Hu Shanwei is worried that Arei will be controlled by the Mu family and become their "wealth".
In this era, women and men are the "private property" of the family. They have no autonomy over their marriage or wealth and have become tools of the family.
If one wants to break the shackles of the family, one must be so strong that the family dare not take any action. For example, Mu Chun and Hu Shanwei both relied on their abilities to escape the arrangements made by their family.
Hu Shanwei's worries are not groundless.
Because the Mu family has had two meaningful marriages recently.
Mu Bin, the eldest son of the Mu family and the heir apparent of the Duke of Qian, had just turned sixteen when he became engaged to Zhang, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Fu. It was a typical combination of two powerful families and a perfect match.
It is said that Mu Sheng, Duke of Qian, and Zhang Fu, Duke of Ying, teamed up twice to quell rebellions in Jiaozhi and established a deep revolutionary friendship. It happened that both of their children were unmarried, so the two hit it off and arranged marriages for their children, planning to get married when they returned to the capital.
The marriage between the Mu family and the Duke of Yingguo's family was a fusion of the old founding nobles of the Ming Dynasty and the new nobles of the Jingnan Campaign. It also had the tacit approval of Emperor Yongle, a typical political marriage.
In the aristocratic class, marriage has nothing to do with the bride and groom from beginning to end, but is a redistribution of political resources between the two families.
The second marriage was with the eldest daughter of Mu family and Duke of Qian, Mu Sheng. She was only fourteen years old when she was chosen by Prince of Zhao, Zhu Gaosui.
Prince Zhao basically guarded Beijing and was responsible for the defense of the north. He was brave and good at fighting. He and his second brother, Prince Han Zhu Gaosui, were of the same lineage, and the two brothers had a close relationship.
Prince Zhao is the youngest son of Emperor Yongle and Empress Renxiao. He is 30 years old this year. He has a wife, Princess Zhao, but has extremely difficult times in having children. So far, he has no sons, let alone daughters.
The Prince of Zhao and his wife were married at first and had a period of intimacy, but love also has a shelf life. In their teens and twenties, they still felt that they were young to each other and could take their time with having children. They would naturally get pregnant when the time was right.
But when he reached the age of thirty, love had been exhausted by reality and anxiety. King Zhao could not wait any longer. His eldest brother, the crown prince, was a fat, white, crippled man who had nine sons and one daughter, leaving him with no children.
So the King of Zhao divorced his wife on the grounds that she had no children.
In fact, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, although childlessness is one of the "seven reasons for divorce", there are also "three reasons not to divorce" to restrain the "seven reasons". The first is to have something to take but no place to go, which means that there is no natal family to rely on. Once divorced, it is a dead end. The second is to mourn for three years, which means to mourn for the parents-in-law or the sister-in-law and brother-in-law of the husband's family. Filial piety is very important in feudal society. The third is to be poor before and rich later, which means that a wife who has shared the hardships of life cannot be divorced.
Princess Zhao had mourned for her mother-in-law, Empress Renxiao, and her sister-in-law, Princess Changning. Her moral conduct and filial piety were all normal, and she fell into the category of "three things not to be done".
However, Princess Xu of Zhao was also a beauty chosen by Hu Shanwei during the Hongwu Dynasty's "selection of beauties from the fields and marriages among the common people". She was from the common people class and had no power or influence. When Prince Zhao divorced Princess Xu in the name of "Seven Reasons for Divorce", the Xu family dared not say a word.
In fact, the King of Zhao could have taken in concubines to solve the problem of having children, and he did not necessarily have to divorce his wife. For example, in the Mu Mansion, the wife of the Duke of Qian, Cheng, was childless, and all her children were born to concubines. She mourned for her father-in-law for three years and for her uncle Mu Chun for one year, raised the children, and managed the household chores. She still sat firmly in the position of the head of the Mu Mansion and was highly respected.
However, the King of Zhao was the youngest legitimate son of Queen Yuan and was prejudiced against illegitimate sons. He could not accept that a illegitimate son would inherit the title of the King of Zhao in the future. Moreover, his eldest brother, the Crown Prince, and his second brother, the King of Han, both had more than two legitimate sons. The King of Zhao was not convinced. He only wanted a legitimate son - at least a legitimate eldest son to inherit the title.
If you want to have a legitimate son, you must divorce your wife.
Prince Zhao divorced Princess Zhao without hesitation. The Xu family came to the palace and quietly took Xu away. Not only did they not make a fuss, they didn't even dare to breathe.
The Imperial Clan Court took away the jade seal and golden book that symbolized the princess. Xu started out as a commoner, and rose through the selection process to become the princess of Daming County. Later, she married a noble wife and became the princess of Daming Prince. Now, she has fallen from grace again and become a commoner, returning to where her dream began.
Xu was chosen by Hu Shanwei. She had to overcome all the obstacles in Chuxiu Palace, which was as difficult as getting into Peking University or Tsinghua University through the college entrance examination in later generations. It was not easy for a commoner girl to break the strict class barriers through the selection. Perhaps only Hu Shanwei, who was also born in a commoner family, could understand how difficult it was.
Hu Shanwei sympathized with Xu, but as a palace lady, she had no choice but to go to Concubine Zhang, who was still in charge of the harem at the time.
Hu Shanwei said, "For the sake of his heir, the King of Zhao divorced Xu on the grounds of 'no child'. Logically, Xu had observed filial piety for both Empress Renxiao and Princess Changning, and was one of the 'three things not to do'. The clan office approved the divorce, but the royal family was ultimately in the wrong, and many people sympathized with Xu's innocence. Your Majesty is a concubine's mother, and if you can do something for Xu and save some face for the royal family, it would also be a good deed."
The word "childless" touched Concubine Zhang's heart. She was also childless and longed for a child. Although Concubine Zhang came from a prominent family, she could understand Xu's despair and helplessness.
Moreover, there are many folk legends that doing good deeds accumulates blessings and is beneficial to having children. Concubine Zhang then asked Emperor Yongle for instructions. Although Xu was divorced for having no children and lost the favor of King Zhao, she should be given a good arrangement for the rest of her life because she had observed great filial piety for Empress Renxiao for three years.
Just like "childlessness" was the Achilles' heel of Concubine Zhang, "Empress Renxiao" was also the Achilles' heel of Emperor Yongle, and it hit her with one poke.
Sure enough, Emperor Yongle looked moved.
Concubine Zhang struck while the iron was hot. "Besides, Xu was once a princess consort. If she is divorced and sent home, no one will dare to marry her. Living in her parents' home, her parents will not despise her. But as time goes by, how can we be sure that her brothers, sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law will not despise her? I think the royal family should make good arrangements for Xu's remaining life and not let her have a miserable old age."
Emperor Yongle said, "It's just one more person, a small matter. Just go and make the arrangements, and don't let anyone look down on Mrs. Xu."
Concubine Zhang issued an imperial decree that, except for the title of prince's consort, Xu would be treated the same as a princess in terms of material things. She was also granted a large house, an imperial farm, eunuchs, and official slaves to support her.
In this way, Xu could receive generous divorce alimony and live a decent life without having to worry about her parents' opinions.
This move by Concubine Zhang actually offended the King of Zhao. However, Zhang had a good brother, Duke of Yingguo, Zhang Fu, as her backer, and her family background was strong. She was not like Xu, who had no foundation and was weak and could be bullied. The King of Zhao did not say anything.
What's more, Zhang Fu had a very good relationship with the King of Han, and the King of Zhao was a supporter of the King of Han. With this relationship, it would be even more difficult for the King of Zhao to complain about Concubine Zhang.
Concubine Zhang felt pity for Xu and took the initiative to give her advice, helping her to have a decent life. She had a great influence in the royal harem. Because it involved Prince Zhao's face, people did not dare to talk about it on the surface, but spoke well of Concubine Zhang behind her back, changing their previous harsh and stereotyped impression of her.
No matter in which era, people have always revered the quality of kindness, especially in the ruthless imperial family, where kindness is even more precious.
Concubine Zhang was of good family background, capable, conscientious and responsible in her work, and gained a reputation for being kind and virtuous because of her help in deposing Princess Xu of Zhao. Unfortunately, when she was at the peak of her career, she chose to confront Emperor Yongle, who either gave her her child or the position of empress. As a result, she lost power in the harem and was confined to the Yanxi Palace on the pretext of recuperating from illness.
Now Concubine Quan is in charge of the harem. She is a floating girl with no foundation or background and lacks confidence. People in the harem secretly discuss: Xu was so lucky to be treated as a princess before Concubine Zhang fell from power. If Concubine Quan encountered the same thing, she would not dare to say a word and would not dare to offend Prince Zhao.
People are so strange. When they were in power, they disliked Concubine Zhang for being too strict. When Concubine Zhang stepped down and was replaced by the soft-hearted Concubine Quan, people started to praise Concubine Zhang's merits again.
King Zhao divorced his commoner princess and hoped that his second wife would have a higher status than possible and that the legitimate son she would give birth to in the future would also be respectable.
After Xu left the mansion, King Zhao immediately proposed marriage to the Mu family. Looking around the capital, who else could be more senior and have the highest status than the Mu family
The Geng family, the maternal grandfather of Mu Sheng, the head of the Mu family, was the Marquis of Changxing. Their family was exterminated by Emperor Yongle because Geng Bingwen insisted on recognizing only Emperor Jianwen as the emperor. Marrying his daughter to Prince Zhao as his successor was a perfect opportunity to show his loyalty, so Mu Sheng agreed to Prince Zhao's proposal.
Therefore, whether it is the marriage between Prince Mu Bin of the Duke of Qian and the eldest daughter Zhang of the Duke of Yingguo, or Miss Mu marrying the Prince of Zhao as his second wife, they are all political marriages.
Emperor Yongle agreed to the marriage, and so Miss Mu, who was just fourteen years old, traveled thousands of miles in her red doll to the Prince of Zhao's Palace in Beijing to become the new Princess of Zhao.
The Prince of Zhao was thirty years old, old enough to give birth to Princess Zhao. Three months later, good news came from the Prince of Zhao's mansion in Beijing: Princess Zhao was pregnant.
When Prince Zhao had a son in his middle age, he treated the young princess even more tenderly. He felt that divorcing her was the right thing to do, and after the divorce he was lucky enough to have a son.
In this era, it was normal for a woman to get pregnant at the age of fourteen. Empress Renxiao married Emperor Yongle at the age of fourteen, got pregnant that year, and gave birth to her eldest daughter, Princess Yongan, the following year. But when Empress Renxiao was fourteen, Emperor Yongle was only sixteen, and now Prince Zhao is thirty...
Hearing this so-called "good news", Hu Shanwei felt a chill in his heart: If Mu Chun was still the Duke of Qian, A Lei would be Miss Mu, and the one who would become the Princess of Zhao would be A Lei...
The two political marriages of the children of the Mu family sounded the alarm in Hu Shanwei's heart. The marriage of children is an excellent political resource. Mu Xin doubted A Lei's identity at this time. Hu Shanwei couldn't help but think of the worst. If Mu Xin dared to reach out to A Lei, she must chop him off in advance.
hand, so as to prevent Arei from falling into the control of the Mu clan.
"I see. Mu Xin is not that brave." Ji Gang nodded. It was exactly twelve o'clock. The ship bell in the water tank began its performance. Hu Shanwei picked up the pen to record for A Lei.
Ji Gang was very knowledgeable. He was also very surprised to see the ship clock automatically sliding and spinning to tell the time. "Your A Lei actually made such a delicate gadget. With her craftsmanship, she can support herself in the future. This ship clock is really good. You can present it to the emperor on his birthday next year. He will definitely be very pleased."
Ji Gang is obsessed with scheming and always thinking about how to please the emperor. He is completely different from the naive vase he used to be.
Hu Shanwei finished recording and put down his pen. "This is what A Lei prepared to give to Mu Chun as a birthday gift. Besides, this thing is not very accurate and needs to be debugged many times. If I present this to the emperor and it is inaccurate or does not work on his birthday, it will be a serious crime of deceiving the emperor."
Ji Gang laughed and said, "That's right, Concubine Hu is really thoughtful."
It was already this late, Hu Shanwei was a little hungry, and asked Ji Gang: "Besides delivering the letter, did you come here for anything else?"
The implication is, why don't you leave? I'm about to eat.
Ji Gang's face was thicker than the iron of a clock. He smiled and said, "I came here at lunch time. Besides delivering a letter home, I also wanted to have a free lunch."
Ji Gang was so frank that Hu Shanwei felt embarrassed to chase him away. He asked the kitchen to add more dishes and invited Ji Gang to dinner.
Ji Gang was not polite. After eating and drinking to his heart's content, he ate and took things away. He said that Hu's braised duck head was delicious, and packed a box to take back.
Ji Gang invited Mu Xin over for tea and explained the matter to her. Mu Xin was surprised and delighted. "So Miss Hu is my niece and Concubine Hu is my sister-in-law? These two women are really patient and kept it a secret from me for so long."
Ji Gang warned: "Miss Hu doesn't know her own life experience, so keep it to yourself and don't disrupt the little girl's life."
Ji Gang thought: Someone who can make such a precision object as a ship's bell should be a calm and focused girl. A'lei doesn't look like Shanwei, but she is similar to Shanwei in some aspects of her mind and personality, except that she is not like the unlearned Muchun - this girl is really good at growing up, and she only chooses good things to inherit.
Mu Xin expressed regret, "She should have been a first-rank duchess, but she became a fifth-rank lady-in-waiting; she should have been the eldest daughter of the duke's eldest son, but now she is the daughter of an unknown, almost commoner family. It's really unfair to them."
The basic rule of this society is that women obey their fathers before marriage and their husbands after marriage. The status of a woman is determined by the status of her father and husband.
A Lei was nominally the daughter of Hu Rong, a businessman who donated money to get a nominal position as a Yuanwailang. He bought his status with money, so even though A Lei had a sister, Hu Shanwei, who was a fifth-rank female official, and her neighbors were all high-ranking royal officials, they had nothing to do with her. In fact, her status was so humble that it was not worth looking at. Several Miss Mu from the Mu Mansion next door treated her as a close friend, entirely because of Hu Shanwei's status as a palace lady for three dynasties.
Ji Gang said, "It's not the prince consort's turn to pity them. They are living a good life. Mu Chun and Hu Shang Gong decided to retire together. This was approved by Emperor Gaozu. However, during the Jingnan Campaign, for some reasons, Hu Shang Gong chose to come back and continue to serve as a Shang Gong in the palace. As an internal supporter, she worked with the emperor to eliminate the treacherous ministers and help the emperor ascend the throne."
Ji Gang deliberately said half of the answer and kept the other half to intimidate Mu Xin and prevent him from coming up with bad ideas and harassing the mother and daughter of the Hu family.
Mu Xin sighed, "Mrs. Hu is a capable lady. I didn't know this secret. No wonder my elder brother was willing to give up his title of Duke of Qian and live in seclusion in the mountains for her. The man behind her couldn't even recognize his only blood."
She is clearly a daughter, but she became a sister-in-law.
Ji Gang sneered, "It's better to accompany each other than to recognize each other. Is status so important? Everyone just has different choices."
Anyway, I am full of envy, jealousy and hatred towards Muchun.
I've been a rumored lover for more than 20 years. Although I have the status, it's of no use.
Ji Gang came to convey the emperor's intention. Mu Xin did not dare to disobey the order, but she was unwilling to give up. Thinking that when A Lei gets married in the future, he, as an uncle, should carefully choose a good marriage for his niece. A wife must obey her husband. It doesn't matter that she has a low status now. Once she marries a good man, she will still soar to the sky. Let's see who dares to look down on my eldest brother's daughter.
After solving the big problem of Mu Xin, the Ming Dynasty entered the cold winter. Hu Shanwei went in and out of the palace every day to assist Concubine Quan. She went home at night and slept on the same bed with A Lei. The mother and daughter slept together, and she supervised A Lei to protect his eyes.
In this way, it was the twelfth year of Yongle, and soon it was the beginning of spring. Good news came from Jiaozhi. The two pillars of the empire, Zhang Fu, Duke of Yingguo, and Mu Sheng, Duke of Qianguo, had won a great victory and captured the Jiaozhi rebel leader Chen Jikuan alive. They would return to the court soon.
Hu Shanwei was overjoyed. Muchun was finally coming back, and the ship bell made by A Lei was gradually becoming stable and could be given away as a gift.
In April, Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu returned to the court. Hu Shanwei couldn't wait until the end of get off work, so he asked for leave from Concubine Quan Xianfei and went to the city gate to welcome Mu Chun.
Hu Shanwei and A Lei booked a room in a teahouse near Jinchuan Gate. They took turns watching the Ming army enter the city. As soon as Mu Chun appeared, they ran downstairs.
But the two of them waited and waited, drank a lot of tea, and went to the toilet twice, but until the last soldier walked into the Jinchuan Gate, there was still no sign of Mu Chun.
Hu Shanwei suddenly became anxious, and all kinds of bad thoughts ran through his mind uncontrollably. At this time, Ji Gang came in with a letter from home, "The Duke of Yingzhou has just arrived. Although the rebellion in Jiaozhi has been quelled, Chen Jikuan still has remnants that have not been eliminated. Mu Chun stayed in Jiaozhi and guarded there with Mu Sheng. He will come back when the situation stabilizes, so he did not wait to return to Beijing with the Duke of Yingzhou."
Hu Shanwei opened the letter. The handwriting was Mu Chun's. The content was similar to what Ji Gang had relayed, still complaining about the hot and humid climate in Jiaozhi. However, Hu Shanwei always felt something was wrong.
Hu Shanwei threw the letter away and said, "It's fake. Someone imitated Muchun's handwriting."
Ji Gang opened the letter and said confidently, "It's exactly the same as Mu Chun's handwriting. Who can imitate such handwriting?"
There is indeed no problem with the handwriting, and there is no problem with the tone of the letter. It is Muchun's usual playful and sarcastic style of writing. It's just that the logic is problematic - the content of the letter is too logical, and Muchun always writes whatever he thinks of. Sometimes when he is narrating an event, he will randomly insert a sentence like "I just killed a mosquito. It hurts so much. I hit myself in the face and the mosquito was flattened by me. But it died happily and without any pain. This is not fair" and so on.
There is no logic in Muchun's letter. If an illogical person suddenly becomes logical, it can only mean that the writer has changed.
Hu Shanwei said: "I don't believe a word you say. Others can imitate the skin of my husband's family letters, but not the bones. I have known him for many years. Don't deceive me!"
Hu Shanwei was angry, anxious and frightened. He picked up a cup and threw it to the ground.
When has Arei ever seen Hu Shanwei so angry? It must be that something happened to his brother-in-law!
A Lei said, "Don't panic, sister. Lord Ji cannot be trusted. I will go to Jiaozhi to find my brother-in-law."
A Lei said we should leave, but Ji Gang stopped him at the door and sighed, "Okay, I lied to you. Mu Chun was injured in the last battle and is recovering in Kunming Mu Mansion. The weather is getting hotter now, and the journey is long. Wounds are prone to rotting and stinking, and patients are not easy to move. There is ice in the cellar of Mu Mansion, so Mu Chun is very cool in Mu Mansion, and he has two brothers, Mu Sheng and Mu Ang, to take care of him."
"The Zhou Palace is also in Kunming. Doctor Ru and Imperial Physician Tan are both studying medicine in the palace. They have the best doctors and can use any precious medicinal materials. Mu Chun will recover soon. He will come back when he is well."
Hu Shanwei was struck by lightning, his head was buzzing, "Where is Mu Chun... injured?"
Muchun has thick skin and tough flesh, and he must have been injured in a vital part this time, very seriously!
Ji Gang said: "The elephant stepped on two of his ribs and broke them. He was lucky that the broken ribs were only a copper coin away from his kidneys, so he escaped. His right arm was broken in two places. Doctor Ru Siyao and Doctor Tan set his bones. He was tied up tightly and could not move or write letters. He could only be untied after the bones healed."
Hu Shanwei curled up her body, as if she felt the pain herself. Suddenly, she stood up and held A Lei's hand, "I don't believe you. I want to go to Kunming Mu Mansion. Seeing is believing. I want to see him with my own eyes and accompany him."
Ji Gang said, "You are crazy. If you leave, what will happen to the harem? The emperor has handed the harem over to you. Do you dare to disobey his order?"
Hu Shanwei said, "I didn't enter the palace to be a widow. If anything happens to Mu Chun, I will be sad for the rest of my life. Shen Qionglian has already moved the burial site for her ancestor Shen Xiu and has been traveling outside for two years. Please invite her back to take charge. Before I returned to the palace, she had been a Shang Gong for five years. Now it's her turn to succeed me."
The author has something to say: Mu Bin was engaged to Zhang, the eldest daughter of Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, but Zhang died before she got married.
However, Mu Bin's status was so important that he married the daughter of Xu Qin, Duke of Wei, who had an even more impressive background, as his second wife.
Xu repeated the life of her mother-in-law Cheng. She stayed in the capital while Mu Bin was stationed in Yunnan. The couple lived apart for a long time. Xu never gave birth in her life, and Mu Bin took a concubine, Mei Miaodeng, in Yunnan.
Mei Miaodeng gave birth to Mu Bin's only son, Mu Cong.
When Mu Cong was only ten months old, Mu Bin died in battle. Mei Miaodeng raised her son to adulthood. During this period, her two uncles took over the governorship of Yunnan. When they thought the title had fallen into someone else's hands, Mei Miaodeng and her son miraculously won it back. Mei Miaodeng was named the Lady Dowager of the Duke of Qian - she is the great-grandmother of the protagonist Mu Chaoxi in the sequel "The Storm in the Mu Mansion".
Since Zhou took the initiative to spoil the plot, please collect "Mu Mansion Storm". Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast [bazooka]: Zhuxi 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Zhuxi 4; Aigougou 2; Xia~Taoyuan 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
20 bottles of Qing Er Qian; 6 bottles of Gu Lu Gu; 3 bottles of Qiong Ju; 2 bottles of Eros; 1 bottle of Xing Yao Fei Xiang, Jiu Di, Gingko Tree, and Timmy;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!