For a TV series with the theme of the harem of the Qing Dynasty, Xiao Jue does not know when it began, but it was fired with the hit of "Golden Branch Desire". After that, the harem drama was more and more wonderful, and it was also detached from the ordinary intrigue, male and female love, interspersed with the friendship between women, and even between concubines and eunuchs. In fact, in real history, there was indeed friendship between the harems. The Liu E and Yang clans of the Northern Song Dynasty are an example, and the Geng and Niu Hulu clans of the Yongzheng Harem today are even more examples.
Geng Shi was a Han military banner woman, and her father Geng Dejin was only a steward and did not have a high status. In the Qing Dynasty, which valued identity, although geng married into the fourth son of the emperor, Yin Chan, although it was very early, his status was always the lowest. She entered the palace in the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi, and for thirty-three years until Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, she was only a Gege.
In the Qing Dynasty, the title of Gege changed many times, in addition to being used to address the daughter of the royal family, it could also be used as the title of a low-level concubine in the prince's palace. Geng's personality was quite low, ranking after Concubine Fujin and Side Fujin, only a little better than the ordinary messenger.
More crucially, in the fifty years of the Kangxi Dynasty, the Geng clan also gave birth to Hongzhi for Yongzheng. Yongzheng's heirs were thin, far less prosperous than Kangxi. Hongzhi's arrival made Yongzheng very happy, but this did not change any of Geng's identity. If it is said that the number of places in the side Fujin is limited and cannot be won for the Geng clan, after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, there were still many concubines vacant, but only the Geng clan was named a concubine.
In fact, Geng Shi is still favored by Yongzheng. When he was a prince, Yongzheng had to face bloody storms all day long and had to suppress his emotions. Even if he was extremely deep in the city government, he could not help but feel sad. Therefore, Yongzheng often drank lightly in the palace to soothe his emotions. Most of the women in the palace are Miss Qianjin and are not good at drinking. Only Geng, who is thick in nature, can drink a little wine. Generally at this time, it is Geng Who is responsible for accompanying Yongzheng.
Even so, after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, she was still only a concubine. In the eighth year of Yongzheng, she was promoted to the title of Concubine Yu. It looks pretty good, but because the size of the Yongzheng Harem is not large, it is not unusual. What was unexpected was that after Yongzheng's death, Geng Shi actually came and went, and suddenly became important.
In the second year after Qianlong succeeded to the throne, he honored her as Emperor Kaoyu's noble concubine, and her position in the palace was second only to that of the empress dowager. In the forty-third year of Qianlong, she was honored as Emperor Kaoyu's noble concubine. That is to say, in this way, among all the concubines in Yongzheng's life, she, who was once the lowest rank, quietly ranked fourth.
The reason for this is the noble person he knew when he was in the Yongzheng Residence. At that time, geng's identity was low, and another Gege NiuHulu clan was also low-status. It is likely that in that environment, the Geng clan and the Niu Hulu clan developed a sisterly relationship. This feeling, which took root and sprouted at the time of suffering, and experienced the changes in the rise and fall of glory and favor, is extremely precious.
The Niuhulu clan was a blessed person, and her son Hongli was not only loved by Yongzheng, but also favored by Kangxi and specially brought back to the palace to be raised for a period of time. Although Yongzheng adopted the secret reserve system, everyone knows that Hongli is the crown prince in Yongzheng's mind. As a result, at the beginning of Yongzheng's succession, he was given the title of Concubine Xi (熹妃), and later as a Concubine of Xi Guifei (熹贵妃). After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, she was the empress dowager.
After Niu Hulu became empress dowager, she still maintained a sisterly relationship with Geng. An edict from Qianlong recorded in the History of the Palace of the State Dynasty reveals that they even lived in a palace:
The empress dowager and Concubine Yu moved to the Cining Palace, and were not allowed to add women to the water as the example of the Ningshou Palace. Since the beginning of the year, there is no lack of use. Records such as the present biography and Yi have always been known to all of them. There is no need to add to this. July 15 of the first year of Qianlong.
Qianlong even revealed that at that time, the will of the Geng clan as a noble concubine in the Jin Dynasty was the meaning of his mother Niu Hulu's clan:
Princess Yu guifei's mother, serving the imperial examination, giving birth and prince, Shu Cautious Su. At the beginning of the Imperial Dynasty, he was honored with the will of the Empress Dowager to be promoted to a noble concubine in order to pay homage. For more than 40 years, Cining has been particularly loved by his attendants.
Empress Dowager Niuhulu and Princess Geng truly interpreted the rare friendship in the harem. Moreover, the Niu Hulu clan lived to the age of 84, and the Geng clan lived to the age of 96, almost breaking the record for the longest-lived harem woman of the 97-year-old harem of the Kangxi harem. The friendship between them is not only deep, from the time niuhulu entered the palace of prince Yong in the forty-third year of Kangxi to the death of niuhulu and Qianlong in the forty-second year, which lasted for more than 70 years, which is really unique in the harem of the previous dynasties.