The princes-in-law who were able to survive the Hongwu, Jianwen and Yongle dynasties were all lucky ones. After all, the first nine all died violent deaths and no one survived.
Hu Guan was a shrewd son-in-law who knew how to adapt to changing circumstances. During the Hongwu reign, he received a hint from his father-in-law and frantically impeached Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. As a result, he won a reputation for being upright and virtuous, and gained both fame and fortune.
During the reign of Emperor Jianwen, when Li Jinglong led the second Northern Expedition, in order to show his loyalty, he followed the commander-in-chief northward to attack the "Yan bandits", but he did not dare to really fight, and raised his hands to be captured without firing a single arrow. The Prince of Yan wanted to win the support of the royal family at that time, so he treated his brother-in-law Hu Guan with great courtesy and sent him back to the capital politely. After the battle, Li Jinglong became Li Paopao, fleeing madly in Shandong area, but he did not even get a scratch on his skin.
During the Yongle reign, Prince of Yan’s troops were at the gates of the city. As the son-in-law of the emperor, he had to defend the city. Seeing other defenders opening the city gates to welcome Prince of Yan, he also hurried to open the city gates.
The Prince of Yan entered the palace and the overall situation was decided. As a member of the royal family, he immediately wrote a letter to the emperor, saying that the country could not be without a king for a day and begged the Prince of Yan to ascend the throne. He changed his attitude according to the situation and grabbed the credit for being supported.
When Prince Yan ascended the throne, the princess of Nankang's generation changed from the emperor's aunt to the emperor's sister, so her title could no longer be "Grand Princess" and they all became princesses. However, no matter how the princess' title changed, the prince consort was still the prince consort.
Emperor Yongle re-established the Jinyiwei, and the once wanted criminal Ji Gang suddenly became the commander of the Jinyiwei. This really scared Hu Guan for a while, because it was Ji Gang who brought down Ji Gang's boss Mao Xiang. He also wanted to take Mao Xiang's body as a sacrifice, but was intercepted by Princess Huaiqing's son-in-law Wang Ning. Hu Guan was worried about Ji Gang's revenge.
But later, Hu Guan saw that in order to consolidate his position, Emperor Yongle treated the royal family well. As long as they supported his rule and recognized the legitimacy of his throne, he would forgive them and treat them well. He would make up for the injustices that Emperor Jianwen had done to Princess Qingcheng. For example, Princess Qingyang was restored to her title. Emperor Yongle was good at united front work and grasping the main contradictions. He only killed two consorts who openly opposed him:
The first one was the consort Mei Yin. Because Mei Yin refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of Emperor Yongle, Emperor Yongle had no choice but to ask him to go down the river and sleep with the fishes. The second one was Emperor Jianwen's sister, Princess Jiangdu's consort Geng Xuan. Geng Bingwen, the only remaining military general in the Hongwu Dynasty, was a minister of the Jianwen Dynasty. His entire family was executed, and Geng Xuan was certainly not spared. Princess Jiangdu recognized the throne of the new emperor, and Emperor Yongle did not embarrass her. He demoted her to Princess Jiangdu and treated her well.
Hu Guan secretly observed the policies of Emperor Yongle and knew his own safety. He waved the banner to support Emperor Yongle. Ji Gang did not dare to touch him. His status as a son-in-law was the best amulet. As long as he did not rebel, what could Ji Gang do to him
Hu Guan was relieved and devoted himself to coaxing Princess Nankang. When Nankang gave birth to a son, he named him Hu Zhong to show his loyalty to Emperor Yongle. How could Emperor Yongle not know this? He gave his little nephew many gifts.
Although he had a son and had Princess Nankang firmly in his hands, Hu Guan still felt uncomfortable - Jiang Quan, the female official in the princess's mansion, was too much of an eyesore.
It is said that when Lady Guan Jiang first entered the palace, she witnessed the birth of Princess Nankang with her own eyes, and the two of them formed a bond. After that, Princess Nankang grew up in the palaces of four concubines: Concubine Li Xian, Concubine Chengmu Sun, Concubine Li Shu, and Concubine Duanjing Guo. The people around her changed one after another, but only Jiang Quan stayed with her all the time. Princess Nankang was too dependent on Jiang Quan and almost obeyed his every word.
But Hu Guan hated Jiang Quan. There cannot be two tigers in one mountain. He hated Jiang Quan's scrutinizing eyes, he hated Jiang Quan bringing a pot of wine to visit the death row prisoner at night to see Mao Xiang off for the last time, he and Jiang Quan had different political stances, he hated Princess Nankang who always asked Jiang Quan's opinion first before encountering problems, he hated that every time he had a conflict with Jiang Quan, Princess Nankang always advised him to "be patient" and give in to the old female official Jiang.
He knew that the princess was his support for his life, and that all his wealth and glory in life depended on the princess. But with Jiang Quan around, it was like sand in the eyes, a small stone in the shoes, and a rat shit in the pot of porridge. It was really disgusting.
But Jiang Quan was in good health. At the age of 60, he could still eat fried broad beans. He looked as if he could live another 500 years. Hu Guan felt that even if he died, Jiang Quan would still be alive.
Hu Guan wanted to kill Jiang Quan, but Jiang Quan had other backers besides Princess Nankang. Several major female officials in the palace were her old friends. Princess Huaiqing, who was currently the most respected by Emperor Yongle, also had a good relationship with Jiang Quan, not to mention that Jinyiwei commander Ji Gang was always respectful in front of Jiang Quan.
Jiang Quan has too many connections. This old man has never been willing to stay in the princess's mansion. He tirelessly participates in various social activities to maintain his network.
In fact, Jiang Quan did this entirely to protect Nankang. Nankang was absorbed in living with Hu Guan behind closed doors and was in love with him. She was totally uninterested in the outside court. If Jiang Quan did not take care of the relationship, who would care about Nankang if something happened to her
If Jiang Quan died in unclear circumstances, Hu Guan would be confident that he could fool Princess Nankang, but others would not let it go, especially Ji Gang, who was in charge of investigating imperial cases.
Since he couldn't kill her, Hu Guan came up with a plan to make Princess Nankang hate Jiang Quan and stay away from her. So Hu Guan hooked up with a courtesan from Qinhuai River, staged a play, secretly paid for her redemption, settled her in his house, and deliberately pretended to be careless, revealing a strong smell of rouge, so that Jiang Quan "took the bait".
Jiang Quan was fooled. After seeing Hu Guan and the courtesan in an affair with his own eyes, he took Princess Nankang to catch them. However, when they arrived at the mansion, the courtesan and her servants all disappeared. Hu Guan took the initiative to take Nankang to visit the mansion, saying that this was a surprise he secretly prepared for Nankang's birthday.
Princess Nankang likes red maples, so this yard is planted with maple trees. When autumn comes, the maple leaves look like fire. What a beautiful sight it will be!
Jiang Quan dug deep into the ground but still couldn't find the courtesan, which made him lose face. Princess Nankang blamed Jiang Quan for wrongly accusing Hu Guan and asked her to reflect on her mistakes and apologize to Hu Guan.
Jiang Quan's ability to endure is unmatched. On the surface, he and Hu Guan staged the "carrying a thorn stick to ask for forgiveness" and "the reconciliation between the general and the prime minister", but secretly he was waiting for Ji Gang to return to Beijing to settle the score.
Jiang Quan wanted to kill Hu Guan, while Ji Gang had long wanted to kill him to avenge Mao Xiang, and the two hit it off immediately.
Ji Gang said: "Hu Guan is the son-in-law of the emperor, and he was the first to surrender to the emperor and persuade the emperor to ascend the throne. He has the merit of following the emperor and should not be underestimated. If you want to move him, you can only use wits, not assassination or creating unexpected methods, which will cause dissatisfaction with the emperor."
Princess Nankang was easy to fool. She said it was an accident and she could just cry. Her son Hu Zhong was just one year old. She could always get over the sadness by raising her son. The problem was that Emperor Yongle was not easy to fool.
Jiang Quan bowed to Ji Gang and said, "Master Ji, if you have any orders, just tell me."
Ji Gang hurriedly helped Jiang Quan sit down, "Don't bother Miss Jiang, just pretend you know nothing and do what you need to do. Leave everything to me. During this period, you and I should not have any contact, so as not to arouse suspicion."
Jiang Quan returned to Princess Nankang's mansion, and Ji Gang began to set a trap for Hu Guan, using the method of killing someone with a borrowed knife.
First of all, they had to find the courtesan who was performing. Ji Gang's Jinyiwei spies were spread all over the country, especially in the countless brothels in Qinhuai River. Through the indentureship of the courtesan, they found out that she was originally a skinny horse from Yangzhou, and was sold to Qinhuai River.
A brothel in Yangzhou bought beautiful girls and trained them as ladies from a noble family. They were both beautiful and talented, and were far beyond the reach of ordinary prostitutes. Such families often had "skills" since the Song Dynasty, and the craft was passed down from generation to generation. They all had their names registered with the Jinyiwei, so the secret agents quickly found the "mother" who had trained the courtesan.
It is human instinct to return to one's roots. Once a courtesan has gained freedom and money, most of them will choose to return to their hometown to find their relatives and marry an honest man.
Sure enough, the courtesan who acted with Hu Guan was no exception. She returned to her hometown to look for her relatives, only to find that both her parents had passed away and her family was almost extinct. However, there was a group of relatives like flies who wanted to eat her "fat meat". The courtesan had seen the world in the capital, so she hired bodyguards to break through the siege. She was about to go to a big city like Hangzhou to find an honest man to marry, but she was caught by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Now the methods of Jinyiwei have become more and more advanced in Ji Gang's hands. The courtesan was summoned before dawn, and Ji Gang promised her a way out.
Three days later, the courtesan went to the clan house to file a complaint, saying that the prince consort Hu Guan had deceived her and was biased towards her, and even wanted to kill her to silence her!
According to the accusation of the courtesan, Hu Guan pretended to be unmarried, redeemed her from the brothel, and promised her the position of wife. However, less than a month after their love affair, she discovered his true identity. She planned to go to Princess Nankang's mansion and beg, volunteering to be a slave in the mansion, serving tea and washing the princess' feet, hoping that the princess would allow her to meet her husband occasionally.
Hu Guan agreed on the surface, but secretly was afraid that Princess Nankang would find out about his affair and get furious, so he simply pushed her into the Qinhuai River to silence her while they were admiring the moon on a pleasure boat.
Fortunately, the courtesan was well-informed and survived. Her love turned into hatred, and after she recovered, she came to the clan office to file a complaint and expose the true face of the prince consort Hu Guan, so as to prevent Princess Nankang from being deceived by this unfaithful and heartless man. Now Hu Guan dared to kill her to silence her, and maybe one day in the future he would treat the princess in the same way.
Hu Guan cried out that he was innocent and swore to heaven that he was loyal to Princess Nankang and had never been with another woman in his life, and that this prostitute was talking nonsense.
Hu Guan really had never slept with the courtesan. It was all just a show to force Jiang Quan away. He was a nobleman whose family had fallen into decline and all his family members had been executed. For him, wealth and power were the most important things, and he was not interested in women.
However, the courtesan pointed out accurately that the little toe of his left foot was born with an inward-turned deformity, and there was a small black tumor the size of a soybean between his testicles!
Who else would know about such private matters except the person next to you
Hu Guan was just like Jiang Quan last month. He had no way to defend himself and could only kneel down and beg Princess Nankang for forgiveness, asking her to forgive him once for the sake of her son Hu Zhong.
Being cuckolded by a prostitute and sleeping with the same man as a prostitute, when had Princess Nankang ever suffered such a great humiliation? Although she was timid and cowardly, as a princess, she was not bound by the traditional three obediences and four virtues, especially the princesses of the Hongwu Dynasty, with the extremely powerful Emperor Gaozu as their father, which prince consort would dare to take a concubine
Hiring a prostitute is even more ridiculous. If Emperor Gaozu were still alive, he would have chopped off this tactless prince consort long ago.
With witnesses and evidence both present and witnessing, there is no greater sorrow than a dead heart. Princess Nankang was humiliated and left crying with her face covered, supported by Jiang Quan.
Hu Guan was imprisoned in the Clan Court, which reported the scandal of the son-in-law hiring a prostitute to Emperor Yongle and handed it over to the emperor for punishment.
Although Princess Nankang was not as close to Emperor Yongle as Princess Huaiqing, and was an important chess piece for Emperor Yongle to stabilize the royal family, she was the emperor's sister after all. Would it be an honor for her brother if her brother-in-law hired a prostitute
How could Emperor Yongle not be angry? Hu Guan had embarrassed Princess Nankang, and it was clear that he did not take my authority seriously!
Emperor Yongle first ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to beat Hu Guan with twenty boards and then confined him to the clan house, waiting for Princess Nankang's opinion on how to deal with him.
Although Hu Guan was unfaithful to Princess Nankang, he had supported the Yongle Dynasty. Moreover, if an official solicited prostitutes, he would at most be demoted, and the most serious punishment would be the loss of his official title, but not death.
What's more, Princess Nankang and Hu Guan had a deep love for each other in the past and they had a son. What would happen to Hu Guan ultimately depended on Nankang's opinion.
When Princess Nankang returned, she hugged her son and thought of Hu Guan's kindness, with mixed feelings of love and hate. Jiang Quan felt even more heartbroken to see his granddaughter so sad. He thought that with the princess's soft temper and Hu Guan's previous hard work, maybe she would change her mind in a few days and forgive Hu Guan. What should he do
Ji Gang sent a secret letter to Jiang Quan, telling her: This is just the beginning, and she should be patient, because the ultimate trick is still to come. You just need to keep Princess Nankang stable for ten days, and within these ten days, do not let the princess give in and go to the clan house to ask for the person.
Jiang Quan did as he was told, and Princess Nankang softened her heart the next day and discussed with Jiang Quan about going to the clan house to rescue the person.
Jiang Quan secretly sighed that Ji Gang had planned everything out, and advised Nan Kang: "Alas, the prince consort was bewitched by the vixen for a while, and did something wrong, betraying the oath he made with the princess. But firstly, Zhong'er is still young, and secondly, the prince consort has always served the princess wholeheartedly, which I have seen with my own eyes. The prince consort should be given a chance to change his ways."
"But if he doesn't learn his lesson, how can we know he won't do it again? Moreover, he has hurt the princess' dignity, so we can't just lock him up for two days and then let him go. It would make others look down on the royal family, and it would also be embarrassing for the emperor. It would be better to put the prince consort in cold shoulder for ten days, so that he can reflect on his mistakes, and then take him home after ten days."
Princess Nankang had relied on Jiang Quan since she was a child, and thought this was a very appropriate move, so she agreed.
On the other hand, Ji Gang secretly instigated the censors to report Hu Guan for violating morals and having bad conduct on the grounds that the prince consort hired a prostitute. Reporting people is the responsibility of the censors, who have to complete their performance every month. Reporting others is risky, but reporting Hu Guan, a poor nobleman with no backing and a prince consort who only relied on the princess to rise to prominence, has a very low risk factor.
As a result, everyone pushed the wall down and beat the broken drum. The memorials flew to the Yongle Emperor's desk like snowflakes. The Yongle Emperor was busy with various state affairs all day long, and was overwhelmed. He was also disturbed by the family scandal, so he was so angry that he sent the Jinyiwei to beat Hu Guan with 20 boards to vent his anger.
After all, if a brother-in-law beats his sister's husband, it would be a waste if he doesn't beat him. Even in the folk, if a brother-in-law beats his sister's husband, the government will not care as long as no one is killed. The onlookers will just watch the fun and say that the beating is good, but no one will sympathize with the brother-in-law.
Just like when Mu Chun’s uncle Feng Cheng beat the emperor’s adopted son, Xiping Hou Mu Ying, into a pig’s head, and the hot-tempered Emperor Gaozu didn’t say anything.
The Jinyiwei beat and scolded him at the same time, and someone else took out the censor's report and read it aloud, which was both physically and mentally tortured.
Hu Guan initially thought that based on the efforts he had made with Princess Nankang, she would definitely forgive him and take him out. However, Hu Guan waited and waited, but the princess did not show up. Instead, he was beaten with a stick and received a bunch of memorials impugning him.
It was clearly the result of losing favor with the princess and losing trust in front of the emperor. Both roads were blocked.
Hu Guan was physically and mentally devastated. The Hu family of Dongchuan Houfu were all beheaded and exterminated. He had nightmares at night, dreaming of that terrible execution ground. His second brother's family was innocent, but they were charged with treason by the Jinyiwei. The whole family walked to the execution ground, and heads rolled down one by one...
Hu Guan woke up suddenly, turned over slightly, and was hit on the buttocks by forty boards in total, which hurt like thousands of needles.
He finally struggled until dawn, when the jailer brought him new clothes and a food box to change his blood-stained old clothes. The dining table was filled with his favorite dishes.
Hu Guan was overjoyed: "This was sent from Princess Nankang's mansion, right?"
The jailer looked at him with compassion, but did not answer his question. He said vaguely, "Eat it. Ordinary death row prisoners have a bowl of decapitated chicken to eat before being beheaded. What's more, you were once a royal consort."
This may seem like an ordinary sigh, but in this special case, it means that Hu Guan must die. Eat well and drink well, then you are on your way.
Under this psychological suggestion, Hu Guan fell from the clouds to hell again and fell into despair. The nightmare of his whole family being beheaded last night could not be shaken off.
Hu Guan thought to himself, my body and hair were given to me by my parents, I cannot be beheaded like my tribesmen, I would rather end my life and keep my body intact.
At least, there is Zhong'er, and the Hu family's bloodline will not be cut off.
When the jailer came to collect the bowls, he found that Hu Guan had hanged himself from the beam with a belt.
When the news reached Jinyiwei, Ji Gang said calmly, "I know."
Afterwards, Ji Gang walked into the underground secret room, where a portrait of Mao Xiang was hung and a tablet of Mao Xiang was placed on the incense table.
Ji Gang lit three incense sticks, bowed three times, and offered them to Mao Xiang. Then, he opened a booklet that looked like an account book on the incense table. Every page was filled with names, and there were more than a hundred of them.
Half of the names were circled in red ink, which was very eye-catching. Ji Gang turned to the middle, paused, picked up the red ink pen, circled the name "Hu Guan", and said to Mao Xiang's portrait:
"Master Mao, when you were alive, you always said that I had infinite beauty but limited wisdom, that I had only a beautiful appearance, that I was useless, that I would never learn anything, that I was a crooked person. If I hadn't worked for you and had you protecting me, I would have died more than a hundred times."
"I have finally come to my senses. I know how to use my mind and my tricks. My only goal is to avenge you. I will not let go of any straw that broke your back or any snowflake that froze you to death. I have now completed half of my goal. The person I sent away today was Hu Guan. I scared Hu Guan to death. I didn't get my hands dirty. He wanted to die on his own. You see, I have a brain now, right?"
The author has something to say: Ji Gang, like Arya in Game of Thrones, both have a death list and a heart-wrenching growth process. From innocence to scheming, they are forced to grow up because they lost the people who protected them.
Today is Zhou's fifth Mother's Day. Let's scatter flowers and wish Zhou a happy Mother's Day~~~~ Thank you to the little angels who cast the tyrant votes or irrigated the nutrient solution for me~
Thanks to the little angels who cast [bazooka]: Yueyu 1;
Thanks to the little angel who cast [mine]: Liangjiu Jingque. 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
Gray comes and goes. 88 bottles; Yan Zi, 577567, Wusang 20 bottles; Mommy, Zi Feiyu 10 bottles; Caotanzhi, Ozil excitedly said 5 bottles; 35726280 3 bottles; Lebao 2 bottles; Yang Yanxi Dada Penyu, Xingyao Feixiang, 29912851, Qingxuan Zhubai Zhou 19, 20487360, Green Tea Drinking Pu'er, Tranquility and Orchid 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!