It is said that Hu Shuren gave birth to a princess, but died of complications during childbirth. Empress Ma chose Consort Li Xianfei, the head of Changchun Palace in the West Six Palaces, to raise the little princess.
Concubine Li was gentle and quiet, steady and low-key. Her personality and behavior were the opposite of the arrogant and domineering Hu Shuren. However, she was not simply honest. All the mistresses in the six western palaces had given birth to children, but Concubine Li was the only one who could not get pregnant. However, she was still able to hold on to the title of Concubine Li, which showed that she was really "virtuous".
It was precisely because Concubine Li had no children but had good character and intelligence that Empress Ma arranged for her to raise the little princess. On the one hand, it could raise the little princess's status and allow her to raise her wholeheartedly; on the other hand, Concubine Li really needed to raise a child to consolidate her position.
When Concubine Li heard Empress Ma's decree, she was ecstatic, as if a pie had fallen from the sky. She was now over 30 years old and had given up hope of getting pregnant. As soon as the little princess was born, she would be taken to her Changchun Palace to be raised, registered under her name, and could be brought up and treated as if she were her own child.
Concubine Li knelt down to thank the queen, "I will definitely live up to the queen's trust and raise the little princess well."
Empress Ma raised her head and said, "Stand up. From today on, you are the mother of the little princess. This is recorded in the Imperial Book and Jade Disc. I have already issued an order that the name of Hu Shuren should not be mentioned in the palace anymore. She is your child. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed."
"I understand, sister." Li Xianfei agreed and said, "Sister, I dare to ask, if the King of Chu born by Hu Shuren comes to Changchun Palace to see the little princess, how should sister respond?"
Zhu Zhen, the Prince of Chu, was the sixth among the princes. At that time, Hu Mei presented his daughter, Hu Shuren, to Emperor Hongwu. Because of her stunning beauty, she was favored and soon became pregnant.
When Hu Shuren gave birth to the King of Chu, Emperor Hongwu was marching to Wuchang, Hubei. Upon hearing the good news, Emperor Hongwu was very happy and said, "Since my son is older, I will enfeoff him as the King of Chu."
What he meant was that when his son grew up, he would be granted the land of Chu. Wuchang was the old capital of Chu.
The King of Chu was very intelligent and started to learn to read at the age of three. Last year, in the 12th year of Hongwu, the King of Chu followed the Crown Prince Zhu Biao to the Wenhua Hall to listen to the Confucian officials' lectures on classics and history.
In early summer this year, Emperor Hongwu ordered Crown Prince Zhu Biao, King of Chu and several other princes to go to Zhongdu Fengyang to pay homage to the imperial tomb of their ancestors, telling their descendants not to forget the roots of the Zhu family. Every time they returned to Fengyang to pay homage, they had to stay there for a period of time.
Therefore, when the Hu Mei Palace Instability Case broke out, the Linchuan Marquisate exterminated three clans and demoted the imperial concubine to a commoner. Zhu Zhen, the King of Chu who was in Fengyang and had half Hu family blood, had no time to react at all before his maternal grandfather's family was exterminated.
Of course, even if the King of Chu was in the capital, he could not change this outcome.
Now that Hu Shuren is dead, the Emperor has summoned the King of Chu back to the capital to bury his biological mother. The King of Chu will definitely come to the palace to see his biological sister.
Concubine Li did not dare to act on her own when encountering matters, and always followed the lead of Empress Ma.
Empress Ma paused and said, "The King of Chu has been a sensible child since he was young. I will explain to him. The little princess is raised under your name, and she is also his sister. If he wants to see his sister, you can arrange it. Besides, the King of Chu is now old enough to choose a concubine. He will move out of the palace to build a palace in the next two years. The time that brother and sister can see each other is not long. It is natural and human, so let them be together."
Concubine Li Xian said, "Yes, sister, I understand. The Queen is kind."
Empress Ma said, "Raising a child is not an easy thing. Your hard days have just begun. According to the palace rules, the princess will have a bath in three days, and a naming and hair-cutting ceremony will be held for the little princess when she is one month old. You in Changchun Palace must prepare well."
Concubine Li Xianfei suddenly felt an invisible courage on her shoulders and said, "Yes, sister will arrange it right away."
Concubine Li took her leave, but did not leave Kunning Palace immediately. Instead, she went to a side hall to find Cao Shanggong of the Shanggong Bureau.
The Shanggong Bureau assisted the Queen in managing all matters in the harem. Shanggong Cao was the right-hand man of Queen Ma. There was a meeting room in a side hall to the west of Kunning Palace. Female officials wearing black gauze hats were coming in and out, very busy.
There were four or five female officials lined up outside the meeting room to report to Lady Cao. When they saw Consort Li coming, they made way for her and bowed, "Please come in, Consort Li."
Concubine Li Xian smiled, nodded politely in return, and joked: "I have something urgent to do, so I have to cut in line today. I will have a banquet another day to apologize to you all."
Concubine Li Xian is the head of Changchun Palace, and now she is raising the little princess. It can be seen that she is deeply trusted by the queen. The female officials hurriedly said, "We dare not, we congratulate the Concubine Xian."
Concubine Li Xian smiled and said, "The little princess's third-day baptism ceremony will be held in three days. You all should come and have a drink at the wedding. I won't invite everyone one by one."
When she reached the door, Concubine Li Xian seemed to remember something, turned around and said with a smile: "When the time comes, add a basin and give money for washing the baby. You can't be stingy."
The ladies all laughed and said, "Of course."
The little princess lost her mother when she was born, and Concubine Li wanted the scene to be lively and beautiful to get rid of the bad luck.
Concubine Li walked into the meeting room, where there were several ice basins, which were extremely cool. Several female officials were in the side room, checking accounts with abacus, making crackling sounds. It was the end of the month, and thousands of people in the harem had to collect their salaries, so they were extremely busy.
Cao Shang Gong looked up from the pile of account books on the desk, holding a pen in her hand, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rude. I was too busy to greet you at the door."
Concubine Li Xian's face was full of smiles. "It's okay. Today I'm here to ask for help. The little princess is having her full-month haircut ceremony. She needs a female official to hold her and cut her hair. I want to ask Lady Cao to cut the little princess' hair."
According to the Ming Hui Dian, when an imperial princess is one month old, the most respectful and cautious lady among the inner ladies (that is, female officials) will help cut the princess' hair.
As Concubine Li Xian was talking, Lady Cao wrote furiously with her pen in her hand, like a swimming dragon. Zhen Zhen was never idle. After hearing what she said, she paused for a moment, and then continued writing, "In terms of prudence and respect, the most respectful and cautious female official in the palace is Fan Gongzheng of the Palace Administration Department. Even the Empress chose her to write books to educate the concubines and royal relatives. Concubine Xian has chosen the wrong person."
It was a secret known almost to everyone in the harem that Lady Cao and Lady Fan were not getting along.
Concubine Li Xian smiled, "The Shang Gong Bureau is the head of the six bureaus. I admire Shang Gong Cao the most for her intelligence and decisiveness. She helps the Queen to manage the harem in an orderly manner. I think that the little princess' haircut ceremony must be done by Shang Gong Cao."
Everyone loves to hear good words. Concubine Li Xian said this sincerely, and Lady Cao smiled happily. "Since Concubine Xian is so kind to me, I will be shameless and serve as the little princess's hair cutter."
Concubine Li Xian took out a jade paperweight that sounded like a gurgling spring. "I know that Concubine Cao never lacks for good things. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please don't despise it."
The water in the jasper paperweight was so abundant that it seemed to flow onto the white paper. It was very pleasing to the eyes. Lady Cao was delighted, but she said, "You are too polite, Concubine Xian."
Even so, she did not refuse and was obviously very happy. This gift touched the heart of Lady Cao. A female official of her level, jewelry and money were no longer important to her. Li Xianfei put a lot of effort into the four treasures of the study and found out Lady Cao's weak spot.
As soon as she opened her mouth, Lady Cao agreed.
No one would carry a jade paperweight with them.
When Empress Ma summoned Concubine Li to Kunning Palace, she guessed that the little princess would be taken in and raised by her. To move steadily in the harem, one must be like playing chess. For every move, one must speculate on how to move the next three steps and be well prepared to ensure that nothing goes wrong.
As the mistress of Changchun Palace, Concubine Li Xian had attended the hair-cutting ceremonies of more than a dozen imperial princesses. She knew the general procedure. The person cutting the hair had to be a respectable female official in the palace. Who could be more respectable than Concubine Cao
Concubine Li Xian had fantasized countless times that she would give birth to a boy or girl, and she had all the concubines in the six palaces in the east and west come to watch the baby's third-day bathing ceremony, listen to the baby's loud cry, and appreciate the expressions of envy or jealousy in their eyes.
Now, the opportunity has finally come.
Concubine Li went to the Yanxi Palace to adopt the little princess. A palace maid reported her every move to Empress Ma, such as asking Concubine Cao to be her hairdresser.
Empress Ma smiled and said, "It seems that I did not choose the wrong person. Concubine Li is a careful and considerate person. Go and tell Concubine Li that the wet nurses of the little princess were all selected by Hu Shuren in the past. Now that the little princess is being raised in Changchun Palace, both the wet nurses and the nannies will be selected by Concubine Li herself. She can decide whether to keep the original ones or choose new ones."
Concubine Li is good, but she is too virtuous, too perfect, too popular, and never makes mistakes. She is even more virtuous than Empress Ma. How can this be acceptable
It is better to give her something to do. If a woman becomes a mother and is under high mental stress day and night, she will no longer be a perfect person.
Three days later, the little princess had her third-day bath, which was similar to the folk third-day bath. Emperor Hongwu, as a father, wore ordinary clothes that day and went to Fengxian Hall to worship his ancestors. The offerings included incense, silk, dried meat (a kind of meat sauce) and fruit wine.
On that day, all officials wore auspicious clothes to express their congratulations when they came to court. Emperor Hongwu distributed sacrificial offerings such as fruit, wine, dried meat and salted meat to his ministers to show that the emperor and his ministers were enjoying themselves together.
This was the third-day bathing ceremony of the previous dynasty. In the harem, Emperor Hongwu gave money for bathing the baby early in the morning. The heads of the six palaces in the east and west came to Changchun Palace with the concubines of lower ranks. Empress Ma of the center palace arrived last, and the six palaces in the east and west lined up outside the palace to welcome the empress.
Empress Ma announced her retirement and led the six palaces from the east and west to watch the third-day bathing ceremony, and was given gifts such as gold, silver, and colorful satin.
After the third day bath, a three-day banquet was held with nine musical instruments. The emperor and empress attended the banquet, and concubines from the six palaces in the east and west also came to the banquet to celebrate.
On that day, all the palace maids, eunuchs and female officials wore the same brocade robes of the Emperor's longevity child, and the harem was filled with a festive and peaceful atmosphere.
In this atmosphere, who could have noticed the huge changes that took place in the Yanxi Palace three days ago, and the tragic incident in which three clans of Hu Shuren's family were exterminated
It seemed that there had never been a woman like Concubine Hu in this peaceful harem. No matter how arrogant and domineering she was during her lifetime, once she fell, she would be forcibly wiped out by the imperial power overnight, leaving no trace.
Only one person, the court lady Jiang Quan, remembered her. According to palace rules, all those serving the palace must wear the gorgeous Wanshouhaierjin on the day of the third day of the baby's birth. Jiang Quan was no exception. She was the little princess's grandmother. Only the queen and Hu Shanwei knew about this, not even the King of Chu Zhu Zhen.
Jiang Quan had no choice but to wear a plain dress of coarse linen and white cloth under the Wanshou Haier Brocade to pay tribute to her daughter. Due to a back injury, she did not go to the little princess's three-day banquet to help. She sat alone in the room from sunrise to sunset, listening to the drums and music of the banquet at night. According to the palace custom, the three-day banquet must end at midnight to express her blessing for the little princess' longevity.
Knock, knock, knock. Someone is knocking on the door.
Jiang Quan opened the door and it was Hu Shanwei. She was carrying a lunch box. When he opened it, there was no food inside, but there was a shiny copper basin.
Jiang Quan felt puzzled and thought, Ru Siyao said Hu Shanwei was stimulated and had a soul-destroying disease. Is he crazy? Bring a copper basin over
Hu Shanwei placed the copper basin on the table. "This is the copper basin that the little princess will use for her third bath today. I found a way to get it here. You can take it and keep it as a souvenir. You should take good care of yourself. You must attend the little princess's full-month hair-cutting ceremony in person."
The author has something to say: Thank you all for your support, thank you for always being with me.
Yesterday I wrote 12,000 words, and I was exhausted. Today's update is delayed by one hour, please forgive me, I will update it on time at 7 o'clock tomorrow, and write something more juicy and delicious.
100 red envelopes tonight, come on, come on.