Revealing the place where Queen Uyen Dung left, it took 7 years to 'debunk' the secret that scared posterity

From a prestigious aristocratic lady, Uyen Dung stepped into the throne of the middle court, then became the puppet queen of Manchukuo, to finally end up in captivity in the midst of the war.

Her life's journey is a book full of sad pages, and the place of her deat.h has been a great mystery for more than half a century. After 7 years of diligent searching, expert An Long Trinh has discovered the truth, bringing light to the eternal question: Where has Queen Uyen Dung gone?

Uyen Dung is a famous beauty with beautiful beauty, but that beauty does not bring her a peaceful or noble life. In 1922, she entered the palace, becoming the concubine next to Pu Yi - the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. But from here, her tragedy began. She and Pu Yi experienced the humiliatio.n of being expelled from the Forbidden City, the boring days of exile in Tianjin, and finally a puppet life in the Manchukuo palace in Changchun.

When Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, Pu Yi hurriedly put Uyen Dung on a plane to flee to Japan. But the grim fate did not let go: Pu Yi's plane was intercepted by the Soviet army, and he was taken prisoner. Meanwhile, Uyen Dung, concubine Ly Ngoc Cam and some servants and eunuchs were left behind, waiting in the fog for a rescue flight. From here, Uyen Dung's journey of exile began, lasting through many places, until her deat.h and resting place became a great mystery.

The place of Uyen Dung's deat.h has been recorded in many documents, but it contradicts each other, creating three main hypotheses:

- In his memoir "My Previous Half Life", Pho Nghi wrote that Uyen Dung died of illness in Dien Cat the following year after the two broke up.

- Pu Yi's sister-in-law, Saga Hiro, in "Wang Fei Liu Luo", tells us that Uyen Dung was taken to Do Men by the Eight Paths Army and died in misery there.

- Ly Ngoc Cam, the last concubine, and the authors of "The Queen and the Last Concubine" affirmed that Uyen Dung died of a serious illness in Thong Hoa.

In addition, many other books such as "From the Emperor to the Citizen", "26 Years by the Side of Pu Yi", or "Photos of the Old Characters of the Palace" also revolve around these three places: Yan Cat, Tu Mon, and Tong Hua. So what is the truth? What did Uyen Dung go through in the last days of her life? This mystery makes people constantly curious.

To decipher the mystery, geologic expert An Long Trinh, a former member of the Dien Bien Chau Geological Institute, spent 7 years of his life (from 1991 to 1997) tracing the traces of Uyen Dung. With incredible perseverance, he paid out of pocket, carrying dumplings and pickles, following the journey of the last queen. He has set foot in dozens of cities and districts such as Beijing, Tianjin, Changchun, Dalian, Jilin, Tonghua, and Tumen, almost recreating the entire road that Puyi and Uyen Dung once passed.

An Long Trinh not only relied on documents but also found living evidence: eunuch Ton Dieu Dinh served in the palace, Uyen Dung's younger brother Nhuan Ky, nephews such as Duc Duong, Duc Chiem, and even concubine Ly Ngoc Cam. He also went to Dien Cat prison - where Uyen Dung was once detained - to interview former managers such as Dieu Dien Quan, from there, sheds light on her final days, including the circumstances of her deat.h and how to deal with her body after her deat.h.

According to the results of An Long Trinh's investigation, the mystery of Uyen Dung's fate was finally lifted. After Changchun was liberated in 1946, Uyen Dung and her entourage were handed over by the Soviet Union to the Northeast Democratic Coalition. Although there are many relatives in Truong Xuan - who have received many favors from her - no one, including Nhuan Luong's younger brother, will welcome her back with open arms.

The coalition was busy with the war, unable to take care of a serious patient like Uyen Dung, so they entrusted her to Ly Ngoc Cam to take care of her. Although Ly Ngoc Cam was kind, her family's conditions were too difficult to take care of Uyen Dung. In the end, Ly Ngoc Cam had to say goodbye, leaving Uyen Dung in loneliness and despai.r.

When the war situation changed, the Coalition withdrew from Changxuan, Uyen Dung and his group were put on a train to Jilin. There, she, Saga Hiro and four others were detained in the Jilin Police Bureau's prison, and then moved to Yancat. In prison, Uyen Dung's drug addictio.n became more and more serious. She screamed "Save me!", rolled on the floor, her eyes white, her spirit broken. Although she can still eat and drink by herself, she needs a helper to go to the toilet. Saga Hiro became her main caregiver these days.

On May 25, 1946, the prison received an order to transfer all prisoners, including Uyen Dung, to Yan Cat by train. Yao Dien Quan, who was the deputy dean of the prison at the time, confirmed that he had personally taken Uyen Dung and 5 other people on board. When the train arrived in Dien Cat at dawn, Uyen Dung was so weak that he had to be carried out of the train on a stretcher and taken in a carriage to the prison.

Here, she was held in solitary confinement in a cell. Her health deteriorated, she could not walk or eat. The prison sent Saga Hiro and a female inmate named Zhou Linglan to take care of her. The drug addictio.n made her miserable, but the warden Ly Dien Dien and her brother Ly Dien Hiep cooked the snails in a large pot and gave them to her according to the quantity. Although her spirit was better at times, her body was still thin, only skin covered with bones, wearing a gray frayed shirt.

In June 1946, when the Coalition won a great victory and decided to move prisoners to Jia Moc Tu near the Sino-Soviet border, Uyen Dung was too weak to move. Saga Hiro and the others left, leaving her in prison with a heartfelt farewell: "You all abandoned me!" Since then, Zhou Linglan has continued to take care of her, do laundry, cook rice, and help her go to the toilet.

Uyen Dung had a high fever and delirium, calling the names of his parents, Pho Nghi, Saga Hiro and Ly Ngoc Cam in a panic. She suffered from dysentery, could not eat, and had constant diarrhea. An elderly doctor in prison was called to take a pulse, but he shook his head: "The pulse is too weak to be saved." Despite being given a mortgage, her condition has deteriorated.

On the morning of June 20, 1946, when the dawn appeared on Mao Nhi mountain, Uyen Dung breathed his last in a tormenting dysentery. There were no relatives by his side, only the doctor, Zhou Linglan and a few wardens to witnes.s. She died at 5 a.m., exactly 10 days after Saga Hiro left. A splendid queen's life ended in a tragic situation, enjoying the sun at the ag.e of 40.

Without a royal ceremony, Uyen Dung's body was placed in a rudimentary coffin made of table wood, covered with a green blanket, and then burie.d at the foot of Nam Son Mountain, near Mao Nhi Mountain and the Do Mon River. The tomb was built high, but through time and war, the traces have faded.

An Long Trinh, after 7 years of perseverance, proved that Uyen Dung died at Dien Cat prison and was burie.d in Nam Son. Her life, from glory to humiliatio.n, ended in silence, leaving a sad legend in the flow of history.

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