During the five days when Fan Gongzheng gave lectures, with titled consorts from the Eastern and Western Six Palaces gathering at Kunning Palace to listen, Hu Shanwei finally understood how many women the Emperor had.
She secretly counted—ninety-seven people. If the Empress was included, that made ninety-eight.
This didn’t even count deceased consorts, such as the Crown Prince’s nameless birth mother, the nameless birth mothers of the second prince Prince Qin and third prince Prince Jin, Noble Consort Shuo who bore the fourth prince Prince Yan and fifth prince Prince Zhou, and of course, the recently deceased Hu woman who bore the sixth prince Prince Chu.
Back then, Empress Ma had been unable to conceive. The eldest son and the second and third sons were all born to lowly serving concubines and all died young. To continue the Zhu family line, Empress Ma raised these three sons as her own. To make the three princes remember Empress Ma’s nurturing grace, when the Great Ming was founded, Emperor Hongwu recorded no birth mothers for these three princes in the jade genealogy, acknowledging only Empress Ma as their legitimate mother.
Emperor Hongwu was fifty-three this year. The consorts and concubines who had served him were like leeks in a field—one crop replaced another. These ninety-seven were those currently still living.
Each had dressed grandly, standing and listening respectfully. Their glittering jewelry and precious ornaments flashed so brightly they dazzled Hu Shanwei’s eyes.
While Fan Gongzheng sat lecturing, Hu Shanwei stood beside her the entire time, turning pages and serving tea. She too stood for five full days while working, but didn’t feel particularly tired.
It was only half a double-hour, and there were ice blocks in the hall for cooling—quite comfortable. Hu Shanwei had previously copied books in the bookshop, where regardless of cold or heat, sweat would soak through her clothes but she couldn’t stop writing. So she felt the listening environment at Kunning Palace was simply too good.
She thought this way, so when she sensed some consorts’ gazes upon her weren’t particularly friendly, she was quite puzzled: with such good conditions, why blame me?
By the sixth day, a batch of consorts collapsed claiming illness. The entire harem looked at Hu Shanwei with eyes that practically spelled out “chief culprit.”
Hu Shanwei was even more baffled: was it really necessary? They fell ill from this? If I had such conditions before, I would have been overjoyed.
Kunning Palace
Empress Ma summoned Ru Siyao from the Imperial Kitchen Bureau and asked, “Today people throughout the Eastern and Western Six Palaces are claiming illness. I’m quite worried. Taking care of them so they can bear children for the imperial family is also my responsibility. How can I watch them fall sick one by one? Dispatch the female physicians to each palace to diagnose them. If they’re ill, they must take medicine—this cannot be delayed.”
Indeed, could the grand Great Ming harem not afford doctors or medicine?
Ru Siyao took the order and left. However, when Ru Siyao looked at the medical records and prescriptions written by the female physicians, nine out of ten were harmless remedies that made little difference whether taken or not.
What a waste of medicinal materials, Ru Siyao sighed inwardly. She reported the diagnosis results to Empress Ma: “Except for Noble Consort Sun and several consorts over fifty who are truly ill, the rest only have some physical weakness and no serious problems.”
Ru Siyao didn’t dare to directly say they were feigning illness.
Empress Ma’s face showed no joy or anger, only saying coolly, “Understood. Leave the medical records and prescriptions, and summon Cui Shangyi.”
Cui Shangyi from the Bureau of Ceremonies had an audience.
Empress Ma pointed to the thick stack of medical records and prescriptions Ru Siyao had delivered, “The consorts are unwell—how can they serve His Majesty? We can’t have them spreading illness. You and the Palace Historian female officials should temporarily remove these people from the ‘Imperial Favor Record’ until they recover.”
Though the Bureau of Ceremonies wasn’t as powerful as the Bureau of Palace Attendance or as influential as the Palace Administration Office, it had the most mysterious department among the six bureaus and one office—the Palace Historians.
The Palace Historians kept detailed records of every imperial favor bestowed upon the harem, from palace reports, bedchamber guards, names of those serving, to records of imperial visits—all meticulously documented by Palace Historian female officials.
In other words, every time the Emperor slept with a woman, the four key elements of time, place, person, and process had to be complete. Who served outside the door? Who were the guards? All had to be clearly written.
The next day, the Empress would also bestow generous gifts, expressing “you worked hard.”
The woman who served would dress grandly to thank the Empress at Kunning Palace, expressing “serving His Majesty and bearing children for the imperial family requires no hardship from me.”
This attention to detail was required—with both human and physical evidence complete, it was the only proof of identity and bloodline for any future children born to consorts.
Because there were simply too many women in the harem, the Emperor didn’t necessarily know them all and basically forgot after sleeping with them. What if he denied responsibility later?
Great Ming emperors could be quite eccentric—there really were emperors who denied responsibility or didn’t remember. Under the detailed records of Palace Historian female officials, they had no choice but to acknowledge: the later Wanli Emperor slept with a young palace maid in the Empress Dowager’s palace but wouldn’t acknowledge it. The Empress Dowager ordered Palace Historian female officials to produce evidence, forcing the Wanli Emperor to grudgingly acknowledge it. The palace maid gave birth to the future Guangzong Emperor.
There was also Lady Ji who bore Emperor Xiaozong. She was originally just a warehouse manager in the harem’s inner treasury. Emperor Chenghua wandered into the storehouse by chance, slept with Lady Ji, then forgot about it after pulling up his pants, continuing his intimate relationship with favored Consort Wan. Consort Wan controlled the harem with an iron fist, focusing on “abortion” work for over ten years. Lady Ji had no choice but to hide the prince she bore. Later, it was also the Palace Historians’ records that proved Emperor Xiaozong’s identity as eldest imperial son.
Therefore, the Palace Historians could be said to be the most important department in the harem, directly related to the purity of imperial bloodlines. Only the harem’s masters—the Empress Dowager and Empress—could view the “Imperial Favor Record.” When future news of consorts’ pregnancies was reported, it served for comparison. Even the Emperor couldn’t view it at will—to prevent heartless abandonment that would harm imperial offspring.
Similarly, no matter how favored, no consort could interfere with the Palace Historians. This was also a balancing technique that began in the Tang Dynasty, ensuring the bloodline and power of throne inheritors.
Besides recording imperial favors, Palace Historian female officials also detailed each consort’s monthly cycles—when they came, when they ended, summarizing their patterns. During those few days, their names would be removed from the list, and other consorts would be arranged for “duty.”
Additionally, those who were ill would also be removed from the favor list to ensure the Emperor’s and future offspring’s health. Empress Ma’s request wasn’t excessive, but…
Cui Shangyi and the Palace Historian female officials looked at the thick stack of prescriptions and medical records with some hesitation. After all, most were harmless remedies—not really illnesses that would prevent continued service.
Palace Historian female officials had to remain neutral and impartial. Even Empress Ma couldn’t act arbitrarily. She said, “Your Majesty, removing all these consorts from the favor list would eliminate more than half.”
Empress Ma didn’t even raise an eyebrow, saying, “Aren’t there still over thirty consorts available for service? His Majesty is only one person—that’s sufficient.”
The forthright Palace Historian official said, “These thirty-some consorts are mostly around forty years old.”
Long past their prime, their colors no longer fresh. Unlike Noble Consort Sun, who had borne two princesses and earned the Emperor’s respect and affection.
So they kept low profiles in the harem. When Empress Ma said east, they dared not go west. Standing five days at Kunning Palace was nothing—even kneeling five days, they wouldn’t dare claim illness.
Empress Ma asked, “Do you think they’re too old?”
Empress Ma’s birthday was the eighth day of the eighth month. Next month on the eighth, she would celebrate her forty-ninth birthday.
Cui Shangyi sensed danger and quickly gave frantic meaningful looks to the Palace Historian official.
The Palace Historian wasn’t stupid and immediately fell silent, removing consorts’ names one by one according to the medical records and prescriptions on the table.
Speaking of the front court, ever since Emperor Hongwu eliminated Prime Minister Hu Weiyong’s entire clan on charges of rebellion and abolished the Secretariat’s prime minister system, taking all power into his own hands, he was so busy he had to review 1,180 memorials in eight days and rarely came to the harem to favor consorts.
Emperor Hongwu felt he would die from exhaustion if this continued. Not trusting eunuchs, he established a system of four seasonal assistant officials, with three civil officials helping him handle government affairs each quarter—summer officials in summer, autumn officials in autumn. They rotated duties to prevent them from growing too powerful and becoming prime ministers in all but name.
After implementing the four assistant officials system, Emperor Hongwu finally had breathing room.
As the saying goes, when fed and warm, one thinks of that. Emperor Hongwu was also human—a healthy fifty-three-year-old middle-aged man.
Coincidentally, today after handling government affairs, Emperor Hongwu wanted to find a beauty to accompany his drinking. The older he got, the more he preferred young, vital members of the opposite sex, as if he could absorb vitality from them.
Emperor Hongwu said, “Summon Beauty Zhang.”
A eunuch tremblingly held up the “Imperial Favor Record” that Palace Historian officials had just “updated,” “Beauty Zhang is inconvenient recently.”
Emperor Hongwu said, “Then Zhaoyi Qin.”
Looking at the roster with names blacked out everywhere, the eunuch steeled himself and said, “Also inconvenient.”
Emperor Hongwu said, “Call Jieyu Sun.”
The eunuch: “Also cannot serve.”
It was impossible for the three most beautiful, youngest consorts to all have their monthly cycles simultaneously, right? Emperor Hongwu immediately felt his mood spoiled, “What’s going on?”
The eunuch prostrated in fear, “This slave doesn’t know. The roster was provided by female officials. This slave will immediately summon the Palace Historian official.”
Actually, the eunuch knew the reason but dared not speak. The Hongwu reign was a nightmare for eunuchs. Previously, an old eunuch had spoken a few extra words about politics. Emperor Hongwu not only erected an iron tablet in the harem prohibiting inner palace officials from interfering in politics, but also demoted all palace eunuchs by one rank collectively, making their overall status lower than female officials. With this precedent, they dared not say one extra word beyond their responsibilities.
The Palace Historian female official explained about the five consecutive days of “Records of Virtuous Song Dynasty Consorts’ Teachings” lectures in the harem, consorts claiming illness, and the medical records and prescriptions piling up on the table.
Emperor Hongwu was very angry, “They collapsed from this? Too delicate. In the past, women ate chaff and swallowed vegetables, gave birth in the morning and washed diapers by the river in the afternoon, then went to hoe fields. They’re maintained with fine clothes and food, eating oil and wearing silk, yet claim illness after standing half a double-hour. I think they’re just too idle, forgetting the fundamentals of men plowing and women weaving, only knowing how to act coquettishly and throw tantrums. How can they become virtuous consorts? Summon Song Shanggong from the Bureau of Works.”
The Bureau of Works managed needlework.
Emperor Hongwu, originally from grass roots—a peasant from Fengyang—told Song Shanggong, “Send a loom to every palace in the Eastern and Western Six Palaces, except Changchun Palace where Consort Li needs quiet to raise the little princess. Teach them to weave cloth so they understand common women’s hardships. To model themselves after virtuous Song consorts, they must practice what they preach—empty words without practice are false.”
No one had expected Emperor Hongwu to personally suppress the harem. Even Empress Ma was surprised. Now consorts throughout the Eastern and Western Six Palaces recovered without medicine, all busy learning weaving and needlework, having no time to compete for favor or target Hu Shanwei.
With the crushing imperial couple promoting the “Records of Virtuous Song Dynasty Consorts’ Teachings,” the harem progressed exceptionally smoothly. Even Fan Gongzheng felt Hu Shanwei was a person blessed with good fortune, with both Emperor and Empress becoming her assistance.
From inside to outside, after completing the harem, the next target was the Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace and the princely consorts.
Starting with the eldest, beginning from the Eastern Palace.
The Crown Prince’s consort Lady Chang was the eldest legitimate daughter of Prince Kaiping Chang Yuchun, who had borne the eldest imperial grandson Zhu Xiongying. But in the eleventh year of Hongwu, Lady Chang died shortly after giving birth to the legitimate second son Zhu Yunting.
After the Crown Princess died, Crown Prince Zhu Biao didn’t remarry, so currently the Eastern Palace had no mistress, only a concubine, Side Consort Lu. Side Consort Lu bore Zhu Yunwen in the tenth year of Hongwu and was quite favored by the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince loved reading and wasn’t fond of beauties, so the Eastern Palace had no other serving concubines.
Once the looms started working, the harem became completely docile. Side Consort Lu, as a concubine in the Eastern Palace, dared not have any objections and respectfully invited Hu Shanwei to sit and explain the “Records of Virtuous Song Dynasty Consorts’ Teachings.”
After finishing the Eastern Palace, the second prince Prince Qin and third prince Prince Jin were both far away in their fiefs in Xi’an and Taiyuan. Liu Siyan and Zhou Sizan, two sixth-rank senior female officials, had already been dispatched on distant assignments to deliver books. Therefore, Hu Shanwei’s next target was the fourth prince Prince Yan’s consort, Lady Xu.
Lady Xu was the eldest legitimate daughter of Duke Weiguo Xu Da. Her two young half-sisters had also been betrothed by Emperor Hongwu to two princes and would marry upon reaching adulthood.
The Xu family having three consorts—what glory!
Before departing, Fan Gongzheng warned Hu Shanwei, “Princess Yan is a tigress from a military family, fierce as fire with a violent temper. Prince Yan usually yields to her in seven out of ten matters. The capital’s most famous rake Xu Zengshou is her younger brother. Xu Zengshou fears no one except Princess Yan. Be extremely careful with your words and don’t anger her.”
Hu Shanwei trembled with fear, “I understand. I’ll be careful.”
Author’s Note: Hahahaha, Princess Yan seems like Venom—fierce reputation, but actually… meow meow meow~~~