Emperor An, Aisin Gioro Hongxu.
Hongxu was the eldest son of Emperor Yonghe and Empress Xiaojingxian, of the Ulanara clan. His elder sister was born only half a cup of tea's time apart from him.
Hongxu and his elder sister are twins, a boy and a girl.
After Hongxu and his elder sister were born, Hongxu's father and mother had nine more brothers and three younger sisters.
They are all siblings from the same mother.
Hongxu and his elder sister were born in the thirty-ninth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign.
In the 43rd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Hongxu's second younger sister was born;
In the 46th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, his second and third brothers were twins.
They were all born in the Yonghe Emperor's former residence, the Yongjun Prince's Mansion.
In the 48th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Hongxu's father, the then fourth prince Yinchu, was named crown prince by the Kangxi Emperor. The following year, Hongxu's fourth younger brother was born in the crown prince's residence.
In the fifty-first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the emperor abdicated in favor of Hongxu's father, Yinchu. Hongxu's entire family moved into the palace. The following year, the first year of the Yonghe Emperor's reign, Hongxu's fifth younger brother was born in Jingren Palace.
In the third year of the Yonghe reign, the third and fourth sisters, a pair of twin daughters, were born.
In the seventh and ninth years of Hongxu's father's reign, his sixth and seventh younger brothers were born one after the other.
In the eleventh year of the Yonghe reign, Hongxu's mother, Lady Ulanara, was over forty years old when she became pregnant again and gave birth to twins.
At this time, Hongxu's eldest legitimate daughter had already been born, and his eldest illegitimate son was about to enter the world.
Hongxu thought that after this, his mother, Empress Ulanara, would not be pregnant again, and he would not have any younger brothers or sisters.
However, just three years later,
When Empress Ulanara was forty-five years old, she became pregnant again and gave birth to her youngest brother after ten months of pregnancy.
Hongxu was born in the thirty-ninth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. In the forty-eighth year of his reign, Hongxu's father was made Crown Prince by his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, making Hongxu the eldest son of the Crown Prince. His status rose accordingly. Three years later...
When Ammanghe Emperor ascended the throne, Hongxu became the eldest prince in the palace.
That year, Hongxu was already thirteen years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). In the Qing Dynasty, princes were considered adults at the age of twelve, and they could have concubines or maids serving them in their rooms. However, his mother, Empress Ulanara, had not made any arrangements for him.
Although Hongxu was at the age where he was young and infatuated, he dared not act recklessly.
After all, there was a precedent set by his second uncle in the palace.
My second uncle, Prince Zhi, Yinqi, became obsessed with women too early, resulting in difficulty having children. Although he used some kind of magical elixir, he only had daughters and no sons.
Perhaps deep down, Hongxu was not as affectionate and devoted as his father, the Emperor, and was destined not to be like his father, Emperor Yonghe, and his mother, Empress Ulanara.
Therefore, even at a young age, Hongxu would feel restless and sometimes stare at the young and beautiful palace maids.
Until he was sixteen, some unruly palace maids tried to climb into Hongxu's bed, but Hongxu sternly refused them because he did not want to ruin his reputation.
I've been patiently waiting for my mother, Empress Ulanara, to arrange for palace maids, concubines, and other servants.
At the age of eighteen, Hongxu finally met his first woman.
Arranged by the Empress Dowager, Chen, a woman of average to above-average looks, timid as a rabbit, and bland and uninteresting, was a year younger than Hongxu.
Although Chen was bland and uninteresting, she was still Hongxu's first woman and held a certain place in his heart.
At the age of twenty
His grandmother, Lady Xumur, and his mother, Lady Ulanara, chose Lady Fuca as his primary consort. Lady Fuca came from a prominent Manchu family and was the eldest granddaughter of Fuca Maqi. She was five years younger than him.
In the same year, the Fucha family sent him a member of a collateral branch of the Fucha clan to be a princess.
Later, when Hongxu was twenty-two years old, his primary consort, Lady Fuca, officially married him.
Later, women from the Gao, Ulanara, Su, Lu, Bai, Irgen Gioro, Huang, and Suochuo clans were chosen through a selection process and bestowed upon Hongxu as secondary consorts or princesses.
Empress Dowager Ulanara did not bestow any concubines upon him, nor did Hongxu take any concubines of his own.
Of course, there is one exception.
Consort Ulanara, who later became Consort Xian and Noble Consort Xian, was Hongxu's cousin, eight years his junior, and a niece of the Empress Dowager Ulanara. Hongxu and his cousin were childhood sweethearts...
Well, after thinking about it carefully, it was probably just wishful thinking!
My cousin is eight years younger than Hongxu. She has been proud and arrogant since childhood. When she married Hongxu as a concubine, she was twenty-six years old, while my cousin was eighteen. Moreover, Hongxu already had a son and a daughter.
After his cousin, his father and mother-in-law arranged for him to marry a woman from the Irgen Gioro clan, whose family background was superior to his cousin's, as a secondary consort.
Hongxu knew in his heart that neither his grandmother nor his mother liked his cousin, but he did!
Later, when his father abdicated the throne to him, Hongxu, after ascending the throne, originally wanted to bestow the title of Imperial Concubine upon his cousin, but his mother and grandmother disagreed. He had to settle for second best and instead bestowed upon her the title of Consort Xian.
When Hongxu first ascended the throne, there was an empress in his harem, and four concubines: Consort Ke (of the Irgen Gioro clan), Consort Xian (of the Ulanara clan), Consort Hui (of the Gao clan), and Consort Zhe (of the Fuca clan).
There were also four concubines: Consort Wan (née Chen), Consort Chun (née Su), Consort Jia (née Bai), and Consort Yi (née Huang).
There are two people in the lower, noble seats.
Those who came from the prince's residence, including the empress and concubines of Hongxu, all gave birth to princes or princesses, and their later ranks were all above the rank of concubine.
After Hongxu ascended the throne,
Although he was not as restrained as his father in matters of women, he was far less extravagant and beautiful than his grandfather's harem.
In the imperial harem, women from the Yehe Nara clan, Daijia clan, Lin clan, Niohuru clan, Keliyete clan, Xilin Gioro clan, and Jin clan were selected for the imperial harem. There were also women from the Bairin clan, Bayergos clan, Borjigit clan, and Khoshut clan sent by the Mongols, as well as the Khoja sisters, women from the Hui tribe.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
