An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Just as Emperor Jianwen stopped Emperor Gaozu from giving poisoned wine to the Crown Princess before his death, Hu Shanwei also stopped Emperor Jianwen from giving poisoned wine to her, Empress Ma and her son.
The reasons are very simple. The building is about to collapse and the dynasty is about to change. No one will get against the new king, so everyone is willing to do him a favor.
Hu Shanwei used the same method that Emperor Jianwen used to force Consort Fan to shut up and ignore Emperor Gaozu to convince Emperor Jianwen's confidants.
A person who kills his own mother will be killed by the butcher's knife sooner or later. Hu Shanwei had long realized this. When the Prince of Yan was approaching the city, she successfully bribed the eunuchs close to Emperor Jianwen and learned about the emperor's plan to sacrifice his entire family for the country and take her away as an insider to silence her.
It is human instinct to survive. Prince Yan will attack sooner or later. The eunuchs will either be executed or make meritorious contributions to save their lives. There is no third choice.
Under Hu Shan's siege, she successfully controlled the cronies around Emperor Jianwen within a day, and moved in the corpses of women and children from the mass grave in the suburbs. The Shangyi Bureau was controlled by Shen Qionglian. In the chaos, the corpses were transported to Kunning Palace and doused with flammable liquor.
As for the real Empress Ma and her two children, Hu Shanwei sent Haitang to falsely convey the imperial edict and brought them to Xi'an Gate.
Emperor Jianwen was deserted by his friends and relatives, and he killed Xu Zengshou. He thought he would return to the harem and sacrifice his life for the country with his entire family, but he had no idea that he was walking into a trap set by Hu Shanwei.
Emperor Jianwen did not ask his wife and children whether they were willing to die with him. There was no need to do so. His wife and children were his private property. Just like the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival at Chrysanthemum Terrace, he did not need to tell Empress Ma about his arrangements in advance.
Empress Ma held her young son in her arms and led the crown prince hand in hand, waiting woodenly for fate to decide her fate, but she saw black smoke rising from the direction of Kunning Palace.
She didn't wait for her husband, but waited for Hu Shanwei.
Hu Shanwei said: "The emperor has already burned himself to death with his empress and children. From now on, there is no queen, no prince, only the Shen family."
Hu Shanwei handed the household registration documents to Queen Ma and said, "The ship has been arranged. You can sail across the ocean together and start your life anew."
"And you..." Hu Shanwei distributed various household registration documents one by one to the palace eunuchs who conspired to do the substitution, including his confidant Haitang:
"You know the secrets of Jianwen's widow and orphans. No one can predict what will happen in the future. Don't have too high expectations of the new emperor. I have witnessed with my own eyes the corruption of human nature by imperial power. Emperor Jianwen was also a kind and innocent boy. As soon as he became emperor, he took action against Concubine Fan who knew the shocking secret within less than three months."
"So, just in case, you should leave together. There are more gold, silver and jewelry on the ship than you can spend in your lifetime. After twenty years, when everything has settled, if you miss your hometown and want to return to your roots, you can come back."
Haitang asked anxiously, "If we all leave, what will happen to Concubine Hu?"
Hu Shanwei patted her hands and said, "Silly girl, now that you are all gone, I have the final say on who the four bodies in Kunning Palace are. Besides, the new emperor doesn't want any survivors, so even if he has doubts, he will admit this result. The fewer people who know this secret, the better."
Haitang served as Empress Ma's counselor for four years. Just like Hu Shanwei and Empress Xiaoci in the past, she formed a friendship between monarch and subject with this gentle commoner empress. Upon hearing her words, she made up her mind to travel across the ocean with Empress Ma. Only by leaving the Ming Dynasty would they be safe and avoid repeating the mistakes of Concubine Fan.
Empress Ma was like a sleepwalker, and she didn't wake up until she got on the carriage and was about to change into civilian clothes, "Mrs. Hu..."
Empress Ma didn't know how to express her gratitude for such a great favor. Hu Shanwei said, "You are the girl I personally selected. When Miss Ma showed her talent, she wrote a song called "Jian Zi Mulanhua·Wing Chun"."
"Liu Lang is old. Peach blossoms still smile. Willows weep by the pond. Wind blows into the Buddhist temple.
The song ends and the crowd disperses. It is like the tears on the Xunyang River. The east wind blows thousands of miles away. The setting sun is red all over the mountains and rivers.
When talking about the poems in the past, Empress Ma was stunned. The short poem she wrote to express her sorrow in order to compose a new poem actually came true. The loving couple in the Crown Prince's Palace ended in just four years. Looking at the Kunning Palace again, black smoke was billowing out and the sky was red due to the raging fire. It was clearly morning, but it looked like the setting sun was shining red.
Now that she knows what sorrow feels like, she can't write a single word. Even when encountering the bleak autumn, she just says that it is a good autumn with cool weather.
Hu Shanwei also looked at Luo Zhaohong in the direction of Kunning Palace and said, "At that time, the emperor was still the crown prince who was full of longing for love and marriage. He asked me in a roundabout way what his future wife would look like. At that time, Emperor Gaozu thought you looked a lot like Empress Xiaoci when she was young, and you were a member of the Ma family, so he decided to make you the crown prince's consort."
"I mentioned your poem to the Crown Prince, asking him to treat you well, saying that you had come all the way to Beijing to participate in the election, and had fought your way through many difficulties to be in front of the Crown Prince. It was a fate that had been cultivated for several lifetimes. He was very happy, saying that husband and wife are one, and that they will rise and fall together. Treating you well is treating himself well. He also swore that if you broke the oath, he would be willing to give up the country—"
Hu Shanwei sighed, "Your words and his oath, in the end, all came true. This shows that this person really can't make promises casually. The Shen family will arrange for you to live in a small overseas country called Pattani. There is a Shen family business there. It is said to be a transit point for trade between countries. The queen is in power and the people are civilized. It doesn't have the wealth and glory of the Ming Dynasty royal family, but there is a broader sky there. You are still young and your two children are young. There is still time to start all over again. You will definitely live a very good life."
Empress Ma's mood fluctuated today, from despair to hope. When she was selected for the imperial concubines, she had the same beautiful vision for the future as the Crown Prince. She used her talents to the fullest and worked hard to learn the palace rules. She got everything that tens of thousands of concubines dreamed of and became a commoner queen. However, after getting it, she realized that it was nothing special.
Empress Ma said, "After today's separation, it feels like I've been reborn. I will cherish this opportunity. Please take care of yourself, Concubine Hu."
Everyone changed into civilian clothes and took advantage of the chaos to leave the city.
At this time, the 200,000 defenders in the capital and the Nanjing navy guarding the moat of the capital surrendered like dominoes, one after another, falling down.
The first domino was Chen Xuan, the commander of the Nanjing Navy. Chen Xuan was originally Mu Chun's man. Mu Chun had long since surrendered to Prince of Yan. Chen Xuan had also used the navy to pass on intelligence to Ji Gang. When Prince of Yan arrived, Chen Xuan did not resist at all. He directly led the Nanjing Navy to surrender and welcome Prince of Yan. The natural barrier of the Yangtze River and the moat were all useless.
After Chen Xuan's navy defected, Prince Gu Zhu Tan and Li Jinglong, who were guarding the Jinchuan Gate, opened the gate and surrendered. Prince Yan led the Yan army in through the Jinchuan Gate. Upon hearing the news, the 200,000 defenders retreated across the board and scrambled to open the city gates and surrender. All thirteen gates of the capital were opened, and only a small group of court loyalists were still resisting stubbornly.
The common people of the capital, officials of all ranks, including senior Ming officials who had just escaped from the Fengtian Hall when Emperor Jianwen went crazy and drew his sword, all knelt on both sides of the street to welcome the Prince of Yan.
If you kneel down now, you will avoid being liquidated in the future.
When Prince Yan came to the Ming Palace, Hu Shanwei ordered the palace servants to open the palace doors one by one and kneel down to welcome Prince Yan.
Prince Yan and his second son Zhu Gaoxu rushed to the Fengtian Hall, but found it empty. There was only a corpse lying face down on the ground, dressed in bright red court robes.
Although his face could not be seen, the man was wearing five rings on his right hand that were inlaid with red, yellow, green, blue and purple, looking very cool, just like Thanos five hundred years later.
Xu Zengshou was the only one in the capital who dared to attend court dressed like this.
The Prince of Yan froze on the spot. Zhu Gaoxu immediately knelt down and stroked the corpse and cried, "Second uncle! My uncle!"
During the years they were hostages in the capital, it was his second uncle who had always taken care of them and raised them as his own children. Zhu Gaoxu and his second uncle had a deep relationship. At this moment, Xu Zengshou's body was cold. Zhu Gaoxu cried while taking off his scarf to cover the horrific scar on his second uncle's neck.
The Prince of Yan half-knelt on the ground, took off the colorful rings on his brother-in-law Thanos's hands one by one, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and handed them to Zhu Gaoxu, "Your uncle, Duke Wei, is still resisting. I have ordered not to hurt him, but he refuses to stop and charges into our position alone, determined to shed his last drop of blood and die for his country. Show him your second uncle's ring, and he will stop."
Emperor Jianwen had planned to kill Xu Zengshou, not just out of anger. He separated the two brothers and arranged for the eldest brother Xu Huizu to guard the city early, leaving Xu Zengshou to attend the court meeting. In this way, no one could stop him from attacking Xu Zengshou.
Xu Huizu raised his younger brother like a son. If he were in the court, he would not sit idly by.
Zhu Gaoxu refused to accept the five rings and cried, "My uncle is so loyal. If he wants to die, why doesn't my father help him?"
Prince Yan slapped him with his palm, "Have you ever thought that the brothers of Duke Wei's Mansion went their separate ways, each serving their own master, and the one who was most sad was your mother? You are such an unfilial thing, your second uncle died at the hands of Emperor Jianwen, your mother would definitely be sad, if your eldest uncle also died at the hands of you and me, wouldn't your mother be even sadder?"
The Prince of Yan and his Consort Yan are deeply in love. For political reasons, the Prince of Yan has many concubines in his palace, including Koreans, Jurchens, generals' sisters, etc. However, all the children in the Yan palace are born to Consort Yan, and her status is as solid as a rock. The Xu brothers made completely different choices, and the one in a dilemma was Consort Yan, the future Empress of the Ming Dynasty.
When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he finally understood his father's true intention. He was not loyal to his uncle, but was just afraid that his mother would be sad.
Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to wipe away his tears, take the colorful ring, and ride away.
Because the King of Yan had ordered not to kill his brother-in-law, Duke of Wei Xu Huizu rode his horse to break through from both sides. The Yan army suffered heavy casualties, so they simply blocked the intersection with roadblocks, trying to trap the future brother-in-law who could not be beaten or scolded in the alley. Xu Huizu had countless scars on his body and the weather was hot, so he simply took off his armor and helmet, rode into the battle, spurred his horse to a run-up, and the horse leaped up, actually crossing the many roadblocks and jumping out of the alley.
The Yan army did not expect Xu Huizu to be so brave, and they all fled for their lives. When Xu Huizu was about to swing his sword, his nephew Zhu Gaoxu rode up on his horse and said, "Uncle! The dog emperor killed you while you were away, and you are still working for him?"
Xu Huizu naturally didn't believe it, "Get out of the way! Don't lie to me."
For the sake of his mother's face, Zhu Gaoxu did not confront his uncle head-on. He angrily threw the handkerchief containing the five rings to his uncle and said, "Look for yourself. If you still don't believe it, go ask those ministers. They saw the dog emperor go crazy and kill my second uncle, and they were afraid of being pissed off, so they fled from the Fengtian Hall and knelt on both sides of the road to welcome my father."
Xu Huizu opened the handkerchief with trembling hands and saw the bloody colorful ring. He was immediately disheartened and slammed the long sword in his hand onto the bluestone pavement with a clang. The Yan army rushed forward and tied up Xu Huizu's hands and feet with ropes, fearing that he would hurt himself out of grief.
In the imperial palace, Zhu Gaoxu took the ring to persuade his uncle to stop. Prince of Yan Zhu Di continued to move forward and took over the harem. Hu Shanwei led all the palace people to stand silently on both sides of the road, welcoming Prince of Yan and submitting to him.
The King of Yan asked Hu Shanwei, "Where is Jianwen?"
Hu Shanwei pointed at the Kunning Palace, which was ablaze, and said, "Emperor Jianwen was determined to die for the country. He gave Empress Ma, the crown prince, and his youngest son poisoned wine, and then set himself on fire."
The Prince of Yan quickly ordered the Yan army to bring water to put out the fire. Finally, four charred corpses of different sizes were carried out. The Prince of Yan began his performance and cried in front of the corpses: "I only want to get rid of the treacherous ministers, and I have no other intentions. Silly nephew, why do you do this!"
The Prince of Yan cried heart-wrenchingly, his sadness genuinely genuine.
Hu Shanwei watched Prince of Yan quietly. Now she finally understood why the people sent by Emperor Jianwen believed that Prince of Yan was really dying when he pretended to have a stroke, was in critical condition, had a crooked mouth and nose, and drooled.
Prince Yan can control his facial expressions at will, and even the subtle details are so realistic.
Hu Shanwei was convinced, however, he resigned.
A new emperor, a new queen, and a new concubine. She completed her mission of revenge for Concubine Fan and participated in the change of dynasties. She knew and did too much, so she had to leave the palace as soon as possible.
Prince Yan readily agreed, "Have a safe trip, Lady Hu, and we'll see each other again someday."
Hu Shanwei thought, it's better not to meet. The Shang Gong is simply not a human being. She forced me to burn an emperor. I will quit after this term.
In order to ensure safety, Hu Shanwei even rejected Ji Gang's proposal to send someone to escort her, and instead asked Chen Xuan's navy to escort her... She has a family and really doesn't want to become the second Concubine Fan.
In this way, Hu Shanwei sat on Chen Xuan's navy ship, followed by several escort gunboats, and returned to Kunming day and night.
Hu Shanwei arrived home exhausted, and the dog at home actually recognized her! She ran out of the chrysanthemum field with her tail wagging. When she and her dog arrived home, there was no one there. It must be that the days were long in summer, and her husband and daughter were taking a nap. Hu Shanwei went straight to the bedroom and saw a five-year-old girl sleeping on the bed!
My Are!
Hu Shanwei was afraid of waking her daughter up. She remembered that her daughter was very irritable when she woke up, and would definitely cry and lose her temper if she was woken up.
Hu Shanwei took off his shoes and walked closer wearing only cloth socks. He looked greedily at his sleeping daughter through the gauze mosquito net. It was hot, and his daughter was only wearing a bright red bellyband on her upper body with her back bare. Her lower body was wearing soft bright red loose-leg pants made of Songjiang cloth. Perhaps because she was growing up, she had lost a lot of weight, especially her bare back. Her two shoulder blades stood up high like butterfly wings.
The legs were slender and long, and the delicate ankles were like freshly glazed porcelain, which would break at the slightest touch. The skin was as white as snow, and Hu Shanwei almost held his breath, fearing that his breath would melt the snowman in front of him.
My Arei has grown into a little beauty.
Hu Shanwei was sighing secretly, looking at his daughter infatuatedly, not wanting to blink.
At this time, a sound of footsteps was heard. Hu Shanwei frowned and was about to go out to scold the visitor to speak softly and not wake up her Arei, when a fat black child ran in quickly, running so fast that he was like a black whirlwind.
The "Black Whirlwind" pounced directly onto the bed and shouted to the delicate child on the bed: "Brother Ji, little brother Ji, I caught a lot of shrimps, hurry up and get up and take a look."
Two rabbits are running side by side on the ground. How can they tell which one is male and which one is female
Hu Shanwei's mind buzzed: Brother Ji? The child on the bed is Zhu Zhanji, the eldest grandson of the Prince of Yan? Then who is this Black Whirlwind? Hu Shanwei had a bad feeling.
"Black Tornado" was wearing exactly the same red bellyband and bright red wide-leg pants, but the trouser legs were rolled up to the base of his thighs, close to his buttocks, and his legs were covered in mud, just for catching shrimps.
Zhu Zhanji rubbed his eyes and sat up, "Sister Xiang, where are the shrimps?"
"Black Whirlwind" pointed to the door and said, "It's at my brother-in-law's place."
Mu Chun came in carrying a basket of shrimps, his legs also covered in mud, "Let's keep our word. Take a shower and take a nap after playing enough. Your sister will be back in the next two days. If she sees you—"
Mu Chun's words came to an abrupt halt when he saw Hu Shanwei standing in the corner.
Hu Shanwei: I raised my daughter to be a black whirlwind. Is it too late to divorce my husband now
The author has something to say: Read the following Yuan opera, and get a 100-point red envelope for each question, first come first served, three questions in total.
[Shuangdiao] Toad Palace Song Tianjia
Lu Zhi
Sha San and his brother came, their legs covered in mud, just to catch shrimps. In Taigongzhuang, under the shade of willow trees, they broke watermelons.
The waiter sang the song "Xi Xian La Ta", and there was a pipa on the reel. I watched the buckwheat blossom and the mung beans sprout. There was no right or wrong, and the villager was very happy.
Note 1: Xixianlata: refers to the appearance of drooling and a slovenly body. 2: Luzhu: a roller used for threshing.
Question 1: What does the pipa in the poem refer to? (100 points red envelope)
Question 2: From the perspective of genre, does this Yuan Dynasty song belong to Sanqu? (100 points bonus)
Question 3: Which of the following is the appropriate appreciation of the work? ( ) (100 red envelopes)
a. The first three sentences describe two country kids who went to the river to catch shrimps in order to make a living, with their legs covered in mud.
b. Sentences 4 to 6 describe Sha San and his companion sitting under the shade of a tree and cracking open a watermelon to eat.
c. The seventh and eighth sentences describe the second brother standing next to the reel and pipa in tattered clothes and with a greedy look on his face.
d. This song sings about the life of farmers in Kasuga during the Yuan Dynasty.