Hu Chongfei

Zhao Jing Tai Chong Fei, also known as Hu Chong Fei, her birth and death years are unknown. Her ancestral home was in Linhuai, Fengyang Prefecture. She was the sister (or possibly daughter) of Hu Quan, the commander of Dingyuan Guard. She was a consort of the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and the mother of his sixth son, King of Chuzhao, Zhu Zhen.

Her early deeds are not well documented. According to "Records of the Early Ming," she was a girl from the Hu family of Haozhou. She was widowed early; Zhu Yuanzhang previously considered taking her as a concubine, but was opposed by her mother. Later, when Zhu Yuanzhang learned she was accompanying the army in Huai'an, Jiangsu, and had yet to remarry, he ordered Zhao Junyong to escort her and her mother to the palace. Subsequently, she was taken as a concubine.

On April 5, 1364 (the third day of the third lunar month, Longfeng 10), Hu gave birth to Zhu Zhen, her sixth son and Zhu Yuanzhang's sixth son. On June 1, 1370 (the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, Hongwu 3), she was posthumously titled Shun Fei, but it was mistakenly recorded as Wu Shi. In 1412, Emperor Ming Chengzu Zhu Di posthumously honored Zhu Zhen's mother as Zhao Jing Tai Chong Fei and granted her sacrificial offerings.

The date of Hu Chong Fei's death is unknown. The "Zui Wei Lu" records that she was favored by the emperor; once, a palace woman had an abortion and threw the fetus into the river. This angered Zhu Yuanzhang, who then ordered her execution, and her body was discarded outside the city. King Zhu Zhen mourned and requested the return of his mother's body, but was denied; he could only bury her on her fiefdom. Historical records also mention that she was accused of being betrayed and having an abortion due to personal vengeance, but the authenticity of this claim is questionable.