Consort Rong's Everlasting Favor

[Filling in the blanks as inspiration strikes]

Consort Rong, of the Ma Jia clan, was the birth mother of Kangxi's first son. She entered the palace as an unranked concubine with no title, and enjoyed the emperor's favor for ten years, from the sixth to the sixteenth year of Kangxi's reign. She bore five sons and one daughter; four sons died young, and only one son and one daughter reached adulthood.

In the sixteenth year of Kangxi's reign, she was made a Concubine.

In the twentieth year of Kangxi's reign, she was promoted to Consort.

In the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign, she passed away.

She enjoyed just ten short years of favor in her life. During those ten years, she gave birth six times and lost four sons.

If those four princes had survived, would Consort Rong's life have changed dramatically?

No one can say.

*

Ma Jia Elinzhu was chosen as a young child to serve the Grand Empress Dowager in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility. Emperor Kangxi personally gave her the childhood name Zhiyun. In the fourth year of Kangxi's reign, she entered the inner palace as a Gege and began a life of favor and glory.

From Gege to Furen, from Concubine Rong to Noble Consort Rong, she weathered the ups and downs of the imperial harem while remaining at Emperor Kangxi's side, cherished and trusted by him.

The empress dowager praised her, the emperor doted on her, the consorts respected her, her children honored her, and the world admired her. Her life seemed to go remarkably smoothly.

People only envied her glory, never knowing how many nights she spent plotting or how much effort she poured in to earn such a reputation and position.

*

Consort ranks in this story:

Ranks before the system was expanded:

Empress

Noble Consort

Consort

Furen

Gege

Unranked concubine (a term for women of high birth who had just entered the palace and had yet to be formally invested, or a general term for palace consorts without titles)

Ranks after the system was expanded (the author has set this as the expanded system in the early Kangxi era):

Empress (1 person)

Noble Consort (1 person)

Noble Consort (2 people)

Consort (4 people)

Concubine (6 people)

--Presiding over a palace--

Noble Lady (unlimited)

First Class Attendant (unlimited)

Second Class Attendant (unlimited)

Unranked concubine (a palace consort who has not been invested and has no rank or title)

Content warnings:

1. Set in the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty. The Consort Rong in this story is neither reborn nor a transmigrator. Her name, age, experiences, and major events are all based on historical records! The names, personalities, ages, and other details of the characters are mostly the author's own inventions.

2. The heroine grows over the course of the story, which focuses on daily life and palace intrigues. Some historical events from the Kangxi era have been changed. Criticism and corrections are welcome, thank you.

3. I wrote this story because I adore Consort Rong. Everything in it reflects my personal preferences, so please don't bash it if it's not to your taste. I want to see Consort Rong slay them all (throws head back and howls)!!! If you don't want to read it, you can simply move on instead of making yourself miserable. Writing and reading should both be fun.

4. I respect history, as well as the preferences of all readers.

5. The hero and heroine are childhood friends. He falls for her first, but he is a career-driven man and won't dote exclusively on her. She is somewhat attracted to him, but keeps a clear head. Her position and children matter most to her.

6. Some of Kangxi's consorts will be portrayed negatively (important)!!!

Theme: Only by making yourself strong can you face life's storms without fear.