Reading this book was completely accidental.

Since there is no message board, there are sometimes too many private messages in the background to be ignored. One day, I accidentally saw a recommendation from a friend, ""Gong Qiang Liu", very short but very interesting", so I kept remembering it. In my mind, I finally had time recently and read it in one sitting.

Thanks to this fan friend’s recommendation, we encountered such a warm and sad ancient story.

Today’s sharing: "Gongqiangliu"

Recommendation index: (4/5)

Suitable for the crowd: People who want to read ancient light novels, Cure A reading enthusiast

"It was a complete accident that I wrote the story of Gongqianliu," the author Meng Wa wrote so directly in the first sentence of the postscript of the book.

When she was browsing the question "Why do harem concubines have to compete for favor" on Zhihu, she saw that many people used wonderful writing to describe a thousand or two thousand harem worlds in their eyes. I was also eager to write a short story. At first, I just wanted to make myself happy. I wanted to write whatever I wanted in the "flat" world. Later, I became more and more interested in writing and became more enthusiastic, so I finally came up with this book "Gong". Wall Willow".

Mengwa's original intention was "to write about many, many girls with different personalities and hobbies. It doesn't matter whether they have love or not. The important thing is that they will always love the world and themselves."

In fact, she did it. She made the late empress Shen Yunyao, who understood the righteousness well, the wise empress Jiang Yingliu, the concubine Shu who was good at cooking, the management master Xianfei, the embroidery master Wenfei, A series of daughters in the palace walls, such as the parenting expert De Fei, the quiet and tender Wang Meiren, and "Mr. Storyteller" Song Zhaoyi, come to life. Even the villains in the story, Xu De Fei, Chen Guifei, and Yao Meiren, are portrayed with flesh and blood and fragile On the one hand, everyone in it has their own life, their own story, and their own sighs.

In their world, it is not so much that they do not fight for favor, but that they see through the fight for favor in the end - but all the emperor's favorite concubines have not escaped a tragic ending.

The only concubine Xu Defei in the book who can be said to have a mind for palace fighting and can have the idea that "my sister is no longer in the world, but there is still a legend about her in the world" - Xu Chanfang, but she also made a mistake because of the word "love" , step by step wrong.

"Concubine Xu Def...Xiao Liu'er, it's a good thing you didn't meet her. She is such a ruthless person who eats people without spitting out their bones..."

"I have never experienced Xu Chanfang. Concubines are not enough to fight in the palace."

"The difference between Chen Cairong and Xu Chanfang is one hundred virtuous concubines, two hundred me (Shu Fei), three hundred virtue concubines and ten thousand Wen Yuanyuan (Wen Fei). ”

Just listening to Concubine Shu’s description, you can tell how smart and terrifying Xu Chanrong is. At that time, the Xu family was the only one, and Li Xiu, who was humble and humble at that time, wanted to get close to the much-loved eldest daughter of the Xu family. The prince Li Xiu, who said "it won't be his turn even if the throne is thrown away", finally succeeded in becoming the prince and married her as Xu Liangdi through repeated deceptions and intrigues.

It is said that Xu Chanfang and Li Xiu used each other. Xu Chanfang also wanted power to consolidate the power of the Xu family, but Xu Chanfang was not as skilled as others and failed miserably. But if this "eyeball of the Xu family" who had been pampered since childhood, a schemer who was good at using power, and whom Concubine Shu called "Although I hate her very much, I am convinced by her defeat", what would happen if she didn't have the slightest hint of emotion? Will he end up losing his daughter and commit suicide, and the whole family will be killed?

Xu Chanfang is a smart person. She understood very early that the emperor could not tolerate the Xu family. When she supported Li Xiu to ascend the throne, she only named him a "virtuous concubine". She suddenly understood her place in his heart. But her expression remained unchanged. Later, Empress Dowager Renhe died suddenly and members of the Xu family were investigated one after another. She still warned the Xu family not to act rashly, and she firmly held the position of the harem leader. Even after she was deposed, there were still people who were willing to sacrifice their lives for her. Even after death, As revenge, she completely severed the relationship between Li Xiu and the former empress. She is smart and ruthless, and is the genius who has made countless guesses in the minds of others: "If Concubine Xu De were born as a man, not only the emperor would be able to win";

She is also a confused person. It was too late to see clearly the emperor's playfulness and true ruthlessness towards her. She could bear the humiliation and watch the Xu family fall without shedding tears. However, after her daughter was framed, she completely saw through the emperor's "unkindness" and could no longer sink. Holding on to his anger, he started his own path of "seeking power", but ultimately lost in this war without gunpowder and lost his life.

She said, "It's only my fault that it's too late to see through a word of love." But until her death, she carried with her the "teeth-breaking poem" the emperor wrote to her when he was still the king of Chu. She lost the fight from the start.

As for Concubine Chen Cairong and Chen Guifei, she just likes the emperor so much that she is "blinded by lard". In addition, as the legitimate daughter of the Protector, she is used to being arrogant and jealous. Her methods and heart are far less thoughtful and ruthless than Concubine Xu Def. But I never thought that I was just a pawn of the emperor to bring down the Chen family. After entering the palace for many years and still not pregnant, I was told that my own father had rebelled against me. The Chen family was slaughtered, and the Yi clan was almost killed. Fortunately, Shen Yunyao, who was the queen at the time, spared her life, demoted her to a concubine, and finally became a monk.

Later, Concubine Yao was able to jump multiple levels for ten days in a row and enjoyed great favor, but because of a word she offended the emperor, was thrown into the cold palace, went crazy and committed suicide. None of the great concubines had a happy ending, and everyone felt that the concubine was not a good name. Therefore, in this warm harem where the queen is wise and everyone can survive, the women do not want to compete for favor. They even look down on the "emperor's love" and voluntarily alienate the emperor out of understanding of life or self-protection.

During the days when the emperor had no leisure time, they had their own hobbies and leisure pursuits, such as cooking food, doing embroidery, writing storybooks, taking care of affairs, taking care of children, and even playing on the swing, gossiping, and drinking tea. Appreciate flowers and love life with concentration.

Why do concubines in the harem have to compete for favor? This may be a question. If someone like Concubine Xu De has a strong ambition for power, or someone like Concubine Chen Guifei Yao who puts all the focus of her life on the emperor and is jealous of love, or if she has a low status and cannot live without fighting for anything, The little people who can't go on may give different answers, for power, for love, for survival...

But this may be a rhetorical question. Who is willing to compete for favor in this dense palace wall? That’s all, if you don’t have freedom, you don’t even have a “cage friend” who can keep you warm, chat, and relieve boredom. It’s the most pitiable thing to be trembling and walking on thin ice every day. In other words, if you don’t have crazy desires, paranoid emotions, and strong survival Pressure, who wants to compete for favor?

Li Xiu is a character that many readers hate with itch. He does not have many "plays" in the text, and some of them are just acting like a scumbag: favoring this one today, punishing that one tomorrow, If you fall in love with him "if you don't pay attention", he will kill several tribes. It seems that he is full of lies and everyone is his pawn.

But is this man of ten thousand people really happy? He dreams of getting the throne, but is being the emperor really a good career?

Let’s first take a look at the tragic childhood of the male protagonist Li Xiu. His own mother, Liu Meiren, was just a sweeper and palace maid. She was favored for a few days with her beauty, but was forced by Queen Xu step by step. She was six years old. At the age of ten, she watched helplessly as she was beaten to death and buried on a roll of mat. She lived a life without a father to love her or a mother, and was bullied by other brothers, trying to survive in the cracks.

He finally has someone he loves, but he has no real power to protect her. He can only climb up and become the emperor. However, there are so many princes in the palace, and without his mother, he can only rely on one step at a time to get to the throne. He even sacrificed his own child in order to bring down Quan Cheng.

When he first took over, the Prime Minister interfered in politics, the treasury was empty, corruption was rampant, and the borders were unstable. For the sake of the country, he put his wife and daughter in danger again and again, making them "the only ones who could achieve his goals". "Stepping Stone", he failed his most beloved woman again and again. It's not that he didn't know what the women in the harem were going through, but he couldn't stop.

His Bai Yueguang Shen Yunyao understood his difficulty, but she was unable to go back to the past with him despite being disappointed again and again, and died in depression.

When her son Xiao Changping died in a court dispute, she said, "He was probably sad too, but he didn't have time. He had more important things to do."

When her daughter Xiao Changle died in the power struggle, she said, "He knew, but he still had more important things to do."

When the second son Xiao Changan also died in this struggle, Her last bit of light and hope was extinguished, and she asked Concubine Shu to send a message to the emperor: "I know it's not you, and I don't blame you. It's just that I'm tired. I wish you a long life, and be a good emperor whose name will go down in history. From now on, there will be no more." Important things, no need to see each other again.

"

For the sake of the world, he grew up young and took care of the previous dynasty, so that the subsequent harem could be stable, but he spent his whole life recovering and losing his beloved woman "Jiao" "Jiaoer", he loved Shen Yunyao, but as an emperor he could not protect her in such a situation. When she finally could not forgive him and died of illness, he tried hard to find her shadow in other women, trying to make up for it. , he doted on every woman who looked like her, and gave Jiang Yingliu, who was most like a "Jiaojiaoer", everything: a low position, two sons and a daughter, wealth and wealth. He always regarded Jiang Yingliu as Shen Yunyao and never called her "Xiao Liu'er", it's a pity that his Bai Yueguang will never come back.

He is indeed a good emperor. Although the ladies in the harem usually love to scold him behind his back, Concubine Xian said, "Now. Life has gotten better, and I am very grateful to the emperor. I want to thank him for handling the previous dynasty in a clean and clear manner. The concubines in the harem are not very powerful. First, they are very good at establishing rules." Concubine Shu said, "Although I don't like the emperor, However, life in the palace is not too difficult, and I still have to thank him for his ability to manage the family and the country well." He spent twenty-six years turning the country into a country where the government was clear, the treasury was abundant, the world was peaceful, there were no more powerful ministers in the court, and there were no more wars at home. The country was handed over to his son.

It is lucky to be his people, he is a good emperor, and his posthumous title is clear, but it is unfortunate to be his woman, and she will die early in the harem. No one dares to treat him sincerely.

Is the emperor a good profession? It’s hard to say. Everyone is different and the situation is different. Although Yu Li Xiu is superior, he has been in the position for more than 20 years. He could only numb himself again and again and call out the name of his beloved one after another. For him, the emperor is a job that may not be a good one, otherwise he would not have said nonsense before his death:

"The two of us are always together like this, always together, the country is given to them, and we don't want it, so we will always be together, okay, okay..."

Is he living a hard life? ? Was he sad? Why did he do this? Did he have anyone to talk to?

The author Meng Wa wrote in the postscript: I have always had a bias. I think that to be a good emperor sometimes you have to give up a lot of personal emotions. The judgments he makes must not be based solely on his own likes and dislikes. This means that his loved ones will sometimes become the objects of his sacrifice. Meeting an emperor who is angry with a beauty is naturally a very lucky thing for the beauty, but for many, many people in the world, this anger may not be bearable. ”

“Now that I have become an emperor, I don’t have to explain why to anyone.” Perhaps it means “Now that I have become an emperor, I don’t have to explain to anyone why.”

"Gongqiangliu" 》This story is actually not a complete tragedy, but the main characters in the story have more or less regrets and helplessness in their lives. They could have experienced another life, but many times our lives are not completely determined by Make your own choice, as the author said, "In fact, life is often divided into sadness and happiness. There is sadness and happiness, neither sadness nor happiness, and a mixture of five flavors. This is what life is like." In comparison, the younger generations in the story Life is "unbelievably perfect", perhaps because this is a story, the author has placed infinite expectations and beauty in the future.

Life is not perfect, even if it is small. Some philosophers always say that "love makes people painful", but I personally still believe that love is necessary, and unscrupulous and unreserved love is even more necessary. Many people say that "you can't bear the pain of love", "you can't give your sincerity" After "I won't lose", I started to be extremely self-seeking, belittling emotions, and objectifying emotions. But I always feel that being hurt is indeed painful, but never truly loving is also painful.

We still have to Love passionately, but also love rationally and maturely. This love is not only for others, but also for yourself, life, and the common people.

This is my first time recommending an ancient novel. Do you still like reading it? Welcome everyone to continue to leave messages and recommend books in the background~

I am Mumu, see you next time!

Writer: Mu Mu

Editor: Ru Mu Shudan

Picture: Internet Intrusion and Deletion