Emperor Hongwu looked at Consort Cui Shu, who was still beautiful, and said, "In the end, you were the one who spent the longest time with me, and were the most loyal to me. You gave me your youth and wisdom without any selfish motives. When I needed you the most, you even gave up your favorite position as Shangyi and became my nominal Consort, so that you could manage my harem with a legitimate reason."
Concubine Cui Shu smiled and said, "It is my honor. Whether you are Shangyi or Shufei, they are just titles. In my opinion, there is no difference. We are all loyal to the emperor and share his worries."
Emperor Hongwu could no longer hold the medicine cup steady, so he said to her, "Come closer to my ear."
Concubine Cui Shu was sitting beside the dragon couch, with her head lowered. When Emperor Hongwu whispered something to her, Concubine Cui Shu immediately turned pale, her body stiffened, and she knelt on the ground without paying attention to her manners, unable to speak a complete sentence, "Your Majesty, this... your concubine... please think twice, this action is against-"
Suddenly, Emperor Hongwu smashed the medicine cup to the ground with a clang. The flying fragments scratched Concubine Cui's beautiful face, leaving a red blood mark like lightning on her cheek.
Outside, Palace Lady Fan, Shen Qionglian and others heard the noise and hurried in to check on the situation. Long-term illness made one irritable, and it was not the first time that Emperor Hongwu had reprimanded the palace maids, but this time he lost his temper at Concubine Cui, and everyone found it baffling.
Shen Qionglian was cultivated by Concubine Cui Shufei. Seeing blood splattered on Concubine Cui Shufei's face, she hurriedly ordered someone to call a female doctor to apply medicine for her. Concubine Cui Shufei had a secret to maintain her youth and spent a lot of time on her face.
When Lady Fan saw Concubine Cui Shu was frightened, she thought that she had been loyal to the emperor for many years, and she had accidentally fallen into a trap and offended the emperor. However, they had been colleagues for many years. Lady Fan was pleading for Concubine Cui Shu, "Your Majesty—"
Just as she opened her mouth, Emperor Hongwu interrupted her. The previous blow had taken too much energy. He lay back, took a breath, and said, "Cui was disrespectful in front of the palace. She is now deposed from her position as Consort Shu, and the imperial seal is taken back. She is demoted to a commoner and expelled from the palace. All records about Cui in the history books are cut out and burned. It is assumed that there has never been a concubine named Cui in the palace."
Shen Qionglian was shocked when she heard this and was about to speak out to persuade him. But Lady Fan knew the Hongwu Emperor too well and, like Mao Xiang, had done many things that were not allowed to be seen in public. She probably guessed something at this moment and quickly pressed Shen Qionglian's shoulder, made a look and said, "Yes, I will immediately order the female official Tongshi to delete the matter of Cui's sleeping with him. Someone, expel the commoner Cui from the palace."
Concubine Cui Shu was dragged away like a living dead person whose soul had been taken away. The female official of Tongshi brought the Tongshi and deleted the record of Concubine Cui Shu.
After reading the last page, he threw himself into the brazier and said, "After I die, all the concubines in the six palaces, as well as all the women recorded in the Tongshi as having been favored by me, regardless of whether they have been canonized or not, whether they are palace maids or concubines, must be buried with me!"
Everyone must die, all must be annihilated. The system of burying people alive with the dead had been abolished for more than a thousand years, but Emperor Hongwu brought it back to life.
After carrying out a great purge in the court, Emperor Hongwu turned his knife on the concubines in the harem before his death. At least four major families were left in the court: the Xu family of Duke of Wei, the Mu family of Duke of Qian, the Geng family of Marquis of Changxing, and the Guo family of Marquis of Wuding, to help the crown prince consolidate his rule in the future.
When you think that Emperor Hongwu has reached the bottom line, you will find that there are eighteen levels of hell below the bottom line.
Compared with the previous dynasties, Emperor Hongwu was much more cold-blooded towards the harem. All the women who had slept with him, no matter if they were palace maids of lowly status or Korean tribute girls, no matter if they had given birth to his children or not, no matter if they were octogenarian old women who had grown old with him, or the three 18-year-old girls in their prime who had been snatched away from Hu Shanwei three years ago, were buried with him.
The Crown Prince succeeded to the throne as a grandson, and his seniority was too low. The concubines in the harem would be named dowager concubines in the future, and they might rely on their seniority to cause trouble for the Crown Prince. It would be better to get rid of them and leave a clean harem for the Crown Prince.
Emperor Hongwu wanted to completely clear away all possible obstacles for the Crown Prince.
Now everyone understood. The reason why Emperor Hongwu suddenly attacked Concubine Cui Shufei was actually to spare her life. Now there is no Cui Shangyi or Concubine Cui Shufei in the palace, and there is no record in the history books. A commoner named Cui posed no threat to the crown prince. This was the last bit of kindness and conscience of Emperor Hongwu.
It is difficult to disobey the king’s order.
Every time the Hongwu Emperor said a word, Shen Qionglian, who was serving in front of the emperor, polished it slightly according to the emperor's will and wrote the imperial edict of death. With every stroke, Shen Qionglian seemed to feel that the problem in his hand was a heavy weight. Later, he could not bear it anymore. Shen Qionglian, who had always been cold and indifferent, stopped writing and risked his life to make a suggestion:
"Your Majesty, your youngest daughter, Princess Baoqing, is only three years old. A three-year-old girl cannot do without her mother's care. Moreover, Princess Baoqing has been weak since she was young. If such a young child loses her mother, the consequences in the future will be disastrous. The princess's mother, Concubine Zhang, has always been gentle and honest, and she is not the kind of person who stirs up trouble. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy and spare Concubine Zhang from being buried alive for the sake of the little princess, so that she can take care of her until she grows up."
Princess Baoqing was the daughter of Emperor Hongwu when he was 68 years old, and was also a rare comfort to him in his later years.
As expected, heirs were the Achilles' heel of Emperor Hongwu. His dying eyes changed several times and he said, "Approved. Concubine Zhang will be pardoned from being buried alive with the emperor. The other concubines and palace maids who will be buried alive with the emperor will be called Chaotian Nu, and their families will be called Chaotian Nuhu. All Chaotian Nuhu will be given generous gifts, and their fathers will be named Baihu, which will be inherited from generation to generation. If there is no father, their brothers and nephews will be named."
This was a deal, using gifts and official positions in exchange for the lives of the palace maids who were buried alive, to avoid dissatisfaction among their families, which might cause trouble in the future and would be difficult for the Crown Prince to handle.
In addition to clearing away obstacles, Emperor Hongwu also took good care of the aftermath, leaving the Crown Prince with nothing to worry about.
Shen Qionglian drafted the imperial edict, and Emperor Hongwu took it and read it over. He said to the eunuch in charge of stamping the imperial edict and Huang Wei De, the female official in charge of keeping the imperial seal, "It's all right. Stamp it and invite the palace maids to the side hall of the Qianqing Palace. After I ascend to heaven, they will follow me."
According to the rules of the palace, those who stamp cannot keep the seal, and those who keep the seal cannot stamp, so they check and balance each other.
Huang Wei De asked for the imperial seal, and the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department stamped it with trembling hands. The imperial edict came into effect. Except for Concubine Zhang, all the concubines in the six palaces in the east and west, as well as the palace maids who had slept with him were about to die.
In this situation, Shen Qionglian recalled that when Hu Shanwei was the Shanggong in the harem and presided over the selection, Emperor Hongwu accidentally took away three beautiful girls. The three beautiful girls were the most favored in the harem for a while, and everyone envied them. Only Hu Shanwei felt sorry for the beauty with white hair, and said half-jokingly and half-seriously:
"Others laugh at me for being hypocritical, I laugh at others for not seeing through me. I have served Empress Xiaoci and Imperial Concubine Duanjing. The former is smart and insightful, the latter is hardworking and pragmatic. The former has the natural advantage of being the original wife, the latter has a powerful family background and a family of loyal and brave men. They can be said to be the two most outstanding women of the emperor, but so what? Their endings, although grand and beautiful, are also miserable. So in the harem, don't sleep with the emperor to ensure safety..."
As the prophecy came true, Concubine Cui Shu did not actually sleep with the emperor, so she was able to escape the fate of being buried alive with the emperor. Not sleeping with the emperor ensured her safety.
Outside the palace, Cui Shuren, who was expelled from the palace, was at a loss as to where to go. The emperor's last whisper to her was that he wanted to restore the system of burying people alive with the dead, and everyone would be buried alive except her - before being buried alive, she would be stripped of her title, have her records in history erased, and be expelled from the palace, and would no longer be considered the emperor's woman.
Cui Shuren's first reaction at the time was to persuade the emperor not to bury the women in the harem alive with him, saying that this was against the will of heaven. Wouldn't it be a retrograde act if this barbaric system, which had been abolished more than a thousand years ago, was restored
But Emperor Hongwu was determined, and she was dragged out before she could finish her words.
Cui Shuren had no feelings for the women in the six palaces, and she just took care of them as a matter of routine, controlled them so that they would not cause trouble, and arranged for them to serve the emperor.
But when she thought about the fact that these living lives were going to be buried meaninglessly, Cui Shuren felt a blockage in her chest, unable to either let it go or get it down. Although she didn't have to die, she felt sad for these women.
This grief almost overwhelmed Cui Shuren. She did not feel grateful for being pardoned. Her sorrow was like dark clouds that gradually spread across the sky, covering the sky and obscuring her vision, as if a storm was about to come.
A carriage stopped beside her and a familiar voice sounded, "Get in."
When Cui Shuren looked back, he found that it was Concubine Cao who had retired and settled in Yangzhou to enjoy her retirement after six years!
Perhaps she had been too comfortable during the past six years without having to worry, and Concubine Cao was still vaguely the same as before, energetic and not getting older.
"Hurry up and leave." Cao Shang Gong said, "The emperor asked me to take you to Yangzhou. Don't come back. A new emperor appoints new ministers. Now that you have been released by the emperor, we don't know what will happen when the new emperor ascends the throne. Let's get out of here quickly."
The distraught Cui Shuren was pulled into the carriage by Cao Shanggong.
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
After Emperor Hongwu had made clear arrangements for the concubines, he gave another instruction. He dismissed everyone and said to Lady Fan, "It's time to give the pot of wine to the Crown Princess of the East Palace."
Emperor Hongwu had disliked Crown Princess Lu for three years. An ignorant woman in the deep palace, she actually spread rumors that a palace lady in the harem had an affair with a high-ranking general of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for a trivial matter... She was bold, cruel and stupid, but she was the biological mother of the Crown Prince and all the children of the Eastern Palace except the second grandson Zhu Yunhuan. When the Crown Prince ascended the throne in the future, he would definitely appoint Lu as the empress dowager.
Having such a stupid empress dowager was undoubtedly a huge hidden danger to the harem and the previous dynasty. Emperor Hongwu decided to kill the Crown Princess before he died.
However, the act of ordering the death of the Crown Prince's biological mother must be carried out in secret. The Crown Prince and the people of the world must not know about it, otherwise it will be detrimental to the Crown Prince's reputation.
Lady Fan agreed and ordered her confidant to take the poisoned wine to the Eastern Palace to handle the matter.
Emperor Hongwu continued to drink the ginseng soup that was meant to keep him alive. About a quarter of an hour later, his confidant returned empty-handed and nodded to Consort Fan, who was whispering to Emperor Hongwu, "The Crown Princess is dead."
Emperor Hongwu thought he had solved all the hidden dangers and was impeccable, so he asked the Crown Prince and the six ministers to come in and make his final words:
"I have received the Mandate of Heaven for thirty-one years. I have been anxious and worried, and have worked hard every day to benefit the people. Unfortunately, I came from a humble background, and I do not have the broad knowledge of the ancients. I am far behind in my love for good and hatred for evil. Now that I have learned the laws of nature, why should I be sad?"
What I mean is, I was born in a humble family, and I am not as knowledgeable as the ancient sages, but I have been the emperor for thirty-one years, and I consider myself to have worked diligently and never slacked off for a single day. Death will come eventually, so you don't have to be sad.
"Yun Wen, come here."
The Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen held back his tears and knelt beside the sickbed. The Hongwu Emperor held his hand tightly and said to the ministers: "The Crown Prince has won the hearts of the people and should ascend the throne. The civil and military officials inside and outside the country should work together to assist in the administration and to keep our people safe. No gold or jade should be used for funeral and sacrificial offerings. The mountains and rivers of the Xiaoling Mausoleum should remain as they were. All the subjects in the world should mourn for three days and take off their mourning clothes. No one should be prevented from getting married."
What he meant was that the crown prince was the only legitimate heir, and you must assist him well. My funeral should be simple, without gold and jade, and the Xiaoling Mausoleum should not be changed, just call it Xiaoling Mausoleum. The people of the world should mourn for three days and then take off their mourning clothes, and should not delay marriage and childbirth.
Finally, Emperor Hongwu mentioned his sons who were stationed in various vassal states, and said with hatred: "The kings should stay in their own countries and not come to the capital. Those who are not included in the order should be promoted to this order."
What this means is that the princes should just stay in their vassal states and mourn, and are not allowed to come to the capital to attend my funeral.
The princes were not allowed to enter the capital without being summoned, otherwise it would be considered treason.
This way, Emperor Hongwu completely blocked the possibility that the vassal kings would make a fuss at the funeral and compete with his young nephew for the right of inheritance.
In order to protect the crown prince's smooth succession to the throne, Emperor Hongwu would rather die without a son to bury him. He was so cruel that he even spared himself.
After arranging everything, Emperor Hongwu looked deeply at the people kneeling around him, and finally his eyes fell on Zhu Yunwen, saying: "As a monarch, you must care about the world, restrain your selfish desires, and put the overall situation first. As a monarch, you are destined to be lonely. You must learn to be accompanied by loneliness. Loneliness will keep you awake at all times. No matter when, you must be calm, put your interests first, and put the overall situation first. Don't be controlled by selfish desires. Every decision you make, no matter how big or small, will affect the fate of the Ming Dynasty. Do you understand?"
The Crown Prince's eyes flickered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and cried, "Grandson will remember this."
After hearing the promise from the Crown Prince, Emperor Hongwu closed his eyes and loosened his grip on his eldest grandson's hand.
On the eighth day of the fifth month in the thirty-first year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Hongwu died at the age of seventy-one.
After the death of Emperor Hongwu, all the concubines and palace maids who had been favored by the emperor in the east and west harems of the Qianqing Palace, except Concubine Zhang, were forced to hang themselves and be buried with Emperor Hongwu.
The well-informed Concubine Fan could never have imagined that the harem of the Hongwu Dynasty, which lasted for 31 years and had hundreds of women, would end up being completely wiped out!
She took good care of the harem and served these women, but in the end, she was no different from a piece of jade burial object.
So, what’s the point of all the things I do
From the first day she entered the palace, Lady Fan decided to stay there for the rest of her life.
But now, she suddenly understood why Hu Shanwei insisted on leaving the palace. It was because he was disheartened and doubted the value of this job. Once his faith collapsed, he wanted to escape.
Besides, a new emperor appoints new ministers, and the Ming Dynasty is about to welcome a new queen, so the palace lady must be someone that both the emperor and the queen trust. If I stay here, I will be in the way, so I'd better go home, I'd better go home!
At this time, Palace Lady Fan wanted to leave, just like Hu Shanwei who lost Concubine Duanjing six years ago.
Concubine Fan decided that as soon as the funeral of Emperor Hongwu was over, she would immediately resign from the throne to the new emperor and empress, and then go to Yangzhou to find Concubine Cao, with whom she would work for many years and live together in her old age.
Lady Fan made up her mind to return to the palace where Emperor Hongwu had just passed away to continue commanding and handling the funeral. However, when she stepped in, she was frightened by a person - the Crown Princess Lu of the Eastern Palace was dressed in mourning and kneeling under the dragon bed crying!
How is that possible? Wasn't she secretly killed by Emperor Hongwu with a pot of poisoned wine
Concubine Fan hurried to find the confidant who sent the poisoned wine to question him, but unfortunately she couldn't find him. The eunuch beside the Crown Prince came over and said, "Concubine Fan, the Crown Prince wants you to come over and talk to him."
The Crown Prince's Palace.
When Lady Fan saw the pot of poisoned wine lying untouched on the table, she knew that she had been betrayed by her confidant—the Crown Prince intercepted the pot of poisoned wine and it was never delivered to the Eastern Palace!
The Crown Prince said, "Gong Lady Fan has been a court lady in the palace for 28 years and can see through everything. My mother did something wrong, but as a son, I can't just watch my mother die. Gong Lady Fan is a smart person. This pot of wine never existed. Don't you think so?"
The Crown Prince will soon succeed to the throne and become the new emperor.
Lady Fan knew that if she said no, the whole bottle of wine would be poured into her own stomach!
A man who knows the current situation is a hero. After so many years of experience, Lady Fan immediately said, "Yes, there is nothing in the first place, so how can there be any dust?"
The author has something to say: The "Is It Dead?" lunch box chain company has placed its last batch of orders, and the quantity is a bit large.
The Hongwu Dynasty is finally over! Send 100 red envelopes tonight! Here is a technical summary of the Hongwu Dynasty harem:
First: Staying awake will ensure the emperor’s safety.
Second: If you violate the first rule, no matter you are bronze or king, you will be destroyed.
Third: Giving birth to the emperor’s last child is like drawing an SSR card, which can save you from death.