[Romantic Anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty Court] [65] [Author: Xu Xiaotian]

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Chapter Sixty-Five: Jinlian Lashes to the Ground, Qiong'er's Favoritism Causes Her to Lose Her Color, and Ziying's Death. It is said that Consort Ming's assassination attempt on Emperor Hong failed, resulting in her death. However, from then on, the palace guards became even more stringent, but we will leave that aside for now. At that time, Emperor Xianfeng was still living a life of debauchery. Although young, his excessive lust, coupled with the many concubines in the palace and the many beauties residing in the gardens, made it impossible for his flesh and blood to resist. His body gradually began to falter. The palace steward, Cui, to please the emperor, frequently tempted him to engage in illicit sexual acts. Seeing the emperor's declining health, he somehow obtained a highly effective aphrodisiac. Emperor Xianfeng took the aphrodisiac and experienced its effects, spending his days indulging in pleasure with his concubines, relying on the drug's power to play with them excessively. Emperor Xianfeng also had a very strange temperament; he indulged in his womanizing without regard for place, time, or privacy. He carried aphrodisiacs in his bosom, and wherever he went, if he saw a palace maid he fancied, he would grab her and have sex with her; afterward, he wouldn't collect the remaining aphrodisiacs, but would just leave them lying around.
One day, Emperor Xianfeng summoned Hanlin scholar Ding Wencheng to the garden. Ding Wencheng entered the garden too early; the emperor hadn't yet woken him. A young eunuch led him to the imperial study to wait. The study was exquisitely furnished; Ding Wencheng looked around to pass the time, and his eyes fell upon a bunch of fresh grapes in a white jade basin on a small tea table. The grapes were purple with green leaves, about a dozen in total, each one plump. It was May; where did these grapes come from? Ding Wencheng was both surprised and delighted, and couldn't resist reaching out to pick a grape, putting it in his mouth and eating it, finding it very sweet. Just as he was about to eat the second grape, he suddenly felt a surge of heat rising to his lower abdomen; his penis had suddenly grown, reaching about a foot in length. At this moment, Ding Wencheng was wearing a gauze robe, and his manhood was clearly visible even through the fabric; terrified, he bent over, clutching his lower abdomen, afraid to move. He thought, "In this state, how can I see the Emperor if he gets up soon?" In desperation, he immediately lay down on the ground, crying out in pain. The eunuchs, hearing this, rushed over to inquire. Ding Wencheng claimed it was acute heatstroke, a severe stomachache. He continued to writhe on the ground, screaming in pain. The eunuchs gave him medicine for heatstroke, but it was useless. Helpless, the eunuchs helped him out through a small gate beside the garden and home; they immediately reported to the emperor that he was ill and could not see him. Ding Wencheng returned home and lay frozen in bed for five days before slowly recovering. Isn't this a ridiculous joke? The second time Ding Wencheng entered the garden, he met Emperor Xianfeng and advised him, "Your Majesty, to nourish your health, it would be best to drink a cup of deer blood every day; you must not use any hot and drying medicines." Emperor Xianfeng asked, "What are the effects of drinking deer blood?" Ding replied, "Deer blood is a wonderful tonic for strengthening yang and promoting blood circulation." From then on, Emperor Xianfeng ordered the Imperial Household Department to buy over a hundred spotted deer and raise them in the garden, so that he could drink their blood every day, and it proved effective.
At this time, the Taiping Rebellion in the southeast was growing stronger day by day; Emperor Xianfeng received news of defeats and lost cities every day in the palace, and he became increasingly disheartened. Later, he didn't even want to read documents anymore,
and spent his days playing with his concubines. The emperor had recently acquired Binghua and doted on her, spending seven or eight out of ten days in her palace; Binghua, seeing the emperor's deep affection, would also talk and laugh, flattering him obsequiously. The emperor loved to sleep with his concubines during the day, while the eunuchs and palace maids would chase and tumble around in front of the dragon bed. When the emperor was in high spirits, he would jump out of bed and join in the fun. Whenever he was particularly pleased, he would take four palace maids to the courtyard, order them to remove their clothes, and have each of them stand in a corner. The emperor himself would stand on the steps with a slingshot and fire iron pellets at the maids. The maids, naked and with nowhere to hide, would tremble with fear and plead for mercy. The emperor, watching this, couldn't help but laugh heartily. Later, Binghua stepped forward, took the slingshot from the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, I will shoot in your stead." The emperor then handed the slingshot to Binghua. The palace maids, seeing Binghua shooting for the emperor, secretly cursed her. Unexpectedly, Binghua caught the slingshot but didn't fire. She asked the emperor, "What have these four palace maids done to offend Your Majesty that you want to kill them with slingshots?" The emperor laughed and said, "The palace maids haven't committed any crime. It's just that I see their fair skin; wouldn't it be interesting to break their skin with slingshots and see bright red blood flowing from their snow-white skin?" Binghua laughed and said, "I see! I have a way to make the palace maids bleed without breaking their skin." She then instructed the other palace maids to fill paper balls with rouge and use them as projectiles. Some hit the maids' nipples, some their lower abdomens, some their shoulders, and some their necks. The snow-white skin flowing with bright red rouge was indeed quite a sight. The emperor clapped his hands and laughed, then rewarded each of the four palace maids with an embroidered cheongsam. Because Emperor Xianfeng was cruel and enjoyed tormenting eunuchs and palace maids for amusement and to relieve his troubles, although these four palace maids survived, such abuse continued frequently.
One of Xianfeng's concubines, Lady Zhangjia, had once been favored, but now that the emperor had taken Binghua, he forgot about her. Lady Zhangjia harbored many complaints behind his back, which a gossipy palace maid relayed to the emperor. The emperor then summoned Lady Zhangjia. Upon hearing the emperor's summons, Lady Zhangjia assumed he intended to have sex with her and hurriedly dressed up.
The emperor, upon seeing her, did not become angry but chatted and laughed with her; he ordered that she be given three cups of wine.
Lady Zhangjia did not drink alcohol, but now, obeying the imperial decree, she had no choice but to force herself to drink it, immediately feeling her face flush, her heart pound, and her vision blur. Lady Zhangjia loved swinging, so the emperor said, "Lady Zhangjia's skill on the swing surpasses that of all the other concubines. Now I will order her to demonstrate for everyone." He then ordered that Lady Zhangjia's clothes be removed and that she be helped onto the swing. Lady Zhangjia, however, was drunk and trembling; how could she possibly have the strength to swing? Unable to disobey the emperor's decree, she lazily climbed onto the swing. The palace maids picked up the ropes, and the swing swung through the air. At first, it flew low, and Lady Zhangjia could hold on; but later, the maids pulled her higher and higher, eventually suspending her naked body halfway up the swing. Unable to hold on any longer, she cried out in a delicate voice, "Your Majesty, save me!" Hearing this, the emperor not only did not order it to stop but also ordered the maids to pull it higher.
With a loud scream, Lady Zhangjia lost her grip and was thrown to the ground with a thud; her skull was broken, and she was dead. The palace maids, seeing this, all turned away, unable to bear looking at her. The Emperor, however, smiled slightly and ordered the eunuchs to drag Zhangjia's body out for burial; he then took Binghua's hand and went into the room. From then on, the Emperor favored Binghua even more, and Binghua gradually became arrogant, dominating the Emperor and forbidding him from visiting other concubines. However, the Emperor, having played with Binghua every day, grew somewhat tired of her and began to do many secret things behind her back. When Binghua found out, she resented the Emperor, and he gradually grew disgusted with her.
Emperor Xianfeng loved bound feet, as mentioned before. Although he now favored Binghua, her shoes were over four inches in diameter, and Emperor Xianfeng often sighed at Binghua's feet, saying, "There's a flaw!" He heard Chief Eunuch Cui say that the bound feet of Yangzhou women were perfectly shaped and slender, considered the most beautiful in the country. Unfortunately, Yangzhou had already been occupied by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so he couldn't visit it. He secretly instructed the eunuchs to keep an eye out for women with bound feet in the capital and find a way to bring them into the palace, promising a large reward.
Later, Chief Eunuch Cui found a woman with bound feet outside Xuanwu Gate named Qiong'er. She was originally from a poor family in Yangzhou, but had come to the capital to seek refuge and was staying at her uncle's house. Her uncle was a waiter at the Dexing Restaurant on East Street, and his family was very poor. Qiong'er stayed at her uncle's house, helping her aunt with needlework every day. Because the house was dark and filthy, she moved a small stool and sat at the door every day, doing her work by the daylight.
Her small, delicate feet, wearing red shoes and white socks, rested on the threshold, making her very pretty.
Anyone who passed by her house and saw her bound feet couldn't help but admire them.
Several lustful men, upon seeing her small feet, seemed to be captivated by them, lingering around her door seventeen or eighteen times a day, unable to tear themselves away from her. However, although Qiong'er was beautiful, she was extremely chaste. No matter how much the lecherous men tried to seduce her, she always kept her head down and ignored them. Later, her fame grew day by day, reaching the ears of Steward Cui, who went to see her. Indeed, she was quite beautiful, especially her slender and charming small feet. Steward Cui learned that her uncle was a waiter in a restaurant, so he went to find him. Wu Sanxing was in dire straits, and when he heard that Steward Cui from the palace had come to him, and that he was offered ten thousand taels of silver to work as a cook in the imperial kitchen, receiving a monthly salary of fifty taels, only requiring him to send his niece to the palace, he was extremely unwilling and unhappy. He went home and discussed it with his wife. His wife then pulled her niece, Qiong'er, into the inner room and repeatedly advised her, "You are proud and have a fastidious nature. Only by marrying into a wealthy family can you fulfill your wishes. But in our family, even if we marry someone of equal social standing, you'll at most marry into a wealthy family, and you'll still suffer for the rest of your life. Now the palace wants you. Go in properly, win His Majesty's favor, and you can fulfill your lifelong wish. We can also climb the social ladder. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?" Qiong'er thought her aunt's words made sense, so she agreed.
The next day, Steward Cui exchanged the silver and secretly sent Qiong'er to the palace. The emperor summoned her at the "High Mountains and Long Rivers Pavilion." Qiong'er's small feet, barely two inches long, touched the ground, slender and delicate. Upon seeing her, the emperor exclaimed, "Good!" Supported by palace maids on both sides, she slowly approached the throne and gracefully knelt down. The emperor granted her permission to rise. Qiong'er stood up, her slender waist swaying like a willow in the wind. The emperor called her closer, took her hand, and examined her closely: her skin was fair and smooth, her eyebrows delicate and her eyes bright. That very night, he favored her in the palace. From then on, he settled her in the "Crimson Snow Pavilion." Because Qiong'er's feet were small, the emperor had two palace maids help her walk every day. Sometimes, when summoning her, the emperor would help her walk himself; occasionally, he would let go and let her stand alone, and her waist would sway like a lotus flower in the wind. The more the emperor looked at her, the more he loved her, so he laid out embroidered cushions all over her room, and Qiong'er walked on them wearing white silk stockings. Qiong'er also liked to get up early in the morning and stroll among the flowers, living a very happy life. Meanwhile, the emperor gradually became indifferent to Binghua.
Binghua learned that the emperor had recently favored Qiong'er, and she was filled with jealousy and resentment. Having learned that Qiong'er was very particular about cleanliness, she instructed a palace maid to secretly smear filth on the flower branches. Early the next morning, Qiong'er, supported by a palace maid, went for a stroll among the flowers. Suddenly, she felt a wave of foul stench enter her nostrils. Qiong'er looked around and saw that the flower branches were covered in filth, and even her sleeves and skirt were stained.
In her haste to retreat, she stepped on a pile of excrement. Qiong'er cried out "Ouch!" and stumbled away, tripping over a pebble. Her small feet couldn't support her, and she fell headfirst, hitting her forehead on the steps, drawing a trickle of blood. The palace maid rushed to help her and led her inside. Overwhelmed by the stench, she couldn't bear it any longer and vomited violently. The palace maid helped her remove her clothes and gave her a fragrant bath. Qiong'er couldn't withstand the stench and fell ill.
This illness lasted for a whole month. The emperor was exceptionally considerate of her, forbidding her from attending to him during her illness and instead favoring her only in Binghua Palace. Binghua, seeing her plan had worked, was overjoyed.
Later, Qiong'er's illness gradually improved, and the emperor again abandoned her, favoring Qiong'er instead. Binghua was filled with resentment. She and the palace maids plotted a way to eliminate her completely. Summer arrived, and Qiong'er became even more fastidious about cleanliness, bathing five times a day and washing her hair once. She always washed her hair in the early morning. After washing, she would let it hang loose on her back, and with a palace maid, row a small boat to the heart of the lotus pond, letting her hair dry in the breeze; she would then rinse her mouth with the dew from the lotus leaves. Only when the sun shone on the pond's surface would she row back to the palace. This news reached Binghua's ears, and she had another idea.
She bribed a eunuch to secretly buy poison and bring it into the palace, dissolving it in the water, and then, late at night, poured it onto the lotus leaves. The next day, Qiong'er, unaware of the poison, ingested it. Within half a day, the effects took hold, and the emperor watched as she writhed on the bed for a while before her eyes rolled back and she died. The emperor, still deeply in love with her, couldn't help but embrace her body and weep bitterly. He then ordered her to be buried in a fine coffin outside the garden. From then on, Emperor Xianfeng would weep whenever he thought of Qiong'er, despite the attempts of his concubines to comfort him. The more he remembered Qiong'er's virtues, the more heartbroken he became, and his intense longing led to lovesickness.
Chief Eunuch Cui, seeing the emperor's illness, knew it couldn't be cured by medicine. He secretly searched outside and found a beautiful woman who looked exactly like Qiong'er, sending her to the palace to attend to the emperor's illness. At this time, the emperor, in a daze on his dragon bed, saw the beauty and mistook her for Qiong'er reincarnated. He asked her name, and she herself said it was Zi Ying. Seeing that Zi Ying's voice, appearance, and smile were just like Qiong'er's when she was alive, the Emperor gradually cooled his longing for Qiong'er. After the Emperor recovered from his illness, he made Zi Ying a Noble Consort. Zi Ying grew up in a poor family but loved to read. She begged the Emperor to find an old gentleman to teach her in the garden. The Emperor thought to himself: "There are already many tutors in the Imperial Study, but when they see that a new Noble Consort has been taken in, they will submit memorials of remonstrance, which is really annoying; it would be better to find another old gentleman to teach in the garden." The Emperor then discussed this with Chief Eunuch Cui. Chief Eunuch Cui thought for a moment and remembered someone. There was a Chang'an Inn in Dashilan, where a scholar named Zheng worked. He had come to the capital to take the imperial examination and stayed at the inn. However, he failed the examination and ran out of money to go home, so he was stranded at the inn, writing letters and door numbers for people in exchange for a few coins. Steward Cui and the innkeeper of the Chang'an Inn were from the same hometown, so he often visited the inn for casual chats. He also frequently saw the failed scholar, who was already fifty years old, with a white beard, and was extremely amiable. Now that the emperor wanted to find a tutor for Ziying, Steward Cui remembered Scholar Zheng. After explaining the situation to the emperor, he went to the Chang'an Inn to invite him.
Scholar Zheng didn't know who Steward Cui was, mistaking him for the second master of a wealthy family. Now, hearing that he was to be invited to be a tutor, he agreed.
Steward Cui hired a carriage, which was surrounded by blue cloth on all sides. Scholar Zheng sat inside, unable to see anything outside. They traveled a winding road, gradually moving away from the bustling streets. After the carriage had traveled for a while in an open area, it stopped. Lifting the curtain, he saw a row of white walls, revealing the rooftops of buildings nestled among the treetops.
This scholar, surnamed Zheng, mistook it for the garden of a wealthy family, but he was quite puzzled. If they were inviting a tutor, why were they entering through a side gate instead of the main gate? Entering the gate, he found it indeed a large garden, with lush flowers and trees, and layered pavilions. Steward Cui led him through the winding garden, crossing a nine-turn bridge, until a moon gate appeared. A stone plaque above the gate read "Zao Garden." Passing through the moon gate, he saw a row of elegant rooms on the west side, with curved railings and gauze windows. Four pageboys stood in a row along the corridor. They approached, knelt down, and said in unison, "Greetings, Master!" They lifted the curtain, and Scholar Zheng entered the room. He found it bright and clean, with shelves full of books. Steward Cui invited the tutor to sit down, and the pageboys brought tea. Steward Cui then presented the letter of appointment to the teacher with both hands. Inside was a sealed envelope containing two hundred taels of silver, saying, "This is the first month's tuition. If you wish to send it home, you can give it to me; I guarantee it will be fine." Zheng, the scholar, noticed the name on the bottom of the letter: "Master of Yangxinzhai," without a surname. He asked, "What is your master's name?" The page replied, "My master is the first prince in the capital. You needn't ask, you'll find out in the future.
Right now, my prince is away, and only his female relatives are at home. It's inconvenient for him to come out and greet you. Just teach me well, and my prince will certainly not mistreat you." Zheng, the scholar, was displeased by the servants' haughty manners; however, considering the elegant setting and generous tuition, he reluctantly accepted. The next day, the student came out to pay his respects to the teacher. Zheng, the scholar, saw that it was a stunningly beautiful woman, accompanied by four beautiful maids.
He studied for less than two hours each day before going inside. The next day, when his homework was checked, he found that the student had memorized everything without forgetting anything. Zheng, the scholar, was delighted to see his student's intelligence. He ate delicacies every day, slept in luxurious bedchambers, and was well attended to by his servants. However, he was not free to move around. He could not even step out of the garden gate, and if he walked a little further than his study, a servant would stop him and say, "There are women playing around in the garden. You must avoid them, sir."
Three months had passed since Zheng, the scholar, had been in the garden. He longed to go out for a stroll in the main street and told his servant boy about it. The boy said, "You must ask your master for permission." Later, Zheng couldn't resist and secretly slipped out of the garden. He found the area outside desolate and disoriented, unable to tell which way was which. After a few steps, he turned back. The servant boy was already waiting at the gate and said, "This place is extremely wild, often infested with wolves, jackals, and bandits who kill people. If you must go out, you must take a donkey cart and have someone protect you." The boy indeed went and hired a cart. Two burly men straddled the cart; Zheng sat inside, the outside still tightly covered with blue cloth. The cart moved along winding paths. After two or three hours, he gradually heard the sounds of the city. After traveling through the bustling streets for a while, the cart stopped. He lifted the cloth cover, got out, and found himself back at the entrance of the Chang'an Inn in Dashilan. The innkeeper, seeing Zheng, rushed out to greet him and presented him with two letters from home. When Zheng, the scholar, read the letter, it said that the three remittances of six hundred taels of silver had been received and that his family was safe and sound. Zheng was overjoyed and took the shopkeeper to a restaurant. During the meal, Zheng asked, "What is the scholar's academic rank? What is the master's name?" The shopkeeper simply shook his head and said, "I don't know." After finishing their meal, they strolled around the streets for a while before two burly men urged him to get in the carriage and return home. From then on, he went out every two months.
Meanwhile, the female student had read quite a few books that year. Zheng, being old and kind, gradually became close to the student, and they chatted about everything. Whenever Zheng asked about her family, she refused to say a word. A few days later, as the year drew to a close, Zheng, far from home, felt homesick. Just then, the student came out, supported by four maids. Zheng looked at her face and saw that her cheeks were flushed, indicating she had been drinking. Zheng, the scholar, went up to her and asked, "What's wrong?
" The female student smiled sweetly at her teacher, sat down in her chair, and couldn't move. Suddenly, she cried out, clutching her stomach and saying she was in great pain; then her lips turned pale, and her eyes became fixed. The four maids were terrified and hurriedly carried the female student into the inner room. The pageboys also ran around in a panic, leaving Zheng alone in the study. He was completely bewildered. It wasn't until evening that Steward Cui rushed out and said, "Poor thing! The female student has suddenly died. The master instructed: Please leave the garden, sir. Here are five hundred taels of silver; take them. When you get home, never mention what happened here to anyone." As he spoke, a donkey cart was already parked at the garden gate.
Steward Cui helped the teacher onto the cart, closed the garden gate, and went inside. Zheng, the scholar, returned to the inn and told the innkeeper what had happened. He then quietly asked, "Whose family is this?
" Only then did the innkeeper tell him, "The place you went to is the Yuanmingyuan, and that female student is the Emperor's new favorite." It turned out that the female student was Ziying. Because of her love of reading, the Emperor ordered Steward Cui to invite Zheng to study there for a year. Ziying was very intelligent and knew many characters, which pleased the Emperor greatly. However, Binghua learned that the Emperor had favored another concubine, visiting her daily, and that she herself was neglected. Filled with resentment, she deliberately befriended Ziying, secretly visiting her and sending her many delicious treats and toys. Ziying, being a child at heart, was unaware of this treachery and also befriended Binghua. Behind the Emperor's back, the two confided their innermost thoughts. Later, as they spent more time together, Binghua noticed that Ziying was gradually becoming more accustomed to her. One day, Ziying secretly told Binghua, "The Emperor is taking aphrodisiacs and is extremely energetic. He often entwines himself with you all night long. How can our delicate women resist?" Binghua, filled with jealousy, devised a wicked plan. She secretly gave Ziying a small bottle of poison, saying, "This is a stimulant wine. Drink it on an empty stomach in the morning, and you'll naturally be energetic at night." Ziying, caught up in the moment of intimacy with the Emperor and wanting to please him, secretly swallowed the entire bottle of poison. She didn't drink alcohol normally, but after taking it, she felt her face flush and her heart race. She endured it and went to school as usual. However, as soon as she entered the study, the poison took effect. The poison first sealed her throat, so Ziying could only utter a cry of pain before being unable to speak another word. Seeing his beloved concubine on the verge of death, the emperor frantically held Zi Ying in his arms and repeatedly summoned the imperial physician. By the time the physician arrived, Zi Ying had already died in the emperor's arms. Seeing that two beauties had died in succession, both appearing to be poisoned, the emperor knew they must have been murdered and immediately ordered a search of the palace. To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.

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[Romantic Anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty Court] [65] [Author: Xu Xiaotian]

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