Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 164: Blue, purple and red dress, more beautiful than snowflakes and beautiful dream clothes

The Palace of Heavenly Purity, the most important of the three inner palaces, features a double-eaved, hipped roof clad in yellow glazed tiles and rests on a single-story white marble platform. The corridor is nine bays wide and five bays deep, and the height from the platform to the main ridge is over 20 meters. Nine ridge beasts adorn the eaves. Underneath the eaves, the upper eaves feature single-curved, double-raised, seven-stepped brackets, while the lower eaves feature single-curved, single-raised, five-stepped brackets. These brackets are adorned with golden dragon and imperial seal paintings, and feature three-intersecting, six-bowl, diamond-shaped partition doors and windows.

The main hall and the east and west side halls of the hall are connected. The front eaves of the main hall have been stripped of their golden pillars, and the beam structure has been reduced to expand the interior space. However, due to the height of the palace and the spaciousness of the room, the emperor often divided it into several rooms when he lived there.

Currently, the Qianqing Palace has nine warm rooms on two levels, housing a total of 27 beds. Due to the sheer number of rooms and beds, the emperor's nightly slumber location is rarely known. However, even with the palace's strict security, there's still room for improvement.

In the 21st year of Jiajing's reign, the "Renyin Palace Rebellion" broke out, and Emperor Shenzong was almost strangled to death by palace maids. Even after the incident, the Ministry of Justice and the Embroidered Uniform Guards tied up 16 palace maids including Yang Jinying, as well as Concubine Duan Cao and Concubine Ning Wang, and took them to the city prison to be executed by slow slicing, Emperor Shenzong still moved to the Western Garden and dared not return.

From then on, the Qianqing Palace became a cold palace. It wasn't until December 14, the 45th year of the Jiajing reign, that the Emperor, sensing his limited time, moved back to the Qianqing Palace. On that day, Jiajing passed away, and Prince Yu ascended the throne in front of his coffin. Only then did the Qianqing Palace resume its original function as the emperor's bedroom.

At four o'clock in the morning, Mi Mengshang woke up. She subconsciously moved towards the bed, wanting to get up and go to the yamen in the West Factory, but the bed was too big, and even after she was fully conscious, she couldn't get close to the bed.

Only then did she realize that she was not in Yongshou Palace.

Mi Mengshang lifted the quilt, and the cherry-red mutton-fat jade was immediately exposed to the air.

Unlike the Chuxiu Palace, the Qianqing Palace was staffed by numerous eunuchs and maids. Even on the quietest nights, at least a hundred eunuchs and maids would be busy roaming around the 1,400-square-meter palace, performing miscellaneous tasks. The Silijian, the head of the Imperial Household Department, orchestrated everything, with precise instructions for who would do what at what time. Even the charcoal and ash cleaning was done on a punctual schedule, day and night. Therefore, even naked, Mi Mengshang didn't feel the cold.

There were no clothes on the bed. All clothes, including underwear, were scattered along the long corridor of the giant step-out bed. Mi Mengshang was barefoot, picking up clothes as she went along.

Mi Mengshang remembered this giant step-out bed, which was larger than many palace rooms. She slept here on her first night in the palace. But last time, the emperor, who had indulged in excessive sexual activity, fainted before he could even touch her.

When she walked to the bed, she saw her shoes and socks, and suddenly remembered that the emperor had said last night that he liked her natural feet.

During the Ming Dynasty, ordinary palace maids who had work to do were not required to bind their feet, so both concubines and princesses had bound and unbound feet. Generally speaking, concubines directly selected into the palace had their feet bound, while those promoted from beautiful palace maids to concubines were not. Of course, whether or not to bind feet also had a great deal to do with the emperor's personal preferences.

The poster child for foot binding is naturally Ma Xiuying, the first wife of the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. A more recent example of foot binding can be traced back to Empress Xiaoduanxian Wang Xijie, the mother of the Taichang Emperor Zhu Changluo. Wang Xijie was the only empress appointed during the lifetime of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun, and also the longest-serving empress in Chinese history, reigning as empress for forty-two years before passing away on April 6th of this year.

Mi Mengshang's mind was very active. Not only did she recall the emperor's words through her shoes and socks, but she also recalled an event that had occurred that autumn. On the first day of September in the 48th year of the Wanli reign, Emperor Zhu Changluo, who had recovered slightly from his illness, issued an imperial edict, permanently banning foot binding in the imperial palace.

"Fortunately, the emperor has unique hobbies." For a moment, Mi Mengshang blushed again.

When she opened the wooden door of the bed, she was already fully dressed, still in the same flying fish suit.

"Where is the emperor?" Mi Mengshang asked the palace maid who was temporarily arranged by Wei Chao to serve her.

"To reply to the talented lady's words, the Holy Lord is diligent in his work and gets up before the hour of Mao every day. Today is no exception. The Emperor should be supervising education in the Huangji Palace now." The palace maid's heart skipped a beat when she saw Mi Mengshang in men's clothing: How handsome!

"When does the emperor usually return to the Qianqing Palace?" Mi Mengshang asked.

"The emperor will not return in broad daylight." The palace maid misunderstood. She thought Mi Mengshang was referring to the Qianqing Palace in a narrow sense.

"I meant to go back to the study." Mi Mengshang didn't know why the palace maid looked at her with such a strange look.

"Oh!" the maid replied hurriedly, "Usually before the hour of Si."

"Thank you." Although she learned a lot of strange skills and tricks in the brothels of the Jiaofangsi, Mi Mengshang was still a well-educated and well-mannered lady at heart.

"You are so kind, my lady." The maid quickly declined. "This is what we servants should do."

"Is there any hot water?" Mi Mengshang asked. She wanted to wash her face.

"Yes. Please follow me." The maid made a gesture of invitation and led Mi Mengshang to a compartment with several basins.

"Did the emperor order you to prepare this?" Mi Mengshang had no habit of taking a bath in the morning, and she didn't have the time to do so.

"The Huntangsi has assigned several personnel specifically to supply the Qianqing Palace with bathing water." The maid only received the order, not knowing whether it was from the emperor himself, so she could only give a vague answer. "But you are the first lady to bathe here in the past few months."

Mi Mengshang didn't want to take a bath at first, but after hearing this answer, she had to take a bath. "Does the emperor have to take a bath every morning?" she asked again.

"It is not for me to ask when the emperor bathes," the maid politely replied. "Come. Let me help you change your clothes."

"Okay." Mi Mengshang noticed that a blush of embarrassment appeared on the palace maid's face.

Soon after, several more palace maids came over. They were all there to help Mi Mengshang bathe.

The specifications of the Qianqing Palace are the highest in the entire inner court, so bathing is also done three times and fumigation three times.

The so-called "three baths and three fumigations" means bathing and fumigating repeatedly as a sign of respect. However, in the Qianqing Palace, the "three" in "three baths" is a quantifier, because there are three large bathtubs that can accommodate a person, each performing a different function.

The Book of Rites, Yumozu, states: "Muji and Shanliang." "Muji" refers to washing hair with rice water, and "Sorghum" refers to washing the face with sorghum juice. The first bathtub was used for "Muji and Shanliang," or "washing hair and face."

During the Ming Dynasty, when products were plentiful, rice washing water and sorghum soup were clearly insufficient to satisfy the imperial family's lavish lifestyle. Therefore, the palace maids also brought soap nuts and bath beans to Mi Mengshang.

The so-called soapberry is actually semi-warm soapberry water, which is used together with rice washing water and sorghum soup.

Bath beans are similar to soap. Sun Simiao's "Qianjin Yifang" states: "Fragrant clothes and bath beans are what officials and nobles desire." According to Tang Dynasty custom, on the La Festival (December), the emperor would reward his subjects with skincare products like facial cream and bath beans to prevent frostbite. However, due to Zhu Yuanzhang's frugal nature, this tradition ended during the Ming Dynasty.

Bath beans aren't individual beans, but rather a mixture of ground bean powder and traditional Chinese medicine. There's even a famous joke about this. According to "A New Account of Tales of the World," Wang Dun, a minister of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, married Princess Wuyang, the daughter of Emperor Wu of Jin. After using the princess's restroom for the first time, a maidservant brought him a golden bathtub filled with water and a glass bowl filled with bath beans to wash his hands. Wang Dun, mistaking the bath beans for another type of dry rice provided by the princess, dumped them in the water and ate them, causing the maidservants to burst into laughter. Since then, "bath beans as rice" has become an idiom describing someone who is unworldly. The first bathtub was used to "wash the millet and the beams," while the second was used to "remove the millet and the beams." Simply put, it involved using a large basin of warm, clear water to wash away the dirty, dissolved dirt stuck to one's body.

After washing, she entered the third basin, which was used for incense. Initially, the basin contained only warm water. When Mi Mengshang entered the second basin, the palace maids began adding spices like cloves, agarwood, agarwood, peach blossoms, pear blossoms, and papaya flowers. Once Mi Mengshang officially entered the third basin, they added musk and even ambergris, the most expensive perfumes.

After bathing, it was time to brush your teeth. A palace maid brought a tray with a toothbrush made of animal bones and pig bristles, as well as various toothbrushing tools including refined bamboo salt, warm and strong tea, scented tooth powder, and even several special toothpastes.

Toothpaste is made from a mixture of traditional Chinese medicine and spices. The reason why it is in paste form is because it is mixed with storax oil and cooked honey.

Mi Mengshang first scrubs her teeth with salt dipped in her fingers, then uses a toothbrush with toothpaste for a deep clean, and finally rinses her mouth with strong tea. She doesn't use tooth powder because it's meant to be held in the mouth and rinsed with water, and its function is completely overlapping with strong tea. Once you use one, there's no need to use the other.

After all this was done, more than half an hour passed. The palace maids brought Mi Mengshang a beautiful dress. She thought it was specially prepared for her by the emperor, so she put it on happily.

But in fact, the emperor did not say anything. The person who ordered the preparation of bath water and women's clothes for her was Wang An, the chief eunuch of the imperial palace who came to the Qianqing Palace early in the morning.

It was no exaggeration to say that Wang An was the chief steward of a hundred thousand men, for the imperial city actually housed over a hundred thousand guards, eunuchs, and palace maids serving the imperial family. Aside from the two battalions of imperial guards from the Imperial Stables, all the others were under the command of the Imperial Household Department.

The so-called Southern Study Room was actually the study room south of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace. It was located between the Qianqing Gate and the Yuehua Gate, in the southwest corner of the Qianqing Palace courtyard. Mi Mengshang, having just changed her clothes and emerged from the main hall, happened to see three figures, one in black and two in red, passing through the Qianqing Gate, accompanied by a group of eunuchs.

Mi Mengshang ran as fast as she could and soon arrived before the Emperor. "Your Majesty, I, Mi Mengshang, greet you."

"A blue dress, purple skirt, and pale red outfit, a face more beautiful than snowflakes and a beautiful dream dress." Zhu Changluo's eyes lit up and he recited a line to the snowy scene. "You just got up?" Zhu Changluo asked.

The emperor's casual recitation of poetry made Mi Mengshang believe that the dress was specially chosen by the emperor. She leaned forward and said in a sweet voice, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the gift of a bath in Huaqing."

She wasn't saying she had just showered and was leaving the Palace of Heavenly Purity. She was using a reference to Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Regret" to answer the question, "You just got up?"

As the saying goes: "In the cold spring, I was granted a bath in the Huaqing Pool. The warm spring water washed my skin smooth and smooth. The maid helped me up weakly, and it was the beginning of my new blessing." In her opinion, the blessing and the bath were both given by the emperor.

To put it bluntly, Mi Mengshang heard the emperor directly praise her beauty, so she obscurely and tactfully said that the emperor was amazing. There was a strong sense of flirting.

But the "bath" was arranged by the old eunuch, and Zhu Changluo didn't think about it that way. He just didn't wake Mi Mengshang and left the Qianqing Palace alone to supervise the school in the Huangji Hall. He didn't understand at all.

Zhu Changluo thought Mi Mengshang came up to him to pet her head. He had raised cats before, and cats behaved like this when they were clingy.

"Don't stand outside. Come sit in the study." Zhu Changluo patted Mi Mengshang's head with understanding. "Have you had breakfast?"

"Not yet." Mi Mengshang also cooperated and imitated the cat, looking at the emperor with a pleading look.

"Wei Zhongxian, go to the Ministry of Food and urge them to prepare breakfast," Wang An said.

"I'll go right away." Wei Zhongxian looked at Wang An deeply.

Before entering the Qianqing Gate, Wei Zhongxian tilted his head slightly and glanced at Mi Mengshang imperceptibly. Finally, he sighed softly. "Forget it."

"Your servant kowtows to the emperor, may he live forever. I also kowtow to Lady Mi!" After the door of the southern study was opened, Wei Chao came forward to greet them.

"Get up." Zhu Changluo led Mi Mengshang to the imperial desk. He was about to give an order when he found a wooden stool next to the empty imperial throne. "You are really sensible," Zhu Changluo praised.

"It's my duty." Wei Chao bowed again before standing up.

"Why is Lord Wei here? Did something happen at the West Factory?" Although she was wearing women's clothes, Mi Mengshang was still thinking about her Feiyu suit.

"Wei Zhongxian just arrived and hasn't said anything yet." Wang An interrupted abnormally.

"Thank you for your hard work yesterday, Mr. Wang." Mi Mengshang thanked him.

"It's not hard." Wang An was still as kind as ever.

"How's the situation in the outer court?" Zhu Changluo glanced at Wang An, then changed the subject and asked Wei Chaodao.

"The cabinet's draft has been submitted." Wei Chao put his five fingers together, indicating that the memorial with the draft attached was on the imperial desk.

Following Wei Chao's instructions, Mi Mengshang saw the memorial on the table. She wanted to take it for the emperor. But as soon as she stretched out her hand, it was grabbed by a large hand. "Shen didn't disappoint me, did he?"

"Your Majesty is wise and insightful. The draft resolution is very clear. The cabinet has arrested Zhao Nanxing and his accomplices." Wei Chao paused. "However, the cabinet also believes that Sun Ruyou should be handed over to the court for retrial. I think this is not a good idea."

"Are you afraid that Sun Ruyou will change his confession?" Zhu Changluo squeezed Mi Mengshang's delicate right hand. His force was so light, almost a caress, that it startled Mi Mengshang.

Mi Mengshang looked at the emperor cautiously and found that the emperor was also looking at her. "Be good." Zhu Changluo just smiled and said softly.

"Transferring the case for another trial means that Sun Ruyou will be transferred to the Ministry of Justice's prison and out of the control of the Embroidered Uniform Guard." Wei Chao answered tactfully.

"You underestimate the Jinyiwei." Wang An took out a jade pendant and placed it on the imperial desk. "If Sun Ruyou really dares to overturn the verdict, then Luo Sigong really dares to kill people."

(End of this chapter)