Hu Shanwei had no idea that she had just entered the palace and was already being targeted by Princess Imperial Huaiqing. Once through the palace gates, it was as deep as the sea. She had returned only to find the truth behind Supervisor Fan’s death, never expecting to be drawn into the vortex of the Ming Dynasty’s power transition. How the future path would unfold was now beyond her control.
Having finally sent away the difficult great-aunt, Empress Ma breathed a sigh of relief as Haitang led Hu Shanwei over. The last time Empress Ma had seen Hu Shanwei, she was still an anxious palace maiden awaiting final results in Chuxiu Palace, having to bow when seeing Palace Supervisor Hu. Now the tables had turned – Hu Shanwei had to perform full prostration when meeting Empress Ma.
Empress Ma granted her a seat, and Hu Shanwei sat in the lower position. Since they were still in Great Ancestor Emperor’s mourning period, all palace decorations were primarily plain and simple. Empress Ma wore her hair in a round chignon with white jade phoenix hairpins, presenting a refined and noble appearance that momentarily stunned Hu Shanwei.
Empress Ma asked kindly: “Does Palace Supervisor Hu find my attire improper?”
Hu Shanwei bowed slightly and said: “No, Your Majesty the Empress bears a resemblance to Empress Xiaoci, which caused me to be momentarily dazed. Please forgive my impropriety before Your Majesty.”
This was an invisible compliment that Empress Ma found most pleasing. She had always used Empress Xiaoci as her model, striving to emulate her great-grandmother-in-law, thinking to herself: This type of “impropriety” could happen more often.
Empress Ma quickly said: “What fault does Palace Supervisor Hu have? I constantly read the ‘Daily Records of Empress Xiaoci,’ learning how to be an empress of the Ming Dynasty. With daily immersion, and considering that Empress Xiaoci was my clansman, some resemblance is natural.”
Actually, Hu Shanwei did this deliberately – someone who had nearly become a master at palace intrigue couldn’t possibly make such an error. Meeting again after three years, she needed a mutually pleasant beginning, but Empress Ma, occupying a high position, had long grown tired of flattering words. Praising her through comparison to Empress Xiaoci would work better.
Moreover, Princess Imperial Huaiqing had just left. Now that Emperor Jianwen was determined to strip feudal powers, with Empress Xiaoci supporting her husband in unity, one could imagine the recent conversation had been unpleasant. So Hu Shanwei told Empress Ma lies she had long prepared: about her travels throughout the Ming Dynasty these past three years.
Hu Shanwei had actually spent all three years in Yunnan, staying with Mu Chun. Her travel experiences were all secondhand – she had memorized letters from Imperial Physician Ru and Physician Tan’s travels around the world seeking famous doctors and medicines, combined with her experiences from business trips as a female official. Her account was flawless.
She also explained why her father Hu Rong wasn’t at their Jining hometown: “…Father was getting old and wanted to return to his roots, so he took the family back to Jining. But my stepmother became ill from the change of environment and died on the way. My younger brother also had an accident and nearly drowned. Father felt this was heaven’s warning that they shouldn’t return home. He found a fortune-telling master who cast divination, saying the south brought great fortune while the north brought great misfortune. So Father and my brother went south. Father’s health has been good these years, and my brother is at the age to broaden his horizons. The two travel and stay as they go – they haven’t settled down these past two years…”
Previously, Great Ancestor Emperor had used her family’s lives to threaten her. Learning from that bitter lesson, she absolutely couldn’t let herself be vulnerable again this time.
Empress Ma, busy daily with rear palace affairs and dealing with her mother-in-law at Cining Palace, rarely had time to relax. She listened with rapt attention until noon when meals needed to be served. Only then did she come to her senses, inviting Hu Shanwei to dine at Kunning Palace. After tea, she reluctantly said: “Palace Supervisor Hu has traveled far and hard. Please return to settle in – it’s still your former courtyard. I’ve already had people clean it thoroughly.”
With that, Empress Ma gave her a palm-sized oval ivory nameplate: “You left this when you resigned three years ago. Now I’m returning it to its rightful owner. From now on, I entrust the rear palace to Palace Supervisor Hu.”
Hu Shanwei received the nameplate and said: “Your subject will do her utmost to live up to this trust. However, before taking up duties, I wish to burn incense for Great Ancestor Emperor and Empress Xiaoci at the mausoleum, and also visit the deer and green peacocks there.”
Hearing this, Haitang nearly gave a thumbs up on the spot. Palace Supervisor Hu hadn’t even officially taken up duties yet but was already establishing her authority. Going to the mausoleum was to display her substantial credentials and prestige – after all, guarding the mausoleum for Empress Xiaoci for a year was unique in the palace.
Hearing this, Empress Ma thought: Ginger is indeed spicier when old! Palace Supervisor Hu returned without greed for power or profit, first going to the mausoleum to pay respects to her former master, occupying both loyalty and filial piety. In the future, she would surely suppress that power-grasping Empress Dowager at Cining Palace completely, preventing her from stirring up trouble.
Hu Shanwei returned to her old residence where Shen Qionglian and others were already waiting, including Jiang Quan who was enjoying retirement at Princess Imperial Nankang’s residence. Needless to say, they all came to inquire about Supervisor Fan’s mysterious death case.
The rear palace had its own warmth. Seeing these people, Hu Shanwei no longer needed to wear false masks. Her eyes reddened as she explained how she heard the news, how she used Shen Qionglian’s gifted seal to withdraw silver from the Shen family, how she piled up a silver mountain at Guazhou to attract skilled swimmers nationwide, how they discovered the sunken ship, the deliberately pierced hull, the copper lock secured from outside, and… Supervisor Fan’s corpse already covered with corpse wax.
“…Before death, Supervisor Fan changed into her female official robes, wearing gold-embroidered official boots and this Palace Supervisor nameplate used for only three years.”
Palace Supervisor Hu took Supervisor Fan’s belongings from her bundle: “I returned to the palace for two reasons: the imperial edict and to uncover the truth behind Supervisor Fan’s death and find the real killer. You are all people I trust. If you have any clues, please tell me. I will definitely avenge Supervisor Fan.”
Everyone was shocked and furious upon hearing this, especially Jiang Quan. In her youth, she had been abandoned after being seduced, her husband took their daughter to present to the emperor, then pushed her into a river. She struggled in the icy water before achieving “rebirth,” changing her age and name, taking “Jiang” as her surname, studying hard to become a female official and enter the palace to find her daughter.
No one understood the terror of being submerged in river water better than Jiang Quan. Hearing Hu Shanwei’s account, Jiang Quan seemed to relive that death experience, returning to the past. She trembled all over, unable to speak.
Chen Er’mei, having the quickest temper, said: “When Supervisor Fan was Palace Supervisor, she offended many people. I’ll go back and sort through them one by one – the killer must be among them.”
Shen Qionglian was first to ask: “How is Supervisor Cui now? Supervisor Fan’s death must have been a great blow to her. She finally received Great Ancestor Emperor’s grace to keep her life, but she knows too many secrets. I’m truly worried she might follow Supervisor Fan’s path.” Being her protégé, Shen Qionglian was most concerned about Supervisor Cui.
Hu Shanwei said: “She’s aged somewhat but her spirits are still good. I gave all the remaining silver from the salvage operation to Supervisor Cao and Supervisor Cui, telling them to hire more guards and bodyguards. Moreover, now that Minister of Justice Bao personally supervises this case and they’re cooperating with the investigation from outside, with the matter blown wide open, the mastermind doesn’t dare move against them currently – any action would be caught.”
Huang Weide had the longest palace tenure, serving fifteen years as Keeper female official, deeply trusted by both Great Ancestor Emperor and Emperor Jianwen. Her gaze was full of doubt:
“Supervisor Fan came from a distinguished family, naturally having more confidence than others. She was fair in dealing with people and had no personal enemies – all was official business. When encountering wrongdoing, she typically handled it strictly according to palace rules as a warning to others. Many people resented her for this, secretly calling her Yama King Fan, but these troublemakers weren’t particularly capable. They couldn’t harm her in the palace – how could they have the ability to carry out such thorough murder outside the palace? Unless it was premeditated hired killing.”
“Also, Supervisor Fan’s former confidant Supervisor Wang committed suicide, leaving a note saying she was following Supervisor Fan in death. Her Majesty the Empress pardoned her suicide crime and ordered her buried, which greatly displeased the Empress Dowager. She thought the Empress was setting a precedent for ignoring palace rules and losing propriety. Cining Palace was quite turbulent for a while. It’s said the Empress Dowager wanted to go to the Ancestral Temple to weep for Emperor Xiaokang. The Empress had no choice but to ask His Majesty to come and calm things down.”
The Empress Dowager!
Spoken without intention but heard with purpose, something clicked in Hu Shanwei’s mind. Previously reading court gazettes, she saw that before his death, Great Ancestor Emperor ordered all concubines and palace maids who had served him to be buried alive, presumably to prevent future constraints on the Imperial Grandson. But with Great Ancestor Emperor’s iron-fisted methods – great purges in court and forced burials in the rear palace – why did he spare the greatest threat, Empress Dowager Lu?
Having served in the court for fifteen years, Hu Shanwei understood Great Ancestor Emperor too well. In his later years, he was a tyrant who preferred to kill wrongly rather than spare anyone. He would rather dirty his own hands than let Empress Dowager Lu live, so why was Empress Dowager Lu now alive and well at Cining Palace, opposing Empress Ma?
There must be something suspicious here.
After pondering a moment, Hu Shanwei asked: “Are Supervisor Wang’s suicide note and her room still available?”
Haitang said: “The Empress Dowager said dead people’s belongings were inauspicious and should be burned as offerings, so all items were taken out and destroyed. However, I copied her suicide note and kept it in the Palace Supervisor Bureau’s roster. I’ll have someone bring it.”
Hu Shanwei raised her hand: “Send it to me secretly that day. Don’t let word leak out. Right now I only trust you few – we can’t let outsiders know.”
Everyone shared various matters from the past three years: the harmonious imperial couple relationship, only two unfavored concubines in the Eastern and Western Six Palaces, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law struggle between Kunning Palace and Cining Palace, and so forth.
After the Hongwu reign’s great purges, the vast rear palace now only had eight imperial family members to serve – much simpler than the crowded rear palace of the Hongwu era.
First was naturally Emperor Jianwen at Qianqing Palace, who worked until midnight daily and attended court before dawn, maintaining his predecessor’s diligence.
Next was Empress Dowager Lu at Cining Palace, who was restless. Recently her request for a duke title for her deceased father was rejected by Emperor Jianwen.
Then Empress Ma at Kunning Palace with the two-year-old Crown Prince. Though there was a ready Eastern Palace for the crown prince, he was too young and Empress Ma couldn’t bear to part with him. With Emperor Jianwen’s agreement, she kept the Crown Prince at Kunning Palace for raising and education.
Emperor Jianwen’s two concubines lived respectively at Yanxi Palace in the Eastern Six Palaces and Yikun Palace in the Western Six Palaces. However, according to records by female history officials, these two concubines hadn’t attended the emperor once since his ascension – even though the emperor needed to produce offspring and mourning periods didn’t prohibit intimacy.
So Empress Ma enjoyed exclusive favor.
Finally, there was the sole survivor from the previous reign’s rear palace – Imperial Consort Zhang at Ninghe Palace, living with three-year-old Princess Imperial Baoqing in the northwestern corner’s Ninghe Palace. Though both mother and daughter were young, their seniority was high – Princess Baoqing hadn’t even begun education yet but was already “Imperial.” However, Imperial Consort Zhang had always been low-key. Besides occasionally taking her daughter for walks, she rarely left Ninghe Palace alone.
Such a “refreshingly simple” rear palace – thousands of palace staff serving only eight imperial family members. Both female officials and serving palace staff felt suddenly relaxed, often having nothing to do. Empress Ma was already considering releasing some people from the palace – presumably this would be the first task for Hu Shanwei after returning.
They talked until dusk before the female officials dispersed. Jiang Quan deliberately stayed last, taking a letter from her clothing’s inner layer and whispering to Hu Shanwei: “This is from Imperial Physician Ru for you.”
Since Jiang Quan lived at Princess Imperial Nankang’s residence outside the palace, she had the most freedom and privacy. Her correspondence didn’t need to pass through the Bureau of Court Etiquette’s mail inspection.
Opening the letter, Hu Shanwei learned that Prince Zhou had been escorted to the capital on rebellion charges. With the prince’s residence in chaos, the famous doctors who had been compiling books scattered home. Imperial Physician Ru and Physician Tan also returned to their Wuxi hometown with their two sons to avoid trouble, telling Hu Shanwei not to worry about them.
However, Imperial Physician Ru had a request in the letter. He said that he and his wife had followed Prince Zhou for many years. Prince Zhou’s medical book compilation wasn’t for fame – he truly loved medicine and wanted to achieve something in the field. His masterpiece “Famine Relief Materia Medica” was only half-written when it stopped due to Prince Runan’s false rebellion accusation – truly a great loss to medicine.
Now that they had been away from court for years and were honored guests at Prince Zhou’s residence, the emperor wouldn’t listen to them. But Palace Supervisor Hu’s words might influence the imperial couple. He begged Palace Supervisor Hu, for the sake of medicine and saving people worldwide, to try saving Prince Zhou. Titles didn’t matter – just preserving Prince Zhou’s life might save millions in the future.
After all these years, Imperial Physician Ru still sought only medical knowledge, never forgetting his original intention. Hu Shanwei greatly admired this. Moreover, when she had difficulty birthing A’Lei, Imperial Physician Ru had saved both mother and daughter’s lives. “Saving people worldwide” might be abstract, but even just for Imperial Physician Ru’s life-saving grace, Hu Shanwei would try to preserve Prince Zhou’s life.