As the name implies, a cold palace refers to a relatively deserted palace. In ancient times, in order to maintain the dignity of the royal family, empresses were rarely directly executed or put in prison, and they needed a place to be placed, so they were left in limbo.
Generally speaking, there is no specific place and no clear plaque in the cold palace. As long as it is a palace where concubines are placed or imprisoned, it can be called a cold palace. For example, Wang Gongfei, Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, was imprisoned in Jingyang Palace, the most remote of the six palaces. He couldn't see his son for ten years and lived a miserable life.
For the vast majority of concubines, once they are put in limbo, it means that they will die alone for the rest of their lives and it is difficult to turn over. So the cold palace became the last place for concubines in the harem, but unexpectedly, it was the favorite place of many eunuchs and maids. Why?
In fact, there are three unknown reasons: first, working in a cold palace is not only easy, but also free.
As we all know, there are many rules in ancient palaces, especially for eunuchs and maids-in-waiting, which have very strict rules and requirements, even walking, sleeping, eating and so on.
Besides, they have to do a lot of things every day. If they are not careful, they may be punished. They live in fear almost every day and walk on thin ice.
However, when they came to the cold palace, everything became very different. Because the main job of the cold palace is to guard the fallen concubines and talk to them to relieve boredom. Basically, you don't have to do anything, and you don't need to abide by various rules and regulations like other palaces, so you are relatively free to work.
And because these concubines who are in limbo are all waiting for sin, they naturally dare not ask too much of the eunuchs and maids who serve her, and even look at the faces of eunuchs and maids in many cases, so for eunuchs and maids, limbo is simply a paradise in the palace, and coming to limbo is like being an uncle.
The second reason is that you can get a lot of oil and water in the cold palace, which is equivalent to a fat job.
Because concubines who are usually put in limbo rarely have the opportunity to turn over again, gold and silver jewelry has become worthless to them, and there is no place to spend it if they want. As a result, these gold and silver jewelry naturally became what eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting dreamed of.
In this context, they just need to pay more attention to these fallen concubines and even hint. In short, if they want to improve their food, buy better daily necessities, or want to know any information, they can do it for them, as long as they get some gold and silver jewelry as a reward.
So, the money and jewels slowly entered the pockets of eunuchs and maids. For eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting, these gold and silver jewelry are equivalent to a windfall that can be easily obtained. They are naturally willing to work in such a place. After all, who will have a hard time with money these days!
The third reason is that the cold palace is a shortcut for many eunuchs and maids to get rid of their own difficulties.
Because, in the palace, there is the phenomenon of big fish eat small fish everywhere. Many eunuchs and maids at the bottom are often bullied by their peers. Under normal circumstances, if they want to please this bullied fate, they can only climb up, but the problem is too difficult. Most people will never climb it.
In this context, the cold palace has become the only way for them to get rid of their immediate difficulties. Because, after they come to this cold palace, no one will beat and scold them again. It can even be said that they can take the opportunity to retaliate against the fallen concubines to alleviate their long-term depression.
Therefore, for many eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting, after coming to the cold palace, they can not only get rid of the predicament of being bullied, but also turn over and make decisions. Why not? For example, the princess king of Emperor Wanli was tortured to death by the maid-in-waiting eunuch after being put into limbo.
Finally, in addition to the above three main reasons, there are still a small number of eunuchs who choose to come to the cold palace to change their fate.
These eunuchs are basically eunuchs who have great vision and are addicted to gambling, or they know that it is difficult for them to get ahead in the palace, so they will choose one of the concubines who are in the cold.
Because, some concubines are in limbo, it is very likely that they are just frustrated for a while, and it is very likely that they will be favored again before long. Therefore, if you take care of her in the most difficult time, you will naturally become her confidant. When she agrees, you will naturally follow her in the apprentice. So this is also a good opportunity for a small number of eunuchs to get ahead. Of course, such an opportunity is not so easy to grasp.