The system popped up in Chen Yuwei's mind: "Empress Hui, of the Nara clan, entered the palace as a secondary consort in October of the twelfth year of the Yongzheng reign. She was conferred the title of Consort Xian on September 24th of the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng reign, and was made Empress Dowager in the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign."

Indeed, before being crowned Empress, Empress Hui-fa-na-la's presence was always rather low.

Because neither official history nor unofficial history devoted much attention to Hui-fa-na-la.

This woman became the empress, and later had three more children. She followed the Jiangnan region and cut her hair, eventually fading into obscurity. There are many records of this period. However, her death was more tragic than that of ordinary concubines. She did not even have the ceremonial regalia of an empress, and was treated like an ordinary concubine. Her only son was a bald prince until his death. It is not hard to associate this with Hongli's resentment and pettiness.

Chen Yuwei rested her chin on her hand, "Do you think that before becoming Empress, it was possible that Empress Hui-fa-na-la deliberately kept a low profile?"

Otherwise, back then, the high-ranking concubines with children included Consort Chun, Consort Jia, and Consort Yu, while those of noble birth included Consort Shu from the Guarjia clan… Hmm? Thinking about it this way, it's not surprising that Consort Huifa Nara became Empress.

Scratching her head, Chen Yuwei couldn't understand why neither the Empress Dowager's family nor other Manchu nobles were sending people into the palace.

"Perhaps, it's because the Emperor is unwilling?"

The system believed that the triennial imperial concubine selection was for the emperor to fill his harem and continue his lineage.

If he really had the will, how could he not bring Manchu noblewomen into the palace as concubines, unless the emperor himself didn't want to?

Your Majesty, Hongli doesn't want to?!

Chen Yuwei's mind suddenly clicked, "That's right!"

It seems that apart from the "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" harem during the Kangxi era, there were few noble women from prominent Manchu families in the harems of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors. Moreover, the number of women from the bondservant banners and Han banners increased as time went on.

There may have been considerations among the emperors, after all, the noble ladies of the Manchu clans represented immense power and constant trouble, so selecting more women from less prominent families who would not affect the court would save a lot of trouble.

However, if this continued, the bloodline of the Manchu imperial family would be diluted infinitely, and the imperial family would become increasingly unable to suppress the bondservants, eventually leading to the bondservant families controlling the continuation of the bloodline and slowly turning the Qing dynasty into a bondservant dynasty.

Yes, that's exactly what happened in the late Qing Dynasty. The emperor sat in the palace and couldn't do anything. His imperial power was usurped and eventually became a mere figurehead.