Through the study of the historical materials of the harem of the Qing Dynasty, it was found that in the harem of each emperor, there was a certain phenomenon of palace fighting, of which the harem of the Daoguang Dynasty was the most representative. There are a total of 23 concubines in the Daoguang harem, and there are as many as 13 who have been demoted, and the concubine mentioned in this article has also been demoted twice by Daoguang, but she has survived to the noble concubine with her seniority, and this concubine is a noble concubine.
Cheng Guifei was born in the eighteenth year of Jiaqing, surnamed Niu Hulu, about her family lineage, there is no record in the historical records, in fact, many concubines in the Daoguang Dynasty have missing records of their family background, which may have a lot to do with their demotion. However, the NiuHulu clan is a famous descendant of the Qing Dynasty, and there have been six empresses of the Qing Dynasty, and presumably the family lineage of this noble concubine will not be bad.
In the eighth year of Daoguang, Cheng Guifei participated in the Eight Flags Draft, in this draft, the noble-born Cheng Guifei was successfully selected, at that time Cheng Guifei was just a 15-year-old young girl, and the Daoguang Emperor was already a 46-year-old middle-aged uncle, but this was nothing in the Daoguang Dynasty, and the Daoguang Emperor later had a Concubine Lin (Zhuang JingHuang Guifei) who was 41 years younger than him.
After Cheng Guifei entered the palace, her initial title was Cheng Guiren, and it is reasonable to say that Cheng Guifei's starting point is very good, and if she has a strong ability to grasp the opportunity, she has a great chance of being favored. However, Concubine Cheng, who had just entered the court, may not be familiar with the rules of the palace, so that she angered the emperor and was soon demoted to Yu Changzai.
After that, Cheng Guifei rarely received the summons of the Daoguang Emperor, and she seemed to have no hope, but what she did not expect was that eight years later, a chance bedchamber made her regain her holy favor and was promoted to become a nobleman. After that, Concubine Cheng acted cautiously in the palace, not daring to make any mistakes.
Twenty-five years after Daoguang, the 33-year-old Cheng Guifei was finally promoted to the title of Concubine cheng and obtained the throne of the inner court, a day she waited too long, 17 years had passed since she entered the palace. However, the concubine Cheng Guifei, who had already become the lord of the throne, became restless again in the harem, and did not even pay attention to the Jing Emperor's noble concubine (Empress Xiao Jingcheng), who was in charge of the harem, so Daoguang demoted Cheng Guifei to a nobleman in the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang.
The following year, the Daoguang Emperor passed away, and the 38-year-old Cheng Guifei instantly became a widow.
The Imperial Family of the Qing Dynasty had a rule, generally speaking, after the death of Emperor Daxing, the new Emperor would honor the concubines of the former Emperor, and Concubine Cheng guifei seized this opportunity and was crowned as the Concubine of the Emperor Kao cheng by the newly succeeded Xianfeng Zun. Later, after the Tongzhi Emperor succeeded to the throne, he was honored as Imperial Ancestor Chengfei and Imperial Ancestor Chenggui Concubine, and at this time, Cheng Guifei was no longer the ignorant young concubine of the Daoguang Dynasty, she had become an old concubine living in the East Hall of Shoukang Palace.
In the fourteenth year of Guangxu, Cheng Guifei, who had gone through the five dynasties of Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu, completed her life journey, and her life was quite bumpy, but she did not disappear into the harem, but with a good attitude, she became a noble concubine, and eventually became a legendary figure in the harem in the late Qing Dynasty.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Shilu, Great Qing Huidian