A man's heart is like a needle in the sea. The prince seduced her by promising her the position of imperial concubine, and lured her by offering her the position of palace lady. He also threatened her by saying that her father Hu Rong liked to go to the Jiaofangsi to drink tea and watch plays.
The prince used three tricks in a row in an attempt to gain Hu Shanwei's loyalty.
The prince was so impatient, Hu Shanwei certainly would not be so in love that she thought the prince liked her. Her first reaction was: Is the emperor dying? Hiding his illness? So the prince bribed her at this time to ensure his accession to the throne. That's not right. Before he set out, the Hongwu Emperor was in good health and even favored the Korean tribute girl who had just entered the palace.
Hu Shanwei is well-versed in history and has many years of practical experience in the palace. Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. In fact, there is a world of difference between the perfect prince in history books and the perfect prince in reality.
The princes in history books may have talent in poetry and literature, or be good at expanding territory, or be kind and compassionate, or be loyal to love. As long as they perform well in only one aspect, they will leave a good reputation and be considered a good prince.
But in reality, there is only one criterion for judging a prince—that is whether he can successfully ascend to the throne.
A prince who cannot become emperor is not a good prince.
The prince is different from the old Chinese doctor. The older the old Chinese doctor gets, the more popular he becomes. The longer the prince serves as the prince, the more dangerous he becomes. He is feared by the old emperor, who is getting older and his health and paranoia are developing in opposite directions.
Therefore, throughout history, those who have worked in the position of crown prince for more than 20 years basically have a miserable end, and few have a good ending.
The crown prince Zhu Biao tried hard to create a good personality of benevolence, friendship with brothers, respect for teachers, and loyalty to love. In fact, Hu Shanwei, who has been struggling in the world of fame and fortune all year round, absolutely does not believe it, but does not say it or expose it.
Back then, for the sake of the reputation of "respecting the teacher", the prince begged Emperor Hongwu to spare the life of his mentor Song Lian. In fact, he used a self-torture trick to force Empress Xiaoci to help. In the end, it was Empress Xiaoci who dragged her sick body to deal with Emperor Hongwu, but the reputation went to the prince.
From the funeral of Concubine Chengmu, which led to the "Record of Filial Piety and Kindness" that changed the filial piety system, to the two events of saving Song Lian, Hu Shanwei saw clearly the hypocrisy of the prince.
The prince's persona is to deceive the ignorant people and gain their respect and love. This is exactly the same as the celebrities in the entertainment industry who create "good men", "foodies" and "scholars" five hundred years later. They do this to quickly increase their popularity and recognition. They know that the people like this kind of persona, so they try to package themselves into a completely different persona from the real them. Therefore, there are often "good husbands" who cheat on their wives, "foodies" who are as thin as lightning, and "scholars" whose paper formats are not standard.
However, is it so easy to fool the public? The character setting is good for a while, but it will collapse like a crematorium. The higher you set it, the faster it will collapse.
At this time, the prince had already broken down in Hu Shanwei's heart, but he still shamelessly wanted to ask for her loyalty. She couldn't tell which one she hated more, the hypocritical prince or the violent King of Qin.
Hu Shanwei decided to give the prince a heavy blow and said, "I am paid by the Ming court, not by the Eastern Palace. I cannot hold the court's bowl and do the Eastern Palace's work. I will only be loyal to two people, the emperor and the imperial concubine who commands the six palaces. There is only one way for Your Highness to gain my trust, and that is to sit on the dragon throne."
Want to gain my trust? Then become the emperor first. The prince is the heir apparent, and is only one step away from the throne.
Yes, the difference of this step can be just a small step of three feet, or it can be a big step of ten thousand miles.
This step is actually very far, be careful not to hurt your balls, Prince!
Hu Shanwei had said so much, and the prince knew her decision and was very disappointed, "It turns out that Hu Siyan is the kind of person who will never bet until the last minute."
Hu Shanwei said, "Yes, I was born in a small family of merchants in the market. I have never seen the world. I only know who to serve and who to eat for. I appreciate the appreciation of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Please take the peach blossoms and put them in a vase in front of King Luhuang's coffin. Bye."
This was the royal temple of Yanzhou, where the body of King Luhuang was laid to rest. Forty-nine days after his younger brother's death, before his body had even cooled, the eldest brother could not wait to seduced the female official of his younger brother's mother.
Hu Shanwei took her leave, and the prince did not chase after her. He just looked at her back and thought about everything.
Legend has it that the seventh day after death is the last day for the dead to stay in the underworld. On this day, they must drink Meng Po soup, forget everything about their past life, and be reincarnated.
Hu Shanwei came to the main hall and prayed for King Luhuang in front of the Buddha: In the next life, don't be reborn into an emperor's family again, you useless good man.
After the ritual, the funeral procession returned to Prince Lu's Palace and would set off for Beijing tomorrow.
Hu Shanwei wrote a few pages of letters in the study, wrapped a pill in oil paper, put it in a wooden box, wrapped it with layers of waterproof and moisture-proof oil paper, and then wrapped it in a cloth bundle and handed it to Haitang:
"Take this and go out. After you go out, someone will definitely follow you. Don't be afraid, they won't hurt you. Change places and clothes, pretend to shake off the followers, then go to the escort agency where I hired bodyguards last time and send this wooden box to Mr. Mao of the Jinyiwei Yamen in the capital."
Haitang was puzzled. "This is very risky. It's hard to shake off the pursuit by myself."
Hu Shanwei said, "No, I don't want you to really get rid of it. I want them to think that since you are trying so hard to get rid of them, there must be some great and shocking secret in this wooden box."
Haitang asked, "What happened to Hu Siyan today? If you want to send a message to Lord Mao, just give it to Ji Gang. Why do you want the escort agency to do this? The escort agency is not as reliable as Ji Gang. There is a risk of this thing being lost or even replaced."
Hu Shanwei tapped the small box gently. "This little thing is bait. I want to use it to catch a big fish. Logically, I should stay out of this matter and leave it to the emperor and the imperial concubine to decide, but..."
Hu Shanwei felt sick when he recalled the scene where Prince Taohualin frivolously lifted up his chin with a peach branch. King Luhuang was a member of the royal family, and his birth, aging, sickness and death were all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Clan Affairs. However, the head of the Ministry of Clan Affairs was the prince who presided over King Luhuang's funeral.
Just because you are the prince, you can't bully me and tease me.
Don't think that the matter is over just because I rejected you. You are responsible for your frivolous behavior.
I, Hu Shanwei, never cause trouble, but I am never afraid of it. I will deal with anyone who stirs up palace fighting.
"Catching a big fish?" Haitang asked, "Is there a real murderer who poisoned King Luhuang? Has Hu Siyan been found? Who added arsenic to the alum?"
Hu Shanwei said: "The Prince of Lu's mansion is under the control of the princess, so the substitution could only have been done outside the mansion in Yanzhou City. The other party should not have reached in, otherwise the fatal evidence such as the alum and the Alchemy Notes would have been stolen or destroyed long ago."
"But there are so many people in Yanzhou City that we can't find any traces. Moreover, it has been 49 days since the incident. King Luhuang's medicine bag may have been replaced on the way. Even if the Jinyiwei came to investigate, they probably wouldn't be able to find out the reason. The only way to catch the real culprit is to make the real culprit mistakenly think that we have some solid evidence and lure them out."
Hu Shanwei pointed at the small box and said, "Whoever touches this box is the murderer."
Haitang praised: "Hu Siyan's plan is brilliant!" After thinking for a moment, she asked again: "Will the murderer... really take the bait?"
Hu Shanwei recalled the prince fiddling with the flower arrangement in the vase on the altar. He broke off a few branches and said, "Flower arrangement requires a staggered arrangement, with some high and some low, so that it is pleasing to the eye. There is always only one flower that is the tallest. If they are all about the same height, even if the vase is full of exotic flowers, it will not look good."
Also, the scene in the peach blossom forest where the prince seduced me with money and threatened my family. He didn’t come earlier or later, but chose to “recruit” me at this very moment… If you don’t do anything wrong, you don’t have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door.
Prince Luhuang died neither early nor late, but he died when the foundation of Kunning Palace was reinforced and rebuilt, and Concubine Guo was about to be crowned as the queen.
Once Concubine Guo was crowned as the empress, Prince Luhuang would be the only legitimate son. The Crown Prince Zhu Biao was the eldest son of a concubine, and the Hongwu Emperor did not even let this woman keep her name. Both of Prince Luhuang's uncles were marquises and famous generals of the Ming Dynasty.
Judging from his background, the prince fell into the ranks. Although his position as crown prince was stable and he had a good reputation, his status as the legitimate son of King Luhuang put a lot of pressure on him.
Especially since Emperor Hongwu was in good health and had three sons at the age of 62, it was unknown how long the crown prince would have to wait in the East Palace before he could take the throne. Every day he waited, the East Palace was in danger of changing its owner.
The prince was also well-read in history books, and he certainly knew that being a prince with a working experience of more than 20 years was the most dangerous job in the world.
Therefore, getting rid of King Luhuang and strangling the threat in the cradle is the best way. When Concubine Guo is crowned as the Queen, she will be the second Empress Xiaoci. She has no legitimate sons, and all illegitimate sons are the same in her eyes...
Hu Shanwei said: "I'm not sure either. I hope I'm overthinking it, otherwise this result would be really terrible."
Haitang was clever and smart. When the King of Qin threatened her elder brother's life and borrowed Princess Huaiqing's hand to get rid of Hu Shanwei, it was Haitang who persuaded her elder sister, who was a female role in the Imperial Music Bureau, to take advantage of the situation and catch the venomous King of Qin.
Hu Shanwei assisted Concubine Guo and gained much power. He found a way to free Haitang's sister and elder brother from their status as official slaves and sent them to Muchun in Yunnan to start a new life as immigrants.
Gu Haitang was loyal to Hu Shanwei and obeyed his orders. She put the small bag into the food box and went out through the back door disguised as an ordinary maid in Prince Lu's mansion.
Not sure if someone was really following her or if it was Hu Shanwei's reminder, Haitang felt like there were always a few eyes on her. When she passed by a clothing store, she bought a set of men's clothes and rented a sedan chair. She wandered around Yanzhou City, pretending to be trying to get rid of the followers.
After that, he even rented a horse and went out of the city for a while, then returned. Then he went to the escort agency, entrusted the small box to the escort agency at a high price, and hired ten escorts to deliver it to the capital.
After leaving the escort agency, Haitang felt the scrutiny again. She did not look around, but walked back to Prince Lu's mansion with a relaxed pace, confident that she had escaped the pursuit.
The next day, the huge funeral procession set out for Beijing. The young widow, Princess Lu, carried Guo'er in her arms to see them off. The prince comforted his crying sister-in-law and hugged the cradle Guo'er.
Hu Shanwei saw the prince's kind eyes, as if he loved Guo'er very much. Even though he was wearing a padded jacket, he felt a chill to the bone.
Guo'er was fine in the Princess Lu's arms, but when the prince held him, he started to cry loudly and twisted his body in his swaddling clothes. Hu Shanwei was frightened and walked over to him and said, "Gu'er is smacking his lips. He must be hungry. Ask the nurse to take him over and feed him."
Guo'er was the hope of the Prince Lu's Mansion, and the Princess of Lu also hoped that he would inherit the title and continue the lineage of the Prince of Lu. Upon hearing this, she quickly winked at the wet nurse, asking her to take Guo'er back. It was not convenient to pass Guo'er directly between the eldest brother-in-law and the widow's sister-in-law, so the wet nurse acted as a middleman to carry Guo'er back and forth.
The prince still maintained a kind smile, and returned Guo'er to the nurse, saying lovingly: "I have eight children, all of whom were raised by me, so I have some experience. Guo'er cries loudly, and his legs are strong. He will definitely be a healthy child in the future."
Now, in addition to the characters of a "good son", "good elder brother", "good student" and "good husband", the prince also has the character of a "good father" - who would have expected that the "good elder brother" would use all his tricks to force the female official to submit in the peach blossom forest on the seventh day after his younger brother's death
Hypocrisy, so hypocritical!
Before Hu Shanwei got on the carriage, Princess Lu blamed herself in front of her again, saying that she had failed Concubine Guo's trust and failed to take good care of Prince Luhuang, "… A virtuous wife brings few troubles to her husband. It's all my fault, woo woo."
In fact, judging from the way Princess Lu managed the palace in an orderly manner, she was definitely not as soft-hearted as she appeared to be. She was just forced by the ethical code of male superiority and female inferiority to show weakness and seek forgiveness.
Hu Shanwei felt compassion and comforted her, "Princess Lu, please don't let your imagination run wild. Take good care of Guo'er and raise him up. Don't let him follow his father's old path. Although Prince Lu is gone, Guo'er is Concubine Guo's grandson. Concubine Guo is also the support of the Prince Lu's mansion. We are still a family."
Seeing Hu Shanwei's attitude, Princess Lu felt relieved and stopped crying.
Hu Shanwei sighed: The women in the royal family have practiced to the point where they can control their tears freely.
On the way back to Beijing, Hu Shanwei and Shen Qionglian ate, lived, slept and woke up together, like conjoined sisters, and deliberately acted on guard against the prince.
Shen Qionglian felt strange, "What happened? Why did you suddenly become timid?"
Hu Shanwei said: "Believe me, you don't know that this is for your own good."
Shen Qionglian never liked to meddle in other people's business, so she actually didn't ask. This made Hu Shanwei feel itchy, and he wanted to tell her about Taohualin being harassed by the prince.
This greasy prince actually used a peach branch to support my chin! Ah! Even Chunchun has never supported my chin so frivolously!
Staying at the inn at night, Hu Shanwei washed his face with a hot towel and rubbed his chin hard, almost rubbing off a layer of skin.
The prince treated the two female officials with daily courtesy and even gave them the best room in the post station, as if the harassment incident in the peach blossom forest had never happened.
Ten days later, the funeral procession arrived in the capital. It was March in Nanjing at that time, with the weather warm and flowers blooming. People who were afraid of heat had already put on light clothes. From afar, people could see the white flags flying high in the sky and hear the deafening cries.
The funeral was unusual in that it was conducted according to royal rites, with civil and military officials from the court seeing him off. Hu Shanwei was shocked when he saw it: In just three months, another prince had passed away
When the funeral procession got closer, they learned that Mu Ying, the Duke of Qian, had passed away. Emperor Hongwu posthumously conferred the title of king on him, allowed him to be enshrined in the Taimiao, and gave him the posthumous name of Zhaojing.
Mu Ying is dead? Then Mu Chun...
Hu Shanwei quickly got off the carriage. With Ji Gang leading the way, she successfully squeezed to the front of the crowd and looked at the "filial son" Mu Chun, who was wearing hemp shoes, coarse linen mourning clothes without hems, and holding his father's tablet and walking in the front.
For six years, the two had been in contact through letters but had never met. They never expected to meet again under such circumstances.
Mu Chun's eyes were red, and when he saw Hu Shanwei on the roadside, they immediately lit up and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.
Hu Shanwei took a look and thought something was wrong, so he shook his head and waved his hands.
Mu Chunfang retracted his gaze and continued to look sad.
Behind Mu Chun, wearing the same mourning clothes were his third brother Mu Ang and fourth brother Mu Xin. Mu Xin was the little boy who licked his fingers like a savage six years ago. He grew up in the palace like Mu Chun did when he was a child. He was arranged to live in the East Five Buildings of the Qianqing Palace and grew up with several little princes. Now he is a nine-year-old boy. He has grown up to be very delicate and it is hard to tell whether he is androgynous, like a girl.
Only the second son of the Mu family, Mu Sheng, stayed in Yunnan.
Behind the three young masters of the Mu family was a curtain made of white linen, which was pulled open by several strong servants holding poles to form two white "walls" that could be walked on.
Inside the wall were all the women of the Mu family in mourning, headed by of course, Lady Geng, the wife of the Duke of Qian. In fact, Mu Ying had been stationed in Yunnan for many years and was mostly on the battlefield. All the matters of the Mu family, big and small, were left to Geng to take care of. It was almost like being a widow. The couple had a cold relationship and lived their lives with cold respect for each other.
So, Geng Shi was not crying for her husband, but for her beloved son Mu Sheng who did not come back for the funeral. Without her husband, Geng Shi missed her only biological son even more. She had not seen her son for eleven years!
The young lady supporting Geng was the second young lady Cheng. Cheng was Mu Sheng's legal wife, proposed to by his father Mu Ying himself. Cheng's family was not prominent, being a small civil servant family. No one knew what Mu Ying's plan was, as he obviously loved his second son the most, yet he arranged such a low-key marriage for him.
When Geng learned about this, she was so angry that she vomited blood. A woman of this background was not even worthy of being a concubine for her son! But since she married into the Mu family, she knew how the first wife Feng died. She knew that if she wanted to live a good life, she had to follow her husband's wishes and not have her own ideas.
So Geng had no choice but to accept the marriage and began to arrange the wedding. Since Mu Sheng had been following his father to garrison Yunnan and quell rebellions everywhere, he had no time to come back to get married. In the end, it was the five-year-old fourth brother Mu Xin who picked up the bride for his second brother and got married.
So Mu Sheng's wife, the second young lady Cheng, had been married to the Mu family for almost four years, but she still had not seen her husband. She had her hair combed like a woman, but she was still a virgin.
However, although Mu Sheng's wife was not around, it did not prevent him from taking concubines - yes, Mu Sheng was exactly the same as his biological father Mu Ying in appearance, personality, and hobbies. He liked women, beautiful women. Before Mu Ying's death, two concubines had given birth to sons for Mu Sheng.
Cheng became a mother without even seeing her husband, which made her even more miserable than her mother-in-law Geng. Geng had given birth to Mu Sheng after all, so when she heard Geng crying, she became even sadder and her cry was louder than Geng's.
Through the moving white curtains, she could hear the cries of the women inside. Hu Shanwei, who was watching from the crowd, sighed in her heart: She hated Mu Ying and hated his coldness towards Mu Chun. Most of Mu Chun's pain in half of her life came from her father. But Mu Ying really died. Seeing his coffin passing by, she didn't feel happy. She had to admit that Mu Ying was the backbone of the Ming Dynasty.
His death was a great loss to the Ming Dynasty. The twenty or so sons of Emperor Hongwu combined were not as good as his adopted son Mu Ying.
Hu Shanwei's eyes greedily followed Mu Chun's back in mourning clothes, and he was reluctant to leave until he disappeared.
Muchun held his father's tablet in his arms, his heart pounding. Ah, I finally got to see Sister Shanwei! Why is the funeral procession so long? Why haven't we reached the grave yet? Why is the auspicious time for burial so slow
Mu Ying and his wife are buried together in Guanyin Mountain, Jiangning County, Nanjing. Because his first wife, Feng, died early, the tomb had been built long ago. The couple are buried in the same tomb, but the coffins are placed in different rooms. The tomb has a "three-room and two-hall" structure. The three rooms are for Feng, Mu Ying, and there is also a tomb dug for the future second wife, Geng, where the coffin is placed.
The two halls are two left and right tomb chambers used for storing burial objects and sacrifices, with a long tomb passage in the middle.
The funeral procession first opened the first tomb door and walked into the front tomb passage. After about thirty steps, they were blocked by a tomb door weighing a thousand pounds.
Behind the tomb door is a depression, in which a stone pillar weighing several hundred kilograms is stuck, tilted to support the tomb door, making it impossible to open the tomb door from the outside.
When the tomb was built, a small square opening was reserved on the left side of the tomb passage. This opening was the entrance to the tomb chamber, similar to the "back door" reserved by programmers for programs five hundred years later.
A thin gravedigger pried open the tomb bricks and crawled in through the square opening. After reaching the tomb chamber, he moved the stone pillar supporting the tomb door, and the door slowly opened.
Mu Ying's coffin was carried into the middle tomb chamber and placed on the coffin bed. To the left of the coffin was the coffin of his first wife, Feng, which had been there for 29 years.
Muchun burned incense and kowtowed in front of his mother's coffin. He did not cry because his father died, but when he saw his mother's coffin, tears fell uncontrollably to the ground, one by one hitting the blue brick floor of the tomb.
After the burial ceremony was over, Mu Chun walked out of the tomb and his tears stopped.
After everyone had walked out of the tomb, the thin gravedigger pushed the stone pillar weighing several hundred kilograms into the groove on the ground to hold the tomb door against place. He then climbed into the tomb passage through the small opening reserved in the tomb and sealed it with bricks again.
This small opening will remain until Geng dies, when the gravedigger crawls in, reopens the tomb door, and carries the couple into the tomb chamber on the right side of Mu Ying to be buried together. The gravedigger then holds the tomb door for the third time, crawls out of the tomb through the small opening, and places explosives on his body to blow up the small entrance, then seals the tomb with bricks. The three of them will sleep here forever.
The author has something to say: The fight is going to start tomorrow, I’m so excited.
200 red envelopes will be given out tonight, yes, 200! Let's celebrate Women's Day together! Have a nice weekend everyone! Happy Women's Day!
Congratulations to reader yuki for receiving a 100-point red envelope!
[-Collapse] №12 Netizen: yuki Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2019-03-07 23:12:53 Reviewed chapter: 136
2, Li Zhi and Li Xian