Hu Shanwei immediately understood what Empress Dowager Lu was hinting at: that meant that Concubine Fan was killed by Emperor Jianwen.
Three years after Hu Shanwei left the palace, Fan Shanggong took over. Fan Shanggong's style has always been known for her iron fist. The Jinyiwei was so arrogant back then that the commander Mao Xiang didn't get any advantage from Fan Shanggong.
Therefore, Emperor Gaozu ordered that all personnel in the Eastern Palace be replaced to completely cut off the contact between Crown Princess Lu and the outside world. Then, Concubine Fan would be able to "fortify the city and clear the countryside" and completely wipe out Empress Dowager Lu's power.
Therefore, when Emperor Gaozu ordered Palace Lady Fan to give poisoned wine, Empress Dowager Lu had no ability to resist - there was only one person who was capable of intercepting the poisoned wine halfway, and that was Emperor Jianwen.
Concubine Fan has an iron-fisted side but also a smooth side, which is different from the sometimes stubborn Hu Shanwei. If Emperor Jianwen had met Hu Shanwei, there would have been no room for negotiation. If Hu Shanwei gave wine, the wine would definitely go into the Crown Princess' belly.
And in that sensitive period when the old emperor was replaced by the new one, according to Hu Shanwei's understanding of Concubine Fan... Concubine Fan would compromise under the pressure of the new emperor.
This is why Lady Fan resigned immediately after the new king ascended the throne, blending in with the common people and leaving the capital on a merchant ship, because this was a deadly and shocking secret.
Therefore, at least half of what Empress Dowager Lu said was true. That is, under the intimidation of Emperor Jianwen, Lady Fan gave up carrying out Emperor Gaozu's will.
As for the second half of the sentence, Hu Shanwei had doubts that Fan Shanggong was killed by Emperor Jianwen.
Hu Shanwei said, "If it is true as the Queen Mother said, and she escaped death and entered the Cining Palace, how could she let go of Concubine Fan? Concubine Fan's spies are everywhere in the palace. The Queen Mother wants to take action, but she is powerless and cannot do it. But it is different outside the palace. The Lu family is a century-old family and has been a high-ranking official since the Song Dynasty. The ancestor Lu Wenhuan was a famous general in the Song Dynasty. Although your Lu family changed its status in the Yuan Dynasty and became a scholarly family, it still has a family tradition of martial arts. Otherwise, you would not be able to help the Queen Mother outside the palace, so that the current emperor also has half of the Lu family's bloodline. The Lu family has survived the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties and has climbed higher and higher. What's the difficulty for the family to kill a concubine who has left the palace?"
"Besides, I heard from the palace that since Emperor Gaozu passed away, Concubine Fan has been ill for two months. She neglected the palace affairs and wanted to leave the palace to recuperate. The Queen Mother could have made a comeback in these two months, won over her own forces, and passed on information to the Lu family outside the palace. Once Concubine Fan left the palace, they would take action."
"After all, if Consort Fan died in the palace, it would inevitably arouse suspicion, but if she died outside, especially in an accident in the Yangtze River and perished with the shipwreck, the Queen Mother would be able to clear herself of any responsibility."
"It's just that the Queen Mother didn't expect that I would pile up a mountain of silver and summon all the water ghosts in the Ming Dynasty to salvage the sunken ship and the remains of Lady Fan from the Yangtze River. The murder that was originally airtight was exposed by me."
Hearing this, Empress Dowager Lu couldn't help but show admiration, "Jingwei filling the sea and finding a needle in the sea are just legends. I didn't expect that you not only dared to think, but also dared to do it, and sifted the water of the Yangtze River. I have only obeyed two people in my life, one is Emperor Gaozu, and the other is you, Hu Shanggong. Thinking back to the time when you proposed to change the filial piety system, you said, 'It has always been this way, is it right?'", I was touched.
"I went from being a concubine in the Eastern Palace to the Crown Princess. I just refused to accept my fate. At that time, the Crown Princess Chang was of noble birth and had two legitimate sons. If it were an ordinary person, they would have given up long ago, but I held my breath and worked hard towards the impossible, and finally succeeded."
Empress Dowager Lu's expression softened, and she took Hu Shanwei's hand in return. "In fact, I have a lot in common with you. I am willing to expose my shortcomings and reveal this fatal secret. This is my token of surrender to show my sincerity in forming a secret alliance with Concubine Hu."
"Form an alliance with me?" Hu Shanwei vaguely sensed Empress Dowager Lu's thoughts and was immediately shocked: Lu was still as daring as ever, and even though she was like a trapped beast now, her ambition had not been extinguished.
Hu Shanwei pretended not to know, "Queen Mother, you are tired. Don't say such foolish words in the future."
Empress Dowager Lu sneered, "Empress Hu, who is fearless, is there anything she dares not do? Didn't you return to the palace to find out the truth about the death of Concubine Fan and punish the murderer? Concubine Fan died so tragically, don't you want to avenge her? I'm putting this great gift in front of you, and you don't dare to accept it? Concubine Hu, you disappoint me so much."
In fact, Empress Dowager Lu was not frightened by Hu Shanwei. On the contrary, Empress Dowager Lu, who was disliked by both the emperor and the empress, had a hard time in the palace, and was at the end of her rope, wanted to tie Hu Shanwei to her boat by sharing secrets with him.
What's the point of buying off a few small soldiers? If you want to do business, you have to take a big chance! Empress Dowager Lu has been calculating all her life and she doesn't give up easily. She wants to use Hu Shanwei to turn things around.
Empress Dowager Lu was so sure that Hu Shanwei was half-believing and half-doubting, "The Empress Dowager is more suspicious than anyone else."
Besides, Emperor Jianwen was her own son. How could mother and son hold grudges overnight? After a while of quarreling, they would still make peace. Otherwise, Emperor Jianwen would not have risked intercepting the poisoned wine given to his mother.
"I gave birth to three sons. The eldest son was disobedient, rebellious and unfilial. I still have two obedient sons. Who in the world doesn't want to be emperor?" Empress Dowager Lu suddenly changed her face and became aggressive. She was still in her prime. She swept away her previous listless state and her eyes burst with murderous intent!
"I have endured humiliation and hardship to raise my eldest son, to cultivate him into a talent, to do all kinds of insidious things for him, to remove obstacles. He doesn't need to do anything, just be a talented person, a filial son and grandson. Even the people say that raising a son is a way to prepare for old age. What do I want from cultivating him?"
Anyway, Hu Shanwei also knew the secret and was on the same boat, so she didn't dare to shout it out. Empress Dowager Lu couldn't hold it in any longer and was filled with resentment:
"Isn't it just that he ascends the throne, and I become the queen mother, bringing honor to my family, second only to the emperor, above all others, enjoying the worship of the court and the people, the submission of all the people, the pleasure of those who obey me prospering, those who disobey me perishing, and the pleasure of living out my old age comfortably, and venting the humiliation of being a concubine in the East Palace in my early years?"
When talking about her eldest son, Empress Dowager Lu spoke as if she were talking about an enemy. "But after he became the emperor, he was no longer the obedient and filial son he used to be. The queen was his fate, and she disliked his old mother for being short-sighted and getting in the way, holding him back. I only asked him to confer the honorary title of Duke Cheng'en on my deceased grandfather, and he was about to agree. But in order to pretend to be virtuous, the queen used the fact that Empress Xiaoci refused to confer titles on her family members to retort me."
The resentment between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law was deep. Empress Dowager Lu complained bitterly:
"The Queen was born in a humble family. Her father was a poor scholar. He was thankful and satisfied with being appointed Bi Ma Wen. My father was once the Minister of Revenue, a powerful official in the court. How can this be compared? Queen Ma is content with her small fortune. Her Ma family is satisfied with the status quo, but how can our Lu family accept it? The Emperor doesn't even think about the fact that he is where he is today, thanks to the secret help of the Lu family."
Empress Ma's father was appointed as the Minister of Taichang Temple, which was in charge of horses. His surname was Ma. At that time, the drama "Journey to the West" was popular in the Ming Dynasty. Sun Wukong was recruited by the Heavenly Court and appointed as an official in charge of horse breeding, called Bimawen. So Empress Dowager Lu demoted Empress Ma's father Ma Quan to Bimawen.
Now that Queen Mother Lu has torn off her mask of hypocrisy and revealed herself honestly, Hu Shanwei discovered... the Queen Mother actually has a sense of humor
Moreover, what the Queen Mother said... seems to have some truth? Emperor Jianwen was too ruthless and inflexible. It is said that when one person succeeds, all his family members will be promoted. Now, not only did the Lu family's family members fail to succeed, but even his own royal family was severely weakened by him.
The Emperor calls himself "Immortal Master", but calling himself "Immortal Master" and being the real "Immortal Master" who doesn't recognize any relatives, stabs his relatives in the back, and is isolated by his relatives on both sides are two different things!
If you eat meat, you should also let the people around you have a bowl of soup. If they can't even have a bowl of soup, who are they working hard for? This goes against basic human nature. No one is a saint.
Seeing Hu Shanwei's expression moved, Empress Dowager Lu quickly struck while the iron was hot, "I and Concubine Hu had a feud in the past. I was wrong. I was wrong. I shouldn't have spread rumors about you and Lord Ji. Don't blame me for being suspicious. At that time, you and Lord Ji were really ambiguous. The man didn't marry the woman, and you looked like a couple when you stood together. You did everything together, and Lord Ji saved you so many times."
Hu Shanwei glared at him and said: Watch your words, I am a married woman with a husband and a daughter!
When Empress Dowager Lu saw this murderous look, she immediately had a ptsd, and hurriedly changed her words and said, "Okay, okay, I was judging others by my own mean heart - but now, the ungrateful emperor I raised has killed Consort Fan, and you, a Consort, can do anything to the emperor? The emperor can kill her, just like crushing an ant. Not only that, you have to keep it a secret for me and the emperor, because once the emperor knows that you know this shocking secret, he will kill Consort Fan just like he did..."
Empress Dowager Lu leaned over and whispered, "Kill you."
Hu Shanwei suddenly felt a deep chill in his bones!
If what Empress Dowager Lü said was true, Emperor Jianwen would really kill her. Because if this matter were to spread, everyone in the court would know that Emperor Jianwen disobeyed Emperor Gaozu's will, and other vassal kings would definitely seize the opportunity to question his throne.
If it was the former crown prince, Hu Shanwei might not believe that he could do such a thing. However, as soon as the current Emperor Jianwen came to power, he demoted the five imperial uncles, forced the Prince of Xiang and his family to commit suicide by burning themselves, and demoted Princess Qingyang to Princess Qingcheng. In just three months, the clear-eyed and slightly shy boy in memory had his heart corrupted by the imperial power and became unrecognizable.
To be honest, Emperor Gaozu was famous for murder in the past, but Hu Shanwei was not afraid of him because Emperor Gaozu would not kill people without reason. He would always take action after careful consideration and weighing of the pros and cons.
But Emperor Jianwen was different. He was like a child playing with fire, experiencing the joy of lighting a fire for the first time. He did not know the consequences of lighting a fire, and he set fires everywhere recklessly. He was irrational and did not consider the consequences... or he did not have the ability to accurately predict the consequences. He always took things for granted, and no one could persuade or stop him.
Emperor Jianwen was unpredictable and had a sharp edge. Anyone who touched him would die. His lethality was indiscriminate and he had no way of controlling his energy like Emperor Gaozu did.
Empress Dowager Lu continued to persuade her, "The enemy of my enemy is my ally. The emperor killed Concubine Fan, and he may want to kill you in the future. Are you just going to sit in the palace and wait for death? It just so happens that I want to change an obedient son to be the emperor and a filial daughter-in-law to be the queen, so that my father can win a dukedom and live a decent life in the afterlife."
"I look down on others, but I look up to Concubine Hu. As long as Concubine Hu cooperates with me to force the emperor to abdicate and replace him, I will avenge you and save your life. How do you think?"
Hu Shanwei only knew that Empress Dowager Lu was bold and cruel, but he never expected that she would be so cruel that she would not even spare her own son!
Seeing Hu Shanwei's surprised look, Empress Dowager Lu said coldly: "I have seen through it a long time ago. In the harem, nothing is more important than power.
I have endured for many years, wholeheartedly supporting him to become the emperor, but in the end, all my efforts were in vain. Not to mention power, I can't even get the dignity that the empress dowager deserves. The emperor only cares about himself and never considers my feelings. He dares to treat me like this just after he ascended the throne. Once his foundation is stable, won't I have no place to stand?"
"If you want power, you have to be willing to pay. I read in history books that Wu Zetian ascended the throne at the age of 67. To do this, she killed her two sons, Li Hong and Li Xian, and beat her grandson Li Chongrun to death. I can do it when I am pushed into a corner. I am only 42 years old. I don't want to be a clay Buddha worshipped and manipulated by others. If I want to be someone, I want to be a real Buddha who can control all living beings."
"Hu Shang Gong, are you willing to lend a helping hand to me? Be my Shangguan Wan'er?"
After hearing the last sentence, Hu Shanwei woke up from his shock and even wanted to laugh: It turns out that if you are not from the same family, you will not enter the same door!
When Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao poisoned King Luhuang, he pretended to arrange the funeral for King Luhuang in Yanzhou. In order to shut Hu Shanwei up, the prince took a peach blossom and flirted with her: "I have always felt that you are very similar to someone, Shangguan Wan'er of the Tang Dynasty..."
"Shangguan Wan'er assisted Wu Zetian. After Wu Zetian's fall, Shangguan Wan'er married Li Xian, the Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, and was given the title of Zhaorong... Shangguan Wan'er was 41 years old when she was given the title of Zhaorong, and Hu Siyan was only 32 years old. In the future... the position of imperial concubine is just around the corner."
In the blink of an eye, Prince Yiwen had been gone for six years, and now Empress Dowager Lu was using "Shangguan Wan'er" to seduce Hu Shanwei.
Sure enough, the fact that Empress Dowager Lu was able to rise from a concubine to become the legitimate wife and earn the throne for her son was definitely not just due to luck and beauty. She was bold and ruthless, daring to think and act, and willing to take risks. Not to mention that she had the talent and means of Wu Zetian, but her ambition, which was comparable to that of Wu Zetian, made Hu Shanwei look at her with new eyes.
The author has something to say: Come on, come on, hurt each other. Yesterday I got the ages of Hu Shanwei and Empress Dowager Lu wrong, they were 38 and 42 years old respectively.
There is a 100-point prize-winning question tonight, high school history.
In 2013, the tomb of Shangguan Wan'er, a talented woman from the Tang Dynasty, was discovered. In January 2014, the full text of her epitaph was published in the latest issue of the journal "Archaeology and Cultural Relics". Previous historical records showed that Shangguan Wan'er had a close relationship with Empress Wei's party, but the epitaph showed that Shangguan Wan'er was not in the same group with Empress Wei. This confirms
a. Chen Yinke's "Investigating history and exploring historical materials from the evolution and connection of things"
b. Hu Shi's "Bold hypothesis, careful verification"
c. Wang Guowei's "Fortunately, in addition to the materials on paper, we also obtained new materials from underground"
d. Liang Qichao's "Don't trust old history blindly, and be skeptical of it for seven out of eight times"