Chapter 7 Last Empress
The Last Emperor's Secret Sequel
She became an interesting topic for us on the train.
The topic is shrouded in layers of mystery and subtlety, waiting to be explored.We want to ask: How many traces of court life are left on her?How does she spend her youth?Was her adaptation to the new society smooth, or did things take a long time?
The eleventh express train from Beijing to Harbin is about to arrive in Changchun.A huge factory building began to appear quickly from the window.The middle-aged traveling companion sitting on the opposite bed suddenly stopped asking about her appearance and charm, grabbed me and pointed out: Here, this is the First Automobile Manufacturing Plant!
Standing by the window, I listened attentively to her introduction.She has served many days in this factory.
It is unbelievable to say that a twenty-nine-year-old court lady like her and a large modern factory, at this time, even vaguely arouse some kind of harmonious feelings from the bottom of my heart.Perhaps this is because the motherland and many other places have undergone changes beyond their dreams?
She is now a librarian in Changchun City Library.
However, if it hadn’t been for the last emperor, Puyi, who had been a completely redundant puppet Manchukuo emperor in Changchun for more than ten years, if she hadn’t become his concubine (Fu Guiren) by accident, and if I hadn’t personally learned about her from Puyi last year , I may not know her.
For me, Changchun is a strange city, and Li Yuqin is an interviewee I met for the first time.
There is comfort in her presence, figure, and demeanor.There is no restraint, no luxury, no arrogance; what can be said to permeate her is a kind of simple country sentiment, the interest of youth and the vitality of life.
From the appearance, she didn't look like a woman who was nearly thirty years old, and there were two bows tied with lake-colored ribbons in her braids.The repeated mutations in life did not seem to have caused her to lose her generous and lively characteristics.
In the quiet library, in the hotel in Changchun where I live, in the park where the spring is getting stronger and snowy, in her home where poverty is beginning to improve, in the movie theater British Arthur.In front of Lenke's subtitles, in the restaurant, and upstairs and downstairs in the Jixi Building and Tongde Hall of the Puppet Manchukuo Palace, I listened to her calm conversation.Playing with the tortuous and bizarre life of a woman.Her experience seems to imply traces of the unfortunate characters described by Dickens, although it can only be said to be a fragment.
When she and I met upstairs in the library for the first time, she was somewhat shy. However, once the conversation changed to her family, she would cuddle up to her mother from time to time, with a smile on her face. A kind of laughter with family members, the joy of mother-daughter love.She is also a hospitable host.
Her mother is sixty-seven years old, sitting cross-legged on the kang, with a slightly sick face, and it is said that she has high blood pressure.The interior furnishings are simple, and the erhu and other musical instruments hanging on the wall imply that even a less wealthy family can no longer stop a music lover from exploring art today.Li Feng's eldest brother is exactly such a person.
Let the time go back to fourteen years ago, and we will slowly and carefully pull off the prelude to a legend.
Our heroine was only fifteen years old at the time, and she was studying in the sixth grade of Changchun Nanling Girls' Excellent National School.Changchun was called Xinjing by some people at that time, and it was the capital of the puppet Manchukuo.
The old woman began to recall, but there was no obvious expression on her face, neither joy nor regret, everything seemed to be an inescapable coincidence.
I remember that day was Qingming, and Yuqin went to school without even eating her lunch.I asked her, and she said there were pictures taken in school.Not many days, like Sunday, two Japanese people came to the house suddenly, one is her female teacher, the other is the principal, named Kobayashi
right.One is Fujii and the other is Kobayashi.Li Yuqin said in a low voice.
At that time, I was washing clothes in the yard, and there was a big basin of clothes to wash.As soon as they entered the door, they asked: Is there a Li Yuqin here?I thought to myself, maybe my child got into trouble at school, and the teacher broke into the door. This child usually keeps his mouth shut, and he always has to argue for a reason before he is willing to count.But I didn't dare not admit it, so I agreed and washed my clothes.They didn't say anything, just went into the room and sat down.After a while, I went in and didn't entertain them. I just heard them say: The palace is going to select female students to study, and Li Yuqin has been selected. Find her quickly!
Yuqin happened to go to get rations and buy sugar at that time.The neighbors stood aside and said: This is a good thing, this is a good thing!Fujii doesn't speak Chinese well, but they understand what I say. She even made gestures, pointing here and there, meaning that from now on, we can live in a good house and be rich.And made a lot of wishes, saying that the family can go to see her in the palace, and she can also come home.I'm just afraid they don't have a good idea.After an hour or so, Yuqin was found.When they took a picture, they grabbed her tightly. After a while, she packed her schoolbag and daily necessities and went with them.
To tell the truth, she was a poor girl.As long as she can remember, she knew that her father worked as a clerk in Tianjia Restaurant (it used to be called a waiter). The income of this clerk was to support her mother, her three older sisters, two older brothers, one younger sister and herself.
She said: In our family, the eldest is the older sister, who was a burden at that time; the younger brother is too young to help.We are very envious of rich children who study, but our family lives in poverty and there is no rich money. I have attended several free schools, mend foreign socks after school, and earn some money to buy stationery. In 1999, I went to work in a cigarette factory.After taking a summer vacation and going to school again, I like reading books the most.At that time, my family lived in Erdaohezi.
This is how it works.At that time, we had about 60 students in each class. One day, the school suddenly notified us that three or four girls with good grades and good looks were selected for each class.In fact, I am not considered pretty. After I was selected, they led me to a photo studio opened by a Japanese to take pictures.Everyone is very scared, but it’s okay not to go.At that time, Japan had already gone to war with Britain and the United States, and we were afraid that we would be sent to the Japanese army to do bad things.
At that time, Li Yuqin neither understood the real motive for asking them to take pictures, nor did she realize how much disturbance she would cause in her life if she was picked up.
All of this was Puyi's design, the arrangement of the depressed and depressed emperor.That may be said to be a last resort arrangement!
It turned out that Emperor Xuantong Puyi had abdicated for thirteen years, that is, the year he was sixteen years old, and set up the Empress Wanrong and Concubine Shu Wenxiu in a majestic place in Beijing; after being forced out of the palace, he lived in Tianjin for seven years. During this period of life, Concubine Shu suffered some grievances in front of the queen, and finally asked for a divorce. Since then, the relationship between the queen and the last emperor has been very indifferent, and they have never heard of each other.Tan Yuling, a nobleman of Qing who was once Puyi's favorite, spent five cold and hot days in the Jixi Tower of the Puppet Manchukuo Palace before passing away.Thus, by 1942, at least in the relationship between husband and wife, the emperor was practically alone.
The evil force of the Japanese Kwantung Army back then was not only a sharp sword hanging above the emperor's throne, but also its fierce and chilling light could be seen on the side of Puyi's bedroom in Jixi Tower.
The Kwantung Army smugly imagined the issue of succession to the throne and directly interfered in the marriage of the puppet emperor of Manchukuo.The lieutenant general of the Kwantung Army, Yasunao Yoshioka, who was employed by the imperial court, seemed to be deliberately serving as a matchmaker, and he kept on persuading Puyi to marry a Japanese wife.This was the case before Tan Yuling was canonized as Qing nobleman, and it was still the case after she was posthumously named Mingxian noble concubine.
However, Lieutenant General Yoshioka failed to win the usual victory from Puyi this time.Puyi said to me privately: I thought about it, and finally made up my mind: I will control you like this, and I can’t have another person who controls me at home!I need to find someone who can take care of me.Therefore, he took the initiative to choose a concubine.As for the procedure of censoring photos, I think it was a fashionable method adopted by the emperor after photography was introduced to China.Wanrong became a queen, Wenxiu became a concubine, and Tan Yuling became a nobleman of Qing, all of which failed to bypass this hurdle.
When Li Yuqin walked on this road unconsciously, who knew that Yoshioka still played a role.
That night, she was arranged to stay at the home of the Japanese female teacher Fujii. After cutting her hair, taking a bath, and changing her clothes, Yoshioka suddenly appeared and took her home to have an interview with her father. promise.
When her father expressed that he didn't have a definite idea, Yoshioka stepped up his ambitions and said all kinds of nice words, so that the hype went to the point of hype.However, as long as her mother asks a few questions from the side, is this general right?Um!Well!Um?Get up and pretend that nothing is a sentence he can understand.
What?Yoshioka is sloppy!The old woman reprimanded severely in the northern dialect.
Yoshioka must have known about entering the palace, she added that Fujii might not.Because she asked someone to cut my hair short, completely dressed like a student.I was still a little unhappy!
Why?I asked.
There is such a mentality: a child hopes that people will say that she is an adult; but after she gets older, she is afraid that people will say that she is old.
More than a month later, Yoshioka came again.This time, he was not accompanied by a fifteen-year-old girl, but a note that he carried with him.
Li Feng said in a low tone: There are several conditions stated in the written document, the sentences are long and trivial, and I can't understand many parts. Anyway, it means that after my sister enters the palace, we can't ask for anything. Officer, secondly, you can't ask for money, and thirdly, you can't use your power to oppress others. I will sign and pledge on behalf of all my brothers and sisters.I was only twenty years old that year, and I had only been in elementary school for four years. What did I know?
In the eyes of Puyi and some people back then, this was probably a contract of sale.Then, 10,000 yuan (fake Manchu currency) was sent from the palace.
My elder brother spent six or seven thousand on his marriage, and the rest was stored in the bank, and it was worthless in the end.Besides, my father lost his job because of it!she says.
How could you be unemployed?I haven't figured it out yet.
Speaking of which, I have entered the palace, so it is of course inappropriate for him to wait on others in the restaurant.When she spoke, there was depression on her face, as if the Hou Men had entered a deep ocean.
When Li Yuqin entered the palace, did she succeed in success?
When did she know that entering the palace was only to serve Puyi?
What about her married life with Puyi?
How does she feel in the palace?
All this will be answered by her.
After leaving Fujii's house, you went to live in the palace?I asked.
No.First, he lived in Ergege's house.The furnishings in their home are very luxurious, and some of the candies I ate there are said to be specially made in the palace.
I know that Ergege refers to Puyi's second younger sister, whose name is Yunhe.Her husband, Zheng Wei (Guangyuan), is the son of Zheng Xiaoxu.We said the last two sentences almost in unison.
The first time you met Puyi was at
Jixi Tower.It was Ergege who introduced me to meet him.That day, I was washing my hands in the room, and Er Gege said: I will take you to see the emperor!She also asked me if I would kowtow, and I said: According to the customs of our Northeast people, women do not kowtow.Er Gege said: But everyone has to kowtow when they see the emperor.Since you don't know how to do it, then kowtow three times instead of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times.
Puyi is wearing a suit.He was thirty-seven years old that year, but he looked good and looked very kind.
It is said that you live in Tongde Hall.Yeah?I asked.
Yes.
When we were talking about this issue, we never thought that the next day we would have an opportunity to step into the former site of the Imperial Palace of the Puppet Manchukuo (according to Pu Yi, it should be called the Imperial Palace, because the Japanese Emperor had an imperial palace).I took pictures of her, walked around with her, and listened to her explanation.
It has now become a school for administrative cadres in Jilin Province.From a distance, you can see Tongde Hall, a palace covered with yellow glazed tiles.Compared with the Forbidden City in Beijing, this imperial palace is really bleak.
A dingy fake three-story building is Jixi Building.
Although the Tongde Hall was built in the late period of the Puppet Manchukuo, the style and equipment are more novel, but, according to the vision and knowledge of a Chinese today, it can only be said to be a very basic building.
She said that from the appearance of all buildings, there is almost no change from before.As for the interior furnishings, I know that when Puyi left the palace in a hurry on the eve of Japan's surrender in 1945, it had already been ransacked.Come to think of it, the Kuomintang government didn't receive much at that time, it just let it go to waste.Li Yuqin also said that this place used to be a salt warehouse. He said that it used to be the Ji (Lin) Hei (Longjiang) Salt Audit Office, which is not an elegant place anyway.
What we looked at most carefully were Jixi Tower and Tongde Hall.
As soon as I went upstairs, I asked which one was the bedroom of Puyi, the emperor of the puppet Manchukuo.She skillfully pointed to the room with the wooden sign of the head of education, and I knocked on the door, and a young man sitting by the desk stood up in response, ready to receive us.I didn't want to disturb other people's work, so I exchanged a few words with her, and then we backed out, thinking in my heart, this house has gone through many vicissitudes from the spiritually empty emperor's sleeping place, and today it has become a place for cultivating talents, bricks and tiles Can you not laugh when you are alive?
Next to the bedroom are the emperor's reception room and imperial study (Puyi's commonly used telephone is installed here), washroom, bathroom, and on the east side are the medicine storehouse and the bedroom of Queen Wanrong (named Muhong, also called Elizabeth).The medicine storehouse is close to the stairs, and it was one of the rooms Puyi was most interested in.The one opposite Puyi's bedroom was originally a Buddhist hall.
Downstairs is the residence of the empress and Qing nobleman Tan Yuling.Puyi said that before Wanrong had an affair with her servants, she was put under house arrest. Maybe he just refers to the rooms downstairs?
She said that she lived in the palace for more than two years and often lived in Tongde Hall; if Pu Yi didn't speak, she couldn't stay overnight in Jixi Tower.She only lived in Jixi Tower once or twice.
Tongde Hall is of course the place she is most familiar with.Before she entered the door, she stroked the lilac branches in front of the court and said: This flower blooms very big.
She lived upstairs in Tongde Hall.The row of rooms are: reception room, bathroom, bedroom, study room, dressing room, scripture room and Buddhist hall.Next to the Buddhist hall, there are stairs leading to the place where the puppet Emperor of Manchukuo handled government affairs in Qinmin Building.
Downstairs, there was a Japanese room and a Chinese room with all Japanese furnishings; the piano occupies one room.The ping-pong table occupies one room, the one with the silk portrait of Puyi, where Yoshioka Yasunao and Kwantung Army commander Umezu Yoshijiro often appear; there is also a room for ceremonies.There is also a house in a symmetrical position with the easternmost telephone room. It is the place where the seekers wait, or the place where people rest. Is it a reception room?
Under the mound in front of Tongde Hall, there is an air defense room for the imperial use.
She remembered that there was still an emperor's throne in Tongde Hall, but she couldn't find it now.
Li Yuqin, a nobleman, must have been a naive girl in Puyi's eyes more than ten years ago.
She said that when she first entered the palace, she didn't know that she would be the emperor's concubine.Even when Puyi told her for the first time that you will serve me from now on, she was still a little dazed.It was ten or twenty days after she entered the palace that she started her life as a bride.
Because of Puyi's visit to Anton, the canonization ceremony to confirm Li Yuqin's court status was delayed until more than a month later.She is called Fuguiren.
She said: What is canonization?I see kowtowing everywhere.Kowtow upstairs, kowtow downstairs, kneel down three times and kowtow nine times on one head, I was really exhausted that day.
This is clearly based on the ritual system of the Qing Dynasty: the canonization of the queen; for imperial concubines, noble concubines, and concubines, it is called canonization, but the ceremony is similar to the canonization of the queen.
The Qing palace history records the ceremony of enshrining the empress: regularly appoint a scholar to fill the history, and a minister to fill the history.The Ministry of Rites of the Cabinet enshrined the throne of the emperor in the Hall of Chen Taihe, and the announcement said: A certain family was registered as the queen on a certain date.The chief and deputy envoys hold the treasure book and go to the queen's palace, and the queen welcomes them in.The female official kneels to worship the pamphlet, the queen kneels to accept it, performs six sues, kneels three times and salutes three times.The next day, the empress bowed before the emperor.
It is not too surprising that Wanrong has received similar treatment.In 1942, when Tan Yuling was conferred the posthumous imperial concubine Mingxian, who would have thought that there would also be a set of red tapes such as funeral ministers, filial piety personnel, chief envoys and deputy envoys, and silk treasures? Blue gown and green gown, from the archives of the Puppet Manchukuo, the funeral related documents of the Mingxian noble concubine can be reproduced.What's even more ridiculous is that while referring to the Great Qing Dynasty Code, the funeral must also have the names of oriental organizations such as the Executive Headquarters, the Department of Operations, and the Department of Expenses, which are really neither fish nor fowl.
She told me such interesting things.
The first gift Puyi gave her was a big doll.
She and Puyi performed hide-and-seek in the palace.
She sang children's songs and period songs, and Pu Yi was her piano accompanist.
They often write notes for fun, and Puyi always likes to start with the word Xiao Yuqin.
He encouraged her to believe in Buddhism, to be a vegetarian, and to chant scriptures.She did it all.Later, she was asked to read medical books, but she did not obey.
He meditated, and she meditated too.After sitting quietly for an hour, Puyi left.I think, according to the common saying, sitting in meditation is probably the kung fu of observing the nose with the eyes and the heart with the nose.In fact, there is a set of strict rules.The method of meditation in Buddhism is: sitting cross-legged, tongue touching the roof of the mouth, eyes hanging down and looking down two or three feet away from the side.She said that Puyi always likes to put his hands on his knees when he sits in meditation. I think back to the scene I saw in Fushun not long ago, which is indeed the case.With hands on knees, there is a sense of solemnity.I am afraid that Puyi's habit of this kind of emperor is less likely to be derived from the status of the emperor, but more likely to benefit from the meditation method?I also thought that she was still a naughty girl at that time, could she really have such self-cultivation?So when I asked her and Pu Yi to meditate separately, would she suddenly laugh out loud?She said no.
The two of them sometimes listened to the radio broadcast, and whenever the radio station told romance novels, at a critical moment, Pu Yi would always say fearfully: Don't come with a third party!He seems to be very wary of love triangles, coupled with his feudal patriarchal thinking, so sometimes it is inevitable to show bizarre suspicion in the relationship between men and women.
Li Yuqin said: One year during the Chinese New Year, I took a few apples from the fruit plate and asked the old lady (a maid who served her, named Jingxi. The author) to share with the waiters and them. The duties of a eunuch.This matter was nothing at first, but when Pu Yi knew about it, he asked me harshly: What does this mean?What's the meaning?I was very unhappy to hear that.
Sometimes, he was unrestrained, playing with us, and seemed very happy.During the Chinese New Year, we were playing promotion pictures, playing and playing, we all clapped our hands and shouted in unison: The emperor is the champion!The emperor's champion! ①He did not express any opinion, but said calmly from the side: hit, hit. (①The map of promotion is a toy commonly seen by the folks during the Spring Festival in the past. It can be used to gamble, that is, the ranks of officials are listed on the paper, and the dice are rolled to count the points and colors to determine the promotion. It has been rare in the past two decades. I recently asked someone in Beijing (his grandfather was the number one scholar in the Tongzhi period of the former Qing Dynasty) to copy a picture of Huidian. Since Huidian is a book of generation codes, I think it is a kind of picture of promotion, but it is more beautiful than what I saw in my childhood. Complicated. A total of sixty-one columns are listed: official title (including Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao), grade, resignation, world position, seal code, special grace, official department, household department, ritual department, military department, punishment department, Ministry of Industry, Inner Court, Concurrent Title, Zongren Mansion, Nei Ke, Imperial Academy, Zhan Shi Mansion, Qin Tianjian, Tai Hospital, Luan Yiwei, House of Internal Affairs, Imperial Envoy, Tai Pu Temple, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, Guozijian, Lifanyuan, Metropolitan Procuratorate, Tongzhengsi, Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, various departments, warehouses, Beijing government, Bingmasi, various ministries, Xiaojing officials, selection, various roads, government offices, Zhili Office, Zhili prefecture, prefecture, county, palace examination, general examination, township examination, colleges, transcripts of various halls, various donations, birth, military merits, Jingcha, Daji, Youxu, Governor's Academy, Caoyuan, Heyuan, Saltyuan, Bu Political Department, Press Inspection Department.
The palace examination is divided into six items: No. 1 Scholar, No. 2, Tanhua, Chuanlu, Second-A, and Third-A.When winning the first prize, there are examples of congratulatory gifts (twenty congratulations for each editor).I don't know if Pu Yi and Li Yuqin were playing this kind of promotion map back then?I don't know if Puyi received a congratulatory gift when he won the number one prize?author. )
I remember one time, I reassembled the peeled peanut shells; I boasted the grapes I had eaten, and put them in the fruit bowl to deceive him.After he found out, he just smiled and didn't punish me.This was considered a crime of deceiving the emperor at the time!
He has a strange habit, Li Yuqin shows a mouthful of white teeth, smiles and says that he wears glasses even when he sleeps.I asked him to take it off, but he refused; he said it didn't look good.As for me, some hair covers my ears and I don't like to show it.Sometimes, when I insisted on taking off his glasses, he would push back his short hair to look at my ears.When I mentioned glasses, I remembered, did you notice Pu Yi's glasses in Fushun last time?The frame is tied with a thread.
Yes.I thought about it for a while.
He said that his glasses frame was accidentally broken, and the management office bought him a new pair, but he was reluctant to wear it because he was afraid that it would break again.
Really thoughtful.I said to myself.
Were you two often together in the palace?I asked.
nor.He always said he was busy, but he didn't know what he was busy with.We didn't meet every day, he stayed in Tongde Hall for two or three hours and then left.He also rarely eats with me.On the contrary, the close servants Pujian, Yuyan, and Yuyi often have this kind of opportunity.They are called students in the palace.
He paid no attention to my attire.In the palace, he never paid me a dollar.Fortunately, there is no shortage of daily use, and if you want to buy anything, just take care of it.When it was canonized, he gave me a jade ruyi, which was said to be not good, and later he gave me some jewelry.
In the palace, I ate rice and white noodles, and I often thought of my mother and the others. They still ate sorghum rice, so for a while I secretly ate a meal at night.After Puyi found out, he asked someone to send some rice noodles to my house.It seems to be just once.
He has a good relationship with me, one day he said: I don't get liked all day long, only when I come to you can I be happier. (①Pu Jian is Pu Yi's cousin, Yu Yan and Yu Concubine are both his nieces. Yu Concubine is the hereditary Prince Xiaogong. Author.)
How can a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl understand the puppet emperor's distress?
After a short pause, she went on to say: However, I heard that his feelings for Yu Ling are even better.
Tan Yuling?
correct.Not only did she live in Jixi Tower, but she also heard that Pu Yi was often with her.It’s also a coincidence that when I was studying in elementary school, I wanted to change my name to Yuling for a while.Because my baby name is Ling'er.However, I later felt that it didn't sound good, so I didn't change it.
I also heard that before I entered the palace, there was a female student surnamed Miao, whose photo was picked up by Puyi, and she also entered the palace, but Puyi didn't want it after meeting.The man surnamed Miao wanted to enter the palace very much, but he asked Pu Yi's servants for help, but failed.After I found out about this, I said to Puyi one day: Bring her here too, let's play together!He ignored it.I was such a kid back then, I didn't understand anything.
I heard that Puyi also put forward some conditions to you, asking you to sign and seal?I asked.
There is.A few more than what he proposed to my family.There are a dozen of them in total.
How many more?
Can not remember.There is nothing to disobey, such as the king told the minister to die.
Can you walk around?
No, it's only in Tongde Hall and the courtyard.Life is very boring. Apart from writing, embroidery, chanting scriptures, cleaning the house, and taking walks, there is nothing else. I have raised many chickens, laid eggs, and cooked for Pu Yi.He said that he likes to eat the dishes I cook, but in fact it is not very good.Those who come and go are also female relatives: Ergege, Sangege, Wugege, Sixth Grandma Jian (Pujian's mother), Yuxi's mother, and Jinglan (Yuyan's wife).Jinglan and I are about the same age, we hit it off very well.But there are also some people who flatter me on the surface and laugh at me in their hearts.
What are you laughing at?
They ridiculed me for three things: first, I am not from Beijing; second, my three generations of ancestors did not have any official titles (my grandfather was a farmer);I'm a rough boy, and I'm sick of this and that etiquette.For example, once the old lady who washed clothes in the palace fell ill, there were too many clothes, and she couldn’t ask for leave. I said I would do the laundry.
Puyi said that you also got some bad habits in the palace!I said with a smile.
There is willfulness.For example, when I play football, I also let Pu Jian's mother play it. She has small feet.Puyi knew it, and told me to give me a meal.But I've never hit anyone, not even cursed.She said it seriously, remembering that once she casually said something to the old lady: Wicked!She then asked me: Where is the slave so wicked?Where is the wickedness?Say it, say it!I was so anxious that my face flushed and I couldn't say a word.In fact, those were the colloquial words when we were students: immoral, disgusting, these are not curse words.Then I told my mother, my mother said you should stop talking about it next time!
What do you think are the characteristics of Puyi's personality?
Quick-tempered, irritable.Whatever he wanted, he had to get it readily, otherwise he would be in a hurry.His room was not very tidy.He likes to say that things are for people's use, not for looking good.Also, he is timid.That's why he didn't dare to learn swimming and ice skating.The most ridiculous thing is that in the days before Japan surrendered, it was the beginning of August, and there were always air raid sirens at night.The air-raid room is just in front of the Tongde Hall where I live, and it is a certain distance from the Jixi Tower.But often when the alarm goes off, before I get dressed, he has already run to the downstairs of Tongde Hall and shouted loudly: Yuqin, Yuqin!I don't know how he can be so fast.
On August 8 of that year, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, you know?
have no idea.At first I also read newspapers.Later, Puyi said that the Kwantung Army's claim of winning the battle was all false, so I simply didn't even read the newspapers.
Li Yuqin confirmed to me that Puyi and they left the palace in a hurry on the third day after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan (August 11, 1945), and corrected some of the plots that Puyi had misremembered.To the surprise of all of us, she and Queen Wanrong had never met each other in the palace, and they only became acquaintances on the way to escape and kept a certain distance.
When I wrote the secrets of the last emperor, two mysteries about women were explained to her unintentionally.That is: Why did Elizabeth, the last Cleopatra, die of illness in Harbin in 1946?And when Puyi, Pujie brothers and others were imprisoned in the Soviet Union, why did Puyi's Japanese brother-in-law Hiroko Saga write from Tokyo to tell Pujie that Li Yuqin had remarried?At that time, if Li Yuqin didn't live in Changchun, he would be in Tianjin. What was Saga Haozi's basis?
Everything has to start from the palace.
Our heroine is indeed facing a major turning point in her life.For the first time she will go among new people.The life she might have lost in an accident was earnestly saved.
Dozens of us left the palace to go to the station at ten o'clock in the evening on August 11th, and waited there for two hours.Hi!It was not until two hours before departure that Yoshioka would tell us where we were going.I remember that it took a full two and a half days by train to arrive at Dalizigou in Tonghua.
Puyi said it was the plane.I interjected.
No, he remembered wrongly.
In those two days, the palace was very chaotic, and Puyi packed his luggage by himself.He mainly brought Buddhist scriptures, books, medicine and some rice noodles.None of the valuables in the palace had time to be transported away.I brought five boxes, including the quilt.There is a large piece of jadeite downstairs in Tongde Hall, which has not been chiseled, and it is engraved with Qianlong's characters, so it can't be controlled.When she was talking, she compared it with her hands, and it must be a foot long.I heard that an eleven-pound emerald stone was dug up in South Africa last year, and the estimated value was more than ten million US dollars.The quality of the piece from Qianlong will definitely not be bad, but I don't know where it is lost now.
There was a false alarm that day, she continued, without any sentimentality or nostalgia.There are only two men left in the palace, Puyi and Pujian, and the rest are female relatives: the queen, Jian's sixth grandmother, Yuxi's mother (commonly called the fourth wife), and me.For some reason, the Japanese military police stationed in the palace suddenly rushed into the inner court and went up to the Jixi Tower, looking very ugly.Puyi called Yoshioka, but no one answered; he called the guard, but no one answered.What is their intention?I still don't understand.I just remember that Puyi rushed from Jixi Building to Tongde Hall in a hurry and said to me: Someone has come in!
You didn't ask Pu Yi?I said.
In Dalizigou, he only lived with us for a few days, and then we broke up and went to Shenyang first, without having time to ask him.
It was only at that time that Puyi exclaimed that someone came in, which made people feel pitiful and ridiculous.
His surprise reminded me of the imperial pen left by Emperor Xuantong in Tianjin in the middle of Xinwei (1931):
Sincerity and respect are the foundation, no one sees me.Don't rely on what you want, don't live in success, don't be shocked by honor or disgrace, life and death are not easy, keep your ambition to save things, and don't make a husband lose his home. (①Quoted from Zhongbao Yuzuo: Emperor of Manchuria.)
The pen posture is elegant, which is very gratifying.However, whether it was the Emperor Xuantong or the Emperor of the Puppet Manchukuo, what good things did he do?What are the merits of the habitable people?The second emperor even made a living under the fence of others and endured humiliation. Later, the foreign master was defeated, and he had to suffer from being held hostage overnight. May I ask why all this happened?When it comes to keeping ambitions and saving things, not to make a man lose his home, the tone is indeed not small, but who did he save?Under his puppet rule, are there more than a million displaced people?
Wasn't it inevitable for Puyi to avoid this kind of encounter?If you can get rid of the fetters of external forces as soon as possible, it will definitely be another situation.
Besides, Li Yuqin lived in Dalizigou for about three months. According to the original idea, they would also flee to Japan with Puyi.However, the Japanese imperialists had to accelerate their defeat on the battlefield in Northeast my country, Pu Yi was captured, and all their dreams came to naught.In the eight years of the Anti-Japanese War, China was the victor.
They later moved to Linjiang, where they met the Eighth Route Army; lived in Linjiang for about a month, then moved to Tonghua, where they lived in the army; lived for more than three months before being sent back to Changchun by the Eighth Route Army. The late spring of 1946.
She told me: The first time I met the queen was in Dalizigou.Hiroko Saga also escaped from Changchun with us.At that time, we ate big pot rice, because I had a briquette stove in my house, and one day I made a vegetarian dish and asked someone to give it to the queen.Not long after, she came over, and I greeted her, and she also returned the gift, and she kept saying, "It's very good!"Good!
Why do vegetarian dishes?
At that time, I believed in Buddhism and was a vegetarian.
What was Queen Wanrong like at that time?If I say Muhong instead of Wanrong, she will be more used to the sound. As for Concubine Shu's name is Wenxiu, this is the first time she knows it.
Her hair is kept very short, although she is a little lazy because of smoking opium, she is still very beautiful.She had a noble air about her.He was wearing a cheongsam, which was not elegant.Her legs could no longer walk, and two servants supported her.There are three eunuchs and two old maids beside her.
What's the eunuch's last name?
I can't remember clearly, but there was another name at that time, one surnamed Liu, one surnamed Wang, and a young one who seemed to be surnamed Wang as well.
The focus of the topic naturally focused on the queen.Li Yuqin relayed some rumors: At that time, some people said that the queen (also known as the queen's master) smoked more and more heavily.She started smoking opium because of her father Rong Yuan's influence.However, I know that Puyi hates people who smoke opium the most, which makes the relationship between Puyi and the Queen's father and daughter even worse.
I heard that Puyi smokes Sanwu brand cigarettes, and the queen only smokes crappy powder packets (red tin packets), is that true?I think of a record in the book Man Gong Residual Photos.
Maybe not?She said that the best card is the black cat, and the worst card is the big front door.Pu Yi is the same as her.There are also special cigarettes in the palace, called Nanfeng cigarettes, and special daily necessities such as Nanhua soap.I heard from others that the queen's mother passed away very early, and she was a housekeeper when she was a teenager, and she was very good at spending money.There are two tailors around her, making new clothes in three or two days, and most of them are bordered, which is very troublesome, and Puyi is not satisfied with her luxurious life.
I also heard that she is also very picky about eating dumplings. She thinks the dumpling skin is thick and she doesn't want it;Well, when she got angry, she stopped eating.
In the eyes of the noble lady, all this is not worth making a fuss about, is it?
At the end of 1945, Li Yuqin lived in the rear headquarters of the Eighth Route Army Garrison in Tonghua; Wanrong, Saga Haozi and the others lived in the Public Security Bureau opposite, with the prison on the ground floor.
She remembered very clearly that on the second day of the Lunar New Year, a riot broke out, and the prisoners colluded with the bad guys from the outside world and started fighting.
我聽到槍聲，還糊里糊塗地問：怎麼看不見放槍的人呢？接著，又聽到砲聲。我很不放心，不知慕鴻她們怎麼樣，於是挨著窗戶探首看看對面的動靜，想不到一顆流彈突然飛了過來，右臉上流了血；老姑娘（敬喜）給我一條毛巾，按住傷口，可是一會兒滿手巾都紅了。她急著要去開門，有人高聲阻止她：別開門！她嚷著說：有人受傷啦！
部隊裡的人於是立刻給我救急包，找了軍醫來。外面平靜了以後，他們又替我請了一位當地的外科醫生，是日本人，每天換藥。如果他們不管，或者管得不周到，那我也許早就死啦。
我當時就覺得八路軍裡的人個個都很勇敢。部隊裡的女同志待我也很好，時常講道理給我聽。
她忽然想起溥儀的乳母。那人姓王，是第二個奶媽，大家叫她二嬤兒。二嬤兒住在皇后那一邊，那一天也誤中了槍傷，而且後來不幸死了。她說溥儀聽說這件事很傷心。她認為溥儀對二嬤兒的感情，恐怕還在對他父親醇親王載灃之上。
李玉琴並不否認，她住在臨江和通化的時候，有人勸她改嫁。嵯峨浩子聽到這種說法，是不足為奇的事。
後來，部隊在李玉琴表示願意回家以後，便很負責地遣送她回到故鄉長春。嵯峨浩子也是這樣，從長春回到她的本國日本去了。三個太監也給送回長春。至於那位皇后，部隊找不到她在長春的家屬，又不能取得任何聯繫，因此，在部隊調防的時候，又煞費苦心地把她帶到哈爾濱。而婉容由於長期吸食鴉片，一九四六年終於在哈爾濱的病中結束了悲劇的生命。中國歷史上最後一個皇后郭博羅．婉容，清末內務府大臣榮源的女兒，死年四十歲。
溥傑和嵯峨浩子的婚事，在這裡值得附帶提一筆。一九三七年，溥儀在長春冊封慶貴人譚玉齡不久，溥傑和嵯峨浩子在東京結了婚。牽線人是執行本莊繁意旨的吉岡安直。本莊繁卻是和溥儀打交道的第一個關東軍司令官。吉岡在那一年給溥儀的一封極密的信裡，有這樣幾句疙疙瘩瘩的話：皇帝陛下：一月十日到東京，於東京驛會見溥傑中尉。同日，溥傑中尉同直，木莊大將會見，商議結婚之件。關於嵯峨侯、中御門侯、毛利男、高倉子等之令孃，詮議溥傑中尉為嵯峨侯方一候補。現在還有很多人傳說溥儀有一個日本妻子，誤會大概由此而生。至於溥傑的這門親事，其動機是不待追問的了。
走出偽滿洲國宮廷而生活在解放軍部隊裡的李玉琴，當時究竟想些什麼呢？她的大姐夫薛克明去臨江把她接回長春，她重新住在二道河子貧困的家裡所祈求的又是些什麼呢？
她縈迴不已的，其實是古典戲劇裡陳妙常的住處，或者也可以說是狄波娜．嘉在英國影片思凡裡的那種生活氛圍。
一點也不假，這個十七八歲的女孩子竟然在當時對現實世界表示厭倦了。她想出家，削髮為尼。這件事薛克明本人也跟我談過，他承辦過這件事。
那天下午，我們找尋一張溥儀為李玉琴拍的舊照片，可是她在家裡怎麼找也沒有找到，於是她陪著我到她大姐家裡去，她想這可能有些收獲。
男主人正在自斟自酌，桌上放著一大盤紅燒魚。光頭、短小而結實的身軀，再加上一條棉馬褲，這些特點，馬上使我意識到他過去不可能是與軍隊沒有關係的人物。
談了兩句之後，他便乘著酒興，和我認真地談起來。
玉琴麼？我算是她的老姐夫啦。那年就是我去長春把她接回來的啊。後來她說要做尼姑，於是我真的到處替她打聽，可是人家尼姑庵一聽說她的身份，誰也不敢收，那有什麼辦法？溥儀第一次從撫順來信，也是我先知道，把玉琴找回來的。過去我和溥儀只見過一面。
不瞞您說，我呢，是個舊軍人。他開始自我介紹，看來是有不少話要說下去的。
對，我也看得出。I answer.
現在是個小商販，賣銅鐵的小販，說到這裡，他樂不自禁地笑了一笑。
我姐夫最愛吃酒了。李玉琴插進了一句，坐在她一旁的大姐，跟著向他看了一眼，含著溫情，又像帶著最輕微的薄怒。
男主人換了一支煙，接下去說：市場就離這裡不遠。生活方面倒還過得去。這兩年我又做了一些民主管理和愛國衛生運動的事情，你看！
我掉過頭，果然看到兩張獎狀，印刷極為精致。
諾門坎①那一仗你知道罷？我知道偽滿洲國軍隊有一個旅，殺了幾個日軍，就投降了。有些中國人為了吃飯參加偽軍，可是心總是向著中國的。
我過去參加偽滿的軍隊，也是稀里糊塗，怎麼和土匪打了一仗，結果自己成了個偽軍。我從前有一個朋友，他從偽滿的縣長，一直做到民政廳長、省長。他總是說要我做事有一個條件：我說的話要算數！Yeah?職位大小沒有關係，一切要看他的思想作風。 （①諾門坎戰役發生在一九三九年五月到九月。是日本帝國主義者在哈桑湖地區一戰後對蘇聯的另一次武裝挑釁。諾門坎地區在蒙古人民共和國東部邊境與黑龍江省接壤的地方。這一役，日滿軍又大敗，死傷和被俘的在五萬人以上。著者。）
yes.如果有誰在壓迫我們，那我們就得在外力面前拿出這點骨氣來！I thought to myself.
話說回來，福貴人李玉琴既沒有能完成削髮的願望，也不敢拋頭露面。皇族的宗法力量在向她伸展過來！
在天津，溥儀有一個堂兄溥修。溥儀做偽滿洲國皇帝的時期，他在淪陷區天津擔任著一個古怪的職務清室駐津辦事處處長，其實也不過是替溥儀料理一些房產，或者奉命買些補藥何首烏、固齡玉牙膏、黑紫白黃四色的忠勇牌鞋油帶到長春去而已。
清室駐津辦事處這塊招牌想來是在抗日戰爭勝利以後才被撤銷的。
修二爺這位前處長派人把李玉琴接到天津去了。從好的一方面說，是維持她的生活，甚至維持了七年之久，一直到一九五三年李玉琴離開了修二爺這一家為止。
但是，事實上不完全那樣。
李玉琴說，她給接到天津以後，溥修就替她改名換姓，叫作溥維清了。怕她露出身份在國民黨政府統治之下惹禍生非，這是可以諒解的苦心。姓溥就姓溥罷，不過，多少名字不好改，偏要選中維清這兩個字？修二爺是個國學很有根柢的人，其中必有用意。
人們不妨從字面上作一個膚淺的解釋。維清，有維護清室的意思，但也有維持清白的含意。前一個是政治上的，後者則屬於倫理範圍，是在要求為溥儀守節罷？這真是雙關的妙語。
李玉琴回憶住在溥修家的日子，向我第一次顯露出鬱鬱寡歡的神情。
這位受人供養的福貴人，在舊時代的這樣家庭裡偷流過多少辛酸的眼淚，又表現過何等的倔強啊！
她告訴我：在天津住了五年，從沒有出過大門，不能出大門。到天津是從火車站坐三輪車到他家，一九五一年離開天津又是從他家坐三輪車到火車站。別人替我買了雙鞋子，嫌小，我要拿到鞋店去換。他反對。我說：怎麼我聽說當年皇后在天津也可以出街呢？他說：名分有所不同。他動不動就罵我：反叛！反叛！而且有一個很長的時期，他不讓我和長春的家裡通信。
他家的情況也不好，靜蘭帶著兩個孩子和我都住在他家裡。我時常幫助他們生爐子、燒飯，有一次不當心燙了腳，也沒人管，我還是跛著腳一盆盆地下樓取水。鄰居知道我燙傷了，就要替我上霍安油。可是一給溥修知道，又是不高興。他說這點小事，不宜對外張揚，我一生氣，連藥也不上啦。到了冷天，住的房間沒有爐子，跟著那隻腳又凍壞了。
他們家是很看重規矩的。我吃飯吃得快些，溥修也有意見，其實他那時候眼睛已經快瞎了，可是聽得出動靜和別人講話的聲音。有時候，我一推開飯碗，他就脫口而出：嘿！這頓飯可真吃得穩、狠、準啊！
我想替人家織毛衣，貼補零用。可是我不知道流行的式樣，怎麼辦呢？我就站在平台上，看看來往婦人穿的有什麼新花樣。
我跟他們說過，可以守規矩，不過生活困難，不得已，掙點錢貼補貼補。溥修就說：不得已不得已，花襲人啊再嫁！用紅樓夢裡的典故來責備我。
溥修的學問很好，不管問他什麼字他都會寫。他教我讀女四書、大學，很有耐心。他在這方面是好的。
他有一個姐姐，是老姑娘，沒有出過嫁，就愛養貓，把它們叫成兒子啊，姑娘啊，心疼得不得了。晚上睡覺，自己寧可躲在床邊，反讓那些貓睡得舒舒服服的。老姑娘整天忙著跑腿，買這個，買那個；我就忙著燒飯，根本不能出大門。
我倒想起一件事，在舊紙堆裡，我看到過溥儀寫給淑妃文綉的信和詩，照題目看，彷彿是從賞月引起來的感傷。
她在天津住了幾年，借居的小環境可以說是死氣沉沉。社會的大環境呢？只能說是動盪不安，革命的風暴就要到了。
她應該做些什麼呢？她又能做些什麼呢？也許有勇氣和決心，但是她不知道究竟該做些什麼。極端狹隘的生活圈子和舊禮教的束縛限制著她的認識。
她只是繼續念佛，每天念兩三小時的佛。
在那個苦悶、令人窒息的歲月裡，她每天都在低聲祈禱三件事：
求天下早太平。
求父母平安。
求溥儀平安，早日團圓。
中華人民共和國的創立，奠定了我們這個國家和平幸福的基礎。不幸的是，她那可憐的爸爸前一年就死於長春了，沒有來得及看到這個城市的新生，祖國的新生。至於溥儀，依然是音訊杳然。
李玉琴大概想像得到，溥儀如果在舊中國的時代回來，他會立刻得到一個什麼下場？連她這個不見經傳的青年婦女，都要隱姓埋名地生活下去，豈不正是說明了同樣的道理麼！
她又說：解放以後，我跟著溥修一家搬到北京，住在什剎海附近南官坊口，那是一九五一年夏天。我實在不願意老是那樣待在家裡。我希望從那樣的家裡走出來，希望獨立，我希望做個自食其力的人。到了北京以後我就學縫紉，學挑花，做掃除文盲的教員，替居民做些事，衛生組長啊，合作社的監察人啊，等等。當然，事前也有人反對，她們說：這個嗎？按說出門是不合理的，你自己瞧著辦罷！
有兩件事給我的印象很深。有一年三八婦女節，我在北京看到中國第一批的女飛行員。我想：誰說女人是不能做什麼大事的？看看人家！還有一次，聽過上甘嶺英雄的報告，非常感動。他講得很真實，決不像過去的日軍，把敗仗也說成勝仗。
老姑娘也和我一起學縫紉，可是我那時候，交學費交實習材料費都很困難。老師有時候給我一些舊布，讓我實習。那所縫紉學校也就在什剎海附近，有一天從學校回家，我走到海邊去看看水，覺得那個水很可愛。站了一會，我又想：不行，得趕緊回家！說不定老姑娘會告訴他們的。後來，學校又成立了毛衣生產小組，我當了個小組長，因為要到輔仁大學去向他們家屬的孩子攬活，那一天回家晚了，溥修就罵我：現在不回來，將來還要在外面住旅館啦！他又特意講一個歷史故事給我聽，說某朝有一個后妃，她和皇帝相約在某地河邊相見，後來河水漲上來，可是她一步也不動，最後給活活淹死了。可見這位后妃如何了不起。
學挑花罷？地方小；再說又怕給老姑娘養的那幾隻貓踩髒了，後來也就放棄了。做居民工作倒是挺有意思的，和大家合作辦事，挺高興。在舊社會裡，誰有錢誰有勢！有錢的王八大三輩兒！現在可不是這樣啦。
如果從溥修的出身、教養和經歷看，那麼他對李玉琴的態度並不怎麼令人驚詫，我們也似乎不應深責他。他守舊，但是不會永遠守舊下去的罷？政府賞識他的學問，聘請他擔任文史館館員。李玉琴告訴我，這位老先生是前兩個月在北京去世的，大概是虛歲六十二歲。她說溥修的姨太太屬馬，今年四十，夫婦相差二十二歲，這和溥儀比她自己大的歲數完全一樣。
要求獨立和自食其力的女性，在新中國都可以得到機會。一九五三年李玉琴回到長春以後，經過一些曲折，差不多總是一直在社會上工作著的。雖然人家知道她原來就是偽滿洲國皇帝溥儀的妻子。
目前的長春市圖書館工作，更是她所喜愛的。且看她在去年十月所寫的一篇習作，題目是：我的初步規劃。
我到圖書館工作不久，可是我體會到作一個圖書館員是非常光榮的，同時圖書館的工作確是一門科學工作，在專科學校裡就有一門圖書館學專科，這是我以前所不了解的。
現在全國正向科學大進軍，圖書館工作應起著一定的作用。圖書館員的工作任務是如何配合當前任務向科學大進軍，作好圖書工作，把圖書刊物資料等向讀者們推薦，以推動科學前進，這就要每天想辦法大力地推廣借閱。本年七月份在北京召開全國圖書館工作會議已經作出了這樣決定。
圖書館的工作是很重要的。同時作一個圖書館員來說，是需要有一定的文化水平和科學知識。我雖是一個圖書館員，但自己文化不夠，科學知識沒有基礎；同時工作日子淺，業務也不熟悉，所以我要下決心提高文化，加強業務學習，爭取短時間內達到一般圖書館員應有的水平。我除了堅持參加幹部業餘文化補習班逐步提高文化外，還要參加圖書館進修學校的學習，以便掌握圖書館員應具備的知識。更重要是擠出時間，閱讀青年修養和政治理論書籍，以便提高自己政治思想水平，這樣才能作一個名符其實的圖書館員。
她的具體工作是在圖書館的參考輔導部，管理書庫。那裡面日文書堆得密密麻麻。
從一九五六年八月到我訪問她的時候（一九五七年三月下旬），她說已經整理出三萬多冊書，這中間有人幫助。
書庫裡堆存的書，要經過分類、排架、上架、寫卡片、貼書標這些手續，方才算是整理完成。看來，她對工作相當負責。劉館長也對我說過：李玉琴做工作很積極很負責，一件事情不做完，她是不肯撒手的。
不久以前，長春市市長在檢查市圖書館工作以後，特別把李玉琴找去，談得很誠懇很親切。
為了學數學、文學和漢語，她在一星期裡總有四天要在凌晨四點半鐘起身。Why?五點十五分上課，七點鐘下課，然後才是吃早飯，上班。
很明顯，在北國的寒夜，那樣早起並不會有多少樂趣。但是，樂趣是從知識中來的；是從上進心來的；更是從一個人對祖國的豪邁事業之熱愛來的。
在長春，有數以千百計的青年男女就是這樣披星戴月讀書的。我知道，在我所住的長春市賓館，許多青年服務員的另一個身份，就是幹部文化補習學校的學生。他們說得好：國家發展得太快了，不再趕緊學文化不行啦！他們說話時顯露的那種謙遜而羞澀的微笑，不能不贏得我的敬佩。
今天李玉琴的呼吸，她的脈搏的跳動，豈不是和這個時代的男男女女具有共同的頻率和節奏麼？
有所同而又有所不同。她很認真地讀書，因此她被選為一個小組的組長。不久以前的改選，並沒有能動搖她這個值得自豪的職位。
在工作時間以內，李玉琴和她的同事們還有學習業務的機會。目前她在學圖書館學和中國通史這兩門功課。
你們讀文學可有習作？I asked.
有的，上一次老師就是叫我們把辛棄疾的一首詞，改寫成散文或者白話詩。她有興趣地回答著。
可以給我看看嗎？
當然可以，不過老師還沒把它發下來啦！她大方地說。
現在初中語文課本裡是選了辛棄疾那闋著名的西江月的：
明月別枝驚鵲，清風半夜鳴蟬。稻花香裡說豐年，聽取蛙聲一片。
七八箇星天外，兩三點雨山前。舊時茆店社林邊，路轉溪橋忽見。
這位宋代詞人筆下所刻劃的意境，真是優美極了。不過，在今天合作化了的農村裡，那舊時茆店恐怕就不太容易重見了罷？
我不能斷定，她譯寫的是不是這闋詞。
在她談論詞的時候，我偶然聯想到古典作品裡對於一些女性哀怨的描寫。我凝神看著她：是柔腸一寸愁千縷麼？No.有往事只堪哀的感情麼？Not necessarily.天教憔悴度芳姿麼？她很活躍。至於尋尋覓覓，冷冷清清，悽悽慘慘戚戚那種精神狀態，更分明和她有著巨大的距離！她該已經從那個幻夢裡跨出多少里程了啊？
然而，十年生死兩茫茫，不思量，自難忘的那種情愫，她不能說沒有承受過它的壓力。
分別後她第一次接到溥儀從撫順來信，確實已經度過生死兩茫茫的十年。那封信寄出的日期是一九五五年七月五日。
她回憶往事說：看到那封信後，我不知道是什麼感覺：不覺得飽，也不覺得餓，不覺得冷，也不覺得熱，我我傻了。我媽說：還不快給寫覆信啊？我當時簡直一個字也寫不出，一直到第二天，我才能坐下來動筆。
我看到溥儀的那封信，一種深厚的關切之情，是躍然紙上的。
在此後溥儀給她幾封信裡，開頭總是親愛的玉琴，而以你的溥儀作結束。內容很廣泛，從生活細節到國家大事。
一九五六年夏天，在瀋陽審訊一批前日本戰犯的時候，溥儀曾經出庭作證。在這之後，溥儀有一封信，特別問她從報紙上看到他的照片沒有？
有時也討論一些學術上的專門問題。李玉琴說，圖書館裡有個同事問起辨別字帖的問題，她便順便向獄中的溥儀問了一聲，居然得到答覆。
溥儀的覆信裡（一九五六年九月五日）有這樣一段話：
關於你來信所說關於分析帖的好壞真假的問題，對這點，遺憾得很，我是沒有研究過，所以沒有法子來滿足你所希望知道的事。
但是據我知道的，咱們中國寫好字的，像是晉朝的鍾繇、王羲之（最好的書家）和他的兒子王獻之，唐朝的歐陽詢、顏真卿、柳公權、虞世南、褚遂良、薛紹彭等等。尚有許多的人，有不知道的，有想不起來的，例如宋朝的蘇軾（東坡）、米芾、蔡襄、黃庭堅、陸游、岳飛、歐陽修（來信說是歐陽父子，那是不對的，歐陽詢是唐朝人，歐陽修是宋朝人）、趙孟頫（即趙子昂，又名松雪）、宋朝的皇帝宋高宗等，以及明朝的董其昌，這些人都是有名的書家。像寫草書的懷素，這都是寫好字的人。（當然，寫好字的人還有很多的）。至於帖的是否真假，是不容易分辨的；那非有專門的研究不可。關於這點，我是說不出什麼來。我寫過歐陽詢的九成宮帖，和臨過趙孟頫的帖。它的真假，我還能分辨。但是只有看見才能鑒定，這也不是口頭上所能說清楚的。信末仍署你的溥儀字樣。
溥儀記憶有誤。鍾繇是三國魏人。薛紹彭是北宋書法家，與米芾齊名。書法界的歐陽父子當然不能稱為歐陽詢、歐陽修，而是指歐陽詢和歐陽通，有人認為歐陽詢是一位初仿王羲之而險勁過之的書家，歐陽通也善書，有小歐陽之稱。溥儀一時大概沒有想起來。至於這裡提到的宋高宗，那也許是宋徽宗趙佶之誤。從溥儀上次為我所寫的幾張字看來，練過帖當屬無疑，而且可以說書法是相當好的。
我覺得更有一個耐人尋思的問題放在我們面前，那就是末代皇帝身繫圈圄，竟然有此閒情逸致解答字帖問題，想來可以說明他在獄中甚受寬待罷？而中國人在任何情況下都酷愛自己的民族遺產，也正可以從這裡略見一斑。
在一九五七年二月十一日給李玉琴的信裡，溥儀還特地告訴她一件新鮮的事情。他說在春節聯歡會上①，有雙簧、清唱、口琴等等節目，他已和另一個人報了名，準備表演唱歌。（①我猜想是在正月十五亦即二月十四日左右舉行的。著者）
他的嗓子很寬，大概唱男低音。她向我補充了一句。
唱哪一支歌？溥儀沒有說明。
我還看到過她收藏的幾張照片。
一張是溥儀自己，龍袍加身，頭上戴的就是他自己所謂有算盤疙瘩並鑲著一粒大珍珠的帽子。雙目炯炯有神，沒戴眼鏡。這張半身像的長度是三十四吋，寬度二十四吋。我因看到日本新聞記者中保與作寫的滿洲國皇帝（昭和十年，日本評論社版），其中有