第1章 秋风寒

Autumn wind is cold

A Collection of Anecdotes from the Xin Dynasty

Emperor Gaozu loved beautiful women.

Empress Mi was originally married to Lu, the Duke of Yu, but was released due to a crime. She happened to meet Emperor Gaozu when he was still a nobody, and they became husband and wife.

Lady Li was a concubine of Empress Cheng. She was captured by Emperor Gaozu and became his favorite.

Emperor Gaozu then went on a western expedition to conquer Zhao and took Zhao's Empress Dowager Jiang as his wife.

When Emperor Gaozu wielded his sword to defeat the various warlords, many of the consorts of the states he had conquered entered his service, but only Consorts Jiang and Li received the greatest favor.

At the beginning of the dynasty, Emperor Gaozu established Lady Wei as the Jiao Palace, and Lady Jiang and Lady Li as the East and West Palaces. All three palaces were women who had been remarried, a situation unparalleled in ancient and modern times.

Some people at the time made sarcastic remarks, but Emperor Gaozu did not take them seriously. He jokingly wrote the line, "Today, he is the son of Heaven's nobility, thanks to the merit of the Three Phoenixes Obscuring the Sun," to express his affection.

《新朝轶事汇编》
【高祖好美妇】
宓后，原适虞国公陆，因罪得出，恰遇高祖微时，结为伉俪。
郦氏，成后主妃也，为高祖所获，嬖之。
旋高祖西狩灭赵，纳赵太后姜氏。
高祖提剑芟群雄，于所平诸国后妃，入侍者众，独姜郦二妃承恩甚隆。
国初定，高祖立卫氏为椒宫，姜氏与郦氏为东西二宫，三宫皆是再醮之妇，古今无匹。
时人略有阴刺，高祖闻之不以为非，戏题“今日能为天贵子，盖因三凤蔽日功”之句，以表怜爱。