Thuc phi Van Tu (1909-1953) was born into a long-standing family with a poor family background. She was a good student and was chosen as the second wife of Emperor Pu Yi at the age of 13. She was crowned the Vice-rector, the title was only lower than Queen Uyen Dung.
According to SCMP, Emperor Pu Yi liked to be with Empress Uyen Dung more, so Thuc Phi Van Tu often spent the whole day reading, researching or teaching female readers and writers.
The situation of Thuc Phi Van Tu has not changed much after the royal family members had to leave the Imperial Citadel in 1924.
In the rented villa in Tianjin, Emperor Pu Yi and Empress Uyen Dung lived together on the first floor while Thuc Phi lived on the same floor with his servant.
Emperor Pu Yi still ignored Zhu Zhiyuan even when she tried to attract his attention by committing suicide.
In August 1931, Thuc Phi Van Tu decided to leave. Through her lawyer, she sent a divorce papers to Emperor Pu Yi. After many weeks, Emperor Pu Yi agreed to the divorce and completed the procedures in October of the same year.
After the divorce, Thuc Phi Van Tu changed his name and continued his normal life. She became a teacher of Chinese and traditional Chinese painting at a school in Beijing.
However, her exclusion from the role of a former concubine of the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty attracted the attention of the press, many reporters went to the school and she was forced to quit her job.
She changed her residence many times because everyone always recognized her as a former concubine of the emperor. Finally, when she ran out of money, she even had to sell cigarettes on the streets to make a living.
In 1947, she found a job as an editor for the Chinese newspaper North China Daily. Shortly after, she married a businessman, a relative of the newspaper owner, and became a housewife.
In 1949, Van Tu and her husband did not leave Beijing. Faced with the changes of the times, her husband was assigned to do the cleaning work. The couple lived quietly in very modest circumstances.
On September 17, 5, 5, 2003, Thuc Phi Van Tu, 44 years old, passed away at home due to a heart attack. Her husband's colleagues made a rough coffin made of wood and buried the former concubine of the last Chinese emperor in the tomb of a poor man a few miles north of the Imperial Citadel.
