Recalling the once popular "last queen" Li Shuxian, many people's impression of her is limited to the fact that she is the wife of the last emperor Puyi. But her life was much more than that. Li Shuxian was born in a civilian and was originally an ordinary nurse, but under the arrangement of fate, she married Pu Yi, who was once in power in the world.
However, the marriage was not all smooth sailing, but was full of mysteries and twists and turns. It is said that Li Shuxian, who was newly married Yan'er, was tormented by Pu Yi's eccentricity to the point of collapse, and the two quarreled to the point of divorce. What's even more puzzling is that one day Li Shuxian found out that Pu Yi secretly ran to the hospital in the middle of the night to inject hormones, what does this mean? Why did Pu Yi do this? Where will their marriage go? These foggy details make us curious about the past lives of the "empress" and "emperor".
The last queen of commoner origin
It is unimaginable that a commoner woman could marry the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty. In 1962, Pu Yi, who was in his early fifties at the time, tied the knot with Li Shuxian, who was twenty-four years younger than him. As soon as the news of this marriage came out, it immediately caused a sensation across the country.
Li Shuxian was born in 1925 to a small Beijing peddler. Due to her family's poverty, she was able to attend school with the help of her relatives since she was a child. During the Anti-Japanese War, Li Shuxian studied at the nursing school of Peking Union Medical College, and later worked in the school hospital after graduation and never married.
In contrast, Pu Yi's life story is much more legendary. Born in 1906, he was originally the youngest son of Aixinjue Luo Pujie, was confirmed as the crown prince at the age of three, and ascended the throne at the age of six, making him the youngest reigning emperor in Chinese history. After the Xinhai Revolution in 1912, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and Pu Yi was forced to abdicate at the age of six. In the decades that followed, he lived a life of exile.
It was not until 1959 that Pu Yi was granted amnesty and re-established as a legal citizen of China. After working in the botanical garden of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, he began to think about his life's work. Pu Yi, who was 54 years old at the time, once told people around him that he wanted to marry a nurse, and Li Shuxian was a qualified nurse candidate.
The two first met through Sha Zengxi, editor of the People's Publishing House, and Zhou Zhenqiang, commissioner of the Cultural and Historical Materials Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. When Pu Yi saw Li Shuxian's photo, he fell in love with this civilian woman in her early thirties at first sight and decided to marry her. Although there is a huge gap between the two families, Pu Yi has long gotten rid of the old shelf, and he just wants to live the life of ordinary people.
On April 30, 1962, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian held a simple and grand wedding at the former site of the European and American Scholars Association of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Although no princes and nobles attended, this lifelong event for the commoners and the "emperor" still caused a shock and attracted everyone's attention.
In this way, an ordinary woman from a humble background accidentally married the former emperor Pu Yi and became the "last queen". Although the couple had a beautiful vision at the beginning of their marriage, they did not expect that their married life would soon fall into difficulties and twists and turns.
Newlyweds are full of troubles
Although their marriage was initially blessed and praised by society, the honeymoon period quickly passed. Li Shuxian found that life with Pu Yi was far more difficult than she imagined.
Just a week after getting married, Li Shuxian was plagued by Pu Yi's many unbelievable quirks. Pu Yi always flipped through books all night long, and did not take a nap until dawn. Sometimes Li Shuxian woke up in the middle of the night and found Pu Yi next to her sideways, staring at her and smiling. What's even more strange is that Pu Yi always likes to smell Li Shuxian's hair, but he has never really had intimate contact with her.
As an ordinary Beijing woman, Li Shuxian naturally felt that her husband's behavior was very abnormal. She began to wonder if the former emperor had really adapted to modern life. As a result, the conflict between the two intensified, and the lingering honeymoon period of joy quickly cooled.
In the second week after the marriage, the situation deteriorated further. One night, Li Shuxian was woken up by Pu Yi's strange dance steps. She stayed up all night and slept until noon the next day. After lunch, Li Shuxian finally couldn't hold it back and had a fierce quarrel with Pu Yi.
The fuse of the dispute was that Li Shuxian was overwhelmed and asked for separation. She believes that Pu Yi's behavior has long crossed her bottom line of tolerance. Pu Yi, on the other hand, was very puzzled by his wife's reaction, and he never understood what he had done wrong.
The quarrel eventually ended in a cold war between the two. The next day, Lee decided to move out and live with relatives until they could reconcile one day. Seeing that the marriage was on the verge of breaking up, Li Shuxian was angry and could not hide the disappointment in her heart.
However, at this moment of crisis, an unexpected event made Li Shuxian unexpectedly discover a secret that made her extremely puzzling. That day, Pu Yi told Li Shuxian that he was going to the hospital, and Li Shuxian followed.
When she arrived at the hospital, Li Shuxian saw that Pu Yi was receiving a strange injection - it turned out to be a hormone! As a nurse professional, Li Shuxian instantly realized what this meant: she and Pu Yi were destined to have no children, and the marriage would become a boring relationship that existed in name only.
Faced with this cruel truth, Li Shuxian was completely desperate. She couldn't help but ask herself: Is marrying an emperor destined to live like this in the end? What about those who see her as the "last queen"? For a while, Li Shuxian fell into deep confusion and confusion.
Amazing insider
Li Shuxian couldn't have imagined that there was such an amazing inside story behind her marriage with Pu Yi. In fact, the reason why Pu Yi ran to the hospital in the middle of the night to secretly inject hormones stemmed from his royal bloodline, which had suffered a heavy blow.
As the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Pu Yi was supposed to continue the once prosperous Aixin Jueluo royal family incense. However, due to the Manchu Dynasty's practice of consanguineous marriage, Pu Yi unfortunately suffered from a serious congenital genetic disease. Although he had five wives in his lifetime, none of them had any children.
This is a knot that Pu Yi could not untie throughout his life. Every time he thought that he would have no heirs, he fell into deep self-reproach and pain. In order to obtain an heir, Pu Yi tried hard to seek medical advice and medicine, and also tried a variety of earthwork secret techniques, but in the end they all failed.
In 1962, at the age of 56, Pu Yi finally decided to try the last ditch – to stimulate fertility through hormone injections. He secretly went to the hospital and received regular hormone injections under the guidance of doctors, hoping to regain his last hope of having children.
Regrettably, however, those expensive drugs did not work for Puyi. Despite this, he still stubbornly persevered, sometimes running to the hospital in the middle of the night to seek medical treatment, and sometimes secretly injecting at home. It was precisely because of this that Li Shuxian accidentally bumped into him for hormone injections.
In fact, the reason why Pu Yi was so obsessed with childbearing was largely influenced by the old traditions of the Qing Dynasty. In the feudal era, everyone regarded the incense of their heirs as the supreme responsibility. Pu Yi once said helplessly in a conversation: "As the head of state, you must have heirs to inherit the lineage, otherwise it will be considered unfilial." ＂
It is not difficult to see that although it is the period of the Republic of China, Pu Yi's thinking and behavior are still deeply influenced by feudal etiquette. Deep down in his heart, it is still difficult for him to completely get rid of the traditional ideas of "preference for sons over daughters" and "emphasis on heirs without heirs".
Unlike Pu Yi, Li Shuxian represents a new modern concept of women. As a well-educated woman of the new era, she values the sincere feelings between the two more than those feudal dross. In Li Shuxian's view, even if they can't have children, the two can still grow old together.
It was precisely because of the difference in concepts that it was difficult for Li Shuxian to understand what Pu Yi did at first. However, as time went on, she finally realized that Pu Yi was just too constrained by old ideas to be so obsessed with inheritance.
From this point of view, the contradiction between Li Shuxian and Pu Yi actually reflects a spiritual conflict in the transition period of the times. The old feudal consciousness and the new modern ideology collided violently in them, which made the couple fall into an inextricable marriage crisis for a while.
A turning point in the marital crisis
Faced with this sudden marital crisis, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian are in an unprecedented predicament. However, just when the relationship between the two reached an impasse, an unexpected turning point quietly came.
One day in September 1962, after Li Shuxian had decided to separate from Pu Yi for a long time, an uninvited guest came to visit Pu Yi's residence. The person who came was Pu Yi's friend Zeng Brown, a former scholar of the Prince's Mansion. Since the two left the country, they have become close friends who talk about everything.
Zeng Brown came this time, not out of small talk, but hoping to take this opportunity to resolve the contradiction between Pu Yi and Li Shuxian. As a witness to their marriage, Zeng Brown is looking forward to their marriage. When he learned that the two had the idea of divorce, Zeng Brown felt deep regret and helplessness.
So, on this autumn afternoon, Zeng Brown and Pu Yi had a long talk, counting the century-old story of the two from acquaintance to knotting. He earnestly warned Pu Yi that this marriage was "a wish for a thousand years of old age" for him. How could Pu Yi easily miss this last good fate?
After listening to his friend's persuasion, Pu Yi couldn't help but reflect on what he had done recently. He began to realize that the reason why he did those absurd and bizarre behaviors was entirely due to his inner contradictions and anxieties.
On the one hand, Pu Yi has long been tired of the shackles of the royal rules of the past, and only longs to live a simple life as an ordinary person; But on the other hand, his thinking was deeply influenced by the old rites, and he was particularly obsessed with continuing the tradition of incense and having children. It is this schizophrenia that leads to his bewildering and grotesque behavior.
With this layer of introspection, Pu Yi couldn't help but feel distressed about his past behavior. He finally made up his mind to rebuild his old friendship with Li Shuxian, and no longer let those old dross ruin the happiness of their new marriage.
At this moment, Zeng Brown secretly arranged an "accidental" meeting - he asked Pu Yi to go to a deserted old residence, and Li Shuxian would also be invited there "unintentionally". When the two met in the quiet old house, Zeng Brown left so that they could communicate alone.
In this way, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian, who had not seen each other for several months, finally faced each other face to face again. Looking at his former wife with tears in her eyes, Pu Yi deeply apologized to her. He sincerely admitted his past mistakes and ignorance, and earnestly hoped to start anew with Li Shuxian and manage this destined marriage.
After listening to her husband's sincere story, Li Shuxian was also moved by his sincerity. The two looked at each other and cried, and finally hugged each other tightly, resolving this long-lasting marriage crisis.
In this way, under Zeng Brown's careful arrangement, the contradiction between Pu Yi and Li Shuxian was finally solved. Since then, the two have forgiven each other's shortcomings and mistakes one by one, and opened a new chapter in their lives. This marriage, which was once in trouble, finally regained its original warmth and sweetness.
There is a lover all the time
The resolution of that marital crisis marked a new beginning in the relationship between Pu Yi and Li Shuxian. Since then, they have learned to face each other's differences with understanding and tolerance, and they have maintained this marriage with no regrets.
At the end of 1962, under the mediation of Zeng Brown, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian officially lived side by side and lived together in a small house in the western suburbs of Beijing. Although the environment here is not very elegant, both of them feel joy and hesitation that they have never felt in their hearts.
In the years that followed, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian would often walk together along the nearby field paths, or make tea at home and read classic books. This couple is very methodical, completing housework step by step every day, and living the most simple days of ordinary people's families.
Sometimes, when the neighbors saw the handsome old man surrounded by an amiable woman from a distance, few could associate them with the former "emperor" and "empress" who had been in power. The two of them live in obscurity in the corner, ordinary and peaceful.
Although there were no heirs to pass on, this did not disturb the lives of Pu Yi and Li Shuxian. The two seem to have let go of their old obsessions and only focus on the frugal and warm stay in front of them. Under the guidance of Li Shuxian, Pu Yi finally learned to love the virtuous wife around him wholeheartedly.
Time flies, and a few years later, a sudden pneumonia took Pu Yi's life. At the age of 83, he was in the Double Ninth Festival. Before his death, Pu Yi once instructed Li Shuxian: "After I leave, you must live well." What he was concerned about was this bosom lover who had accompanied him in his last years.
Li Shuxian kept her husband's entrustment and lived alone in this world for more than ten years. Despite her advanced age, she still insisted on going to the Temple of Heaven Park to sweep Puyi's grave on the first day of the lunar calendar every year, and her unswerving affection has been passed down to this day.
In the eyes of the general public, Li Shuxian has been an ordinary and respectable woman all her life. However, she once went through an intimate period of time with the last royal family of the Manchu Dynasty, and after countless twists and turns, she finally walked hand in hand with the former Son of Heaven to the end of her life.
end
Looking back, Pu Yi and Li Shuxian have long been doomed to not be able to have heirs. But it is precisely because of this "regret" that they have learned to really manage the people in front of them with their hearts, and they are no longer confined to the confinement and contradictions of the old days. This marriage, which was in crisis, finally found its own happy ending in the ordinary.