She was Cixi's most beautiful daughter-in-law, and the commander-in-chief of the Eight-Nation Alliance not only praised but also saluted her
Wen \Xiao Meng
Image taken from Baidu
This woman was the most beautiful of Cixi's daughters-in-law, but she was not the one most liked by her husband, Emperor Tongzhi, nor the one who was most liked by her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Cixi, she was Emperor Tongzhi's concubine Hesheli.
Concubine Hesheli of the Yu Dynasty, concubine of the Tongzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, daughter of the prefect Chongling. She entered the palace not because of her beauty, nor because of her prominent family, but because of the balance of the power struggle between the two empresses to choose the empress.
At that time, Empress Dowager Ci'an chose the Arut clan, and Empress Dowager Cixi chose the Fucha clan, and no one wanted to let anyone. At this time, Cixi's own son, Emperor Tongzhi, sided with his mother-in-law and chose Arut as empress, which also completely offended his birth mother, Empress Dowager Cixi.
In order to balance this relationship in the harem, three non-staff personnel were selected, namely Yu Concubine, Xun Concubine, and Yu Guiren. These three people entered the palace a month after the Empress and Huifei Fucha entered the palace, and their status was after that of Huifei Fucha, especially the Hersheri clan who had just entered the palace and was named a concubine. However, she had been suppressed by Princess Fucha, who was three years younger than her, and was shorter.
This is not to count, because empress dowager Cixi likes it, and the status of concubines even surpasses that of Empress Arut. At that time, the Herschel clan was still scheming, she had a good relationship with the empress, and the Tongzhi Emperor spoiled her while favoring the empress, but later because of Cixi's interference, the Tongzhi Emperor often went out, fell seriously ill, and finally died. They all became the youngest widows and widows, the Empress Aluth could not bear the torture of her mother-in-law and the embarrassing suicide of her status, and the Herschel clan (except Princess Hui) was not liked by Empress Dowager Cixi and was often snubbed.
In particular, when the Eight-Nation Alliance marched into Beijing, Cixi led the Guangxu Emperor and his concubines to escape, and before leaving, he threw Guangxu's favorite concubine Zhenfei into the well. As for the daughters-in-law left by her own son, Emperor Tongzhi, Cixi did not take any of them, and Princess Hui, who was favored by her, was no exception.
The harem concubines who were left behind in the palace were some old and some young, such as the Hui Concubine Fucha clan always crying and weeping, while the Herschel clan was not like this, she looked natural and calm command. The commander-in-chief of the Eight-Nation Alliance saw her and not only praised her for her beauty, but also saluted her, which showed that Herschel had won her respect.
The days of staying in the palace should also be the highlight of Herschel's life, but after Empress Dowager Cixi returned to the palace, she did not mention it for a long time, let alone reward her, but still loved The Hui Concubine Fucha as before.
Unable to get the favor of his mother-in-law and losing his husband, The Herschel clan and other concubines of the Tongzhi Emperor except Concubine Hui have been living in torment. Princess Hui pressed one head of the Herschel clan before she died, and then pressed her head after death. If it were not for the opposition of the chancellor, Cixi intended to let Concubine Hui enjoy the treatment of empress and be buried.
The only thing that made The Herschel feel fortunate was her longevity, she survived Empress Dowager Cixi, and then survived Empress Longyu, becoming one of the four concubines of the late Qing Dynasty.
Her posthumous funeral was also the last solemn royal funeral in public. This beautiful and unloved woman finally survived her mother-in-law Cixi, and then survived Empress Longyu, and became one of the four concubines, and if it were not for the Guangxu Emperor's concubine Jin pressing her, she must have been the head of the four concubines at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
It can be seen that a woman is not liked by her mother-in-law, her husband dies early, if she does not remarry, or leaves her in-laws' family, life can be imagined to be difficult, And Herschel is the best example.