In the autumn file of the forty-seventh year of Qianlong, there is such a record: "The Tenth Princess read the Niu Hulu clan, the daughter of Zuo Ling Gong Ala. "What people did not expect was that it was the companion of the tenth princess, Niu Hulu, who later became the empress of the Great Qing Dynasty and ruled the harem of the Great Qing for 54 years, and she was Empress Xiaoherui.
Empress Xiaoherui came from the famous Qing Dynasty's famous Xun Gui Niu HuLu family, the ancestor was the founding father of the Qing Dynasty, Hongyi Gong'e, and the grandfather was The sixth son of Eyi, Dalong Xia, although this Hongyi Gongfu was the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, which belonged to the magnates, but Empress Xiaoherui's grandfather Dalong Yi, who was not in good health and failed to become a soldier, therefore, the Dalong Yi branch had been tepid in the first and middle periods of the Qing Dynasty, and the family members were generally petty officials who served as guards or pen-stickers.
It is said that Gong Alai, the father of Empress Xiaoherui, was even more miserable, and it is said that Gong Ala was forced to make a living in his early years, and even became a peddler, and also accepted the help of others, and later relied on the protection of his ancestors to find a minor official. What Gong Ala did not expect was that in the forty-first year of Qianlong, the eldest daughter born to his wife changed the fate of the family.
When Empress Xiaoherui was six years old, she was fortunately selected by the Qianlong Emperor to become the companion of the Tenth Princess (Gu Lun and Princess Xiaoxiao), and perhaps it was this companion reading experience that made Qianlong deeply impressed this little girl, which laid the groundwork for her later re-entry into the palace.
Fifty-four years after Qianlong, the 13-year-old Empress Xiaoherui participated in the Eight Flags Draft, and in this draft, she was favored by Qianlong, and was immediately pointed out to Yongyan the Prince of Jia as a side Fujin. Considering that Yongyan had already been secretly made crown prince at that time, and yongyan's concubine Fu jin Hitara (Empress Xiaoshurui) was not in good health, Qianlong actually had the idea of having Empress Xiaoherui succeed her after the death of the Xitara clan.
However, what Qianlong did not expect was that the Yongyan Concubine Fujin Hitara clan actually waited until the moment when Yong yan ascended the throne, and in the first year of Jiaqing, Yong Yan inherited the throne, the Hitara clan was made empress, and Empress Xiaoherui was named a noble concubine as a side Fujin, ranking second. However, only a year later, the Hitara clan died of illness at Gyeongin Palace, and immediately according to the instructions of the Emperor Qianlong, Empress Xiaoherui was first promoted to imperial concubine and began to take charge of the harem.
Two years later, Emperor Qianlong also died, and it was not until the sixth year of Jiaqing that Empress Xiaoherui officially ascended the throne. At the same time, Empress Xiaoherui was also favored by her husband Jiaqing, and before and after Jiaqing's succession, Empress Xiaoherui bore him three children, namely the seventh daughter of the emperor, the third son of the emperor, Miankai, and the fourth son of the emperor, Mianxin.
At this time, Empress Xiaoherui can be described as extremely beautiful, but in July of the twenty-fifth year of Jiaqing, the Jiaqing Emperor suddenly fell ill and died in the summer resort, and when the secret purpose was not found, Empress Xiaoherui said that she would be able to succeed to the throne by the second son of the emperor who was not born to herself, Mianning, who was the Daoguang Emperor, and it turned out that Empress Xiaoherui was absolutely wise this time.
After the Daoguang Emperor succeeded to the throne, he not only regarded Empress Xiaoherui as his own mother, but also made the two sons born to Empress Xiaoherui a prince, and Empress Xiaoherui had a very important right to speak in the harem of the Qing Dynasty, but this situation also made the harem of the Daoguang Dynasty not harmonious.
In December of the 29th year of Daoguang, Empress Xiaoherui, who had ruled the harem of the Qing Dynasty for 54 years, died of illness at Shoukang Palace at the age of 74.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Shilu, Four Genealogies of the Qing Imperial Family