Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 15: The Phoenix in the Fireworks (4)
Soon, Du Qiuniang was named Qiufei.Du Qiuniang, who became an autumn concubine, was deeply loved by Xianzong. Her smile, words, and every action had a unique charm, which intoxicated the young Xianzong.When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, they both wander in the beautiful mountains and rivers; when the autumn moon is bright and clear, they go boating and sing to each other in the Taiye Pond; Sitting under the lamp and playing games until midnight.During the period, the love was deep and sincere, quite like the replica of Concubine Yang Gui and Tang Xuanzong back then.However, compared to Concubine Yang who indulged in debauchery, Du Qiuniang was superior. She not only shared the happiness of the world with Xianzong, but also participated in some military and state affairs without a trace, using her wisdom and intelligence to share the worries and relieve labor for the emperor.

At the beginning of Tang Xianzong's administration, due to his aggressiveness, he used coercive measures against the feudal towns, which caused dissatisfaction among the feudal towns.

Later, the Fanbang dog army invaded the border of the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Xianzong imposed a lenient policy on the feudal towns, which not only resisted foreign aggression, but also achieved local stability and rejuvenated the Tang Dynasty.The reason why Xianzong was able to change his attitude in time was not only the minister's suggestion, but also the wind blowing on Qiuniang's pillow.

After the country was at peace, some ministers advised Tang Xianzong to use severe punishments and strict laws to govern the world to prevent further turmoil. This suggestion was quite in line with Xianzong's character; Give up as Kang Wenjing, and follow the example of Qin Shihuang and his son?" Tang Xianzong had to be convinced by his profound insight and human feelings, so he followed her opinion and governed the world with virtue.

By Tang Xianzong's side, Qiuniang seems to be not only a concubine, a playmate, but also a confidential secretary, almost occupying Xianzong's whole body and mind, making Xianzong unable to return to other beauties.When the country gradually stabilized and prospered, Prime Minister Li Jifu once kindly advised Tang Xianzong to choose beautiful women from all over the world to enrich the harem. He said: "The world has become peaceful, and your Majesty should be happy." Tang Xianzong was not yet 30 years old at this time, and Xianzong was proud of himself Said "I have one autumn concubine is enough!"

Qiuniang was deeply favored by Tang Xianzong, which can be seen from this.Fortunately, Concubine Qiu is a woman who understands righteousness. Although she tied Xianzong's heart, it did not make him indulge in pleasure and forget state affairs. On the contrary, she subtly helped him govern the country.This kind of husband and wife sing together and work together, how can it be the general joy of "folding flowers".

Unexpectedly, just after the Spring Festival in the 15th year of Yuanhe, Tang Xianzong passed away in the Hall of Zhonghe for no apparent reason. He was only 43 years old, and he was in his prime.Some people say that Emperor Xianzong died of poisoning after taking the elixir of immortality, and some people say that Chen Hongzhi, the inner servant, deliberately murdered him.

The 24-year-old prince Li Heng was supported by the eunuch Ma Tan and others as Tang Muzong, who was renamed Changqing.

At this time, Du Qiuniang, who had been in the palace for 12 years and was already in her thirties, was quite prestigious in the court, and the important officials in the court respected her very much, so the change of emperor and the political storm did not affect her status. Tang Muzong often listened to her opinions on certain military affairs!Later, Du Qiuniang was assigned to be the nanny of Mu Zong's son Li Cou, responsible for the prince's upbringing. Du Qiuniang had no children, so she devoted her motherly love to Li Cou.

Tang Muzong Li Heng was a lecherous and licentious emperor. After he ascended the throne, he soon indulged in sensual pleasures. Rebellions occurred one after another in the feudal towns, and the three towns of Heshuo fell again, but he ignored them.Du Qiuniang, who has been a nanny, watched coldly.

In the fourth year of Changqing, Tang Mu Zongjing, who was under 30 years old, died inexplicably; the 15-year-old prince Li Zhan succeeded Tang Jingzong and changed the Yuanbao calendar.The little emperor was still childlike, impatient and playful, he especially liked the game of whacking and hunting foxes in the middle of the night. Beating up people around you for no reason is not a matter of worrying about state affairs.

In the winter of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Baoli, after Tang Jingzong returned to his official position from a night hunt, he drank with eunuch Liu Keming and the general Su Jiaming and other people in the hall.In the middle of the night, drunk, Tang Jingzong entered the room to change clothes. Suddenly, the lights in the hall were blown out by a gust of wind. When they were lit again, people found that the young Tang Jingzong was murdered in the inner room.

Immediately afterwards, the privy envoy Wang Shoucheng joined forces with the eunuchs inside and outside the palace, and recommended Tang Jingzong's younger brother Jiang Wang Li Ang to the palace and became Tang Wenzong.Because Wenzong was young and did not change personnel, the power of the court actually fell into the hands of a group of ministers and eunuchs.

At this time, Li Cou has been named the king of Zhang.Du Qiuniang saw that the emperors of the Li family were murdered by eunuchs one by one, and then ascended to the throne under the manipulation of eunuchs one by one. They almost became dolls in the hands of eunuchs, and felt very dissatisfied.Therefore, under Du Qiuniang's careful training, Zhang Wang Li Cou developed a courageous personality and determined to be a king who made a difference.Seeing that the time is about to come, Du Qiuniang planned carefully and cooperated closely with Song Shenxi, the prime minister of the court, in an attempt to get rid of Wang Shoucheng's eunuch power in one fell swoop, abolish Wenzong, and push Li Cou to the throne of emperor.

But the eunuch has many eyes and ears, although Du Qiuniang's plan is very secret, Wang Shoucheng still found out about it.

Fortunately, there was nothing in their hands, so it was inconvenient to deal with them strictly. As a result, Li Min was demoted to a commoner, Song Shenxi was demoted to Jiangzhou Sima, and Du Qiuniang was also demoted to a citizen and returned to her hometown. This period of brilliant "folding flowers" years.

Since ancient times, the fate of women has been in the hands of others, but Du Qiuniang, who came from a humble background, dared to challenge fate with her own talents and won a glorious journey.

Mrs. Huarui: A little infatuation is never lost

Beautiful women are easy to provoke men, and beautiful and talented women are men's favorite. Mrs. Huarui is such a beautiful woman with both talent and appearance that makes men obsessed.Mrs. Huarui is naturally beautiful, elegant and intelligent. In addition to her pretty face, Mrs. Huarui also writes beautiful poems. As a noble concubine, she does not forget to create. She once wrote hundreds of palace poems.Unfortunately, due to bad luck, her country was destroyed by the Song Dynasty, and she and her husband were reduced to subjugated slaves together.

Sichuan has been a land of abundance since ancient times. Since Li Bing and his son in Qin State built Dujiangyan, the economy here has been even more developed.Chengdu was called Yizhou in ancient times. Zhuge Liang said in "Longzhong Dui": "Yizhou is dangerous and fertile for thousands of miles." The Chengdu Plain is actually the essence of the land of abundance and has been known as Jincheng since ancient times. Opening out of Chengdu, thousands of households and thousands of doors enter the painting: the grass, trees, clouds and mountains are like beautiful brocades, is Qinchuan as good as here?

Due to the superior geographical environment, an independent regime emerged here during the split period. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the Former Shu and the Later Shu were established successively here. But Mrs. Huarui.

The pistil is used to describe the beauty of a girl, "the flower is not enough to imitate her color, but the pistil is not enough to describe her appearance".Mrs. Huarui was named after Xu, the concubine of Wang Jian, the founding emperor of former Shu.At that time, the two sisters were favored by Wang Jian.Concubine Xu gave birth to Wang Jian's son, Wang Yan. He was the youngest at eleventh, but because of the relationship between his mother and aunt, he became the crown prince.Wang Jian died shortly after he became emperor. Wang Yan was very good at eating, drinking and having fun after becoming emperor. When he accompanied his mother and aunt to visit Qingcheng Mountain, he ordered the maids to wear clouds and clouds, and made them wear loose Taoist robes. Hairpin and lotus flower crown, thick and colorful, called "drunk makeup", he himself followed behind, humming and singing with the sandalwood board in between:
Walk this way, walk that way, just looking for flowers and willows; walk that way, walk this way, never tire of the golden cup of wine.

Wang Yan did not do anything else, and accompanied the two Concubines Xu to the homes of noble ministers all day long, or visited the famous mountains and temples in central Sichuan.

The elder concubine Xu and the younger concubine Xu even made friends with eunuchs to sell officials and nobles, making it unseemly. Zhuangzong of the later Tang Dynasty took the opportunity to destroy the former Shu, which shows that Mrs. Huarui is not worthy of praise.And now I'm going to talk about another lady Huarui, Fei Guifei of Meng Chang, the Empress of Shu Dynasty, a noble concubine who was born as a kabuki.

After the death of the former Shu, Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty appointed Meng Zhixiang as the envoy of the Liangchuan Festival.After Meng Zhixiang arrived in Shu, there was civil strife in the Later Tang Dynasty, and Zhuangzong was killed. Meng Zhixiang's ambitions swelled and he trained armor soldiers.After Tang Mingzong's death, Yu Zhixiang assumed the title of emperor, but died within a few months, and Meng Chang succeeded to the throne as the successor.Meng Zhixiang planned carefully, and the situation created by hard work day and night was passed on to Meng Chang. For ten years, there was no peak fire, no fighting, the five grains were plentiful, and a bucket of rice cost three dollars. , Buying laughter and looking for fun, in the court, there are singing and singing every day, fine wine every night, kabuki in the teaching workshop, courtiers and courtiers, decorating a scene of peace and happiness.

Meng Chang suspected that there were no stunning beauties in the concubines of empress officials, so he recruited all the beauties from Shu to serve as empress officials.There is a geisha named Fei in Qingcheng, who is graceful, good at singing, and has a fine tune.When the Empress heard about his talent, he chose him to be in the palace and loved him very much.Because Concubine Xu, the concubine of the former King Jian of Shu, was named Mrs. Huarui, she also inherited her name, and named Fei as Mrs. Huarui.

Mrs. Huarui, beautiful, smart, elegant and noble, not only gentle and romantic, but also talented in singing. Every time she serves a banquet, she pats her red teeth and taps on the sandalwood board.Later, when I had a banquet every day, I felt that the dishes were all old things, and when they were brought up, I felt disgusted and couldn't put down the chopsticks.In order to please Meng Chang, Mrs. Huarui came up with an ingenious way. She used washed white sheep's head, boiled it with red ginger, rolled it up tightly, pressed the stone, marinated it with wine, so that the taste of the wine penetrated into the bone, and then cut it as thin as paper. It tastes endless, known as "Feiyangshou", also known as "wine bone lees".

When the Empress meets the first day of the month, she must use vegetarian food and eat potato medicine.Mrs. Huarui slices potato medicine, mixes lotus powder, and adds five flavors to blend. It is fragrant, crisp and crisp, and it is as white as silver. It looks like a moon. The palace calls it "Yueyipan".There are countless other delicacies, especially newly made ones.The Empress ordered the Imperial Catering Department to publish a food list, with as many as a hundred volumes, and every time the imperial banquet was held, it changed again and again, and there was no heavy taste every day.

In addition, Mrs. Huarui was very talented. She imitated Wang Jian's official Ci style and wrote many handed down works. "Full Tang Poems" included more than 150 of her "Official Ci". I can imagine how talented this show girl is.These poems describe the luxurious life of Meng Chang's harem, such as the poem describing Meng Chang's luxurious enjoyment:
Arrange the courtyards to connect with the corridors, and the wooden sills are ten miles long.

The green brocade lichen and red embroidered carpet are covered with diptero tulips.

Another example is Meng Chang's works describing riding and shooting with bullets and wanton amusement:

The Suzaku Gate has not yet bloomed, and the carpet field is empty and soaked in dust.

Arrange white rabbits and gray dogs in advance, waiting for the king to follow the falcon.

Meng Chang took Mrs. Huarui to ride horses and play ball every day, went to banquets to find poems, and ignored state affairs.

pursuit of pleasure

Mrs. Huarui loves peonies and red gardenias the most.Therefore, the later master opened up Xuanhua Garden, and spared no expense to collect peony seeds everywhere, plant them in the flower garden of the Inner Palace, and changed Xuanhua Garden to Peony Garden.When spring flowers bloom, there are ten double-blossom plants, three yellow ones and three white ones, four yellow and white plants, and the rest are dark red, light red, deep purple, light purple, light flowers, giant yellow, and pure white; Side dizziness, gold and silver ribs; side branches, side strokes, acacia, overlapping platforms, up to fifty leaves, seven or eight inches in diameter, with sandalwood hearts like ink, and the fragrance smells ten miles after the flowers bloom.The Empress and Mrs. Huarui chanted poems and Fu, drank wine and played the piano under the flowers day and night.Red gardenia is light red in color, with six petals and a delicate fragrance.Mrs. Huarui said that gardenias have the beauty of peonies and the fragrance of plum blossoms. They are fairy flowers.Some people painted gardenias on round fans to show off to others.Later, it became a common practice to compete with each other. Not only were the round fans painted with red gardenias, but the children of wealthy families embroidered gardenias on their clothes and paraded them around.Women cut out silk goose feathers, make red gardenia flowers, and insert them on the temples as decoration.All of a sudden, all the phoenix hairpins and pearl rings, gold tinsel and silver hairpins in Sichuan were discarded, and red gardenias were worn together, which became the fashion at that time.

The latter ordered the country to plant hibiscus along the city.In autumn, the hibiscus is in full bloom. Forty miles along the city, it blooms like a red cloud at a glance.All the women in Qingcheng come to play, with jewels and jewels, in formations, with flutes, drums and boats, and they go in groups.The Queen's imperial chariot left the palace, bringing with him countless concubines and ladies, each of them dressed in rich clothes and beautiful looks, beaded shoes, embroidered socks, heavy traffic, and crushed dust for fragrance.Shu is called "Jincheng", so far it can be said to be worthy of the name.

Every time after the banquet, the empress, together with Mrs. Huarui, summons the beauties of the harem to the front of the imperial court, selects the beauties in the harem personally, and chooses the one with a graceful figure and handsome appearance. Fourteen items.Its rank is equivalent to that of public officials and scholar-bureaucrats, and the monthly funds for incense powder are all paid by the internal supervision department, which is called the first month.When it came time to pay the salary, the Empress personally supervised it. There were thousands of people in the palace competing to distribute it by roll call.Mrs. Huarui wrote a poem chanting this matter: "At the beginning of the month, there are nearly thousands of officials in the hall full of money to buy flowers. They walk shyly in front of the imperial bed when they meet the roll call."

The Empress was most afraid of heat, and whenever it was hot, she felt breathless, and even found it difficult to sleep at night, so she built a crystal palace on the Maha Pool as a shelter from the summer heat.Painted buildings and carved beams, flying green tiles, five steps and one pavilion, ten steps and one floor, complex roads and dark corridors, thousands of households, patterned window bead curtains, embroidered curtains and brocade curtains.Another nine-curved dragon pool was dug, winding and winding for several miles, leading into the Maha pool.The most amazing thing is that there are four water pumping machines installed in the pool. When the machine is turned on, the water on all sides of the pool will be pumped up together to a height of several feet, gathered on the top of the hall, and then poured down from all sides and returned to the pool.The clear stream falls straight down from a high place, like a thousand waterfalls, rushing and toppling; it is also like a horse training in the sky, and its sound is like a zither, crisp and extraordinary.The drops of water in the pond danced freely like broken jade, but they didn't enter the palace at all.No matter what kind of hot weather it is, with the clear streams from all directions shooting down from above, the hot air has already been swept away, just like autumn.Looking at the furnishings in the hall, they are all tables and chairs carved with red sandalwood, couches inlaid with marble, coral screens, white jade bowls, crocodile tents hanging on the agarwood bed, sapphire pillows, ice mats and stacked piles. Luo quilt.A huge moon bead hangs in the hall, shining like a bright moon, so there is no need to light the lamp at night.Meng Chang took Mrs. Huarui and his family members into the crystal palace to avoid the heat.

One day, the master fell asleep after drinking and didn't wake up until midnight. When he turned over and sat on the ice mat, he felt very thirsty.Just as she was about to call the servants to pour tea to quench her thirst, Mrs. Huarui had already approached the bed, hung up a crocodile tent, and held a crystal plate in her hand, containing the prepared iced plums and snow lotus roots.The master took it and ate it, and felt that his cheeks were cool and refreshing.Then he went out with Mrs. Huarui to enjoy the cool air.Walk slowly to the steps of the crystal hall and sit down on the red sandalwood chair.At this time, the stars in the Qi Pavilion turned back, the jade rope turned low, the night was deep, and the palace was quiet and there was no sound.They sit side by side.When the sky is light and the stars are bright, when the cool wind blows, the shadows of willows and flowers on the bank are all reflected in the pool, swayed by the water waves, sometimes slanting, sometimes swaying.Mrs. Huarui is wearing a light-colored organdy-wing gauze shirt, which is illuminated inside and outside by the light of the bright moon.The more I feel the icy muscles and fine bones, the pink lips are extraordinarily delicate and charming.The Empress couldn't help herself, and embraced Mrs. Huarui by her side, cuddling with each other.

Madam Huarui lowered her head and said with a slight smile: "It's such a beautiful night, the scenery is pleasant. Your Majesty is good at Ci, why don't you write a poem to describe this elegant scenery?" Get it right.Mrs. Huarui came to watch, and she sent a poem "Dongxian Song", in which she wrote: "Ice muscles and jade bones, since it is cool and sweatless. The wind from the water palace is full of fragrance. The embroidered curtain is opened, and a bright moon peeps at people; People have not gone to sleep, the pillows and hairpins are in chaos. Get up and hold plain hands, the courtyard is silent, and sometimes you see the stars crossing the river. How is the night? And I'm afraid that Fleeting Years will secretly change it!"

Mrs. Huarui recited "I'm afraid again, secretly changing in the fleeting time" several times, and said to the empress: "Your Majesty's writing style is fresh and elegant, and the spirit is magnificent. It can be described as a masterpiece in ancient and modern times. Only the last sentence is sad." The empress ordered Mrs. Huarui composes songs and sings, and she plays her own jade flute to complement each other.When he sang "People are not sleeping, pillows and hairpins are in chaos", the queen master slowed down the jade flute, but Mrs. Huarui followed the jade flute, extending the pearl throat, making it even more charming and moving.When it comes to "I'm only afraid that the fleeting time will secretly change", it turns into a voice of resentment, like weeping and complaining, especially desolate.The sound of the master's flute is also played with twists and turns, sad and desolate.The resident bird in the forest was startled by the singing and flew into the air.

The Empress Dowager is so joyous in the morning and evening, the time flies by very quickly.At this time, the Lord Song had already pacified Jingnan, and all the might of the soldiers were destroyed.Wang Zhaoyuan said: "The land of Shu is dangerous, and the Three Gorges are strangled outside. How can Song soldiers fly across." The queen master was relieved.

At present, someone offered a suggestion to persuade the posthumous master to communicate well with the Northern Han Dynasty and attack Bianliang.The Empress followed his advice, revised the letter, and sent Zhao Yantao to take the wax book and drive to Taiyuan by Jiandao.Unexpectedly, Zhao Yantao saw that the Empress Dowager was neglecting the government and was addicted to wine and sex. He knew that Shuzhong would be defeated, and he had long wanted to surrender to the Song Dynasty. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin.After reading this book, Taizu smiled and said: "I want to attack Shu, and I am afraid that my teacher will be unknown. Now that I have this letter, I can use it to raise troops." Deployed for Xichuan's battalion capital, led 6 horse infantry troops, and entered Shu in separate ways.Taizu Zhao Kuangyin had already built a prison house for Meng Chang on the banks of the Bian River. There were more than [-] rooms for Zhang's belongings and everything he had.

Taizu had heard for a long time that Mrs. Huarui was a beauty, she was a beautiful woman, he was very envious in his heart, he was afraid that when soldiers came to Chengdu, Mrs. Huarui would be trampled by soldiers.Therefore, when the generals were about to leave, he repeatedly asked not to invade the family of the Lord Shu, and no matter the size of the man or woman, they should be sent to Bianjing properly.It turns out that Taizu built a house in Bianjing for the later master, which originally had another deep meaning.

(End of this chapter)