When "Zhu Jiu Clan", people found that the concubine was not among them, is this a kind of luck? However, what kind of tragedy will these missed concubines experience in the future? In this dark moment of history, does this small omission contain a deeper mystery of fate?
We can't help but ask: Is the concubine not included in the list of "Zhu Jiu Clan" out of accidental luck, or is there some kind of conspiracy hidden behind it? Will their future be a happy escape, or a more tragic fate awaits them?
"Punish the nine clans" is to investigate a person's paternal four clans, matrilineal three clans and wife two clans together, among which most of the men are killed, and the women are thrown into the deep palace or become prostitutes. It was the capital punishment used by ancient rulers to punish rebellious ministers.
The so-called four patrilineal families, including my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-grandfather, are collectively referred to as "four generations in the same house". The matrilineal trilineal families are my mother, maternal grandfather, and maternal great-grandfather. The two families of wives are naturally wives and children.
Whether or not these tribesmen should sit together and be condemned has different rules throughout the ages. For example, Ming Chengzu clearly stipulated that when he was executed, others would not ask, and only the conspirators would be implicated.
But this has become a merciless punishment in later generations. Because rulers need such cruel punishments to intimidate their subjects and demonstrate their absolute power.
In fact, for the royal relatives and relatives, there will still be some tolerance in practice. Because their in-law relationship with the royal family is complicated, it is easy to sit too many royal families together, which is not conducive to the stability of the ruling group.
Therefore, the "Zhujiu Clan" is mostly only used to attack less powerful families, which not only shows the public, but also does not hurt the fundamentals. For the ministers who are really powerful, the emperor often has more refined means, and will not rashly issue a letter to the nine clans. This is also characteristic of wise monarchs, who are more adept at using power and showing benevolence.
In this era of male superiority and inferiority of women, the legal wife has a high status, she relies on her mother's family as support, and has a great right to speak in the family, and even the concubines brought back by her husband are at her mercy.
The concubines of rich and noble families are also called "concubines", and their origins are varied, and the most noble one is the "talented person" who was awarded the beauty of the palace after the emperor or courtiers made great achievements.
This kind of "reward concubine" is often outstanding and talented, and is deeply favored by the male host. But their final destination still depends on the attitude of the wife of the main house.
The second type of concubines are purchased by the main family themselves, directly recruited from ordinary people or poor families, and some are selected in the same way as Miss Beauty Pageant. This batch of "bought concubines" has the largest number, and their moral status is generally low.
The last category is her own dowry maid given by her wife. This mainly stems from the conspiracy of the main house, rather than letting people bring it from outside, and they don't know the details, it is better to have their own people. Besides, she has the power of life and death of the concubine in her hands, and she is always reliable by herself.
After the three types of concubines enter the main house, they have meager money and food to take care of their lives every month. Most of them can't go out at will, and they gather around their wives in the main house all day long.
The most favored of these concubines may be paid more than the main house, and there is no shortage of food, clothing, housing and transportation. But they also understand that their fate is entirely in the hands of their wives. It only takes a small mistake to expel from the whipping, or even poison with medicine.
Therefore, their lives are trembling, for fear of offending the main house, being beaten and scolded or kicked out of the house. Every day, with a flattering look, he serves his wife and mother-in-law.
In contrast, concubines are like animals in the family, whose fate is held in the hands of others. Therefore, when they encountered the difficulty of family annihilation, they were also judged to be unimportant marginal groups, and naturally escaped. But this escape, can you escape to **?
When a concubine witnesses the head of her master who has served for many years falling to the ground in the court, what should she feel about? She will recall the years when her master pampered her and smiled at her. I will also think of my flattering appearance when I served my mother, and I was careful to be a housekeeper.
For a moment, the beautiful and embarrassing pictures in my mind were intertwined. Does she resent her mother's meanness, or does she pity her master's ill-fated fate? Or is it a mixture of contradictory emotions that keeps her at peace for a long time?
No matter how turbulent her heart is, she is still facing the reality of being helpless. After the concubine escaped, the first problem she had to face was that she had no long things and nowhere to stay. Those who are relatively lucky among the concubines may directly find someone to go to the next family. They have become accustomed to the days of being a man's property, and if they lose a master, they will just find another.
In this era of male superiority and inferiority, it is too difficult for women to survive alone. Marriage and family have become their only support. But more people, whose families are already poor and have nowhere to go. Coupled with the stigma of "other women", even if you want to return to your parents' home, you can't escape white eyes and contempt.
Unable to stand the insults from their relatives, they could only leave their hometown in contempt and wander alone. For a time, under the double oppression of hunger, cold and inner despair, many of them eventually fell into poverty and chose to end their lives in the wilderness. There are also people who have been repeatedly persuaded by the old lord of the harem to embark on the road to the Qinglou - at least there is no need for food and clothing.
This is the most common thing that concubines hear on the street. From those flowery bustards and mother mulberry. They stared sharply at these women of different races who had nowhere to go, and patiently persuaded them to devote themselves to the Qinglou they had opened.
It may be as they say they are, but more often than not, there are days and nights of loss of dignity. Whenever they think of the glory of the past, but now they have fallen into the dust, they can only secretly cry bitterly.
Several concubines came in groups and snuggled up to each other for warmth. They understand that the former concubines of the deep palace have become a thing of the past, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to remarry as a wife in this life, so it is better to stop looking back, cherish everything in front of them, and live this life with these sisters who are suffering from the same disease.
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Life is like this, gaining and losing are in the blink of an eye. The concubines are just a group of poor ants under the giant wheel of history. Although they escaped because of their low status, they were also helpless and unable to survive after the collapse of the Lord's family. Either defect to the new master, kill themselves, or fall into the Qinglou - they don't have much choice.
In contrast, those wives and noble daughters who were implicated and punished, although they immediately had to endure great pain, and even their lives could not be guaranteed, at least they still had the life-saving straw of their mother's family. Even if they live a flattered and extravagant life, when it comes to the most difficult time, they can still return to their parents' homes to avoid the limelight and start again.
Therefore, the concubines who escaped the catastrophe, their life path is not necessarily broader and brighter than that of the main wife. While we blame the rulers for abusing capital punishment and tearing apart innocent families, let us not forget the most helpless people in the family – they all live in fear and need warmth and care.