For the women living in the imperial palace in ancient society, it is a good thing to be able to get the emperor's favor, but "since ancient times, the red face has a thin life" has never been an empty phrase, for example, the imperial Taiji harem's concubine Hai Lanzhu and the Shunzhi harem's Concubine Dong E, both of them died early, and, from the perspective of later generations, neither of them has been respected by the royal family. However, the one I want to talk about today is a special case, although she was not born well, she was favored by Qianlong, she was pregnant with a dragon fetus seven times, and was buried in the imperial tomb after death, she was Empress Xiaoyichun.
Family mystery
Regarding the origin of Empress Xiaoyichun, it has always been a relatively obscure topic, but whoever can reach this position, the family lineage is not recorded in detail, but for Empress Xiaoyichun, her family lineage is vaguely recorded. According to the available information, the ancestor of Empress Xiaoyichun's entry into the flag is named Shou'en, who is this Shou'en? We don't know, but the Eight Banners of Manchuria Clan Genealogy records that Empress Xiaoyi Chun was the Wei clan of Shenyang, and some sources believe that the ancestor of Empress Xiaoyi Chun was a zuoling of the Geng clan of San Francisco named "Wei Guoxian", and this Wei Guoxian was the "Sui En" mentioned above.
Since it initially belonged to the subordinates of San Francisco, that is to say, the family of Empress Xiaoyichun originally belonged to the Han military banner, however, the Wei clan was allocated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the early years of the Qing Dynasty. Why was the Han military flag changed to Xinzhiku? It is speculated that it should be a crime, that is, the ancestor of Empress Xiaoyichun (possibly Wei Guoxian) made a mistake.
However, the impact of this change on the Wei family in the Yongqian period was already relatively small, and Empress Xiaoyichun's grandfather, Wu Shiyi, had served as the head of the Internal Affairs Office, at this time, the Wei clan had become a middle-class bureaucratic family in the Internal Affairs Office, so from the perspective of the palace women, Empress Xiaoyichun's origin was still good, but there were "stains" on the ancestors.
Enter the palace storm
As for when Empress Xiaoyichun entered the palace, the historical data is also not clearly recorded. It can be determined that Empress Xiaoyi chun must have been drafted into the palace through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the initial identity should be a palace girl, as to whether she has a palace history, we are not very clear. It is speculated that Empress Xiaoyichun entered the palace for about six years in Qianlong, but Qianlong once mentioned the words "jade became a couple in the old days" in the imperial poem commemorating Empress Xiaoxian, so it is also possible that Empress Xiaoyichun was introduced to Qianlong by Empress Xiaoxian.
Empress Xiaoyichun's entry into the palace changed the pattern of the Qianlong harem to a certain extent. In the ten years of Qianlong, Empress Xiaoyichun was crowned by a noble person as a concubine, ranking first among the three concubines (Ling Concubine, Shu Concubine, Yi Concubine), and the limelight even overshadowed the prominent Shu Concubine, even if three years later, Empress Xiaoyichun was promoted to Ling Concubine, but she still needed seven years of dormancy in the harem, after all, there were still many old people in Qianlong's hidden residence, and the seniority of these people was incomparable to that of Empress Xiaoyichun.
Seven pregnant dragon fetuses
Beginning in the twenty-first year of Qianlong, Empress Xiaoyichun officially began her period of pampering, and in the following ten years, she actually conceived dragon fetus seven times and successfully gave birth to six children (once in the eight months of Qianlong's twenty-fourth year). In particular, Qianlong's fifteenth brother Yongyan, who was born in the spring of the Yuanmingyuan Tiandi family in the twenty-fifth year, completely consolidated the position of Empress Xiaoyichun in the harem, so that after Qianlong fell out of favor after cutting her hair for thirty years, she jumped to the position of imperial concubine and grasped the power of the affairs of the harem of the Qing Dynasty.
However, multiple births brought serious attrition to Empress Xiaoyichun's body, and coupled with frequent touring trips with Qianlong, Empress Xiaoyichun's body became weaker and weaker. At the end of the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong, Empress Xiaoyichun, who had accompanied Qianlong on a tour of the Rehe River, returned to Beijing and became seriously ill, and then recovered from illness in the East Ear Hall of the Yangxin Hall.
However, the death of the Seventh Princess (the daughter of Empress Xiaoyichun) stimulated her to some extent, and finally, on the twenty-ninth day of the first month of the 40th year of Qianlong, Empress Xiaoyichun died of illness in the Forbidden City at the age of 49. Subsequently, Qianlong gave her the title of Concubine lingyi and buried her in the Yuling Underground Palace.
Sixty years after Qianlong's death, twenty years after empress Xiaoyichun's death, her son FifteenTh Brother Yongyan was publicly proclaimed crown prince by Qianlong, and at the same time, Qianlong posthumously named her Empress Xiaoyi.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, General Genealogy of the Eight Banners of Manchurian Clans