Friends who have watched "Yanxi Raiders" should know that the reason why Wei Yongluo entered the palace was mainly to investigate the real cause of her sister's death, so who was the murderer of her sister Ah Man? The murderer was Hirohito's biological mother, Princess Yu, whose historical prototype was The Pure Hui Emperor's noble concubine Geng Shi.
Although Geng's father was only an internal manager, she was also a lady from a family of middle-ranking officials, and more importantly, Geng also had an advantage that ordinary women did not have, that is, excessive alcohol. Don't underestimate the usefulness of this advantage, Yongzheng is clean and self-righteous, he does not care too much about love and gold and silver treasures, he occasionally drinks a little wine when he is occasionally bored, and most of the women in the house will not drink, at this time the existence of Geng's family is highlighted, Yongzheng therefore takes extra care of her, and even Hongzhi, the son of Geng, is also favored by Yongzheng.
As soon as Yongzheng ascended the throne, he made Geng a concubine, and the number of concubines of Yongzheng was not much, as I mentioned earlier, Yongzheng was not very concerned about the affairs of the harem, so Yongzheng was able to rise step by step, and there were not many concubines who sat on high positions. However, Geng Shi was able to rise again in the eighth year of Yongzheng and obtain the concubine position, which meant that she could get Yongzheng's other eyes and rely on not youthful beauty, nor her son, but personal charm.
When Hongzhi grew up, he became a very good prince, he was quick-witted and had a flexible mind, which was probably inseparable from Geng's words and deeds. Judging from the fact that Yongzheng was crowned prince in the eleventh year of Yongzheng, Hongzhi at that time was still quite valued by Yongzheng.
Geng Shi saw all this in her eyes, and she was very happy in her heart, but at the same time, she was worried about Hongzhi's sharpness. Everyone knows that Yong is fond of Hongli as crown prince, then Hongzhi's performance is undoubtedly to cause fire, Geng can only privately consult with Hongzhi, hoping that he will cover up his prominence and not confront Hongli, she herself is intentionally or unintentionally close to Hongli's birth mother Niu Hulu, and her move has laid a good foundation for her future.
Later, Hongli succeeded to the throne and had great respect for the Geng clan. In the forty-third year of Qianlong, Geng shi was also honored as a noble concubine, and we can see in the "Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty": "That is, to worship the will of the Empress Dowager. Promoted to the title of noble concubine. In the sense of Shen Jingli, it is recorded that "the Empress Dowager here refers to the Niuhulu clan."
In other words, Geng's promotion was most likely at the behest of the Niuhulu clan, otherwise Qianlong would not have had to honor a former emperor's widow who had nothing to do with him. Only eight months apart, in October of the same year, Geng Shi was once again honored and became an imperial concubine, and had a reliance for the second half of his life.
If it weren't for Geng's friendship with the NiuHulu clan, there might not have been such a good ending.
Resources:
Biography of the Later Concubines of the Qing Dynasty