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In the political arena of the late Ming Dynasty, Chen Yuanyuan was an important symbol.

Because of her existence, the political structure of the late Ming Dynasty underwent major changes.

In this sense, Chen Yuanyuan should be considered a political figure.

But strangely, Chen Yuanyuan did not make any voice in this period of history.

It is really interesting that a person who had never made any voice became an important force influencing the political arena in the late Ming Dynasty.

Chen Yuanyuan, a famous prostitute of her time, could conquer a nation with one smile and destroy it with another. The remnants of three dynasties lay on her bed.

It is said that beautiful women are a disaster. Since ancient times, many kings have ruined their country because of their lust for beauty.

Although Chen Yuanyuan did not have a beauty that could bring disaster to the country, she was still able to bring out her unique charm as a woman from the south of the Yangtze River, and accidentally attracted the rulers of three dynasties.

Although Chen Yuanyuan did not have the same stunning beauty as Daji, she was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai.

She is not only good at singing and dancing, but also speaks gently and is beautiful.

Even though she couldn't escape the fate of becoming a man-pleasing woman, she managed to live a legendary life that ordinary women couldn't imagine.

However, Chen Yuanyuan is a figure who will go down in history as a witch who lost her country.

It is more due to the helplessness of life rather than any human fault.

As a woman born in turbulent times, Chen Yuanyuan was actually more like a victim than an aggressor.

"One smile can conquer a city, another smile can bring ruin to a nation. This beauty has brought ruin to a nation for three dynasties."

"Chen Yuanyuan was a famous prostitute in Wuzhong and one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai."

"Her life was originally not her own decision."

"But later, due to a turning point, she escaped the fate of being a brothel girl."

"Chen Yuanyuan thought this was the beginning of a brand new life, but she had no idea that this was the beginning of her miserable life."

"Chen Yuanyuan has been stunningly beautiful since she was young, but she was not destined to be a lady from a noble family."

"She was originally from a peddler's family. Her parents were both street vendors."

"But she didn't even get this little bit of warmth. The death of both her parents made little Chen Yuanyuan an orphan all of a sudden."

"Later, her uncle adopted her, and she changed her surname to Chen."

"Everyone says her uncle is a kind-hearted man, but at this moment, only her uncle is hiding in his bed and secretly laughing."

"Because Chen Yuanyuan has a stunning face, who knows when it might come in handy."

"Chen Yuanyuan is extremely intelligent, talented, and beautiful."

"She will soon become famous throughout Jiangnan, but her fate will also change with her beauty."

"At that time, her uncle happened to be in bad luck. After his business failed, he owed a large amount of foreign debt."

"It was at this time that Chen Yuanyuan really came in handy, and my uncle sold her to the Suzhou Opera House."

"Chen Yuanyuan became the mainstay of the opera troupe, and her first performance on stage caused a sensation."

"She played the role of Hongniang in The Romance of the West Chamber. She was as beautiful as a flower and her singing voice was as sweet as a nightingale."

"The spectators below were all stunned for a moment, as if they were possessed by a demon."

"Chen Yuanyuan soon became a famous prostitute in the opera world, which naturally attracted many nobles to come and see her beauty."

"And not long after, the Pear Garden welcomed a royal relative, Chongzhen's brother-in-law Tian Hong."

"At that time, Tian Hong happened to be visiting Jiangnan and heard of Chen Yuanyuan's name by chance, so he came to the opera house."

"After watching Chen Yuanyuan's performance, he was so impressed that he immediately redeemed Chen Yuanyuan and brought her back to the capital."

"Everyone envied Chen Yuanyuan for becoming a phoenix, but Chen Yuanyuan did not become Tian Hong's concubine."

"Tian Hong kept her in the palace for his own use. He originally wanted to present her to Emperor Chongzhen."

"But firstly, it was a time of turmoil, with wolves in front and tigers behind."

"Secondly, Chongzhen was not a man obsessed with women, so the plan to present it to the emperor was shelved."

"Chen Yuanyuan can only stay in the Tian Mansion temporarily, occasionally helping Tian Hong receive distinguished guests who come to the mansion, and the rest of the time she will inquire about the news outside."

Liu Rushi: One smile can conquer a city, another smile can destroy a country, but no one knows the bitterness behind her beauty.

Compared to the four great beauties in ancient times, Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diao Chan and Yang Guifei, there is Chen Yuanyuan, who was born in the late Ming Dynasty.

Although she is not one of the four beauties, she has the same looks as them.

However, Chen Yuanyuan is different from these four beauties.

She was neither the empress who ruled the country beside the emperor nor the empress dowager who embraced the emperor. She was just an ordinary singing girl in the eyes of others.

The reason why Chen Yuanyuan became a key figure in rewriting history was probably fate.

When Chen Yuanyuan was young, her father wanted to attract business.

They often sell their wares while shaking a tambourine and singing.

Over time, I developed a hobby for opera.

Later, he became distracted by this and led to the bankruptcy of his family, and he died of depression.

Chen Yuanyuan's family fell into poverty, and in order to support her and her younger brother, her mother had no choice but to send her to live with relatives.

As a woman, Chen Yuanyuan has always been submissive.

After arriving at her relatives' house, although Chen Yuanyuan got a temporary place to stay, her relatives were not wealthy.

In order to prevent the whole family from starving to death, Chen Yuanyuan was sold to an opera troupe and became a singing girl, and from then on she took on the heavy burden of supporting the family.

Later, Chen Yuanyuan showed extraordinary singing talent and was young and beautiful.

He was soon appreciated by famous artists and quickly became a famous actor known far and wide.

But after becoming a famous actress, Chen Yuanyuan's life also underwent tremendous changes.

The young and ignorant Chen Yuanyuan attracted Mao Xiang's attention because of her superb singing and dancing.

Mao Xiang was one of the four great talents in Jiangnan, and his fame and talent made Chen Yuanyuan unable to extricate herself from him.

Chen Yuanyuan soon had an affair with Mao Xiang and they became engaged.

However, Mao Xiang was a fickle person.

After meeting Dong Xiaowan, who was also one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, he completely forgot about Chen Yuanyuan.

Chen Yuanyuan got Mao Xianghui's promise to redeem her, but in the end it was all in vain.

First, she was redeemed by Jin Ruofu for three hundred gold coins, who then took Chen Yuanyuan as his concubine and brought her back to the Jin Mansion, where she became the target of bullying by his original wife.

Later, he was fortunately restored to freedom, but was abducted by Yangzhou Qianzong Tian Hong again and became a tool for him to win over Emperor Chongzhen.

Afterwards, she devoted herself to Wu Sangui, but unfortunately was involved in the struggle for power and became a witch who destroyed her country.

No matter what kind of mentality Chen Yuanyuan had when she became this evil woman who brought ruin to her country, the only thing that is certain is that Chen Yuanyuan's life was not happy.

There have been many coincidences since her birth.

These coincidences made Chen Yuanyuan experience changes that ordinary women could not imagine.

Coupled with the coming of troubled times, Chen Yuanyuan's situation, which was already like a floating duckweed, became even more displaced.

Especially his combination with Wu Sangui, the general who had actual military power.

Not only did it fail to settle Chen Yuanyuan's life, but it also highlighted Chen Yuanyuan's tragic fate of being snatched away by powerful people.

If there was no Chen Yuanyuan, perhaps Wu Sangui would not have been so angry as to risk his life to win back Chen Yuanyuan.

Nor would it allow Wu Sangui to become the culprit of surrendering to the Qing and rebelling against the Ming, nor would it ruin Li Zicheng's brilliant future.

The Ming Dynasty might not have changed hands, nor would it have become the world of the Aisin-Gioro family.

As a witness to historical opportunities, Chen Yuanyuan's fate was already determined no matter what she intended.

In addition, there is a woman like Chen Yuanyuan who comes from an ordinary family and has no ambition.

Rather than saying that she is a witch who brings disaster to the nation, it would be more appropriate to say that she is a tragedy affected by the country's demise.

For Chen Yuanyuan, she did not know the pain of losing her country, but she knew deeply the helplessness of being abandoned by the one she loved.

Although the marriage of Chen Yuanyuan and Wu Sangui was originally a beautiful story.

However, due to the complicated historical background and the fact that Wu Sangui was not a good man.

Chen Yuanyuan could only have a relatively stable life by relying on Wu Sangui. Not only was she unable to dissuade Wu Sangui from going further and further down the path of being a traitor, she also had no way of controlling her own future.

Therefore, Chen Yuanyuan's image as a witch who lost her country is more a result of the helplessness of life rather than her own fault.

In fact, like Chen Yuanyuan, after witnessing the ruins of three dynasties.

It is absolutely unprecedented that a witch who destroyed her country was not executed immediately.

Not to mention anything else, just Chen Yuanyuan's strong desire to survive and her calm mind are enough to make people admire her.

"At this time, Li Zicheng's power was extremely strong, and he led his troops all the way to Shanhaiguan."

"The imperial court sent Wu Sangui to suppress the rebellion. Wu Sangui was the general of the imperial court."

"Once we won a battle, it would be a great achievement. Before Wu Sangui set out, everyone went to give him gifts and curry favor with him."

"At this time, Tian Hong came up with a good idea. Chen Yuanyuan in the mansion could just win over Wu Sangui."

"At Wu Sangui's farewell banquet, Chen Yuanyuan appeared in a dancing costume that flowed like a fairy. These talents were the result of her practicing for more than ten years."

"As a famous prostitute, she certainly knows how to make a man fall head over heels for her."

"After the song, Wu Sangui was completely mesmerized."

"After Chen Yuanyuan left, she changed her dancing clothes and came to the front of the hall to pour wine for Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui drank the wine with great pleasure."

"After the banquet, Tian Hong said some nice words and then gave Chen Yuanyuan to Wu Sangui."

"Chen Yuanyuan also had a very clever mind. After that, she first became Wu Sangui's confidante, and then made Wu Sangui fall in love with her so much that he couldn't stop."

"But this kind of gentle life is always short-lived, Wu Sangui will soon go to war."

"Chen Yuanyuan is such a delicate woman that she cannot go to the battlefield. Wu Sangui cannot bear to let her go."

"So before leaving, he placed Chen Yuanyuan in his father's house. In Wu Sangui's mind, this was the only way to ensure the beauty's safety."

"I originally thought that when Wu Sangui went out to defend his country, the capital was very safe."

"But who could have imagined that the real nightmare had just begun." "Without the heavy guards in the capital, Li Zicheng took the opportunity to lead his men to surround the palace gate and demanded that Chongzhen cede territory and pay compensation."

"Who would have thought that Chongzhen would rather die than surrender, and the next day he went to Coal Hill and hanged himself."

"The Ming Dynasty is in complete chaos, and the capital is invaded by Li Zicheng's army."

"Officials in the court died or were scattered, and even ordinary people suffered. Chen Yuanyuan, who was in the Wu Mansion at this time, was not spared."

"Li Zicheng had a general named Liu Zongmin under his command, who led his men to burn, kill, rob and abuse people everywhere."

"Finally he came to the Wu family and took away the beautiful Chen Yuanyuan as his own."

"Chen Yuanyuan became Liu Zongmin's concubine again. As a woman living in troubled times, she had no capital to resist."

"This incident soon reached Wu Sangui's ears, and he was so angry that he beat his chest and stamped his feet."

“If you hold your wife in your hands, you’re afraid she’ll break; if you hold her in your mouth, you’re afraid she’ll melt.”

"Now she has been snatched away by the rebels as a concubine. No man can swallow this."

"Wu Sangui was immediately so angry that he lost his mind and vowed to kill the rebel and take back his beloved wife."

"But shouting slogans loudly was useless. Even the emperor himself hanged himself."

"The frustrated Wu Sangui had no choice but to find another way. Since he couldn't defeat Li Zicheng, he had to rely on the power of others."

Cao Xueqin: Wu Sangui said that he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty for Chen Yuanyuan, but it was just an excuse.

At that time, Wu Sangui held a large number of troops and guarded Shanhaiguan. He was an important and powerful figure at that time.

If Tian Hong could get in touch with Wu Sangui, he would get a lot of benefits, so he gave Chen Yuanyuan to Wu Sangui.

Actually, Wu Sangui shouldn't have accepted Chen Yuanyuan.

The soldiers were half alive, singing and dancing under the beautiful tent.

It was a taboo for a general guarding the border to accept such a beauty, and Wu Sangui seemed to understand this.

Therefore, after Wu Sangui accepted Chen Yuanyuan, he did not take her to the border, but kept her in her hometown in Beijing.

As a result, Li Zicheng emerged as a rising star, attacked Beijing, and unexpectedly broke through the city.

Emperor Chongzhen still maintained his own backbone and moral model, and was unwilling to go south to the Yangtze River to continue leading the Ming Dynasty.

Instead, he was hanged on Jingshan Mountain, and the Ming Dynasty collapsed.

After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Chen Yuanyuan fell into the hands of Liu Zongmin.

Chen Yuanyuan is a very sensitive character because she was Wu Sangui's concubine.

Wu Sangui was guarding Shanhaiguan at the time and had a large number of troops under his command. He was a very sensitive figure.

The handling of Wu Sangui's family and property must be done with great caution.

But Liu Zongmin was not very clear-headed, and he was also arrogant and conceited.

He did not take Wu Sangui seriously and directly took Chen Yuanyuan away.

In fact, Wu Sangui was always in a state of confusion at that time.

Although Wu Sangui was a scholar, there was no such thing as national integrity in his mind.

All Wu Sangui cared about was his own interests; he would side with whichever side was more beneficial to him.

Of course, although Wu Sangui was wavering, he actually had a scale in his heart.

The strength of the Qing army obviously surpassed that of Li Zicheng.

Therefore, Wu Sangui had made up his mind to surrender to the Qing army.

But after all, the Qing army was a foreign race, and if he directly surrendered to the Qing army, he would inevitably be criticized by many parties.

Wu Sangui needed an excuse, and it would be best if someone could give him a push.

Liu Zongmin's monopolization of Chen Yuanyuan was a very good excuse.

Therefore, Wu Sangui surrendered to the Qing army and helped the Qing army easily defeat Li Zicheng.

After a bloody massacre with Li Zicheng's army, Wu Sangui took back three things from the enemy.

The first is his dignity as a man. He must avenge his father’s murder and his wife’s theft.

The second item was his father’s head. The old man died with his eyes open, and finally he was lucky enough to be buried with his body intact.

The third thing was the woman he loved, who was humiliated and tortured beyond recognition in the chaos of war.

After the victory of the war, Wu Sangui rushed back to Beijing and took Chen Yuanyuan as his own again.

Later, Chen Yuanyuan followed Wu Sangui in chasing the peasant army and the Southern Ming regime, and Wu Sangui's power grew in the process.

Later, due to her old age and fading beauty, Chen Yuanyuan was no longer loved by Wu Sangui, and finally became a Taoist priest.

"At that time, in addition to Li Zicheng's uprising, the Later Jin in the north was still making moves."

"Dorgon fought many battles with Huang Taiji and the Ming Dynasty, and the situation has intensified since Chongzhen ascended the throne."

"Now the emperor is dead, the country is in chaos, and the palace has been occupied by Li Zicheng."

"So Wu Sangui, who was far away in Shanhaiguan, did something that made him reviled to this day, and it was also the origin of his rage for the woman he loved."

"Wu Sangui made a deal with Dorgon. He let the Jin soldiers in, but the Jin soldiers had to help him get rid of Li Zicheng."

"After Dorgon entered the Pass, the imperial city fell into chaos again."

"Li Zicheng was unable to defeat them, and fled in a hurry after being emperor for only two days. The beautiful dream of the Dashun Dynasty also ended."

"At this time, Liu Zongmin no longer cared about women and ran away with Li Zicheng."

"In order to prevent her from suffering any more injustice, he would take Chen Yuanyuan with him wherever he went."

"After that, Chen Yuanyuan followed Wu Sangui on his campaigns."

"It was not until Wu Sangui pacified Yunnan that he built a Pingxi Palace in the area and became a local emperor."

"The days of being a local emperor are extremely comfortable. Whether the capital is in chaos or not has nothing to do with him."

"Besides, there was no emperor to restrict him. Wu Sangui was actually no different from the emperor."

"Chen Yuanyuan finally lived a life of being the most favored concubine in the harem. As life became better, people began to feel dissatisfied."

"Serving the emperor with beauty is not long-lasting. Chen Yuanyuan is already in her thirties at this time. Even if she takes good care of herself, she is definitely not as good as a teenage girl."

"In order to find beautiful women, Wu Sangui specially sent people to Jiangnan to pick out dozens of famous prostitutes."

"Every one of them was selected as an oiran. From then on, Wu Sangui lived a life of luxury and debauchery."

"If Wu Sangui had been content to be his own local emperor, he would have lived a comfortable life like this."

"But I don't know what he was thinking. Living comfortably for too long always creates some illusions. He started thinking about rebelling."

"The Later Jin at this time was no longer the Later Jin. The entire Qing Dynasty had reached its peak."

"Chen Yuanyuan's repeated persuasion was of no avail. Disillusioned with Wu Sangui, she became a nun and devoted herself to vegetarianism and Buddhist studies."

"In order to fulfill Chen Yuanyuan's wish, Wu Sangui built a temple in Kunming, where Chen Yuanyuan would spend the rest of her life."

"After settling Chen Yuanyuan, Wu Sangui really rebelled and established a Great Zhou."

"But Wu Sangui was just a clown in the eyes of the Qing Dynasty. He died just a few days after becoming emperor, and his army fled in an instant."

"The Qing army then attacked, and Wu Sangui's territory was easily conquered."

"Wu Sangui's life came to an end, and Chen Yuanyuan's whereabouts were unknown."

"Chen Yuanyuan's life was full of ups and downs, and people gave her the title of a beauty who brings disaster."

"She lived through the Ming, Shun and Zhou dynasties. The fall and destruction of the three dynasties were all linked by the three characters Chen Yuanyuan."

Lu Xun: Chen Yuanyuan was finally able to escape the Qing army's pursuit, so it was a happy ending.

There were many different opinions about where Chen Yuanyuan ended up.

The Qing army's pursuit was fruitless, and there are several theories about Chen Yuanyuan's whereabouts.

One story goes that Chen Yuanyuan had died many years ago after the Qing army broke into the city.

It is said that after Wu Sangui's death, Chen Yuanyuan committed suicide by drowning.

It is said that Wu Sangui left a secret order before his death, asking Chen Yuanyuan to escape.

In fact, after Wu Sangui died of illness, Chen Yuanyuan found Wu Sangui’s second son Wu Yingqi after she finished his funeral.

Wu Yingqi sent military advisor Ma Bao to secretly escort Chen Yuanyuan and hide her in Guizhou.

Wu Yingqi was born to Wu Sangui's concubine Chen, because Wu Sangui's wife Zhang was rather fierce.

After Chen's death, Wu Yingqi was given to someone else for adoption.

It was not until Wu Yingqi grew up that he returned to Wu Sangui.

Chen Yuanyuan became Wu Yingqi's stepmother and took good care of him.

Wu Yingqi was also very grateful to Chen Yuanyuan and treated her like his own mother.

After Wu Yingqi settled Chen Yuanyuan, he returned to the front line to fight.

It was not until a year later that Wu Yingqi felt that the Great Zhou regime was about to collapse.

So Wu Yingqi quietly disappeared and went to Guizhou to reunite with Chen Yuanyuan.

Military advisor Ma Bao wanted to hide the news of Wu Yingqi, Chen Yuanyuan and others.

He continued to fight against the Qing army until he was defeated, captured, and brutally killed.

However, it was later confirmed that the person who died was Ma Bao's stand-in.

Wu Yingqi, Chen Yuanyuan and others hid in Guizhou for several years.

It was not until the Yongzheng period that they moved down the mountain to Majiazhai.

In order to avoid the Qing government's wanted list and to repay Ma Bao for saving their lives, they claimed that their surname was Ma.

Afterwards, Wu's descendants and Chen Yuanyuan settled in Majiazhai, Guizhou.

Back then, in order to prevent the secret of Majiazhai from being spread.

Only one or two insiders are selected in each generation, and the secrets of the Wu family are passed down through word of mouth. (End of this chapter)