Most women in ancient times did not have an independent source of livelihood, "at home from the father, married from the husband, the husband died from the son" (Old Book of Tang), whether the husband was kind or not, it was difficult to have another way out.
For the ancient women who married into the palace, their fate was largely determined by the emperor, the harem beauty three thousand, and the emperor only one, time, energy is limited, can get the emperor's favor of the woman is only a very small minority, most of the harem women can not see the emperor several times a year, unfavored is the norm of their lives.
When luck does not come, the days have to go on, happy is a day, unhappy is also a day, learn to coax yourself to live happily, this is a great wisdom.
There was such a woman in the harem of Emperor Ming shenzong Zhu Yijun, she was not favored by her husband, she could not give birth to a son and a half daughter, but she was always cautious and self-sustaining, calmly, and lived alone in the Wanli Dynasty for forty-two years, she was snubbed, but she was loving, generous, caring for and caring for all the princes, she was Liu Zhaofei, "sexually generous, caring for the kings" ("Biography of the Later Concubines of the Ming Dynasty").
Later, during the years of the Apocalypse and Chongzhen, Liu Zhaofei came to run the empress dowager's seal and lived in the Cining Palace, while The Wanli Emperor's favorite concubine, Emperor Zheng, retired to the Renshou Palace along with other former concubines.
Liu Zhaofei is a native of Shangcun, Shaanxi County, her grandfather opened a local inn, loyal, honest and trustworthy, child-to-child, highly respected by the neighbors, and strict tutoring, children and grandchildren are also people of good character.
In the sixth year of the Wanli Calendar, Emperor Mingshen Zhu Yijun was sixteen years old, and the imperial court ordered the selection of concubines on a large scale in the folk for the emperor's wedding, and three women finally stood out, the first Wang Xijie was made empress, and the other two women were registered as Liu Zhaofei and Yang Yifei.
According to the "Biography of Ming Shi Houfei", in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642 AD), Liu Zhaofei died at the age of eighty-six, according to which Liu Zhaofei was born in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557 AD), she was six years older than the Wanli Emperor, and twenty-one years old when she entered the palace.
Perhaps because she was a few years older than the Wanli Emperor and not as lively as the younger concubines, although Liu Zhaofei entered the palace very early, she did not attract the attention of the Wanli Emperor and remained obscure during the Wanli years.
The level of ancient medicine is backward, and there are very few female doctors, women's birth is often delivered by stable mothers, the risk is extremely high, the vitality is seriously injured, as if from the ghost door closed, and the unfavored concubines give birth to children, the body recovery process is often not carefully cared for and left hidden diseases.
Wanli Emperor's favor for Li Jingfei was second only to Thatu's concubine Zheng Guifei, and in March of the 25th year of the Wanli Calendar, Li Jingfei gave birth to Zhu Changying, the seventh son of Wanli Emperor, who died eleven days later.
As the birth mother of the crown prince, Princess Wang Gong's living conditions were not even as good as ordinary palace women, and she was imprisoned in the Jingyang Palace, unable to see her son for ten years, crying and blinding, and finally died tragically.
Perhaps, Liu Zhaofei looked away, although she was childless and spoiled, she was at ease, which may be one of the reasons why she can live a long life.
In the forty-eighth year of the Wanli Calendar, the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun and the Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo died successively, and the sixteen-year-old Zhu Youxiao took the throne.
Soon, the imperial court began to prepare for the marriage of Zhu Youxiao, and the empress dowager needed to report to the empress dowager or empress dowager, Zhu Youxiao's birth mother, grandmother, maternal grandmother, and grandmother had all died at this time, and after some deliberation, the gentle and kind Concubine Liu Zhaofei was honored as Princess Xuanyi and in charge of the empress dowager's seal, and Zhu Youxiao called her the imperial grandmother in the edict.
Later, Wei Zhongxian colluded with Zhu Youxiao's nursing mother Keshi to specialize in imperial politics, and Liu Zhaofei was cautious and self-sustaining, keeping a distance from him.
It is said that when Choosing a Concubine for Zhu Youjian, the Prince of Faith, Empress Zhang of Zhu Youxiao was worried that the Zhou clan was too weak, while Concubine Liu Zhaofei believed, "Although it is weak now, it will grow up later." (Biography of Ming Shi Hou Concubines)
As a result, the Zhou clan was crowned as the Concubine of the King of Letters.
In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, with the era name Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian and Empress Zhou paid great respect to Liu Zhaofei and were very filial.
Once, Zhu Youjian went to see Liu Zhaofei and sat in another room to take a nap, Liu Zhaofei asked Shang Yi to take care of her carefully, and Zhu Youjian woke up after a short rest, and said to Liu Zhaofei: "When the gods were ancestors, there were few things in the sea; it was difficult to live in the sea this time; it was a lot of hardships and difficulties today, and I did not try to hand over my eyelashes in two nights, and I was sleepy in front of the concubine. (Biography of Ming Shi Hou Concubines)
Liu Zhaofei shed tears of pain after hearing this.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, two years after Liu Zhaofei's death, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, and Liu Zhaofei's younger brother Liu Dai led his family to set himself on fire.
In her later years, Liu Zhaofei was able to win respect and receive the filial respect of the two emperors of Tianqi and Chongzhen, probably because she always adhered to the loyalty in her heart.