text | Zhiling
editor | Xiang Wanwan
In "The Legend of Zhen Huan", there is a completely tragic character, and he is also a small character that is easy to ignore. The reason why
is said to be a minor character is because her sense of presence is too low, and she received her lunch within a few scenes of her appearance.
It was this small role that made Zhen Huan see the cruelty of the harem for the first time, and then she chose to pretend to be sick and avoid being favored in order to avoid the fate of being plotted.
She is the first offline character in the play - the palace maid Fuzi.
Fuzi was originally a maid beside the queen, but was later pointed out to Concubine Hua by the queen. But just a few days after arriving at Concubine Hua's side, her body appeared in the well.
As the first person to go offline in the drama, Fuzi’s presence is really not high.
On the surface, Fuzi was killed by the eunuch Zhou Ninghai ordered by Concubine Hua. But in fact, Fuzi's death was caused by the snobbish strangulation of three parties.
01 Love Brain Hua Fei’s Jealousy
When it comes to Fuzi’s death, the first thing that cannot be escaped is Hua Fei.
In the play, Concubine Hua pays her respects to the Queen as usual, and the two secretly compete with each other.
Under the instruction of Concubine Hua, Songzhi "accidentally" dropped the pastry given by the Queen. Concubine Hua scolded her lightly, thinking that she had won this round.
Unexpectedly, in a few words, the queen used the excuse that Songzhi was the dowry of Concubine Hua and was not suitable for menial work, so she took the opportunity to give Concubine Hua the blessing she had prepared.
Concubine Hua would definitely not be happy with the person who accepted the queen. She already hates the Queen. From now on, she will have to watch Fuzi wandering around in front of her eyes every day. Isn't this causing trouble for herself?
However, when things got to this point, even though Concubine Hua rolled her eyes and rolled her eyes, she still had to accept Fuzi.
On the way back to the palace, Fuzi walked directly next to Concubine Hua's sedan chair without thinking twice.
You must know that the rules in the palace are greater than heaven. Only the confidant eunuchs and maids are qualified to stand next to the concubine's sedan chair.
Fuzi, as a newly transferred little palace maid, stood directly next to Concubine Hua, which naturally made Songzhi, the original personal palace maid, unhappy.
Therefore, with Concubine Hua’s look, Songzhi immediately understood and fiercely pushed Fuzi to the end of the queue.
Returning to Yikun Palace, Concubine Hua greeted the emperor happily. As luck would have it, Fuzi once again stood in a conspicuous place at the door of the bedroom, and the emperor noticed her.
After watching the whole drama, who is the most jealous is none other than Concubine Hua.
The emperor praised the beauty of a little palace maid in front of Concubine Hua. One can imagine how Concubine Hua felt.
Concubine Hua's complexion was not good at that time, but with the emperor's presence, it was not easy for her to get angry.
This anger had been suppressed until one morning. Because of the eunuch's reply, Concubine Hua learned that the emperor had visited Xin Changzai the night before, and she couldn't help but feel angry.
was so stubborn that she was hurt by Fuzi who was helping her dress up again, and she immediately flew into a rage. Old and new hatreds welled up in her heart, causing Concubine Hua to slap the table and shout: Send her away quickly.
Perhaps what Concubine Hua said here was to send away, did not necessarily mean to be beaten to death, but Fuzi's various performances had already touched the back of Concubine Hua's party.
As mentioned before, Fuzi squeezed in and stood next to Concubine Hua as soon as he arrived. This naturally made Songzhi dissatisfied, and maybe he had secretly stumbled Fuzi.
As soon as Concubine Hua got angry, Songzhi immediately started slapping Fuzi, which of course was also mixed with her own dissatisfaction.
Just like that, Fuzi, who was beaten violently, died quietly in the well.
Regardless of whether the "sending" that Concubine Hua said meant Fuzi's death, Zhou Ninghai dealt with it based on his master's wishes.
So the root cause of Fuzi's death was Concubine Hua's jealousy.
02The Scheming Queen’s Plan
Although Concubine Hua is the first person responsible for Fuzi’s death, if you look carefully, Fuzi’s death cannot escape the Queen’s conspiracy.
As the head of the harem, the queen had long been dissatisfied with Concubine Hua. However, due to the emperor's favor and the power of Concubine Hua's mother's family, she had to temporarily tolerate it.
The queen is a person with a lot of wealth, so how could she let Concubine Hua sit on top of her and dominate her?
In the play, before the queen gave the lucky child to Concubine Hua, there was a scene: It was nap time, but the queen asked Concubine Hua to come to Jingren Palace, apparently because she was concerned about the progress of the draft.
is actually promoting his power as a queen: even if you take a nap, I can summon you at will.
This naturally aroused Concubine Hua's dissatisfaction, so the Queen later wanted to give her cakes. She deliberately instigated Songzhi to "accidentally" slip her hand and spill the cakes on the floor, thinking that this would make the Queen look good.
Concubine Hua pretended to apologize to the queen, thinking that the queen could not do anything to her. Unexpectedly, the queen used this as an excuse to successfully give Concubine Hua her lucky child.
The queen prepared a perfect excuse, saying that Fuzi was newly assigned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Firstly, it hinted to Concubine Hua that Fuzi was not her confidant. Secondly, it lowered Concubine Hua's wariness, allowing Concubine Hua to reluctantly accept Fuzi.
Secondly, sending a little maid to serve the emperor's favorite concubine can also show the popularity of the queen, act well in front of the emperor, and gain a good reputation as a virtuous and virtuous person in the Sixth Palace.
Sure enough, although Concubine Hua was very dissatisfied, she had no choice but to accept Fuzi.
Facts have proved that Fuzi came to Concubine Hua just to mess with Mozi.
There is a scene in the play: Fuzi was so happy after receiving a casual compliment from the emperor. The corners of her mouth raised, and she did not notice the anger and jealousy on Concubine Hua's face.
Before the queen assigned Fuzi, she must have given Fuzi pre-job training. Fuzi himself also had a dream, hoping to win a chance for himself by relying on his youth and good looks.
Before the Queen sent Fuzi, she must have told Fuzi in advance.
Using the queen's methods to make Fuzi obey and do as she was told, there were two reasons: First, the threat of Fuzi's family forced her to succumb to the queen and do as she was told.
Although this method can make Fuzi surrender, it is not done willingly, and there is no guarantee that he will not betray the queen in the future.
Judging from Fuzi's reaction to the emperor's praise, it was obvious that the queen used the second method: that was to promise Fuzi with glory and wealth, so that she could find a way to ascend to the throne and take the opportunity to gain a share of Concubine Hua's favor.
It would certainly be best if Fuzi could be favored by the emperor and take the opportunity to rise to power and disgust Concubine Hua. Even if you can't win over the emperor, it's not bad to stay in Yikun Palace as an informant.
The worst plan is that Fuzi is forced to death by Concubine Hua. Then the queen can also take the opportunity to make a fuss and cause trouble for Concubine Hua.
In other words, as long as Fuzi enters Yikun Palace, the queen will win regardless of life or death.
Therefore, Fuzi's death is inseparable from the queen's plan.
03The Emperor's Technique of Checks and Balances
It is not very accurate to blame all the deaths of Fuzi on Concubine Hua and the Queen. In fact, the Emperor also played a big role in it.
The emperor came to the Hua Concubine Palace, noticed Fuzi at the door, and said several words to her, which became the trigger for Fuzi to receive a box lunch. But it’s important to note that before that, three things happened.
The first thing is that the former minister Zhang Tingyu reminded the emperor to be wary of some people who relied on merit to achieve success, intending to remind the emperor to be careful about Nian Gengyao.
Zhang Tingyu said this in the context of the new emperor's accession to the throne. Longkoduo and Nian Gengyao made great contributions to Yongzheng's accession to the throne. They were regarded by the emperor as loyal ministers of the country, and for a time they had power over the government and the opposition, and became the core figures of the new regime.
Especially Nian Gengyao, not only did he have a large number of soldiers, but his sister Concubine Hua was the emperor's favorite concubine, so it was inevitable that he would be a little arrogant.
The emperor originally planned to have dinner at Concubine Hua's place. After listening to Zhang Tingyu's words, he temporarily decided to go to the Queen's Palace.
In the Queen's Palace, the second thing happened.
When the emperor arrived at the Queen's Palace, the atmosphere was still good. The emperor liked the duck soup very much and ordered the maid to serve another bowl.
But the queen wanted to make a fuss at this time, saying that the ancestors had a rule of not eating more than three meals a day. No matter how much you like a dish, you can't eat it a third time, otherwise the dish won't be on the table for ten and a half days.
The queen's implication was very clear, and she meant to hint that the emperor should not only favor Concubine Hua.
The emperor was a little unhappy at that time, threw the handkerchief away, turned around and ran to Concubine Hua.
The third thing was that the emperor was feeling angry. When he arrived at Concubine Hua's place, he immediately saw the palace maid Fuzi standing at the door. This also showed that Fuzi was indeed beautiful.
The emperor was attracted by the beautiful Fuzi, so he asked her if she was new here. After receiving a positive reply, he learned that Fuzi was assigned by the Queen to Concubine Hua, and his expression changed.
The emperor was originally angry with the queen, but when he turned around and met the queen's people at Concubine Hua's place, he felt even more annoyed. Then he casually praised Fuzi a few words, and then he took Concubine Hua into the house.
On the surface, the emperor just sighed at Fuzi's youth on a whim, but he didn't know that in fact, he knew Concubine Hua's jealous temper very well. He seemed to ask casually, but he secretly had murderous intentions.
The emperor said this because he couldn't stand the queen's behavior.
not only had to care about which concubine he slept with, but also deliberately planted an spy, so he had to personally spy on her.
The emperor has watched it, can you not be upset? However, it was not easy for the emperor to interfere with an ordinary palace maid who had no obvious fault in her behavior, so he deliberately praised her in front of Concubine Hua in order to arouse Concubine Hua's jealousy and jealousy.
This is actually borrowing Concubine Hua's hand to give the Queen a little color.
Perhaps the emperor himself did not expect that the momentary emotional catharsis did not matter, but it triggered a series of butterfly effects in Yikun Palace, directly pushing Fuzi to the road of death.
Tracing back to the source, the emperor can hardly escape the blame for Fuzi's death.
04 Written at the end
Throughout the entire incident, the emperor, queen, Concubine Hua, and even the maids and eunuchs around Concubine Hua all had their own purposes and pushed each other to hasten Fuzi's death.
This unfortunate girl actually died from the snobbish strangulation of these three parties.
Some people may say that Fuzi's death was due to her greed for vanity and she deserved it.
If she stays with Concubine Hua, doesn't stand out, knows how to be cautious, and slowly becomes a forgotten existence, maybe there will be a glimmer of hope.
In fact, as a small person, Fuzi can only do so much.
If she shows her presence in front of the emperor, Concubine Hua will be jealous of her or even be killed; but if she acts in obscurity and keeps a low profile, can the empress let her go?
No, the queen will continue to force her to work for herself. No matter whether he is delivering news or causing some damage in Yikun Palace, once he is discovered, he will also face the fate of death.
From the moment Fuzi entered Yikun Palace, he had actually lost the chance to live.
is doomed!
—End of this article—
