In the harem of ancient emperors, there will often be some sister flowers, such as the imperial Taiji harem's concubines and Zhuang concubines, The Guangxu harem's Concubines and Zhen concubines, in fact, the Qianlong harem also has a pair of sister flowers, but the reputation of these sister flowers is much smaller. Today, I want to talk about the two sister flowers of the Qianlong harem.
The older sister is Yi Concubine, and the younger sister is a white nobleman.
In May of the third year of Qianlong, the Qianlong Emperor, who had just been mourned for Yongzheng, issued a secret edict to the university scholar Ertai, strictly prohibiting officials in the south from buying "excellent children and show girls" in the local area, so as not to make a rumor and damage the emperor's holy virtues. Subsequently, it was mentioned that an official named Hai Bao had presented two women to the imperial court, one of whom was sent back and the other one was left in the palace, and the woman who was left in the palace was most likely Yi Concubine.
Facts have also proved this point, Yi Concubine Bai is not a flag person, her father's name is Bai Shicai, without any titles and official positions, should be of Han Chinese origin. That being the case, then, Yi Concubine certainly did not enter the palace through the draft, because she was not eligible to participate in the draft.
Yi Concubine appeared in the harem around the beginning of Qianlong, and at the beginning her position was noble, and she began to receive attention in the sixth year of Qianlong, this year, Yi Concubine was named a concubine. Combined with the origin of Yi Concubine, it can be seen that she is very favored, although the official historical materials of the Qing Dynasty have not mentioned it, but the Korean historical materials have described that there was a very favored concubine in the early years of Qianlong, in order to avoid the reprimand of the Empress Dowager Chongqing, Qianlong took her to the Yuanmingyuan to play, not surprisingly, this favored concubine should be Yi Concubine.
At that time, Empress Chongqing was extremely dissatisfied with her son Qianlong's performance in favoring Concubine Han, so she ordered a draft to be held and shu concubine was selected into the palace, and then, coupled with the ascension of Concubine Ling, who was born in the palace, Qianlong was no longer so fond of Concubine Yi. This is particularly evident ten years after Qianlong.
Because in the seventh year of Qianlong, Qianlong also ordered that yi concubine's family be taken to the capital division, ordered to enter the ministry of internal affairs with a yellow flag, and gave them houses, fields, and so on. In the tenth year of Qianlong, Qianlong also selected Yi Concubine's sister Xiao Baishi into the harem, first arranging for her to learn the rules around a certain concubine, and then sealing her as Changzai, calling Bai Changzai.
However, since the tenth year of Qianlong, there are few relevant records of Yi Concubine in the historical records, only that she died of illness in the palace in the twenty-second year of Qianlong, and her position ended on the concubine's throne. And Yi Concubine's sister Xiao Bai has always been in a constant position, and there is no chance of promotion, which shows that Yi Concubine should have fallen out of favor after ten years of Qianlong.
Compared with her sister Yi Concubine's red face and thin life, her younger sister Xiao Baishi was much more open-minded, because she knew that it was already a great honor to enter the Forbidden City with her own family lineage, and she never had the luxury of being able to get the favor of the Great Qing Heavenly Son. Therefore, Xiao Bai's body has always been relatively healthy.
In October of the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong, Qianlong, who was about to abdicate, made a final promotion of the concubines around him, and Xiao Baishi finally obtained the title of Jin, and was promoted from Chang Zai to nobleman, called Bai Guiren. However, at that time, Xiao Baishi was already an old woman over sixty years old, and these false names did not mean much to her.
After Jiaqing succeeded to the throne, Xiao Bai was honored as a white nobleman, and after enjoying eight years of too noble time, she finally died of illness in the Forbidden City, ending her inactive and extremely uneventful life.
References: Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of the Li Dynasty