Secrets of Yuqing Palace

Zhangjia Akundun was a minister he had high hopes for, and he was also prepared to use him in an important position. He planned to appoint Akundun as the acting governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi, and concurrently the general of Guangzhou.

He himself was a talented person. It was said that his son Zhangjia Agui was extremely intelligent since childhood. He could understand historical events by listening to people talking about them and "remember the general idea".

Both father and son are talented people, rare talents for him as an emperor.

Honggui and Hongli grew up together and had a very good relationship as brothers.

Honggui married a good wife, who would be a help to Hongli in the future.

Therefore, for long-term considerations, he let Honggui marry a woman from the Zhangjia clan, so that he could promote the father and son with confidence.

Now that Akundun is working for him, when Zhangjia Agui becomes prominent in the court in the future, he will surely be able to provide assistance to his son.

Choosing a daughter of his confidant as his wife was also a way of showing respect for Honggui.

.........

In November of the third year of Yongzheng's reign, Concubine Su Nian, who had always been in poor health, became seriously ill and was promoted to Noble Concubine.

On November 23, Concubine Su died in Yuanmingyuan and was posthumously named Concubine Dunsu.

Because of Hongli and Concubine Mu, Emperor Yongzheng never let the Nian clan dominate over the Guwalgiya clan.

Even when Lady Nian died, her funeral was carried out according to the rites for a noble concubine, with the Imperial Household Department conducting her funeral.

In the fourth year of Yongzheng's reign, Honggui married Zhangjia.

At the beginning of the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, the emperor stripped Prince Lian Yunsi of his title, removed the yellow belt confinement, and changed his name to "Aqinna".

In February, the Third Prince Hongshi was deprived of his clan membership because of his indulgent, foolish and imprudent behavior, and was adopted by the emperor as a son to Yunsi.

In July, Hongli was conferred the title of Prince Heshuo Bao.

He married Fucha, the granddaughter of Fucha Maqi, the Grand Secretary of Baohe Hall and the Grand Tutor.

In November, Hongsheng was conferred the title of Beile and married Xi Fei's niece, Niuhulu.

This Niuhuru clan was not from the line of Empress Xiaozhao, but was the niece of Concubine Xi in the harem.

Unexpectedly, on September 9, the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, less than a year after his wedding, Hongsheng died of illness without leaving behind any children.

This was learned from the secret letter that Hongli sent to Yinreng through the Dragon Scale Guard.

The reason why Hongsheng died of illness was not only because he had been in poor health since childhood.

Also, because Concubine Xi always felt that Hongsheng was not her biological son, she did not want Hongsheng to participate in the fight for the throne and block the path of her biological son (Hongli).

Therefore, he never supported Hongsheng, and when choosing a wife for Hongsheng, he mentioned his niece to the emperor.

The Niuhuru clan of Concubine Xi's lineage, apart from having a nice-sounding surname, actually had no power or real authority.

Therefore, if my niece were to ask my family to find a marriage, they would not be able to find a man with a high family background.

It would be better to marry his niece to Hongsheng as his principal wife.

Not only will it not add any help to Hongsheng, but no matter what title Hongsheng is given in the future, it will be a good marriage for his own family and niece.

Yongzheng did not object.

He felt that it was his son's biological mother's wish, and his son had not come to him to express his objection.

In addition, he was not willing to add a powerful wife's family to Hongsheng's backing so that he could compete with Hongli in the future, so he simply did as Concubine Xi wanted.

At worst, he could do as Khan Ama treated his fifth brother, marrying Hongsheng to a wife of lower status, and then appointing a few concubines of higher status to compensate him in the future.

But Hongsheng didn't know his own life experience, nor did he know what his Khan Ama was thinking.

He just felt that his mother had treated him badly since he was a child, and even his marriage was just a bargaining chip to support his mother's family.

And his father didn't care about him either. All he had in his heart and eyes were Hongli and his sister Roujia, and he didn't care about him as his son at all.

No matter how smart he was, he was in poor health and was always depressed. No matter how much tonic medicine he took, it was of no use, so he died of illness at a young age.

After Hongsheng's death, Yongzheng was sad for some time, and no one cared about the death of this prince.

Even Concubine Xi felt that he was not her own son anyway. Although she had raised him for many years and had some feelings for him, he was still not as good as her own biological son who had a bright future.

Now that he has passed away, although it is still a little sad, I feel much more relieved after all.

He had no idea that the person who passed away was his own son.

In October of the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign, Fucha gave birth to Hongli's eldest daughter, who was named Hajilan (meaning "dear love") by Yongzheng.

In December of the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, Hongli's legitimate son was born. Emperor Yongzheng personally named him Yonglian, implying that he would inherit the throne.

On September 29th, the ninth year of the Yongzheng reign, Empress Ulanara passed away at the age of 51. In December of the same year, she was posthumously named Empress Xiaojing.

As early as when she was in Prince Yong's mansion, Ulanara used the truth about the child-swap to threaten Concubine Xi Niuhulu to cooperate with her, and finally reached a cooperation with her.

Later, when Yongzheng ascended the throne, she became the empress. Her greatest hope was that a woman from the Ulanara clan would give birth to a child in Hongli's harem.

It would be best if the heir born to a woman from the Ulanara clan could become the next emperor.

But unexpectedly, he never succeeded in sending the woman from the Ulanara family into Hongli's backyard.

So, the unwilling Ulanara asked her people to spread the news in the harem that Hongli's biological mother was Concubine Xi Niuhulu on her deathbed.

It's all for revenge!

Take revenge on Concubine Xi and Concubine Mu, and let the two fight each other.

This rumor quickly became more and more popular because it was promoted by the Ulanara family.

But both Hongli and Concubine Mu felt that now was not the best time to reveal the truth, so they quickly suppressed the rumors.

After hearing the rumor, Concubine Xi was also worried that if it was exposed so early, Concubine Mu would take her own life after knowing the "truth", so she also "secretly" suppressed the rumor.

Therefore, although there were rumors that Prince Bao was Concubine Xi's son, it was only discussed among the lower-level palace servants and did not reach the ears of those in higher positions.

In May of the eleventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Prince Bao's wife gave birth to her second legitimate daughter, and Yongzheng personally named her Ximin Kete (Cat's Eye Stone).

After Yongzheng ascended the throne, Hongli received comprehensive and rigorous education and training, performed outstandingly, and was deeply trusted.

Hongli was often ordered to offer sacrifices to the mausoleum, Confucius, Guan Yu, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the earth, Tai Sui, the Great God of Agriculture, etc. on behalf of his father.

Although there was no explicit decree, his position as the invisible prince had already been made clear.

After entering the palace, her residence was the Yuqing Palace where the former Crown Prince Yinreng lived.

Moreover, Hongli's title has always been the highest among all the princes. He was even directly conferred the title of prince at his wedding.

All the legitimate sons and daughters born to his wife were named by the emperor himself.

Moreover, many of Prince Bao's concubines and princesses were from prominent Manchu families.

Perhaps because of the confiscation of baoyi during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there were very few baoyi concubines in Prince Bao's harem.

The most numerous were bannermen women whose fathers or brothers were officials in the court, followed by women from prominent Manchu families, and then a small number of bondservants.

In the eleventh year of Yongzheng's reign, Emperor Yongzheng ordered Prince Bao to participate in handling important political and military affairs such as suppressing the Dzungar rebellion and the Miao uprising in Guizhou, which represented that Yongzheng further delegated power to Prince Bao Hongli.

(Hongli is about to ascend the throne, and the finale will be in the next two days~)