“ChiCu” is the preservative of love. Men and women in love often become jealous when they get close to the opposite sex. So, why is jealousy called “ChiCu”? It is said that this allusion occurred in the Tang Dynasty, and the protagonist of the story is the famous prime minister Fang Xuanling of the Tang Dynasty.
One day, Emperor Taizong of Tang invited the founding fathers to a royal banquet. While they were full of wine and food, Fang Xuanling couldn’t resist the teasing of his colleagues and boasted a few words about not being afraid of his wife. Tang Taizong, who was already a bit drunk, took advantage of the wine and gave Fang Xuanling two beautiful women. Unexpectedly, Fang Xuanling was deceived by the emperor for bragging after drinking, and took in two beautiful women. Thinking of his domineering and meticulous wife, he was so worried that he didn’t know what to do. Yuchi Jingde was still angry, saying that no matter how fierce his wife was, she dared not do anything to the beautiful women bestowed by the emperor. Only then did Fang Xuanling cautiously bring the two beauties home.
Unexpectedly, Fang Xuanling’s wife did not care whether the emperor or not. As soon as she saw Fang Xuanling bring back two young and beautiful concubines, she became furious, pointing at Fang Xuanling and shouting loudly. She even picked up a feather duster and fought fiercely, driving the two “beauties” out of the house. Fang Xuanling saw something wrong and had no choice but to send the beautiful woman out of the mansion. This matter was immediately discovered by Emperor Taizong of Tang. Li Shimin wanted to suppress the arrogance of the Prime Minister’s wife, so he immediately summoned Prime Minister Fang Xuanling and his wife to interrogate them.
Madam Fang Xuanling also knew that this disaster was not small, and reluctantly followed Fang Xuanling to meet Emperor Taizong of Tang. When Tang Taizong saw them arrive, he pointed to two beautiful women and a jar of “poisoned wine” and said, “I won’t hold you accountable for violating the order. There are two paths for you to choose from here. One is to bring back the two beautiful women and live with them, and the other is to eat this jar of” poisoned wine “to avoid jealousy towards others.” Fang Xuanling knew that his wife was very strong and afraid that she would drink “poisoned wine”, so he quickly knelt down and pleaded for mercy. Li Shimin angrily said, “As the current prime minister, you have disobeyed orders and dared to speak too much!” Madam Fang saw the situation and looked at the appearance of the two daughters, realizing that she was old and pale. Once these two daughters entered the mansion, she would sooner or later follow the path of disobeying orders. Instead of dying from anger, it was better to drink this “poisoned wine” and have a good time.
Before Emperor Taizong could urge her again, Lady Fang raised the jar and drank up the poisoned wine with a “gurgling thud” sound. Fang Xuanling was so anxious that tears streamed down his face as he held his wife and sobbed. However, all the courtiers burst into laughter together. It turned out that the jar was not filled with poisonous wine, but with vinegar from Qingyuan, Jinyang, which was completely non-toxic. Emperor Taizong of Tang sighed upon seeing Madam Fang’s temper and said, “Madam Fang, don’t blame me for using this method to force you. Your jealousy is too great. However, I regret to inform you that you would rather die than love your husband. I have taken it back.” Madam Fang did not expect that she would risk her life to drink “poisonous wine” and achieve such a result. Although she was so sour that she stretched her head and shook her elbows, she was extremely happy in her heart. Fang Xuanling also shed tears into laughter. From then on, the word “ChiCu” became synonymous with jealousy among women.
