#fuca empress

[add1ctedt0you]

Story of Yanxi Palace - Episode 24

"Your Majesty, I don't have the right to interfere about how you'll deal with Prince He of the First Rank. But Wei Yingluo is my servant. She's my trusted aide. If she did something wrong, I surely will severely punish her. But if anyone bullies her, I will also not sit by and watch."

[halfstayed]

富察·容音 Fuca Rongyin from 延禧攻略 The Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)

TV APPRECIATION WEEK 2024 — free choice: favourite chinese period drama character

[empressesinthegutter]

Your honor she didn’t deserve what happened to her

I shall not rant today but soon

Xoxo

Empress 🤍

[tavina-writes]

9, 15, and 25 for Empress Fuca!

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

I think the BIGGEST moment I fell in love with her (and there were lots of moments) and the earliest was that moment when Fuheng throws her child's long life lock out into the garden and you see her just lose it. I made BIG eyes at that outpouring of grief and I've never been able to be sane about Empress Fuca since. 15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Ooo this is tricky. It's especially tricky for me bc I think Empress Fuca genuinely believes and practices that one line she says when she IS really breaking apart that like "I've never done anything bad to anyone" and I think overall this is true. She's always tried to do good things. She's always tried to be kind.

I think though the drama shows us early on that like, no one's hands are clean by living in the palace system, and that's the situation with Jixiang where like, when she was beaten to death and taken away the Palace Steward was like "Her Majesty the Empress only gave me three days to find the culprit. Why would I bother investigating further when we already have the culprit and the evidence?" Like, we all know that Jixiang is innocent. Empress Fuca likely never finds out that she cost Jixiang her life. But it's there. It's a reminder that even the people who are full of the best of intentions and generally remember their immense (and often contradictory) privilege can very realistically do harm to the people around them.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

This is a difficult one! I like to think that Empress Fuca would want to take 1) Yingluo 2) Yonglian's long life lock and 3) her flowers with her in that order. She strikes me as far more sentimental rather than practical.

:DDD thanks for the ask Vines!

[consortmadness]

International Historical Drama Deaths That Broke Me (11/?)

Empress Fuca Rongyin, Empress Xiaoxianchun

[palaceoftears]

Duwjjsdk Fuca Langhua the woman that you are!!!

[thescarlettempress]

Empress Xiaoxian retaking her rule of the harem, The Story of Yanxi Palace Episode 04

[julyzaa]

watching Yanxi Palace and crying at all the tragic foreshadowing with Fuca Rongyin

[youhideastar]

Why you should watch Story of Yanxi Palace

It seems ridiculous to do a promo post for literally the most-watched television show on the planet, but I follow a lot of accounts that post cdrama gifs, and I don't think I've ever seen a single Yanxi Palace gif, and that's a tragedy.

Story of Yanxi Palace is a 2018 period drama with 70 episodes, set in the harem of the real-life Qing Dynasty Qianlong Emperor and featuring some real-life events and characters from that period. Our heroine is Wei Yingluo, a teenager who enters the Forbidden City as a maid, seeking to solve and then avenge her sister's murder. It was a smash hit when it was released, although it was later censored. You can find it on Viki.

If you liked Nirvana in Fire, you will probably like Yanxi Palace: Wei Yingluo is very similar to Mei Changsu in all the best ways, in that she is devious, ruthless, occasionally very funny, driven by revenge, and possessed of a fundamental core of decency despite her scheming ways. She is also a fifteen-year-old girl. (At the beginning of the show, that is - the drama spans more than a decade.)

Wei Yingluo's relationship with the primary love interest, Fuca Fuheng, is also just *chef's kiss.* She suspects him of her sister's murder, tries to secretly off him a couple times, and he then confronts her about it and hands her a knife, saying, "If you really think I killed your sister, you can kill me now. I won't stop you." We've all seen this scene a dozen times in assorted movies and shows; she loves him so she can't bring herself to do it; she'll drop the knife, they'll embrace--

Reader, Wei Yingluo takes that knife and STABS HIM IN THE CHEST. She stabs him in the chest!!! How can you tell she likes him? Because he survives the experience. Barely.

After that, you think this is a Mei Changsu/Mu Nihuang pairing where there's a relatively normal person who loves their devious little meow meow--and then Fuheng turns around and gaslights Yingluo with zero remorse and you realize that this pairing is actually 100% deranged 4 deranged. The shit these two do to each other and for each other is completely unhinged. At one point, she kills his wife and the two of them never talk about it. Not before, not after, not ever. Legendary. He calls her his zhiji. They will convince you that the height of romance is marrying other people but knowing one another so deeply that you can coordinate intricate political schemes without ever communicating with each other because you can predict one another's moves with perfect accuracy.

Also, the costumes, sets, and props are ridiculously beautiful (and historically accurate!), the characters are like 20 incredibly intelligent and complex women and then like 4 hot dudes, and the score is incredible.

Is there queer rep, you ask? Nothing explicit. But there are a lot of female characters who have very intense, passionate relationships with other female characters. Also, there's a subplot where the Emperor suspects the Empress is having an affair with one of his consorts and you can see his point; finally, there's a character who is intentionally set up to have a very ambiguous sexual orientation: I think you could plausibly argue that he's ace, that he's bi, that he's gay, or that he's straight. I'm not sure even he knows.

There's a lot more to love about it, but when a show's been streamed more than 15 billion times (yes, with a b), I feel like I don't have too much to add. 😂 Give it a try!

[add1ctedt0you]

Empress Xiaoxianchun - Empress Nara - Empress Xiaoyichun

[chinesedramaoutfit]

Aesthetics of emerald green outfit of Empress Fuca Rongyin

[guzhuangheaven]

There's something that's always confused me in legend of Ruyi, and I don't suppose you would know or be able to explain;

In Ruyi, Jin Yuyan tries several times to get Yongcheng adopted by Fuca Langhua, in order to give him legitimacy in becoming the crown prince, this ends up being her downfall because others clearly see it for what it is, Meiruo even says, that it would make him legitimate.

But one of the major character arc points for Yongqi is that he feels neglected because he's not legitimate and therefore not eligible to be crown prince despite being the most talented, which ends up leading to his death as well. Qianlong says openly to Ruyi that it's a shame he's not legitimate because he's the best choice for crown prince.

But Yongqi is officially adopted by Ruyi both before and after she becomes Empress, so why would Yongcheng being adopted by Empress Langhua, even postmortem, make him legitimate but Yongqi being adopted by Empress Ruyi not also be legitimate?

From my understanding, the two things are different:

Yongqi was raised by Ruyi but in the genealogical records, his mother is still listed as Hailan. As such, he’s still considered shuchu. If Yongqi didn’t die and did become emperor, he would of course be required to honour Ruyi as his foster mother and his official mother/dimu, but he would also be expected to honour Hailan as his biological mother. 

What Yuyan actually wants when she wants Yongcheng to be adopted by Langhua is for the genealogical records to be changed, so that Yongcheng is listed as if he’s Langhua’s biological son, that’s how he becomes dichu/legitimate. This basically means Yuyan would no longer have any official place in Yongcheng’s life (and Yuyan can accept this because she still has Yongxuan and Yongxing). For all intents and purposes, it would be as if Yuyan was never his mother in the first place, and if Yongcheng wants to pay respects to her/honour her in any way, it would look only as if it’s because Yuyan helped raised him, not because she’s his birth mother. 

(In Story of Minglan, it mentioned at one point that Minglan is also listed in the family records as Da Niangzi's daughter, so she could be counted as a di daughter of the Sheng family. Probably they did this to raise her status a little when she married into the family of a Marquis.)

This is different from what actually happens to Yongcheng, where he becomes adopted into the line of Prince Lu (in the drama it’s Prince Li?) who was Qianlong’s uncle. Younger sons being adopted into the lines of their uncles/male line relatives to inherit when their uncles/relative have no male heir is a more common practice, so Yongcheng would still be recorded as Qianlong’s biological son who was adopted by Prince Lu to continue Prince Lu’s family line. It’s a way for family members to express goodwill and take care of each other, and in more normal families would mean that younger sons would have a chance at a larger inheritance. But these kinds of dramas it’s framed more sinisterly as a way to disinherit Yongcheng from the throne.

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Disappearance of Emma Fillipoff

Emma Fillipoff arrived in Victoria in the fall of 2011 from Perth, Ontario. She had brief employment at the Red Fish Blue Fish seafood restaurant in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Since the work was seasonal, Fillipoff left the job on October 31, 2012. She assured co-workers she would be back in the spring. In what police believe was preparation to move back to Ontario, Fillipoff hired a tow-truck on November 21. Unbeknownst to her family, Fillipoff had stayed at the Sandy Merriman House women's shelter on and off since February. On November 23, Fillipoff was captured on security footage at the Victoria YMCA, entering, then leaving, then entering multiple times as if possibly avoiding someone on the outside. In the days preceding her disappearance, Fillipoff had phoned her mother in Ontario, asking if she could come home. Each time her tone would quickly change and Fillipoff would then ask her mother not to come. On the final call, her mother became aware that Fillipoff had been staying at the Sandy Merriman House, and even though Fillipoff had asked her not to come, she made plans to fly out immediately. Fillipoff's last words to her mother were, "I don't know how I can face you." Her mother arrived at Sandy Merriman House at about 11:00 pm on the 28th, three hours after Fillipoff had been last seen by police at the Empress Hotel. Early on the day of November 28, Fillipoff had been captured on a 7-Eleven store video on Government Street purchasing a pre-paid cell phone. The video showed her hesitating in departing the store, seemingly checking the street outside. She returned to the 7-Eleven to buy a pre-paid credit card for $200. Reportedly, she left the Sandy Merriman House at about 6:00 p.m. that day. Soon after, she hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the Victoria International Airport; however, she soon exited the taxi for lack of adequate fare, even though she had the $200 prepaid card. Minutes later, Fillipoff was seen walking barefoot in front of the Empress Hotel. An acquaintance of hers, Dennis Quay, called 9-1-1 to say a woman was in severe distress outside the hotel. Victoria police arrived, took Fillipoff's name, and spent 45 minutes speaking with her. Deciding that she was not a threat to herself or anyone else, they released her. Until a report surfaced in June 2018, no one reported seeing her since 8:00 pm that night. Later that evening, police met Fillipoff's mother at Sandy Merriman House; by midnight Fillipoff was classified as a missing person. Initially, the police stated that Fillipoff had last been seen "with friends several blocks away on Burdett Avenue between Blanshard and Quadra streets." Investigators explored more than 200 leads, turning up minimal information. Most evidence indicates she was planning to return home to Ottawa, but there was no proof that she ever left Victoria. The cell phone she bought had never been activated. Fillipoff's credit card was allegedly found on the side of the road near the Juan de Fuca Community Centre, north of where she disappeared. It was found by a stranger, whose use of the card to purchase cigarettes was tracked by police.

[duhdumb89]

A Forbidden Happiness | Chapter 48

The food spread over Shen huang gui fei's dining table was rank. There were plates of fatty, slimy meat, a bowl of strange fried noodles, greasy barbecue, and stinky mutton and camel dishes. The servants had to open every window and door so the sour smells didn't linger in her palace.

"Huabao," Shen huang gui fei said, cringing as her daughter slurped down a cup of sour yak milk, "Wouldn't you like something else to eat? His Majesty and I had lunch yesterday, and the food was so lovely. Should I send for some?"

Shaking her head, Huabao said, "Maybe later. This is all I've wanted since I returned! Ah! Thankfully, Royal Grandmother let me borrow her chef. A-niang, you don't want to try?"

Huabao placed a piece of slimy mystery meat on Shen huang gui fei's plate, a bright smile on her face.

Shen huang gui fei turned away from the sight with a strained laugh, "What about birds nest's soup? Jingse will make a fresh batch for you,"

Huabao wrinkled her nose before turning to the handmaid she'd dragged back to the palace, Tuya. Tuya was short, squat, and dark. In any other circumstance, Shen huang gui fei would have never let her set foot in Zhongcuigong.

"Are there any more of the sweet milk curds?"

"No, First Princess," replied Tuya.

"I'll just have Royal Grandmother's chef make more," said Huabao, returning to her meal.

Who was this girl sitting across from her? This wild thing? This stranger who nodded her head quietly as The Empress Dowager promised her a crop of maids to bring with her into her new household?

As the days passed, the distance between Shen huang gui fei and her child grew. Gone was the daughter who clutched her skirts and hung on her every word. Now, there was a woman who often stank of the stables and didn't care to even look at the portrait of her future husband. Huabao barely cared a lick about her marriage at all. Whenever Shen huang gui fei tried to guide Huabao about running her new household, the girl found an excuse to run away. Not to mention that her attitude during any of the pre-marriage ceremonies bordered on apathy. Huabao turned her nose up at the embroidery and calligraphy they had so much fun with, instead opting to run off, race horses, and shoot arrows with her brothers.

With each wall Huabao was determined to put up between them, Shen huang gui fei grew angrier. Her daughter would have never ended up like this if it wasn't for The Empress. Her daughter would still be her little girl and His Majesty's precious pearl if The Empress hadn't sunk her claws into her. Shen huang gui fei was sure that the bitch had something up her sleeve for Huabao's wedding. Why wouldn't she? Her maternal cousins were married to His Majesty's favored brother, she had two sons, and soon, she would have a direct connection to the Fuca clan.

If The Empress struck now, everything Shen huang gui fei had worked so hard for would go up in flames. Shen huang gui fei wasn't going to wait around and let that happen.

✺

Shen huang gui fei had never paid much attention to to Bai gonggong. He had been Fung gonggong's deputy eunuch for as long as she had been in the Forbidden City. Fung gonggong had always been the bigger fish, but he was, unfortunately, unswayable. As old as he was, he had no family to support or possibly hold hostage. He was an eunuch in all senses of the word, so a beautiful woman was as good as dirt to him, and he worshipped no one but the man under whom he rose to power: The Late Emperor. His Majesty was a close second, but the eunuch did everything in his old master's name. No concubine could push him to one side or the other, as he would defer to The Empress or The Empress Dowager as the rules permitted. Trying to bother with him was a waste of time and energy.

Bai gonggong, however, from what Jingse could gather, was nothing of the sort. He was easy to ignore and, for the right price, could get a servant where they needed to go. None of the concubines paid him notice, but he managed to collect a tidy sum from the other eunuchs and maids to switch departments or to keep secrets secret. It was rumored that the only reason he became Fung gonggong's deputy was because he was the cause of the front runner's violent end with a wild horse.

"Your Highness," he said, gesturing to the painted porcelain pots that his eunuchs held behind him, "I scoured the Storage House to find the finest gift for First Princess's wedding,"

The pots were fine. Certainly, nothing that Shen huang gui fei found to be up to her standards, but that wasn't the real reason she called him here anyway. If her intuition was correct then Bai gonggong wouldn't be opposed to helping Shen huang gui fei with her little problem.

"That one there," she said, pointing to a yellow and blue gourd-shaped pot, "Bring it closer,"

Before the eunuch holding her choice could even lift his head, Bai gonggong snatched it away and brought it to Shen huang gui fei.

Obedient. Good.

"Did you pick this one yourself, gonggong?" She asked, pretending to inspect the craftsmanship.

"Of course, Your Highness,"

A liar as well. Very good.

"You have a very good eye, gonggong,"

"This slave doesn't deserve your praise, Your Highness,"

"I'll take this one," Shen huang gui fei said, handing the pot to A'Fang, before nodding at Jingse, "Give Bai gonggong his reward,"

Bai gonggong's eyes glittered at the sight of the silver tael in Jingse's hand.

"Your Highness is too kind," he said, not hesitating to take the money. He bowed low, "We'll take our leave,"

"Stay a moment, gonggong. There's a task I'd like you to help me with," said Shen huang gui fei.

"I'm only a lowly deputy, Your Highness," Bai gonggong replied, "Perhaps Fung gonggong would be better suited to serve you?"

As deferential as the words were, there was no mistaking the way his grip tightened on the reward in his hands.

"No, you'll do just fine,"

Bai gonggong eagerly shooed the other eunuchs away.

"How may I serve you, Your Highness?"

✺

As the candles burned high and bright, a trickle of sweat slid down An pin's temple and nestled itself in the fabric of her collar. It was the height of summer now and she usually wouldn't subject herself to being steamed like a piece of fish, but she hunkered down in Dafuge for a reason. Cao taiyi had finally become worth An pin's while.

"Your Highness," Weiwei hissed as she hurried back from the courtyard facing windows, "Limei is here,"

Immediately, An pin began to poke at her thighs with a sharp pin to help the tears fall from her eyes. By the time Limei walked through the doors, An pin would have worked herself up into a respectable crying fit.

From what Weiwei could gather, Limei had been Guang pin's dowry maid and her closest confidant. Since Guang pin's death, the girl haunted the Forbidden City like a pale ghost, skulking from her new post at the Ice House to the Dafuge to pray for Guang pin's soul and back again.

The door creaked open.

"Meimei," An pin blubbered, "Meimei, I'm so sorry,"

"Your Highness?"

An pin pretended to be startled and whirled around.

"Your Highness An pin!" Limei said, dropping to her knees to bow.

An pin sniffled and rubbed the tears from her cheeks, "Rise,"

Limei glanced at Guang pin's memorial tablet, "Are you here to speak with my mistress?"

An pin nodded before gazing at the shrine, "Do you come here very often, Limei?"

Limei's eyes opened wide, as if she couldn't believe that An pin knew her name at all before nodding her head, "Yes, Your Highness. We never went a day without seeing each other...before, so it's become a habit,"

An pin sighed, "I came here because my heart is heavy. I was hoping meimei could ease my sorrows,"

"I didn't know that you and Guang pin were close, Your Highness," replied Limei.

Shaking her head, An pin pressed a hand to her heart, "We weren't. But I wish I could back and change things,"

Her voice dropped to a low whisper, "Maybe then I could have protected her,"

Limei reared back as if she had been struck, her pale face somehow going even whiter.

"What?" She croaked out?

An pin shook her head and scrambled to her feet, making a point to stumble even as Weiwei buoyed her.

"Nothing," An pin whispered, "I won't keep you from your conversation,"

An pin began ambling to the door.

"Your Highness, wait!" Limei said, running in front of her, "What did you say just then? What did you mean?"

Limei clawed at An pin's sleeve desperately. An pin snatched her arm away.

Weiwei pushed Limei to the side, "How dare you put your hands on An pin?! Get out of the way!"

An pin squeezed out more tears and brought her handkerchief to her mouth to muffle her sobs. It was a good performance but unfortunately, Limei looked defeated. She stood there quietly, not bothering to come after An pin again. What a waste!

However, just as An pin thought the whole endeavor wasn't worth her while, Limei sprung back to life. She planted herself in front of the door and kneeled.

"Your Highness, I beg you! I beg you! Please tell me! Please tell me so I can honor my mistress!"

Each cry was punctuated with a dull 'clunk' as Limei bashed her head into the ground.

Ah! Finally!

"Weiwei, help her up," said An pin.

Weiwei did as she was told.

Limei lifted her head as a thin stream of blood dribbled down her face. An pin pressed her handkerchief to it.

"You shouldn't hurt yourself like this, Limei,"

Limei shook her head, "This body is nothing. I'm only here to honor Guang pin's name,"

An pin released a theatric sigh, "If I tell you what I meant, do you promise to act sensibly?"

The girl nodded frantically, obviously lying.

Putting on a nervous tick and fiddling with her nail guards, An pin began, "When Wang Rong was alive, she was my dearest friend after we entered the palace together. We grew close for a time, but as His Majesty acquired more and more women and her favor wasn't so everlasting, she grew bitter and angry. Especially at your mistress,"

An pin paused for dramatic effect.

"One night, I thought to drop in and have dinner with Wang Rong. I didn't bother to announce myself because it was so late. She was talking to her maids and I heard her say... I...I didn't do anything about it because I couldn't imagine she would do something so drastic. And I couldn't imagine that Shen huang gui fei would help her,"

Limei's lips wobbled but no sound emerged.

"I didn't think of it again. After meimei's death, so many things happened. But a few months ago, she came to me in a dream and begged me to find the truth. She wanted me to know that it wasn't just the childbed that...that the labor didn't take her,"

"I began asking around," An pin continued, "I even sent a physician around to ask Guang pin's servants about her food and drink,"

"That was you? You sent that doctor?" Limei said before biting her lip, "What...what did he find?"

An pin blinked away a new set of tears, "Do you remember when a gift from Wang Rong came for your mistress? Herbs to keep her beauty?"

Limei, thankfully, caught on quickly to what An pin was implying.

"But, we sent it to the Imperial Hospital," Limei said, her voice shaking, "They said it was safe,"

"Do you know if they tested the entire jar or just the top?" An pin said, pulling a lie out of thin air.

Limei shook her head and pursed her lips, "I-I don't know,"

"That night, Wang Rong told her maids that she knew you sent the medicine for inspection and was glad she listened to Shen huang gui fei about filling the top of herbs with something harmless,"

"It was poison? She poisoned Guang pin?" 

"In a way. Guang pin was taking bu gu zhi. If you and I were to take it, even for years at a time, it wouldn't harm us. But for a pregnant woman, it's fatal,"

Limei crumpled to the ground and stared at An pin, in a dazed silence.

For an uncomfortable stretch of time, the girl sat there, slumped at An pin's feet without a single blink. An pin fought the scowl that was desperate to be on her face. This wasn't the response she expected. She was hoping for righteous anger or woeful tears! Not this corpse.

Instead of slapping her, An pin said softly, "Limei? Are you alright?"

"Why,"

An pin paused.

"Why?"

Limei spoke again, "Why would Shen huang gui fei do this?"

An pin knelt on the ground before grabbing Limei's hand, "The back palace is a glittering slate of beauty that masks the evil of the mind. I thought we were close but after finding out the truth. I don't know what to think,"

"Do you think she did it so she could finally have a prince?" Weiwei asked, skillfully inserting herself into the conversation.

"I," An pin said, her lips quivering, "I can't believe that. Shen huang gui fei couldn't have know that meimei would even give birth to sons,"

"Your Highness, didn't you think it was strange that out of the blue, everyone was banned from visiting Guang pin, except for Shen huang gui fei? Could it be that she wanted Guang pin to think that no one but her cared for her?"

An pin shook her head, "I don't know what to think, Weiwei. I don't want to keep thinking of these things in such a holy place,"

She swayed to the side to make a point.

"Your Highness, you've gone pale. I'll take you back to Chuxiugong,"

An pin nodded, but before she let Weiwei lead her away, she kneeled to grab Limei's hands again.

"Don't lose your head over this Limei. Wang Rong and Shen huang gui fei may have wronged your mistress, but she was only the bottom rung in the ladder of this cruel place. If you truly want to honor Guang pin, you'll live a good, long life with her memory in your heart,"

Limei sagged to the ground as if her shoulders weighed a thousand pounds.

"I will, Your Highness. Thank you for your grace,"

"Your Highness," Weiwei said as they began their trek back to Chuxiugong, "Do you think she'll be able to do anything without your help? What if this was a waste?"

An pin shrugged, "I have faith in her. Though, if it amounts to nothing, I still have plenty of things in store for Shen huang gui fei,"

✺

Jiayi was broke. Absolutely emptied out. She would probably have to sell one of the gifts Xiang pin gave her to be able to send something back to Wei Jiayi's family. As perilous as the situation was, Jiayi didn't feel anything but the outrageous amount of butterflies in her stomach. Before Xiang pin had laid down for her afternoon nap, Jiayi asked permission to drop by the clothing house and pick up some fabric for a dress. It was only half a lie. She did pick out some fabric–a few bundles of rich black silk–but it wasn't for a dress.

It was for Prince Han's gift.

Jiayi had thought long and hard about what she could possibly give to someone like him and the idea finally came to her as she watched Xiang pin 'ooh' and 'ahh' over a brocade pajama set that The Emperor had sent her before declaring that she would sew a set for him as a gift in return. The thought nailed itself to the flesh of Jiayi's brain.

She and Prince Han were together. Those were the sort of gifts people gave to one another, right? Before she could lose her courage, Jiayi had spent the money and bought the fabric. The sight of it folded innocently in the basket on her arm made her heart race. She wouldn't just give Prince Han the pajamas, obviously. That would be too much! She would paint him something with her Hubi. Maybe when she asked Sang'er to give her Prince Han's measurements, she'd ask if Prince Han had any favorite poems or sutras so she could paint something to hang on his wall. Jiayi was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed the sight of Shen huang gui fei's and First Princess's raised chairs. She moved herself to the side and kneeled as the entourage passed by.

Since First Princess's return, Shen huang gui fei's time revolved entirely around the wedding. While things had been quiet, they all knew better than to count Shen huang gui fei out. They were as vigilant as they could be. Jiayi rose to her feet as the servants passed her by. She paused as a familiar yet unfamiliar face brought up the rear of Shen huang gui fei's line of maids. She had seen the maid's face before, somewhere, but never as a servant of Zhongcuigong. Before she could bring a face to the name, a eunuch stopped in front of her.

"Wei guniang?"

Jiayi clutched her basket tightly. She had never seen this eunuch before, "Yes?"

"Fung gonggong has asked for you,"

Jiayi's throat dried up in an instant. She croaked out a laugh, "I'm sorry gonggong, but I have to return to my mistress–,"

"Her Highness Xiang pin has already been informed," he replied, "This way. Quickly," 

[theempressesofchinablog]

Empress Xiaoxianchun of the Qing Dynasty (1738-1748)

Unfortunately, Empress Xiaoxianchun’s personal name was never recorded and therefore lost to time; however, we do know she had an elegant and dignified personality. 

She was born on 28 March 1712 to the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Fuca clan. Her father was a third rank military official and held the title of a first rank duke. She had nine brothers and one sister.

Lady Fuca married the future Qianlong Emperor on 3 September 1727 when she was only 15 years old. Their marriage was happy and full of love. It is said they would spend time together by painting, reciting poems, and playing instruments. Emperor Qianlong would often go to her for advice. 

She would be instated as Empress Consort in January of 1738 after her husband ascended the throne. The Empress led a rather frugal life for her station. While many women of the Imperial Harem would adorn themselves with elaborate hairpins and jewels the Empress would wear artificial flowers in her hair. When her husband informed her of how his Manchurian ancestors were too poor to afford cloth and would instead use deer hide to sew their pouches, she made him one of deer hide as well. It is said he deeply cherished the gift and always carried it with him. 

Empress Xiaoxianchun bore four children over the course of her marriage, two daughters and two sons. Unfortunately, three of the four would precede her in death. Her only surviving child, Princess Hejing of the First Rank, would marry into the Mongol Khorchin Borjigin clan sometime in early 1747. 

The deaths of three of her children gradually led to the weakening of her health. Just a few short months after the death of her infant son, Yongcong, Empress Xiaoxianchun would tragically pass away from malarial fever while on a boat tour of the eastern province of Shandong. She was only 36 years old. 

Her death devastated the Qianlong Emperor. He had all of belongings enshrined for 40 years and visited her grave every year. He had two of his sons removed from being potential successors when he found out they had not mourned appropriately and severely punished court officials who shaved their heads during the mourning period. He visited her grave every year until his own death in 1799 and wrote poems to commemorate her. 

Titles:

Lady Fuca (from March 1712)

Primary Consort (from Sept 1727)

Empress (from Jan 1738)

Empress Xiaoxian (posthumous from June 1748)

Empress Xiaoxianchun (posthumous from 1799)

This post may look familiar as I have previously written about Empress Xiaoxianchun on my other profile when I posted one of her husband's poems that was dedicated to her.