Consort Guo Ningfei

Consort Guo Ning, birth and death dates unknown, was from Haozhou. She was the daughter of Guo Shanfu, sister to Guo Xing and Guo Ying, and one of the concubines of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Her father, Guo Shanfu, was skilled in physiognomy and fortune-telling, and once cast horoscopes for Zhu Yuanzhang, predicting his future glory and prominence. When Zhu Yuanzhang passed by Guo Shanfu’s house, arrangements were made for Guo’s service, and she eventually became his concubine.

In her early years, Guo Ning bore two daughters, who were linked as the mothers of the Third, Fifth, and Seventh princesses respectively. In October of the first year of Hongwu (1368), the imperial banquets were officially established, and Guo Ning may have been included among the six consorts. On February 17th of the third year of Hongwu (1370), Guo Ning gave birth to a son, Prince Zhu Tan, affectionately called Wang Jiu. The following June, she was enfeoffed as Hui Fei (Virtuous Consort).

According to the "History of Ming," after Empress Ma's death in the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), Consort Guo Ning was temporarily in charge of palace affairs. Historical sources suggest that Guo Ning may have died under unfortunate circumstances; records indicate that she was executed, and her body was at one point buried together with her mother, Empress Xian of the Li family.

She has been portrayed multiple times in television and film dramas, including the 1988 series "Jinyiwei" and the 2006 series "Legendary Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang."