Speaking of those things in the Qianlong harem, the most famous thing is undoubtedly the subsequent haircut incident, when the infinitely beautiful successor Nala clan somehow suddenly cut off the love thread, which caused the anger of the amorous Tianzi Qianlong, and finally died tragically in the cold palace. However, compared with the successor, there was another woman in the Qianlong harem who was even more miserable, and she was Xiang Promised.
There is no official record of Xiang's family lineage and surname, which may have a lot to do with her later demotion. However, Xiang promised to enter the palace in the eighteenth year of Qianlong, and was first named Xiang Guiren, according to this information we can speculate that she should be a woman from the Eight Flags, participating in the Eight Flags Draft.
The Eight Flags Draft is the most important way for the Qing Emperor to choose concubines, and the showgirls who participate in this kind of draft generally come from the Eight Flags family with strong backgrounds, and some are even top giants, so they have a higher starting point and more opportunities for promotion after entering the palace. Obviously, Xiang promised to have a good innate advantage.
The harem of the Qing Dynasty was never short of restless women, eager to gain the favor of the emperor, and usually took some means, Xiang agreed or one of them. However, there is always a great risk in competing for favors, and if you anger the dragon whiskers, you will face punishment, and sure enough, Xiang promised to enter the palace within a few years of being demoted to Chang Zai, saying that Xiang Chang Zai.
After this lesson, Xiang Promised finally saw the Dragon Wei of the Heavenly Son, and acted much more cautiously and diligently, trying to change the emperor's impression of himself. This method proved to be feasible, and in the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, the emperor finally decreed that Xiang promised to be promoted to a nobleman, and if so, she returned to the starting point.
Logically, Xiang Promised to return to the throne of the nobles should cherish this opportunity, and it is not impossible to gain the favor of the emperor. But what I didn't expect was that Xiang Promised, who had returned to the noble position, returned to his old ways, did not know what serious crime he had committed, and was demoted again by Qianlong, and this time he was directly demoted to a concubine of the lowest rank, and from then on, Xiang Promised never had the opportunity to turn over.
In fact, Xiang promised that after this demotion, he was sent to the Cold Palace, and it was not until the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong that the news of his death came out of the palace. Moreover, Qianlong also made a more ruthless decision not to allow Xiang Promised to be buried in the concubine garden of the Imperial Tomb, which was equivalent to not recognizing Xiang Promise as his concubine, and Qianlong's resentment toward Xiang Promise was evident, and through Qianlong's reaction, it can be seen that the crime committed by Xiang Promise is not light.
Some readers may wonder, if Xiang promised not to be buried in the imperial tomb, then where was she buried? By consulting the archives of the Qing Palace, it can be seen that Xiang Promis was buried in the graveyard of Cao Balitun. In fact, the harems of successive emperors of the Qing Dynasty had some lower-ranking concubines who were not buried in the imperial tombs, and they were buried in graves such as Cao Balitun and Liudaokou.
Note: In the eyes of people, "Xiang" is a good title, which means auspicious, but several concubines who were named "Xiang" in the history of the Qing Dynasty did not end well, in addition to the Auspicious Presence of the Qianlong Harem, there were two more.
The first was Concubine Xiang of the Daoguang Harem, and although Princess Xiang finally survived to the concubine position, she was demoted two levels in a row by Daoguang and lost her grace. The second was the xianggui (Tan Yuling) of the last emperor Puyi, who died mysteriously at the age of 22, the cause of death is unknown.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty