Concubine Guo Ning was full of confidence, thinking that the position of empress was within her grasp.
Emperor Hongwu announced that the funeral of Concubine Da Ding and her two children should be kept simple, on the grounds that Concubine Da Ding was married for the second time, Prince Qi and Prince Tan were not yet married, and the palace was still in mourning for Empress Xiaoci. The funeral would be handed over to the Ministry of Rites to be sent to their hometown in Fengyang for burial, and there would be no need for the palace to be busy.
The Palace Administration and the Embroidered Uniform Guards were catching "Northern Yuan spies" in the palace, and suddenly a lot of positions became vacant. Concubine Guo Ning quickly placed the people she wanted to promote in those positions and replaced them with her own people.
Concubine Guo Ning was filled with emotion: "In the past, I used the anniversary of Empress Xiaoci's death to release people from outside the palace and arrange for my own people, but it was rejected by the six bureaus and one department led by Cao Shanggong. Now it's good, there is no need to release people, the position will naturally be vacant, it's just right for me to place my own people in the position."
Madam Guo praised: "So Hu Siyan is a lucky girl. Whoever gets her will have better luck."
At this time, the "lucky general" Hu Shanwei came to Zhongcui Palace to pay his respects, and then hurried to find Cao Shanggong.
Cao Shang Gong never had a good face towards her. "A lot of people disappeared from the palace overnight. I don't believe they were all spies from the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Concubine Da Ding and her son must have done something wrong. I, the Shang Gong, kept it a secret from the beginning to the end. You are now a favorite of the emperor and Concubine Guo Ning. You must know the real reason. What are you doing here today? Are you going to force me to abdicate and let someone else take over?"
Hu Shanwei said bluntly: "I came here for Ru Si's medicine."
Cao Shang Gong snorted coldly: "I heard that Ru Siyao was suspected of colluding with the Yuan Dynasty and was a spy of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. She was arrested and interrogated by the Palace Administration Office."
Hu Shanwei said: "Ru Siyao is my guest of honor at this time."
Cao Shang Gong raised her eyebrows, "You are meddling in other people's business again. I think Fan Gongzheng must be very happy to take on such a hot potato."
Hu Shanwei said: "Mrs. Cao is indeed very perceptive and can see things clearly. I really admire her."
Cao Shang Gong sneered, "You are flattering me for no reason. Tell me, what do you want?"
Hu Shanwei said, "The Shanggong Bureau manages the roster and files of all the palace servants. I want to take a look at Ru Siyao's records."
Lady Cao asked, "Since you suspected her, why did you protect her?"
Hu Shanwei said: "There are so many things going on now, and all of them are important people. I don't know how to find the real murderer within three days, but at least I can try to prove that Ru Siyao is innocent."
This is the method of contradiction. At that time, only five people knew about it: Hu Shanwei, the judge, Mao Xiang, Emperor Hongwu, and Ru Siyao. Among them, Ru Siyao was the softest persimmon, so of course she was the first to be pinched.
Lady Cao was a person with a cold face but a righteous heart. She took Ru Siyao's resume and gave it to Hu Shanwei. "I don't know what happened to Ru Siyao, but she only wanted to know medicine. There must be some misunderstanding."
Hu Shanwei looked through Ru Siyao's records, from the time she entered the palace, who was in her family, who testified, the letters she exchanged with relatives and friends inside and outside the palace every year, and even the handwritten copies of the letters that were kept.
Ru Siyao has a clean background. He comes from a century-old scholarly family. Such a person has ties, and unless there are major changes in his life that cause him to become enemies with his family, he will generally not be involved in treason.
Hu Shanwei found nothing and returned to his residence. Ru Siyao had already washed and changed into clean clothes. Her half-dry black hair hung down. She was leaning against the warm fumigation oven to dry her hair, and she was drowsy.
It was rare to see Ru Siyao's lazy and leisurely side. She was relaxed and at ease, not worrying at all about how she would report back in three days.
Hearing footsteps, Ru Siyao leaned on the fumigation cage and said, "I really haven't told anyone about Concubine Da Ding's poisoning, and I won't leak the secret accidentally. I have been in the harem for fourteen years, and I know what to say and what not to say. Moreover, after I refused to treat Concubine Da Ding that day, I have been careful to avoid suspicion. I only deal with medical books and medicinal materials every day. I have never treated other people, nor have I gossiped with others."
"I won't bite others just to get out of this situation. Life is short, so it's better to die with dignity than to live in vain."
Hu Shanwei said, "Do you know? It was Doctor Tan who took the risk and asked me to save you."
The body leaning against the fumigation cage froze. Ru Siyao turned her head, her back to Hu Shanwei, and said indifferently: "I have told him to give up long ago. The Tan family will not allow their daughter-in-law to be a doctor in the public. There is no way I will leave the palace and marry him."
Although he said this, Hu Shanwei saw that Ru Siyao's shoulders began to tremble violently. It was obvious that she was moved by Doctor Tan.
Hu Shanwei understands Ru Siyao's choice. Reality is cruel, not all lovers can become spouses. Compared with Ru Siyao and Doctor Tan, the obstacles between her and Mu Chun are greater, and their love is destined to be long and bumpy.
Having walked into a dead end again, Hu Shanwei felt even more melancholy. She was very discouraged and simply leaned against the fumigation cage. She was extremely tired mentally and physically. She had wanted to go to the Xiaoling Mausoleum for some quiet time, but she didn't expect that the more she hid, the more trouble she would encounter. When right and wrong came knocking on her door, she couldn't avoid it.
The incense burner was filled with the scent of lilies that help one sleep, and Hu Shanwei fell asleep on it.
The dream was a mess. She dreamed that she accidentally wrote the word "Spring" on the snow on the windowsill, but was afraid that someone would discover her thoughts, so she melted it with her palm.
But just as she was about to close the window, she saw someone had stepped on the snow on the hillside lawn and left a huge "Spring" character with footprints!
How could this be? Her thoughts were as clear as Sima Zhao's, and everyone knew about it.
"Sister Shanwei, don't even think about forgetting me. This word will be forever engraved in your heart." The man looked up and gave her a wicked smile. This man was Mu Chun.
This annoying little devil! Hu Shanwei was angry and in love with her. He chased her to the lawn, but Mu Chun was gone.
Fortunately, she was quick-witted and whistled to lure the deer over. Countless big deer hooves trampled the word "Spring" into pieces, destroying every trace of the word.
Hu Shanwei let out a long sigh. A clear whistle was heard from the sky. He looked up and saw a man riding a phoenix. The phoenix was flying with its feathers fluttering.
Hu Shanwei chased the phoenix again. A palace surrounded by clouds appeared in front of him. The person falling from the phoenix was Queen Ma.
"Empress? Why are you here?" Hu Shanwei couldn't help but move closer.
Empress Ma was wearing her living clothes, vaguely looking the same as before, but her expression was relieved and extraordinary, "I have always lived here."
Hu Shanwei said, "Your Majesty, I can't figure it out. The clues are like a ghost wall, going around and around and back to the starting point. And I can't tell anyone else. In the palace, if you tell others about your troubles, not only will you not be able to share half of the burden, but you will also create double the trouble. Even the closest people can't be completely honest with them. Your Majesty, now I finally understand why you are so tired."
Queen Ma smiled and said, "In fact, the answer is right in front of us, but few people have the courage to face it."
"Do you know who the leaker is?" Hu Shanwei approached excitedly, "Only five people know, who is it?"
Empress Ma said, "You are running around to plead for Ru Siyao because she will not benefit from leaking the secret, and all her thoughts are on pursuing medicine. Then, conversely, after the secret is leaked, who will benefit from the survivors? It's still the rule I taught you before. The affairs of the harem, in the final analysis, are all the affairs of the previous dynasty..."
Queen Ma disappeared, the palace was gone, and under her feet was a piece of scorched earth and broken walls. She felt her feet go soft and looked down, and found that she was standing on a dead face with a broken skull. It was the King of Qi.
She was so scared that she stepped back, but no matter where she retreated, she was stepping on corpses. Only then did she realize that she was in the Xiaoling Mausoleum, and the ground was strewn with corpses.
Hu Shanwei suddenly sat up from the fumigation cage. It turned out to be a dream. Ru Siyao patted her face with cold water: "You were possessed by a nightmare. Finally you wake up."
Looking at Ru Siyao, the strange dream still lingered in his mind. Hu Shanwei stared straight ahead and murmured, "I understand. It's actually the same as before. Eliminate the impossible one by one. The most impossible is possible. As long as we find the motive and what he wants..."
In the Qianqing Palace, Hu Shanwei requested to see Emperor Hongwu. The palace was being purged, and even the atmosphere became tense. Mao Xiang personally led the Jinyiwei to protect the emperor.
Mao Xiang asked, "What are you going to do? The emperor is too busy to see you."
Hu Shanwei said: "I will personally report to the emperor who leaked the information."
Mao Xiang was very surprised: "Fan Gongzheng has been interrogating for two days without any results, how come you found it so quickly?"
Hu Shanwei said: "Maybe I am just lucky."
Mao Xiang warned: "Don't try to win credit or reward by forcing someone to confess to deceive the emperor."
Hu Shanwei said: "I am not one of your Jinyiwei."
"You—" Mao Xiang was about to lose his temper, but Ji Gang came up to persuade him, "Have you been angry recently? You are so angry. Ever since Empress Xiaoci passed away, there have been constant disturbances in and outside the palace. It's a blessing that you can live until now without any missing limbs. You still quarrel at every turn. Can't you save your energy to breathe?"
Hu Shanwei and Mao Xiang said in unison: "Shut up!"
Ji Gang swallowed his anger and said, "Master Mao, Hu Siyan just escaped death and protected the shrine of Empress Xiaoci. He has made great contributions to the emperor. If such a meritorious official wants to see the emperor, he must have something important to report. Why are you blocking the door? What if you delay things?"
Mao Xiang: “You—”
Before Mao Xiang finished speaking, Ji Gang pointed at Hu Shanwei and said, "Hu Siyan, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you should be more polite when talking to our Master Mao in the future. Our Master Mao does owe you a husband, but this happened three years ago, and we can't settle the account like this."
Ji Gang's words were righteous, and he said that both of them should be punished with 60 strokes of the cane, but in fact he was leaning towards Hu Shanwei, saying that the country owed you a husband. If Mao Xiang hadn't interfered, Hu Shanwei would have been the wife of a first-rank baron long ago.
Mao Xiang looked at Ji Gang, whose elbow was bent outward, as if he was watching the pigs he raised eating up his own vegetable garden. A man cannot be kept when he grows up. He had worked so hard to cultivate and promote him, but he was not able to withstand a word of sarcasm from Hu Shanwei. How despicable! How despicable!
While Mao Xiang was furious, Ji Gang brought Hu Shanwei in to report.
In the study of Emperor Hongwu, a new painting of "Pine and Deer" was hung on the wall. It was the work of Shen Qionglian who had painted it on the grave.
The snow covers the pines, the pine needles are lush green, and deer are walking among the pines. It is a peaceful and beautiful place.
This is the most beautiful moment before the Xiaoling Mausoleum encountered war, and Emperor Hongwu will treasure it for the rest of his life.
Emperor Hongwu asked: "Who was the person who leaked the news that Concubine Da Ding was poisoned?"
Hu Shanwei said: "The leaker is right in front of me."
In front of Hu Shanwei was Emperor Hongwu.
Emperor Hongwu remained motionless, "You are so brave."
He did not deny it. Hu Shanwei was more certain of his speculation: "There are five suspects, me, the chief judge of the Imperial Hospital, Ru Siyao, and Mao Xiang. The four of us will not gain any benefit from this, but will bring disaster upon ourselves. If we only look at the result of this matter, the emperor is the biggest beneficiary. Whether inside or outside the palace, the power of the King of Han has been uprooted, and the emperor no longer has to worry about a counterattack from the remnants of Chen Youliang."
"Since you have been able to collect evidence that the Prince of Qi accepted Chen Youliang's old forces, then the Prince of Qi has long been under your close surveillance. What's the point of catching the Prince of Qi in a trap and killing him alone? As long as Chen Youliang's old forces are still there, they will be a major concern for the emperor. So you tricked the Prince of Qi into returning to the capital to take care of the illness, and at the same time, you ordered the people who summoned the Prince of Qi to the capital to pretend to accidentally reveal the truth about Concubine Da Ding's poisoning. You used both false and true words to coax the Prince of Qi into making a desperate bet and gathering all his forces to fight to the death."
"And Prince Tan, the emperor is suspicious. He wants to test whether his son's heart is with his father or mother, and force Prince Tan to make an either-or choice. A son who is disloyal to the Ming Dynasty is not worthy of being a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and is not worthy of being your son."
"The only thing you miscalculated is that the Prince of Qi did not have the courage to work with the people in the harem to force the emperor to pass the throne to him. Instead, he chose to go to the Xiaoling Mausoleum to seize the remains of the Prince of Lu and Empress Xiaoci as threats, rescue Concubine Da Ding, and then flee."
"Your original plan was that Concubine Da Ding and the King of Qi would fail in their attempt to force the emperor to abdicate, and that they would commit suicide out of shame and anger. This would not only wipe out the old forces of the King of Han, but also preserve the reputation of the royal family and make it known to the world that Concubine Da Ding and the King of Qi were traitors. Naturally, they would be nailed to the pillar of shame, recorded in history, and cursed for eternity."
However, at the last step, the situation got out of control. The commander of the imperial guards, Guo Xing, the Marquis of Gongchang, was well prepared and approved Mu Chun's leave without knowing the truth. However, he did not wait until the moment when the Qi Wang rebels forced the emperor to abdicate. Instead, the Mausoleum of Xiaoling, which was poorly defended, was in trouble.
Because of this, after returning to the palace, Emperor Hongwu did not immediately look for Fan Gongzheng to press for the result, and let Ru Siyao stay in prison, because Emperor Hongwu knew that she was not the leaker. Otherwise, Ru Siyao would have been tortured to death long ago. How could she still be leaning against the fumigation cage like now
The motives and results are roughly consistent. The affairs of the harem never only affect the harem, and every word of Empress Xiaoci is from the heart.
Emperor Hongwu said: "Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
Hu Shanwei said, "I am afraid of death. But there are many things in this world that are scarier than death. I am a court lady who has experienced this from beginning to end. It is my duty to find the truth, even though I am unwilling to face it. Your Majesty is the emperor and wants the country to be forever secure. There is nothing wrong with what you did, but Your Majesty, many innocent people have died. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy and spare Ru Siyao's life. Ru Siyao has been working diligently and treating illnesses and saving lives for fourteen years since she entered the palace. She should not die."
Emperor Hongwu closed his eyes and did not open them for a long time. When Hu Shanwei thought he was asleep, Emperor Hongwu opened his eyes and said, "You must keep this a secret, as if it never happened. In addition, Ru Siyao will resign from office and leave the palace from today on. She is not allowed to stay in the palace, and she must not disclose the poisoning of Concubine Da Ding for the rest of her life. Otherwise, I will implicate all nine generations of the Ru family."
Hu Shanwei said: "I, your Majesty, thank you for your grace."
Hu Shanwei bowed and left. When he reached the door, Emperor Hongwu suddenly said, "I... I did have a tentative heart, but I never intended to kill Prince Tan. After all, he is my own flesh and blood, and I will pardon his sins in the future. But I didn't expect that Prince Tan would rather die than take the surname I gave him. You just said that there are many things in this world that are more terrible than death. It turns out that I am more terrible than death in Prince Tan's heart. Why is the father-son relationship so cold?"
Hu Shanwei didn't know how to answer, so he could only say, "My relationship with my father is not very good either."
Don’t ask me this question. I don’t know why either. Why don’t you ask Mu Chun? The relationship between him and his father, Marquis Xiping… Well, it’s even worse.
The emperor wanted Ru Siyao to leave that day, and the palace did not dare to keep her until tomorrow.
At dusk, the white snow was floating in the air, and the storm was a dream, all in a transformation. Ru Siyao left the palace from Xi'an Gate with a small bag on her back, and the red gate slowly closed behind her.
After leaving the place where she had worked and lived for fourteen years, Ru Siyao did not look back, for she was afraid that she would cry, so she walked straight forward. She kept comforting herself: after the death of Empress Xiaoci, there were constant disturbances in the harem, and she was involved in the disputes. She could no longer concentrate on medicine, so she might as well go home.
However, she was unwilling to give in. If there were disputes in the palace, would there be peace outside the palace
Ru Siyao is afraid of the world outside the palace.
"Ru Siyao!" Doctor Tan drove a carriage and came over, but Ru Siyao still did not stop.
Doctor Tan asked, "What are Ru Siyao's plans for the future?"
In front of the imperial physician, Ru Siyao refused to show weakness and said, "What a person worries about is nothing more than retirement and medical care. For retirement, a female official can get a lifetime salary; for medical care, I am a doctor myself. I will go back to my hometown to pay homage to my parents' graves, then look for famous doctors and travel around the world to collect medicinal materials and medical books that have never been seen in the palace, and open a medicine shop in a place I like. When I have accumulated enough experience, I will write a medical book about women's diseases."
Doctor Tan asked, "Can I accompany Ru Siyao to do these things? I also want to travel around the world, open a medicine shop and write medical books."
Ru Siyao found it funny, "You are the imperial physician, you can't leave the capital."
"Not now." Tan Fu said, "I have already resigned from the Imperial Hospital. I am now just a commoner, Tan Fu, a man who wants to stay away from the palace disputes, travel the world with the person he loves, stay together for life, open a pharmacy together and study medicine. I don't have an official position, and I don't plan to rely on my family for financial support. If I don't do well in the civilian world in the future, I may need Ru Siyao's lifetime salary to support my family. I don't know if Ru Siyao will look down on me like this."
Ru Siyao smiled with tears in her eyes, and jumped onto the carriage carrying a small bag, "I will support you."
The author has something to say: Ru Siyao: Yes, I approached you just to learn medicine.
Ru Siyao: There is no way I can marry him.
Ruth Medicine: It smells so good!
Looking at the comments last night, many little angels have guessed that the leaker was Emperor Hongwu, and have analyzed the reasons very clearly. You guys are amazing.
The previous questions were too difficult, so tonight there is a 100-point free question for the first reader to answer it.
Ru Siyao said “I will support you”, which line is this from Stephen Chow’s classic movie
Pay attention, this is a free point question, classmates, you don't need me to write four options, right~~~~~~~~