Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 20
Soon, Zhen Luo was married by Ming Media and became Cao Pi's wife.That year, Zhen Luo was 23 years old, at the age when women were most charming, and Cao Pi was 18 years old, just at the age of high-spirited and full of ambition.Zhen Luo is gentle and virtuous, and Cao Pi loves her more and more day by day, which arouses the dissatisfaction and jealousy of his original wife, Mrs. Ren, who often complains and ridicules Mrs. Zhen.For this reason, Cao Pi wanted to drive the Ren family before Zhen Luo back to her natal family. Zhen Luo asked Cao Pi: "The Ren family came from a famous family in the township party. I can't compare with her in terms of virtue and beauty. Why did you drive her away?" Cao Pi replied: "Ren's personality is impatient and unruly, and she always sings against me to make me angry, so I drove her away." After hearing this, Zhen Luo cried bitterly and pleaded for her: "I am loved by you, and everyone knows that if you drive Ren's If you leave, everyone will think it is because of me. I am afraid of being selfish and ridiculed, and I am guilty of being favored by the subordinates. Please pay attention to it!" Cao Pi refused to listen, and still sent Mrs. Ren back to her natal family.

Zhen Shi is not only beautiful, but also very good at dressing up.Legend has it that there is a green snake in Cao Pi's house, which is very spiritual. It often holds a red bead in its mouth. If someone tries to get close to it and hurt it, the green snake will disappear.After Zhen Luo became an official, she liked this little snake very much, and combed her hair and groomed it every morning.After a long time, when it was time for Zhen Luo to dress up, the green snake would automatically make various buns.So Zhen Luo imitated the green snake's knotted hair and arranged her hair in a very beautiful bun. She imitated the green snake and changed her bun every day, and the women inside and outside the palace followed suit.This very popular hairstyle is called "snake bun".

After marriage, Zhen Luo also gave birth to the eldest son Cao Rui (later Emperor Wei Ming) and the eldest daughter (Princess Dongxiang). Cao Cao and Mrs. Bian liked Zhen Luo even more.

Although deeply loved by Cao Pi, Mrs. Zhen knew in her heart that she became Mrs. Cao Pi because of her beauty and Cao Pi's love for Dou Chukai. Not only was she 5 years older than Cao Pi, but she was also the daughter-in-law of Cao's political rival Yuan. Extravagant.So Mrs. Zhen lowered her figure, obeyed and attached herself to Cao Pi, and dared not be self-willed or favored.The Zhen family persuaded Cao Pi many times to take concubines and leave more children for the Cao family; she never competed for favor, and when Cao Pi favored her the most, she tried hard to persuade him to share the rain and dew with the post-officials.Cao Pi was a lustful person, so he was naturally very happy to see Zhen Shi's attitude, but Zhen Shi's beauty has always fascinated him deeply.

Zhen's personality is gentle, knowledgeable and considerate.As early as when she was Yuan Shao's daughter-in-law, she was deeply loved by Yuan Shao's eccentric, tricky and willful wife, Mrs. Liu.Zhen knows that even if she wins her husband's love by relying on her beauty, it will be short-lived. Only with the approval of her family can she lay a solid foundation for her life's safety.So after coming to Cao's house, Mrs. Zhen took care of Mrs. Bian, Cao Pi's mother, in every possible way. She took care of everything about Mrs. Bian's life herself, and often tried to find ways to relieve Mrs. Bian's boredom.Mrs. Bian was ill. Mrs. Zhen not only served the soup and medicine herself, but also took care of her mother-in-law all day and all night.Mrs. Zhen's filial piety finally touched Mrs. Bian. Originally Mrs. Bian was quite critical of Mrs. Zhen's remarriage status, but now they have established a relationship like mother and daughter, so Mrs. Zhen has a very solid relationship in the Cao family. backing.Later, even the father-in-law Cao Cao, who is a hero in the world, also praised his daughter-in-law Zhen.

Zhen's family is not only filial to her parents-in-law, but also friendly to her brothers.There were two elder brothers above Cao Pi, but unfortunately they both passed away, so Cao Pi became the actual eldest brother.Cao Pi has a gloomy personality, and the relationship with his brothers has not been very good. As the eldest sister-in-law, Zhen took the initiative to take care of the younger siblings. Zhen's sincere and tolerant attitude quickly won the favor and respect of sister-in-law and uncle. .Cao Pi has a talented younger brother——Cao Zhi, who speaks words and writes well, and is a rare literary genius.Zhen was born in a famous family, and her literary accomplishment is superb, and she can even express very in-depth and unique insights from time to time, so the pair of uncles and sisters-in-law became friends who talked about everything in literature.Although Cao Zhi was ten years younger than Zhen Shi, and although they didn't meet each other much, their friendship was sincere and profound, which made Cao Pi deeply jealous and brought endless reverie to future generations.From the ninth year of Jian'an to the 22nd year of Jian'an, after 13 years of living together, Zhen's family has completely won the trust and favor of the Cao family, and her happiness is stable and strong.

A confidante with a bad life, humiliated after death

The political status of the Cao family became more and more stable, and the struggle for succession within the Cao family became more and more fierce.Cao Cao has a total of 25 sons. Except for the eldest son Cao Ang who died in battle and the second son Cao Shuo, the rest of the sons are eligible to compete for the right to inherit. Among them, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi are the most popular: in terms of age, Cao Pi is the elder; in terms of talent, Cao Zhi is the leader. most.Both of them have great talents and great ambitions, and each has a group of advisers and staff around them, both of whom have the ability to inherit the throne.Other princes choose their heirs based on their background and talents, but because Cao Cao has another identity besides a military strategist-a writer, so his heirs must also have considerable talents, perhaps even more talented than others. important.

According to the feudal etiquette system, Cao Pi is the leader and should be his successor, but Cao Cao dotes on the talented Cao Zhi.Cao Zhi, with quick writing and thinking, was good at poetry and prose since he was a child, and became famous for his prose as an adult.In the spring of 212 AD, Cao Cao and his family visited the newly built Tongque Terrace. During the banquet, Cao Cao asked their brothers to recite poems and compose Fu to test their talents.Cao Zhi's export was successful, and he wrote the well-known "Dengtai Fu". Cao Cao admired its gorgeous rhetoric and literary talent.Cao Cao was about to appoint Cao Zhi as his successor, but he was hesitant due to concerns about etiquette and opposition from some ministers.

Cao Cao dotes on Cao Zhi and wants to make Cao Zhi the crown prince, Cao Pi knows it very well.He always felt that he could not be established as the prince for a long time. In addition to Cao Zhi's favor, it was also related to the fact that he got the Zhen family first and offended Cao Cao.Therefore, Cao Pi not only hated Cao Zhi, but also resented the Zhen family.The Zhen family adopted an impartial and non-involved attitude towards the Cao brothers' struggle.She admired Cao Zhi's literary talent very much, and was disgusted with some of Cao Pi's methods of framing Cao Zhi. In addition, she strictly abides by women's morals and never intervenes in national politics, so she is not only Cao Pi's assistant in the fight for succession, but a disadvantageous factor.

Cao Pi couldn't get the care and love of Zhen's family, so he turned to his concubine Guo's complaints.Guo's name is Queen, and she is similar to Zhen's in that she is also a wife and eldest sister in terms of husband and wife relationship. She was born in 184, two years younger than Zhen's, and three years older than her husband Cao Pi.Queen Guo's father, Guo Yong, became the prefect of Nanjun at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. She was in the middle of a group of brothers and sisters of three men and two women.It is said that she had a distinctive speech and behavior since she was a child, so her father valued her very much, saying that she had the bearing of a "Queen of Queens", so she was named "Queen" in addition to her boudoir name.

Zhen's intelligence is more manifested within the family, but Queen Guo is superior to Zhen's, and she has the resourcefulness to participate in political struggles.She is empathetic, considerate, and scheming, always thinking of Cao Pi, and good at planning.Cao Pi found long-lost care from her, and Queen Guo became Cao Pi's faithful partner on the political road.Cao Pi was sincerely grateful and doted on Queen Guo; Queen Guo came up with good ideas for him to bring down Cao Zhi one after another.With the addition of Queen Guo, Cao Pi is even more powerful, and Cao Zhi's defeat has been determined under their careful planning.Queen Guo has such a shrewd mind and has gradually become an indispensable figure around Cao Pi, so it is inevitable for Cao Pi to empathize with each other.

Years of heir struggles have worn away Cao Pi's once soft heart, and his heart is full of desire for power; Zhen's understanding of her husband is getting worse, and as Cao Pi's ambition expands, the distance between her and him is also increasing. Gradually, in Zhen's eyes, the sunny boy who used to smile has disappeared in the power struggle.Their feelings finally turned from strong to weak until they disappeared completely.

Since Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and established Xuchang as his capital in 196 AD, Cao Cao has always controlled the power of the court.In 217 A.D., Cao Cao was enfeoffed as King of Wei, and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty only had the false title of emperor. Everyone knew that the world belonged to the Cao family.It was also in this year that Cao Pi was established as the crown prince of Wei Wang and determined to be Cao Cao's heir, and the Zhen family was also established as the crown princess, but Cao Pi's confidante had changed from his wife Zhen to his concubine Guo.On the surface, the Zhen family seems to be very beautiful, but behind her back she has been treated coldly by Cao Pi. It is only because her father Cao Cao is still alive that Cao Pi dare not bully the Zhen family too much.

In the spring of 220 AD, Cao Cao died, Cao Pi ascended the throne as King Wei, and the Zhen family officially became the princess.In November of this year, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian of the Han to "abide" and usurped the Han to establish himself as Emperor Wen of Wei.After ascending the throne, he wanted to make Mrs. Guo the queen, but Mrs. Zhen was the first wife, and Cao Rui, born of Mrs. Zhen, was the eldest son.The practice of abolishing the sons and setting up the concubines, abolishing the elders and establishing the young, which violated the feudal etiquette system, was a taboo for Cao Pi, who had just become emperor.What's more, the plausible reason for being able to inherit Cao Cao's throne at that time was to abide by the etiquette system, let alone violate this principle at this time.In this way, the Zhen family who had fallen out of favor became more and more a thorn in Cao Pi's side. Cao Pi's attitude towards her became even colder, and later he simply threw her in Yecheng, while he and Queen Guo lived happily in Luoyang, and did not meet Zhen family at all.

For the Zhen family who was approaching forty years old, it was not just Queen Guo who was also not young anymore.Ever since Cao Pi proclaimed himself emperor, beauties around him have emerged in an endless stream. The generals and ministers who wanted to consolidate their positions rushed to put their own beauties in Wei officials.Soon, among this group of young beauties, Li Guiren and Yin Guiren became Cao Pi's new favorites.

Zhen is rich in literary talents and familiar with the allusions of the harem, so she naturally understands that she is in a bad situation, but because she is far away, she cannot explain the misunderstanding to her husband face to face and make up for the gap in the relationship. Work "On the Pond":
Pusheng in my pool, how far away are its leaves.If you can practice benevolence and righteousness, no concubine knows it by herself.

Many mouths melt gold, so that the king will be separated from life.When Nianjun left me, I was always sad and lonely.

I want to see the color of you, and I feel sad.Nianjun is always in pain and sorrow, and can't sleep every night.

Don't give up your love because of Haoxian.Don't give up onions and scallions because fish and meat are cheap.

Don't judge cheap by hemp, abandon Jian and Kuai.Going out is also painful and sorrowful, and entering is also painful and sorrowful.

There are many sad winds in the frontier, and the trees are leaning against each other.From the king to be happy alone, to prolong life for thousands of years.

In this poem, Zhen expressed her painful state of "sorrow and sorrow" after being abandoned, and also expressed her loyalty to Cao Pi, showing her strong desire to reconcile with her husband.However, even such a love poem caused a catastrophe.

Cao Pi himself is also a very good poet, logically he should be able to see the love and resentment of his wife for him shown in this poem.Note that it is love first, and complaints second. A normal person should recall the beautiful moments between husband and wife when seeing such a poem, thus arousing the old love.However, no one expected that after reading the poem, Cao Pi would be furious. In June of the second year of the throne, Luoyang sent envoys to the former official of Yecheng where the Zhen family lived alone, forcing her to drink poisoned wine.Amid all kinds of sorrow and despair, Mrs. Zhen died in Yecheng with hatred. This magnificent and talented woman passed away so tragically at the age of 40.Even after the innocent Zhen Shi died unjustly, his body was buried with "the hair covered his face and his mouth covered with bran" (the hair was scattered to cover his face, and his mouth was stuffed with rice bran).

Nine months after the unjust death of the Zhen family, Cao Pi formally proposed to make the Guo family the queen, and handed over Zhen's son Cao Rui to Guo's upbringing.The cold-blooded attitude of his father Cao Pi and the tragic ending of his mother Zhen's family left young Cao Rui with a trauma that would never heal in his life. He was moody, cruel and easy to kill as an adult, which probably planted the seeds from here.

In the second year after Zhen Luo's death, Cao Pi's younger brother Cao Zhi came to Luoyang to meet Cao Pi.Cao Pi had known for a long time that Cao Zhi was so in love with Zhen Luo that he didn't think about tea or food, so he gave Cao Zhi the jade carved gold belt pillow Zhen Luo used before his death as a souvenir.Cao Zhi passed by Luoshui on his return journey, thinking of the story of Luoshen, holding the jade pillow of the beautiful woman, he couldn't help crying, as if seeing the beautiful woman with the same name as Luoshui, stepping on the clear waves and coming, feeling for the beautiful woman, so he wrote Eternal Liufang "Gan Zhen Fu".After Zhen Luo's son Cao Rui ascended the throne, in order to avoid suspicion, he renamed "Gan Zhen Fu" as "Luo Shen Fu".

In 226 A.D., after Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui came to the throne, he named his birth mother Zhen as "Empress Wen Zhao" and made sacrifices in the temple. Zhen finally got the title of "Queen". 45 years ago, Mr. Liu Liang, a fortune teller, predicted that she would be "unspeakably expensive", and five years after her death, it came true.

After Cao Rui came to the throne, he was quite filial to his adoptive mother, and he repeatedly rewarded the Guo family.Guo Biao has been in the positions of General Zhaode, Jia Jinzi, and Wei Tejin.Guo Biao's eldest son, Guo Xiang, and his second son, Guo Xun, became captains of cavalry successively.Even the parents of Empress Dowager Guo who died early were posthumously named Jinghou and Duxiangjun of Anyang Township.

However, this period of mother-child happiness did not last long.Cao Rui has been brooding over his mother's death since he was a child, and has always wanted to investigate the truth.In the end, all the spearheads were pointed at Queen Guo who replaced Zhen Luo as queen.Cao Rui naturally harbored resentment towards his adoptive mother, but he couldn't find any real evidence, so he cried and asked Queen Mother Guo how his mother died.The Empress Dowager Guo was very dissatisfied with her adopted son, and asked: "Your mother Zhen Luo was killed by the late emperor. In fact, the only criminal who killed her was the late emperor. Why are you asking me for it? What's more, you are a son of man, and your father took the throne of the emperor again." If it is passed on to you, how can you pursue the fault of the late father? Could it be that you are willing to let the stepmother die unjustly because of the unjust death of your biological mother?"——These words can be compared with Zhen Luo's pleading for Ren Ji: Queen Guo It may not be the person who slandered Zhen Luo, but she was the biggest beneficiary of Zhen Luo's death, so she couldn't clear herself up; just like Ren Ji was deposed, Zhen Luo was the biggest beneficiary and couldn't clear herself up for a truth.

After Cao Rui heard what Queen Mother Guo said, he immediately became furious and murderous.In March of the third year of Qinglong (235), Queen Mother Guo was finally forced by her adopted son Cao Rui to commit suicide.He was 51 years old.

It is said that Zhen Luo had entrusted Cao Rui to the care of Mrs. Li before Zhen Luo committed suicide with poisoned wine by her husband.After Queen Mother Guo's death, Mrs. Li told Cao Rui that because Zhen Luo was framed by slander, Cao Pi cut off her kindness to her. Instead of burialing her according to the etiquette, he buried her "covered with hair and stuffed her mouth with chaff".

Cao Rui was even more sad and angry when he heard Mrs. Li's words, so he ordered that Queen Mother Guo be buried in the appearance of "covering her face with hair and covering her mouth with chaff".

Queen Guo died just like that, and her death was unclear.Throughout Queen Guo's life, except for the case of Zhen Luo, which has been widely discussed, there is no historical record of her fault.In any case, Queen Guo assisted Cao Pi to make Cao Wei strong and prosperous, and she was the only concubine in the Cao Wei Dynasty who made more or less direct contributions to the country.Because of this, Empress Guo had a very good reputation during her lifetime, and people in this world can't be wrong to feel sad about her death.Therefore, even Cao Rui, who forced her to death, did not dare to openly persecute the Guo family.

Yang Yuhuan: Soul Broken Mawei Slope

The legendary love story between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei is almost a household name in our country.Chinese historical literati wrote many famous works on this theme, Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" is an example.Indeed, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had "3000 beauties in the harem, and three thousand pets in one body", and the mutual attachment and dedication to concubine Yang Guifei was unique among emperors and empresses in Chinese history.

Unlucky love, father wins son and daughter-in-law

Concubine Yang Gui (719-756), named Yuhuan, styled Taizhen, was the favorite concubine of Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji of Tang Dynasty. Her original name was Yang Meirong.Born in Chengdu, Sichuan, his ancestral home is Huayin, Shaanxi.Concubine Yang Guifei has learned rhythm since she was a child, is good at singing and dancing, and has outstanding beauty.His great-grandfather Yang Wang was Shangzhu State and Minister of the Ministry of Officials in the Sui Dynasty. He was killed by Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty. His father Yang Xuanyan was the Sihu of Shuzhou (Chongzhou, Sichuan).

Yang Yuhuan spent her childhood in Sichuan. When she was about ten years old, her father died, and she was fostered at the home of her third uncle Yang Xuandun in Luoyang.Later moved to Yongle (Shanxi Yongji).Tang Xuanzong's daughter Princess Xianyi held a wedding ceremony, and Yang Yuhuan was also invited to attend.Princess Xianyang's younger brother Shou Wang Li Mao fell in love with Yang Yuhuan at first sight. Tang Xuanzong issued an edict to make her Shou Wang Concubine at the request of Concubine Wu Hui.After marriage, the two were very sweet.Without Tang Xuanzong's intervention, Yang Yuhuan and Li Mao might have spent their lives peacefully in this way, and Yang Yuhuan would not have left this love story that has been passed down through the ages in history.

In the 25th year of Kaiyuan (737), Tang Xuanzong's favorite concubine Wu Huifei died of illness. Xuanzong was depressed and depressed all day long.The death of Concubine Wu Hui caused Tang Xuanzong to lose his emotional sustenance, and none of the thousands of post-officials could replace Concubine Wu Hui.

Gao Lishi, who was the most caring, knew what the Lord wanted, so he went to the outer palace to look for it. He saw Yang Yuhuan, the concubine of Shouwang Li Mao, who was unparalleled in the world, especially her appearance was very similar to Concubine Wu Hui, so he immediately reported it to Xuanzong.Xuanzong was overjoyed. In October of the 28th year of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong sent someone to take Yang Yuhuan to Lintong Hot Spring Palace.At first sight, she was really handsome, good at singing and dancing, extremely intelligent, and especially good at flattering.Xuanzong suddenly realized his worries.

(End of this chapter)