Speaking of the most pitiful empress of the Qing Dynasty, everyone may first think of Qianlong and the Nala clan, this Qing empress fell out of favor because of her haircut, and ended up with an end that was not abolished and abolished, and even after death, she did not have her own underground palace. However, Qianlong was not the most miserable, and the most tragic one was someone else, she was Empress Xiaozheyi.
In the history of the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years, there was only one bannerman, he was the Chongqi of the Mongolian Zhenglan Banner, and this Great Qing Emperor was the father of Empress Xiaozheyi, in fact, Empress Xiaozheyi's birth was far more than this, her grandfather was sai Shang'a, a famous minister of the Six Dynasties (Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu), and her maternal grandfather was Jue Luoshi, the daughter of Duanhua the Prince of Zheng. In addition, Duanhua Concubine Fujin was Empress Dowager Ci'an's maternal aunt, so this Empress Xiaozheyi was also the niece of Empress Dowager Ci'an.
However, among these complicated relationships, there is one layer that is unfavorable to Empress Xiaozheyi, and that is her maternal grandfather Duanhua. DuanHua was one of the eight chancellors of Zanxiang appointed by Xianfeng on his deathbed, and was a political enemy of Cixi, and although Duanhua was given to commit suicide after his defeat, this vendetta always displeased Cixi.
In February of the eleventh year of tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the empress dowager of the two palaces ordered a draft for the Tongzhi Emperor to determine the candidate for the empress, and Empress Xiaozheyi was among the showgirls who participated in this election, in addition, Empress Xiaozheyi's aunt (Gongsu Emperor's concubine) was also participating.
The final result was the victory of Empress Xiaozheyi, but the key to this victory was the support of Empress Xiaozheyi's origin, that is, Empress Dowager Ci'an. This situation greatly displeased Cixi, and the famous daughter of her support, Fu Chashi, rubbed shoulders with the throne and was given the title of Concubine Hui.
Regarding the relationship between Empress Xiaozheyi and her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Cixi, it is not mentioned in the main history, but according to some wild history rumors, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can be said to be the same as water and fire. For example, Empress Dowager Cixi liked to watch dramas, and she also specially watched the kind of scenes with a plot, which made Empress Xiaozheyi, who sat with her to watch the plays, very embarrassed, and had to avoid it, which made Cixi very unhappy. This daughter-in-law did not obey herself at every turn, and Cixi wanted to abolish her, but the Prince of Yixuan said: "If you want to abolish the Great Qing Gate and bring in, you must also be the one who comes in the Great Qing Gate", Cixi was dumbfounded when she heard it, this is exposing her own pain!
In addition, after Empress Xiaozheyi entered the palace, Cixi interfered with her and Tongzhi's conjugal life, constantly reminding her son that he should try not to move around the empress's palace, which made Tongzhi very disgusted, but helpless. Two years later, Emperor Tongzhi was seriously ill, and Empress Xiaozheyi went to take care of Emperor Tongzhi, but Cixi said that she was a fox and deliberately seduced the emperor, and even rumored that Cixi was fisting and kicking Empress Xiaozheyi.
In any case, cixi and Empress Xiaozheyi had a bad relationship with their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and it was a stone hammer.
As a result, Empress Xiaozheyi had only been in the palace for less than three years, and the Tongzhi Emperor, who was only 19 years old, died, and as such, Empress Xiaozheyi, who was only 21 years old, instantly became a widow. Of course, Empress Xiaozheyi also lost her most solid backer, she was devastated and could not see any hope.
There is a saying that at that time, Empress Xiaozheyi was already pregnant, and Cixi was afraid that the child in her belly would inherit the throne and would not be able to become the empress dowager herself, so she forced Empress Xiaozheyi to commit suicide. Of course, this is just a legend, the birth system of the queen concubine of the palace is very strict, and generally there will be no mistakes. However, in the final outcome, Empress Xiaozheyi ended her life at the age of 22 and was buried with Tongzhi in the Huiling Underground Palace.
However, what people did not expect was that after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the second major theft of The Tanglin Occurred in the East Window Incident, and the Huiling Tomb of the Tongzhi Emperor was excavated by the tomb robbers in this robbery.
According to local rumors, the body of Empress Xiao zheyi in the underground palace did not decay at all, her face was like life, but her intestines flowed to the ground, it is said that Empress Xiao zheyi was swallowed to death, and the tomb robbers wanted to find gold by picking up the intestines, which led to this tragic situation, it is a pity that this early death of the Qing Empress, not only was she unsatisfactory before she died, but after death, she was not peaceful and humiliated.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Muzong of the Qing Dynasty, Grand View of the History of the Qing Dynasty