A man’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea. The Crown Prince tried seducing her with the promise of Noble Consort position, enticing her with the Palace Supervisor position, and even mentioned her father Hu Rong’s hobby of going to the Entertainment Quarter for tea and opera, threatening her through family members.

The Crown Prince used three consecutive strategies to harvest Hu Shanwei’s loyalty.

The Crown Prince was so impatient that Hu Shanwei naturally wouldn’t think with a romance-addled brain that he liked her. Her first reaction was: Could it be that His Majesty is dying? Hiding his illness? So the Crown Prince is buying her loyalty at this moment to ensure his ascension to the throne. But that’s not right – before departure, Emperor Hongwu seemed quite healthy, even able to consecutively favor the newly arrived Korean tribute women.

Hu Shanwei was well-versed in history and had many years of practical experience in the imperial court. Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Actually, the perfect crown prince in history books was worlds apart from the perfect crown prince in reality.

The crown princes in history books might have poetic talent, expand territories, show kindness and mercy, or be faithful in love – excelling in just one aspect would earn them a good reputation as an excellent crown prince.

But the evaluation standard for real crown princes had only one criterion – whether they successfully ascended to the throne.

Crown princes who couldn’t become emperors weren’t good crown princes.

Crown princes were different from old traditional doctors. Old doctors became more valuable with age, but the longer one served as crown prince, the more dangerous it became, increasingly feared by aging emperors whose bodies deteriorated while their paranoia grew in inverse proportion.

So throughout history, those who served as crown prince for over twenty years basically all met tragic ends – few achieved good deaths.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao worked hard to create personas of benevolence, brotherly love, respect for teachers, and marital faithfulness. Actually, someone like Hu Shanwei who had spent years crawling through the world of fame and fortune absolutely didn’t believe it – she just didn’t expose or puncture these facades.

Back when the Crown Prince sought to save his teacher Song Lian’s life to earn a “respecting teachers” reputation, he actually used a self-torture strategy to force Empress Xiaoci to help. In the end, it was still Empress Xiaoci who dragged her sick body to handle Emperor Hongwu, but the Crown Prince got the good reputation.

From the funeral of Noble Consort Chengmu that led to the “Record of Filial Piety” changing mourning customs, to saving Song Lian – these two incidents made Hu Shanwei see through the Crown Prince’s hypocrisy.

The Crown Prince’s persona was meant to fool the ignorant masses and gain their respect and love. This was exactly like entertainment industry celebrities five hundred years later creating “good husband,” “foodie,” and “academic genius” personas to quickly increase fame and recognition. They knew the public liked these personas, so they worked hard to package themselves as completely different from their real selves. Thus we repeatedly saw cheating “good husbands,” stick-thin “foodies,” and “academic geniuses” whose thesis formats weren’t even standard.

But could the masses’ eyes be so easily fooled? Character personas bring momentary joy, but collapse brings crematorium. The higher the pedestal, the faster the fall.

At this moment, the Crown Prince had completely collapsed in Hu Shanwei’s heart, yet he still shamelessly wanted to demand her loyalty. She could no longer distinguish who was more detestable – the hypocritical Crown Prince or the violent Prince Qin.

Hu Shanwei decided to give the Crown Prince a heavy blow: “I eat salary issued by the Ming court, not from the Eastern Palace. When you eat from someone’s mouth, your mouth becomes soft; when you take from someone’s hands, your hands become weak. I cannot hold the court’s bowl while doing the Eastern Palace’s work. My loyalty will only go to two people – His Majesty and the Noble Consort who governs the Six Palaces. The only way for Your Highness to earn my trust is to sit on that dragon throne.”

Want my trust? Then become emperor first. The Crown Prince was heir apparent, only one step away from the imperial throne.

Yes, this one step could be just a small step of three feet, or it could be a giant leap of 108,000 li.

This step was actually very far – be careful not to tear something, Crown Prince!

Having spoken to this extent, the Crown Prince understood her decision and was quite disappointed: “So Court Lady Hu is someone who won’t place bets until the very last moment.”

Hu Shanwei said, “Correct. I come from a merchant family in the marketplace – small doors, small household, haven’t seen much of the world. I only know that you hold whose bowl you hold, eat whose rice you eat, then you work for them. I appreciate Your Highness’s regard, but please take this peach blossom to place in a vase before Prince Lu Huang’s coffin. I take my leave.”

This was the Yanzhou Imperial Temple, where Prince Lu Huang’s spirit rested. Forty-nine days after his brother’s death, while the corpse was still warm, the elder brother was impatiently trying to seduce his brother’s mother’s court lady.

Hu Shanwei took her leave. The Crown Prince didn’t pursue, only watched her retreating figure thoughtfully.

Legend said the forty-ninth day was the last day the deceased stayed in the underworld. On this day, they would drink Meng Po’s soup, forget everything from their past life, and reincarnate.

Hu Shanwei went to the Great Buddha Hall and prayed before Buddha for Prince Lu Huang: In your next life, don’t be reborn into an imperial family again, you useless good person.

After completing the ritual, the funeral procession returned to Prince Lu’s mansion. Tomorrow they would depart for the capital.

In the study, Hu Shanwei wrote several pages of letters, wrapped a pill carefully in oiled paper, placed them together in a wooden box, wrapped layer upon layer with waterproof and moisture-proof oiled paper, then wrapped the outermost layer with cloth, and gave it to Haitang:

“Take this out. After you leave, someone will definitely follow you. Don’t be afraid – they won’t harm you. Change locations several times, change your outfit once, pretend to shake off the surveillance, then go to the escort agency where I hired bodyguards last time and send this wooden box to Commander Mao at the Jinyiwei office in the capital.”

Haitang was puzzled: “This is very risky. With just my strength alone, it would be difficult to shake off surveillance.”

Hu Shanwei said, “No, you don’t need to actually shake them off. You need to make the other party think that since you’re trying so hard to lose your tail, this wooden box must contain some earth-shattering secret.”

Haitang asked, “What’s wrong with Court Lady Hu today? If you want to send a message to Commander Mao, just give it to Ji Gang. Why use an escort agency? Escort agencies aren’t as reliable as Ji Gang – there’s risk of loss or even substitution.”

Hu Shanwei gently tapped the small box: “This little thing is bait. I want to use it to catch a big fish. Logically, I should stay out of this matter and leave it for His Majesty and Noble Consort to decide, but…”

Thinking of the scene in the peach grove where the Crown Prince frivolously lifted her chin with the peach branch, Hu Shanwei felt nauseated. Prince Lu Huang was imperial family, and his birth, aging, sickness, and death all fell under the Imperial Clan Court’s jurisdiction. However, the Imperial Clan Court’s chief administrator presiding over Prince Lu Huang’s funeral was the Crown Prince.

Don’t think that just because you’re the Crown Prince, you can abuse your position to molest me.

Don’t think that because I rejected you, this matter is over. You must take responsibility for your impropriety.

I, Hu Shanwei, never cause trouble, but I also never fear it. Whoever plays palace intrigue games with me, I’ll play with them.

“Catch a big fish?” Haitang asked. “The real culprit who poisoned Prince Lu Huang? Does Court Lady Hu already have leads? Who added arsenic to the white alum?”

Hu Shanwei said, “The inner quarters of Prince Lu’s mansion are managed so tightly by the princess that water couldn’t penetrate. The substitution could only have been completed outside the mansion in Yanzhou city. The other party’s reach probably didn’t extend inside, otherwise deadly evidence like the white alum and ‘Alchemy Notes’ would have been stolen or destroyed long ago.”

“But Yanzhou city is a vast sea of people – completely untraceable. Moreover, this incident happened forty-nine days ago. Prince Lu Huang might have had his medicine packets switched during his journey. Even if the Jinyiwei investigate, they probably couldn’t find anything concrete. The only way to catch the real culprit is to make them mistakenly believe we have some solid evidence and lure the snake out of its hole.”

Hu Shanwei pointed to the small box: “Whoever touches this box is the murderer.”

Haitang praised, “What a brilliant plan from Court Lady Hu!” After thinking, she asked again, “Will the murderer… really come for the bait?”

Hu Shanwei recalled the Crown Prince arranging the flower arrangement on the offering table, when he had broken several flower stems and said: “Flower arranging emphasizes staggered heights, some high, some low – only then can it be pleasing to the eye. The tallest flower stem always stands alone. If they’re all about the same height, even if the whole vase contains celestial rare flowers, it won’t look good.”

And the scene in the peach grove where the Crown Prince used seduction, bribery, and family threats – coming neither early nor late, but choosing this exact moment to “recruit” me… Those who do no wrong fear no ghosts knocking at their door.

Prince Lu Huang died neither early nor late, but precisely when Kunning Palace’s foundation reinforcement and renovation were complete, just as Noble Consort Guo was about to be crowned Empress.

Once Noble Consort Guo became Empress, Prince Lu Huang would be the only legitimate son. Crown Prince Zhu Biao was the eldest illegitimate son – his birth mother’s name wasn’t even left behind by Emperor Hongwu, while Prince Lu Huang’s two maternal uncles were both marquises and famous Ming generals.

In terms of birth status, the Crown Prince fell behind. Although his position as heir was stable and he had a good reputation, Prince Lu Huang’s status as legitimate son put great pressure on the Crown Prince.

Especially with Emperor Hongwu’s health still good – at sixty-two, he had fathered three more sons, so the Crown Prince didn’t know how much longer he’d have to endure in the Eastern Palace before ascending. Every day of waiting brought the danger of the Eastern Palace changing hands.

The Crown Prince was also well-read in history books and naturally knew that being crown prince for over twenty years was the world’s most dangerous profession.

So eliminating Prince Lu Huang and nipping the threat in the bud was the best solution. With Noble Consort Guo as Empress, she would become the second Empress Xiaoci. Without a legitimate son, all illegitimate sons would be the same in her eyes…

Hu Shanwei said, “I’m not certain either. I hope I’m overthinking this, otherwise the result would be truly terrifying.”

Haitang was clever and intelligent. Years ago, when Prince Qin used her elder brother’s life as leverage to eliminate Hu Shanwei through Princess Huaiqing’s hand, it was Haitang who convinced her sister working as a leading lady at the Entertainment Quarter to turn the tables and expose Prince Qin, that venomous snake.

After Hu Shanwei assisted Noble Consort Guo and gained more power, she found ways to remove both Haitang’s sister and brother from official slave status, sending them to Mu Chun in Yunnan as immigrants to start new lives.

Therefore, Haitang was completely loyal to Hu Shanwei and obeyed her every word. She put the small bundle into a food box and disguised herself as an ordinary maid from Prince Lu’s mansion, leaving through the back door.

Whether there really was surveillance or it was Hu Shanwei’s reminder, Haitang felt several gazes on her. When passing a clothing shop, she bought a set of men’s clothes to change into, even rented a sedan chair to wander aimlessly around Yanzhou city, creating the illusion of trying hard to shake off surveillance.

Later she even rented a horse to ride out of the city for a circuit before returning. Only then did she go to the escort agency, entrusting the small box at high price to ten escorts to deliver to the capital.

Walking out of the escort agency, Haitang again felt scrutinizing gazes. She didn’t look around, maintaining an air of confidence that she had successfully shaken off surveillance, walking back to Prince Lu’s mansion with light steps.

The next day, the massive funeral procession departed for the capital. The young widow Princess Lu held Little Guo to see them off. The Crown Prince comforted his weeping sister-in-law and even held baby Little Guo in his arms.

Seeing the Crown Prince’s benevolent gaze, appearing to cherish Little Guo deeply, Hu Shanwei felt bone-chilling cold even wearing padded clothes.

Little Guo was fine in Princess Lu’s arms, but once the Crown Prince held him, he began crying loudly, his body restlessly twisting in the swaddling clothes. Hu Shanwei’s heart jumped hearing this, and she walked over saying, “Little Guo is smacking his lips – he must be hungry. Have the wet nurse take him to feed.”

Little Guo was Prince Lu’s mansion’s hope. Princess Lu would depend on him inheriting the title and continuing Prince Lu’s lineage in the future. Hearing this, she quickly signaled the wet nurse to take Little Guo – between brother-in-law and widowed sister-in-law, direct transfer wasn’t appropriate, so the wet nurse served as intermediary to pass Little Guo back and forth.

The Crown Prince maintained his benevolent smile as he returned Little Guo to the wet nurse, saying fondly, “I’ve raised eight children, all grown up in my arms, so I have some experience. Little Guo’s cry is clear and his legs are strong – he’ll definitely be a healthy child in the future.”

Now the Crown Prince added “good father” to his personas of “good son,” “good big brother,” “good student,” and “good husband” – who would expect this “good big brother” to use every trick in the book to pressure a court lady in a peach grove during his brother’s forty-ninth day memorial?

Hypocritical, utterly hypocritical!

Before boarding her carriage, Princess Lu blamed herself again before Hu Shanwei, saying she had failed Noble Consort Guo’s trust by not taking good care of Prince Lu Huang: “…A virtuous wife brings fewer disasters to her husband. It’s all my fault, sob sob.”

Actually, judging by how well Princess Lu managed the mansion, she definitely wasn’t as soft as she appeared on the surface. She was just forced by the patriarchal system to adopt a submissive, apologetic attitude.

Hu Shanwei felt pity and comforted her: “Princess Lu shouldn’t overthink. Take good care of Little Guo, raise him properly, and don’t let him follow his father’s old path. Though Prince Lu Huang is gone, Little Guo is Noble Consort Guo’s own grandson. The Noble Consort is also Prince Lu’s mansion’s support – we’re still family.”

Seeing Hu Shanwei’s attitude, Princess Lu felt somewhat relieved and finally stopped crying.

Hu Shanwei sighed inwardly: Women in the imperial family – even their tears were cultivated to perfection.

On the return journey to the capital, Hu Shanwei ate, lived, slept, and woke with Shen Qionglian, like conjoined sisters, deliberately showing wariness toward the Crown Prince.

Shen Qionglian found it strange: “What happened? Why did you suddenly become so timid?”

Hu Shanwei said, “Trust me, it’s for your own good that you don’t know.”

Shen Qionglian usually avoided meddling in others’ affairs, and surprisingly really stopped asking. This made Hu Shanwei’s heart itch, wanting desperately to confide about being harassed by the Crown Prince in the peach grove.

That greasy Crown Prince actually lifted my chin with a peach branch! Ah! Even Chun Chun has never so frivolously lifted my chin!

At night in the post station, while washing her face, Hu Shanwei scrubbed her chin vigorously with a hot cloth, nearly rubbing off a layer of skin.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince maintained his usual courtesy toward the two court ladies, even giving them the post station’s best room, as if the peach grove harassment incident had never occurred.

Ten days later, the funeral procession reached the capital. At this time, Nanjing was in the midst of spring’s third month with warm weather and blooming flowers. Those sensitive to heat were already wearing single layers. From far away, everyone could see white banners flying high and hear earth-shaking wails.

This funeral’s scale was extraordinary – burial according to princely rites with all court civil and military officials seeing off the deceased. Hu Shanwei looked and was shocked: Had another prince died in just three short months?

As the funeral procession approached, they learned that Duke Qian, Mu Ying, had died. Emperor Hongwu posthumously granted him princely rank, ordered him honored in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and gave him the posthumous title Prince Zhaojing.

Mu Ying was dead? Then Mu Chun…

Hu Shanwei quickly got off her carriage. With Ji Gang clearing the way, she successfully squeezed to the front of the crowd and saw “filial son” Mu Chun wearing hemp shoes, coarse hemp mourning clothes without hemmed edges, holding his father’s memorial tablet and walking at the very front.

Six years – the two had maintained correspondence but never met face to face. She hadn’t expected to reunite under such circumstances.

Mu Chun’s eyes were red. Seeing Hu Shanwei by the roadside, his eyes immediately lit up and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted.

Seeing this, Hu Shanwei thought “oh no” and quickly shook her head and waved her hands.

Only then did Mu Chun restrain his gaze and resume his mournful expression.

Behind Mu Chun in the same mourning clothes were his third brother Mu Ang and fourth brother Mu Xin. Mu Xin was the little boy who licked his fingers like a wild child six years ago. Like Mu Chun in childhood, he had grown up in the palace, arranged in the Eastern Five Quarters of Qianqing Palace alongside several young princes. Now he was a nine-year-old boy, quite delicate and androgynous, looking like a girl.

Only the second young master, Mu Sheng, remained to guard Yunnan.

Following the three Mu sons was a canopy made of white hemp cloth held up by several strong servants with poles, forming two mobile white “walls.”

Inside the walls were Mu family women in mourning dress, led naturally by Duke Qian’s wife, Geng Shi. Actually, Mu Ying spent years guarding Yunnan, mostly on battlefields, leaving all Mu family affairs to Geng Shi to manage. It was almost like being widowed, and the couple had lived a lifetime with cold respect rather than warmth.

So Geng Shi wasn’t crying for her husband, but for her beloved son Mu Sheng not returning for the funeral. Without her husband, Geng Shi missed her only biological son even more. She hadn’t seen her son for eleven whole years!

Supporting Geng Shi was the young woman Cheng Shi, the second young mistress. Cheng Shi was Mu Sheng’s properly married wife, personally chosen and betrothed by father Mu Ying. The Cheng family wasn’t prominent – just a minor official’s family. Nobody understood Mu Ying’s thinking; he clearly favored his second son most, yet arranged such a low-key marriage for him.

When Geng Shi learned of this, she immediately spat blood in anger. A woman of such background wasn’t even worthy of being her son’s concubine! But since marrying into the Mu family, she knew how the previous wife Feng Shi had died, understanding that to live peacefully, she must follow her husband’s wishes without her own ideas.

So Geng Shi had to hold her nose and accept this marriage, beginning wedding preparations. Since Mu Sheng constantly followed his father guarding Yunnan and suppressing rebellions with no time to return for marriage, five-year-old fourth brother Mu Xin eventually stood in for his second brother, receiving the bride and performing the wedding ceremony.

So Mu Sheng’s wife, second young mistress Cheng Shi, had been married into the Mu family for nearly four years yet still hadn’t met her husband, wearing a married woman’s hairstyle but remaining virgin.

However, Mu Sheng not having his wife by his side didn’t prevent him from taking concubines. Yes, whether in appearance, personality, or preferences, Mu Sheng was exactly like his father Mu Ying – he liked women, beautiful women. Before Mu Ying’s death, two concubines had already borne Mu Sheng sons.

Cheng Shi became a “happy stepmother” without even seeing her husband’s face, more pitiful than mother-in-law Geng Shi. At least Geng Shi had given birth to Mu Sheng. So hearing Geng Shi cry, Cheng Shi felt even more sorrowful, wailing louder than Geng Shi.

Separated by the moving white canopy, hearing the women’s painful cries inside, Hu Shanwei watching from the crowd sighed inwardly: She hated Mu Ying, hated his cold cruelty toward Mu Chun. Half of Mu Chun’s life’s pain came from his father. But now that Mu Ying had truly died, seeing his coffin pass before her, she felt no satisfaction. She had to admit Mu Ying was the Ming Dynasty’s backbone.

His death was a great loss to the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Hongwu’s twenty-plus sons combined couldn’t match one adoptive son, Mu Ying.

Hu Shanwei’s gaze greedily followed Mu Chun’s mourning-clad figure until it disappeared, still reluctant to leave.

Holding his father’s memorial tablet, Mu Chun’s heart surged: Ah, I finally saw Sister Shanwei! Why is this funeral route so long? Why haven’t we reached the grave yet? Why is the auspicious time for burial so slow in coming?

The Mu Ying couple’s joint burial site was at Guanyin Mountain in Jiangning County, Nanjing. Since original wife Feng Shi had died early, the grave was already built – husband and wife sharing a tomb but with coffins in different chambers. The tomb structure was “three rooms, two halls” – the three rooms were for Feng Shi, Mu Ying, and a pre-dug burial chamber for future stepmother Geng Shi.

The two halls were left and right tomb chambers for storing burial goods and sacrificial items, with a long corridor tomb passage in the middle.

The funeral procession first opened the first tomb door and entered the front passage. After about thirty steps, they were blocked by a thousand-pound tomb door.

Behind the tomb door was a groove with a several-hundred-pound stone pillar tilted to prop against the tomb door, making it impossible to open from outside.

When building the tomb, a small square opening was left in the left wall of the passage – this opening was the entrance to the tomb chamber, like a “backdoor” that programmers would leave in programs five hundred years later.

A small-bodied grave digger pried open the tomb bricks and crawled in through the opening. After crawling into the tomb chamber, he moved away the stone pillar propping against the tomb door, and the door slowly opened.

Mu Ying’s coffin was carried into the middle tomb chamber and placed on the coffin bed. To the left of the coffin was original wife Feng Shi’s coffin, which had been there for twenty-nine years.

Mu Chun burned incense and kowtowed before his mother’s coffin. He hadn’t cried when his father died, but seeing his mother’s coffin, tears fell uncontrollably to the ground, each drop hitting the tomb chamber’s blue brick floor.

When the burial ceremony ended and Mu Chun walked out of the tomb chamber, his tears finally stopped.

After everyone exited the tomb chamber, the small grave digger pushed the several-hundred-pound stone pillar back to the floor groove to prop against the tomb door, then crawled back to the tomb passage through the reserved small opening and resealed it with tomb bricks.

This small opening would remain until Geng Shi’s death, when the grave digger would crawl in again, reopen the tomb door, and carry her into the right tomb chamber beside Mu Ying for joint burial. The grave digger would prop against the tomb door a third time, crawl out through the small opening carrying explosives, blow up the small entrance, and seal it with tomb bricks. The three of them would sleep there forever.