鍾無艷

I recently finished a drama called 東西宮略 (Queens of Diamonds and Hearts), and in this drama were two female characters by the name of 鐘無艷 and 夏迎春. I found the story very interesting, as it spoke of how these two female characters were seen in the eyes of the king. You could say that this happened in history, but it was kind of a spin-off of a sort of real story in history.

鐘無艷 is a character who did not have exterior beauty, but was talented in everything else. She knew martial arts, and understood politics, basically brains and brawns. 夏迎春 on the other hand was more beauty than brains and brawns. The king married both 鐘無艷 and 夏迎春, 鐘無艷 was the 東宮娘娘 and 夏迎春 was the 西宮娘娘. The difference in the titles was that 鐘無艷 would be the one with more power,  or the one that was married first. 鐘無艷 was a big help to the king as she helped with many political things, and read through all paper work. The king was very grateful to have a wife like 鐘無艷 since she did all the necessary work, and that meant he could spend more time with the pretty 夏迎春. But whenever the country was in trouble, he would always go back to 鐘無艷, and almost beg for her help. And hence the saying 有事鐘無艷, 無事夏迎春.