China Step Empress who Disappeared from History | Step Empress Ulnara (Nara/Ruyi)

The step-empress Nara was the second empress of Emperor Qianlong. Qianlong was the fourth son of Emperor Yongzheng. During the reign of his father, Nara was arranged to marry him as the secondary consort, while his first consort was Fucha. He loved and respected his first consort, who was gentle, frugal, and diligent. After his father died, he took the throne and became the Emperor Qianlong. His first consort Fucha became the Empress. Nara was given the title Consort Xian. The Empress Fucha was born in a prominent family, but her lifestyle was frugal and simple. She never wore expensive jewelries. In the second year of Qianlong reign, her son died at only 9 years old. A few years later, they got another son, but after two years, this boy also died. With the loss of two children, the Empress was broken, so Qianlong arranged a trip with her to relax. However, during the return of the trip, the Empress was exhausted and caught a cold. Unfortunately, she died on the boat. Losing his favorite wife, Emperor Qianlong was devastated. Despite his loss, his mother, the Empress Dowager, wanted him to choose another Empress. She selected Nara for him. Nara was then became the step-Empress in the 13th year of Qianlong reign. But the mourning period of the first Empress would last 27 months. So before that, Nara was promoted as the Imperial Noble Consort first, but she was already treated like an Empress regarding her clothing and rewards. Nara's coronation was finally held in the 15th year of Qianlong reign. She was favored by the Emperor for some time and gave birth to three children. Unfortunately, two of them died at around 2 years old. Only one son was left with her. Since then, she was dedicated to Buddhism. A few years later, Qianlong found a new love in his life, Consort Wei, who was 16 years younger than him and used to be the first Empress lady-in-waiting. In 10 years, she gave birth to six children, four boys and two girls. Qianlong described her as gentle and beautiful. She got promoted very fast. In the 13th year of Qianlong reign, the Emperor visited South China with his Consort. During the trip, Qianlong celebrated the 48th birthday of the step-Empress. When they arrived at Hangzhou, things were turned upside down. Consort Wei asked the Emperor to promote her to the Imperial Noble Consort, the highest ranking of Consort. However, there was a tradition that when the Empress was still alive, there would not be any new Imperial Noble Consort. Therefore, the step-Empress strongly opposed. Despite this, the Emperor still agreed with the promotion. This made the step-Empress furious and upset. Before dinner, she sent out her lady-in-waiting and then cut part of her hair. This action was considered as a curse to the Emperor and Dowager Empress. Because women would cut her hair only when her husband or elderly relative passed away. Therefore, her behavior was rude and offensive. It was like cursing the Emperor and the Dowager Empress. The Emperor Qianlong was angry and immediately sent her back to the palace. He even described her as insane. After the Emperor returned from the trip, he removed the step-Empress' Imperial titles. Her original ten lady-in-waiting was cut to only two left. In the next year, the step-Empress died lonely. At the time of her death, Qianlong was on an annual hunting excursion, but he did not return to the palace immediately. Instead, he just ordered his son to handle the funeral. The step-Empress' funeral was treated as that of an Imperial Noble Consort. In fact, it was worse than that. Her coffin was made of low-quality wood. She did not even have her own separate tomb. Her remains were placed just next to another Imperial Noble Consort. She was the only Qian Empress without a posthumous name. For example, Qianlong's first Empress was granted the posthumous name Xiao Xiancheng. Traditionally, there should be over 7,000 people to carry the Empress' coffin in the funeral. However, on her day, there were only 64 people. After she died, even her only son was not granted any titles during his 25-year short life. Many paintings of Qianlong and his consort remain today, but there was no official portrait of the step-Empress. Legend said Qianlong destroyed all the portraits of the step-Empress. In order to hide her existence, some paintings were edited unnaturally. Some historians believe that this one was her portrait. This unknown painting was marked as Consort Jia's, but when historians compared it with her another official portrait, they found they look so different. Therefore, it is suspected that this was not Consort Jia. This was actually the portrait of the step-Empress Nara. But still, there's no conclusion yet. From a secondary consort to an Empress, Nara gradually became the most powerful woman in the Qing Dynasty. Suddenly, everything was taken back. All her traces in painting were even removed, and only mystery was left behind.