experiencing the abuse of Aobai's henchmen. Instead, he looked haggard and timid. She no longer has any interest in the outside world, and stays alone in the deep palace day and night, living a palace life with food and drink but listlessness.
But what saddened her the most was the death of the most important person in her life. Soon after the Kangxi Emperor bestowed all these blessings on her, Princess Cuihua's husband Nerdu died one after another. The blow of losing her beloved husband made Princess Cuihua so distressed that she was so grief-stricken that she could hardly find the courage to live again.
Fifth, the twilight years are desolate and die alone
Since then, Princess Cuihua has lived a decadent and depressed palace life. Day and night, she just sat quietly indoors, staring into the distance with a blank face, as if the vitality of life had been sucked out of her.
In order to pass the boring time, sometimes she would gather some palace people to accompany her, but she would just let them have fun, and she never participated in it. Occasionally, eunuchs and palace maids came to visit and greet her, and she only barely sketched a smile, which was regarded as a hospitality.
The only thing Princess Cuihua puts her heart and soul into is probably taking care of the small pond in the backyard. On a sunny day, she would slowly walk to the edge of the pool, gazing at the water lilies and lotus flowers floating on the lake, evoking memories one after another.
Those past events came to her eyes one by one, as if they happened yesterday as clear and moving. She recalled her carefree childhood, how naughty and lovely she was at that time, and she was the pearl of the queen mother and her father. She also remembered that she was beautiful and talented in her prime years, and she was the best in the palace. What makes her even more unforgettable is the sweet love between herself and her beloved husband Jun Neerdu, which was the best time in her life.
But all of this can only be turned into the past and hidden in the heart forever. Facing the reflection of the lonely moon in the pond, she couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion. Her life experience is too vicissitudes, from glory and wealth to pennilessness, from fine clothes and food to abuse, from happiness to the loss of love, the ups and downs of life are simply as wonderful as a big drama.
In this way, day after day, year after year, Princess Cuihua spent the rest of her life in this secluded palace. The years have flown by, and her delicate face has long been aged by the vicissitudes of life and has become full of wrinkles. The lively and clever appearance back then is now only a weak and helpless sick face.
When she turned seventy, fate played her joke again. A heavy snowfall completely enclosed her in the palace, and it was difficult to ask for help when she went out. Due to her advanced age, she could not bear the cold at all. In this way, in the silence, she withered to the ground like a helpless butterfly and ended her life alone.