Fan Gong was woken up when he was about to fall asleep. He had to travel a thousand miles. Although he could handle the matter with just a few punches and kicks, he still felt upset.
Who would be in a good mood when being called up in the middle of the night to work overtime
I was particularly disgusted by the densely packed toads and bamboo worms on the ground. When I closed my eyes, I could see that horrible scene.
Fan Gong was suffering from insomnia, so he simply stayed up all night to investigate the incident that night.
The female official reported: "The Shangqin Bureau's Siyuan sent people to capture the bamboo forest toads overnight. The bamboo insects and the bamboos that were infested with insects were piled together and burned. The bamboo forest has been cleaned up and will not disturb the masters and ladies who visit the garden tomorrow."
The six bureaus and one department each have their own duties and responsibilities. The Palace Administration Department reported the scene of the toad blocking the way in the bamboo forest to the Shangqin Bureau. The gardens and flowers in the harem are all under the management of the Department Garden. Each bureau has a female official on duty all night. There is no room for error in the palace, and the response must be immediate.
Si Yuan's actions were fast enough, but Fan Gongzheng's focus was not on this. "The bamboos looked fine from the outside, how come there were so many insects? And why did they fall down on the road we had to pass by? Does Si Yuan have an explanation?"
The subordinate said, "Si Yuan said that bamboo worms live inside the bamboo tube and cannot be seen from the outside. However, Si Yuan also said that bamboo is tough and it is difficult to break unless the inside is eaten away and only a layer of skin is left, or it is shaken by external forces such as strong winds and rainstorms. Si Yuan checked the broken parts of the bamboo and found traces of being chopped by knives and axes. I have kept the ones with chopped marks as evidence."
Fan Gongzheng nodded and said, "You can spread the word that the Gongzheng Division has evidence of bamboo axe chopping. Spread it around the palace. I estimate that someone from the Yanxi Palace will come to confess by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
Concubine Hu wanted to make some noise to express her dissatisfaction with Empress Ma, but she didn't want to bring trouble upon herself. Since she could abandon the chief eunuch in charge of the palace, why would it be difficult for her to get rid of a palace maid
Anyway, the dragon heir in her belly is a golden ticket to immunity from death, and no one can do anything to her.
Therefore, Fan Gongzheng deliberately used the tactic of "stirring up trouble" so that the officials of Yanxi Palace would be forced to come forward and confess their crimes without the need for Gongzhengsi to investigate.
Fan Gongzheng was known for her swift and ruthless methods, and many people called her "Fan Yanwang" behind her back.
However, in the harem, a place with almost zero tolerance for mistakes and errors, it takes a strong person like Fan Gongzheng to suppress the situation.
There will be another scapegoat in the palace, Fan Gongzheng sighed. If the people in the upper echelons only care about their own pleasure and keep making trouble, the people below will be the first to suffer.
Fan Gongzheng was disgusted with Concubine Hu because of this. In fact, as Gongzheng, she managed the discipline of the harem and served the entire palace. The open and secret struggles between the three palaces should have nothing to do with her. She just watched from the sidelines, impartially, and did her job well.
But people are not machines. They have emotions, such as joy, anger, sorrow and happiness.
Empress Ma ordered Fan Gongzheng to oversee the compilation of biographies of virtuous concubines of the Zhao and Song dynasties and their family traditions and rules. Concubine Hu's act seriously interfered with the compilation of the book and embarrass Fan Gongzheng. She thought that by putting up a shield, Fan Gongzheng would be unable to do anything to her.
Fan Gong was closing a thick file, adjusting the wick of the lamp to make it brighter, and muttered to himself, "Do you really think I can't do anything to you?"
The next morning, Fan Gongzheng went to the Shangyi Bureau and chatted with Cui Shangyi from the Shangyi Bureau.
After a few pleasantries, Fan Gongzheng asked, "Last time, Linchuan Marquis Hu Mei submitted to your Shangyi Bureau the list of family members who entered the harem to visit Concubine Hu. I heard that the name of my son-in-law was included. Is that true?"
Cui Shangyi nodded, her eyes showing contempt, "How can the son-in-law of the Hu family, a man from outside, enter the harem? The Hu family is too unruly. My subordinate Sibin sent the list back and asked the Hu family to revise it. Concubine Hu actually accused them of soliciting bribes, which is really difficult to deal with."
It was for this reason that Empress Ma ordered Fan Gongzheng to compile a book to educate concubines to be virtuous, restrain family members, establish family rules, and correct family traditions.
Fan Gongzheng's eyes turned and asked, "Has the Hu family changed?"
Cui Shangyi said, "It has been changed. Hu Mei deleted the outsiders and several members of the side branches. Otherwise, if our Shangyi Bureau allowed outsiders to enter the palace, wouldn't it be a dereliction of duty? The Hu family resubmitted the list, and the Sibin is already reviewing it. After the review is completed, the date and route to enter the palace will be arranged."
Fan Gongzheng smiled, gave a look that said "you know what I mean", and asked, "Is there anything wrong with the second list?"
Cui Shangyi understood and smiled, "I understand," and said, "If you look for faults carefully, there are still some loopholes."
You can even pick out bones from eggs.
The fact that Concubine Hu casually accused eight female officials of the Shangyi Bureau of collectively soliciting bribes will not be easily revealed.
Everyone has a temper, not just you, Concubine Hu. If Fan Gongzheng and Cui Shangyi were a soft persimmon, they would never have reached their current position.
Just like that, the Shangyi Bureau found a few more faults and returned the list to the Hu family, asking them to reconsider. The matter of the Hu family entering the palace was delayed again and again. Concubine Hu could not see her family and became more and more irritable. She even cried and complained that the Shangyi Bureau was too bullying and deliberately making things difficult for her natal family, the Linchuan Marquis Mansion, when Emperor Hongwu visited her.
Emperor Hongwu summoned Cui Shangyi from the Shangyi Bureau to question him. Cui Shangyi was a beauty no less beautiful than Concubine Hu. She had expected Concubine Hu to complain, so she explained gently, "When the royal family summons the concubines and their families, unless there is an order from the emperor, only the ladies with imperial decrees can be summoned. They must dress up according to their respective makeup specifications and wear the clothes of the ladies of the court to enter the palace. Those unmarried women, and married women without imperial decrees are not qualified to enter the palace to meet the emperor."
Concubine Hu said angrily, "Nonsense. Last month, Concubine Sun Shu from the West Six Palaces summoned her family members to the palace, and there was an unmarried woman among them."
Cui Shangyi said: "That's because Concubine Sun Shu asked the Queen Mother for permission, and only after the Queen Mother nodded her approval did our Shangyi Bureau let her enter the palace."
Cui Shangyi's words were well-reasoned and left Concubine Hu speechless and sulking.
Of course, this is a later story.
Hu Shanwei had disheveled hair, a shabby appearance, and bruises all over her hands. Fan Gong was asking her to go back to her room to rest and wait for the female doctor to come and treat her.
As soon as I stepped into the familiar row of corridors, four palace maids were already waiting at the door, carrying a bucket of hot water, a soap box, a brand new official uniform, and a black gauze hat with flowers on it.
Hu Shanwei is the only person living in the entire row of corridors. It is so quiet at night that it seems almost haunted. Did these four palace maids come to the wrong place
The two maids carrying hot water and a soap box said, "Ms. Hu, your hand is injured. We are sent by Concubine Fan to help you bathe and change clothes."
The maid holding the clothes said, "I am from the clothing bureau. I heard that Ms. Hu's official uniform and hat were damaged, so I came to give her a new set."
Needless to say, it was Fan Gongzheng who sent someone to inform the Shangfu Bureau. The dress of female officials represented the dignity and majesty of the royal family. At this time, Hu Shanwei not only had disheveled hair, but also tore her red skirt and purple robe, and the gold thread on the purple robe was torn out, which was very unpresentable.
Hu Shanwei opened the door and four palace maids followed her in. She had difficulty using her hands, so the maids helped her with cleaning and making the bed. She soaked in the bathtub with her red and swollen hands stretched out. The maids helped her wash her hair and bathe her, and their soft fingers gently massaged her scalp, which was so comfortable.
Another palace maid helped her to wipe her body. Hu Shanwei felt a little embarrassed. Since she lost her mother at the age of six, her family fell into poverty and was almost wiped out. No one had helped her bathe. Now there were four of them, and her whole body was seen by everyone.
The palace maid who was bathing her felt her muscles were stiff and knew that she was uncomfortable and not used to being served. She guessed that her family background was very ordinary before she entered the palace.
The palace maid had an idea. She took the red lotus flowers in the vase and tore off the petals. They looked like small boats and soon covered the entire bathtub, blocking out the infinite spring light in the bathtub.
Sure enough, after her privacy was protected, Hu Shanwei gradually relaxed, until the palace maids washed her hair and gave her a bath, and she almost fell asleep in the bathtub.
The palace maid dried her hair and helped her put on a loose nightgown. The female doctor who came to treat her fingers was already waiting in the bedroom, drinking a light lotus seed soup as a midnight snack.
Hu Shanwei was stunned. It turned out to be Ru Siyao from the Shangshi Bureau who came in person.
The "Si" generation refers to female officials of the sixth rank. Ru Siyao is 23 years old this year and is the youngest female official of the sixth rank.
She was born into a family of scholars and was a proper lady from a noble family. It is said that if scholars cannot become good officials, they can become good doctors. There are scholars in the Ru family who become officials after studying, and there are also scholars who find that they like to study medicine and finally become doctors.
There were also those who were officials but resigned midway and became doctors to support their families. There were also those who were doctors who passed the imperial examinations and eventually became officials.
In short, the Ru family had a relatively open-minded family tradition, and the family would approve of him being an official or a doctor. Growing up in such a family, Ru learned Confucian classics and also learned medical skills.
Like Fan Gongzheng, she was a female official selected into the palace in the third year of Hongwu, but she was only thirteen years old when she entered the palace, an unmarried girl. The newly widowed Fan Gongzheng was twenty years old. Both of them started as female historians of the eighth rank. Ru was proficient in medicine and went to work as a female historian in the medicine department of the Shangshi Bureau.
Imperial doctors were not allowed to enter the harem, and those who violated the rules would be executed. If a member of the royal family or a palace lady fell ill, she could only be treated by a female doctor, or the female doctor would repeat the pulse, condition and symptoms to the imperial doctors in the Imperial Hospital, who would consult together, write down the prescription and cooperate with each other.
Ru had some basic medical skills. She was smart and eager to learn, and with the guidance of famous doctors from the Imperial Hospital, her medical skills improved over the past ten years. At the age of twenty-three, she was promoted to the sixth-rank pharmacist, in charge of all matters related to medicine in the entire harem.
Therefore, Ru Siyao was busy with official duties and had little time to treat low-ranking palace maids or female officials.
This time, not only Ru Siyao came, but she was also accompanied by three strong palace servants, carrying a large medicine box that was half a person's height.
Hu Shanwei did not dare to neglect and hurried forward to pay his respects. Ru Siyao asked her to sit down and placed a pumpkin pillow on the table, "Let me see your hands."
Hu Shanwei spread his hands on the soft pillow, Ru Siyao cleaned his hands, wiped off the water droplets, and pressed her fingers one by one, "Does it hurt?"
Hu Shanwei was sweating from the pain. "It hurts. Please, Ru Si, use a lighter dose."
Ru Siyao carefully checked each finger before letting go. "It's ok if it hurts. The bones are fine. I was just worried that you couldn't feel the pain. With so many people plucking your fingers from all directions, it's easy to break them. It's okay if they break, they can grow back after a few connections. If the bones are broken, you have to amputate and cut off the entire finger."
ah
Hu Shanwei was confused. "Ru... Ru Siyao? You mean I almost had to have my limb amputated?"
Ru Siyao nodded, "If you don't amputate in time, your finger will rot and you will die."
Hu Shanwei was so frightened that he forgot the pain.
Ru Siyao instructed her three assistants, "You don't need to use the knives, axes, saws, etc. that you brought tonight. Just apply the medicine directly to her."
Hu Shanwei finally understood that Ru Siyao had come to see him in person today, accompanied by three sturdy assistants, with the intention of chopping off her hands...
Only then did Hu Shanwei feel truly frightened. She was almost disabled.
The three assistants quickly applied the medicine to her fingers. Ru Siyao finally reminded her: "Don't get it wet, don't exert too much force, sweat will corrode the wound. Avoid eating these few days, don't drink alcohol, don't eat spicy food..."
Hu Shanwei was still immersed in the fear of chopping off his hands. He kept nodding and daring to move.