"Congratulations to Xuan Xuan. Biru Jiazhi is Lai. Yi Xuan Nei. The right number is added. Ben with a badge. Hikari Shigeru. Ergui Chen, Inheriting the Pepper Temple. Be respectful and cautious. Serve in court. Long-standing diligent model. Hereby honors the Emperor and Empress Dowager and makes her a concubine. Erqi only bears the elephant suit. Zhao Gong shun to flow emblem. Tuk Hung Hee. Humble and courteous. Thanks. ”
As everyone knows, Qianlong was already married as early as the fifth year of Yongzheng, and according to the archives, Qianlong already had eight or nine handmaidens around him before he got married, that is, the servants of the servants. Among these eight or nine envoys, there was a woman of the Chen clan, whose status was very low, but it was this woman who became the longest-lived concubine in the Qianlong harem.
In the early years of Yongzheng, the Chen clan born in the Jiangnan region was presented to the imperial court by local officials, and Yongzheng saw that this 13-year-old servant was very well-behaved, so he gave it to the fourth son of the emperor, Hongli, as a waiter by his side. Due to chen's low origins, she can only do some rough work, such as cleaning and brushing. However, as a handmaiden, Chen Shi had the opportunity to sleep with the crown prince, and sure enough, it was not long before Chen Shi became a low-level concubine by Hongli's side.
In August of the thirteenth year of Yongzheng, Yongzheng died in the Yuanmingyuan, prince Hongli of Bao inherited the throne of the Qing Dynasty according to the secret instructions, changed the era name to Qianlong, and the identity of the wives and concubines around Hongli suddenly changed, they were no longer the wives and concubines of the Prince of the Qing Dynasty, from the moment Hongli succeeded to the throne, they had become the imperial concubines of the Qing Dynasty. Soon after, the Chen clan had its own name, that is, Chang Zai, called Chen Chang Zai, ranking almost at the end of the harem concubines, which once again verified that Chen's status before Hongli succeeded to the throne was relatively low.
However, after all, this Chen clan was an old person of Qianlong's hidden residence, and of course it could not be compared with those concubines who were newly incorporated into the palace, so after only two years, Qianlong was promoted to a nobleman.
In the early days of Qianlong, there were two adjustments to the personnel of the harem, the first time after the death of Emperor Huixian's concubine in the tenth year of Qianlong, but this adjustment did not have much to do with the Chen family, and she did not get a chance to be promoted. The second adjustment was after the death of Empress Xiaoxian in the thirteenth year of Qianlong, in this adjustment, Chen shi finally waited for the opportunity to be crowned as a concubine, and the Cabinet Classics Department drew up three titles for Qianlong, namely Wan, Xun, and Ying, and Qianlong finally chose the word "Wan", which means "soft, good to talk", it seems that in Qianlong's eyes, Chen Shi is a gentle and obedient woman, and thus, Chen shi has a formal title, that is, Wan Concubine.
However, what people did not expect was that after this canonization, the Chen clan began a long wait, and in the following 43 years, the position of the Chen clan did not change in the slightest, and the sisters of the same generation were all made concubines, concubines, and even concubines who entered the palace in the early Qianlong period. Moreover, according to the archives, during this period, although Chen Shi was a concubine, his example was always carried out according to the standards of nobles, which shows that in Qianlong's heart, this woman's status was indeed relatively low.
In the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong, when Qianlong was about to abdicate, he finally remembered the Chen clan that had been with him for a long time, although chen was already a 78-year-old woman at the time, but she still had the opportunity to sleep, and finally in this year, Chen shi was promoted to concubine.
In the fifth year of Jiaqing, The First Concubine Yinggui of Shoukang Palace died of illness, and Chen became the most senior Qianlong concubine, and Jiaqing honored her as a Noble Concubine. Six years later (the twelfth year of Jiaqing), Chen died of illness in the palace at the age of 92, and she became the longest-lived woman in the Qianlong harem.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Great Qing Huidian, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty