In the history of the Qing Dynasty, Su Malagu was an extraordinary woman. She was not only the personal maid of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, but also the enlightenment teacher of the Kangxi Emperor, proficient in Manchu and talented, participated in the design of the crown dress of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, and taught Kangxi Manchu. In her later years, she devoted herself to raising the emperor's twelfth son, Yinyi, and won the love of the Qing royal family, and lived to the age of 93.
Su Malagu was born into an ordinary herder family in Horqin. She was smart and beautiful from an early age, and was chosen by the Mongolian Belle to be the maid of his daughter Bumu Butai. Bumu Butai was the later Empress Dowager of Xiaozhuang. Su Malagu and the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang are of similar age, and the two are like sisters and learn Manchu and Mongolian culture together. The Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang married Huang Taiji, and Su Malagu entered the Qing Palace as a dowry girl.
In the palace, Su Malagu became the closest partner of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, and the two developed a deep bond in a complex environment. After the birth of Emperor Shunzhi's princes, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang asked Su Malagu to assist in raising these grandchildren.
In the twelfth year of Shunzhi, smallpox broke out in the Forbidden City, and the young Kangxi Emperor was also infected. At this life-and-death juncture, Aunt Su Mala took the initiative to take care of Kangxi. When Kangxi grew up, she respected Aunt Su Mala very much and often visited her, and she was as loving to Kangxi as her own mother.
On January 27, 1688, the 75-year-old Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang died of illness, and both Kangxi and Su Malagu were very sad. After Xiaozhuang's death, Su Malagu, who was in her 70s, suffered a heavy mental blow and her health deteriorated. Emperor Kangxi was worried that she would fall because of this, and in order to find a spiritual pillar for her, he handed over the 12th prince Yinyi, who was only 3 years old, to her to raise.
At that time, the Qing court stipulated that concubines below the concubine were not qualified to raise the prince, but Kangxi broke this rule for Aunt Su Mala and asked her to raise Yinyi. With Yinyi's company, Aunt Su Mala lived for another 17 years and lived to the age of 93.
Under the careful cultivation of Su Malagu, Yinyu showed excellent brains and talents when he grew up, stayed away from the "nine sons seizing the heir" turmoil in Kangxi's later years, and was named Prince Heshuo and Minister of Parliament, and finally died at the age of 79.
The three generations of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong all expressed full recognition of Yinyi's knowledge and ability, all of which are related to Su Malagu's careful cultivation and teachings.
In 1705, at the age of 93, Su Malagu died. When Emperor Kangxi learned the news, he was overwhelmed with grief and ordered a funeral for Su Malagu with the specification of "first-class concubine".