Preface
One day in 1972, an old woman was lying weakly on the bed.
Beside her was founding marshal Xu Xiangqian, who was feeding the peeled orange into the old woman's mouth.
The old woman knew that she was going to be alive. She held Xu Xiangqian's hand and said, "Xiangqian, you are a kind person. Xunxuan will be relieved to die." After
, the old woman swallowed her last breath with a smile. Until the last moment of her life, she could not know the secret that Xu Xiangqian had hidden her for 40 years.
Xu Xiangqian and Cheng Xunxuan
This old woman is Xu Xiangqian's mother-in-law, and her daughter Cheng Xunxuan is Xu Xiangqian's second wife.
911, Cheng Xunxuan was born in Chengweide Village, Hong'an County, Hubei Province. Before and after the Huangma Uprising, her elder brother joined the revolution, and happened to be Xu Xiangqian's subordinate. Under the influence of the elder brother, five children of the Cheng family participated in the revolution one after another, including 16-year-old Cheng Xunxuan.
928, Cheng Xunxuan served as a teacher at the Arrow Factory Lenin Primary School, director of the Huang'an County Women's Federation, member of the county party committee standing committee, and secretary of the Jinzhai County Party Committee. He was one of the main leaders of the women's liberation movement in the Hubei, Henan and Anhui Soviet Area at that time. 929, Xu Xiangqian was sent to Hong'an County by the Party Central Committee. One day, he went to Cheng Weide Village to inspect work. Just then, at the entrance of the Cheng Clan Ancestral Hall, a group of women were performing a program. Xu Xiangqian was attracted, he stopped where he listened to Cheng Xunxuan sang a song "Send the Lang to Be the Red Army". After listening to a song, Xu Xiangqian was still unsatisfied. He asked Cao Xuekai beside him: "Who is the girl singing? She sang so nicely!"
speakers were unintentional and listened intentionally. Cao Xuekai thought Xu Xiangqian had "interest" to Cheng Xunxuan, so he immediately became a mediator.
So, he found Cheng Xunxuan and said to Cheng Xunxuan without Xu Xiangqian's knowledge: "Xunxuan, brother wants to be a mediator for you. Xu Xiangqian is the leader of our military region. His former wife has passed away for a long time and no one has taken care of her in life. Can you think about it?"
Cheng Xunxuan smiled. She didn't say anything, which was considered to have agreed to the marriage.
She had heard her elder brother mention Xu Xiangqian's name and deeds very early. Chen Xunxuan was not resistant to marrying Xu Xiangqian, and was even full of joy. The same goes for Xu Xiangqian. He didn't know much about Cheng Xunxuan, but he had seen him several times. Cheng Xunxuan's cheerful, capable, and bold and bold personality left a deep impression on Xu Xiangqian.
, especially the song "Send the Lang to Be the Red Army", was truly sung into Xu Xiangqian's heart.
, and the two of them decided for the rest of their lives. After , Cao Xuekai was busy preparing for the wedding for the two, but as a result, the question of "where to hold the wedding" stumped him.
Xu Xiangqian has been fighting abroad all year round and has no fixed place to settle down. After thinking about it, only the houses recruited by the Red Army
are the most suitable.However, the place used by the Red Army’s recruitment was the Cheng Clan Ancestral Hall. In this way, will the people of the Cheng family agree?
Cao Xuekai was not sure. He tentatively found the patriarch of the Cheng family and explained the whole story to the other party. Unexpectedly, the patriarch agreed to lend him the Cheng family ancestral hall without saying a word.
He said, "The Red Army conquers the world for the poor. Since there is no place, let's run it in the Cheng Family Ancestral Hall. Xunxuan is the glory of our Cheng family. You should do it more lively!"
Cao Xuekai finally felt relieved. He held a wedding for the two newlyweds. The Cheng family also vacated the two ancestral houses next to the ancestral hall and made a new house for them.
After the wedding, a young couple should have been sweet for a while, but during the revolutionary struggle, they didn’t have much time to fall in love with each other, but instead came and went in a hurry and got together more and more.
1931, Zhang Guotao, who had just returned from the Soviet Union, came to the Red Fourth Front Army. From this time on, he disrupted the Red Fourth Front Army and launched a "anti-counterrevolutionary" campaign.
One day, when Xu Xiangqian led his team to Qiliping, Hong'an County, he sent guard Zhang Bo to send his broken socks and clothes to Cheng Xunxuan.
In fact, Xu Xiangqian's socks and clothes have always been repaired by himself. This time, Xu Xiangqian simply asked Zhang Bo to inquire about her situation in the name of Cheng Xunxuan sewing clothes.
Unexpectedly, not long after Zhang Bo went there, he came back with his clothes and socks in his arms. He told Xu Xiangqian sadly that Cheng Xunxuan had been arrested.
From then on, Xu Xiangqian and Cheng Xunxuan never met again.
Later, Xu Xiangqian led the team south to fight, while Zhang Bo stayed in the Soviet area. He tried every means to visit Cheng Xunxuan in prison.
The first time I went there, the security bureau people refused to let Zhang Bo meet Cheng Xunxuan, and it would be useless to let him talk hard.
The second time he went there, Zhang Bo finally met Cheng Xunxuan. In the low and humid cell, Zhang Bo saw Cheng Xunxuan covered in bruises.
At this time, Cheng Xunxuan didn't know that Xu Xiangqian had left the Hubei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Area. she in tears told Zhang Bo not to let Xu Xiangqian come here, so as not to implicate him.
Before leaving, she asked Zhang Bo to tell Xu Xiangqian, saying that she would rather die than do something to be sorry to Xu Xiangqian: "I told them that Xu Xiangqian is loyal to the party and should not be framed. They tortured me with corporal torture. It seems that I will not live long."
said something, Zhang Bo burst into tears. He told Cheng Xunxuan: "Don't worry, after I see Commander Xu, I will tell him your words."
Not long after, Zhang Guotao secretly executed Cheng Xunxuan, when she was only 21 years old at that time. On the eve of her death, melodious songs came from Cheng Xunxuan's cell, just like her first meeting with Xu Xiangqian.
and Huang Jie were with him for the rest of his life and
. Xu Xiangqian did not hear that Cheng Xunxuan had died until after the end of Long March that at this time, it had been several years since Cheng Xunxuan died.
He asked an insider of the Red Fourth Front Army in grief and anger: "Why did I arrest my wife and kill her? What is her crime?"
The other party told him the truth: "She has no crime. She was arrested at that time, because it was Zhang Guotao who arrested her to make your materials."
While killing Cheng Xunxuan, Zhang Guotao also killed Cheng Xunxuan's younger brother. Cheng Xunxuan's house was burned three times, forcing the elderly at home to hide in Tibet.
Cheng Xunxuan's mother Wang Xiuzhi was unaware of the sacrifice of her daughter. After the founding of New China, she hurried to Beijing, hoping to reunite with her daughter whom she had not seen for a long time.
However, at this time, Xu Xiangqian had already married Huang Jie. Speaking of the two of them, they can be regarded as having the same sympathy.
909, Huang Jie was born in Haoxue Town, Jiangling County, Hubei Province. Her uncle was the chief of the Haoxue Troupe Defense Bureau and was a famous feudal guardian in the local area. Therefore, he often instilled feudal ideas into Huang Jie, which made the young Huang Jie extremely disgusted.
One day in 1924, my uncle came to Huang Jie's house and said to her, "Baby, you are one year older, and you are still teenagers in the blink of an eye. Look, girls who are as old as you in the village have already married and have children. Let me take advantage of the end of the year and get married."
It turned out that not long ago, in order to marry another gentry, my uncle betrothed Huang Jie to the son of that family without authorization.
Huang Jie was reluctant to do so. She was still in school at that time, and the son of that family was a notorious wanderer.
Huang Jie had a big fight with his uncle and said he would not marry each other. In 1924, Huang Jie, who was only 15 years old, escaped from marriage.
Two years later, Huang Jie, who is in Wuhan, heard about it- Wuhan Central Military and Political School (formerly Huangpu Military Academy ) recruited students.
In December 1926, Huang Jie met with the chief instructor Yun Daiying in a hurry and filled out the registration form.
This exam only enrolls 25 students, and the admission rate is very low, making it even more difficult for girls. Even so, Huang Jie passed the exam. After the start of school in
, Huang Jie performed well among the girls. She has a good cultural foundation and is also smart. She is especially good at studying tactical issues, and has been favored by many military instructors.
At that time, Huang Jie had a well-known nickname called "Military School Eagle".
926, Huang Jie participated in the Northern Expedition and met with Zhou Enlai, Li Fuchun, Chen Yi, and Xu Xiangqian. She strengthened her yearning for revolution and joined the Communist Party of China in 1928. Shortly after joining the party, Huang Jie was sent to work in . Her pseudonym "Gui Qing" and became the first secretary of the Songzi County Party Committee of the Communist Party of China.
A year later, Huang Jie went to Shanghai again. During that time, she ran around, responsible for the transportation liaison work of the Central Military Commission, the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai Municipal Committee, and also met Zhou Enlai, He Xiangning, Pan Hannian and other leaders of the Communist Party of China.
In the winter of 1930, Huang Jie worked as a traffic officer for Zhou Enlai. Once, Zhou Enlai sent her to Liu Bocheng to send a piece of intelligence.
Huang Jie hid the information in the tea bucket and then went to Liu Bocheng's home openly. After stopping at the door, Huang Jie looked at the window as required, and instantly, she became panicked.
At that time, underground work had regulations and needed to tie a red rope at the window. Now the red rope was gone, and Huang Jie didn't know if something happened to Liu Bocheng.
She rushed back in a hurry and reported the abnormal situation to Zhou Enlai. Coincidentally, Zhou Enlai had just spoken with Liu Bocheng on the phone and confirmed that Liu Bocheng was at home and there was no problem.
Zhou Enlai was also a little anxious. He criticized Huang Jie and was just concerned about playing with it and missed the matter. Huang Jie was so aggrieved that he burst into tears. At this moment, Liu Bocheng came. He comforted Huang Jie and said that he would figure out the matter and would definitely not wrongly accuse her.
After Liu Bocheng returned home, he found out the truth and called Zhou Enlai.
It turns out that all this is just a misunderstanding. Liu Bocheng's wife brought two hens from the countryside. She couldn't find the rope to tie it, so she took the red rope from the window to use it.
misunderstanding was solved, Zhou Enlai apologized to Huang Jie, and the two of them settled their past grudges.
In addition to work, Huang Jie also met his love here. Her boyfriend was Zeng Zhongsheng . In July 1930, they were transferred to Nanjing together and served as Secretary of the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Soon after, they became husband and wife. However, before the sweet couple's life began, Zeng Zhongsheng was transferred to the Hubei-Henan-Anhui base area as the secretary of the special committee and chairman of the Military Commission, and the couple was forced to separate from each other.
Before leaving, Huang Jie and Zeng Zhongsheng agreed that they would go to Hubei, Henan and Anhui to reunite with him in a few months. Unfortunately, she failed to walk away, and Zeng Zhongsheng, like Cheng Xunxuan, was involved in Zhang Guotao's "mess".
One night in mid-August 1935, Zhang Guotao secretly killed Zeng Zhongsheng and falsely accused him of fleeing to the enemy.
At that time, Huang Jie had just come out of prison and was imprisoned for two and a half years in the Tilanqiao Women's Prison in the British Concession. After coming out, Huang Jie first tried to contact Yan'an, and then went to Hong Kong after attempting. Only then did she realize that Zeng Zhongsheng had been killed with bad news.
940, Huang Jie met Xu Xiangqian, who had been single for 8 years under the help of Sister Zhang Qinqiu. They were both sick and sympathetic and soon got together and married on May 4, 1946. Fortunately, they stayed with each other for the rest of their lives.
The secret of hiding my mother-in-law for 40 years
However, Xu Xiangqian did not forget Cheng Xunxuan. He would always remember this woman who sacrificed for him.
In 1984, he specifically mentioned Cheng Xunxuan in "Review of the History of " and called it "My Lover Cheng Xunxuan".
Even after his mother-in-law Wang Xiuzhi came to Beijing, Xu Xiangqian also visited her as soon as possible. After discussing with Cheng Xunxuan's elder brother, Xu Xiangqian decided to hide the death of Cheng Xunxuan.
As soon as he saw Xu Xiangqian, Wang Xiuzhi quickly called him to sit down and got up by himself to take out a can of m wine from the cabinet.
She sat down next to her son-in-law and poured him a full glass of wine: "Xiangqian, where is Xunxuan? Mother is here, why doesn't this child come to see me?"
Xu Xiangqian didn't know how to answer. He couldn't bear to tell the old man about this unfortunate fact: "Xunxuan is studying in Shaanxi, and he can't come back for a while, don't blame her."
Wang Xiuzhi sighed disappointed: "This child, don't she miss her mother? I have been away for decades, and I am always too busy to take care of it. This time I am not here..."
listened to my mother-in-law's muttering, Xu Xiangqian felt like a knife. Maybe he saw that his son-in-law was in a bad mood, Wang Xiuzhi stopped complaining considerately: "Come on, Xiangqian, let's not talk about the training, come and try the Hongan Laoji wine that my mother brought to you specifically. "
Xu Xiangqian drank it all and asked Wang Xiuzhi to pour him a cup: "Mom, I have drunk this cup on my behalf and I will apologize to you. "
Xu Xiangqian cup after cup, which was not only a matter of fearing that his mother-in-law would ask Cheng Xunxuan, but also to relieve his inner grief. For a moment, this old coach who commanded thousands of troops encountered the most unsolvable problem.
Whatever he was afraid of, it may be because he hadn't seen his daughter for too long. Wang Xiuzhi's thoughts were always on Cheng Xunxuan. She tentatively discussed with Xu Xiangqian: "Xiangqian, my mother discusses something with you. Since Xunxuan is busy and can't leave, then please buy a train ticket for your mother and go and see her. "
said, Wang Xiuzhi dragged out a bamboo basket from under the bed and prepared to pack up his things. Xu Xiangqian quickly grabbed the basket: "Mom, if you really want to go, we will give it to you. But Xunxuan is very busy with homework and needs to prepare for the exam. You can go as soon as you say you want to disturb her..."
still couldn't see her daughter when she heard it. Wang Xiuzhi was anxious: "I have been waiting for her for so many years, and I want to see her immediately. What do you think you should do? "
Xu Xiangqian couldn't bear to look at his mother-in-law's begging eyes, and he said "harshly": "If you can't wait, then I'll call Xunxuan to drop out of school. "
"No, no, no..." Wang Xiuzhi stopped him quickly, "Mom just misses her. It's nothing if you can't see her for a while. Please let her study with peace of mind. You are all people who do big things. Mom is old, and you all listen to you..."
Maybe because he knew that his daughter was "living well", Wang Xiuzhi returned to Hong'an with satisfaction. In order to allow the elderly to enjoy their old age, Xu Xiangqian, who has been upright all his life, carefully weaving a kind-hearted "lie".
He will record him and Every word and everything my mother-in-law said to avoid making a mistake. Sometimes, he would send greetings from "Cheng Xunxuan" to celebrate his mother-in-law's birthday, or celebrate his birthday with his mother-in-law. Every time, his nostalgia for Cheng Xunxuan will grow wildly.
In order not to make his mother-in-law suspicious, Xu Xiangqian carefully arranged a lot of "work" for Cheng Xunxuan. was transferred from "Shaanxi" to "Qinghai", then from "Qinghai" to "Xinjiang", and finally to "Soviet".
Later, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, and the old man asked worriedly: "Why didn't Xunxuan come back yet? Will something happen? "
Xu Xiangqian simply sighed with her until the old man comforted him in turn.
In 1972, under the meticulous care of his son-in-law, Wang Xiuzhi took her last breath with a smile. Before her death, she took Xu Xiangqian's hand and said, "Xiangqian, you are a kind person. Xunxuan will be relieved to die. "
What she didn't know until her death was that her daughter Cheng Xunxuan had left her 40 years ago.
