Feeding the deer was just a coincidence. Hu Shanwei didn't have the ability to predict the future, and she didn't dare to place spies around Emperor Hongwu. She just fed the group of deer that were becoming increasingly lazy and greedy every morning and evening.
However, it was Hu Shanwei who deliberately blew the flute to summon the green peacocks to return to their nests. She had to seize the opportunity to let Emperor Hongwu know that she had been working hard to serve these beasts.
The wise eye recommended the southern opera "Pipa Ji", was able to change the country's filial piety system and make parents equally respected, and was able to feed two thousand deer to be fat and strong. When Emperor Hongwu saw the tired green phoenix returning to the nest, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a dreamy halo on each bird feather, the usually cold eyes of Emperor Hongwu could not help but soften.
On Empress Xiaoci's 51st birthday, she was on her deathbed. It must have been a comfort for her to see the beautiful sight of a phoenix flying with its feathers fluttering at the end of her life.
It is said that when one is well fed and warm, one longs for sex. The same is true for deer. After watching the tired birds return to their nests and wash their feathers by the lake, Emperor Hongwu saw that the herd had gained many young deer that looked like hunting dogs, with big wet eyes that were so adorable. So he got off the carriage and broke the bean cakes in the bamboo basket to feed the young deer.
The deer are the "sacred creatures" of the Xiaoling Mausoleum. No one dares to kill them, especially the newly born fawns, which are not afraid of humans at all. On the contrary, when they see people, they will actively come over to ask for food. After eating, they will not leave and will continue to beg for food. Soon a group of deer surrounded Emperor Hongwu, and it was too late to feed them. Mao Xiang took the Jinyiwei to help feed the deer.
A little deer licked the bean cake in Ji Gang's hand, and felt it was not enough, so it stretched out its long neck to lick Ji Gang's beautiful face.
"Pah, what a rogue deer." Ji Gang hurriedly changed from a half-squatting position to a standing position. Unexpectedly, the rogue deer's head was just parallel to his waist and hips, stretching its neck to lick the bean cake residue on his waist, and almost touched the unspeakable part.
When beating a dog, you have to consider the owner; the same applies to beating a deer.
The deer in the Xiaoling Mausoleum cannot be beaten or scolded. Ji Gang simply hid on the horse's back.
The basket of bean cakes was quickly distributed. More and more fawns gathered, and even the ignorant adult deer squeezed over to get a piece of the pie. Their movements were very rude, and they squeezed the fawns to fall all over the place.
When Mao Xiang saw the horns on the heads of adult deer, he immediately felt danger and ordered the Jinyiwei to escort Emperor Hongwu to the carriage. At this time, Hu Shanwei rode over to "rescue the emperor" and put his finger between his lips and whistled sharply. The herd of deer immediately dispersed and returned to the thatched hut in the woods.
"You, take me around the Xiaoling Mausoleum." Emperor Hongwu pointed at Hu Shanwei.
The weather in June was hot, but Zhongshan was still relatively cool. Hu Shanwei first took Emperor Hongwu to visit the Phoenix Nest next to the pond. "… This kind of bird likes to live in the shade of the water. When frost falls in autumn, it must be moved to the flower room in the palace where it is spring all year round, otherwise it will freeze to death."
Emperor Hongwu picked and chose, looking at the empty nest, "The deer herd has so many fawns, why haven't the phoenixes given birth to any little phoenixes? Is it because you didn't take good care of them?"
Hu Shanwei said calmly: "Because these two are male phoenixes - the feathers of male phoenixes are more beautiful."
Hearing this, Ji Gang smiled. Mao Xiang glanced coldly at this stupid subordinate, and Ji Gang put away his smile.
Emperor Hongwu coughed dryly and said, "I want Madam Mingde to send another pair of female phoenixes over to harmonize the yin and yang and give birth to little phoenixes."
Emperor Hongwu was so worried about this pair of bachelors that he sent his wife thousands of miles away.
Hu Shanwei said: "I don't hold an official position, so I don't dare to ask Madam Mingde for the phoenix."
She had been laid off a year ago and was no longer a sixth-rank Si Yan. Now she was just an animal breeder and called herself a "common woman."
Emperor Hongwu narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you asking me for an official position?"
Yes, that was Hu Shanwei's plan. She felt that instead of returning to the palace through Concubine Guo Ning, it would be better for her to find a way to return to the palace through Emperor Hongwu herself, so that she could have a legitimate reason.
Because Emperor Hongwu was the emperor, and Concubine Guo Ning was not yet a proper mistress of the harem.
She didn't want to owe Concubine Guo Ning a favor.
She thought so in her heart, but said: "I dare not ask for an official position. I just feel that as a commoner, asking a third-rank official of the court for a phoenix is disrespectful to Madam Mingde. It may be more appropriate to let the officials of the Ministry of Rites handle this matter. Now Madam Shexiang and Madam Mingde have joined hands to cut mountains and build roads, doing great things that will last for thousands of years. How dare I act rashly?"
Emperor Hongwu smiled coldly, "Your little tricks cannot be hidden from me. I will not fulfill your wishes. You don't have to do this. Mao Xiang, Mu Chun is about to return to the capital, so I want him to bring the two female phoenixes back to the capital."
After saying this, Emperor Hongwu went to the main hall to burn incense at the tablet of Empress Xiaoci.
Ji Gang stayed and comforted Hu Shanwei, "Although the emperor's words are cold, his forehead is relaxed, in fact, he is very satisfied with you. Moreover, the emperor is nostalgic for the old times. When Concubine Guo Ning and Palace Shang Cao quarreled, the emperor advised Concubine Ning to take a step back. It can be seen that he trusts the old people around Empress Cixiao very much. You will return to the palace sooner or later."
Hu Shanwei looked at the sunset. Could it be that the sun was setting from the east today? Ji Gang actually remembered to bring his brain with him when he went out.
It has been less than a year since she came to Xiaoling Mausoleum, and Hu Shanwei is not so optimistic that everything can be accomplished overnight. It is enough for the Emperor Hongwu to still remember her kindness.
However, at this moment, Hu Shanwei's heart was as bright as the sunset, and he asked Ji Gang: "Is Mu Chun really coming back?"
I didn’t mention coming back in my last letter.
On the first day of March this year, Emperor Hongwu officially issued an edict, ordering General Zhennan, Marquis of Yingchuan Fu Youde, and Left Deputy General Yongchang Marquis Lan Yu to return to the court, as Yunnan had been pacified and the southern expedition was victorious. At the same time, he issued an edict ordering Marquis Xiping Mu Ying to garrison Yunnan.
Based on the fact that Yunnan was always in turmoil and had an unpredictable situation the previous year, Emperor Hongwu believed that "although Yunnan has been pacified, the barbarians are still disloyal. Once the army returns, I am afraid they will instigate each other and cause trouble. You stay to pacify and pacify them, and then I will call you back."
So two of the three generals of the Southern Expedition returned, leaving the most powerful Mu Ying to guard Yunnan to prevent civil unrest from recurring. When the situation in Yunnan was completely stabilized, Mu Ying was summoned back to Beijing.
Although Mu Ying missed his adoptive mother, Empress Xiaoci, and wanted to cry in the Mausoleum of Emperor Xiaoling like Concubine Cao, he had no choice but to stay in Yunnan with great reluctance for the sake of peace in Yunnan, and go back to pay tribute to Empress Xiaoci later.
However, neither the Hongwu Emperor nor Mu Ying expected that Mu Ying was not guarding Yunnan temporarily - Mu Ying's entire life, and even more than a dozen generations of Mu's descendants, would guard this land with spring all year round. Generation after generation, they would guard the southwestern gate of the Ming Dynasty with their blood and wisdom until it was destroyed along with the Ming Dynasty more than three hundred years later.
From the first generation Mu Ying to the eleventh generation Mu Tianbo, Mu Ying was a general who founded the Ming Dynasty and made great military achievements.
More than three hundred years later, Mu Tianbo led the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongli, to exile in Burma. They were deceived by the new king of Burma into forming an alliance at Zhushui, but it turned out to be a trap. The new king of Burma wanted to capture them all and hand them over to the Qing Dynasty.
In desperation, Mu Tianbo grabbed a knife and killed nine people, dying for his country. The Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed due to the Curse Water Incident. The descendants of the Mu family fulfilled the promise of their ancestor Mu Ying and defended the Zhu Dynasty to the last moment.
Some people sigh that the Mu family is full of loyal and brave people, and their promises are worth a thousand gold. Some people scold the Mu family for being foolishly loyal, saying that it is not worth it to sacrifice for a corrupt and declining dynasty.
More than three hundred years later, the martial arts writer Jin Yong married Mu Ying's twelfth-generation granddaughter Mu Jianping to the eccentric male protagonist Wei Xiaobao in his final work "The Deer and the Cauldron". Mu Jianping and six women shared one husband. As the saying goes, "So many things in ancient and modern times are now just a joke."
Of course, this is all a story for later. When the imperial edict ordering Mu Ying to guard Yunnan was issued, Mu Chun expressed his disappointment. He originally thought that after the southern expedition was over, he would follow the army back to the court and reunite with his sister Shanwei.
Mu Chun expressed her regret in the letter she wrote to Hu Shanwei. She did not expect that Emperor Hongwu would give her a surprise when he came to Xiaoling Mausoleum this time.
Hu Shanwei couldn't believe his ears, so he asked Ji Gang for confirmation. Ji Gang was a straightforward person and said, "This time, the southern expedition was a great victory. Mu Ying and Mu Chun performed excellently. The emperor will definitely reward them handsomely. The Mu family has everything. What else is missing? It just lacks a legitimate heir. The emperor summoned Mu Chun back to the capital, most likely to use this opportunity to confer him the title of Marquis of Xiping. Besides..."
Ji Gangyao pointed to the main hall where Empress Xiaoci was enshrined and said, "It is also his wish to make Muchun the crown prince. The emperor will definitely fulfill it."
Empress Xiaoci loved Mu Chun, but she was powerless to solve the rift between Mu Ying and Mu Chun. Therefore, after Mu Ying repeatedly declined to ask for a title for Mu Chun, Empress Xiaoci realized that she should not interfere with Mu Ying's decision. When she arranged a marriage for Mu Ying, she chose Feng as his wife, but it ended up being a tragic marriage. Empress Xiaoci realized that a forced marriage would not be a happy one, so she simply stopped talking about it.
Emperor Hongwu asked Mu Chun's uncle Feng Cheng to take over the post of commander of Guizhou Guard. After the nephew handed over the military power to his uncle, Feng Cheng said for the first time: "Your father... is a bastard who is lustful, favors concubines and kills his wife, and ignores his eldest son, but he is a good soldier. He helped me to break the siege of Kunming without any regrets. I will never fight him again."
Mu Chun opened the window to see if the sun was rising from the west today. "Uncle, have you been bribed by my bastard father?"
Feng Cheng waved his hand and said, "Am I that kind of person? It's just that I won't always embarrass him in the future - after all, he saved me. Of course, if he uses the same old tricks to pick a fight with you, I won't sit idly by."
Because the Feng family also needs to maintain their reputation and cannot be bullied by the Mu family. In short, Feng Cheng's evaluation of Mu Ying has nothing to do with Mu Chun.
Mu Chun had already gotten used to the situation where his father didn't love him and his uncle didn't care about him. Feng Cheng was able to bring him to the southern expedition and give him the opportunity to make merit. He was already very satisfied and said, "Thank you for your help, uncle."
Feng Cheng patted his shoulder and said, "With the death of Empress Xiaoci, you have lost a great supporter. You are already 20 years old this year, and you are not young anymore. You should find a marriage with equal strength to help you in the future. In this southern expedition, your brother Mu Sheng performed well and has always been by Mu Ying's side. I have also fought side by side with Mu Sheng. To be honest, Mu Ying has a reason to favor your brother. He is an excellent young general, taciturn, and steady. He does not have the bad habits of being a dandy and careless person like you... You should know what is going on in your heart, don't you understand?"
As expected, he is his real uncle. Every word Feng Cheng said perfectly hits Mu Chun’s pain points, and every word is what Mu Chun cannot bear to hear the most.
Mu Chun's bad temper came up, and he asked knowingly: "What do you understand? Uncle?"
Mu Chun is not stupid. He was able to control Guizhou for a year and maintain good relations with Madam Shexiang and Madam Mingde. This shows that Mu Chun is not only talented in military affairs, but also handles government affairs well. Considering his age of just 20, he can be considered a genius.
How could he not understand? He was clearly speaking in a sarcastic way!
Feng Cheng now completely understood why Mu Ying always looked like he wanted to strangle his son to death and was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood when he mentioned Mu Chun.
Because at this time Feng Cheng and Mu Ying had exactly the same expressions.
"You, you, you..." Feng Cheng pointed at Mu Chun, "I reminded you with good intentions, but you thought I was in the way. Fine, from now on, if I intervene in your affairs, I will call you uncle!"
Thus, the uncle and nephew went through the hardships of the Southern Expedition, but parted unhappily after their victorious reunion.
Mu Chun was in a terrible mood. He took out the reply letter from Hu Shanwei and the fan with the poem "On July 20th, I ate crabs and drank chrysanthemum wine with Jingchun in a restaurant in Hangzhou" and read them over and over again. His mood gradually improved: Life is so fucking hard. Fortunately, Sister Shanwei is with me.
When Mu Chun was handing over the military power and bidding farewell to local officials including Lady Shexiang and Lady Mingde one by one, an urgent secret letter from the capital was delivered to Guizhou three hundred miles away.
Mu Chun was startled and thought that Emperor Hongwu had changed his mind and asked him to continue guarding here. When he opened it, he found that Emperor Hongwu wanted him to go to Madam Mingde to ask for two green peacocks, and specifically noted that he wanted two female peacocks.
It was a small matter, Mu Chun breathed a sigh of relief and went to find Mrs. Mingde. Mrs. Mingde readily agreed and repeatedly confirmed: "… Do you really not want a male green peacock? The male's wings are more beautiful."
No matter how beautiful it is, it can't lay eggs. Mu Chun said, "It's a female, thank you."
So Mu Chun brought the two female green peacocks back to Beijing. He traveled day and night and finally arrived in Nanjing on the first day of August before the anniversary of Empress Xiaoci's death.
First, he had to go to the palace to meet the emperor and report the situation in Guizhou to him. The emperor nodded and said, "You have done a good job in Guizhou. After the anniversary of Empress Xiaoci's death, I will confer you the title of Marquis of Xiping."
Mu Chun was stunned, the position of Crown Prince came too suddenly.
Emperor Hongwu handed over a memorial and said, "Read it yourself."
When Mu Chun opened it, he found that it was actually his biological father, Xiping Hou Mu Ying, who had submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Rites, requesting that he be named the Crown Prince! It said that Mu Chun was the eldest son, had made many military achievements, was filial to his parents, and loved his brothers.
Mu Chun couldn't help but look out the window again: Has the sun always risen from the west recently? Why did his uncle Feng Cheng and his biological father Mu Ying treat him so differently, as if their souls had been swapped? What was going on? Didn't his father love his younger brother Mu Sheng the most
Mu Chun was confused and at a loss, and even accompanied Emperor Hongwu for a meal. Afterwards, Mu Chun resigned and went to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to mourn for Empress Xiaoci.
Emperor Hongwu knew that Mu Chun and his wife had a close relationship like that of a grandfather and grandson, and he was filled with emotion. "Go ahead. I stayed in Xiaoling for one night in June, and I dreamed of Empress Xiaoci. I didn't know whether she was alive or dead in the dream. I talked to her as if we were in the past, and I vaguely seemed to have talked about you. Unfortunately, the dream was short, and I couldn't remember clearly when I woke up. By the way, give the pair of female phoenixes that Madam Mingde sent to the animal breeder in Xiaoling, and ask her to take good care of them."
From then on, yin and yang were in harmony, male and female lived together and flew together, and Emperor Hongwu was even waiting to hold the phoenix egg.
Mu Chun brought a pair of female green peacocks to the Xiaoling Mausoleum and saw Hu Shanwei, the animal keeper of the Xiaoling Mausoleum, riding a horse and feeding a group of deer in the sunset.
Mu Chun patted his horse, went forward to meet the deer, and reunited with Hu Shanwei.
Hu Shanwei saw a person coming against the light from afar, and her heart began to beat fast. She couldn't see the person's face clearly, but she felt that it was him.
Hu Shanwei grabbed the reins and stopped her horse. Mu Chun rode over and came face to face with her, "Sister Shanwei, I'm back."
It has been more than a year since I last left Guizhou.
Hu Shanwei didn't know what to say. The herd of deer surrounded the two of them. The horns on their heads looked like plum trees in full bloom.
The author has something to say: We are reunited~Spread flowers~
100 red envelopes will be given out tonight, and there will also be a 100-point red envelope quick answer question
Jin Yong's novel "The Deer and the Cauldron" writes about Mu Ying's descendant Mu Jianping, who is a naive and lovely little princess. May I ask, what is Mu Jianping's ranking among Wei Xiaobao's seven wives
Xiaosan
Xiaowu
Xiaoliu
Xiaoqi