Ru Siyao was a skilled doctor, and the next day, the redness and swelling of Hu Shanwei's hands had mostly subsided. Ru Siyao gave medical advice, and Fan Gongzheng ordered Hu Shanwei to rest and asked Chen Ermei to clean up the remaining books in the Bingzi Library instead of her.
Since entering the palace, Hu Shanwei has never been slack. She suddenly had some free time and two palace maids served her. She just had to open her mouth for food and stretch out her hand for clothes. She didn't even have to make her own tea. The sun was scorching outside, and she rested in her room all day, feeling that the days passed so slowly.
For fear of chopping off his hands, Hu Shanwei followed the doctor's advice and did not dare to use his hands. The only small movement he made was turning the pages of a book.
Fortunately, I can still read, otherwise how would I spend the day
After five days, her hands were almost healed. Ru Siyao came to check on her personally, stopped the oral medication, and gave her a bottle of external ointment to apply until it ran out.
Hu Shanwei thanked Ru Siyao and went back to Tibet to continue his work. It was the eighth day of the female officials collecting materials. The ten female officials had completed the day and night rotation. Chen Ermei and others who were on the day shift were replaced by the night shift, and Jiang Quan and others who were on the night shift were replaced by the day shift.
When she saw Jiang Quan again, Hu Shanwei felt mixed emotions. Jiang Quan had been very good to her, but now, she and Jiang Quan had different positions and there was a gap between them.
Jiang Quan just celebrated her 40th birthday the day before yesterday. It is said that Concubine Hu of the Yanxi Palace held a birthday banquet for her, which was extremely luxurious. She also petitioned the emperor to allow the Yanxi Palace to release a group of Kongming lanterns on the night of the birthday banquet. According to palace rules, the palace strictly prohibits the flying of kites, Kongming lanterns and other similar signal objects during informal festivals, otherwise it will be suspected of treason.
Emperor Hongwu agreed. That night, one Kongming lantern after another soared into the sky, attracting groups of fireflies to fly around the Kongming lanterns. The red lanterns and blue fireflies made the night sky extremely beautiful.
Concubine Hu, who was cold and indifferent to the palace maids and even abandoned the eunuch in charge who had served her for many years, was surprisingly nice to Jiang Quan, who had just entered the palace, as if she was possessed by a poison. The palace maids were secretly amazed.
However, no matter how popular Jiang Quan was in the Yanxi Palace, in Tibet, she was just an ordinary book editor.
Fan Gongzheng called Hu Shanwei and Jiang Quan together and told them one thing, "The books in the Bing Library have been cleared, and the books about Consort Zhao and Song have been copied almost completely. But to ensure that nothing goes wrong, you should go to the bookstore outside the palace today to see if you can find any books that are not in the palace, and collect as much material as possible."
This book will be used to educate all the concubines in the six palaces of the east and west in the future. It will also be given to the concubines' families to remind them to correct the family traditions and rules. This is a matter of great importance, and Fan Gongzheng dare not make any mistakes.
Hu Shanwei and Jiang Quan were chosen to go out of the palace to look for books because Hu Shanwei's family ran a bookshop and was familiar with all the major bookshops in the capital. Jiang Quan was older, had read more books, and was mature and stable. Moreover, if Jiang Quan left the palace, Concubine Hu would not always find various reasons to send tea, fruit, and iced drinks to Tibet, which would disturb everyone's book editing.
Hu Shanwei and Jiang Quan changed into civilian clothes and were escorted by plainclothes Jinyiwei. There were a total of ten people in a team, led by Xiaoqi Ji Gang.
Ji Gang was a close confidant of Mao Xiang, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He originally wanted to drive Hu Shanwei out of the palace, but he was imprisoned in the Palace Administration Prison, where he was tortured and beaten half to death.
It’s good to be young. After four months of rest, Ji Gang has regained his vitality. The nails that were pulled out have grown back with a healthy light pink color.
Ji Gang originally had a feminine appearance and was good-looking. This time he lay in bed for so long that his face turned pale, as if he had been powdered. Those who knew him knew that he was recuperating, while those who didn't thought he was possessed by a vixen in a beautiful shell.
Outside the palace, under the yellow wall, Ji Gang and nine other Jinyiwei were riding horses, surrounded by a carriage in the middle. He had a smiling face, as if he had forgotten his past conflicts with Hu Shanwei.
"Ladies, please get in the carriage. According to palace rules, female officials are not allowed to stay overnight outside the palace without an imperial decree. You two must return before the palace gates close at sunset. So the driver will drive very fast and the carriage will be a little bumpy. Please forgive me."
Today they are going to Yinglingfang in the north of the city, which is near Hu Shanwei's home. There are the Imperial College, Gongyuan and other highest educational institutions in the Ming Dynasty, and it is also a place where many bookstores gather.
Ji Gang spoke seriously, but Hu Shanwei did not believe it.
Now, in the Jinyiwei, she trusts no one except Mu Chun.
She still couldn't understand why the Jinyiwei Commander Mao Xiang had to find a reason to drive her out of the palace? Her fiancé had died in the war, so why did Lord Mao have to make things difficult for her
It couldn't be just a coincidence that the Jinyiwei sent Ji Gang to protect her and Jiang Quan!
But she had already left the palace with Fan Gongzheng's order to find the book, and there was no turning back.
Jiang Quan sensed the subtle hostility between Hu Shanwei and Ji Gang. She didn't understand why, but completing the mission today was important. She took Hu Shanwei's hand and said, "Let's get in the car."
After touching Hu Shanwei's hand, Jiang Quan discovered that her palms were full of sweat and she was obviously very nervous.
After getting on the carriage and starting to move, with no outsiders present, Jiang Quan asked, "Why are you afraid of Ji Xiaoqi? Your palms are full of sweat."
Hu Shanwei and Jiang Quan had a rift because of Concubine Hu. She couldn't say it directly, so she made up an excuse, "It has nothing to do with Ji Xiaoqi. I'm nervous because my home is in Yinglingfang. Now I suddenly have to go back. I feel timid. I'm afraid of meeting acquaintances, and even more afraid of meeting my family."
In fact, it was not entirely an excuse. Ever since Hu Shanwei entered the palace, he didn't want to return to that cold home.
Hu Shanwei didn't want to talk about this with Jiang Quan, so she changed the subject, "It's so stuffy in the car, Ms. Jiang, do you mind if I open the window?"
Jiang Quan said, "Open it. I feel stuffy too. We are not ladies in the boudoir. We have to keep the doors and windows closed even in the hottest weather."
On Datong Street in Xicheng District, Nanjing, the owner of a jewelry store welcomed a strange guest.
The guest poured out a small pile of broken jade from his purse. Judging from the remains, it should have been a white jade hairpin that was broken into pieces.
The customer's request was to use gold to "glue" the broken jade together. Due to the unique ductility of gold, it is common to use it to repair broken jade, but gold is precious, and the jade to be repaired is generally top-quality jade, so gold is used.
The shopkeeper had a pair of sharp eyes and could tell at a glance that the pile of broken jade was obviously the lowest quality cheap stuff. It was a stretch to call it "jade" because it was just a piece of white stone.
The shopkeeper pointed to the "No Deception" sign in the shop and advised the customer: "There is no need to repair a jade hairpin of this quality - it is not even enough to pay for the repair. If you really want to repair it, copper and tin are very difficult to use. This kind of jade is not worthy of gold."
The customer slapped ten taels of silver on the counter and said, "Stop talking nonsense and fix it for me."
The customer was Mu Chun. He had a day off today and came out to find a craftsman to repair his hairpin.
Generous customers are always right. The shopkeeper took the money and said with a smile, "Sir, you are a nostalgic person. I will fix it for you. However, this hairpin is badly broken. It will probably take seven or eight taels of gold to glue the pieces together. In addition, ten taels of silver is the deposit. You can come back in five days to pick it up. At that time, you can pay the difference based on the actual amount of gold used."
After saying this, the shopkeeper weighed the "remains" of the broken jade in front of him and wrote it down on paper for convenience in future weighing and calculating money. The actual amount of gold used would be the weight of the repaired gold-inlaid jade hairpin minus this weight.
Mu Chun reminded: "Make it look better."
The shopkeeper smiled so hard that his teeth burst out. "Don't worry, sir. It's made of gold. How can it not look good?"
Mu Chun thought that Sister Shanwei would be happy if she saw the repaired hairpin.
Jinyiwei was like other government offices. If there were no Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival or other holidays, they would usually have one day off every two weeks, which was called a ten-day holiday. His father, Xiping Hou Mu Ying, had been training soldiers in the suburbs these days. It was said that he was testing some kind of firearms and rarely came home. He was happy to be unsupervised.
In fact, Mrs. Geng, the wife of Marquis of Xiping, had sent someone to the Jinyiwei Yamen to take him home early in the morning, but he sneaked away through the back door, too lazy to go back and play the role of loving mother and filial son with Geng - he had had enough of pretending to be a grandson in the harem recently.
Where is Xiaochun going
In the huge capital city, with the misty rain of the Six Dynasties and the ten-mile Qinhuai River, Mu Chun thought carefully and realized that there was actually no place where he could spend a day comfortably.
Xiping Marquis Mansion? Forget it. During the day, I have to cooperate with Geng in acting. If my father comes back at night, he will definitely give me a good beating based on his "great achievements" in the Jinyiwei.
My maternal grandfather's house is the Duke of Ying's Mansion? My maternal grandfather, Duke of Ying Feng Guoyong, died in battle before the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The current successor to the Duke of Ying is my uncle Feng Cheng. Because my sister Feng had an unhappy marriage, she died after giving birth to Mu Chun. My uncle hated my brother-in-law Mu Ying. After Feng died, my uncle beat Mu Ying in front of the coffin.
For this reason, he is not close to his nephew Muchun, as he thinks his sister died giving birth to Muchun, so the relationship between uncle and nephew is average, that is, they are just strangers.
Uncle-grandfather, Duke Song's Mansion? The Feng family has two dukes in one family, which is unique in the Ming Dynasty. No one in the capital city envies Mu Chun's powerful maternal family
Duke of Song Feng Sheng was still alive and was still a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. He was also very caring towards his nephew, Mu Chun. As long as Mu Chun went to the Duke of Song's mansion, he would be obedient and pamper him to the utmost. However, the Duke of Song's mansion was a magical place. No matter what they talked about with Mu Chun, no matter how old or young they were, they would always end up with three questions:
First, when will your father ask for you to be granted the title of Marquis of Xiping
Second, has the Queen Mother urged you
Third, the fate of the eldest son who cannot become the crown prince is very tragic. You must strive to become the crown prince. Don't be deceived by your stepmother Geng, who looks kind but is actually evil, and give the crown prince position to your younger brother...
Mu Chun felt that what the Duke of Song’s Mansion liked was the position of the Heir of Xiping Marquis, not him personally.
Of course he wanted to be the crown prince, but everyone in the world knew that his father didn't like him. His father liked his younger brother Mu Sheng!
Of course, Mu Chun didn't like his father either. From childhood to adulthood, Mu Ying either ignored him or beat him - this was the only way Mu Ying disciplined his eldest son, Mu Chun. Three parts scolding, seven parts beating, absolutely no fatherly warmth.
Therefore, Mu Chun would not actively try to please his father in order to be crowned as the Crown Prince - if he had that time, he would rather try to please the Emperor and Empress. His father was also a mysterious person. No matter what he did or said, his father would always find a reason to beat and scold him. He could not please him, and the father and son were fed up with each other.
In the end, the emperor has the final say on who will be given the title in the future. Of course, this is all a matter for the future.
Now Muchun has finally waited for a ten-day holiday, but he has nowhere to go. The world is so big, but there is no home where he can relax.
It would be better to live on the streets. Mu Chun followed his usual habit and went to a restaurant to order a bowl of hot noodle soup. Then, like a street vagrant, he squatted on the street to eat noodles and looked at the passers-by.
This is much more comfortable than eating delicacies at home, without having to deal with those hypocritical courtesies.
Muchun was squatting on the street, slurping a bowl of noodles intently. At this time, ten horses were running on the street, surrounding a carriage. The dust raised by them fell into his bowl, like a layer of white pepper.
Mu Chun frowned. How can I eat this? He looked up and saw a pair of bare hands opening the window of the carriage, revealing the outline of the person in the carriage.
Very much like Hu Shanwei.
It's impossible. She lives in the deep palace, how could she appear in the market
Mu Chun held the bowl of noodles, stood up and took a look, and found that the leading flag bearer was Ji Gang who had just recovered from a serious illness!
Could it be that Ji Gang "stole" Hu Shanwei out of the palace
Mu Chun put down the bowl and ran after him. Just after running two steps, a man came out of an antique shop and shouted, "Mu Chun? Chunchun! It's me! I have news about the person you asked me to find!"