Yesterday I gave you plum blossoms and today I give you lychees. The overt and secret fighting in the harem will never end.

The Fiery Imperial Concubine

In the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty met his daughter-in-law, Princess Shou Yang Yuhuan, at the Lishan Palace. He was immediately attracted by her beauty and charm. I was so confused that I could never let go. In August of the fourth year of Tianbao, Yang Yuhuan was finally appointed as a noble concubine. Since Yang Yuhuan entered the palace, Concubine Mei's status in Xuanzong's mind has gradually decreased. Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei have become two strange flowers standing side by side in Xuanzong's harem. If Concubine Mei is like an elegant and noble plum blossom, Concubine Yang is like a plum blossom. She is plump and delicate, just like a gorgeous and rich peony. The two of them are thin and fat, one is elegant and the other is charming, the other is quiet and the other moves, forming a sharp contrast. Tang Xuanzong, who was already in his sixtieth year at this time, had been facing the solitary, elegant and quiet Concubine Mei for more than ten years, and he couldn't help but feel a little dispirited; and the sudden appearance of Concubine Yang, not only had a plump and sexy figure full of compelling temptation, but also Her warm emotions, charming eyebrows, and lively personality were like a blazing fire burning Tang Xuanzong, who was in his twilight years but unwilling to age, and deeply attracted Xuanzong, who was originally full of vitality. So Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei began to fight openly and secretly in the harem.

Concubine Yang was like a ball of fire, which fascinated Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, Concubine Yang also invited her eldest sister, Mrs. Han Guo, her third sister, Mrs. Guo Guo, and her eighth sister, Mrs. Qin Guo. They were simply four exotic flowers surrounding Tang Xuanzong. The old Xuanzong felt a new and strong stimulation. He played around with them all day long and had no time to care about the government, let alone the energy to take care of Concubine Mei in Yangdong Palace.

Emperors are also henpecked

However, excessive glamor makes people miss the benefits of elegance. It was the season of plum blossoms blooming again. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was strolling in the plum garden, seeing the flowers and missing people, and felt a hint of sadness in his heart. That night, he excused himself from feeling unwell and stayed alone in the Cuihua West Pavilion instead of going to Yang Guifei's palace. In the dead of night, Concubine Mei's elegant figure blew into his heart like a breeze, so he secretly sent a personal eunuch to carry Concubine Mei to the East Palace of Shangyang to reminisce about the past. Seeing the slightly panicked little eunuch, Mei Fei asked in surprise: "Since it is your majesty's favor, why do you come here secretly late at night?" The little eunuch replied in a low voice: "I must be worried that the imperial concubine will know." Mei Fei said to This puzzled me, and I thought: "Why is the majestic king of a country so afraid of her?"

Although Concubine Mei felt useless, she couldn't bear Xuanzong waiting so long, so she dressed up. Riding a horse, we arrived at Cuihua West Pavilion. When the two met, they felt as if they had been separated for a century. Mei Fei became thinner and more elegant, Xuan Zong looked a little older than before, and the two old mandarin ducks were embracing each other again. Xuanzong was affectionate and affectionate, while Concubine Mei was caring and affectionate. They were so sentimental that they couldn't express their feelings. Unknowingly, they hugged each other and talked about the crowing of the golden rooster. In the hazy morning light, golden steps and emerald green suddenly appeared in front of the pavilion, followed by a ring of jingling whistles, and the chamberlain reported in alarm: "The imperial concubine has arrived in front of the pavilion, what should I do?"

Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty Hearing the news, he panicked, quickly dressed and stood up, hugged Mei Fei and hid her inside the house between the walls. Without waiting for the announcement, Concubine Yang pushed in the door and asked Xuanzong: "Where is Mei Jing?" Xuanzong pretended to be nonchalant and replied: "Isn't it in Shangyang East Palace?" Concubine Yang then said slyly: "Why don't you announce that we are here? Let's go to Lishan Hot Spring and have fun together!" Xuanzong didn't know how to deal with it, so he could only hesitate, and finally pretended to be deaf and dumb. However, Yang Guifei, who has always been arrogant, would not give up. She raised her eyebrows and said angrily: "The food is in a mess. There is a woman's gold hairpin under the royal couch, and there is lingering fragrance on the pillow. Who is sleeping with your majesty that night?" , Sleeping till sunrise without looking at the court, your majesty can go to meet the ministers, and I will wait here for your majesty's return."

When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty saw her being so presumptuous, he became angry and pulled up the brocade quilt to face her. She deliberately fell asleep again in the bed and said angrily: "I feel unwell today and cannot see the court!" Seeing that the matter was at a standstill, Yang Guifei used her housekeeping skills, pretended to be a coquettish girl, cried a lot, and then angrily returned to her parents' home. Went. Xuanzong was unhappy and thought to himself: "The emperor of the Tang Dynasty, who is extremely powerful and rich, is controlled by a shrewd little jealous woman. It's so sad!" At this time, Mei Fei also thought the same in her heart: "The emperor summoned Concubine Xing, it was just a matter of course, why did she secretly summon her late at night, and now she hides herself, as if she has committed some unspeakable crime? What are she afraid of if she really makes a fuss in front of her face? How is it?" However, her heroic emperor husband was so panicked, which showed that she was deeply afraid of Yang, which really made her feel pity and hatred. After Concubine Yang left, both Tang Xuanzong and Concubine Mei felt that they were not interested, and Xuanzong turned over and fell asleep. Concubine Mei, escorted by the young eunuch, hurried back to the lonely Shangyang East Palace.

New people and old people

When Xuanzong woke up, it was already three o'clock in the morning, and Concubine Mei was missing from his side. When he asked, he found out that the eunuch had sent her away, and he felt a sense of unknown resentment. Suddenly he burst out and ordered the eunuch to be pushed out and beheaded in anger. Poor this underage eunuch, inexplicably became a victim in the love battle between Concubine Yang and Concubine Mei.

Mei Fei lives alone in Dongfu, Shangyang, and is listless and depressed all day long. At dusk that day, I suddenly heard that a messenger was coming from Lingnan. Concubine Mei suddenly became energetic, thinking that just like in the past, the governor of Lingnan traveled thousands of miles to present plum trees.

But after a long time, no one came to Shangyang East Palace to report. After inquiring, I found out that the lychees were presented to Concubine Yang for her enjoyment. Because Concubine Yang was fond of lychees, Lingnan sent people to hold the newly picked lychees in bamboo tubes and quickly delivered them on horseback. Chang'an. Yesterday I sent you plums and today I send you lychees. After thinking about it for a long time, how could I not make Concubine Mei feel sad and sad, and her life experience has been ups and downs. Only then did she realize that the warmth and coldness of people are different from what they used to be. Concubine Mei couldn't help but burst into tears all over her clothes. Not long after Yang Guifei returned to her parents' home, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty missed her so much that he sent a special envoy to take her back to the palace. The lychees sent this time were also specially designed to calm her down.

At the end of winter and spring comes, the upstairs of Cuizhi is full of flowers, where Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty is summoning the envoys of the Fusang Kingdom who have come from afar to pay tribute. There were many crystal-clear corals and pearls among the tributes, which dazzled Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. At this moment, he suddenly thought of Concubine Mei, and he had not cared about her for a long time, so he ordered a bunch of pearls to be sealed and given to Concubine Mei. It was an old love. Unforgettable is also a kind of compassion and compensation. Concubine Mei was extremely cold-hearted at this time. When she suddenly saw the gift, she felt aggrieved and resentful at the same time. Together with her aloof character, she even risked disobeying the order and flatly refused to accept the gift. , returned the pearl intact, and attached a poem:

The willow leaves and moth eyebrows have not been traced for a long time, and the remaining makeup and tears wet the red gauze;

Nagato himself There is no grooming, why bother with pearls to comfort the loneliness.

Xuanzong was unhappy when he saw the poem, while Concubine Yang on the side added fuel to the fire and made many sarcastic remarks. Xuanzong was deeply moved by this, feeling that the poem was full of resentment and deep affection, so he asked the children of Liyuan to compose music and sing it in the palace. It was called "Yi Hu Zhu". The "Yi Hu Zhu" tune of later generations began from here.

As spring passed and autumn came, Concubine Mei had spent ten years of loneliness in Shangyang East Palace. She often looked at the flowers and the moon, lamenting that time was fleeting and youth was gone. She didn’t know what Xuanzong had in mind. Is there any trace of her Concubine Mei? One day, she specially called Gao Lishi for questioning. Gao Lishi comforted him: "The emperor will never forget Concubine Mei. It's just in the face of the imperial concubine. There is nothing he can do!" Since the emperor has not forgotten his old love, Concubine Mei's heart has begun to grow again. With a glimmer of hope, he cautiously said to Gao Lishi: "I heard that after Empress Chen of the Han Dynasty was left out, she lived in seclusion in Changmen Palace. She bribed Sima Xiangru with a thousand gold coins and wrote "Changmen Fu" for her and dedicated it to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu fell in love with the poem, and Queen Chen was favored again. Isn't there a talented person like Sima Xiangru today? ”

Failure on the battlefield of love

In this battle for love, Concubine Yang’s side is overwhelmingly powerful, but Concubine Mei’s side is in full swing. Then one person is weak and seems to be defeated. As the saying goes, "When a tree falls, the monkey will scatter." Although Concubine Mei was single-handedly selected by Gao Lishi, when Concubine Mei lost power, he did not want to offend the imperial concubine by siding with Concubine Mei anymore. Out of love, Gao Lishi couldn't refuse, so he pushed the situation and said: "For a while, there is no suitable candidate. My empress is extremely talented in literature, far better than Empress Chen of the Han Dynasty. Why don't you write a poem of your own and dedicate it to the emperor?"

Mei Fei felt that what he said was reasonable. It is better to seek help from others than to ask for yourself. She did have many emotions buried in her heart that needed to be expressed, so she smiled and nodded, went back to her room, worked hard to conceive, and wrote a "Lou Dong Fu". After the Fu was written, Concubine Mei carefully copied it and sent it to Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. After reading "Ode to Loudong", Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty sighed for a long time when he recalled Ruyan's past. He also remembered the many benefits of Concubine Mei. He couldn't help but feel guilty about her, and he frowned for several days. After Yang Guifei learned about this incident, she angrily declared: "How dare you vent your dissatisfaction through poetry and anger your majesty by plucking apples from the river!" Xuanzong said impatiently: "She is boring to write poetry. How can he be punished with death if he expresses his inner depression and contains no lies or nonsense throughout?"

"Lou Dong Fu", which Mei Fei painstakingly prepared, originally touched Xuanzong's loving heart, but after Yang Guifei The confusion will have no practical effect. Concubine Mei was in the East Palace of Shangyang hoping that "Lou Dong Fu" would bring some changes in his destiny, but in the end it was a stone thrown into the sea. It only caused some slight ripples at the beginning and did not produce the expected shocking effect. In this way, Concubine Mei, who was favored for a while, could no longer compete with the coquettish and domineering Concubine Yang.