Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 18
Mrs. Peach Blossom: Eternal Difficulty and Only Death

In the slender palace, there are fresh peaches, and the pulse is silent for a few springs;
As far as the matter of death and death, I feel sorry for the person who fell from the building in Jingu.

This is a poem "Inscription on the Temple of Peach Blossom Lady" written by Du Mu, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, when he passed by Hanyang and paid homage to the "Peach Blossom Lady Temple" on Taohua Mountain.And Nalan Rongruo, a famous literati in the Qing Dynasty, wrote "Picking Mulberries" in memory of this Peach Blossom Lady:
Peach Blossom died ruthlessly in shame, and was grateful to Dongfeng.

Blowing off the delicate red, flying into the window with chagrin.

Whoever pities the hard work of Dongyang is thin, but also cares about the spring.

Not as good as Hibiscus, a deep feeling of coldness.

Who is this Mrs. Peach Blossom?Why did it move the great masters of the literary world in later generations to sing songs and write fuss with tears?Why do later generations always worship her as the god who rules peach blossoms?
Mrs. Peach Blossom has a legendary and tragic life. Her life is better than any other beauties. She is not as vicious as Daji, as forbearing as Xi Shi, as melancholy as Bao Si, but she is more affectionate and righteous than any other beauties.She is kind-hearted, pure and pure, endures humiliation, and commits herself to King Wen of Chu in order to save her husband's life.Although she gave birth to two sons for King Wen of Chu, she did not speak to King Wen for three years. "Seeing the flowers full of tears, I don't agree with the king of Chu." She resisted silently in her own unique way.

Cai Ai
Mrs. Peach Blossom was a stunning beauty in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Because of her beauty, she once caused three countries to fight and led to the demise of one country.She is so beautiful that she does not want to get involved in the political vortex. However, fate brought her to the center of power and became a victim of fierce competition between kings of various countries. She became the queen of two countries successively. In order to protect her ex-husband, who was her first The husband of the monarchy did not speak for three years, and after having the greatest affair tryst in history for the last time, he and his ex-husband both died in love.

This Peach Blossom Lady is Xi Gui, a peerless beauty who was born more than 100 years earlier than Xi Shi, a woman who attracted more wars and wars, and a woman who had to live in the world for love.

Xi Gui was originally the princess of the Chen Kingdom. She is as beautiful as the peach blossoms that bloom in spring.She was born in late autumn, but the peach blossoms in the garden were in full bloom, attracting all kinds of birds and phoenixes.There is a peach blossom birthmark on her forehead, just like the reincarnation of the peach blossom goddess.However, the wise men of Chen Guo predicted that her arrival would lead to misfortune. For this reason, although she was a princess of a country, she was forced to stay away from the royal officials since she was a child, and grew up with a wet nurse.In 684 BC, she married Xihou and was called Mrs. Xi.On the way to get married, she passed by Cai Guo and was received by her brother-in-law Cai Aihou.

Cai Aihou and Xihou both married a woman from Chen Guo as their queens. The two daughters of Chen Guoxuan's Gui family were very beautiful.Those who marry Caihou are called Caigui; those who marry Xihou are called Xigui.Cai Guo and Xi Guo are not only close neighbors, but also brother-in-law; therefore, on the way to get married, Xi Gui decided to stop by to visit Cai Guo's sister who had already married Cai Guo. Decades of strife and unspeakable bitterness and pain.

When Cai Aihou saw the beauty of his sister-in-law Xigui, he immediately felt fascinated. Although "Zuo Zhuan" uses the six words "stop and see, Fubin" to describe it, it is enough to show Cai Aihou's lust, frivolity and rudeness.I also don't know how hard this weak woman, Xigui, who has a peachy face, managed to save herself and return to Xihou's side.However, when she returned to Xihou's side, she couldn't help crying loudly.Although Xi Hou was trembling with anger when he heard this, he dared not confront Cai Guo head-on because of his small country and weak strength.However, Cai Hou deceived others too much, and it was difficult for him to relieve the hatred in his heart for a while, so he made up his mind to find an opportunity to avenge the deep hatred of this "green cloud".He thought of the powerful neighboring state of Chu, and wanted to avenge his wife's humiliation with a fake hand.

Xihou carefully designed a plan to ask Chu State and Xi State to join forces to attack Cai State, and this plan caught the ambitious King Wen of Chu who was planning to go north.King Wen of Chu was naturally happy to push the boat along the way, and took the opportunity to establish his prestige among the princes, so he followed the plan, defeated Cai Jun, and captured Cai Aihou alive.Xihou rewarded the Chu army with a big event, and Caihou realized that he had fallen into Xihou's trick of "borrowing a knife to kill someone", and he felt very regretful.

Caihou naturally hated Xihou deeply, so he also came up with a plan to "kill people with a borrowed knife".When King Wen of Chu hosted a banquet for his farewell ministers, he recommended Xi GUI, the stunning beauty of Xiguo, to King Wen of Chu.He said that the beauty is unparalleled in the world, the lotus powder hangs down, the apricot blossoms contain smoke, and the beauty of the country is unparalleled.It only said that King Chu Wen's heart was pounding at the beginning, and then he was fascinated, and decided to get Xigui to his bed.

Xihou used the strategy of "killing people with a knife" to make Caihou a prisoner of the Chu State. Now Caihou is still aware of his body in his own way, and he is doing the same. the bane of

Xi Gui finally lived a stable life as the monarch's wife.Although the national power is weak, Xihou regards his beautiful wife as a star in the sky.However, the couple never dreamed that the day when they separated finally came.

Look at the flowers full of tears, don't know what the king of Chu said
In 680 BC, King Wen of Chu led his troops to Xi Kingdom as an "ally". Marquis Xi warmly hosted a banquet, but King Wen asked Xi Gui to accompany him.Although this is not in line with etiquette, Chu State is a big country, and King Wen of Chu has "favored" himself. Xihou couldn't resist, so he endured the humiliation and asked Xi Gui to come out and offer wine.Xi Gui appeared on the stage, and her beauty made the domineering King Chu Wen frightened.Unexpectedly, King Wen of Chu changed his color during the banquet, took Xihou down on the spot, destroyed Xiguo overnight, and accepted Xigui as the queen of Chu on the spot.Xihou was tied up by Chu soldiers with ropes on the spot, and he really tasted the bitter fruit he planted at the beginning.

Xi Gui heard about the change in the palace, and was about to run into the back garden and throw himself into a well, but in order to save Xi Hou's life, he finally decided to stay with the bright moon in the five lakes, no worries about having no place to lay the golden hook, everything is not up to anyone to care about, and life is fate arrange.So endured the humiliation and stole life and married again.King Wen of Chu naturally felt pity for Xi Gui and cherished jade, gave him color and soul, comforted him with kind words, and promised not to kill Xihou.King Wen of Chu's dramatic method of accepting concubines not only stunned the countries of the Central Plains at that time, but also amazed future generations.He talked and laughed triumphantly, not only destroying a country, but more importantly, taking back a beautiful woman.

"Don't be spoiled by the present, can you forget the old kindness? Seeing the flowers full of tears, don't share the words of the king of Chu." In the writing of the famous Tang Dynasty poet Wang Wei, a sad and speechless woman, a passionate and romantic king, is Xi The epitome of GUI and King Wen of Chu's three-year married life.Since then, Xi Gui has been charged with the crime of a subjugated lady. After she arrived at the Chu Palace, she never said a word for three years. Heart, I still love myself deeply.

Until later, Xi Gui gave birth to two sons for King Chu Wen. King Chu Wen couldn't bear it anymore. Fang pressed him to ask why, and Mrs. Xi replied in tears: "I have one wife and two husbands. Xi Yan?" That's right, as a woman and a second husband, if you can't keep the chastity and die, what face do you have to speak to others?However, for a strong man, a dull, self-respecting and glamorous woman will undoubtedly become the cinnabar in the man's heart.King Wen of Chu was unwilling to maintain this kind of tasteless married life, and believed that Xigui's heartbreak was caused by Cai Aihou.In order to please Xi Gui, he attacked Cai again, captured the capital of Cai, and detained Cai Aihou until Cai Aihou died after nine years of house arrest.

However, even so, it didn't change the unspeakable pain in Xigui's heart, let alone her deep love for her first husband.At this time, Xihou became the gatekeeper of the capital of Chu State.Although Mrs. Xi is loved by thousands of people in the Chu Palace, she "is in Chuying and her heart is always resting", and she is always thinking about her husband in her heart.As time went by, the feeling of longing increased day by day, but it was hard to find a suitable opportunity to reunite with her husband.

The autumn wind brings coolness, and the osmanthus is fragrant.King Wen of Chu happily went out to hunt in the city, and he expected to return to his official position in two or three days.

Taking this opportunity, Mrs. Xi quietly ran to the city gate to meet her husband in private.When the two met, it seemed like a lifetime away.Looking at her husband with a vicissitudes of life and shabby clothes, Mrs. Xi broke down in tears, hugged her husband tightly and said: "I lived humiliatedly in the Chu Palace. At first, it was to save the life of the lord, and later, I wanted to see the lord."

At this time, Xihou is already heartbroken.He said sadly: "Heaven sees that we can have a reunion day. I am willing to be a small guard of the city, why don't I wait for the opportunity to reunite with you?"

Mrs. Xi thought that instead of living in pain, it would be better to end it tragically; she looked at Xihou affectionately with her autumn-like eyes and said: "Now that my concubine's wish is over, I will no longer live in this world. Let's continue our relationship in the next life." After all, he slammed into the city wall with all his might.Xihou couldn't stop him in time, seeing his wife dying, he was deeply saddened.In order to repay Mrs. Xi's affection, she also crashed and died under the city.When King Wen of Chu came back from hunting, he was very sad when he heard about it.Feeling the true love between the two, Xihou and Mrs. Xi were buried together on Taohua Mountain outside Hanyang City with the ceremony of princes.

Later generations planted peach blossoms all over the place where their blood was spilled, and built a peach blossom cave and a peach blossom lady's temple to commemorate them.The Chu people took Mrs. Xi as the Peach Blossom Lady, set up a shrine to worship her, and later worshiped her as the goddess of the Peach Blossom.Later generations of literati, scholars and scholars wrote a lot of poems to commemorate this woman.

"Chu Gong carelessly sweeps his brows and Dai Xin, but he is speechless to Mu Chun. The only one who dies in the eternal hardships, is the only one who is sad?" This is Xi Gui's last choice, and it is also Xihou's last choice.Amidst the ridicule of chastity and timidity for thousands of years, Xi Gui and Xi Hou both passed through the long years and made their last appearance that can be passed down through the ages.

Later generations built a shrine at the foot of the mountain and worshiped it at four o'clock, because Xigui was called Mrs. Peach Blossom, and it was called "Mrs. Peach Blossom Temple". It is still one of the scenic spots in Hanyang.

Everything has been decided, and the floating life is empty.Time and gold are hard to buy, and a lifetime is too short.Committed to living in Chu, it will be 2000 in a blink of an eye.The clouds in the cave are still wet in the evening when the dragon returns, and the musk deer passes through the spring and the grass and trees are fragrant.The story of Xigui has been passed down to later generations, is it because of her beauty or because of Xihou's stupidity?I don't know if it is because of Caihou's shamelessness, or because of the hegemony of King Wen of Chu?The mountains are full of beautiful colors in autumn, and the fragrance of flowers is everywhere in spring. I wonder how many peach blossoms in the world can be ancient and red, and smell the fragrance for generations?
The fate of Xigui is so sad and changeable, which cannot but arouse thousands of sighs in the world.The anecdote about Xi Gui is clearly recorded in historical books such as "Zuo Zhuan" and "Historical Records". Even in the hearts of literati of all ages, she is a "peach blossom" that never fades. Wang Wei, Du Mu, Liu Changqing, Deng Hanyi, Hong Liangji, Nalan Rongruo and many other famous people wrote poems and sang songs for this charming woman like a peach blossom, and Xi Gui became a well-known confidante in history.However, it can only be sighed that the fate of the beauties who have always been born as enchanting peach blossoms is also like the peach blossoms in February drifting with the water. Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan, Yang Yuhuan and other four Chinese beauties are inevitable, and they are more beautiful than their birth. The early stunning beauty is no exception!

Chen Ajiao: From Jinwu Zangjiao to Nagato Deep Resentment

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che reigned for 54 years, and he loved more than one or two women. Chen Ajiao was the first queen of Emperor Wu, but not the only one.She was born high and had everything any woman could dream of.It's a pity that she couldn't get what she wanted most in her life.Her love was tinged with political conspiracy from the very beginning. Although it was not a victim of politics, it was an accessory of politics.From being a childhood sweetheart, hiding in a golden house, to being imprisoned by Nagato, dying in melancholy, the flowers blooming the thickest but dying, this is her desolate life.

When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was young, his single name was a pig, and he was the ninth son of Emperor Jing Liu Qi of the Han Dynasty. His biological mother Wang Gu was favored in the harem by virtue of her charming appearance and full of scheming, but she was only a beauty. Relatively low, powerless and powerless.At that time, Li Ji was the most favored by Emperor Jing.There are eight elder brothers above Liu Zhi, and it stands to reason that he would not be able to be the emperor anyway, but this Liu Zhi sat on the throne, and he sat on the throne for 54 years, all thanks to Chen Ajiao's mother, Emperor Han Jing It was planned by her sister-in-law, Princess Guantao.

Empress Bo, the main palace of Emperor Jing, had never had any children. At that time, Li Ji had already given birth to three sons. Among them, Liu Rong, the eldest son, was established as the prince because of his kindness and righteousness.Liu Zhi was only four years old at this time, and because of his cleverness, he was deeply loved by Emperor Jing, and he was named King of Jiaodong.If history continues to develop in such a peaceful way, there will be no such legendary emperor as Emperor Wu of Han.There are too many accidents in history, and the one who made the accident was Emperor Jing's sister, Princess Guantao.

Princess Guantao is the jewel in the palm of Empress Dowager Dou. In the harem, she wants the wind and the rain. She travels freely in the harem and sees through the unspoken rules in the palace. In order to ensure her status in the royal family, she beat her daughter up. Chen Ajiao's attention.She sent a matchmaker to propose marriage to Prince Liu Rong.Liu Rong's mother, Li Ji, is a narrow-minded woman. She was not angry with the eldest princess's frequent behavior of using beautiful women to curry favor with Emperor Jing, and she refused the marriage without thinking.

The eldest princess suddenly felt hatred, worried that it would be bad for her if Liu Rong became emperor in the future, and secretly wanted to abolish the prince.The most urgent task at the moment is to find someone who agrees to let Chen Ajiao be the queen and can take over the throne. The eldest princess has locked in Wang Meiren.Wang Meiren also wanted to be the queen, so the two ambitious women formed an alliance.

On a certain auspicious day, Princess Guantao, sister-in-law of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, brought her precious daughter Chen Ajiao into the Queen's palace to play with her cousin Liu Che. Princess Tao smiled and asked her nephew during the children's games: "Do you want to marry a beautiful wife?" Liu Che probably didn't know what a "daughter-in-law" was at the time, so he nodded repeatedly.

Princess Guantao pointed out all the maids in the Queen's Palace to Liu Che one by one, and asked him who would he like as his wife?In the end, Liu Che rejected all these court ladies and shook his head again and again.However, when Princess Guantao pointed her hand at Chen Ajiao at last, Liu Che suddenly smiled and clapped her hands, saying loudly, "If I get Ajiao to be my wife, I would like to build a golden palace for her to live in."

Princess Guantao was elated, and immediately got up to find the emperor's younger brother, and told him about the scene.Emperor Jing naturally refused to believe it, so the eldest princess pulled Jingdi over without any explanation, and asked him to ask his son in person.

As expected, Liu Che lived up to the expectations of the Queen and Princess Guantao, and unambiguously repeated what he had just said.After hearing this, Emperor Jing couldn't help but gasp in amazement, thinking that such a young child made such a great wish, this marriage must be destined by God's will, so he agreed to the marriage on the spot.

Because of this beautiful scene, Liu Che has his first wife Chen Ajiao, which is the origin of the idiom "Golden House Cangjiao". The "Golden House Cangjiao" marriage contract was a turning point in the politics of the Han Dynasty at that time.Because of her daughter's engagement, Liu Xing, the princess of Guantao, turned to fully support Liu Che, and the situation in the court changed drastically.

It can be said that Liu Che was able to get the throne of the emperor because of the "magic strokes" of the mother-in-law Princess Tao, not to mention that his grandma, the Empress Dowager Dou, is still alive, so it goes without saying that he obeyed his wife and cousin Chen Ajiao when he first came to the throne .

Of course, Chen Ajiao understands her strong background better. Besides, her husband has been obsessed with her cousin as a cousin since she was a child. Besides, they are also childhood sweethearts. Therefore, in her opinion, Liu Che would never dare to make a meaningful move. It came against her will.In front of her little husband, she was extremely arrogant.

Chen Ajiao's attitude towards her husband should largely come from the words and deeds of her mother, Princess Guantao.

Princess Liu of Guantao devoted half her life to disturbing the rights and wrongs of her younger brother, Emperor Jing, and the empresses. She was very aware of the fact that the emperor changed his mind when he disagreed, the concubines were full of tricks, and the queen's status was actually very easy to shake.Needless to say, she must have instilled this principle in her daughter more than once: that is, the women in the harem are unworthy, and they must not be given any chance to get close to the emperor.

Of course, Chen Ajiao's talk about her mother's experience was regarded as the most reasonable saying, and she literally turned Liu Che's uterus and imperial palace into a test field for the famous saying Princess Guantao.

It should be said that Chen Ajiao was quite successful in the early stage. For a long time, she was a veritable queen. Apart from her, Liu Che had almost no chance to get close to other officials.Chen Ajiao is not only pampered, but also proud of her pet, enjoying extremely extravagant treatment and controlling Liu Che strictly.Since the Empress Dowager Dou was still alive, and Princess Guantao was also good at dancing, Liu Che, as an emperor who had not yet been in power, had to cooperate with his wife's style. He never dared to flirt with beauties in the palace.

However, people are not as good as heaven. I don't know why, Chen Ajiao and Liu Che have been married for many years. Although they monopolize their husbands, they have never been pregnant.Princess Guantao naturally resolutely refused to admit that her daughter was infertile. Empress Dowager Dou was indignant because Liu Che wanted to change the national policy and respect Confucianism. It came out—the queen had been infertile for many years, and no concubine in the harem gave birth, so the problem must be the emperor.

(End of this chapter)