Consort Wang
In the thirty-first year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Lady Wang was only sixteen years old. At that time, the Kangxi Emperor was nearly forty years old and already had fourteen princes and thirty princesses.
Lady Wang entered the palace to participate in the imperial concubine selection at her father's behest.
Her initial intention was simply to be registered and appointed to a member of the imperial family, or to become a princess for one of the princes. After all, the fourth prince, born to Imperial Noble Consort Xu Muer, was already thirteen years old at the time.
As the saying goes, "A woman three years older than her husband is like holding a gold brick," and Wang's greatest wish was to become a princess for the Fourth Prince.
However, fate played a cruel joke on Wang. She was chosen by the emperor and brought into the palace, along with a woman surnamed Chen from the Han Banner Army. Chen and Wang were the same age.
They were both sixteen years old, the age when they were like flower buds.
Lady Wang was naturally easygoing, and she readily accepted the idea of entering the palace.
Even though Wang was an unranked concubine when she first entered the palace, she didn't care. When Emperor Kangxi summoned her, she served him diligently; when he didn't, she didn't cause any trouble.
Soon after, Lady Wang became pregnant. In the following years, she gave birth to two princes and one princess, who later became the Fifteenth Prince, the Eighteenth Prince, and the Thirty-Second Princess.
In the thirty-eighth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, the Emperor established Imperial Noble Consort Xu Muer as Empress. Wang, who had been a concubine for many years, was finally granted the title of Noble Lady Mi and became a concubine with a name and status in the harem!
After that, Lady Wang remained in the position of Consort Mi for over twenty years until Emperor Kangxi abdicated. Ten years later, after his death at the Changchun Garden Palace, Emperor Yonghe posthumously conferred upon her the title of Imperial Concubine Mi.
More than twenty years later, the new emperor, Emperor Gan'an, ascended the throne. After Emperor Yonghe passed away, Lady Wang was once again honored as the Imperial Ancestral Consort.
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Consort Chen
Lady Chen and Consort Wang entered the palace in the same year through the imperial concubine selection. When they first entered the palace, they were also concubines without any official title or status.
Concubine concubines were similar to palace maids, except that palace maids were selected from among the lower-ranking palace women, while Chen and her ilk were formally selected through the Eight Banners imperial concubine selection process.
Although Emperor Kangxi had many concubines in the early years of his reign, such as Imperial Noble Consort Xu Muer, Consort Hui Nara, and Consort Duan Dong, they were all concubines at the time, but times have changed.
The year Chen was born, the rules of the imperial harem were established: one empress, two imperial concubines, four consorts, six concubines, and countless noble ladies, ladies-in-waiting, and ladies-in-waiting.
More than ten years later, the concubine reappeared in the palace.
In the 34th and 36th years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Lady Chen gave birth to two princes for the emperor, but she remained a concubine without any official title or status. Just when Lady Chen thought that this was probably how her life would end,
The Imperial Noble Consort in the palace became pregnant again and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and was then made Empress.
Thanks to the Empress, Lady Chen and several other concubines finally received their official titles.
That year, Lady Chen was granted the title of Consort Qin.
Later, during and after Emperor Kangxi's reign, Chen was only a Noble Lady Qin and did not receive any promotion. Even after her son, the Sixteenth Prince, married the legitimate daughter of Duke Cheng'en, Aling'a, and the granddaughter of Empress Xu Mu'er, it did not change the fact that Chen was only a minor Noble Lady.
The retired emperor passed away at Changchun Garden Palace, and Lady Chen was posthumously honored as Imperial Concubine by the Yonghe Emperor.
Then, more than twenty years later, Emperor Yonghe passed away in the tenth year of Emperor Qian'an's reign. Chen was then posthumously honored as Imperial Ancestral Consort Qin by Emperor Qian'an, and after her death, she was buried in the Imperial Consort Mausoleum.
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Concubine Hesheli
Hesheli was from a collateral branch of the Hesheli family and was not closely related to Empress Xiaocheng Hesheli, Consort Ping Hesheli, and others.
Her father, from the Hesheli clan, was merely a member of a collateral branch of the Hesheli family and held a minor official position. Her mother was from the Tongjia clan, and had absolutely no connection to the emperor's maternal uncles, Tong Guowei and Tong Guogang.
They just happened to be from the Tongjia clan.
By the way, Lady Tongjia was only the legal mother and adoptive mother of Lady Hesheli, not her biological mother. Lady Hesheli's biological mother was rumored to be a woman from Jiangnan who was taken as a concubine by Ama because of her beauty.
Intermarriage between Manchus and Han Chinese was forbidden?
Don't misunderstand, that refers to intermarriage.
Manchu officials were allowed to take Han Chinese women as concubines.
Hesheli's birth mother died during childbirth, so Hesheli was given to her stepmother, Tongjia, who had no daughters, to raise as soon as she was born. Gradually, Hesheli grew into a graceful young woman and was given the name Sanghua by her father and stepmother.
Hesheli didn't know what Sanghua meant, but at least he had a name now.
When she was sixteen, Consort Ping passed away in the palace, and the Hesheli family was permitted to send another woman into the palace as a concubine. Upon learning this news, Hesheli's father used some connections to send her to Lord Ebilun's residence.
At Lord Ebilun's residence, Hesheli and another daughter from a collateral branch of the Hesheli family were chosen.
When Hesheli first entered the palace, she was only a concubine.
Hesheli was not too dissatisfied with this, because she knew that if the Emperor hadn't specifically shown favor to the Hesheli family, and if she hadn't been young and beautiful, she might not have even had the chance to enter the palace.
During her first few years in the palace, Hesheli gave birth to a son and a daughter.
Thanks to the fact that Imperial Noble Consort Xu Muer was made Empress, Hesheli was granted the title of Noble Lady Xiang, finally receiving a formal title.
After gaining official recognition, Empress Hesheli was forgotten by Emperor Kangxi. Well, it should be said that at this time, most of the concubines in the palace were forgotten by Kangxi, who seemed to favor the Empress above all others.
Many years later, Emperor Kangxi abdicated and died at the Changchun Garden Palace.
Like other noble ladies such as Consort Mi, Consort Qin, and Consort He, Consort He was first honored as Imperial Concubine Xiang by Emperor Yonghe, and then, after Emperor Yonghe's death, she was honored as Imperial Concubine Xiang by Emperor Qian'an.
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