The Sinful Woman's Golden Branch: The Jade-Faced Yama is Actually Me (Chapter Thirty-Four...)

Su Nanyan was taken aback.

The coup that happened had a wide-ranging impact. Her aunt and cousin were not implicated, all thanks to His Majesty's belief in witchcraft and his leniency towards women. How could her cousin possibly still be alive!

Her colleague, however, told her, "No, there isn't."

"He participated in the rebellion and should have been sentenced to death, but the Marquis of Lanting begged His Majesty to pardon him."

"The Marquis of Lanting is highly favored by His Majesty. Whenever she makes a request, His Majesty grants it without hesitation, thus sparing her life. She is currently being cared for in the Marquis of Lanting's residence."

Su Nanyan was stunned and stood rooted to the spot.

I thought I was destined to be separated from my cousin forever, but I never expected that my old friend was still alive!

Overwhelmed with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, she immediately wrote a visiting card upon returning home and sent it to the residence of the Marquis of Lanting.

I just don't know if she, a mere compiler in the Hanlin Academy, can actually get the letter to the Marquis of Lanting.

Marquis Lanting was a well-known tutor to emperors in Dayu, a commoner who held high office; ordinary people were not qualified to visit her desk.

After several anxious days of waiting, she finally received a reply: Marquis Lanting was willing to see her.

Su Nanyan was overjoyed. She bathed, straightened her hat, prepared gifts, and went to visit him.

Many years have passed since then, and the Marquis of Lanting is still much the same as when he met Nankang, or even better.

At that time, she was traveling far and wide, fighting thieves and enduring changes in the climate, so her body was already weak. When she arrived in Nankang, she was even more listless. Su Nanyan could tell from her expression that she was unhappy.

Seeing that she was in good health and spirits, Su Nanyan felt more confident and complimented her, "It's been many years since we last met. Lord Guan looks radiant. It must be because of the dragon's aura protecting you in the capital and the goddess's blessing. It's truly a blessing for our Great Yu!"

Ye Xiqing couldn't help but smile: "It is truly thanks to Lord Su's thoughtfulness. Back in Nankang, I knew that Lord Su was no ordinary person. Now, he has indeed achieved great success. Congratulations!"

Su Nanyan thanked her in return, and the two exchanged pleasantries and toasts. She wanted to ask about her cousin's current situation, but she didn't know how to bring it up.

Seeing her expression, Ye Xiqing knew what she was thinking and smiled, "I already know why you've come, Lord Su. There's no need for further words. Please come with me."

Su Nanyan looked up in surprise, overjoyed, and thanked them repeatedly!

Ye Xiqing walked ahead, leading the way. The Lanting Marquis's residence was very large, with many twists and turns, and it took quite a long walk to reach the inner courtyard.

Upon arriving at a secluded courtyard, Ye Xiqing stopped and looked at Su Nanyan with a solemn expression: "I know about Lord Su's relationship with the criminal Pei, and I would like to know about his recent situation."

"But the Pei family of today is not what it used to be. If Lord Su were to see them, it would only cause him more grief."

Su Nanyan was not about to back down: "No matter what, it would be good to see him. Knowing that he is still alive will put my mind at ease!"

Seeing that she insisted, Ye Xiqing said nothing more, shook his head, and let her in.

The two eunuchs responsible for taking care of Pei immediately and carefully led Su Nanyan into the courtyard.

Su Nanyan had made countless preparations before going in, but when she saw her cousin's true face, she still couldn't help but hold onto the door frame, panting heavily, unable to believe what she was seeing!

Seeing her like this, the two eunuchs couldn't help but wipe away their tears: "The Pei family plotted treason back then and should have been executed, but my master spared his life out of consideration for our past relationship."

"Although the death penalty can be avoided, punishment is inevitable. This should serve as a warning to those who rebel. In the end, His Majesty still ordered the punishment to be carried out, as a small punishment to serve as a great warning."

"Over the years, the adults have ordered us to take good care of him, but the sinner has always been determined to die. We have gone to great lengths to stop him from committing suicide."

"The sinner is in such a state that even you, sir, cannot bear to look at him closely. Lord Su, please take care of yourself!"

Su Nanyan leaned against the wall pillar and burst into tears in an instant.

She never imagined that her cousin, who was once a man of unparalleled talent and prestige in the capital, would end up like this!

Her familiar voice stirred the memories of the sinners in the room, and Pei Yu immediately searched for the source of the voice, ah ah ah.

Seeing this, Su Nanyan quickly supported his broken body. Seeing the worn chain marks on his wrists, she remembered what the servant had said: "Sinners always have the will to die." She was even more heartbroken and wept uncontrollably.

"Cousin...cousin...when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. No matter how difficult it is, you have to live on!"

Pei Yu was extremely anxious. He wanted to ask his cousin for help, but he couldn't speak. He could only grab her shoulders and shake her, hoping she would understand what he meant!

Su Nanyan winced in pain as he gripped her tightly, but she didn't struggle. What was a little bit of force compared to the pain her cousin was in? He must be in more pain than she was right now!

Pei Yu was focused on conveying a message to her, but Su Nanyan just kept crying. Pei Yu was very anxious and pounded on the wall, wondering how he could let his cousin know!

Seeing this, the servant quickly helped Su Nanyan up by the shoulder: "Please leave first, sir. If the sinner sees you, he might be reminded of the past and not want to live anymore."

Su Nanyan cried so hard she could barely hold back, but the two of them half-supported and half-dragged her out. Pei Yu heard the last glimmer of hope disappear completely and burst into tears.

One of his servants remained, coldly watching the man struggling on the ground.

Looks like he's still not being honest.

...

Ye Xiqing had been waiting outside for a long time. When Su Nanyan came out, she was just as she had expected. She sighed and handed her a handkerchief.

"Don't be too sad. What if you hurt yourself by crying?"

Su Nanyan knew her good intentions, but she couldn't stop crying: "Thank you for your kindness, Lord Guan, but I grew up with the criminal Pei Shi. Seeing him like this, I really can't help myself!"

Ye Xiqing patted her shoulder, understandingly saying, "It's only human nature, and His Majesty won't blame you."

“In the past, when my family was in ruins and I suffered hardship, I was greatly indebted to you, Su Xiang. Now that she has lost her son and is in trouble, I should naturally help take care of her.”

"But Su Xiang is getting old, and I'm afraid he won't be able to bear seeing his son's current appearance."

"If Lord Su can meet on my behalf, that would be wonderful. If Lord Su wishes to see Lady Pei again in the future, please come to my residence. The gates of my residence will always be open to you."

Upon hearing this, Su Nanyan immediately bowed and thanked Lord Guan for his great kindness.

Everyone says that Lord Guan of Lanting is cold-blooded, tyrannical, cruel, and bloodthirsty. Now I know that this must be a slander by the traitors. How could such a virtuous and upright person kill those who did not deserve to be killed!

Because of the rumors, she almost misunderstood Guan Hou, and Su Nanyan immediately felt ashamed.

Ye Xiqing comforted her for a while before kindly seeing her out of the mansion.

After seeing Su Nanyan off, Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "Ah, so this is the villainous female supporting character. We've finally met."

"I originally thought he was some kind of vicious, blue-faced, fanged figure, but now that I see him, he doesn't seem so malicious at all. He's even quite friendly to me."

system:……

It doesn't want to talk!

The villainous female supporting character went back and cried several times. After finally calming down, she returned to her normal work, but was left alone by Li Siyin after the court session.

Su Nanyan stood nervously at the lower end of the table, waiting for His Majesty to speak, but the person at the upper end remained silent.

Just as she was breaking out in a cold sweat, Li Siyin tossed her a memorial: "Read it yourself."

Su Nanyan picked up the memorial with trepidation. When she saw the contents of the memorial, she broke out in a cold sweat. It was a memorial impeaching her for crying for treasonous criminals at the Lanting Marquis's residence!

How could this be? She was in the Guan Hou Mansion, a secluded mansion, and lost herself in the moment. How did others find out and even report it to His Majesty?

The moment Su Nanyan saw it clearly, she immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness, saying that she would never dare to harbor any resentment, nor would she dare to speak out for the traitors, and that Guan Hou had not said anything out of line to her!

Li Siyin remained expressionless: "No need to say more. This memorial is for you. I will neither approve nor read it. I hope you will take care of yourself."

Su Nanyan felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and hurriedly knelt down to express her gratitude, thanking His Majesty for his magnanimity!

After she left, Ye Xiqing came out from the inner room: "Oh dear, there's another memorial impeaching a villain."

"Honestly, I've been staying home all day, how come there are still people playing?"

Li Siyin:......

You can play by yourself, why do you need my approval? Approval my foot!

In a few days, this new Lady Su will probably have to go to Ye Xiqing's residence with trepidation and subtly hint that His Majesty may have some reservations about you, so be careful.

In fact, it was a secret report she wrote herself! Don't think she can't tell just because the font was changed!

Ye Xiqing chuckled: "Your Majesty, I have borne so much infamy for you. What's wrong with Your Majesty bearing one burden for me?"

Li Siyin snorted coldly. It was only right for her subordinates to bear any amount of infamy for the emperor. Ye Xiqing was the only minister who would let the emperor bear infamy for him!

As the years went by, Ye Xiqing became increasingly arrogant and spoiled.

The three-year period of national mourning following Li Wenyuan's death was when she was at her most docile; after that, her behavior took a sharp turn for the worse.

At the time, the late emperor bestowed a title upon Ye Xiqing and Shangguan Lanyi, one as the Marquis of Lanting and the other as the Marquis of Shouzhang.

Although both names are place names, it is obvious that Shangguan Lanyi's name contains the character "Lan," so the character "Lan" was chosen. Guan Xianzhi's name suggests a short life, so the character "Shou" was chosen.

Ye Xiqing, however, said: No, she wants to be called Lantinghou. Shouzhanghou doesn't sound good, and it hasn't been explicitly given to anyone. How do you know that Lantinghou isn't referring to her?

Li Siyin:......

Shangguan Lanyi: ...

Whatever makes you happy.

After the national mourning period, Li Siyin wanted to appoint her and Shangguan Lanyi as the left and right prime ministers, each holding half of the seal.

Ye Xiqing, however, said: No, she only wants to enjoy life and doesn't want to work. She seems to be getting a bit old and can retire.

Li Siyin:......

I swear I have absolutely no doubt about you! There's no such thing as "the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked"—get up and get to work!

Ye Xiqing looked at her weakly and said, "Your Majesty, with my body in such a state, how can I possibly manage state affairs? You wouldn't want to see me die young, would you?"

Li Siyin:......

I feel like you're fine.

But no matter how angry she was, Ye Xiqing looked like she was about to die, so she couldn't really pull her up.

In fact, after Li Siyin quelled the turmoil, she had plenty of people to help her with ideas, and she no longer relied on Ye Xiqing as much. She was just not used to having others around.

Seeing Ye Xiqing's strong resistance, they had no choice but to give up and instead bestow upon her the title of "Honorary Prime Minister".

She is entitled to a high official salary and a prime minister's seal. She does not bow to the emperor and enters the palace directly. Normally, political affairs do not need to go through her, but if she has any objections, she can veto them and send the matter back to the Secretariat and the Inner Affairs Bureau for reconsideration.

That veto power is cool, of course, Ye Xiqing has never used it.

She doesn't care what the Secretariat and the Inner Affairs Bureau do; she's retired, why should she care about them?

Ye Xiqing did not become the Left Prime Minister, so Shangguan Lanyi became the Left Prime Minister, and Pei's mother became the Right Prime Minister.

When Li Siyin first came to power, he purged local powerful families, especially those in the south, according to their family genealogies. However, he also had to adopt a policy of appeasement, so as not to truly force these families to the brink of extinction.

Therefore, she forgave the female members of the aristocratic families who had performed good deeds. Of course, women were not originally included in the family genealogy.

The remaining aristocratic families were reorganized by the surviving women. They needed a representative, and Pei's mother, Su Yunzhu, was thus chosen.

Having endured two major upheavals, Pei's mother was powerless to resist and bowed in gratitude.

Her son was sent to the residence of the Marquis of Lanting and imprisoned. Her daughter divorced her husband's family, returned home with her child, changed her surname back to Su, and became her heir. She no longer thought about anything else and focused on serving the current emperor.

With such a well-established court system, Ye Xiqing didn't need to worry about anything, and her mother was also promoted from Dengzhou.

Because of her extensive experience working at the grassroots level, Wang Lijun was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue as Minister, and the original county magistrate was replaced by Yao Niang.

When Wang Lijun met her daughter, her face shone with extraordinary radiance.

So, what do you think, Mom? Not bad, right?

Ye Xiqing gave her a thumbs up, saying, "Not bad at all."

When family members come, a separate residence is necessary. Since Ye Xiqing holds a noble title, Li Siyin allows her to have a separate marquisate and elevates her rank and stipend to one thousand households, equivalent to that of a prince.

Ye Xiqing, however, said that would be a huge undertaking, a waste of manpower and resources. Could you please give me the princess's residence that you had when you were a princess?

Li Siyin:......

I've given you my mansion, where am I supposed to live?

Ye Xiqing: You live in the palace.

Li Siyin: Where will the Crown Prince live from now on?

Ye Xiqing: Isn't your brother's mansion empty? Give it to the Crown Prince.

She's not even born yet, so she doesn't care where she lives. But it's different for me. I'm used to living in the princess's residence. It's too cruel of you to ask me to leave.

Li Siyin:......

She wasn't even that tolerant of her own servants, but she could never muster any temper with Ye Xiqing.

So when the princess bestowed her residence upon a subject, it was not hereditary. Li Siyin built a separate residence for Guan's mother as a hereditary residence. Ye Xiqing herself lived in the princess's residence, which is why her residence was so large.

The Prince of Nankang's residence was given by Li Siyin to Liu's mother and elder sister to live in.

When she left Deng, she was furious and slapped Liu.

Looking back, he often regretted it, so he brought Liu to the capital, bestowed upon her the title of Xuanqi as an apology, and also generously rewarded her family.

Xuanqi was one of the three emperors, and the future crown prince's suspected father. Lady Liu was no longer capable of raising children, so she was not originally entitled to a title.

Li Siyin was a person who cherished old friendships. Her harem was basically arranged by year, rarely by preference. Lady Liu had been with her the longest and was promoted to the rank of Third Imperial Concubine, becoming the head of all the servants and helping her manage all matters in the harem.

The favor of the emperor with real power is more useful than anything else. At present, the most influential family in the capital is not the newly arrived Li family, but the Liu family.

As for why it wasn't said that it was Ye Xiqing and Shangguan Lanyi, they deserved all the glory they received for their service to the emperor. No one below would find it strange that they received any honors.

At this point, Ye Xiqing had reached the pinnacle of a feudal official's life and no longer wanted to work hard; he simply lay down and enjoyed life.

When people have free time, they tend to get lazy and ask questions. He looked at the system with a smile and said, "System, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

system:……

This world has completely fallen apart. Not only is the male protagonist gone, but Ye Xiqing has also transformed society into a matriarchal society. How did this happen?

It was hit so hard it couldn't fight back, but no matter what, it will never give up easily.

"So what? This is just a game world. As long as the host has the cheat, they can do whatever they want. The real history will not be changed at all."

Ye Xiqing couldn't help but laugh: "So what if it's just a game world? It's only valuable as a reference because it's a game world. What reference value do we have for history, where there's only one chance and every failure is irreversible?"

The system sneered: "Does the host mean that a simulation game is more relevant than real history?"

Ye Xiqing said matter-of-factly, "Why not? In scientific experiments, only through hundreds or thousands of experiments can we summarize the general rules, but history is an irreversible one-way street."

"A horse-drawn carriage that steadily descends the mountain road is history, and one that accidentally overturns into a ditch and tumbles down the cliff is also history."

"History can only record that the carriage did roll down the ravine, but it cannot prove anything. It cannot prove the rationality of the carriage rolling down the ravine, nor can it prove that the carriage would roll down the ravine no matter what."

"Therefore, I have never been a pessimist about history, and your attacks have no effect on me."

system:……

"You are a pessimist about history, you are a nihilist about history!"

"According to your theory, if one carriage rolling down the ditch is accidental, then all the carriages rolling down the ditch must be a historical inevitability!"

"History is indeed a one-way street, and it is also very long. All the carriages rolled down the cliff with perfect understanding. What does that mean?"

"This means there's a hidden hand controlling everything."

system:……

"What?"

Ye Xiqing answered calmly: "There has always been a famous theory in sociology that a forest cannot have only one tree, and an entire universe cannot have only one civilization, Earth."

"If that kind of thing really happens, it means that everything we have now is designed."

"If all the carriages suddenly rolled down the cliff at the same time, your first feeling should not be pride, but fear."

"There must have been an outsider involved in this carriage crash; such an operation wouldn't be possible under normal circumstances."

"There was an unseen person who pushed all the carriages off the cliff, just like someone in the small world is controlling the plot. There is someone controlling everything above you."

"Seeing this mass cliff-falling incident, you're actually proud that it was someone else who rolled down the cliff, not you. Don't you think that's incredibly audacious?"

"After all, judging from your appearance, you don't seem like someone who can grasp that void hand."

"If you can't even detect its existence, aren't you afraid that one day it might suddenly decide to push you off a cliff?"

"After all, you have absolutely no way to control it. How can you be sure that an ungraspable ghost will never harm you?"

system:……

Ye Xiqing was good at telling ghost stories to data, and even though the system was a pure digital life form, it became creepy.

But in a debate, the arguments aren't important; winning or losing is what matters.

The system said firmly, "Host, don't change the subject. You haven't explained why all the carriages rolled down the cliff."

Ye Xiqing smiled again: "Why do I have to give an explanation? Can you explain everything?"

"If someone has high blood pressure and knows that eating high-fat foods is bad, why can't they control their cravings? Do I need to explain that?"

"If you know that wearing a helmet is for protecting your life, or if you don't want to wear it because of comfort, do you need an explanation?"

"He knowingly ate the medicine after getting sick, died because he didn't wear a helmet, and now he knows how to make excuses."

"But what explanation can you offer before things are beyond repair?"

"The explanation is that people are people, not machines, and people can't always do the right thing."

"Most things in the world happen without a reason, but there are always people who like to use the result to deduce the cause, and use the wrong to prove the right."

"The mistakes you've made, those that have had serious consequences, if you were asked to explain your reasons back then, could you offer any decent excuse for any of them? How were people living in ancient times any different?"

"Instead of believing that the occurrence of errors has a legitimate purpose, it is better to believe in the existence of parallel universes."

"The principle of parallel universes is that each different choice will lead to two different results, resulting in two completely different universes."

"If you arrange all the choices in order of right and wrong, it is impossible for everyone to make a wrong choice, but there is indeed a branch that is always wrong."

"This branch appears in a very mindless and extreme way, but such a possibility does exist."

"Instead of trying to justify the existence of errors, we should try to prove that parallel universes exist, which would at least make some contribution to science."

"If the truth is so absurd and unbelievable, wouldn't it be foolish for me to pursue the rationale behind the error and prove its authority?"

"What if we are just a pre-programmed sequence of events, and all the errors arise simply because life has infinite possibilities, but there is a failure case that we need to reenact?"

"The thought of parallel worlds, where people who didn't make mistakes can secretly watch the people in our world while eating sunflower seeds and trying to understand the meaning behind their mistakes, makes me want to laugh."

"The reasons for most things in this world are so stupid that they make people laugh. Being too obsessed with finding the causes often just makes us endorse stupidity."

"Therefore, rather than arguing the authority and rationality of the system that was born from the error, I am more willing to believe that we are one of the many parallel universes that evolved in this direction."

"What's so special about such a past, other than providing background information?"

"If the facts contradict the truth, I will question the error rather than let the error question me."