The History Channel, original podcast.

History this week, April 27, 1856.

I'm Sally Helm.

There is a pregnancy in the imperial palaces of Beijing's forbidden city,

and preparations have been underway

for months. Not because of the mother, she's a low-ranking concubine named Sishi, but because

of the father, Qing Emperor Xienfeng. He's a sickly man who has not yet produced a son.

So he and the royal court have done everything they can think of

to ensure the birth of a healthy boy,

who will one day be the leader of the Qing dynasty.

Sishi's mother has been summoned to the forbidden city to care for her daughter.

The court astrologer is leaving nothing to chance.

He's arranged for a ceremony to be held behind the concubine Sishi's apartment.

Someone has dug a hole in the ground and placed inside a pair of chopsticks wrapped in red silk. The word for

chopsticks sounds similar to the phrase to produce a sun quickly. And today, April 27th, it all pays off.

Sishi gives birth to a baby boy. The emperor finally has an heir.

The birth also changes Sishi's fortunes, dramatically.

As the mother of the emperor's only son,

she's immediately awarded a higher rank.

In the list of imperial women at the Forbidden City,

Sishi is now second only to the Empress.

Harmony reigns.

...