In ancient society, if the officials of the former dynasty made mistakes, they would be demoted or thrown away their hats, in the same way, those harem concubines would also be demoted if they angered Long Yan, or they would be beaten into the cold palace. The harems of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty have some concubines who have been demoted, of which the Daoguang harem is the most serious, and the one I want to talk about today is from the harem of the Daoguang Emperor, who was demoted by Daoguang twice, but in the end she was honored as a noble concubine through five dynasties, and she is a noble concubine.
Cheng Guifei's surname is Niu Hulu, and there is no detailed record of her specific family lineage, but it is certain that Cheng Guifei is not from the most prominent Yellow Flag Niu Hulu clan, that is, the Hongyi Gongfu, but the general Eight Flags Family. According to the rules, when Cheng Guifei reached the age, she also had to participate in the Eight Flags Draft.
In February of the eighth year of Daoguang, Cheng Guifei, who was only 15 years old, participated in the Eight Flags Draft, and she was favored by the Daoguang Emperor and given the title of nobleman. "Cheng" means "talented" in Manchu, which shows that Cheng Guifei is not only a beautiful woman, but also a versatile person. It is worth mentioning that there is another person who has the title of "Cheng" in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and she is the birth mother of the seventh son of the Kangxi Dynasty Emperor Yinyou, Princess Cheng, Dai Jiashi.
Although Princess Cheng Guifei left a good impression on Daoguang in the draft, it was not long before she entered the palace that she was demoted to Chang Zai because of her mistakes, calling Yu Chang Zai. This demotion brought a heavy blow to Cheng Guifei, and since this demotion, Daoguang has rarely summoned Cheng Guifei, and even forgotten her existence, in this way, Daoguang has been snubbed Cheng Guifei for seven years.
In the sixteenth year of Daoguang, Cheng Guifei finally ushered in the opportunity to make a comeback, this year she was reinstated as a nobleman, although she did not receive too much attention from the emperor after that, but her life in the harem was relatively peaceful. Until a fire in the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang, it actually brought a promotion opportunity for Cheng Guifei.
In May of the 25th year of Daoguang, the Yanxi Palace where Cheng Guifei lived was hit by a fire, and in this accident, the main concubine of the Yanxi Palace died tragically, and Cheng Guifei survived because she lived in the side hall. After this incident, the Daoguang Emperor ordered Cheng Guifei to move to Xianfu Palace and promote her to the title of Concubine Cheng, and thus Cheng Guifei was also blessed by misfortune.
However, it seems that the heavens are deliberately tricking her into becoming a noble concubine, and her harem journey has not been smooth. In the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang, Concubine Cheng guifei was demoted again and demoted to a nobleman, and half a year later, the Daoguang Emperor passed away. As a result, Concubine Cheng, who had just been demoted, became a widow.
However, after the new emperor succeeded to the throne in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, he would generally honor the concubines of the first dynasty, and Cheng Guifei was therefore honored by Xianfeng as an imperial concubine, and moved from Xianfu Palace to Shoudong Palace. Since then, Cheng Guifei has lived a carefree life as a princess, idle, playing chess with other concubines, drinking tea, and her life is very indifferent.
After the Tongzhi Emperor succeeded to the throne, Cheng Guifei received two more honorary titles, namely Emperor Chengfei and Emperor Zu Chengguifei, thus, Cheng Guifei, who was born in the Jiaqing Dynasty, lived until the Guangxu Dynasty, and after five dynasties (Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, Tongzhi, and Guangxu), died in the fourteenth year of Guangxu at the age of 76.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Emperor Xuanzong of the Qing Dynasty, Archives of the Qing Palace