In the history of the Qing Dynasty, there have been many cases where aunts and nephews have served the same emperor together, the most famous of which is the three aunts and nephews of Empress Xiaoduanwen, Concubine Chen and Concubine Zhuang of the Emperor Taiji Harem. In addition, in the late Qing Dynasty, a pair of aunts and nephews also appeared in the Tongzhi harem, and what is unexpected is that this time the aunt became a concubine (Gongsu Emperor's noble concubine), and the niece became an empress (Empress Xiaozheyi). Today, I want to talk about a pair of aunts and nephews in the Qianlong harem, the aunt is a Shungui person, and the niece is a concubine.
First of all, let's clarify the specific relationship between Shungui and Chengfu.
It is said that Shungui's grandfather Yin De and Concubine Cheng's great-grandfather Aling'a were brothers, and they came from the Hongyi Gongfu, a top magnate with a yellow flag in Manchuria, and were the sons of The Kangxi Auxiliary Minister Shu Bilong.
During the Kangxi Dynasty, Concubine Cheng's great-grandfather Aling'a was highly regarded, and the official was the minister of the Inner Guard, and inherited the duke of His father, Shubilon, however, Alinga and his son Alsun'a (Cheng's grandfather) were the true Eight Masters, and after Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Cheng's grandfather Alsuna was executed, the whole family was punished into the Xinzhiku, and the Duke of Alsuna was transferred to the Yin de line.
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, Concubine Cheng's entire family was pardoned, returned to her native country, and re-lived in the Duke's Palace, but the Duke did not win back, and the position of Duke of Guoyi continued to be inherited in Yin De's line.
Through the above description, everyone should understand that Shungui and Cheng concubine are cousins and nephews, but the relationship between these two families should not be too good due to the change of titles. In addition, because Qianlong merged the Niuhulu clan of his mother, Empress Xiaoshengxian, with the Niuhulu clan of the Hongyi Gongfu, according to the generations, Shungui and Cheng concubines were the descendants of Empress Xiaoshengxian, one was a niece and the other was a niece.
Although in terms of generations, Shungui is the cousin of Cheng concubine, but it is Cheng concubine who enters the palace first, and it is estimated that the age of aunt Shungui is less than that of her niece Cheng concubine.
In June of the 22nd year of Qianlong, Concubine Cheng entered the harem of the Qing Dynasty and was initially enfeoffed as Lan Guiren. Although from the perspective of family lineage, Cheng Concubine does not have much of a problem, and it can be regarded as a proud door family, but combined with Cheng Concubine's palace resume, this woman is simply a master who is deceitful and not good at competing for favors.
In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, The concubine Cheng (then Lan Guiren), who lived in the Yongshou Palace, was stolen by the same eunuch more than once, and the clothes were exchanged for money by the eunuchs. Eventually, the eunuch punished the armored men as slaves. After that, Cheng Concubine was demoted to Lan Changzai for a time, and it was not until Qianlong forty-one years that she was enthroned as Cheng Concubine.
In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong, Cheng Concubine and Qianlong toured the south together, and one night on the way back, Cheng Concubine, who was cool on the pole pond next to the boat, lost her foot and fell into the water and was caught and buried. Here is an important piece of information, Makoto was found some time after falling into the water, when she was already dead, so that she was directly buried. Then, whether Cheng Concubine accidentally fell into the water, or whether someone deliberately let her fall into the water, then we do not know.
It is worth mentioning that in some wild histories, there are rumors that Empress Xiaoxian was forced to fall into the water or lost her footing and fell into the water, perhaps it is an adaptation of the fall of Concubine Cheng.
In general, Cheng Concubine has always been an air bag, and has never been favored by Qianlong. In contrast, Shungui is different, after all, from the perspective of the family world, this branch of her family can be regarded as the authentic duke of Guoyi.
Shungui's father was named Aibida, the third son of Yin De, and Aibida was a very important minister of Qianlong, who served successively as the governor of Hedao, the governor of Zhejiang, the governor of Guizhou, and the governor of Huguang, and wrote the famous book "Qiannan Zhiluo". Moreover, the entry of shungui into the palace seems to have a deeper historical background.
In June of the 31st year of Qianlong, the 18-year-old Shungui was drafted into the palace through the Eight Banners of the Outside World and was initially named a nobleman. If you are familiar with the history of the Qing Palace, you must know that this time is exactly a month before Qianlong's subsequent death, that is to say, Shungui is most likely the "empress" selected by Empress Chongqing (Empress Xiaoshengxian) for her son Qianlong, but Qianlong did not agree to this arrangement, according to Qianlong's own wishes, the person who entered the middle palace should be The Imperial Concubine, but the Empress Chongqing would not agree to a woman from a slave-wrapped background ascending to the throne.
Although Shungui did not wear a phoenix crown, she did get the favor of Qianlong. For example, in the third year of entering the palace, he was promoted to the title of concubine and became the lord of the inner court.
In addition to the Shungui people, Qianlong also had a favored concubine at that time, and she was a concubine. Although the historical records do not record any conflict between the Shungui and the concubines, the data shows that there must have been a palace fight between the two.
Forty-one years after Qianlong, Shungui and Concubine Huan were diagnosed with a dragon fetus, however, the later plot is beyond people's imagination, Shungui people after a series of fetal protection, but did not see the birth, there are two possibilities: First, Shungui did not conceive a dragon fetus at all. Second, Shungui suffered a miscarriage. What is unexpected is that the concubine who has given birth to the tenth princess has also experienced a false pregnancy incident, and how much it has to do with shungui people, we don't know.
On November 25, 52, Qianlong, when shungui was over forty years old, he was required to reward nine additional silver dollar treasures according to the custom, but Qianlong ordered that he be treated as usual and not be given nine silver dollar treasures. This shows that at this time, shungui has fallen out of favor or has signs of falling out of favor.
Sure enough, just after the Spring Festival of this year, Qianlong twice issued an edict to demote Concubine Shun to a nobleman, and the reason for this is not recorded. After that, Shungui seemed to have been beaten into the cold palace, and after less than two years, he died of illness in the Qing Palace. Qianlong did not feel the slightest sense of guilt, but ordered him to be buried in the last row of yuling concubines' garden, and this favorite concubine, who had been in the Qianlong harem for a while, still fell gorgeously.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, Four Genealogies of the Qing Imperial Family