Emperor Qianlong, a multi-child emperor of the Qing Dynasty, had a total of twenty-seven children, of whom seventeen were sons and ten were daughters. Although fathers usually love their youngest children more, Qianlong was no exception, and his favorite daughters were the tenth princess Gu Lun and Princess Xiao.
Princess Hexiao was favored by her father, and even after Qianlong's death, her brother Jiaqing and nephew Daoguang also took good care of her, which was lucky as a royal princess.
However, her marriage to Princess Hyo was full of misfortunes. Since she was a child, she was assigned by her father to Feng Shen Yinde, the son of the Qing Dynasty's big ** and Shen. However, when her brother Jiaqing succeeded to the throne, the first thing he did was to execute He Shen, which also doomed Princess Hexiao to an unhappy marriage in the second half of her life.
In the fortieth year of Qianlong (1775), a much-loved little princess was born, she was Princess Gulun and Xiao. The birth of this little girl made the 65-year-old Qianlong Emperor feel the taste of fatherly love.
Princess Hexiao's biological mother, Concubine Wang, was born in the Zhengbaiqi Internal Affairs Office, although the family background is ordinary, but with her beauty and humble character, she won Qianlong's favor step by step, and was promoted from Chang Zai to a concubine.
Before Princess Hexiao was born, Qianlong was already full of expectations and attention to her mother, and when Princess Hexiao was born, Qianlong was even more fond of her.
Although she is Qianlong's old daughter, Qianlong did not snub her because of this, but became more and more fond of her.
Emperor Qianlong has been favored since the birth of Princess Hexiao, so that her biological mother Concubine was promoted from concubine to concubine. Because of this, Qianlong's favor for Concubine Xuan made her gradually become arrogant and arrogant, and even killed a palace maid with her own hands.
Although court ladies were servants in the Qing court, most of them came from noble families of the Eight Banners, and they may even have been selected as concubines of the emperor. And Concubine Xuan herself was originally just a Chang Zai who was born in Eight Banners, and was promoted to concubine because of Princess Hexiao's favor.
In the Qing Dynasty, court ladies served in the court for a certain number of years, and they would be sent out of the palace to marry at the age of about 25, and the royal family would also give a rich dowry. Therefore, the palace ladies are not objects that can be abused at will, otherwise it will cause dissatisfaction among all classes of the Eight Banners.
Therefore, when Concubine Tang abused the palace maid, Qianlong was very angry, he has always shown the image of a benevolent monarch, and his beloved concubine abused the palace maid, which undoubtedly damaged his image of a benevolent monarch.
Therefore, Qianlong angrily demoted Concubine Xuan to Concubine and deprived her of the right to raise and filial piety princesses. At the same time, he also demanded that the family of the concubine compensate the parents of the victim palace maid, and issued a holy edict to the world, using the concubine as an example to warn the princes and nobles not to abuse their subordinates at will.
Qianlong's trick was very effective, and achieved the goal of buying people's hearts, and at that time, people all over the world, especially scholars, praised Qianlong for his benevolence and sageness, and his understanding of compassion and cherishing his subordinates.
If it weren't for the help of her 4-year-old daughter and Princess Xiao, Concubine Xuan would have lost her position in the palace long ago. At the beginning, Concubine Hexiao was severely punished by Qianlong for her mistakes, and Princess Hexiao, who was a daughter, cried all day long, which touched Qianlong, who loved her daughter, and he looked at Princess Hexiao's face, and let Concubine Hexiao continue to raise her, and restored her concubine status.
Every day, Qianlong had to go to Concubine Xuan's bedroom to take a look at his daughter, and slowly he forgave Concubine Xuan. In the Kangxi period, only the concubines who gave birth to the prince could be promoted to concubines, and if it weren't for Princess Hexiao who was particularly loved by Qianlong, she might not have survived to become a concubine.
As Princess Hexiao grew up, she became increasingly close to her father, Qianlong, because of the striking resemblance to her father's personality. Princess Hexiao inherited the sassy temperament of Manchu women, and since she was a child, she didn't like to wear red clothes, preferring to wear **, riding horses and archery, going out hunting, showing the heroic posture of a heroine among women.
Qianlong admired Princess Hexiao's masculinity very much, and once said to her: "If I were a man, I would definitely make you the prince." This is enough to see Qianlong's love for Princess Hexiao.
Not only that, Princess Hexiao's character is also deeply loved by Qianlong's harem concubines, especially Qianlong's favorite Concubine Rong, who is also a fan of Princess Hexiao.
Qianlong's favored Concubine Xiang had no children, and she left all her property to Princess Hexiao. Princess Hexiao was loved by Qianlong, Concubine Xiang and other elders at a young age, and she can be said to be a lucky little princess.
However, Qianlong's arrangement of her marriage to Fengshen Yinde brought her misfortune.
Although the marriage between Princess Hexiao and Fengshen Yinde was good, it was overshadowed by the fall of Heshen. Their marriage contract was appointed by Qianlong himself when Princess Hexiao was seven years old.
At that time, He Shen was Qianlong's very favored and respected minister, Qianlong wanted to marry his favorite daughter to He Shen's son, so he and He Shen became in-laws, and named He Shen's son Fengshen Yinde.
This name means wealth and nobility in Manchu, which is also Qianlong's hope that Fengshen Yinde can be rich forever, because only when he is rich, Qianlong's favorite daughter and princess Xiao can enjoy a rich life with him.
The wedding with Princess Xiao was very grand, and according to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, only the daughter born to the queen could be named the solid ** master. However, in order to express his special love for Princess Hexiao, Qianlong made an exception and named her Princess Gulun and Xiao.
In addition, Princess Hexiao's Yulu is also higher than that of the general Gu ** who stays in the capital. The core idea remains the same: Princess Hexiao and Fengshen Yinde's marriage has been overshadowed by the fall of Heshen, but their relationship has always been good.
During the Qing Dynasty, the silver treatment of the solid ** lord was different depending on whether he married Mongolia. Emperor Qianlong specially gave Princess Hexiao the treatment of marrying away from Mongolia, so that she could receive 1,000 taels of silver every year, and rewarded her with the special treatment of marrying in a gold-topped soft sedan chair.
The civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty all bowed to the princess on the day of the marriage of Princess Hexiao, and even the general and the old Ah Gui were no exception, which showed Qianlong's love for Princess Hexiao.
However, the marriage with Princess Xiao made Emperor Jiaqing very unhappy. Emperor Jiaqing has loved this little sister since he was a child, but he hates the big ** and Shen, and he has always been determined to get rid of He Shen when he becomes the emperor in the future.
But Princess Hexiao married the son of Heshen, which made Jiaqing very uncomfortable, so on the day of Princess Hexiao's marriage, Jiaqing was so angry that he couldn't even eat, and he deliberately locked himself in the house and cried.
Princess Hexiao and Fengshen Yinde have a harmonious relationship, and Fengshen Yinde was promoted quickly in the officialdom due to the relationship with Princess Xiao and Heshen. However, at a young age, he began to indulge in the fun life of the children of Eight Banners and neglected to study.
Princess Hexiao's virtuousness was fully revealed at this time, she was not spoiled, nor was she arrogant like her mother. On the contrary, she was rational and decisive, and after seeing her husband's lack of progress, she began to persuade him.
Princess Hexiao insisted on stopping Feng Shen Yinde's vices and encouraged him to learn from the erudition of his father He Shen. She warned him that he could not rely on his father-in-law and Heshen, and that he must rely on his true talents and learning to achieve his career.
Under the persuasion of Princess Hexiao, Fengshen Yinde changed his bad habits and devoted himself to learning, and finally became an old-fashioned and serious person, and Qianlong's love for him also deepened.
Your father has been very kind to the emperor, but he has not reciprocated it, and I am worried for you. If one day the matter is revealed, I am afraid that you and I will not be able to escape the disaster. ”
The meaning of this sentence is that He Shen has betrayed Qianlong's trust, and I am afraid that even she will be implicated in the future. Sure enough, the unfortunate marriage with Princess Xiao was due to what He Shen did, and after Qianlong's death, Jiaqing was in power, and the first thing he did was to clean up He Shen.
After He Shen **, Princess Hexiao hurriedly entered the palace and begged her brother Jiaqing, she and Feng Shen Yinde were willing to hand over all the family property, and only begged for mercy and Shen's life.
Jiaqing rejected the request of his sister and Princess Hexiao, and decided to let Heshen commit suicide and confiscate his family property, and give the mansion to his younger brother Yongxuan, but because Princess Hexiao and Fengshen Yinde continued to live inside, the mansion was divided into two.
Although Feng Shen Yinde was spared, Jiaqing was very dissatisfied with him, demoted him to the title and sent him to Mongolia to serve as the general of Uriya Sutai. Feng Shen Yinde became decadent due to his father's death and his own career, and his relationship with Princess Hexiao became increasingly cold.
During his tenure in Uriya Sutai, without the discipline of Princess Hexiao, the relationship between the husband and wife became more and more estranged, and he ignored Princess Hexiao's letters. His personality became decadent, he began to drink heavily, became promiscuous, and his physical condition deteriorated, until he finally fell ill in Uriya Sutai due to his discomfort.
After Princess Hexiao learned the news that Fengshen Yinde was seriously ill, she immediately asked Jiaqing to let him return to Beijing to recuperate, and finally with Jiaqing's consent, Fengshen Yinde returned to the capital.
However, Fengshen Yinde died shortly after returning to Beijing, leaving the 35-year-old Princess Hexiao a widow. According to the rules of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the princess must be clean for life after being widowed and cannot remarry.
Therefore, the marriage with Princess Xiao suffered great misfortune. He Shen's death made the relationship between husband and wife, which was originally okay with Princess Xiao, gradually become weaker. And Jiaqing's dislike of Fengshen Yinde even sent him to a remote area, which led to his untimely death, which made his marriage with Princess Xiao even worse.
These unfortunate events made Jiaqing full of guilt for his sister, and he often rewarded Princess Hexiao with treasures and treasures, but these material compensation could not soothe the spiritual blow she suffered.
However, it was only after Princess Hexiao succeeded Feng Shen Yinde's cousin Feng Shen Yimian's son Fu En as her adopted son, which gave her spiritual sustenance.
Before his death, Emperor Jiaqing left a will to Emperor Daoguang, telling him to treat Princess Hexiao well. After Daoguang succeeded to the throne, he has always adhered to his father's will and cared very much for his aunt and princess Xiao.
In the third year of Daoguang (1823), Princess Hexiao died at the age of 49. Daoguang personally visited the princess's mansion to pay tribute, which was a very great honor for the emperor in the history of the Qing Dynasty to pay tribute to the princess.
Princess Hexiao's life is both lucky and miserable, the first half of her life was favored by her elders, but the second half of her life experienced the misfortune of marriage and the death of children. Although her brother Jiaqing and nephew Daoguang were still very good to her and gave her rich material treatment, they still could not change her grief for the loss of her husband and child.
Princess Hexiao's life of honor and luck came from her father Qianlong, and the person who caused her unhappy marriage and unhappy life in the second half of her life was also her father Qianlong.