I recently read a story that gave me a new understanding of women in that era.

By 1903, Liang Qichao was already a renowned leader of the Reform Movement, yet in that year he made a decision that profoundly changed the life of a woman named Wang Guiquan. At that time, Wang Guiquan was only 17 years old, a maidservant accompanying the Liang family, and she never expected to be caught up in such a complicated family relationship. Although Liang Qichao had always advocated monogamy, he ultimately compromised, but his treatment of Wang Guiquan was very special—she had children but was not allowed to call him mother, and in front of outsiders, she could only be called "Miss Wang." This unrecognized status thus sealed her lifelong endurance in silence.

You should know how difficult Wang Guiquan’s background was. She was born in Sichuan in 1886, orphaned early, sold multiple times, and only entered the Li family as a maid at age 10. When she was married into the Liang family in 1891, who could have imagined she would stay in that household for a lifetime? Liang Qichao was busy saving the nation, while his wife Li Huixian, from an official family, was willing to live modestly and support her husband's cause. Later, Liang Qichao met He Huizhen in Honolulu, and Li Huixian, upon learning this, was very angry. To resolve the issue, she even took the initiative to suggest that Wang Guiquan be allowed to enter the family. Interestingly, Liang Qichao was actually very conflicted internally—on one hand promoting monogamy, on the other accepting this arrangement, but he stubbornly refused to give Wang Guiquan a formal status.

The true test for Wang Guiquan came in 1905. Liang Qichao fled to Japan with his family to seek refuge, and since Li Huixian was not good at household chores, Wang Guiquan took on all the responsibilities. She taught herself Japanese to handle diplomatic contacts, cared for the entire family, and even after her own daughter died of diphtheria, she continued to watch over Liang’s children day and night. That resilience truly moved people.

Wang Guiquan bore Liang Qichao four sons and two daughters, and along with Li Huixian’s children, they totaled nine. She treated all the children equally. In 1924, Li Huixian died of breast cancer, and five years later, Liang Qichao also passed away from kidney disease. Before he died, he entrusted all his children to her. Imagine—an uneducated woman suddenly having to raise nine children alone.

The days that followed were even harder. Wang Guiquan sold family assets, rented out rooms, took