Chapter 64: Striving for the Top
After Zhu Zhanzhen left, Zhu Yuhuan said to Huai'en beside him, "Is the palace attendant in charge of cleaning here here? Have the leader take me to check if there's anything missing. I don't want to wait until the blueprints are finished and there's no wood available."
Huai En said respectfully: "The person has arrived."
Zhu Yuhuan's energy was limited. He practiced both civil and military skills, and was not always free to manage these affairs. Naturally, someone was needed to take care of the courtyard. Logically, Zhu Yuhuan should have found a more experienced palace maid to take charge. However, Zhu Yuhuan was not a person who followed the rules. In addition, Huai En handled affairs in an orderly manner. He was familiar with her drawings and plans by being with Zhu Yuhuan, so it was natural that he would be the most suitable person to take charge.
In this way, she could assign more lucrative jobs in her courtyard to other people, and naturally no one would object to Huai En, who had little experience.
When Zhu Yuhuan reached the edge of the conservatory, a group of female officials and a group of eunuchs were already waiting at the door. Upon seeing Zhu Yuhuan coming, they all saluted her and said, "Your Highness, I greet you."
The last time he saw so many ladies-in-waiting gathered together like this was when Hu Shanwei was serving as Shang Gong. Zhu Yuhuan felt a sense of change for a moment and said to them, "Everyone, get up. It's hard for you to prepare so carefully."
The leading female official said, "Your Majesty has commanded us to do our utmost."
She was dressed in the attire of a female official. Although her rank was not as high as Hu Shanwei's, she was still the highest among the female officials, so it was natural for her to respond. In contrast, the eunuchs beside her were insignificant and did not dare to speak to Zhu Yuhuan without permission.
Although Zhu Di valued the eunuchs, the main power of the entire inner court was still in the hands of the female officials. The eunuchs here were different from the eunuchs in the four departments, eight bureaus and twelve prisons who were given lucrative positions. Most of them were only responsible for hard labor and had no official rank. They were completely different from the glorious female officials. Even if they were dissatisfied with the female officials, they dared not speak out.
The eunuchs could not stand the female officials being in power, and the female officials also looked down on the eunuchs. Most of them were female officials selected from all over the country. Most of them were well-read, and after entering the palace, they were even more obsessed with reading. Their knowledge was far superior to that of the eunuchs. If Zhu Di had not valued the eunuchs, and if there were not capable people like Zheng He and Liu Yongcheng among the eunuchs, they would probably have embarrassed the eunuchs in front of Zhu Yuhuan.
This disdain even included Huai En who was standing behind Zhu Yuhuan. The female officials also had complaints about his handling of Zhu Yuhuan's affairs. As for the way he looked at Zhu Yuhuan, it was as if he saw one of his own. His gaze was fiery and burning, a bit like the favorite thing in domineering CEO novels: "carve her figure in his heart."
Zhu Yuhuan pretended not to see their looks and said, "Let's go in."
"yes."
Previously, Hu Shanwei had only temporarily built a small room as a greenhouse, mainly to help Zhu Yuhuan raise crickets and peonies for birthday celebrations. After Zhu Yuhuan asked his royal grandfather for this greenhouse, it was naturally expanded a lot more than before, so that there would be no place to stand just because a group of people came in.
The greenhouse was cleaned tidy, with all kinds of tools available. The shelves were also filled with various useful items. The most eye-catching thing was the wheat seedlings that had begun to sprout.
Zhu Yuhuan was quite surprised and asked, "You guys have already prepared this in advance?"
The female official smiled and explained, "Miao Su specifically reminded us to prepare in advance after learning about this. The princess was ordered by the emperor to develop agricultural tools. Without wheat seedlings and farmland, even if new agricultural tools were developed, they would be useless. So, we followed the instructions given by Concubine Hu and started raising seedlings in the greenhouse in advance. We also had the eunuchs clear a plot of land in the backyard for later sowing."
Hearing Wu Miaosu's name, Zhu Yuhuan raised his eyebrows slightly and smiled in surprise, "You guys don't take credit for it."
Wu Miaosu was trying to curry favor, but Zhu Yuhuan was surprised that the court lady in front of him was also open about her achievements. After all, resources within the palace were limited, and competition was inevitable. Moreover, even if someone claimed the credit for something like this, the higher-ups would likely not care, and would only focus on who had made it.
The female official humbly said, "As a fellow female official, how can I take all the credit?"
Seeing this, the leading eunuch in the nearby eunuch team also spoke up, "Before entering the palace, we were all farmers. We have seen this land before. It is excellent fertile soil. Not to mention that we have turned the soil many times, so the princess can cultivate it without any effort."
The female official snorted lightly upon hearing this and said, "The purpose of clearing the land is to make it easier for the princess to use the farm tools. Now that you have done all the work, how can the princess use them?"
The eunuch had intended to curry favor with Zhu Yuhuan, the favored princess, but unexpectedly, he ended up making matters worse. He froze in his tracks for a moment and said, "It's because we servants didn't expect..."
Zhu Yuhuan didn't take it seriously and just asked, "Have all the wood been delivered? Where is it?"
The eunuchs were responsible for these rough work, and upon hearing this, they immediately replied, "They are all in the backyard, covered with oilcloth to prevent the spring rain from causing moisture and corroding the wood."
Zhu Yuhuan said to Huai En: "Huai En, go check it out."
"yes."
After Huai En led the eunuchs away, Zhu Yuhuan looked around and then said to the female official in charge: "Please explain the facilities in this greenhouse to me. Everyone else, please leave. It's very hot with so many people crowded in this room."
Apart from anything else, there was a fire in the greenhouse, and a group of people were exhaling carbon dioxide crazily in the poorly ventilated room. Zhu Yuhuan was indeed a little worried about his own breathing difficulties.
Seeing that everyone else had left and only she and Zhu Yuhuan were left in the conservatory, the female official respectfully said, "Before leaving the palace, the palace lady instructed us to obey the princess' orders."
Zhu Yuhuan raised his eyebrows slightly, looked outside, and said, "This... they haven't left far yet, right?"
She felt that the gaze of the female official in front of her was too intense, and guessed that she had something to say to her, so she sent the others away. However, she did not expect that the other party was so straightforward and actually waited for the others to leave before speaking directly.
The female official said calmly: "Don't worry, Princess, those outside are all our people."
Zhu Yuhuan was genuinely surprised. She recalled the number of female officials and asked in surprise, "Were they all trained by my aunt?"
So many people were taught by Hu Shanwei...his students are all over the world!
"There are also female officials under our guidance. However, we have received favors from the Imperial Concubine, and we understand the principle of repaying a drop of kindness with a spring. Over the years, we have been teaching the new female officials in the palace, so we can be considered confidants." The female official said solemnly: "Among the six imperial concubines, at least 70% of the female officials follow the Imperial Concubine's orders. The Imperial Concubine gave us special instructions before leaving. Therefore, we are willing to obey the orders of the princess. If the princess wishes to help the queen regain the power to manage the six palaces, we will do our best."
Zhu Yuhuan quickly waved his hands and said, "That's not necessary. Wouldn't you be exposed if you made a move? Why don't you tell me what I'm thinking? Your lives are the most important..."
Zhu Zhanji alone is troublesome enough. If Empress Zhang also starts to dislike the Hu family because of this, it will be a disaster. Besides the Hu family, who knows how many people will be implicated.
After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "You just said that your aunt did you a favor. What was that favor?"
Hearing her question, the female official couldn't help but sob softly, but her voice was firm: "My Lady, when Emperor Taizong responded to the Tiananmen Rebellion, the palace was in chaos. If it weren't for Concubine Hu's calming command and taking me and others, who were ordinary palace servants at the time, into her own hands, I would have lost my life long ago, and I wouldn't have received Concubine Hu's guidance and achieved my current position as an official... I have no way to repay this life-saving grace, but I only wish to do my best to repay you in some small way."
For Zhu Zhanji, Hu Shanwei, who was originally loyal to Emperor Jianwen, leaked information and defected to Zhu Di, so he was a disloyal villain. But for the female officials and palace maids who were protected by Hu Shanwei, if it were not for Hu Shanwei's protection, they would have lost their lives during the chaos in the palace. He was a benefactor.
The female official continued, "Besides, the Crown Prince dislikes female officials now, and the power in our hands is precarious. Although the princess is a woman, she is highly valued by His Majesty and the Empress, so naturally we will follow her."
Zhu Yuhuan sighed inwardly upon hearing this.
After Zhu Zhanji came to power, he relied heavily on eunuchs to check and balance the power of civil officials. As the inner court of a small court, the situation naturally changed. The power that originally belonged to the female officials gradually shifted to the hands of the eunuchs. After Empress Zhang, the power of women gradually shrank and became complete vassals. Except for special circumstances, there were almost no women in charge of the "empress's power" who could interfere in government affairs in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
It is no wonder that these female officials all sneered at the eunuchs. Perhaps they vaguely sensed a change in the wind direction and wanted to fight with these eunuchs.
If Hu Shanxiang had not been interested in fighting, these female officials would not have come to Zhu Yuhuan.
"I understand... I'll believe what you say for now." Zhu Yuhuan thought for a moment and then asked, "I want to ask, how much do you know about Wu Miaosu?"
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