There was never any shortage of such people around an emperor. As early as the first years of Qianlong's reign, the Jiangnan Weaving Office and the Two Huai Salt Administration had borrowed the court's name to search widely among the common people for beautiful women, even purchasing them by force. Their methods were truly despicable. This prompted Qianlong to personally issue an imperial dispatch, declaring that he had studied since childhood and deeply understood the benefits of purging one's heart of desires. Furthermore, during his three years on the throne, he had first observed mourning and had never indulged himself, and so on.
Yet Qianlong was not particularly resistant to women sent by provincial officials. Once his three-year mourning period ended, Hai Bao of the Jiangning Weaving Office immediately sent him two Jiangnan women and an opera troupe.
None of these women entered the palace through formal channels such as the selection of maidens, and when they disappeared, they did so just as silently. There had also been many such women around the Shunzhi Emperor. At the time, the Qing Dynasty had only recently entered the passes and retained many nomadic customs; even Dorgon had married the Xiaozhuang Empress Dowager.
This was a palace taboo. No one dared discuss it openly, yet it was a "secret" known to all. It was difficult for a widow to survive with her six-year-old son while surrounded by wolves and tigers, and sometimes she had no choice but to make compromises. But Fulin did not understand his mother at all. Compared to her, he was closer to his wet nurse, Lady Li.
The Shunzhi Emperor had been playful since childhood, and no one could truly control him. Borjigit meant "blue eyes" in Mongolian. This family descended from Genghis Khan, and at first they were