Hu Shanwei lost her mother at the age of six. Her father Hu Rong raised her alone. After her family opened a bookstore, she began to hide and copy books. Her small body sat on a chair like a porcelain doll, with her feet dangling and the tips of her shoes not even touching the floor.
Hu Shanwei's mother had been absent since her childhood, and she felt like something was missing in her heart. She longed for it but it could never be filled.
When she was twelve years old, she was engaged to Captain Wang Ning. Her future mother-in-law was a humble and weak widow who was very kind to her. Whenever she got something delicious, fun, or rare, she would send it to her to please her.
Hu Shanwei thought, this is probably what maternal love is like.
When Wang Ning's urn arrived at her home, the widow collapsed and died less than three months later. Before her death, this kind widow tearfully told her to forget Wang Ning and advised her to remarry.
Jiang Quan was more like the mother in her remaining memories than the widow. Hu Shanwei's mother came from a large family in Shandong. She was beautiful and dignified, with elegant conversation and outstanding temperament. When little Shanwei was naughty and crying, her mother never lost her temper. She reasoned with her over and over again, and was gentle to the core.
If my mother were still alive, she would probably look like Jiang Quan.
Therefore, Hu Shanwei could not refuse Jiang Quan's invitation to sleep on the same bed with him. There was no time to verify the authenticity of the warmth that revived at this moment. It was like a layer of moths stuck on the copper mesh windows of the street lamps on both sides of Dongcheng Street. No one forced or drove them away, but they just flew up involuntarily.
Jiang Quan made tea for Hu Shanwei, who said, "Don't bother me. I have to go to Siwei to get the key at 5:30 tomorrow. If I feel sleepy after drinking tea, I won't be able to get up tomorrow morning."
"It's just lotus leaf herbal tea. It won't make you sleepy." Jiang Quan took out a cup that was about the size of his thumb, just enough for a sip.
"Good tea should be paired with good fruits." Jiang Quan opened a red lacquer storage box that was about the size of a blooming lotus. The box was stacked with layers of things, small and exquisite, and actually had about ten compartments.
Each grid contained the same exquisite candied fruit. Hu Shanwei had tasted each of them before and they all tasted almost the same, but the fruits here did not look like fruits but flowers.
For example, winter melon candy is carved into pieces of snow plum, sweet apricots are carved into yellow peonies, and some look like roses, but you realize they are raisins when you put them in your mouth.
The food was exquisite and the meat was delicate, which shows the luxury of the palace.
These things are not for the eighth-rank female historian, they must have been given by Concubine Hu.
Jiang Quan invited Hu Shanwei to drink tea and eat fruit, and chatted about the recent situation of other female officials. At three o'clock in the morning, there was a clang clang clang sound suddenly from the compartment. It rang twelve times in total. Hu Shanwei was so scared that her hand loosened, and the rose raisins fell onto her skirt.
"What's that noise?"
Jiang Quan took Hu Shanwei to the study. In the northwest corner stood a large Western wooden clock that was almost as tall as a real person. Its pendulum swayed from side to side like a hammer.
Needless to say, it was given by Concubine Hu.
Hu Shanwei was like a country girl who had never seen the world. She squatted curiously under the big wooden clock, her head unconsciously swaying with the frequency of the pendulum.
Hu Shanwei was not born strong, nor was she born with the ability to hide the truth from everyone without making a sound. She stole the household permit from her family to take the examination for a female official. She was once a girl spoiled by her mother and had a carefree life. However, the reality was cruel, and she was forced to grow up before she could have time to be naive.
Jiang Quan had never seen the childish side of Hu Shanwei. This girl was only in her twenties, but her eyes were as deep as a lake, as if there was an old monster living in a fresh shell.
Jiang Quan joked, "Do you know why such a heavy clock swings automatically? Because there is a living person hiding behind the clock."
"Sister Jiang is playing a trick on me again." Hu Shanwei didn't believe it, so he walked over and touched the back of the clock.
Jiang Quan couldn't help laughing out loud.
Because Shanwei had to get up early the next day, after looking at the clock, Jiang Quan pulled her to sleep on the same bed. The ice in the big vat gave off a cool air, and Hu Shanwei was covered with a thin quilt. It was so comfortable that she fell asleep quickly.
After all, she is young and can sleep well. Jiang Quan looked at the sleeping Hu Shanwei in the moonlight outside the window for a long time, trying hard to find the shadow of another person on her face.
Have a good night.
Hu Shanwei dreamed of her mother. Her mother was not dead and had always been with her and her father. Her father certainly never remarried, and the family of three lived in the bookshop, living a peaceful and happy life.
The fiancé was not dead. He returned triumphantly with all his limbs intact, and the wedding was held as scheduled.
Her mother embroidered a wedding dress for her. She wore it to bid farewell to her parents and married her husband. In the blink of an eye, she had grown old...
This dream was so beautiful that Hu Shanwei didn't want to wake up. Suddenly, he heard a voice with a sobbing tone in his sleep: "Bao'er, Bao'er, where are you?"
"Baoer, where did you go..."
Hu Shanwei woke up. The thin morning light came through the window. Jiang Quan beside him seemed to be having a nightmare. His hair was soaked and his body was throbbing with anxiety.
"Sister Jiang? Jiang Quan?" Hu Shanwei gently woke her up.
Jiang Quan sat up suddenly, holding his chest and gasping for breath.
Hu Shanwei got up and poured her a glass of water. Jiang Quan drank it all and said, "I'm sorry I woke you up from my nightmare."
Hu Shanwei was getting dressed, wondering who the "Bao Er" in Jiang Quan's dream was.
Alas, we were all wanderers in troubled times, who doesn’t have unforgettable things? Hu Shanwei pretended to have just woken up, "It’s okay, I get up around this time every day."
Hu Shanwei said goodbye to Jiang Quan, went to Si Wei to queue up to get the keys, and started a busy day of work.
In the evening, Meixiang came to Hu Shanwei's residence to read. Shanwei asked about Concubine Hu and Jiang Quan. She dealt with books all day long and was almost isolated from the world. She didn't know the undercurrents in the harem.
Meixiang, the palace know-it-all, is different. Although she was demoted to the imperial kitchen and became a maid, she is still well-informed.
It turned out that Jiang Quanyin was particularly appreciated by Concubine Hu, who gave her a bell and ice. She had become a popular figure among the new female officials, second only to the female top scholar Wu Qionglian.
Meixiang pointed meaningfully in the direction of Kunning Palace: "…Empress Ma gave birth to two princesses, Princess Ningguo and Princess Anqing."
Then he pointed in the direction of the West Six Palaces, "The Queen Mother of the West Palace, Concubine Sun Shu, is about the same age as Empress Ma, and she has only given birth to two princesses, Princess Lin'an and Princess Huaiqing. Princess Lin'an is the eldest daughter of the Emperor, and is very much loved by the Emperor."
Finally, Meixiang raised her chin towards the Yanxi Palace and said, "So among the three palaces in the harem, only the Queen Mother of the West Palace, Concubine Hu, gave birth to a prince, Prince of Chu Zhu Zhen, the sixth. Now the Queen Mother is pregnant again. If she gives birth to another prince... Oh my, it's hard to say what will happen in the future."
Hu Shanwei asked: "What is hard to say?"
Hu Shanwei is well-educated, but when it comes to palace affairs, only old people like Meixiang, who have served the royal family since the Qiandi Palace, are experts.
Mei Xiang whispered, "The Queen is over fifty and in poor health. If one day in the future... Based on her birth, qualifications, favor, and position, it will definitely be Concubine Hu who will enter the palace and become the successor."
After three months in the palace, Hu Shanwei had a general understanding of the backgrounds of the concubines in the harem.
In order to prevent the harem from interfering in politics, the Hongwu Emperor's harem concubines were all of ordinary origin, women from small families, or slaves offered by others. Concubine Ding, Da, was simply a concubine snatched by the Hongwu Emperor from his old rival Chen Youliang.
There was only one exception, and that was Concubine Hu, whose father was Linchuan Marquis Hu Mei.
At that time, Chen Youliang, King of Han, Zhang Shicheng, King of Wu, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who proclaimed himself King of Wu, divided the south of the Yangtze River, forming a three-kingdoms situation.
Hu Mei was the prime minister appointed by Chen Youliang, the King of Han, under the Han regime. Hu Mei and Chen Youliang were both from Xiantao, Hubei. They rose up together and founded the Han Dynasty, and they had a deep relationship.
Zhu Yuanzhang first attacked Chen Youliang who was entrenched in Nanchang, Jiangxi. The two were evenly matched. Prime Minister Hu Mei secretly colluded with Zhu Yuanzhang, secretly negotiated with him, and proposed the condition of betraying his lord Chen Youliang - allowing Hu Mei to retain his own army.
In order to show his sincerity, Hu Mei presented his beautiful 15-year-old daughter to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang agreed. Prime Minister Hu Mei defected, Chen Youliang was attacked from all sides and died in battle, the Han Dynasty was destroyed, and even the beautiful concubine Da was taken away by Zhu Yuanzhang to his own harem.
Hu Mei was brave and good at fighting. After he came to Zhu Yuanzhang's camp, he made many outstanding achievements. The reason why he was able to be granted the hereditary title of Marquis of Linchuan was not because of his daughter's nepotism, but because he obtained the title of marquis entirely by his own real ability.
Of course, after becoming emperor, Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang did not treat Hu Mei's daughter badly. Because she gave birth to the King of Chu and her father had made great contributions to the country, he made her a noble concubine and the first of the six eastern palaces.
"As for how Jiang Quan was appreciated by Concubine Hu..." Meixiang said, "It is said that one day Concubine Hu went for a walk by the lake, missed a step, and fell into the lake. Jiang Quan happened to be there picking lotus flowers, and he pulled Concubine Hu ashore. Concubine Hu regarded Jiang Quan as her savior and often summoned Jiang Quan to the Yanxi Palace to talk. Jiang Quan was old and experienced, and she told Concubine Hu some new things outside, and Concubine Hu liked her very much."
Meixiang looked at Hu Shanwei with some worry. "It's common to curry favor with the powerful in the palace. Jiang Quan has taken advantage of Concubine Hu's influence to become famous. Many people are scrambling to please her. Now even the female officials of the six bureaus and one department dare not underestimate her. But Empress Ma is the Empress of the Central Palace. It's not a good thing to be too close to Concubine Hu. You should keep a distance from Jiang Quan and don't let others think that you are also Concubine Hu's man."
No wonder Jiang Quan was the only one who dared to contact her openly in the past three months. It turned out that he was relying on Concubine Hu's power.
Hu Shanwei smiled bitterly and said, "I know. I'm in Tibet, alone and cut off from the world. What's the point of Jiang Quan trying to get me involved? Don't worry, I won't get upset by other people's small favors. I'll concentrate on the task at hand and take good care of Tibet."
Mei Xiang smiled and said, "You are a smart person, I just gave you instructions in vain."
Concubine Hu was due to give birth in two months, and Emperor Hongwu would go to accompany her whenever he was free. Not only that, Concubine Hu also asked the emperor to allow the entire family of Marquis Linchuan to enter the palace to see her on the grounds that she missed her family.
Emperor Hongwu agreed.
Hu Mei, Marquis of Linchuan, was originally sent by Emperor Hongwu to Changsha, Hunan to train the navy. After receiving the imperial edict, the entire family of Marquis of Linchuan went to Beijing.
Concubine Hu summoned all eight female officials of the Sibin Palace into the Yanxi Palace and questioned why Marquis Linchuan had not seen his family for three days since he came to Beijing.
The ladies replied, "According to palace rules, the Marquis of Linchuan must submit the list of people entering the palace to the Shangyi Bureau. After I review and approve it, I will arrange the time and route for them to enter the palace."
Concubine Hu was very dissatisfied, "Why don't you arrange it quickly?"
The female official said, "There are five outsiders in the list submitted by the Marquis of Linchuan, including the Marquis' son-in-law. This is not in accordance with the rules, so the Shangyi Bureau sent the list back to the Marquis of Linchuan and asked the Marquis to re-compile the list of people entering the palace."
Imperial Concubine Hu was quite anxious. She slammed the table and said, "You, the Shangyi Bureau, are being perfunctory and slow. Don't try to deceive me. I don't want to wait any longer. No matter how you arrange it, I must see my family within three days!"
The female official said: "As long as it complies with the rules, the imperial concubine will be able to see her family within three days. But if it doesn't comply with the rules, it would be dereliction of duty if we let them in."
Concubine Hu sneered, "Don't act so noble in front of me. I know you just want to ask for bribes and you are dissatisfied with the Linchuan Marquisate for not giving you enough money."
The eight female officials said in unison: "We dare not."
Concubine Hu said, "Within three days, I will see my family, so you can leave."
The eight female officials were disappointed and returned to the Shangyi Bureau.
The next day, Kunning Palace.
Empress Ma summoned Fan Gongzheng, who was in charge of enforcing palace rules, and asked him, "Looking back at history, which generation had the most virtuous empresses and concubines? Which generation had the most correct family rules?"
Fan Gongzheng thought for a moment and said, "Only the empresses of Zhao and Song were virtuous and their family rules were the most correct."
It means that there were many virtuous concubines in the Song Dynasty, and their family traditions were strict and upright.
Empress Ma said: "You should copy the deeds of Consort Zhao Song and the family rules into a book and teach the concubines in the six palaces in the east and west to read it every day without slacking off."
Fan Gongzheng responded: "I obey your order."
Fan Gongzheng knew that Empress Ma could no longer tolerate it and was going to suppress Concubine Hu. He said he was teaching the concubines of the six palaces in the east and west, but in fact he was targeting Concubine Hu, asking her to learn how to be a "virtuous concubine" and to rebuild her family's family traditions and rules.
However, human memory is limited. How can one transcribe the deeds and family rules of Consort Xian of Zhao Song into a book in such a short time
Fan Gongzheng was thinking about the Tibetan collection that he had long forgotten, and Hu Shanwei who was in charge of the Tibetan collection.
It’s been three months. This girl must have gotten moldy in Tibet, right