Hu Shanwei

Chapter 92: When I think of a gentleman, he is as gentle as jade. When he is in his wooden house, my heart is disturbed

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When a master makes a move, you can’t tell what it is.

Guo Zixing was actually a thorn in the side of the dragon for Emperor Hongwu.

The love-hate relationship between Emperor Hongwu and his father-in-law Guo Zixing is like a drama: the kindness of recognition, the marriage of adopted daughter, the rise and fall of one while the other falls, the sudden suspicion, the imprisonment, the virtuous wife saving her husband, the compassion, the reconciliation, the care of an orphan before illness, the killing of the orphan and the establishment of self-reliance, the taking of the daughter as a concubine, and the annexation of the family property.

If Emperor Hongwu really wanted to repay his gratitude, he would definitely not kill Guo Zixing's only surviving son Guo Tianxu. He would not take Guo Zixing's only daughter as a concubine in the name of repaying his benefactor. It would be more correct to let Guo marry a decent family with the family property as his legal wife.

He had to take over the Guo family before he could legitimately swallow up Guo Zixing's territory and army.

In fact, Emperor Hongwu had another choice at that time: that is to divorce his wife and remarry, making Empress Ma a concubine and marrying Guo as his principal wife.

Liu Xiu did this in the past. In order to dominate the world, he married Guo Shengtong as his queen, and his original wife Yin Lihua became a noble lady. When Liu Xiu gained a firm foothold, he immediately deposed Guo Shengtong and made Yin Lihua his queen.

But Emperor Hongwu was reluctant to let Empress Ma suffer such an injustice, so he chose to use powerful means to recruit and control the Guo family's army - kill them.

If this happened fifty years later, I guess few people would know the not-so-glorious origin of Emperor Hongwu's first pot of gold. As Emperor Hongwu's power grew, he became a regional hegemon, won great battles for hegemony, and destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, and so on, the disgraceful early years were gradually forgotten.

I don't know how this little censor came up with the idea of "digging up graves" and actually brought Guo Zixing to the court to praise him. Emperor Hongwu couldn't scold him: after all, Guo Zixing was the adoptive father of Empress Ma, the biological father of Concubine Guo Hui, and the grandfather of five children.

Emperor Hongwu is now the emperor, no longer the head of the local government. He now has to save face. Only a dead father-in-law is the best father-in-law. Emperor Hongwu is not stingy in giving posthumous honors to a father-in-law who has no descendants.

Anyway, honoring Guo Zixing did not pose a threat to Emperor Hongwu's regime. On the contrary, respecting Guo Zixing could also gild Emperor Hongwu's image and create a glorious image of a person who was tolerant, dared to face the past and was self-reflective.

Therefore, Emperor Hongwu not only approved it, but also drafted the inscription himself, and sent Concubine Guo Hui's son, Prince of Shu Zhu Chun, to personally supervise my grandfather Guo Zixing in the construction of the stele.

In the inscription, Emperor Hongwu praised Guo Zixing as a hero, saying "The one who lives on even after death and whose destiny is passed down through the ages is only the King of Xuyang", and also mentioned Guo Zixing's kindness in the past, "When I was in charge of him, I showed him great favor and kindness". However, when writing about the killing of Guo Zixing's son Guo Tianxu, he used the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals, "When the king died, the princes were unable to control the heroes, and the soldiers were short of food."

This means that after Guo Zixing's death, his successor could not win the support of the people, and everyone followed him in losing battles and not having enough to eat, so Emperor Hongwu took on the task at a critical moment, "prepared horses and soldiers, and fought expeditions east and west", and finally "established his empire".

History is in the hands of the victor, and what he writes is what it is. The inscription of Emperor Hongwu is to be recorded in the history books. Fifty years later, the people who experienced this incident are basically dead. When people learn about the history of Emperor Hongwu's rise, they will only think that Emperor Hongwu was magnanimous and kind, and that Guo Zixing's descendants were useless. He was in control of the overall situation with the support of the people.

Once the inscription was published, it was widely read. Empress Ma said to Hu Shanwei: "You have rewarded the dead and highly praised Guo Zixing's merits and virtues. You have done your utmost. There is no need to reward the living. Concubine Guo Hui is out."

"Ah?" Hu Shanwei didn't expect that Concubine Guo Hui, who had five children, would be eliminated so quickly. "It is said that the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, but the affairs of the previous dynasty can affect the harem, and the effect is almost immediate. The harem seems to be calm, but an inscription from the previous dynasty has blocked Concubine Guo Hui's path to becoming a noble concubine."

Empress Ma showed an admiring expression, "Yes, that's right. The harem and the former dynasty actually have some intricate relationship and influence each other. If you want to gain a foothold in the harem, you must understand the rules of the former dynasty. In fact, logically speaking, Concubine Guo Hui has the most sufficient reason to kill me. Back then, she almost replaced my position as the wife and became the second Guo Shengtong. But now her power in the former dynasty is the weakest. Others won by surprise, and Concubine Guo Hui had no power to fight back. Therefore, I think Concubine Guo Hui's suspicion can be ruled out. It's not that she doesn't want to, but she can't."

Hu Shanwei frowned and said, "Who is attacking Concubine Guo Hui? They are steady, accurate and ruthless, using someone else's knife to kill someone, winning with one move, which is somewhat similar to the style of the assassination in the silkworm room. But the little censor who wrote the letter and erected the monument has no background, and I have no clue at all."

Empress Ma said, "You must be calm and patient. The bait has been put down and the fish are beginning to test the bait. As long as I control the six bureaus and one department, I can be safe in the harem. You must hold steady on the fishing platform."

Zhu Chun, the Prince of Shu, happily went to build a stele for his grandfather. Of course, the education he received as a prince had obliterated the bloody truth of the seizure of power. All he knew was the content of the inscription on the stele of Emperor Hongwu. He felt that his father was simply too good to his grandfather.

For the underage princes, ignorance is the best protection. Looking at her grateful son, Concubine Guo Hui had to temporarily extinguish her desire for fame and fortune. The position of imperial concubine was not as important as the future of her sons. If the sons became resentful of Emperor Hongwu and lost the emperor's favor because of the revelation of the Guo family's past, that would be the beginning of a disaster.

Concubine Guo Hui summoned her eldest son, who lived in the East Fifth Residence, to the Jingyang Palace and gave him a reassurance in advance: "This time you are going to build a monument for your grandfather. This is the first time you have traveled alone since you were a child. There must be people whispering slander in your ears."

The eleventh son of the emperor, Prince of Shu Zhu Chun, was only eleven years old and still somewhat naive. "I know, my son must be close to virtuous officials and stay away from villains."

Guo Huifei could only laugh as she read the script, and asked, "What kind of person is a villain?"

Zhu Chun said: "The one who speaks flattering words and tries to please his son is a villain."

"You are right." Concubine Guo Hui first encouraged her son, then corrected him, "Besides this, villains will also say some words to sow discord between brothers, fathers and sons, mothers and sons. If someone says something like this to you, don't rebuke them first, wait until they finish speaking, and don't show your emotions. When the monument is built, when you return to the palace to report, tell the emperor and empress the names and words of these villains, and then the emperor and empress will deal with them for you."

Zhu Chun was puzzled: "Son, just ask someone to drag the villain who made the slanderous remarks out and beat him with a stick. Why bother the emperor and the empress when he returns to the palace?"

Concubine Guo Hui advised her son, "You must remember that you are going out this time to build a monument for your grandfather. You only need to do one thing, and ignore other things. Don't make things complicated. You are still young, and it is great to do one thing well. I am proud of you."

Zhu Chun responded obediently: "Son, remember, don't show off and don't let mother down."

Concubine Guo Hui watched her son's thin back disappear around the corner of the tall palace wall, her eyes turned cold, he was out just like that, I was unwilling, I couldn't be the queen, I gave birth to five children for the Zhu family, couldn't I even be a concubine? Which bitch was scheming against me

Concubine Guo Hui and Hu Shanwei had the same idea. Thanks to Empress Ma's advice on the relationship between the former dynasty and the harem, Hu Shanwei looked beyond the harem and began to ponder the movements of the former dynasty. The fastest way to understand the government was to read the court reports.

She asked Haitang to bring boxes of court bulletins from the past year. When she was not working for Empress Ma, she would bury herself in the study reading the bulletins.

Spring brings sleepiness and autumn brings fatigue. In March, the spring breeze is intoxicating. It is a very drowsy weather. Hu Shanwei was tired of looking and looked out the window. There was a camellia stand by the window, with soft smoke and a cluster of peonies in full bloom.

An idea suddenly popped up in Hu Shanwei's mind: Is there such spring scenery in Yunnan

That soft, warm, numb feeling came rushing over me, difficult to relieve, climbing up bit by bit, only to leave my brows and come back to my heart again.

Without chaos, spring love is hard to condemn.

Hu Shanwei suddenly felt dry in the mouth and drank some cold tea, but it was useless. She closed the newspaper in annoyance and paced back and forth in the study like a confused monk.

Haitang heard the noise outside, knocked on the door and came in, saying, "These court reports are boring and tiring to read. Hu Siyan might as well take a nap and read them after getting up."

Open the door of my west pavilion, and spread out the bed of my east pavilion. Put purple flowers in the vase, and add agarwood to the stove. Haitang waited for Hu Shanwei to lie down, closed the doors and windows, and stood guard outside.

Hu Shanwei smelled the faint fragrance of agarwood, used sleepiness to overcome his unbearable spring feelings, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

In a trance, she walked past the camellia rack outside the window, went to the swing in the yard, and swung high. The swing swung so high that it seemed to reach the clouds. She felt very refreshed.

When she landed on the ground, her skirt moved. She looked down and saw a small stone rolling and stopped at her feet.

Just as she was wondering, a stone flew over and hit the curly grass pattern on the hem of her skirt.

This was Mu Chun's usual style of greeting her. Hu Shanwei looked in the direction from which the stone came and saw Mu Chun standing under the tea rose rack, waving at her.

Hu Shanwei got down from the swing and went to the tea rack, but Mu Chun disappeared. A small stone hit him from the hem of her skirt. Hu Shanwei walked and stopped in the direction of the stone. Suddenly, he looked back and saw Mu Chun standing in the pavilion beside the pond where the lotus leaves were just beginning to show their tips. She looked like a pearl, like a jade, like a dream, and her whole body seemed to be glowing.

As if by some strange coincidence, Hu Shanwei blurted out a line from the Book of Songs, "When I think of a gentleman, he is as warm as jade. In his wooden house, he disturbs my heart."

Mu Chun stared at him with innocent eyes and asked, "Sister Shanwei, what do you mean by the poem you mentioned? I don't understand. Can you explain it to me?"

Hu Shanwei said, "You evil monster, please don't come into my dreams again, disturb my mind, and mess with my heart."

Mu Chun said, "If you don't dream about me, I won't come." He hugged her in his arms and said, "If you dream about me, I will come."

He also whispered in her ear: "You are not responsible for what you do in your dreams. You can do whatever you want to me."

"Get lost!" Hu Shanwei pushed Mu Chun away. "You monster, stop pestering me."

Mu Chun seemed to have no bones. With one push, he fell on his back into the pond, shouting for help.

Hu Shanwei was very anxious and jumped into the pond to save her, but Mu Chun in the water smiled and wrapped around her like a snake, dragging her to the bottom of the water and sinking together...

At the same time, thousands of miles away in Guizhou Xuanwei Prefecture, Mu Chun was taking a nap in the camp. He was having some indescribable dream, and the shiny drool from the left corner of his mouth flowed onto the pillow.

He slid out of the pond holding Hu Shanwei, sat on the shore, and said mischievously: "You can't bear to see me die, so you jumped in to save me. In fact, I can swim, so I don't need you to save me. Look, your clothes are soaked, I'll help you take them off and dry them before you put them on."

He took off his clothes, but saw a bright red patch on the back of his clothes, which turned out to be blood. Looking more closely, he saw that Hu Shanwei's back was covered in blood and scars.

"Ah!" Mu Chun suddenly woke up, and just then his subordinate Chen Xuan ran in and said hurriedly: "Master Mu, it's bad! The Yi people are going to rebel!"

Mu Chun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "The Yi people have already abandoned the dark and joined the light, cut off contact with the Northern Yuan Liang Wang, and sent horses and food to the Ming army. Why are they suddenly rebelling?"

Chen Xuan said: "Master Mu, just go out and take a look and you will know."

Mu Chun followed Chen Xuan on horseback to the execution platform in the military parade ground, where they saw a man tied to a rack with his back bare, being whipped. The whip marks were swollen as big as thumbs, but no matter how hard the executioner whipped him, the man gritted his teeth and said nothing.

"What a man." Mu Chun praised.

Chen Xuan resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his boss. "Master Mu, please look at her headdress. It's clearly a woman. She is Madam Shexiang, the acting envoy of the Guizhou Xuanwei Prefecture."

The author has something to say: Don’t be in chaos, it’s hard to get rid of spring feelings~ I miss spring every day but can’t see it, I dream of spring but I’m annoyed by it.

Congratulations to the reader "Reader Among" for receiving a 100-point red envelope. Regarding the Emon's Bed, this article's Chapter 17 details the rules. Only when the Empress of the Central Palace, the Queen of the West Palace, and the Queen of the East Palace sleep with the emperor, will the huge Emon's Bed procession be set up at the entrance of the palace.

№13 Netizen: Readers Comment: "Hu Shanwei" Score: 2 Published: 2019-01-23 22:03:39 Chapters reviewed: 93