I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 127 What is Fishing Enforcement?

Empress Ma stood still in Kunning Palace. She didn't say anything, so Song Shen, who wanted to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible, had no way to leave.

Waited for a while.

The palace maids who had just left in a hurry returned.

The leader among them said respectfully:

"My Queen, Mrs. Lu has completely believed it. The child is too weak and has deficiencies from pregnancy. I was worried that she would get angry, but she didn't show any sign of losing her temper. Instead, she cried and laughed, looking very happy."

"That child is not dangerous. The Lu family treats him like a treasure."

Queen Ma was actually a little worried.

It’s not that I’m worried about Mrs. Lu going crazy, but I’m mainly afraid that she will find out something is wrong and harm the child.

After all, he was an innocent child. Although she was involved in the palace struggle because of this incident, Queen Ma was not the kind of person who could ignore innocent lives. There is a difference between using tricks and using any means necessary.

When she heard the palace maid say that Mrs. Lu treated the baby boy very well, she finally breathed a sigh of relief:
"That's fine. You go with the Yiluansi people to the Imperial Hospital. They have already arranged which imperial physician to bring. Don't talk nonsense. They know how to explain it to Mrs. Lu."

"besides--"

"Put a few more people in there, watch her, and see what she wants to do."

Wait until these people leave.

Only Song Shen and Queen Ma were left in Kunning Palace.

Seeing that the matter had come to a temporary end, Song Shen could not wait to say:

"Your Majesty, I am a foreigner, and it is not good for me to stay here all the time. This matter cannot be resolved in one or two days. Otherwise, I will come back when there is new progress in the investigation."

If he really wants to say it, it would be better not to call him again even if there is progress on this matter.

He is a fake descendant of Liu Bowen, a charlatan who is not only good at cheating and deceiving, but he also spent a lot of effort to make up the story about the golden python in the East Palace. The plans and arrangements about the Lu family were all Song Shen's own guesses, and it is hard to say whether they are true or not.

How did Crown Princess Chang die, how did Zhu Xiongying and Empress Ma die, and how did Zhu Biao die? The historical records are almost all vague about this and simply pass it over with a simple statement of death from illness.

If it was discovered that it was a murder, given Zhu Yuanzhang's temper, he would probably torture the murderer to death, dismember him, and scatter his bones to ashes. How could there be no record at all?
And Lu was a woman who had lived in the deep palace for a long time. If she had done all these things on her own, how could the Yiluansi not find out?

This means that there is someone behind her, more than one, perhaps a group of people hiding very deeply.

Before the catastrophe in the 13th year of Hongwu, Song Shen didn't want to get involved in these messy things at all, but now it can only be said that it is fate that makes it difficult for him to stay out of it.

Because he was already related to Empress Ma and even helped her with advice.

The only thing to do now is to stabilize Queen Ma first and then think about staying away from the center of the vortex.

the other side.

Behind the screen, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Empress Ma exchanged glances.

Even Zhu Biao, the least cunning person in the family, could see clues from Song Shen's performance.

As I said, people who come from a royal family will have nothing even if they pluck out their eyelashes. Even if he is a rookie in his own family, he still has to compare himself with others. If he is compared with Song Shen, who is a bronze player, then Zhu Biao can still be considered a king.

"Ziwei, don't panic. Didn't I tell you that you can just speak up boldly? As for the rest, I will take care of any problems for you."

Queen Ma's voice was as gentle and kind as before, and she soothed:

"Your Majesty is very confident in me, and there are palace maids guarding outside. You and I are old enough to be mother and son, so what's the difference between a man outside of our family and a man outside of our family? Your Majesty is not that pedantic."

"In my opinion, even though Mrs. Lu is usually quite cunning, now that she knows her child has come back to life, she will definitely be unable to contain her excitement and will act impatiently. She will definitely take action today."

"After all, you are recuperating at home now, and there is nothing to do when you go back. Why don't you stay in Kunning Palace and chat with me, an old lady, and talk about gossip for a while?"

Song Shen was speechless.

You have said all the good and bad things by yourself, what else can I say?
"...Then I will respectfully obey your command."

He bowed his head somewhat helplessly and accepted the order.

Isn’t it just giving up? Who can’t do that?
The thing that Song Shen is best at in his two lifetimes is showing off!
…………

East Palace, Hundred Flowers Hall.

Mrs. Lu held the kitten-like child carefully, her eyes full of joy.

The maid beside her whispered:

"My queen, why don't I hold His Royal Highness in my arms? You just gave birth not long ago, and your back and waist may ache if you hold him for a while. I am used to doing rough work and have plenty of strength. I won't tire you out."

Lu didn't even give him a glance, and said in a light tone:
"Since you know you are destined to do rough labor, then don't get in the way here."

"You think you can touch the little grandson? You are not a wet nurse, nor a concubine, and you have no experience in childbirth. If he gets bumped or even falls due to carelessness, how many lives in your family will be enough to compensate?"

"Get out."

The palace maid was only fifteen or sixteen years old and did not know much about raising children. She turned pale after being scolded, but she did not know what to do for a moment and could only leave the side hall obediently.

But just as she was about to go out, Mrs. Lu stopped her again.

"Go to the storehouse and get some more fine pens, inkstones, and paper. I want to copy more Buddhist scriptures and pray for the little grandson."

After that, there was no more movement in the Hundred Flowers Hall.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Song Shen was so restless in Kunning Palace that it felt like there was an acupressure pad under his butt.

Although Queen Ma noticed his anxiety, she said nothing and just waited quietly with great patience.

Until the sun was setting, it was around five in the afternoon.

Mao Xiang's reporting voice finally appeared outside the door again.

After Empress Ma let him in, Mao Xiang closed the door as soon as he entered the room.

He spoke excitedly but carefully,
"Empress, just as you expected, Mrs. Lu couldn't hold back and contacted the outside world today!"

Inside the hall, Song Shen and Empress Ma sat up straight in unison. Even Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang behind the screen could not help but stick their heads out, desperately signaling him to stop keeping them in suspense.

Queen Ma urged:

"Who did you contact, how did you contact, and what did you say? Tell us clearly."

Mao Xiang was stared at by so many distinguished eyes, one of which was blind, and he couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine. He didn't dare to delay and spoke very quickly:

"After getting the so-called little grandson, Lu was overjoyed, but she kept silent and stayed indoors. During this time, she only asked a maid to go out and get some of the best four treasures of the study from the storehouse. She said she would also go to the Buddhist temple to copy scriptures and pray for the little grandson."

"With my secret permission, the warehouse staff didn't even ask any questions and just gave the items to you."

"After that, Mrs. Lu stayed in the Buddhist hall for the whole afternoon. I thought she could hold her temper and wait a while. Later, a young eunuch went in to serve tea and snacks. His expression was slightly different before and after he went in. When he came out, he obviously looked a little shifty. I realized something was wrong, so I waited for him to leave the side hall and detained him and searched him."

"The search turned up a letter."

"That letter was written by Lu today using a new brush and tribute paper. She even used a different handwriting, which is completely different from the handwriting of the Buddhist scriptures she usually worships. In my humble opinion, she is probably able to write with both hands."

Having said this, Mao Xiang also looked behind the screen.

Seeing Zhu Biao nodded affirmatively and agreed with this statement, he continued:

"I questioned the eunuch who delivered the letter. He was not a member of the Lu family who was placed in the East Palace. He was just favored by her on weekdays. He also received two green hairpins this time. That's why he went out to help deliver the letter before the palace gates were closed and the curfew arrived."

"He said that he only needed to deliver the letter to the palace gate guard, and someone would naturally help deliver it. He didn't know who to give the letter to or where to send it. After reading the letter, the tone of the letter was clearly that of a daughter addressing her father, and the content was a little... a little horrifying."

Who is Mao Xiang and what is his identity?
It should be noted that the Yiluansi was actually the later Jinyiwei. Their duties were similar, but the latter had already gone through the formalities and possessed greater and more secure power. However, what the former did was almost the same as the latter.

They are all knives that monitor officials and enforce the law for the emperor, and they are used to seeing all the dirty things in the world.

Even he finds it horrifying, how can it be a good thing?

Song Shen made a prompt decision:

"Your Majesty, should I take my leave now?"

Queen Ma did not respond at all:

"Just sit still for now. I've told you several times that you should rest assured. As long as I live, you'll live. Don't worry about these nonsense. Do your job well."

Song Shen secretly groaned.

Does he dislike eating melons? No, he is happier than anyone else when it comes to eating melons, even jumping around in the melon field right in front of him like now.

This is a giant wild melon that has never been recorded in historical documents!

But the problem is that Song Shen always feels that there is a poisonous snake lurking in the melon field, and he doesn't know when it will suddenly jump out and bite someone.

People like Empress Ma and Mao Xiang are either heavily protected or have their own sharp swords. Only Song Shen does not have any protection at all and can only rely on other people's bodyguards at most.

How can he feel at ease?

Mao Xiang also saw what Empress Ma and the Emperor and Crown Prince behind the screen meant, and he ignored Song Shen's unhappy expression and continued talking.

"She said a lot of words in the letter to let everyone know that she was safe, and occasionally mixed in some concerns about her family and family property."

"If I had not investigated in advance, even if this letter finally fell into our hands, we would not be able to find any clues."

"There's a sentence in the letter that says—"

"Father, is everything going well at home? I wonder if there are many refugees recently. If there are many, we can release the well-fed ones to work. This way, we can also help other people."

"This sentence may seem insignificant at first glance, but when I think of the kind of people they keep on the Lu family farm, I get terrified!"

The word "creepy" is so powerful that it seems to hit people's hearts.

Everyone was silent.

If things go as expected... just as Song Shen had guessed before, what Mrs. Lu meant was that the girls who had been infected with smallpox at home could already be trained.

If you really want these girls to enter the palace as maids, it is not an easy thing.

It’s not so easy to cheat in the palace selection.

First, 5,000 girls aged 13 to 16 were selected from all over the country. After local officials verified their identities, their parents would send the children to the capital for selection.

This step alone can screen out a lot of people. Although all expenses are borne by the royal family, some girls' families are not rich enough to afford the expenses required to manage relationships, some girls are not in good health and cannot afford to travel long distances, and there are also unexpected situations, such as illness, robbery, etc. There are too many.

In the second round, thousands of girls were gathered in the palace, and those who were too tall, short, fat or thin were directly screened out.

Later on, any hair, facial features, skin, voice, or demeanor that has obvious flaws will be rejected.

The last step is the selection, where the sizes of hands and feet are measured with a ruler, and the postures and steps of the beauties are carefully observed.

After so many rounds of screening, the difficulty is actually not much different from the imperial examination for men.

After so much hardship, the remaining one thousand or so beauties were only qualified to enter the palace as maids, and there was no guarantee that they could stay in the palace. They would need to go through many competitions, and finally the remaining fifty would be qualified to be promoted to concubines.

To put it bluntly, this is a PK system. You have to go through many levels and defeat all your opponents before you can advance.

Even if Lu Ben was the Minister of Rites, it would be almost impossible for the Lu family to extend their hands so far and even directly manipulate the inside story of the selection of palace maids.

Unless someone helps him.

More than one.

Queen Ma's face turned pale and she subconsciously looked back behind the screen.

Then he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang's face had turned ashen.

Even Zhu Biao, who was usually gentle and refined, had an extremely gloomy look at this moment.

Perhaps Song Shen did not know how difficult the specific operation here was, but the three of them would directly participate in the selection, so they naturally knew it better than anyone else - every concubine in the palace, unless their parents were nobles themselves, the rest who could enter the palace through the selection were almost one in a million.

If the Lu family really had such an idea, then the girls they chose as candidates who had contracted smallpox were either young and not likely to leave scars, or they came from families that had fallen on hard times and originally had good manners and maybe even some beauty in them.

If such a person is carefully trained for two or three years and given the opportunity to participate in a talent show, and with the help of someone secretly manipulating the situation, it is indeed possible.

When they entered the palace, Lu, who had already eliminated Chang and become the Crown Princess, said that she liked each one of them and wanted to bring them back to the Eastern Palace to work. No one would refuse her request.

What a great chain of schemes.

"She said, release those who are already well inside, and free up space to help the rest of the people."

Song Shen suddenly spoke, attracting everyone's attention.

His voice was a little cold:
"These new arrivals are pathogens... They have to keep the pathogens alive and look for opportunities to spread them into the palace."

(End of this chapter)