Hu Shanwei watched the groups of young beauties suddenly appearing in the palace court, and her mood, which had been soured by the Crown Princess’s disgusting behavior, inexplicably improved.
The selected maidens who made it to the capital for the second round of selection all had appearances above average. It was already April, and the beauty-conscious girls had shed their lined jackets, wearing only thin dresses and skirts. They stood in formation learning palace etiquette from the female officials of the Court Bureau of Rites. The selected maidens were all between thirteen and sixteen years old – half naive, half mature – wearing lotus-pink jacket-skirts with adorable double-ring hairstyles, their eyes still clear and bright. It was truly a feast for the eyes.
Groups of selected maidens from all over the country brought a sense of freshness to the palace servants who were busy with palace affairs day after day. When they had free time, they would go observe. Hu Shanwei did not restrict palace servants from watching the selected maidens learn etiquette:
“You may go watch as you please, but you cannot make noise that would disturb their learning of rules, you cannot accept money or gifts from the selected maidens, and you cannot form relationships claiming to be godmothers or sworn sisters. Of course, if you truly have relatives among them, these three rules don’t apply – you may visit relatives with palace servant accompaniment. Besides inquiring about personal matters and greeting family members, you cannot reveal palace secrets. I’m stating these rules upfront – if anyone violates them, they will be handed over to the Palace Justice Department for punishment according to palace regulations.”
As Palace Manager, Hu Shanwei was more humane than the previous Manager Cao. She emulated Empress Xiaoci by first establishing rules and making clear agreements about what could and could not be done. If someone knowingly violated the rules, they would have to accept punishment.
The female officials in the palace, aside from those selected through maid examinations, all came from scholarly families. These people’s families overlapped with some of the selected maidens’ families – some were relatives.
So several female officials brought their nieces or nephews from Chuxiu Palace to spend time together, catching up on family matters and touring the palace sights. Fourteen or fifteen-year-old budding maidens entering the palace for the first time were like timid yet curious little white rabbits, moving through the gardens among flowers and willows, with dew-laden flowers appearing delicate and light perspiration showing through thin clothes.
They encountered Emperor Hongwu along the way. The young girls performed their still-awkward ceremonial bows, and Emperor Hongwu merely nodded slightly, saying “Rise, you are excused.” The girls withdrew, bashfully walking away while stealing glances at plum blossoms.
This scene made Emperor Hongwu’s old heart, weathered by countless experiences, flutter like a corpse coming back to life.
After half an hour, when the selected maidens finished touring the gardens and returned to Chuxiu Palace, eunuchs from Emperor Hongwu’s entourage arrived bearing colorful silks, gold, silver, and other gifts for the maidens they had encountered in the garden. Among them, three selected maidens received an additional complete set of gold jewelry inlaid with precious stones – lustrous with pearls and gems, with large and transparent stones crafted by the most skilled artisans of the palace’s internal manufacturing bureau, possessing an imperial grandeur unavailable outside.
The selected maidens were immediately dazzled and couldn’t help showing envious expressions.
Seeing this, the three maidens who received extra gifts were still bewildered, but the female officials teaching palace etiquette understood clearly:
The Emperor wouldn’t bestow jewelry without reason, especially items like hairpins and rings. Moreover, Emperor Hongwu was a frugal (stingy) emperor who generally only gave gifts to palace consorts before or after intimate relations. These gifts were recorded by female officials of the Palace History Department. If any palace consort became pregnant, these hairpins and rings would serve as evidence, ensuring the purity of imperial bloodlines and preventing the emperor from denying responsibility after intimate relations, thus protecting the rights of imperial heirs.
The female officials gave the three selected maidens emergency “special training,” then ordered them to bathe and dress properly. That night, Qianqing Palace indeed sent three sedan chairs to Chuxiu Palace to fetch them.
That evening, Emperor Hongwu, the old man, indulged in youthful passion, favoring all three budding maidens and granting them all the title of Beauty.
One branch of pear blossoms pressing against crabapple was nothing – this old pear blossom Emperor Hongwu pressed against three crabapple blossoms at once…
The next day, the three new Beauties bashfully went to Yanxi Palace where Consort Cui resided to pay their respects. Consort Cui commanded the rear palace as deputy empress – every day, consorts from all palaces came to Yanxi Palace to greet her, and noble ladies entering the palace also paid their respects to her.
After consorts attended the emperor’s bed, Consort Cui would also bestow gifts, expressing that “sisters worked hard.” Female officials from the Palace History Department would record everything and bring the records to Yanxi Palace for Consort Cui to review, stamping them with her official seal like a notary office to indicate official recognition of the legitimate and valid intimate relations, completing the entire process.
Consort Cui arranged the three Beauties in Jingren Palace, Changchun Palace, and Yikun Palace respectively, asking them to bear children for the imperial family. She said, “Beauty Zhang just gave birth to a little princess, and His Majesty is extremely delighted. You must work hard.”
Emperor Hongwu was sixty-eight years old this year. Being blessed with a little princess made him very happy – seeds stored for sixty-eight years could still sprout and grow, proving his body was still in good condition. The older people get, the more they fear illness and death, and the more they prefer young bodies.
The three Beauties were immediately filled with anticipation for the future.
Consort Cui watched the three Beauties’ barely contained ambition and sighed inwardly. Present wealth and honor dazzled their eyes, causing them to lose better prospects – there would be plenty of lonely times ahead.
Consort Cui said, “You may go now. Study palace regulations well with the matrons of each palace. The most important thing in this palace is following rules. If you violate palace regulations, no matter who you are or how favored you might be, you will be punished according to palace rules.”
When Hu Shanwei learned that Emperor Hongwu had snatched away three little lambs from Chuxiu Palace, she was immediately furious: You guard against outsiders day and night, but family thieves are hardest to prevent! He’s already a grandfather, yet he’s stirring the same pot and competing for porridge with his grandsons. This imperial selection wasn’t even prepared for the emperor!
What a troublesome old demon!
Hu Shanwei decided to build the fence more securely and raise the walls higher, ordering that all selected maidens were forbidden from stepping outside Chuxiu Palace. If family members came to visit, they should go to Chuxiu Palace – the maidens couldn’t be brought out.
This would prevent Emperor Hongwu from seeing them and getting improper ideas again.
With three disciplines and eight points of attention implemented, the rear palace finally became quiet. Emperor Hongwu knew Hu Shanwei was guarding against him but said nothing, only smiled while drinking the ten-ingredient tonic soup sent by the Imperial Kitchen Bureau and summoning the newly appointed Beauties to attend his bed.
This was the imperial mindset – as long as it didn’t involve bottom lines and matters of principle, he could tolerate almost anything without petty calculations. Unlike the Crown Princess, who would hold grudges and call for violence over the tiniest matters.
The selected maidens in Chuxiu Palace had learned etiquette well enough, and the imperial selection was about to begin. Hu Shanwei hosted a banquet where female officials who had gone to princely mansions sat down to drink and chat. She laughed, “Thank you all for your hard work. When I first looked at those selected maidens, I was immediately dazzled, thinking each one was excellent. But imperial selection is about distinguishing high from low, like imperial examinations – picking the highest from among the high. Since you personally selected them, tell me about a few selected maidens who caught your eye, so I’ll have some idea during the selection process.”
As Hu Shanwei’s personally trained disciple, now a sixth-rank Treasure Management female official Huang Weide, she spoke first to support her teacher. For this imperial selection, she had gone to Prince Zhou’s mansion in Kaifeng, Henan, working with Princess Zhou and others to handle selection in the Henan region, bringing over sixty people to the capital.
Huang Weide said, “I personally selected these maidens and also think each one is excellent – otherwise I wouldn’t dare bring them to the capital to embarrass myself. There was an amusing incident on the journey to the capital. With spring’s warmth and everything reviving, we discovered a snake in the inn where we stayed one night. All the selected maidens were frightened out of their wits and ran downstairs, except for one maiden who remained completely calm. She took a fire poker and actually beat that bowl-thick snake to death.”
After she finished speaking, everyone laughed and said, “This selected maiden is full of courage – quite like Manager Hu’s style from years past.”
Years ago, Hu Shanwei had used a door bar to guard the treasury, defending it rigorously against Consort Hu’s people trying to cause trouble – one woman holding the pass against ten thousand.
Hu Shanwei laughed, “Could this selected maiden be from a military household?”
Huang Weide said, “Her father is just a small banner officer, an eighth-rank military official. If not for His Majesty’s decree to select from among the people and marry into farming families, given her background, she would only be qualified to be a palace maid – where would she have the chance to rise to heaven in one step?”
Hu Shanwei became immediately interested. “What is this selected maiden’s name?”
Huang Weide said, “Zhang Xiuchun, a selected maiden from Yongcheng County, Henan.”
Due to her beloved Mu Chun, Hu Shanwei was particularly sensitive to names containing the character “Chun” (spring), immediately remembering this name.
Female official Jiang Quan had gone to Prince Jin’s mansion in Taiyuan, Shanxi. Jiang Quan said, “I don’t have any maidens brave enough to beat snakes with fire pokers, but there’s a girl with rather special background. Her father is a scholar who repeatedly failed examinations and works as a secretary for others. Her appearance is average, but her literary talent is remarkable – though naturally not comparable to genius Shen Shangyi. Her surname is Ma, and she’s actually a distant relative of Empress Xiaoci, beyond the fifth degree of relationship.”
Hu Shanwei’s heart stirred – what a coincidence. Both Emperor Hongwu and the Crown Prince wanted to find someone virtuous like Empress Xiaoci. She asked Jiang Quan, “Is she truly Empress Xiaoci’s distant relative? Is there evidence?”
Jiang Quan said, “I verified the Ma family’s household registration and genealogy – they’re related to Empress Xiaoci’s clan, a Shanxi branch of the Ma family.”
Other female officials made various recommendations, which Hu Shanwei kept in mind, getting a general idea.
Finally, Huang Weide asked, “I noticed there are some noble ladies from the capital in Chuxiu Palace. Among them, one looks quite familiar, somewhat resembling Consort Duanjing’s character. After inquiring, I learned she’s Consort Duanjing’s own niece, Princess Yongjia’s sister-in-law, and daughter of Marquis Wuding Guo Ying – Miss Guo. If she’s selected… she’ll probably achieve incredible honor.”
After Emperor Hongwu’s great purges in the capital, only three old established families survived. Foremost was naturally the Geng family led by Marquis Changxing Geng Bingwen. Crown Prince Yiwen’s eldest daughter Princess Jiangdu married into the Geng family’s eldest son – firmly part of the Crown Prince’s faction. The Geng family was trusted by both the Crown Prince and Emperor Hongwu.
Next was the Guo family of Marquis Wuding, Consort Duanjing’s natal family. Besides having Princess Yongjia as a daughter-in-law for support, the Guo family also had Princess Liaojing as a princess consort. The Miss Guo now among the selected maidens was the second daughter, Princess Liaojing’s own younger sister. Imperial marriages didn’t concern themselves with generational differences – sisters marrying uncle and nephew was normal. You should know that by generational ranking, Prince Yan was actually Princess Yan’s maternal uncle.
Mentioning her former mistress Consort Duanjing, Hu Shanwei couldn’t help feeling sad and sorrowful. “Nephews resemble uncles, nieces follow aunts – this second Miss Guo bears five parts resemblance to Consort Duanjing in her youth.”
All the female officials knew that Hu Shanwei’s relationship with Consort Duanjing was profound, no less than with Empress Xiaoci. Empress Xiaoci personally trained Manager Hu, who then devoted herself wholeheartedly, almost hand-in-hand training the nearly ruined Consort Guo Ning into a successor empress candidate. Unfortunately, Miss Guo had no fortune – just as she was about to be made empress, she became depressed and ill due to her only son Prince Lu’s sudden death, dying of illness soon after.
Although Consort Duanjing ultimately wasn’t made successor empress, in the rear palace, her ability to acknowledge mistakes and improve, her kind and generous, straightforward and frank personality still earned everyone’s love and respect.
After all, people like Empress Xiaoci with extraordinary natural gifts, almost textbook examples of virtuous empresses and national mothers, were extremely rare and commanded respect from a distance.
But Consort Duanjing’s seemingly rough and clumsy, rash and impulsive character with some petty selfishness and small-mindedness, along with many human weaknesses, was most down-to-earth, like an ordinary woman. People could project themselves onto her, so they felt sympathy for Consort Duanjing. Rear palace residents often reminisced about her and felt regret.
Huang Weide also sighed, “If this second Miss Guo has even half of Consort Duanjing’s character, her virtue would be sufficient for the position of Crown Prince Consort.”
Stupid people have their advantages – little did they know that in this rear palace, often the first to die and die most miserably were the cleverest ones.
Hu Shanwei thought: This is quite impossible. Crown Prince Yiwen poisoned Prince Lu, Consort Duanjing poisoned Crown Prince Yiwen – double revenge. If these two families were to marry… they’d either be a resentful couple or passionately abusive lovers. In any case, there would be no peace.
However, such imperial family secrets were only known to people like Hu Shanwei who knew core confidential information.
Jiang Quan said, “It’s still early to discuss all this. The major selection begins tomorrow. After several rounds of elimination and final pairing arrangements, it all depends on His Majesty’s intentions.”
According to Emperor Hongwu’s thinking, the current urgent priority was the imperial family’s grandson generation bearing children – that is, holding great-grandsons. So whether for the Crown Prince or princely heirs, the expected allocation was one principal consort and one side consort. If selected maidens were truly outstanding, getting two side consorts at once was also possible.
Regarding how many women his grandsons should have, Emperor Hongwu was conflicted, rarely showing grandfatherly concern: “Men must establish families – only after having their own children do they become true men. I hope they’ll have several children – I can afford to support them all anyway. Logically, one wife and one concubine – virtuous wife and beautiful concubine – would be best for them to enjoy the blessings of having multiple women. But to quickly hold great-grandsons, it’s better to have one more woman as additional insurance – if the east doesn’t shine, the west will.”
This troublesome old demon worried while stroking his beard: “But they’re still young, and I usually manage them strictly, not allowing premarital misconduct or improper birth of eldest sons, to avoid future succession selection troubles. If they suddenly have three women and become addicted to feminine charms, the consequences would be unthinkable. What should we do? Manager Hu, what’s your opinion?”
Emperor Hongwu placed extreme importance on offspring – there was absolutely no concept of abortion to preserve reputation or family planning. As long as someone became pregnant, regardless of the birth mother’s status, the child absolutely had to be born. Every drop of imperial blood was precious.
Hu Shanwei replied neither softly nor firmly, “This official doesn’t know. Although I’m thirty-five years old this year, I’m still unmarried and don’t understand how to arrange grandsons’ marriages. Regarding bearing children, I know absolutely nothing.”
After these words, even with Emperor Hongwu’s face thick as city walls, he couldn’t help feeling somewhat embarrassed. She had originally requested to leave the palace three years ago to marry Mu Chun, but Emperor Hongwu had forcibly kept her during the great purges to stabilize the rear palace.
Ahem, Emperor Hongwu coughed lightly. “The emperor’s words are not spoken in jest. I promised to let you leave the palace after the imperial selection, and I will certainly keep that promise. I’m currently torn between two or three wives – so-called observers see clearly. What do you think is better?”
Making decisions for Emperor Hongwu wasn’t difficult, but if there were any consequences, Hu Shanwei couldn’t bear them. Serving the emperor was like serving a tiger – she constantly guarded against the old emperor turning hostile.
But since Emperor Hongwu asked her, she couldn’t not answer. So Hu Shanwei took out a copper coin newly minted by the Ministry of Revenue this year – the front read “Hongwu Tongbao,” the back had a shepherd boy riding an ox in raised relief. She said, “This official will flip the copper coin – heads means choosing two, tails means choosing three. Leave it to heaven’s will. What does Your Majesty think?”
After all, it would be heaven’s decision – nothing to do with me.
Emperor Hongwu thought for a moment and nodded, “Give me the copper coin – I’ll flip it.”
Truly an emperor – always maintaining control. Hu Shanwei was delighted and quickly presented the copper coin.
Emperor Hongwu spun the copper coin on his imperial desk – finally, the shepherd boy riding ox faced up. Three it was.
Hu Shanwei pretended joy, “Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is an auspicious sign that the imperial family will soon flourish with children!”
Emperor Hongwu thus established the quota of one principal consort and three side consorts for his grandsons.
Currently, there were nine imperial grandsons of marriageable age in the capital who needed to select consorts and two side consorts from among the selected maidens:
Crown Prince Zhu Yunwen, Second Imperial Grandson Zhu Yunting, Prince Qin’s heir Zhu Shangbing, Prince Jin’s heir Zhu Jixi, Prince Yan’s heir Zhu Gaochi, Prince Yan’s second son Zhu Gaosu, Prince Zhou’s heir Zhu Youdun, plus heirs of Prince Chu and Prince Shu.
According to the one-to-three ratio, twenty-seven selected maidens would need to advance to the final round.
The selected maidens from various regions had already gone through several preliminary rounds at princely mansions. First was mass selection – all age-appropriate girls meeting requirements were sent by parents to princely mansions, lined up by age in groups of one hundred. Internal officials of princely mansions would first roughly examine them, eliminating all who were too tall, short, fat, or thin, keeping only those with proportionate figures and healthy physical development. Those disqualified received silver for travel expenses and were taken home by parents for free marriage arrangements.
The next day, also organized by age in groups of one hundred, detailed examination began – observing ears, eyes, mouth, teeth, nose, hair, skin, waist, shoulders, and back. Features had to be proper, teeth clean, no defects like strabismus, hair lustrous, skin smooth, waists couldn’t have excess fat or obesity or unseemly posture like hunched backs. Those disqualified received travel money for return.
In the third round, selected maidens had to introduce themselves, stating names, origins, ages, household members, and other information recorded in household registries. Those who were nervous, stuttered, spoke too loudly or softly, or had muddy voices were eliminated and given travel money for return.
The fourth round involved old matrons using rulers to measure selected maidens’ hands, feet, and other body parts, then observing their walking postures. Those who moved arms and legs on the same side, or were too nervous to know where to put their hands and feet were eliminated and given travel money for return.
The fifth round had female officials from the rear palace set examination questions, testing selected maidens’ literacy and literary cultivation using “Four Books for Women,” “Biographies of Exemplary Women,” Four Books Confucian classics, and poetry. Based on grades, they would eliminate candidates and bring fifty to one hundred qualified selected maidens to the capital for selection.
Before formally entering the palace, all selected maidens had to undergo body searches at the Internal府’s Nanny Bureau – the same place where Hu Shanwei had taken her female official examination years ago. Hu Shanwei had also stripped naked for physical examination then.
Female officials only checked whether bodies were healthy, had hidden ailments, or carried prohibited items into the palace. For selected maidens, examination was much more detailed – old palace women had to see, smell, and touch all body parts for any improprieties, while female physicians from the Medical Bureau examined private parts to verify virginity.
After this elimination round, only about three hundred selected maidens perfectly met all requirements and were arranged in Chuxiu Palace to receive palace etiquette training for the second selection round.
Three hundred selected maidens, with only twenty-seven needed finally – equivalent to selecting one from ten. And this was under circumstances where Emperor Hongwu had poached from his grandsons, getting first pick to select three outstanding maidens to grant Beauty titles!
Thinking of this, Hu Shanwei couldn’t help but have a headache – there weren’t enough grandsons to go around, yet their grandfather was competing with them. Tsk tsk…
The three hundred selected maidens in Chuxiu Palace lived collectively. Regardless of their previous status – whether noble ladies like second Miss Guo, distant poor relatives of Empress Xiaoci like Miss Ma, or small military household daughters like Miss Zhang who beat snakes with fire pokers – all had their origins mixed up, with the Court Bureau of Rites randomly assigning dormitories by lottery.
Five people per room, they handled their own dressing, bed-making, washing, and grooming. During the day they practiced etiquette, and at night they studied by lamplight, painfully memorizing palace regulations and the “Zhao Song Virtuous Consorts’ Training Records” compiled by Empress Xiaoci, which actually required complete memorization and copying of the entire book!
A month later, selected maidens whose physical strength and mental state couldn’t withstand this enormous pressure were also tragically eliminated, leaving only two hundred fifty selected maidens in Chuxiu Palace.
Though elimination was cruel, those remaining were elites capable of extraordinary endurance both physically and mentally – this matched the job requirements for imperial daughters-in-law. To become imperial family daughters-in-law, one needed real skills. Better to be eliminated now than lose heads later.