In the fifth year of Yongzheng, Qianlong, who was still a prince, was ordered to marry the Fucha clan, and at that time Qianlong already had eight or nine Gege (yatou) people around him, one of whom was surnamed Haishi, and what he did not expect was that this yatou gave birth to the best prince for Qianlong and became the head of Qianlong's concubines. She was the Concubine Yu of the Qianlong Harem.
Regarding the origin of Princess Yugui, the historical records are extremely simple, calling her Nanyuan Haiziren, the daughter of Yuanwailang Erjitu. Why is the record so simple? There are only two reasons, first, Yu Guifei came from the wrong way, and second, Yu Guifei's ancestors had committed crimes. It turns out that Princess Joy belongs to the latter.
According to the "Eight Banners of Manchuria Clan Genealogy", the ancestor of Yu Guifei was named Haichaolong, which belonged to Wu Sangui's subordinates, during the San Francisco Rebellion, Haichaolong had secretly asked the generals of Western Yunnan to surrender to the Qing general Zhao Liangdong, in addition, Wu Sangui also sent Haichaolong to exchange gifts with the Dalai Lama, so the Hai clan, which originally belonged to the Zhengbai Banner, was relegated by the imperial court to the blue flag, that is, Yu Guifei belonged to the daughter of a sinner.
In the early years of Yongzheng, Princess Yue guifei was given to Hongli and became a concubine (servant) by Hongli's side, and at that time, Yuguifei belonged to the lowest rank of concubines, and it was very likely that she would have to do some rough work of serving tea and pouring water. It was not until Hongli succeeded to the throne that the identity of Princess Yugui changed, and she changed from a maid to a concubine of the Qing Dynasty.
The author believes that Yu Guifei was relatively favored in the early Qianlong period. Why?
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, Yu Guifei's initial name was Hai Changzai, and after only one year, she became a Hai Guiren, and in the sixth year of Qianlong, Yu Guifei gave birth to the fifth brother Yongqi, so she was given the title of concubine and became a concubine. Only four years later, Princess Joy was promoted again and became the first princess of the concubines.
However, since the thirteenth year of Qianlong, Yu Guifei has fallen out of favor, and the first manifestation is that she has been jumped over by Concubine Ling and Concubine Shu in terms of ranking, and in some treatment, Yu Guifei only enjoys the standard of concubine rank. The second manifestation is that from the time Qianlong was crowned Princess Yu in the tenth year of Qianlong until the death of Qianlong in the fifty-seventh year, for 47 years, the position of Princess Yugui did not change in any way.
During this period, there were two things that hit Princess Yu Guifei harder.
The first was qianlong thirty-one years ago, when The fifth brother Yongqi, born to Princess Yugui, died of illness at the age of 25. The fifth brother Yongqi was one of Qianlong's most outstanding princes, he was both literate and martial, and once became the heir that Qianlong valued, however, Heaven was jealous of talent, Yongqi died at a young age, how could this not make Concubine Yugui sad?
The second was that in the forty-sixth year of Qianlong, Yongqi's only daughter, the married Xiangjun, died of illness, and Qianlong pointed out Yongjun's daughter to the son-in-law of the fifth brother, and ordered Concubine Yu guifei and Yongqi Concubine Fu JinXi Lin Jue Luoshi to take care of her.
After the death of Concubine Shu from The forty-second year of Qianlong, Princess Yugui has been the head of all the concubines, and this situation has continued until the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong, but during these fifteen years, Princess Yugui has been living in simplicity and rarely participating in banquets and other activities, so it is likely that the person who presided over the affairs of the harem during this period was the slightly younger Concubine Lingbalin.
On May 21, 57, Qianlong died of illness in the palace, when Qianlong was in Rehe, when he heard that Princess Yufei had died of illness, he issued four edicts in succession, ordering the funeral to be handled in the guifei case, that is, it was equivalent to posthumously sealing Yufei as a noble concubine and calling her Lady Yugui.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, General Genealogy of the Eight Banners of Manchurian Clans