Mao Xiang's eyes showed a warning: "Do you know how many people in the harem will die just because of your words?"
They were all smart people and understood it immediately. Mao Xiang guessed what Hu Shanwei meant: it was someone in the harem who did it.
There are three reasons why I guessed the harem directly:
First, Empress Ma was a person who never formed a clique or sought power. She was not a backer of any official and never cultivated her own power. Therefore, Empress Ma herself had no political enemies.
Second, Empress Ma did not give birth to a legitimate son. All the princes were her sons in name only. Empress Ma treated them all equally and impartially. On the contrary, with Empress Ma, the princes actually had a common backer and umbrella. No matter which prince was beaten or scolded by Emperor Hongwu, Empress Ma would plead for him. Therefore, no one would pose a threat to Empress Ma.
Third, Empress Ma always kept her family members under control, and there was no one from her family causing trouble. The Ma family members posed no threat to any political force.
This has something to do with Queen Ma’s life experience.
Empress Ma was born into a landlord family in Suzhou, Guide Prefecture. She learned to read and write since childhood and was much more educated than Zhu Yuanzhang, who was illiterate. Her father was a chivalrous and warm-hearted man. He would help those in need when he saw injustice, and he often sponsored various "heroes". He was kind and generous.
After his father's death, the family fell into poverty and war. The Ma family was too busy to take care of themselves, so how could they take care of the orphans and widows? The widowed mother took her daughter, Empress Ma, to seek protection from Guo Zixing, her father's sworn brother.
Empress Ma became Guo Zixing's adopted daughter and lived under someone else's roof. She was a pawn used by Guo Zixing to win over his subordinates. The young Zhu Yuanzhang was brave and good at fighting. When there was no war, he was in charge of the ceremonial guard and was the leader of Guo Zixing's ceremonial guard.
Because it involves respectability, all the guards of honor must have good looks and figures. Five hundred years later, any of the guards of honor with good looks, long legs and big chest muscles in the national flag guard can beat the popular young handsome men in seconds. The quality of Guo Zixing's guard of honor was a little worse, and they were also handsome young men carefully selected. It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang's appearance was above average among this group of peasant uprising soldiers.
Guo Zixing decided to marry Empress Ma to Zhu Yuanzhang. At that time, Empress Ma's widowed mother had passed away and her contact with her natal family was completely cut off.
Therefore, the Ma family members that Emperor Hongwu found from his hometown in Suzhou and Empress Ma were only relatives within the five degrees of mourning, and their bloodline had been diluted. Of course, the Ma clan members were willing to cling to Empress Ma and become her in-laws. At the beginning, this group of people ignored orphans and widows, and took advantage of the situation to seize the family property. Therefore, Empress Ma was indifferent to this group of people, but under the pressure of filial piety and clan, she had to acknowledge them, as forgetting one's ancestors would be criticized.
As an empress, all dynasties would generally confer titles such as Marquis of Cheng'en and grant official positions to the empress's family. The same was true for Emperor Hongwu. After he ascended the throne, he brought Empress Ma's relatives to the capital and gave them wealth and honor.
Emperor Hongwu did this not because he had any interest in the Ma family, but because he respected Empress Ma. If he ignored Empress Ma's family, outsiders would only think that Empress Ma's position was unstable and would look down on her.
However, Empress Ma refused the "grace" of Emperor Hongwu to enfeoff her relatives, saying that they only needed to be given money and that official positions should be given to those who were capable, so as to avoid them being idle and endangering the country.
Empress Ma was so virtuous that Emperor Hongwu actually did not want his in-laws to become too powerful, so according to Empress Ma's request, he granted her generous gifts and sent members of the Ma family to her hometown to guard the tombs of Empress Ma's parents. He gave them nominal official positions and only paid them a monthly salary. The Ma family members just honestly guarded the tombs in the countryside, so what political enemies could they have
Due to the above three reasons, Empress Ma posed no threat to any important forces in the court. After her death, neither the court power nor the crown prince would be affected.
The only area whose interests changed drastically due to the death of Empress Ma was the harem.
As long as Empress Ma is alive, all the concubines in the six palaces, east and west, are concubines no matter how high their ranks are.
If Empress Ma died, Emperor Hongwu would only be in his early fifties and still relatively young. He would most likely appoint a new empress. Even if he did not immediately appoint a new empress, there would be a concubine who would come out to take charge of the affairs of the harem. The temptation of power and status was too great.
The person who planned the assassination of Empress Ma should have been from the concubine who eventually replaced Empress Ma in the harem - or the concubine's family or supporters.
Hu Shanwei said, "I know that if the emperor heard it, the harem would be a river of blood. Moreover, all of this is my speculation, and there is no real evidence, so I dare only tell Lord Mao about my doubts in private. Lord Mao, please pay attention to clues related to the harem. If the assassination of the queen by the silkworm mother is not an accidental incident, but is related to the harem, then if the mastermind behind the scenes fails to strike, it is estimated that he will stir up trouble again in the future."
"Besides, when the Queen was ill in the winter, the harem was peaceful. When the Queen recovered and was able to participate in the tedious silkworm ceremony, the silkworm mother assassination incident immediately occurred. With these facts in front of me, I always feel that there is a conspiracy."
Hu Shanwei did not have any evidence, but in her calm analysis, every word she said made sense, and even Mao Xiang did not think that she was just making groundless accusations.
As the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Mao Xiang had killed countless people under his command, but he was not a devil. He only followed orders. He would not spare anyone, nor would he kill anyone extra.
Mao Xiang was silent for a long time, then said, "You should understand that without solid evidence, the Jinyiwei cannot interfere in the harem. The emperor is averse to outsiders reaching out to his own backyard. The harem is the territory of the six bureaus and one department. If there is any investigation, it should be done secretly by the people in the harem, and the emperor must not be informed."
Hu Shanwei understood Mao Xiang's concerns, because every time she was in front of the emperor, she was like walking on a knife edge, which was very dangerous. Her eyes were almost gouged out twice. The Hongwu Emperor had a hot temper, and even if Hu Shanwei had a hundred pairs of eyes, it would not be enough for the Hongwu Emperor to gouge out.
Emperor Hongwu was like a fire-breathing Tyrannosaurus Rex. Once he opened his mouth, hundreds of lives would be "burned" before the problem was solved.
Therefore, Empress Ma always advised the emperor not to handle matters based on personal likes and dislikes. Everything has rules, and according to the law, let the people who are supposed to handle similar incidents do it and just wait for the results.
Hu Shanwei said: "I know what to do. When I return to the palace and continue to serve as Si Yan, I will find a way to test and find out who is behind this. But I can't do it alone, so I will need the support of Lord Mao."
Mao Xiang complained: "Even if you don't ask, someone will help you. Ji Gang has grown too powerful and you are always the one who uses his elbow to help him."
Mao Xiang worked hard to train Ji Gang, but Ji Gang always ran to help Hu Shanwei in times of crisis. Mao Xiang felt like his own cabbage was being stolen, and he became suspicious: "Are you greedy for Ji Gang's beauty and have some bad thoughts about this boy?"
A wave of nausea came over him, and his forehead began to ache. Hu Shanwei held the spittoon and vomited violently. Finally, he rinsed his mouth with warm tea and said,
He said, "Master Mao, don't you know that you have the habit of randomly matching couples? This is a disease and needs to be treated."
Mao Xiang was turned down by Mu Chun, and Hu Shanwei simply said that he was sick. After repeated setbacks, he had no choice but to call his own cabbage over to teach him a lesson.
Mao Xiang warned: "Why do you always help Hu Shanwei escape danger? Rebuke the guards who shot the arrows and risk going to the silkworm room to save her."
Ji Gang asked back, "If it was Lord Mao who was at the scene, would he watch Hu Shanwei die?"
Mao Xiang asked again: "Don't you have some inappropriate thoughts about Hu Shanwei? She has a bad personality, is as stubborn as a rock, and is not stunningly beautiful - she is not even as pretty as you. What do you all see in her?"
Ji Gang asked again, "I am the kind of person who is blinded by lust and hates life. Why is Lord Mao acting like a gossipy old woman? When he sees a man and a woman getting close, he starts talking about the love affairs. There are prisoners to be tried, so I have to get busy first."
Ji Gang walked away, Mao Xiang was choked and speechless, and hit a wall for the third time.
Hu Shanwei waited until the swelling on his forehead subsided, the bruises faded, and the scars on his back were not yet completely healed, then he could not wait to return to the palace to serve Empress Ma.
The wound on Empress Ma's chest had healed and the stitches had just been removed. She had to change the plaster every day. Empress Ma was very happy when Hu Shanwei came back and summoned her to see the emperor and she took up her duties that day.
Hu Shanwei paid a visit to Empress Ma who was lying on her deathbed. Empress Ma gave him a seat and said, "Just sit next to me."
The young palace maid placed the embroidered cushion beside the sickbed, and Empress Ma said, "Let me take a look at your injury."
Hu Shanwei lowered his head and said, "I'm afraid it's unsightly."
Queen Ma said: "It doesn't matter, scars are medals of bravery."
Hu Shanwei unbuttoned the white jade collar and took off his shirt, revealing his back. Seven or eight lines of arrow scratches had formed black and red scabs, and the lines looked like rust on the warm white jade, which was very abrupt and ugly.
Queen Ma's soft fingertips gently stroked the lines of "rust", "Does it hurt?"
Hu Shanwei: "It doesn't hurt now."
It used to be very painful, and I could only sleep on my back or side, and I didn’t dare lie flat.
Empress Ma sighed, "When the scab falls off, it will definitely leave a scar. It's okay for a man, but for a girl like you, it's not appropriate after all."
Hu Shanwei comforted Empress Ma with her original words: "It's okay, scars are medals of bravery."
Empress Ma was amused. "Put on your clothes. You are really good at speaking. You are born to be the official of Si Yan. You have been recuperating in the palace for two months. I feel bored. Your body and hair are given by your parents. You must take care of them. I have asked Ru Siyao and Tan Taiyi to search for various ancient prescriptions and medicinal materials in the folk to prepare scar removal medicine for you."
This was a great favor, and Hu Shanwei was extremely grateful. However, after a brief moment of joy after surviving the disaster and reuniting, Hu Shanwei still confessed his suspicions and the basis for his suspicions to Empress Ma: "… This matter is of great importance. I am worried about the safety of the Empress day and night. However, there is no evidence, and it is just groundless talk. I am afraid that it will cause unrest in the harem, panic among the people, and anger of the Emperor. However, if I remain silent, knowing that I can do it but not saying it, I am afraid that there will be another Silkworm Mother. Therefore, I take the risk to speak up."
If this happened to a foolish queen, Hu Shanwei would probably be charged with instigating disputes among the wives and concubines in the harem and causing unrest.
Empress Ma was a reasonable person. In fact, as a childless queen, especially after her only confidant and helper, Concubine Chengmu Sun, passed away, her woman's intuition, as well as the dispute over the custody of the little princess, made her feel a vague sense of crisis.
Empress Ma was cautious in everything. She always had an excellent reputation both in the court and among the people. Others could not find any fault with her. Her position was unshakable. It was easy to shake a mountain, but difficult to shake Empress Ma.
If you want to touch her, the only way is to destroy her physically.
Someone wants her place, wants her life...
Empress Ma experienced many hardships in her life. She sat firmly on the throne of empress despite having no children. She was definitely not a person who would sit still and wait for death. Facing the challenges in the harem, there were many things that she did not have the ability to do or the means to do, but she just disdained to do them.
Once Empress Ma took action, she would never resort to dirty and sinister palace fighting tricks. For example, when dealing with the former Imperial Concubine Hu, she asked Fan Gongzheng to compile the "Instructions/Admonitions of the Concubines of the Zhao and Song Dynasties", which immediately cleared up the palace rules and made everyone behave themselves.
Empress Ma did not use conspiracies, she was straightforward, she only used "open conspiracies". But when others tried to use conspiracies or assassinations against her, she would never give in or back down.
Queen Ma thought for a moment and said, "I have a plan. I need you to put out the bait..."
On the first day of Hu Sijian's reinstatement, she announced a shocking piece of news to the harem: Empress Ma needed to recuperate and needed someone to help with palace affairs, but everything had to be done with a "legitimate reason" and the person's status had to match what they were doing. Now the position of Imperial Concubine in the harem was vacant, and Empress Ma wanted to select a concubine from the six palaces in the east and west to give her the position of Imperial Concubine.
The author has something to say: Tonight I would like to correct many readers' misunderstandings about the names of the characters:
Mao Xiang (Xiang): If you call me hair follicle again, I will commit suicide!
Fan Gongzheng's grandfather Fan Zhou (pen): Zhou is often associated with the rice bowl in the cafeteria.
Congratulations to the reader for receiving a 100-point red envelope~
№13 Netizen: Da Shaoye Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2019-01-21 20:59:02 Reviewed chapter: 91
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