During the Republic of China, when literati from other places came to Suzhou, if they did not go to Quyuan to sit and sit, they would be like brothers on the road who came to Shanghai but did not visit Du Yuesheng.

Quyuan, the former residence of Yu Yue, a master of Chinese studies, was once the most culturally important place in Suzhou during the Republic of China.

And now, in the northwest of Guanqian Street in Suzhou, a lonely Quyuan is hidden in a dusty alley. There are no tourists in broad daylight, and the old gatekeeper yawns out of boredom.

Under the resounding plaques inscribed by celebrities from all walks of life, such as Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Weng Tonghe, Kang Youwei, there is an old-fashioned black piano, as if apologetically, huddled in the corner. Made of wood, L-shaped, upright, with dull paint. When the heavy cover is lifted, the snow-white keys have faded to ivory.

Its owner is Sai Jinhua.

When a woman was at her most beautiful, she was taken to Europe by her husband, Qing Dynasty diplomat Hong Jun, for five years. When Hong Jun's term of office expired, he was ordered to return to China. What he brought back with him was this piano he bought in Europe. Because he could not enter the country, Hong Jun took a special trip to Hong Kong and made a big detour, finally moving the big guy, who could only be carried by six servants, into the No. 1 Scholar's Mansion in a Suzhou alley. It can be seen how much the gray-haired Hong Zhuangyuan dotes on his young and beautiful third concubine.

Unfortunately, Hong Jun passed away just a few months after returning to China. A few days later, Sai Jinhua left Suzhou and went to Shanghai.

Why?

Li Wan, a widow who is said to be as compassionate as a Bodhisattva in "A Dream of Red Mansions", once said: When her husband dies, the few people in front of her are dismissed immediately.

It means that my husband had several concubines during his lifetime, but I drove them all away at once, leaving them to find another way of living.

That's an understatement. After those concubines were "sent away", would they live or die? unknown.

After Jia Baoyu became a monk, Xiren was also "sent away" by his real wife Xue Baochai, both soft and hard. Xiren refused to leave and cried to death. She was sold into the Jia family by her family since she was a child. She was loyal, diligent and considerate, and served Baoyu comfortably. She was even ridiculed by other maids as a Western fancy Habaer, which means a dog slave like a pug. Unexpectedly, he was kicked away, even worse than a dog. Fortunately, Xiren had a brother who took her back.

Children from wealthy families want to be romantic and happy, but also want family dignity. You can't have both, and the unlucky ones can only be women.

But where can Sai Jinhua go? She came from a poor family and was sold to a flower boat in Suzhou at the age of 13 and became a widower. Two years later, Hong Jun, who was 35 years older than her, bought her back home. Afterwards, the minister's wife enjoyed a few years of glory, but they were short-lived. She was still empty-handed. Before she could take off her pure white mourning clothes, the door of the No. 1 Scholar's Palace was closed behind her.

What can the 22-year-old do? Except death?

Destiny pronounced her original sin the moment she was sold on a flower boat at the age of 13. In the next 50 years, no matter what she did, it was all wrong.

Empress Dowager Hu of the Northern Qi Dynasty also encountered the same dilemma. In Chinese history, violence and moral bloodshed were particularly rampant during turbulent times and dynasty changes. When the Northern Qi Dynasty fell, as the Queen Mother, in addition to enduring the same violence and bloodshed as men, she also had to endure the moral bloodshed. In that case, she had only two choices: suicide or becoming a prostitute.

The ant is still greedy for life. She wants to live. Is it wrong?

Hence, there is that famous saying that makes people cry: It is better to be a prostitute than to live in the future. It means: Being a Queen Mother is not as happy as being a ***. Maybe you don’t want others to laugh? Maybe it's Ah Q's spiritual victory method?

Ants are still greedy for life. Sai Jinhua made the same choice as Empress Dowager Hu. She went to Shanghai, and later to Beijing, and changed her original name from Fu Caiyun to Sai Jinhua.

Is it a provocation? Is it because of anger? Is it a broken pot? Is it to see through the world of mortals? No matter what the considerations are, this is a golden sign! The market positioning is accurate, the marketing slogan is loud, the product advantages are clear at a glance, and the copywriting is concise and powerful.

Lu Xun's novel "Soap" is about a gentleman who claims to be a gentleman. He sees an orphan girl begging on the street. Everyone is watching. Two rogues say: Don't look at how dirty she is now. If Add soap to a basin of water and wash it clean. It is a good product!

So the gentleman ran to the store and bought a high-end soap for his wife. At the same time, he was filled with righteous indignation and condemned the two scoundrels from a high moral level. Unfortunately, my wife saw through it accidentally: shameless! Where is this soap a gift to me? Creak, creak, creak! It's obviously you who wants to wash that female beggar with your own hands!

Chinese literati are best at obscenity.

Her love with Hong Jun, her legendary experience as one of the first Chinese women to live abroad, her deft hands playing the German "Waltz" and the Chinese "Jasmine" on the piano, she She studied hard on her own and eventually became able to speak fluent German. Her self-taught diplomacy, her ability to advance and retreat freely in various situations, her talent as a literary young man, were noticed by her contemporaries, and they were delighted. Surprised:

How can a woman, a ***, be so smart? How can you be so pushy? What do you want a man to do? What do you want the gentlemen to do?

Ah Q couldn't beat anyone, so he had to bully the nun who was weaker than him. He pinched the nun's face and said: The monk can move, but I can't?

In the same way, Hong Jun can move, but I can’t?

So I came up with the novel "Nie Haihua", and the poems "Caiyun Song" and "Saijinhua Poetry". Even if I can't get close to the beauty's body or touch the beauty's flesh, I can still write in words, Slept with you.

There were even various unofficial rumors later. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces attacked Beijing, it was said that she used the foreigners she met as the minister's wife to save the Empress Dowager Cixi and the people in the city. This is a traditional story that people love to hear. It is similar to Liang Hongyu beating the drum to resist the Jin Dynasty. Is it a slap in the face to the orthodox forces? Isn’t it true that official history has lost all its dignity?

As a result, she got a famous name: Sai Erye. This title reminds me of the tiger-fighting hero Wu Erye. If she were a man, if she was born in a good era, with her high IQ and high EQ, with her tenacity and strength, maybe she could achieve something, right?

She also said that she slept with the German officer Waldersee, the commander of the Eight-Power Allied Forces. This made the literati even more happy when they were lustful.

After Sai Jinhua's death, someone wrote an elegiac couplet for her:

"A woman is ashamed of her husband, but she benefited the common people, and her three-character name spread to the north of Hebei;

Qing The ancient Buddha was left with a lamp, and his soul returned to the pure land, and he was buried in the south of the city with a deep resentment. "

It means: She was a woman with golden flowers and a woman, and she had bodhicitta and did good deeds for the people. Her merits are immeasurable, so everyone praises her. name. But she herself, when she died, was full of resentment.

The evangelical couplet was so sincere that I almost shed tears as I read it again and again. I feel sorry for this beautiful woman! I would rather believe that her life is really as wonderful as the legend says.

However, I am so sad. I hope she is an ordinary girl from the neighbor Fu’s family. She was the sweetheart of her parents when she was a child. When she grows up, she marries an honest man and is affectionate and well-fed. Love is unquestionable, never let down, never be looked down upon, and after a life of peace and tranquility without disaster, I close my eyes with no regrets and sleep in that small dark tomb.

Sai Jinhua was buried in Taoranting, Beijing, not far from Shi Pingmei's cemetery.

Shi Pingmei, a talented woman of a generation, fell in love with Gao Junyu, but due to various reasons, they never got married. Therefore, she could only carve her heartbroken monologue on her lover's tombstone after Gao Junyu died of illness: Jun Yu! I am unable to save your life, which is as fast as a comet. I can only shed the remaining tears on your grave until I can no longer come to see you!

Compared with Shi Pingmei's misfortune, at least the years when Sai Jinhua and Hong Jun were together should have been happy. Hong Jun should have had some true love for her. These rare love can warm the future to some extent. A bleak life, right?