A depressing fact was that the person who would share most of your life with you and bear your children was not someone you could choose.
Wang Ning’s marriage to a princess gave Mu Chun such a wake-up call. Mu Chun was shocked and frightened to discover that Wang Ning, whom he considered the most formidable and possibly lifelong opponent, had been so easily trapped by imperial power and marriage, defeating himself for Mu Chun.
Mu Chun had originally planned to fight Wang Ning for a lifetime.
When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves.
Mu Chun had almost won without a fight, but he wasn’t happy at all. Besides feeling heartache for Sister Shanwei, who was busy arranging Princess Huaiqing’s wedding affairs day and night, using busyness to heal her pain while he could do nothing to help, how to control his own marriage and not be manipulated by his father, stepmother, or even imperial power was something he needed to resolve immediately.
He was eighteen years old. Military families usually married quite early because no one could be sure when the next Northern Expedition would begin, and whether what returned from the battlefield would be the person himself or an urn of ashes.
What to do?
Having grown up in the imperial palace, Mu Chun understood that without sufficient power and imperial favor, he could not freely choose his wife—even his father Mu Ying, such a talented young man in his time, could not divorce his first wife Feng Shi and remarry someone else despite their marriage reaching the point of complete estrangement.
Mu Chun had even less power to choose his spouse. If his inner “evil thoughts” were exposed, he would at most suffer a beating and scolding without affecting his future, but it would bring catastrophic disaster upon Sister Shanwei.
At that time, Hu Shanwei would be accused of being a “demon woman” and “shameless adulteress who seduces ignorant young men,” among other crimes.
Being all men, Mu Chun understood why Wang Ning, despite clearly having lingering feelings for Sister Shanwei, so readily accepted marriage to a princess. Wang Ning was protecting Sister Shanwei—what must be cut must be cut, otherwise Sister Shanwei would “disappear.”
So he absolutely had to hide his “evil thoughts” well and find a way to keep his marriage free from others’ control.
How to hide “evil thoughts”? The best method was to use an “evil thought” that even his father wouldn’t dare investigate deeply as a shield to protect his real “evil thoughts.”
Princess Huaiqing was the best shield. Frequently entering and leaving the court, growing up together, and already married—these three points could perfectly confuse his father’s attention and make his father overlook the figure of Hu Shanwei.
Otherwise, Mu Chun’s frequent visits to the court and his abnormal performance in the Dragon Boat Festival willow-shooting competition would definitely make his father suspicious about his insistence on not marrying, and if the investigation led to Hu Shanwei, that would be terrible.
The key was that with his father’s cunning experience, even if he bit his tongue off, he absolutely wouldn’t dare mention his son’s shameful “evil thoughts,” otherwise the entire Mu family would have to be buried with him.
The first problem could be solved with a big secret between father and son.
The second problem was: how to remain single when he didn’t yet have the ability to control his own marriage, and not be arranged into marriage by his parents or the emperor and empress?
With Mu Chun’s limited wisdom, he thought of first setting an impossible goal, similar to the high difficulty of “when mountains have no peaks and heaven and earth unite”—for example, if he were to marry, he would only marry the daughter of Duke Weiguo Xu Da.
Xu Da was forty-nine years old this year, with a bunch of grandsons and great-grandsons. The Xu family hadn’t heard the cries of babies for some years now, so it was almost impossible for them to have another daughter.
This was point one. Point two: if his father dared to randomly assign him a wife, he would go all out and swear to use naked protest against the arranged marriage, trampling the Mu family’s dignity underfoot.
When two armies meet, the brave wins; when father and son face off, the shameless wins—whoever wants face loses.
From the current situation, Mu Chun’s strategy was working. After he streaked out of the ancestral hall, not only did Mu Ying stop mentioning his marriage, even his stepmother Geng Shi’s gaze became somewhat evasive when she saw him, not daring to arrange any marriage for him, fearing he would cause such a scene that he wouldn’t care about anyone, not even the Jade Emperor.
This method was quite dissolute and shameless, but had immediate effect. Mu Chun wasn’t someone who cared about face anyway—whether black cat or white cat, the one that catches mice is a good cat.
Mu Chun was quite proud, feeling that in controlling marriage matters, he was somewhat stronger than Wang Ning.
The only thing he hadn’t guessed was that the capital’s number one wastrel Xu Zengshou would become his brother-in-law.
To Mu Chun, it didn’t matter—it just gave him another reason to bully Xu Zengshou. After all, brothers-in-law beating brothers-in-law was fair game. His father Mu Ying, that ruthless man, was still beaten into a pig’s head by his brother-in-law Feng Sheng and didn’t dare fight back.
Mu Ying loved beautiful women and was as fertile as a rabbit. Not counting those who died young in the inner courtyard’s power struggles, he had four surviving sons and four daughters, all from different mothers. The Mu family’s rear courtyard was quite spectacular.
Marquis Xiping’s wife Geng Shi had only given birth to the legitimate second son Mu Sheng. The eldest Miss Mu was born to a concubine, but in wealthy families, every child was a chess piece for marriage alliances and belonged to precious resources, so legitimacy wasn’t emphasized much. Miss Mu had also been raised according to the standards of the family’s eldest daughter, brought up by Geng Shi. The old concubine had long fallen out of favor and, knowing her daughter would have a better future following the legitimate mother, remained distant and didn’t interfere in her daughter’s affairs.
Miss Mu was only fifteen this year. As a well-bred young lady who never left her boudoir, when she heard the title “the capital’s number one wastrel,” her heart went cold. At the engagement banquet, she forced smiles in public but wept in private.
Others would only say good things to her face, all saying that Duke Weiguo’s Xu family was a wealthy household in the capital second only to Duke Zhengguo’s Chang family, and that Duke Weiguo loved his youngest son most, so after she married to become the second Mrs. Xu, she wouldn’t even need to manage household affairs and could just enjoy a life of leisure.
Having grown up in Marquis Xiping’s mansion with its many wives, concubines, and undercurrents, Miss Mu couldn’t possibly be so naive. It was the old concubine who comforted her: “…Don’t mind how others gossip about your future husband being the capital’s number one wastrel. Look at your father—everyone outside calls him a talented young man and a generation’s pride, but do you think Madam lives happily?”
Miss Mu thought about it and agreed. Life was lived by oneself, and like drinking water, only one knows whether it’s cold or warm. She shouldn’t overthink things.
Even so, Miss Mu still seized the opportunity when the engagement banquet ended and Mu Chun was leaving the mansion to report for duty at the Right Guard of the Feathered Forest, “blocking” him at the hanging flower gate: “Elder Brother.”
Mu Chun turned back and looked at his delicate younger sister. Mu Ying loved beautiful women, and when the old concubine was still a young concubine at her most beautiful, she could be described as having national beauty and heavenly fragrance. The elder sister was naturally a beauty.
It was just that Mu Chun rarely returned home and had no emotional connection with his siblings—they were the most familiar strangers. Mu Chun asked: “What is it?”
Miss Mu was somewhat shy: “I heard that Xu Zengshou is Elder Brother’s good friend, so…”
What friendship could there be between wastrels? It was all paper brotherhood.
Mu Chun had no sibling affection with his sister, but she didn’t even know whether Xu Zengshou was round or flat and was about to marry him. He could understand his sister’s anxiety. He was a man who could rely on shamelessness to resist arranged marriage, but his sister couldn’t.
Mu Chun felt sympathy for his sister and said: “Regarding Xu Zengshou, I still haven’t figured him out. This person can be deep or shallow, smart or stupid, fragile or strong. He can act so foolish that others think he’s really stupid, and I think that’s also a kind of ability. After all, the Xu family has produced three princess consorts, and a brother-in-law who’s too clever isn’t necessarily a good thing. You’re the daughter-in-law chosen by Duke Weiguo, so he’ll definitely treat you with courtesy. The key to living with him is to keep one eye open and one eye closed, and just be a good second young mistress of the Xu family.”
Actually, Mu Chun wasn’t sure himself. He just felt that for his sister, the smaller the hope, the smaller the disappointment. She absolutely shouldn’t be like his mother years ago, thinking that her beloved was a peerless hero and would therefore definitely bring happiness, marrying joyfully only to die of melancholy within two years.
Miss Mu nodded in confusion: “Yes, little sister will listen to Elder Brother.”
Mu Chun rode out on horseback. Marquis Xiping’s mansion was full of joy, with lanterns and decorations everywhere. Looking back, he only saw a mass of red, like a giant red-painted coffin burying countless women’s youth and tears.
This coffin—how could he bear to let Sister Shanwei wither away in the Mu family’s rear courtyard?
Once tender feelings without sufficient power to protect them were dug up by others, it would be disaster. Wang Ning was a living example, and Mu Chun didn’t want to follow in his footsteps.
Sister Shanwei, boldly walk forward, walk forward, don’t look back.
This summer, Hu Shanwei could also use ice, something she wouldn’t have dared dream of last year. With doors and windows tightly closed, her bedroom was cool and refreshing. If not for the cicadas’ clamorous noise outside the window, one could hardly feel it was summer.
In September, with autumn’s crisp air, the princess’s mansion sent for Imperial Physician Tan to take Princess Huaiqing’s pulse. After Imperial Physician Tan returned to the palace, he reported the joyful news of the princess’s pregnancy to Emperor Hongwu.
Emperor Hongwu was greatly pleased and heavily rewarded Imperial Physician Tan. When the news reached the rear palace, Empress Ma ordered Hu Shanwei to take supplements and other gifts to the princess’s mansion.
Perhaps her heart’s concerns were finally resolved, or perhaps it was truly time for the oil to run dry and the lamp to go out—after Noble Consort Sun’s great joy, she fell ill and couldn’t recover. In September alone, she was carried to Qianqing Palace five times for joint consultations by Imperial Physician Tan, the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy, and other renowned doctors.
On this day, Empress Ma went to Yikun Palace to visit Noble Consort Sun.
Noble Consort Sun was very weak, finding it difficult even to get up and bow. She could only bow while sitting on the bed. Empress Ma hurriedly went over to help her lie down: “I’ve long said to dispense with formalities. Don’t torment yourself.”
Noble Consort Sun said: “The palace has its rules. The more Empress Mother treats this younger sister well, the more this younger sister must be cautious and restrained, setting an example for the six palaces.”
Ever since Noble Consort Sun became the “second-in-command” of the rear palace, helping Empress Ma suppress the Eastern and Western Six Palaces, Emperor Hongwu had distributed weaving machines and hung red plaques everywhere to educate the concubines to be virtuous. Additionally, Fan Gongzheng had compiled the “Record of Virtuous Consorts’ Admonitions from the Song Dynasty.” This year was the most peaceful and harmonious year in the Hongwu court’s rear palace, with no major incidents—Liu Siyan’s death at Prince Qin’s mansion occurred in Xi’an and didn’t count as rear palace affairs.
Noble Consort Sun was both an assistant and a confidante. Like Empress Ma, she had experienced having both parents die and being adopted by powerful figures as a foster daughter to be used as political capital for “transactions.” Both had given birth to two princesses but no sons.
Seeing Noble Consort Sun’s barely breathing appearance, Empress Ma felt truly grieved: “You must get better. Without you, how lonely I would be.”
Noble Consort Sun said: “The six bureaus and one department are full of talented people who are all Empress Mother’s good assistants. Your Majesty, my health is poor. It’s time to move the little princess elsewhere and find another reliable concubine to raise her. If she catches my illness, that would be bad.”
Empress Ma said sternly: “I’d like to see who dares to gossip!”
Noble Consort Sun shook her head: “The palace is quiet now, and no one dares speak, but one must guard against the unexpected. If she were my own daughter, it wouldn’t matter. The little princess was entrusted to this younger sister by Your Majesty to raise. Better safe than sorry—Your Majesty is the legitimate mother, and if anything happens to the princess, Your Majesty would have to bear responsibility.”
From beginning to end, Noble Consort Sun thought of Empress Ma.
In front of Noble Consort Sun, Empress Ma only spoke encouraging words and personally fed her a few spoonfuls of rice porridge. Noble Consort Sun had no appetite but forced herself to swallow for Empress Ma’s sake.
Watching Noble Consort Sun fall into deep sleep, Empress Ma sighed and said to Hu Shanwei: “When the little princess wakes from her afternoon nap, bring her to Kunning Palace.”
The little princess had to move again. She was only a year and a half old and had already been forced to move three times.
Hu Shanwei ordered someone to call Jiang Quan. Jiang Quan hurried over, and the wet nurses and others outside packed up, moving the little princess’s usual items to Kunning Palace.
Jiang Quan and Hu Shanwei sat by the window talking. Jiang Quan was quite regretful: “Why don’t good people live long? Noble Consort Sun truly cared for the little princess in every detail. Compared to Noble Consort Li who used the little princess to compete for favor, they’re like heaven and earth.”
Hu Shanwei also felt sorry for the little princess: “The little princess was raised very well this year. Noble Consort Li just gave birth to a prince—at her age, it’s like an old clam producing a pearl. There are folk rumors that if a couple has no son, they can first adopt an abandoned baby girl, saving a life as an act of virtue. If they treat the adopted daughter well, they’ll be blessed and have a son after a few years. Such girls are called ‘brother-bringers.’ The little princess perfectly fits this rumor. Now countless concubines desperate for sons will compete to adopt the little princess.”
Jiang Quan’s eyes were full of vigilance: “This time we must keep our eyes wide open. Those with ill intentions who only see the little princess as a tool—absolutely none of them can be chosen.”
“In selecting a foster mother for the little princess, I can have some say, but—” Hu Shanwei helplessly spread her hands. “Do you think there’s a second Noble Consort Sun in the palace?”
There wasn’t.
Jiang Quan sadly realized that Noble Consort Sun was not only irreplaceable to Empress Ma, but also to the little princess.
Hu Shanwei patted Jiang Quan’s hand: “Don’t be too sad. With us people watching from the side, we’ll all do our best to protect the little princess’s well-being.”
With Noble Consort Sun seriously ill, Empress Ma and Emperor Hongwu visited her daily. To compete for custody of the little princess, the Eastern and Western Six Palaces were full of undercurrents, ready to act. Many concubines sent gifts to female officials around Empress Ma like Hu Shanwei, hoping they could put in a good word when the time came.
The threshold of Hu Shanwei’s residence was almost trampled flat. She ordered the young palace maid Haitang: “No matter who sends gifts, accept everything, register the gift lists, and refuse no one.”
Haitang didn’t understand why Hu Shanwei did this, but followed orders anyway.
Rumors immediately arose in the palace, saying that Hu Shanwei came from a humble background, was shallow-minded, and was too greedy, daring to accept gifts from anyone without fear of getting burned.
Chen Er’mei and others warned Hu Shanwei to be careful and restrain herself. Hu Shanwei only smiled: “I understand.”
As a result, when people continued sending gifts, Hu Shanwei continued accepting them all without hesitation.
Author’s Note: Hu Shanwei: Someone’s trying to stir up trouble again.