Emperor Guangxu and empress Longyu’s wedding ceremony: 002 Waiting for the wedding ceremony

According to the records about Emperor Tongzhi's winding, in the imperial selection, Ci'an and Cixi selected one empress, one consort, two imperial concubines, and one noble lady for Tongzhi. After the imperial selection, Empress Alutesi and other four imperial women left the Forbidden City and stayed in the emperor's home to wait for the formal winding ceremony. When they lived with the emperor's original family, they were isolated from the emperor's family members and were served by the imperial maids and eunuchs from the Forbidden City. Besides, the emperor sent imperial guards to protect his imperial women. So, except for the empress, the other imperial women had no chance to see their original family members. As I mentioned in previous videos, people were required to respect and obey their parents. But after Alutesi was selected to become the empress, she became a royal family member. Her status was much higher than her parents. Her parents must bow to her. When Alutesi lived in her original family as the empress, she wasn't allowed to meet with her male family members, including her father. After becoming the empress, Alutesi should eat 48 dishes per meal. Even the formal winding ceremony didn't happen yet and she still lived in her original family. When she ate meals, her mother and sister-in-law must stand beside the table and pick up dishes for her. This made Alutesi feel very uncomfortable. But they must follow the royal family rules. In Guangxu's winding picture books, the first book is about how Empress Longyu came back home from the Forbidden City after she was selected as the empress. Longyu left the Forbidden City riding a leader with peacock top carried by eight people. In the imperial selection, Guangxu gave Longyu a ruyi to represent that she was selected as the empress. When Longyu left the Forbidden City, this ruyi was put in Longting Dragon Pavilion to send to Longyu's home. Now, here is a question. Which was in the front of the procession? Ruyi's Dragon Pavilion or Longyu's Peacock Top Leader? The answer is Ruyi's Pavilion is in the front. Longyu's procession left the Forbidden City through Shunzhen Gate. When Longyu arrived home, her father and other male family members bowed outside the mansion to welcome the empress. Longyu's mother and the female family members bowed inside the mansion. The Empress Longyu's life in her original family was similar to the life of Tongzhi's Empress Alutai. Thank you for watching this video. See you soon.