Revealing the "secret weapon" that helps Tu Hi become her sole pet, one step closer to becoming a mother of the world

There are 3,000 noble harems, each with their own beauty, but wanting to win a place in the emperor's heart is not an easy task. Therefore, thanks to this "secret weapon", Tu Hi received the exclusive favor of King Ham Phong.

Empress Dowager Cixi, also known as Western Empress Dowager, Empress Hieu Kham Hien (1833 - 1908) came from Diep Hach Na Lap Thi in Manchuria Tuong Hoang Ky, a descendant of a hereditary mandarin family. Her family is a military family, but they are second-line, so their status is not very high, nor is it too low.

In the 2nd year of Ham Phong (1852), after surpassing 60 girls participating in the concubine exam, Na La Thi entered the final round of concubine selection. In the same year, she was appointed as a Noble Lady and was called Lan Quy Nhan. In the 4th year of Ham Phong (1854), Na La Thi was promoted to the rank of Qin, with the title Y Tan.

In the 6th year of Ham Phong (1856), she gave birth to the eldest son Hoang Tai Thuan, the only son of Emperor Ham Phong, later known as Emperor Thanh Muc Tong Dong Tri. Thanks to that, Na La Thi was ordained as Y Concubine. One year later (1857), Concubine Y Na La Thi was again appointed as a noble concubine (a position second only to the queen).

In the 11th year of Ham Phong (1861), Emperor Ham Phong died. His successor, Prince Tai Thuan, was only 5 years old at this time. Before his death, Emperor Ham Phong gave Queen Niu Ho Loc Thi the Ngu Thuong seal, and Dong Dao Duong seal to prince Tai Thuan.

Because the prince was still young, the seal was temporarily preserved by his mother, Concubine Y Quy Na La Thi, with the hope that the two would work together to raise the future emperor. According to Qing Dynasty custom, if the emperor's biological mother is still alive and in office, she is also honored as Empress Dowager. Therefore, Concubine Y Quy became the Queen Mother.

In fact, Tu Hi was only a noble concubine of King Ham Phong. Because of giving birth to Emperor Dong Trinh, she was honored as Queen Mother, but later she was still called Queen. This is because the title Empress Dowager was originally reserved for "Empress of the Immortal Emperor", so even if she was previously only a concubine, if she was honored as Empress Dowager, that person's posthumous title would still become empress.

Through the above developments, it can be seen that Na La Thi (later Empress Dowager Tu Hi) went from entering the palace to being appointed a Noble Concubine in just 5 years. In the late history of the Qing Dynasty, she was indeed a rare, fast-moving concubine. This also proves that the emperor extremely favored her.

There are many rumors surrounding what Queen Mother Cixi did to make King Ham Phong fall in love with her and have no way out. There is a historical book that says that Ci Hi had very big legs, much bigger than the concubines in the palace. Na La Thi herself always considered it her weakness, but she could not expect that King Ham Phong would favor her just because of these legs.

The reason why Tu Hi has very large feet is because she did not bind her feet since childhood, instead letting them grow naturally. Most women in this era had to bind their feet to have 3-inch legs, but Cixi's legs were very different.

Ancient women believed that a three-inch lotus heel was the embodiment of beauty. Therefore, many girls from a young age have their feet wrapped in cloth to prevent them from growing. This custom of foot binding has caused many women to suffer pain from broken bones and deformed legs. They can't even walk normally anymore.

So why was Cixi favored by the emperor thanks to her unusually large feet? History books record that, although Ham Phong was a king, he had very modern thoughts and did not like women who blindly followed customs. Instead, he prefers women with healthy, normally developed legs.

Not to mention, there were thousands of beauties around Ham Phong, everyone had their feet bound, making the king bored. Therefore, when he met Tu Hi with legs much larger than other concubines, the emperor was extremely impressed. Along with her beautiful appearance, Na La Thi received special favor from the king.

Cixi's status rose rapidly, she was even a pregnant concubine and gave birth to the first prince at that time. Therefore, the emperor's favor towards her was even greater.

Although Na La Thi possessed large feet that the king was fascinated by, she always considered this to be her weakness. Therefore, Cixi used a type of shoe called "flower shoe" to hide those giant feet.

Through research, flower pot shoes are high-heeled flower embroidered shoes of the Manchu ethnic people. It has a base underneath designed like flower beds, so it's named that way. This type of shoe is very difficult to use, because the sole is designed in the middle, the sole height is from 5 to 10cm, some are even up to 25cm high.

Not only does it enhance her height, but also helps Tu Hi hide her legs, helping her to feel self-conscious about them. If she doesn't wear flower shoes, Na La Thi will hide her feet inside her skirt to not reveal her weaknesses.

The evidence is that in photos of Tu Hi, posterity often only sees her showing off her flower shoes. It is very difficult to find photos where she reveals her feet. However, Na La Thi's flower pot shoes are not like the shoes of other concubines. Her shoes were studded with many pearls and gems.

They are all her favorite treasures. Cixi has a whole collection of rose shoes made from expensive and rare materials. Through this, we can see the lavish lifestyle and lavish spending of this incredibly powerful Queen Mother.

The 26-year-old Empress Dowager Tu Xi quelled the rebellion of the Eight Great Gods, the great merit belonged to 1 person Hoa Chỉ13:21:29 15/02/2025At only 26 years old, Empress Dowager Cixi was able to pacify the country and quell the forces that opposed her. The credit goes to a great minister, without whom, Empress Dowager Cixi would not have been as famous in history as we see.