Chapter 1: The Great Ming Palace Female Civil Servant Entrance Examination
The thirteenth year of Hongwu reign of the Great Ming Dynasty, spring.
The capital city of Nanjing, in the northern district of Yingling Ward, on Chengxian Street, at the Hu Family Bookshop.
“Shanwei! Hu Shanwei! You wretched girl, get up quickly! Take the chamber pot out and empty it!”
Before dawn had even broken, Hu Shanwei was startled awake by her stepmother Chen Shi’s shrill voice.
Chen Shi was six months pregnant, her belly bulging as if she had stuffed a large pumpkin inside. She was about to give birth and slept poorly. Just when she finally managed to fall asleep, an uncontrollable urge to urinate would force her to get up and squat over the chamber pot—at least five times each night.
Originally, emptying chamber pots was work for the household’s little maid, but Chen Shi deliberately tormented her stepdaughter Hu Shanwei. Relying on the male heir in her womb who would carry on the Hu family bloodline, she used filial piety as an excuse to order Hu Shanwei around like a servant.
Hu Shanwei got out of bed and lit a lantern.
The lantern illuminated the young woman’s features—a pair of long eyebrows that swept gracefully toward her temples, full of spirit and elegance.
Carrying the lantern, Hu Shanwei walked from the west wing to the main house. Though it was spring, the cold lingered like a stubborn tenant refusing to leave. A thin layer of frost covered the ground, crunching under her feet.
Pushing open the bedroom door, she was immediately hit by the stench of urine and couldn’t help but furrow her long eyebrows.
Chen Shi was becoming increasingly slovenly, too lazy even to cover the chamber pot, leaving it for her to clean up.
Chen Shi lay in bed clutching her belly and groaning, “What took you so long? Just lying there like a corpse.”
Hu Shanwei pushed open the window to let in fresh air.
Chen Shi scolded, “What is this wretched girl trying to do? It’s still the cold snap of late spring—are you trying to freeze me to death?”
Hu Shanwei closed the window.
Chen Shi scolded again, “The room reeks—when will this smell ever go away? You’re truly as stupid as a pig! No wonder you’re nineteen and still can’t get married!”
Hu Shanwei turned around and gave Chen Shi a cold stare.
Feeling somewhat guilty, Chen Shi said, “Just open the window a crack.”
Hu Shanwei put the wooden cover back on, picked up the chamber pot and left. As she passed by Chen Shi’s dressing table, she used her sleeve as cover to steal a ring of keys.
Hu Shanwei emptied the filthy contents of the chamber pot and drew water from the courtyard well to scrub it clean. The icy well water splashed onto her fingers, which were covered with chilblains that looked like strawberries.
After washing the chamber pot clean, it was still dark. Seeing no one around, Hu Shanwei crept in the darkness to the bookshop’s accounting room.
She used the stolen keys to open the money box. Inside were gleaming silver fragments and dark copper coins, but she didn’t take any. Instead, she moved aside the secret compartment beneath the money box and took out the family’s household registration document.
The household registration document was like a household registry—the Great Ming Dynasty’s only identity document and tax certificate. It was issued with the adult male of the family as head of household. Each family had only one registration document, which was replaced every ten years to update the family’s population and property.
Hu Shanwei hid the two-foot-long registration document inside her undergarments, then went to the well platform. She returned the clean chamber pot to the main house and took the opportunity to return the stolen keys.
Fortunately, the exhausted Chen Shi was taking a second sleep and didn’t notice.
After washing and grooming herself, Hu Shanwei placed a set of writing materials from her room into a bamboo basket, then covered them with a layer of incense, candles, and paper money. As dawn began to break, she carried the bamboo basket, blew out the lantern, and went to her father’s study, gently knocking on the door:
“Father, it’s me, Shanwei.”
After a moment, her father Hu Rong opened the door, still putting on his clothes. Ever since his young wife Chen Shi’s belly had grown large and she got up five times a night, constantly complaining that this hurt or that was uncomfortable, he couldn’t bear the disturbance and simply slept separately from his wife in his study.
Without her husband to restrain her, Chen Shi vented all her frustration on Hu Shanwei. Calling Hu Shanwei up in the middle of the night to serve tea, fetch water, or empty chamber pots was a common occurrence.
Hu Rong asked, “What’s the matter?”
Hu Shanwei said, “I dreamed of Mother last night. She said she missed me. I want to go burn incense at her grave today and offer some paper money.”
This “Mother” naturally referred to Hu Shanwei’s birth mother, Hu Rong’s first wife.
Hu Rong said, “Alright, go early and return early. Wait a moment—”
Hu Rong returned to his study and took out five taels of silver and a string of coins for his daughter. “Keep this safe and spend it on yourself. Make yourself a new set of clothes, buy some jewelry, eat whatever you want—just don’t let Chen Shi know.”
Hu Shanwei was stunned and didn’t take it.
Hu Rong simply placed the silver and coins in her bamboo basket. “I know you’ve been wronged recently, but Chen Shi is pregnant, and I’m afraid you might upset her and harm the baby. The doctor says it’s eighty percent likely to be a boy. Once you have a little brother, you’ll have someone to rely on in the future. After Chen Shi safely delivers your brother, if she dares bully you again, I definitely won’t spare her!”
Hu Shanwei smiled slightly without speaking, nodded, and took her leave.
Hu Rong closed the study door and burrowed back into his warm bedding to continue sleeping. It was still early and very cold outside.
Hu Rong didn’t know that the moment the door closed, his daughter Hu Shanwei’s smile vanished, her gaze cold as frost.
Hu Shanwei carried the bamboo basket out of the Hu Family Bookshop, threw the incense, candles, and paper money into a garbage pile, and took only the writing materials in the basket to the mule and horse station at the street corner.
She hired a horse cart and gave the driver half a string of coins. “To the West Flower Gate of the Imperial City. Stop at an apothecary along the way—I need to buy medicine.”
The driver cracked his whip and drove the cart. Halfway there, he stopped at an apothecary. Hu Shanwei went in and spent two taels of silver on a bottle of the most expensive chilblain ointment.
Back in the cart, Hu Shanwei applied the ointment to her fingers and the backs of her hands, which were covered with strawberry-like chilblains. The expensive medicine was indeed effective—cooling to the bone, it relieved the burning pain of her frostbitten hands.
Seeing this young lady spend money so generously, the driver made conversation: “Miss, going to West Flower Gate—are you entering the palace?”
Hu Shanwei nodded. “Yes, going to the Ministry of Rites in the Inner Palace.”
The driver was puzzled. “What kind of place is the Ministry of Rites?”
Hu Shanwei said, “It’s commonly called the Wet Nurse Bureau.”
The driver slapped his forehead. “Oh! I know the Wet Nurse Bureau! I heard they’re selecting female officials there today! Miss, are you going to take the examination?”
Hu Shanwei smiled, her long eyebrows immediately sweeping gracefully toward her temples. “Yes, I’m going to become a female official.”