Her surname was Yehenara, daughter of a Manchu official, who in 1851, at the age of 16, became the emperor's concubine. She quickly became a favourite and, after giving birth to Emperor Xianfeng's ...

Well, this was one of the most horrific stories told about her: as the emperor’s concubine, she killed her own newborn child (the Emperor’s child too, of course), and then accused the Empress ...