Among the empresses of the Qing Dynasty, there was only one who gave birth to the emperor in her original capacity, she was Jiaqing's original empress XiaoShurui, and there was only one person who gave birth to the emperor as a successor, she was Daoguang's successor: Empress Xiao Quancheng.
Empress Xiao Quancheng's surname is Niu Hulu, from the Manchurian Zhenghong Banner, we all know that the Niu Hulu clan is the most prominent descendant of the Qing Dynasty, especially the Yellow Banner Hongyi Gong family, out of five empresses, and Empress Xiao Quancheng is the only non-Hongyi Family of the Niu Hulu Empress. According to records, Empress Xiao Quancheng's great-grandfather was named Chengde, a warrior from the Jianrui battalion, just a soldier, the family door was not high, but ChengDe through his own efforts, everywhere meritorious service, and finally won the glory of the graphic Purple Light Pavilion, the family door was immediately improved.
Empress Xiao Quancheng's father was named Yi Ling, Yi Ling had served as a garrison general in Suzhou, belonging to Congyi Pin, Empress Xiao Quan grew up with her father in the Jiangnan area from childhood, as we all know, Jiangnan is a good place with beautiful mountains and rivers, the woman is more intelligent and wise, and there is a hint of aura, Empress Xiaoquan was nourished by the water and soil of Jiangnan, becoming a smart and clever woman, it is said that Empress Xiaoquan learned the Suzhou Tangram puzzle spelling game, and after entering the palace, she spelled it into "Six Contract Spring" as a toy in the palace, it is this wisdom, It became one of the important reasons why she won the favor of the emperor.
At the beginning of the second year of Daoguang, Xiao Quan, who was only 14 years old, participated in the draft as a female of the Zhenghong Banner, and among the many show girls, the Daoguang Emperor took a fancy to her at a glance, and immediately included her in the harem and was named a full concubine. The word "quan" as a concubine title is rare in the Qing Palace, only filial piety is alone, perhaps in Daoguang's view, filial piety is a woman with both talent, wisdom and appearance.
Sure enough, Xiao Quan entered the palace and quickly won the favor of the Daoguang Emperor, and in the second year of entering the palace, he became pregnant with a dragon fetus, and the Daoguang Emperor was very happy and promoted him to a full concubine, however, Xiao Quan's first fetus could not be saved, and for unknown reasons, he gave birth. However, with the emperor's favor, coupled with the fact that Xiao Quan is just the right age, are you still worried about the emperor's child?
Sure enough, in the next step, Xiao Quan gave birth to three children in succession, including the third daughter of the emperor, the fourth daughter of the emperor, and the fourth son of the emperor, YiXuan. In particular, the fourth son of the emperor, Yixuan, born in the eleventh year of Daoguang, was very important to Xiao quan, because Daoguang's first three sons died early, and Yixuan became the de facto eldest son of Daoguang, and in the battle for the crown prince, it can be said that he has taken the lead.
In the thirteenth year of Daoguang, Empress Xiaoshen died of illness in the harem, and quan guifei, who ranked second in line, was promoted to imperial concubine, began to command the six palaces, and was made empress the following year, when Xiaoquan was only 27 years old. Xiao Quan can be said to be the most beautiful woman in the harem of the Qing Dynasty, she is an empress, and her son is the eldest son of the emperor, which can be described as out of the limelight.
However, in the harem of the treacherous Qing Dynasty, this is not a good phenomenon, just as the so-called prosperity and decline, the extremes of things will be reversed, and sure enough, only six years later, Empress Xiaoquan suddenly died of illness in the Yuanmingyuan Palace, only 33 years old. Some yeshi notes rumor that Xiao Quan had a crooked mind in dealing with Daoguang's many sons and wanted to murder other princes, but this matter was discovered by Empress Gongci (Empress Xiaoherui), so she ordered her to die.
However, judging from the historical records, the possibility of this matter is still relatively small, although from some clues, the relationship between Xiaoquan and his mother-in-law, Empress Gongci, is not very good, but it is not to the extent of the sword. According to historical records, after Xiao Quan's death, Empress Gongci also personally came to pay tribute, and if Xiao Quan really plotted to kill the crown prince, how could the empress dowager personally go to pay tribute to her? It can only be said that filial piety is shallow in his own blessings.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Xuanzong of the Qing Dynasty