In the forty-eighth year of the Wanli Calendar (1620 AD), after the death of the Wanli Emperor, the fourteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Changluo, took the throne, at this time he was thirty-eight years old, and there were two xuanshi with the surname Li in his harem, known as "West Li" and "East Li", and the Li Xuanshi referred to in this article refers to "West Li", she is charming and the most favored.
A concubine who was elected to the palace in the Ming Dynasty and did not yet have a title.
Li Xuanshi had two children, Zhu Youmo, the fourth son of Zhu Changluo, and Zhu Huiyuan, the eighth daughter of Princess Le'an.
Zhu Youmo was born in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli Calendar (1610 AD), died prematurely at the age of four, and Zhu Huiyuan was born in the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli Calendar.
Zhu Changluo had two sons who grew up to adulthood, namely the eldest son Zhu Youxiao and the fifth son Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youxiao's birth mother was Wang Cairen, and Zhu Youjian's birth mother was Liu Shunu.
Wang Cairen was also a chosen attendant at first, and after giving birth to the eldest son of the crown prince in the thirty-third year of the Wanli Calendar, he was promoted to the title of cairen, while Liu Shu's status was lower than that of the elected attendant, and the two of them were far less favored than Li Xuanshi.
Lady Liu gave birth to Zhu Youjian in the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli Calendar, and died four years later at the age of twenty-seven, and the Cause of Liu Lady's death is recorded in the Ming History: "Lost the light of the Sect's will, was reprimanded, and was condemned." The Guangzong repents, fears the gods, and abstains from saying anything."
There is a theory that Lady Liu was forced to commit suicide or beaten to death in Zhu Changluo's rage, so Zhu Changluo was afraid that the Wanli Emperor would take the opportunity to depose him as crown prince after he knew it, and strictly forbade the palace people to leak the wind.
After Lady Liu's death, Zhu Youjian was raised by Li Xuanshi for a period of time, and later handed over to Dong Li to raise.
After Zhu Changluo's original crown princess Guo Shi died in the 41st year of the Wanli Calendar, Wang Cairen became the highest-ranking concubine in the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, but was not pleased by Zhu Changluo.
Li Xuanshi was pampered and arrogant, and often bullied Wang Cairen, and in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli Calendar, in a dispute, Li Xuanshi actually beat and insulted Wang Cairen, and soon Wang Cairen was humiliated and depressed.
The later development of the matter was shocking, Li Xuanshi not only did not go unpunished, but instead obtained the custody of Zhu Youxiao, I really don't know what Zhu Changluo thought, at this time Zhu Youxiao was fourteen years old.
Lady Liu and Lady Wang Cairen had a tragic ending, and the life of an unloved woman in the court was really difficult.
Before his death, the Wanli Emperor left a will and testament, and Zhu Youxiao was made the emperor's grandson.
After Zhu Changluo became emperor, Li Xuanshi followed her into the Qianqing Palace, and her ambitions swelled sharply, asking Zhu Changluo to make her empress, perhaps she was killing Wang Cairen at that time, precisely to compete for the position in the palace.
Zhu Changluo had no choice but to summon the group of ministers to discuss and intend to make Li Xuanshi an imperial concubine, but Li Xuanshi was not satisfied, and she took Zhu Youxiao to hide behind the curtain to eavesdrop, and pushed Zhu Youxiao out and said: "I want to make the empress."
Fortunately, Zhu Changluo was still a little sober at this time and did not agree.
Sun Ruyou, a rebbe attendant, suggested that the titles of empress dowager and deceased concubines of the two palaces be fixed first, and that the canonization of Emperor Daxing be carried out after the funeral of Emperor Daxing, so the matter of Li Xuanshi's canonization was postponed.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Changluo died after only one month as emperor, and Li Xuanshi did not receive any title.
According to the regulations at that time, the crown prince Zhu Youxiao should succeed to the throne as emperor according to the will, and Li Xuanshi should retire to the harem, but she was not willing.
Li Xuanshi gained a unique status because of Zhu Changluo's favor, but she seemed to have only selfish interests in her eyes.
When her husband died, she did not see that Li Xuanshi was not at all sad, and she ambitiously held Zhu Youxiao hostage in the Qianqing Palace and confronted the Qunchen, intending to force the chancellor to make her empress, and she even wanted to bow to the government and demand that the imperial court's performance be handed over to her.
Yang Lian, Liu Yiyi, and other ministers, assisted by the eunuch Wang An, protected Zhu Youxiao from leaving the Qianqing Palace and ascended the throne on an auspicious day.
Under the pressure of his courtiers, Li Xuan hurriedly left the Qianqing Palace and moved to the Renshou Hall of the Luan Palace.
A few days later, a fire broke out in the Luan Palace, and Li Xuan's mother and daughter were rescued, but rumors spread afterwards that Zhu Youxiao had abused his adoptive mother.
Zhu Youxiao, with the support of his ministers, refuted the rumors and revealed that Li Xuanshi had beaten his birth mother to death and that he had been abused, but did not punish Li Xuanshi, but only announced that "the title of the attendant was suspended to comfort the spirit of the Virgin in heaven" (Ming Shi Hou Concubine Biography).
Later, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian seized power, Wei Zhongxian was originally a confidant of Li Xuanxian, and contributed a lot to Li Xuanshi in the palace transfer case, Li Xuanxian tried his best to please Wei Zhongxian, and in the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Zhu Youxiao actually crowned Li Xuanshi as Concubine Kang under the persuasion of Wei Zhongxian.
After Zhu Youguan ascended the throne, he eliminated Wei Zhongxian's forces, and Zhu Youjian was his father's concubine in Li Xuanshi and did not dispose of her with him, but did not make her an imperial concubine.
Li Xuanshi raised two emperors, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian, and if she treated them kindly, she would have had the opportunity to become the highest-ranking woman in the harem. Zhu Youjian hated Li Xuanshi's personality, and preferred to let Liu Zhaofei of the Wanli Emperor take charge of the Empress Dowager Seal rather than crown her as an imperial concubine, and Li Xuanshi eventually paid the price for his actions.