Chapter 23: The Woman's Discourse Cuts Out Yao Feifei's Tongue

The weather was gloomy, and the gray brick walls seemed lower than usual. Below the walls, a scene of flashing swords and clashing blades unfolded.

Low air pressure makes people's chest rise and fall more.

Although Yan Baizhang was lame, Chen Yuanqing had not recovered his former strength since his serious injury and was somewhat weak. After a fierce battle, countless flowers and leaves were knocked down, and Yan Baizhang did not lose much of the battle.

The servants brought hot water, and the two of them used wet towels to wipe the sweat from their foreheads and necks.

Yan Baizhang said, "Your Excellency looks very worried. Has the Emperor brought up Liangyu's marriage again?"

Chen Yuanqing sighed deeply, his face clouded over even more, and slowly said, "The Chen family has fallen to this state. All the glory and honor has come to an end with these three siblings. There's no one left in the clan. Just think of the Imperial Concubine..."

Yan Baizhang immediately corrected him: "My lord, it is Empress Huixian."

Chen Yuanqing, hands on his hips, sighed, "I'm getting senile. Empress Huixian and His Majesty shared the purest and truest affection of their youth, yet she ended up in such a state. Liangyu and the Crown Prince don't get along, and the death of the former Crown Princess has somehow affected the Marquis's household. If the Crown Prince holds a grudge because of this, how can she have a good life after marrying into the Eastern Palace? When I kick the bucket one day, won't she be left to be mistreated by others?"

Yan Baizhang said, “The only daughter of a noble family, with no one else in the clan, will reduce the worry of interference from maternal relatives in politics. Liangyu is of pure character and possesses genuine skills. Having experienced the ravages of war and witnessed the suffering of the common people, she is the most suitable candidate for Crown Princess. Furthermore, by controlling Liangyu, the northern border will obediently submit to the Eastern Palace. With the Eastern Palace's position secure and the foundation of the nation unshaken, the country will be stable.” His words were full of advantages, “However, Liangyu… appears glamorous on the surface, but all her abilities are suppressed. We have painstakingly nurtured Liangyu to become a clay statue worshipped in a temple.”

Chen Yuanqing closed his eyes and rubbed his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"Between Prince Shen and the Crown Prince, which one does Your Excellency favor more?" Yan Baizhang asked.

The phrase "属望" (shǔ wàng) clearly doesn't refer to the selection of a son-in-law, but rather to a question concerning the court, implying: Who do you think is more likely to succeed to the throne?

“At present, Prince Shen seems to be gaining momentum, but his foundation is not yet stable. Since the Crown Prince took over the administration, he has made no mistakes and his achievements are great. Regardless of whether the Crown Prince’s foundation is deep or not, if we only consider the individual, if we say who is more capable of being the future ruler, then it is still the Crown Prince.”

From any perspective, the Crown Prince would be an excellent emperor. Chen Yuanqing and Yan Baizhang knew this, the court officials knew this, and Chen Liangyu knew this as well.

Xie Yu would be a good emperor.

However, the criteria for evaluating a good emperor contradicted what she desired to achieve: to restore order from chaos, to control and balance the court officials. She had witnessed the Crown Prince's skill and courage, and she also understood that the Crown Prince's succession to the throne would be based on balance as the foundation of governance, and he would be most wary of any "variables" that disrupted the balance. What she was doing, whether it was popularizing women's education or reforming the military and government, was something Xie Yu could not possibly support.

Yan Baizhang continued, "Right now, Prince Shen and the Crown Prince are vying for power. Although the selection of concubines and marriages are prohibited during the mourning period for Empress Huixian, Liangyu's marriage can be temporarily postponed. However, Liangyu will inevitably be caught in the middle. We need to find a reason to send her away for a year or two to avoid the situation."

When an emperor or empress dies, it is a national mourning period. During this period, families with titles, ranks, or official ranks are prohibited from taking exams and from marrying for three years. Empress Huixian was posthumously honored as empress after the death of a concubine. Emperor Xuanyuan insisted that Empress Huixian's funeral be treated with the same respect as that of an empress, without the slightest deviation. Considering various rituals and ancient customs, officials of the Ministry of Rites repeatedly petitioned the emperor, finally persuading him to agree to halve the mourning period for Empress Huixian from three years to eighteen months.

It wasn't difficult for Yan Baizhang to find a "pretext"; he didn't even have to think of one, it just came to him on its own.

Chen Liangyu rushed over, her breath rumbling. "Father, you have to go to the palace. Today, I need you to put on a good face for His Majesty."

Seeing Yan Baizhang standing to the side, he performed the teacher-student greeting, "Uncle Yan."

Yan Baizhang nodded. "What's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"

"With the relocation of wealthy merchants, bandits in the Xiling area have robbed a lot of property and taken hostages. The imperial court is currently looking for a general to suppress the bandits and is preparing to completely wipe out the bandits in that area."

Those who can amass enormous wealth are either local tyrants, have powerful backers in the imperial court, or are even related to the emperor.

The banditry in the Western Ridge had always been a major headache for the imperial court. The mountain range stretched for hundreds of miles, and the bandits would rob and plunder, then disappear without a trace once they reached a mountain peak. The imperial court had sent troops to suppress them many times, destroying numerous strongholds, but the bandits seemed impossible to eradicate completely, always springing up again after a spring breeze.

This incident, where the relatives of many court officials suffered, finally drew attention to the matter.

"I'll go and wipe out those bandit dens in the mountains. I can't just keep holding a nominal position, spending my days either training the garrison troops or staying at home, unable to fulfill my ambitions and having no place to use my talents..."

The show was interrupted before it was finished selling out.

"Alright, alright, I'll go to the palace later to ask for a job for you." After a short while, Chen Yuanqing changed into a more formal robe and went into the palace with Chen Liangyu.

When Chen Liangyu came out of Chongzheng Hall, she held a handwritten edict, ordering her to send 5,000 troops to suppress the bandits.

"Commander Chen."

Chen Liangyu turned around in response; it was Eunuch Wei.

"The princess requests your presence."

"Has something happened to the princess?" she asked.

Today is not a festival, and during the national mourning period, it is not allowed to hold palace banquets to invite noblewomen to the palace for celebration. Although she does not have much real power, she is still a person who commands troops. If there is no reasonable reason, it would be taboo for her to go to see the palace women.

"Please come with me." Eunuch Wei bowed slightly and extended his arm, leading the way towards the inner palace.

Chen Liangyu had no choice but to go along.

Apart from the three main halls and the palaces where the concubines lived, there were several abandoned palaces in remote and inconspicuous places in the palace. They were not concentrated, but scattered here and there in various inconspicuous corners of the palace city.

These abandoned palaces don't have proper inscriptions, and as long as they don't collapse, no one thinks to maintain or repair them. When these places are mentioned, palace staff usually refer to them by their location; for example, if it's in the south, it's called "South Palace," and if it's in the east, it's called "East Garden," and so on.

Sometimes these seemingly useless places can come in handy, such as accommodating concubines who have been rejected by the emperor, or palace servants who have served the emperor but have no official status and who are unwilling to leave the palace after the emperor's death.

Abandoned palaces inhabited by people have a general term: cold palace.

Xie Wenjun stood at the corner between two palace walls, facing a dilapidated wooden door.

Yuan Rong and Dai Qing still served her on either side.

The wooden door is mottled and has been damaged in several places, with holes and gaps through which you can see inside.

Inside, someone was also looking out the door, meeting her cold gaze.

That was the former Consort De.

She should now be called Yao the Deposed Consort.

She had lost her former radiance; her black hair was now streaked with gray and was loose and unbound, with pitted scars on her forehead.

"Bastard child!"

With sunken eye sockets bulging out and dark circles under her eyes, she stared at Xie Wenjun with a ghostly gaze, cursing her with the most vicious words as always.

"Don't make a sound, I'm thinking about something," Xie Wenjun said. "I'm thinking about whether or not to kill you."

Yuan Rong stood beside Xie Wenjun, holding a tray with a bundle of hemp rope in the center.

When a concubine was ordered to commit suicide, she was usually given three feet of white silk. This white silk, made of silk fabric, symbolized a dignified death, even if it was a death sentence. However, when executing a deposed concubine, there was no need to use such precious material to preserve her dignity, so Xie Wenjun only brought a bundle of hemp rope.

For a moment, Yao Feifei was startled.

Even though she is now living a life of utter disgrace in the dilapidated and despicable cold palace, it is not so easy for her to face death with equanimity.

Besides, she knew perfectly well that no one cared whether she lived or died; she was now just a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

She suddenly rushed up and grabbed the wooden door, shaking it desperately, her face pressed against a hole until it was distorted.

Dai Qing shielded Xie Wenjun behind her, and the guards from the Cold Palace surrounded them, guarding the door, fearing that the deposed Consort Yao might break through the door and injure Xie Wenjun at any moment.

The dilapidated door was slammed shut with a loud bang. "I should have been the Empress! His Majesty had decided to make me Empress, but then you came! She's pregnant, so His Majesty changed his mind!" Consort Yao seemed to have gone mad, her eyes bloodshot. "You bastard! If it weren't for you, I would have been the Empress!"

"Why? Your Majesty, after so many years of marriage, why are you treating me like this because of a madwoman?" she cried out hoarsely towards the Chongzheng Hall.

Xie Wenjun clenched her fists.

Madwoman! Bastard! She'd had enough of that over the years.

"You're lucky to have a capable older brother." Under the astonished gaze of the deposed concubine Yao, Xie Wenjun slowly uttered his verdict, "I will not kill you today."

Yao Feifei was stunned for a moment, then pulled her withered hand out from the doorway, as if she wanted to drag Xie Wenjun over and tear him to pieces to vent her anger. "You heartless little beast! What are you going to do to my brother?"

Xie Wenjun no longer wanted to listen to her tirade or hear any sound coming from her mouth. She had had enough and hated this mouth that was full of curses and insults.

"Summon the imperial physician. Cut out her tongue."

These are two imperial edicts.

Summon the imperial physician to prevent the patient from dying from excessive blood loss after the tongue was cut off; stop the bleeding immediately.

When Chen Liangyu arrived after following Eunuch Wei around half of the palace, she saw a gray-haired woman in palace attire being held down on the ground by guards, with a pool of blood in front of her. The imperial physician was methodically taking pills and powders from his medicine box and applying them to the woman.

Although he hadn't seen the woman's face, Chen Liangyu had already guessed her identity.

Xie Wenjun gave some instructions to the guards in the Cold Palace, then walked towards her. As he approached, he pulled out half a book from his sleeve.

Yes, half a book.

The book was only half complete, but even that half wasn't entirely intact; some pages were missing corners.

Chen Liangyu examined the cover closely before noticing the words, "A Treatise on Women? Is there really such a book?"

She had heard of a book that differed from the "Rules for Women" and "Instructions for Women," which required women to be virtuous, obedient, and subservient to their husbands. This book was bold in its writing, advocating that women should not be content to stay at home, but encouraged them to study, acquire property, and pursue official positions.

She searched for a long time but found no trace of it, and still thought the book was just a rumor.

"This book was banned when it was first printed. Back then, investigations were strict; anyone found possessing this book, or a similar copy, would be immediately beheaded. That's why none of these copies survived. However, the person who wrote this book must have possessed the original manuscript." Xie Wenjun glanced back at the corner of the palace wall. "Ironically, do you know who wrote this book?"

Who wrote it?

"The newly appointed Director of Studies at the Imperial Academy is Yao Jifeng."

The elder brother of the deposed concubine Yao.

"Wasn't Yao Jifeng already executed?" During the Cangnan massacre, the entire Yao family was executed. "So, apart from this half-volume, there's no more manuscript left."

“Yao Jifeng is already dead.” Xie Wenjun smiled mysteriously. “When the Cangnan people’s suffering case was being investigated, Grand Tutor Gu Changxue came from Cangnan to the palace to meet the Emperor.”

Grand Tutor Gu was Emperor Xuanyuan's teacher and one of the people who helped him ascend the throne. After Emperor Xuanyuan's reign was secure, he retired and returned to his hometown of Cangnan, where he taught at his ancestral Han Hong Academy. Emperor Xuanyuan, grateful for his teacher's guidance and support, bestowed upon him a blank imperial edict bearing his seal.

"Grand Tutor Gu used that blank imperial edict to replace Yao Jifeng. But the imperial edict for execution had already been issued, how could it be changed overnight? So a death row inmate was used to replace him. Now Yao Jifeng has changed his name to Qi Xiu, married Grand Tutor Gu's granddaughter, and is teaching at Cangnan Hanhong Academy."

Overjoyed, Chen Liangyu exclaimed from the bottom of her heart, "The author of this book is actually a man."

"Fortunately, he was a man; only a man can write books. If a woman had written these words, not only would she not have a manuscript, but she would probably have been beaten to death long ago."

Xie Wenjun walked with his hands behind his back, appearing as a learned and knowledgeable minister who could discuss the affairs of the world over wine.

However, she is indeed quite knowledgeable.

“If you’re going to do something impossible, you should plan ahead. Go and suppress the bandits first. When you return, someone will be there to help you break this deadlock.” She took the half-finished book with missing pages and corners from Chen Liangyu’s hand, put it back in her sleeve pocket, thought for a moment, and then cautioned, “The bandits are fierce; be careful.”

Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!

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