The Golden Branch of a Sinful Woman: The Jade-Faced Yama is Actually Me (Part 9)...

Li Wenyuan: ...

As a woman who ascended the throne in a feudal society, she could not have done it without a clever mind.

So she immediately realized that her daughter offering her these two miracle pills did not mean compromise, but rather further resistance.

Li Wenyuan never expected that the daughter she gave birth to and raised herself would actually become estranged from her because of a man.

Why is it that the man she only spent a few years with is more important than her own mother, the Empress, who gave birth to and raised her?

Nothing torments a mother more than her child.

This is also why the prince consort died in front of his daughter after realizing he could not escape death.

He wanted to use the last vestiges of his life to drive a wedge between the mother and daughter, as revenge against her.

Even if he dies, he will remain a thorn in the side of mother and daughter!

Li Wenyuan originally didn't take him seriously.

Ha, a man who has nothing but good looks and is even clumsy at being gentle, will be forgotten by his daughter as soon as she meets someone better.

Only a foolish man would believe that love can win a woman's heart.

But she never expected that such an incompetent man would actually succeed.

This incident created an unprecedented rift between her and her daughter.

Li Wenyuan was extremely angry. She even wished she could dig that treacherous man out of his grave and whip his corpse to see if his gossipy tongue was still there!

But she also knew that useless anger would only push her daughter further away.

He calmly accepted the teacup offered by Lady Qi and casually asked, "Why do you want a fiefdom?"

Ji Siyin was of course unaware that her mother, the Empress, already wanted to whip her ex-husband's corpse.

After all, her desire for fiefdoms was entirely instigated by Ye Xiqing. Her ex-husband has been too busy lately to reminisce about her.

Moreover, after her ex-husband died, her dead heart seemed to come back to life a little.

At the Pei family banquet, Pei Shaoqing, who had just begun to make a name for himself, was handsome, dashing, and debonair, and immediately caught her eye.

Ji Siyin's previous husband was not a particularly outstanding person. In terms of appearance and talent, he was far inferior to Pei Yu, who was the male protagonist.

However, he and the princess married young and spent their childhood together. They were like lovers and playmates, and Ji Siyin loved her deeply.

The deep affection she felt in her youth ended so tragically; she had thought her heart would die with her husband.

But after meeting the equally young and handsome male lead, she realized that her heart seemed to have only been asleep for a while...

Ji Siyin was conflicted, but also had some expectations:

Do you think it's possible that the prince consort didn't actually die, but just transformed into someone else and came back to be with her?

Honestly, how come everyone looks like the prince consort after his death? She's just too heartbroken.

If the spirit of the prince consort in heaven could see her like this, he surely wouldn't be able to bear it!

Ji Siyin was ready to accept a new relationship, but it's easy to deceive others but hard to deceive yourself. She still felt guilty towards the prince consort.

She felt so guilty, yet her mother still wanted to desecrate his corpse. What was she trying to do? Just want to ruin one person's life, huh?

However, as the daughter of two emperors, she is quite responsible and would not push such matters onto her subordinates.

Otherwise, if her mother gets angry, she might survive, but her subordinates would really die.

Ji Siyin embodies all the flaws of those in power in feudal society.

However, they are still very protective of their private property.

That's why she won't mention who prompted her idea, let alone what her purpose was.

Raising his head, he said matter-of-factly, "Mother Empress, you are the common mother of the Great Yu Kingdom. Your son has offered you a miraculous medicine to restore your youth. Is it really so difficult for you to ask for a fiefdom?"

Li Wenyuan fell silent.

If her daughter says she never wants to see her again, that she wants to go to her fiefdom and never come back.

Li Wenyuan just laughs. You stupid thing, all you do all day is spout stupid things.

But Ji Siyin didn't say anything, only spoke in a formal tone, which made Li Wenyuan feel uneasy.

A thousand emotions welled up inside him, but he showed no sign of it on his face: "Then where do you want as your fiefdom?"

She and Ye Xiqing had already discussed this matter, and Ji Siyin directly gave a name: "Dengzhou".

Li Wenyuan: ...

Dengzhou? Do you even know where Dengzhou is? You just know Dengzhou?

If you go to Dengzhou, will you be granted a fiefdom or exiled?

Li Wenyuan stared at her daughter's head in bewilderment.

Dengzhou is not bad, but it is extremely important to the imperial court.

As a major town for salt and iron production, adjacent to a military zone, and with access to maritime transport, it was a strategic location that was contested by military strategists and closely controlled by the imperial court.

However, as a barren land surrounded by the sea on three sides, it inevitably suffers from a lack of freshwater resources and remote conditions.

Because of the harsh conditions, although it wasn't a sacred place of exile like Lingnan or Qianzhong, it was still a common destination for demoted officials. This was the first time I'd seen someone born in the political center voluntarily request to go to Dengzhou.

Li Wenyuan laughed in exasperation: "What are you going to Dengzhou for?"

In her mind, this might be just another of her daughter's antics, but to her surprise, Ji Siyin actually gave a legitimate reason: "Please look, Mother!"

Li Wenyuan sat firmly at the head of the table, waiting to see what kind of trouble she would cause.

But when Ji Siyin actually handed the item to her, her expression changed instantly.

Are you kidding me? If you travel to ancient times, especially to an ancient world set in the Tang Dynasty, how can you not get involved in refined salt extraction?

Throughout history, the control over the salt market has been gradually strengthened, but for the Tang Dynasty, which was still exploring its own path, the control was still in progress.

This led to a rather chaotic salt market in the Tang Dynasty, which gave rise to the classic salt smuggler and rebel, the gravedigger of the Tang Dynasty—Huang Chao.

Of course, Huang Chao's success cannot be attributed solely to his identity as a salt smuggler.

However, it can also be concluded that during this period, salt could even serve as a basic condition for raising an army.

How can a struggle for the throne proceed without real fighting?

As the emperor's daughter, Ji Siyin didn't even need to smuggle salt; whoever her family said was an official was an official, and whoever they said was a smuggler was a smuggler.

If even this is not as good as Huang Chao, then Ye Xiqing will definitely despise the second female lead.

But offering a "miracle drug" to rejuvenate is just for fun; offering something like salt is not something to be taken lightly.

Even Ji Siyin was stunned when she saw Ye Xiqing take out the salt, not to mention Li Wenyuan.

She was both surprised and delighted by the powerful gift Ye Xiqing had given her.

She quickly realized that with such a powerful gift, it would be even more difficult for her to obtain Dengzhou.

Ye Xiqing, however, said indifferently: "Human relationships are human relationships, and politics is politics. Ideally, they should not be mixed together."

"But if they're already mixed up, then you can use politics to influence personal relationships, and vice versa."

Ji Siyin glanced at her with a stern face: "What do you mean..."

Ye Xiqing smiled: "Princess, you've been a princess for too long, have you forgotten how a daughter should act coquettishly towards her mother?"

Ji Siyin:...

This is the thing she least wants to do...

However, emotions must give way to interests; as long as there are enough interests, there is nothing that cannot be done.

Ji Siyin looked at her mother, immediately switching into performance mode, and said with a sorrowful expression:

"Mother, when you summoned my brother, the Prince of Nankang, back to the capital, did you already decide to pass the throne to him?"

Li Wenyuan slowly raised her eyes.

If someone else had asked her this question, she would have been furious long ago. No emperor likes being asked about the heir apparent while he is still alive.

But her daughter is different, of course. Princesses naturally have the right to care about the crown prince and also have the right to participate in the decision-making process for the next crown prince.

Therefore, Li Wenyuan was not angry, but patiently said:

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy? Your brother, the Prince of Nankang, is, after all, your own brother. Didn't you dislike my cousins ​​from my mother's side and prefer your own brothers?"

Ji Siyin looked very angry: "Of course I don't like those cousins. They are too arrogant and don't respect our Ji royal family at all!"

"But I don't like my brother anymore. I treat him as my elder brother, but he doesn't treat me as his sister. There is no one in this world who treats me as a real family member!"

Li Wenyuan was caught off guard and her sore spot was hit.

For various reasons, she loved her only daughter too much, even more than her brothers.

But at this moment, whether she kept saying that she regarded herself as a member of the Ji royal family and distanced herself from her, or that no one in the world loved her, it was like an invisible sharp cone, piercing her heart.

How strange, women are so strange.

Even as emperor, he could still be hurt by children.

Li Wenyuan pressed her bleeding heart and looked at Ji Siyin without moving: "Am I too? Am I not your family? Don't I love you enough?"

For the first time, she felt as if her heart had been ripped out, hoping that her daughter would notice her pain, but she failed. Ji Siyin still looked at her stubbornly.

"Of course not!"

"Does building me a luxurious princess palace mean you love me? Does granting me a fief of four thousand households mean you love me? Does finding me many husbands mean you love me?"

"These are insignificant compared to my brother. You want to give him the whole world, but you only give me things that can be taken away at any moment!"

"If my brother becomes emperor in the future, and my sister-in-law wants to take everything from me, can I stop her?"

"If you truly love me, why don't you give me something I really need!"

Li Wenyuan was already heartbroken, but after hearing Ji Siyin's next words, her grief suddenly eased.

Ultimately, she didn't care how much her daughter asked for; she just hated that even her dearest daughter couldn't understand her good intentions!

Her daughter's siding with the Ji imperial family plunged her heart into an ice cave.

But what she said next brought her back to her senses.

It turned out that her daughter wasn't resentful, but rather afraid.

Realizing this, Li Wenyuan, with the love of a mother, once again stood on the high ground.

She looked at Ji Siyin with a mixture of amusement and exasperation: "So you're angry about this?"

"What are you thinking, silly child? Not only is your mother the queen, but your brother is also your brother."

"You are the most honorable person in the world. What is yours will always be yours. Who would dare to take it from you?"

"Even if she is your sister-in-law, Mother will never forgive her!"

Ji Siyin was not comforted at all and looked at her with a wronged expression.

"What if Mother is no longer here? What if Mother is not the Emperor, and Brother is the Emperor? Would Yongning still be the most noble princess?"

Li Wenyuan instinctively thought, "Of course, Yongning will always be the most noble princess."

But before she could speak, she stopped herself in her tracks—

This statement could come from a mother's beautiful hopes for her daughter, but it would never come from an emperor's rational judgment.

She has recently been plagued by endless worries about what will happen to her because of her damned age.

But they forgot that after her death, her most beloved daughter would face the same situation as her...

Does her daughter have the ability to weather the storms of life?

Li Wenyuan looked at Ji Siyin.

Ji Siyin also opened her big eyes and looked back at her.

Li Wenyuan: Tsk.

In this way, giving his daughter a real fiefdom became a very necessary thing.

After all, after her death, no one in the world could be completely trusted by her daughter.

She has to give her some power that she can't take back.

Realizing this, Li Wenyuan immediately began to seriously consider the feasibility of making Dengzhou her daughter's fiefdom.

Da Yu had long since abolished the enfeoffment system, and none of the imperial clan members had any real fiefdoms, including her own son, the Prince of Nankang. Nankang was not his fiefdom, but rather his place of exile.

But her daughter can have it.

While her own son was exiled, her daughter was allowed to stay in Beijing.

Her daughter could be granted a fiefdom when her own son did not.

She wanted to give her daughter so much, because her daughter had so little.

One day in the future, the whole world will belong to her son.

Why can't she give a piece to her daughter?

As if she had made up her mind, even Ji Siyin did not expect that everything would go so smoothly.

She couldn't quite describe her feelings, and could only murmur, "It's really that simple?"

Ye Xiqing nestled in the soft chair, feeling much more at ease when facing only Ji Siyin.

"A sword is sharpest when it is most vulnerable to breakage; an unpolished heavy sword is the most substantial."

"Good and bad, advantages and disadvantages, are always transforming into each other."

“Your imperial brother, thousands of years of ‘legitimacy’ have given him extreme sharpness, but have prevented him from drawing his sword.”

"Your 'clumsiness' is precisely what allows you to seize all the advantages of timing and location at this very moment."

"That's how competition works: use your strengths to overcome their weaknesses."

"When your mother is alive, that's when we're invincible!"