Hu Shanwei speculated on the motive of the mastermind behind the incident. She had an idea that was enough to cost her her life, so she went to check the royal jade disc. It turned out that Prince Qi Zhu Bo was born on December 23rd in the 24th year of Zhizheng.
In July of the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang and the King of Han, Chen Youliang, fought a decisive battle in Poyang Lake. Chen Youliang had an advantage with hundreds of huge ships, but he made the same mistake as Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period—he locked the huge ships together with iron chains, making the endless lake look like land, similar to the aircraft carriers of later generations.
History always repeats itself. Zhu Yuanzhang used the same method that Zhuge Liang used to deal with Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period, using fire attack. Light boats were loaded with flammable materials such as □□, and when the wind changed, the death squads drove these boats to attack the huge fleet of warships.
Chen Youliang's aircraft carrier became an aerial fireship, burning and drowning a large number of people. He was forced to lead the remaining troops to flee to Caoxie Mountain, but was ambushed by Zhu Yuanzhang and trapped there.
On August 26, Chen Youliang refused to surrender and tried desperately to break out of the siege, but was killed in battle. According to the history book Hu Shanwei found, Chen Youliang's death was described as tragic: "He was pierced through the forehead and head."
An arrow shot through his eye and pierced his entire head, killing him instantly. Such superb archery skills must have been shot by a famous general.
Hu Shanwei searched through all the boxes and cabinets in Tibet, and finally found the person who shot the amazing arrow from the merit book of that year's rewards - Wuding Hou Guo Ying, who was the second brother of Concubine Guo Ning, and was currently guarding Yunnan with Xiping Hou Mu Ying.
So Concubine Guo Ning and Concubine Da Ding have a grudge against each other for murdering their husbands!
This was an unexpected gain, but Hu Shanwei saw that Chen Youliang's date of death was August 26, the 23rd year of Zhizheng... The King of Qi was born in December of the 24th year of Zhizheng.
The time is wrong.
Hu Shanwei dejectedly put down the King of Qi's jade plate, but he still didn't give up. After all, he was already here, and he couldn't just go back like this after rummaging through the pile of old papers until midnight.
Hu Shanwei continued to read the documents related to Concubine Da Ding. Chen Youliang and his eldest son were shot dead when they tried to break through the siege, and the remnants returned to Wuchang with their second son Chen Li, who succeeded to the throne as King of Han.
In February of the 24th year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops arrived at the city and surrounded Wuchang. Among them was the killer general Chang Yuchun. It was their custom to massacre the city if it did not surrender.
Zhu Yuanzhang promised not to kill those who surrendered, so Han Wang Chen Li led all the civil and military officials to surrender. Zhu Yuanzhang kept his promise and spared the surrendered soldiers. He also made Chen Li the Marquis of Cheng'en. At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang took a fancy to Chen Youliang's concubine, the stunning beauty Da, and took her to the harem as his concubine. On December 23 of that year, during the Little New Year, Da gave birth to Qi Wang Zhu Bo.
Chen Youliang had been "deeply cultivating" the Hubei and Jiangxi areas for many years and had considerable influence. The people in this area only recognized Chen Li as their master, and Chen Li surrendered voluntarily. Most people in Wuchang, from the literati to the common people, were grateful to their old master Chen Li.
Hu Shanwei had a deep understanding of this. Back then, another King of Wu, Zhang Shicheng, refused to surrender and held out for Suzhou City for three months before it was eventually captured by the coalition forces of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
"On the day when Suzhou fell, Chang Yuchun entered Qi Gate and slaughtered everyone he passed. Xu Da entered Chang Gate and did not kill anyone. When they reached the Reclining Buddha Temple, the two generals met, and Da warned Yuchun not to kill anyone."
Chang Yuchun massacred the city. Hu Shanwei was put in a book box by his father Hu Rong to escape. He was hidden in the Reclining Buddha Temple by Zen Master Daoyan to avoid the massacre. Later, Xu Da arrived and persuaded Chang Yuchun to stop the killing.
Hu Shanwei, who was as small as an ant, escaped the disaster. She will never forget the life-saving grace. She is still grateful to Zen Master Daoyan and Duke of Wei Xu Da.
Emperor Hongwu was deeply afraid of Chen Li, Marquis of Cheng'en, and worried that if Chen Li raised his arm, the old forces of the King of Han would follow suit and rebel. However, killing him would be a violation of his promise, and no one would believe him if he tried to surrender again in the future.
Emperor Hongwu was a very creative emperor. In the fifth year of Hongwu, Chen Li, the Marquis of Cheng'en, was sent far away to the Kingdom of Goryeo...
Hu Shanwei looked up Chen Li's date of birth and found that history books always recorded how young and ignorant Chen Li was, and how he repeatedly contradicted Emperor Hongwu, which led to him being sent far away to Goryeo. But the fact was that when King Han Chen Li opened the gate to surrender in the 24th year of Zhizheng, he was fourteen years old.
Fourteen years old, like Zhu Tan, the Prince of Lu who flirted with Shen Qionglian, is neither too old nor too young, and is able to do many things, including...
If this is the case, then the time when the King of Qi was born and the time when Chen Li opened the door to surrender would match perfectly.
Hu Shanwei couldn't help but cover her mouth, a sense of fear looming in her heart. If it was really as she guessed, then this conspiracy had actually been planned for nearly twenty years!
Concubine Da Ding's ambition is not to be the crown prince or the queen, she wants to turn the world upside down and change the country!
Hu Shanwei went to find Mao Xiang with a pile of old papers.
No one sleeps tonight.
Mao Xiang and others were busy in the torture room because they were trying the Lu Wang pill case overnight. Mao Xiang came out to see Hu Shanwei, with a bloody and burnt smell on his body.
"What are you doing here, staying up so late at night?" Mao Xiang felt that Hu Shanwei was an expert at stirring up trouble. Since she entered the palace, except for a year of peace and quiet due to feeding the deer at the Xiaoling Mausoleum, there had been constant turmoil, and all of them were big storms. If she were an ordinary person, she would have died a hundred times already, but she was still alive and well, and had her official position reinstated. Concubine Guo Ning almost obeyed her every word.
This time, it was she who instigated the Lu Wang Pill case.
"It's not a midnight snack anyway." Hu Shanwei dumped the old papers on the table. In Mao Xiang's eyes, it was just a mess. "What do you mean?"
Hu Shanwei picked up the key points from the myriad of threads and said, "Chen Li, the Marquis of Cheng'en, is the one who was sent to Goryeo. Has Lord Mao seen this person in person
In the fifth year of Hongwu, Chen Li went to Goryeo and never came back.
Mao Xiang said, "Of course I have seen him. When Chen Li surrendered, I was a small guard leader beside the emperor, protecting him closely. Later, Chen Li was conferred a title and lived in Nanjing for five years. I was also the one who sent people to secretly monitor him to prevent the King of Han from counterattacking."
Hu Shanwei asked: "Is Chen Li still alive? Does he have any children? Judging from his age, he should be thirty-four years old."
Mao Xiang paused and said, "He is still alive. The emperor said he should live, so he must live. The emperor asked the king of Goryeo to take good care of Chen Li."
Goryeo was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, with the same rank as a prince. However, in order to appease this small neighbor, the Ming Dynasty had always enthroned the king of Goryeo according to the standards of a prince.
Hu Shanwei had been in the Ming court for five years after all, and he didn't believe Mao Xiang's lies at all. He looked at him steadily and said, "There are many ways to live. Lord Mao, there is no need to hide it from me."
Mao Xiang said frankly: "The King of Goryeo gave Chen Li some land and houses that were just enough to feed and clothe him, but he didn't give him any women. He had no wives or concubines. He was a poor man without money, so he had to be single there."
The King of Goryeo would never dare to give him a woman, because once she gave birth to a child, he would offend the suzerain state.
Hu Shanwei asked again: "Master Mao, do you still remember what Chen Li looked like when he was a teenager?"
Mao Xiang thought for a moment, "It's been twelve years, I can't remember clearly, Chen Li must be plain looking, why are you asking these questions?"
Hu Shanwei asked again: "Master Mao, do you think that Prince Qi Zhu Bo and Chen Li look similar?"
Mao Xiang froze in his place, then jumped up from his seat, closed the doors and windows, and lowered his voice, "How dare you be so bold! To slander the prince's bloodline is to punish all of your clans!"
Hu Shanwei pressed on, "Twelve years have passed, and people's memories are not reliable, but seeing Mr. Mao's reaction just now, I intuitively think there should be some similarities, right?"
Hu Shanwei spread out the pile of old papers on the table one by one and circled the key points with a red pen. Chen Youliang died in battle in August, shot in the head by Guo Ningfei's eldest brother Guo Ying; in February of the following year, Chen Li surrendered; Emperor Hongwu entered the Prince of Han's Mansion and took a fancy to Chen Youliang's concubine Da. Perhaps he was stunned by Da's beauty, or perhaps he was out of revenge, so he summoned Da to sleep with him that night. Ten months later, on New Year's Eve, Da gave birth to Prince of Qi Zhu Bo.
Hu Shanwei said, "Chen Li was fourteen years old at the time. Lord Mao should still remember the details of how Canmu assassinated Empress Xiaoci. The first person who came out to identify the assassin Canmu as the maid of Princess Han was Concubine Da Ding herself. Lord Mao, we may have been deceived by Concubine Da Ding's superficial obedience and tears."
"The silkworm mother incident may be Concubine Da Ding's accusation. The silkworm mother is from Jiangxi. The imperial censor Liu Hai, who petitioned for the posthumous title of Guo Zixing, is from Jiangxi. Cheng Pengju, who set a trap for Ma Ye, and Liu Hai were both candidates who passed the Jiangxi examination in the Xinhai year of the Hongwu reign. However, all these clues were created because of Concubine Da Ding's seemingly weak behavior, such as identifying the silkworm mother and asking the Prince of Qi to be enfeoffed in advance. This is a smoke screen to confuse us and make us rule out the most suspicious person."
Mao Xiang frowned, "Your inference is not without reason. I have the impression that Chen Li and the King of Qi seem to be somewhat similar. But Concubine Da Ding lives in the deep palace and rarely leaves the house. How can she control the old forces of the King of Han so easily and plan every step of the way?"
"After Concubine Da Ding first recognized the silkworm mother, she also suggested that Lord Mao ask the old people from the Han Palace in the palace. It was they who confirmed the identity of the silkworm mother. After the fall of the Han Palace, these people became official slaves and served in the Ming Palace. They probably recognized the Qi Wang as the young master and Da Shi as the mistress, and used this as a bridge for Concubine Da Ding to communicate with the old forces of the Han Wang." Hu Shanwei pointed at the name of the Qi Wang:
"Master Mao, don't you find it strange? The average age of the other princes to be enfeoffed was 20 years old, but the Prince of Qi was 17 years old. Because of the assassination of the Silkworm Mother, he was enfeoffed early at the begging of Concubine Da Ding. I think there are two reasons besides being able to distance himself from the matter. First, as he grows older, the Prince of Qi looks more and more like Chen Li, and there is a danger of being discovered in the harem."
"Secondly, there are many spies in the palace, so it is not convenient to contact the old forces outside. However, it is different in the vassal states. The vassal kings are powerful and the emperor is far away. They can almost cover the sky with one hand. In the past, Liu Siyan and his party died tragically in the Qin/Prince's Mansion in Xi'an, but it was kept secret. When the King of Qi arrives in the vassal state, the old forces of the King of Han can rest assured to submit to him."
As the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Mao Xiang had witnessed many tragedies. The horrific experience of Liu Siyan and his group could be ranked among the top three, which would be unforgettable for a lifetime.
The prince of Qi was in Qingzhou, Shandong, and the emperor was far away. The prince of Qi was enfeoffed in the 15th year of Hongwu, and came back to attend the funeral of Empress Ma when she passed away in the 16th year of Hongwu. At that time, they were all in tears, wearing coarse linen mourning clothes, all white. The princes looked the same, and no one paid attention to the appearance of the prince of Qi.
Since it concerns the royal bloodline, Mao Xiang has to treat it with caution. He traces his memory, but he is not even sure about Chen Li, let alone what the King of Qi looks like.
Mao Xiang said: "The palace maid who was able to lurk in the deep palace and pass on the message to Concubine Da Ding must be a dead man. Even if he is tortured, it is estimated that nothing can be obtained. Concubine Da Ding may even bite back and say that the palace maid confessed under torture. The most important thing now is to confirm the bloodline of the King of Qi and sneak into the King of Qi's mansion to check whether the King of Qi has any contact with suspicious people. If the evidence is conclusive, Concubine Da Ding will be helpless."
It is possible for a woman to give birth to a child after eight, nine, ten or even eleven months of pregnancy, so the bloodline of the King of Qi was in doubt.
Hu Shanwei said, "Master Mao is right. I am just a small female official in the deep palace. I have doubts but cannot verify them myself. I have to trouble Master Mao for everything."
Mao Xiang grabbed her wrist and said, "This is about the authenticity of the royal bloodline. Even I don't have the right to investigate the details of the Prince of Qi on my own. This matter must be ordered by the emperor. Come with me to report to the emperor and move these piles of old papers with you."
It was the middle of the night, and anyone would be in a bad mood if they were woken up in the middle of the night. Emperor Hongwu sat up suddenly on the dragon bed, thinking that it was a major military event: "What is it? Is it that the Northwest Yuan Dynasty is disturbing the border, or is there another local official in Yunnan who is plotting a rebellion?"
The Ming Dynasty's borders were never peaceful. It was always either a northern expedition or a southern expedition, and Emperor Hongwu never let down his guard.
Mao Xiang said: "It's about the assassination of Empress Xiaoci, and... Concubine Da Ding's possible confusion of the royal bloodline."
Both incidents were enough to make Emperor Hongwu wake up immediately.
The sleeping hall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
In the year since Empress Xiaoci passed away, Emperor Hongwu has not yet gotten over the grief of his first wife's death. He has not visited any concubines in the harem and has been sleeping alone in the Qianqing Palace. The female official Tongshi who was responsible for recording sex matters has been on paid leave for more than a year because there is nothing to record.
When Emperor Hongwu got up, he saw Hu Shanwei huddled in the corner and immediately revealed an expression that said "you again".
Hu Shanwei was scared. After all, it was difficult to tell the emperor that you might be cuckolded and have raised the enemy's son for 19 years. It was very likely that Emperor Hongwu would be furious and kill Hu Shanwei first.
Emperor Hongwu also knew his bad temper, so he raised his right hand and said, "Speak, I will forgive you."
Hu Shanwei walked from the corner to the lamp, started with the assassination of the silkworm mother, and took out the old papers from Cong Zang, "… That's it, I think Concubine Da Ding is very suspicious."
Concubine Da Ding wanted to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. Killing Emperor Hongwu was useless because there was a crown prince and twenty princes, so it was not the turn of the Prince of Qi to succeed to the throne.
The only chance for the Prince of Qi to ascend to the throne was when the Ming regime was in turmoil and the Prince of Qi took advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
Starting from the harem, he first used Canmu and Ma Ye to get rid of the empress who was capable of taking charge of the overall situation, posthumously conferred the title of Guo Zixing on Guo Huifei who gave birth to five children, and lured Guo Ningfei's only son, Prince Lu, to take Wu Shi San, a chronic poison/drug, in order to avenge Guo Ying who shot Han Prince Chen Youliang in the head with an arrow, and by the way, tripped up Guo Ningfei who was not good at educating her children.
Once Concubine Da Ding has eliminated and suppressed all her opponents, taken control of the harem, and made her a noble concubine or a successor queen, she will have a chance to deal with the crown prince...
Unexpectedly, Emperor Hongwu was eerily calm this time. He let Hu Shanwei talk without interrupting him, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Emperor Hongwu closed his eyes slightly, as if he was about to fall asleep. He didn't open his eyes until Hu Shanwei finished speaking. "Mao Xiang, send Jinyiwei spies and painters to Goryeo to secretly paint Chen Li's face. He may have old friends of the King of Han around him. Don't bring him back rashly, or you will alert the enemy. Also, send someone to investigate the King of Qi. He has been in the vassal state for two years. Find out who he associates with and whether he has private soldiers or keeps assassins."
Mao Xiang agreed, "Speed is of the essence in war. I will make arrangements tonight."
As soon as Mao Xiang left, Hu Shanwei quickly followed him and ran away, cherishing his life and staying away from the emperor.
"You stay." said Emperor Hongwu.
Hu Shanwei paused, his heart in his throat, "What does the emperor want?"
Emperor Hongwu pointed to the chair beside him and said, "Sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting me a seat." Hu Shanwei was extremely panicked, but he tried his best to remain calm.
Emperor Hongwu asked, "Ever since the Silkworm Mother incident, you have been suspicious. The beasts were fed to Xiaoling for a year, but they didn't make you give up pursuing the truth. Why did you do this? Empress Xiaoci asked you to let it go before she died."
Hu Shanwei said: "My motives are not as noble as serving the country and the people. Empress Xiaoci has been kind to me and has carefully promoted and taught me. Empress Xiaoci was tired of palace fighting and political struggles, and chose to die peacefully, but I couldn't do that. I want to find the truth and avenge Empress Xiaoci."
The Ming Dynasty's mountains and rivers and people are too empty. The longer he stays in the palace, the more insignificant he feels. It is for this reason that Hu Shanwei cherishes what he can do now. He is like a chess player playing against a master behind the curtain, analyzing the opponent's chess playing patterns and habits, guessing the opponent's moves, and looking for flaws.
If she had not returned to the palace to serve, she would have always been suspicious of Concubine Guo Ning and would have been going around in circles in a dead end.
Emperor Hongwu did not mention Consort Da Ding, but kept saying Empress Xiaoci, "It was me... who killed my queen."
Emperor Hongwu regretted deeply, "When the world was not yet pacified, I conquered cities and fought against many heroes for fourteen years, and I never took a woman in the army. Only after I captured Wuchang, I was angry that Chen Youliang repeatedly raised troops to attack us, so I took his concubine away."
As the overlord of Jiangnan, what kind of stunning beauties had Emperor Hongwu not seen? He loved the country far more than he loved beauties.
If Emperor Hongwu had not taken possession of Lady Da out of revenge, and Chen Li's beauty trap had failed, none of this would have happened. If the silkworm mother had not assassinated Empress Ma, causing her to suffer another severe injury after recovering from a serious illness, and if her nephew Ma Ye had not been deceived by her greed for merit and forced Lady Shexiang to rebel, causing severe mental trauma to Empress Ma, without the double blow of physical and mental damage, Empress Xiaoci might still be alive.
Hu Shanwei didn't know how to respond. Yes or no would be wrong, so he simply remained silent. The more he spoke, the more mistakes he made; the less he spoke, the fewer mistakes he made; and not saying anything was the right thing.
But Emperor Hongwu refused to let Hu Shanwei live in peace. "Someone, bring supper to Hu Siyan."
Could it be that he knew too much and would have to eat his last meal? Hu Shanwei was frightened, "Your humble servant... Your humble servant is not hungry."
Emperor Hongwu said, "Now that you are full, tell me about Empress Xiaoci."
Hu Shanwei and Emperor Hongwu chatted about Empress Xiaoci until dawn.
In order to stabilize Concubine Da Ding and prevent the news from leaking out, the Jinyiwei and the Gongzhengsi pretended to use excessive torture and executed the suspect, creating the illusion that there was no evidence. They also sealed off the medicine shop that sold Wu Shi San and beheaded the owner in order to relax the vigilance of the mastermind behind the scenes.
At this point, the Lu Wang pill case was closed with the follower's attempt to curry favor.
More than a month later, Mao Xiang presented to Emperor Hongwu the comparison chart of Chen Li and Prince of Qi drawn by the painter, and also handed over the evidence that Prince of Qi secretly summoned the old ministers of Prince of Han and raised private soldiers and assassins.
The King of Qi and Chen Li are 50% similar. Combined with other evidence, it is confirmed that after Emperor Hongwu cheated on Chen Youliang, he was cuckolded by Chen Li for another 19 years!
The green hat is eternal, and one will be passed down forever. Those who cuckold others will be cuckolded by everyone.
It was early winter at this time, and a brazier was lit in the house. Emperor Hongwu threw all the portraits and evidence into the brazier.
"Your Majesty?" Mao Xiang thought that Emperor Hongwu was so angry that he was confused.
Emperor Hongwu said: "Convey my decree. Concubine Da Ding is seriously ill and is in critical condition. Prince Zhu Bo of Qi is ordered to return to the capital to take care of her."
Mao Xiang said, "But Concubine Da Ding is not ill and is in good health. If the news and decree from the palace are not right, the King of Qi will be suspicious. If he is desperate and raises an army to revolt, Shandong will surely be in chaos."
Emperor Hongwu said coldly: "If I say she is sick, she will be sick; if I say she is seriously ill, she will immediately become seriously ill."
Mao Xiang immediately understood that Emperor Hongwu wanted to poison Concubine Da Ding and make the trick look real so that Prince Qi would believe that his mother was seriously ill and travel thousands of miles to the palace to visit Concubine Da Ding.
That night, Emperor Hongwu, for the first time ever, turned over Concubine Da Ding's name card and asked her to sleep with him.
This was the first time that Emperor Hongwu slept with a woman since the death of Empress Xiaoci, and the entire harem was shocked.
Concubine Guo Ning was so angry that she gnashed her teeth, "This vixen!"
How she wished it was her who became the first concubine to serve him in bed.
At this age and in this position, it didn't matter whether she slept with the emperor or not. But this time was different. The symbolic meaning was too great. Concubine Guo Ning had no physical desire for Emperor Hongwu, but her vanity was playing tricks on her psychologically. She wanted to kick Concubine Da Ding away and climb onto Emperor Hongwu's dragon bed.
Hu Shanwei rarely tried to comfort Concubine Guo Ning. She knew that Emperor Hongwu was about to take action, and thought to herself: Don't sleep with the Emperor to ensure his safety. When will Concubine Ning understand this
The author has something to say: 100 red envelopes will be given out tonight. Readers are welcome to leave comments.
This sentence "When the world was not yet pacified, I conquered cities and fought against many heroes for fourteen years, and I never took a woman in the army. Only after I captured Wuchang, I was angry that Chen Youliang repeatedly rebelled, so I took his concubine away." was written by Emperor Hongwu Ji in the legal book "Da Gao" compiled by Ji Ji.
He was a truly eccentric emperor. Most emperors would not reveal their own shortcomings and write them down...
Congratulations to reader Luoye for receiving a big red envelope of 100 points.
№9 Netizen: Luo Ye Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2019-02-16 23:55:41 Reviewed chapter: 117
Princess Da Ding