Chapter 117: Wonderful Person I want to go to Xizhou.
After visiting the princess's mansion from Ying, he was led by a female official to the incense room in Princess Chun'an's living quarters.
In the past, the princess only saw her in the Sixian Hall in the front yard, just like other staff members and foreign ministers. But after she knew that she was from Luoxi Mountain, she no longer treated her as a stranger and often summoned her to her private place.
Today's incense room was even more private, a place where the princess would meditate and cultivate a calm mind in the mornings. Even the twins were forbidden to enter. Undressing her coat and boots, she walked in wearing only a single layer of white socks. She bowed cautiously and entered. A warm, warm sandalwood fragrance, tinged with the delicate aroma of plum blossoms and snow, greeted her. It was the scent she often smelled around her. After a few breaths, she felt herself being consumed by the aroma.
"sit."
Princess Chun'an was only wearing a medium-length dress, with her hair untied, a style suitable for a night out. She was sitting in front of an incense table, fiddling with a Boshan burner. Her posture was very relaxed, not like that of a king addressing his subjects or a superior addressing his subordinates, but rather like she was receiving a close friend.
Cong Yingren performed the formal greetings before kneeling across from the princess. She quietly watched her prepare the perfume without interrupting. But the princess spoke directly, "You're here about Xie Xuanlan, aren't you?"
Cong Ying drooped her eyelashes and said yes.
She thought the princess would be displeased, but she just smiled and said, "Tell me what you think."
Cong Ying presented the draft he had thought about hundreds of times to the princess, listing all the pros and cons in a clear and organized manner.
She believed that Xie Xuanlan was the most suitable general to fight in the war between the Great Zhou and the Western Tartars, but she did not shy away from admitting that if Xie Xuanlan commanded his own troops, it would boost the momentum of Xie's followers in the court, and the incompetent officials would be dissuaded, which would be detrimental to the princess's work.
The princess said, "You are being honest. Do you want him to live?"
Cong Ying said, "Of course I want him to live, but I'm working for the princess and I can't betray her. Besides, what I just said is the truth. Even if I don't say it, the princess will have her own considerations."
"Today I come to ask the princess for mercy. I hope you will support him in commanding Xizhou and provide him with sufficient troops, money and food so that he can focus on defeating the enemy without any worries. This request is not only related to the interests of the country, but also to my own selfish interests. I am willing to make a promise to the princess for this selfish interest and guarantee that the princess will not suffer any losses as a result."
The princess kept looking at her quietly: "How can you guarantee that?"
Cong Ying said, "Prince Jin will help the princess eliminate Xie's followers and will never give them the opportunity to attack her. The princess only needs to focus on state affairs, cultivate people's popularity, and wait for her transformation into a dragon."
"Can you make this decision for King Jin?"
Cong Ying nodded: "The King of Jin has never had the ambition to become the king. He plans for me, and I plan for Your Highness."
The princess nodded. "Court matters are easy to discuss. But what if Xie Xuanlan, after acquiring the title of Lord of Finance and Grain, gathers his own forces and attacks Yunjing?"
Cong Ying said, "If the princess trusts me, I am willing to be her envoy and go to Xizhou to supervise the army."
Princess Chun'an was stunned for a moment, feeling surprised: "You said you were going to Xizhou?"
Cong Ying nodded and said, "I am the Princess of Jin and a member of the Princess's staff. Naturally, I am opposed to the Xie family, and my position is suitable. Moreover, as far as personal feelings are concerned, I'm afraid there is no one else who can hinder Xie Xuanlan. It is reasonable and appropriate for me to be the military supervisor. After the debate is over at the end of the year, I will hand over all matters related to the Imperial Ceremony to Xue Luwei, and we can set off before the beginning of spring."
The princess did not agree immediately. She pondered for a long time, picked up the incense stick and smoothed out the ashes in the burner.
She said, “I don’t agree with this.”
Cong Ying frowned slightly: "Princess, don't you believe me?"
The princess slowly shook her head. "For people like Lin Xiangru and Tang Ju to go into battle alone is already a dangerous undertaking, not to mention that you are now the Princess of Jin. If you were to restrain him on behalf of his political enemies, I'm afraid that his love would turn to hatred and harm you instead."
Cong Ying said, "San Lang won't do that."
Her answer was decisive, yet her tone was gentle and earnest. Like a young girl in love, hearing doubts about her beloved, she firmly wanted to clear his name.
Zhui Ying took out a letter from her bosom and presented it to the princess for her to read: "This is the letter from Sanlang that I received yesterday. It can serve as proof."
It was the letter that Prince Jin sent in his name.
The princess smiled after reading it and said, "Aying, you probably underestimated a man's jealousy."
Even the group of concubines in her backyard who had been trained to be extremely docile were secretly trying to show off their power. What's more, Prince Jin and Xie San were both outstanding talents, so they would probably just have a fight. How could they give up their beloved ones who were gentle, kind, courteous and frugal?
At least as far as she knew, Prince Jin had secretly resorted to many tricks in order to marry Jiang Congying. How could someone as arrogant as Xie Xuanlan let her go so easily?
She asked Congying, "You want to go to Xizhou to supervise the army. Does King Jin agree?"
Cong Ying said, "Don't let him know. Once I leave the capital, he won't be able to catch me."
The princess raised her eyebrows and suddenly laughed heartily: "Aying, Aying, you are such a wonderful person."
Gan Jiu, the ignorant fool, keeps complaining about Jiang Congying being old-fashioned, but he doesn't know that she is the one who is really bold and has a groundbreaking idea.
Seeing her laugh, Cong Ying knew something was up, so she pleaded, "This is a matter between me and the princess. I'm doing this for her, and I ask her to help me."
Princess Chun'an covered the incense burner and said, "I need to think about this carefully."
Gan Jiu was outside reporting that a court official wanted to see him. The maids were waiting outside with their toiletries. Cong Ying then excused herself. Before she even left the incense room, she heard the princess ask, "Do you know why I'm here to see you?"
Cong Ying was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "Princess, you want me to know that you treat me not as a ruler or a subject, but as a friend and a confidant."
"What about you? In your heart, am I more of a noble lord or a dangerous wall layman?"
Upon hearing this, Cong Ying knelt down and kowtowed deeply.
Through the warm fragrant mist, the smile in the princess's eyes faded a little.
But he listened to Ying's words: "Whether it's the princess or the layman Wei Qiang, they are both one in my heart, and I have never treated them differently. Being a subordinate of the princess is to be loyal, and being a confidant of the layman is to be righteous. Serving the king with loyalty and righteousness is precisely to prevent the layman from mocking himself as Wei Qiang."
Upon hearing this, the princess remained silent for a long time. She waited until the incense in the censer had burned out before she whispered, "I understand. You may go now."
＊
On the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day before the imperial court closed its doors for the holiday, the second debate on the Qing Dynasty was to be held by the Tiannv Canal.
Because of the previous preparations, many people from Yunjing came to watch. Because the matter involved a court dispute, officials also paid attention to it. As a result, this dispute of arrogance that started among students suddenly became the most lively scene before the end of the 33rd year of Fengqi.
To this end, Emperor Fengqi issued a special imperial decree, stating that no matter which side won, the Imperial College or the Taiyi Women's School could directly select one hundred students to enter the Hanlin Academy.
The Hanlin Academy was the imperial court's training ground for scholars. Only those who entered the Hanlin Academy had the opportunity to serve as officials in the future. Imperial College students could already enter the Hanlin Academy through the imperial examination, and special selection was the icing on the cake for them. However, for Taiyi women's college students who had not yet won the qualification to take the imperial examination, it was the only bridge to the imperial court.
Therefore, the students of Taiyi were very excited when they heard the news. In the days leading up to the debate, they all studied hard, using fireflies to illuminate the night sky and pricking their legs with a needle.
Even Cong Ying had her eyes blackened from staying up all night.
That morning, the King of Jin held her down and peeled an egg to apply to her. Seeing her often lost in thought, he couldn't help but laugh: "A good teacher produces a good student. You can even teach Ah He well, so what are you worried about?"
Cong Ying lay on her back with her eyes closed: "I heard a rumor yesterday that a great scholar was invited over to give us some advice."
Prince Jin: "They are just a bunch of old fools from Congshan Academy, plus Di Zhiqing, a half-baked man."
"There's Di Zhiqing?" Cong Ying opened her eyes in surprise. "Quick, bring me a veil!"
In the last debate, Di Zhiqing single-handedly defeated the Taiyi students, but fortunately, Cong Ying came to the rescue, catching his biggest mistake. A fiercely competitive man, he dared to come for a second round, determined to avenge his defeat and thoroughly prepare. Cong Ying knew that winning this debate meant winning Taiyi's future, so he didn't take it lightly and decided to participate in person.
On a winter morning, the sunlight shines like cold gold, shining on the high altar on the canal bank.
The situation on the altar was tense, and there was endless cheering below the altar. Everyone was so excited that they didn't feel the cold weather at all.
In order to ensure fairness, the judges of this debate were divided into two groups. One group was the great scholars in the opposition. To ensure that they were not biased due to their positions, the Imperial College and the Taiyi were allowed to select three people each, and the remaining one was drawn by Emperor Fengqi himself.
The other group is the people present, who, as before, can throw the red silk flowers in their hands to the students who agree.
It is still about shooting lanterns with arrows, and there are three questions in a row, all revolving around "should the minister be loyal first" or "should the minister fulfill his duties first".
The Imperial College was instructed by Xie's teachers and its stance was to "perform its duties". In essence, it was paving the way for Xie Xuanlan to "disobey the orders of the emperor when he was away" so that Xie's followers could take advantage of their power to run rampant in Beijing.
Therefore, Taiyi’s position is naturally to be “loyal”.
The princess is the king, and being loyal to the princess is also being loyal to the king.
The students on both sides argued fiercely and were evenly matched, but the students of the Imperial College were conceited that they were the chosen ones of heaven and sometimes spoke frivolously. Compared with the students of the Taiyi Academy who were truly able to speak eloquently and logically, they seemed a little shallow and gradually fell behind.
Seeing that the red silk flowers were thrown towards Taiyi, and the several great scholars did not seem to be biased, the Imperial College became a little anxious and quickly asked Di Zhiqing for help.
Just as Di Zhiqing stepped onto the high altar, the Queen Mother invited up a slim young lady wearing a veil on her head.
"It's you?" Di Zhiqing's eyes lit up slightly. "If I win the debate, would you please invite me along for the trip?"
Congying laughed at him in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face. She said solemnly, "Master Di, please go first."
Di Zhiqing had indeed made ample preparations, citing the words of sages and citing imperial precedents, equating "fulfilling one's duty" with "serving the people." "The people are more important than the ruler" is Confucian orthodoxy, and his rhetoric firmly established his position, earning frequent nods from the audience.
From the firefly, I saw that several great scholars had already written "A" for him.
Di Zhiqing talked non-stop for a whole incense stick. When he finished speaking, he closed his folding fan and glanced at the expressions of everyone. He was full of pride and said to Cong Ying, "Please give me some advice, my lady."
Cong Ying took a step forward slowly and refuted the examples Di Zhiqing had just cited one by one.
She has a good memory and is proficient in everything she hears.
Not only does he know that it is so, but he also knows why it is so. He uses the reason behind it to refute the surface, making everyone suddenly realize: he said it was so, but in fact it was not so.
After refuting Di Zhiqing's examples, she began to give her own examples. The smile on Di Zhiqing's face gradually froze - he was ignorant and had only a vague understanding of most of the examples she cited!
Cong Ying spoke directly, without garbled rhetoric, and spoke with the ease of a story. After sharing a few examples that had the audience pondering, he then began to reason, each sentence well-balanced and each word poignant. He first exposed the fact that "fulfilling one's duty" was not necessarily "serving the people," noting that excessive taxes, the destruction of crops, and forcing civilians into military service were all part of official duties. He then argued that "loyalty" was about serving the sovereign. If the sovereign's orders were benevolent, then respectfully carrying them out was true loyalty. If the sovereign's orders were in error, then speaking out against them was the Confucian way.
It should be noted that although the great scholars and judges are in opposition, not all of them are born indifferent. Some have been stripped of their official positions for giving too much advice.
These people compared themselves to Han Tuizhi, who "wanted to eliminate evils for the wise emperor and was willing to cherish his remaining years", and after hearing Cong Ying's remarks, they could not help but feel sad for themselves and sympathized with him.
They were demoted because of their loyalty! What's wrong with being loyal?
He angrily picked up his pen and gave Congying a grade of "A".
After Cong Ying finished his last sentence, he bowed to Di Zhiqing slowly. Waves of cheers rang out from inside and outside the altar, which made people feel excited.
Cong Ying defeated Di Zhiqing again, and Taiyi defeated Guozijian again.
Amidst the cheers, Cong Ying said "Thank you" and turned to leave. However, Di Zhiqing could not accept this result. He suddenly ran after her and tried to pull her arm, but accidentally pulled off her veil.
The true face of "Luoxiangshanren" was revealed to everyone.
"It's you!"
“It’s her!”
There was a moment of silence between heaven and earth.
Most people marveled at Congying's youthful talent and beauty, while some knew some inside information and whispered about her identity and her love history.
On the side of the Imperial College, Xie Xiang who was attending the class as well as the teachers of Congshan Academy all changed their expressions.
Prime Minister Xie was annoyed by her disloyalty and betrayal towards the Xie family, but the other teachers remembered that she had applied for the position of female teacher at Congshan Academy. At that time, they were in a high position and considered whether she was virtuous and obedient enough. Unexpectedly, she criticized her today, and even with the combined strength of all of them, they were unable to defeat her and suffered such a big setback.
Di Zhiqing was completely stunned, and the three words "Princess of Jin" exclaimed by others echoed in his mind.
He originally thought she was a talented and humble girl who wanted to use this opportunity to make a name for herself and find a good marriage partner...
"Please give it back to me." Cong Ying looked at the mistletoe in his hand indifferently.
A hand reached out from his side and snatched the veil away. It was His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin, who was originally listening on the high platform. He walked to her side with a jade crutch, shielded her from Xie's unfriendly gaze, and put the veil on her again.
She climbed up the high platform from the flat ground, but did not go down. Instead, she took the King of Jin back to the highest point, the most honorable and noble place behind the curtain.
The rumor that the Prince of Jin stole someone else's love and that the couple had a bad relationship has been refuted today.
Seeing that he had unintentionally sold out his favor to the Princess of Jin, the great scholars in the opposition were secretly pleased and hoped to be re-employed.
When the onlookers saw that the Princess of Jin was not arrogant because of her status and was willing to teach them by words and deeds, they felt that the almighty royal family had become concrete, and they suddenly felt admiration and support for her.
Di Zhiqing accidentally hit the mark and pushed everyone's emotions to a new climax, and all the benefits went to Taiyi.
But he did not gain nothing. At least that night, when he returned home drunk, he was put over the head with a sack and beaten severely. The hand that he had used to grab Mi Li was broken and remained broken for several months. Of course, that's a story for later.
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The author has something to say: Xiao Xie is preparing backstage!
…
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Mistakenly Identifying the Prince as My Brother by When to Forget Yingying
Mei Yue'er was kidnapped at the age of five. She forgot everything except that her brother had a peach blossom birthmark on his body.
At sixteen, she accompanied her troupe to the governor's residence to perform for dignitaries from the capital. During the banquet, she was assassinated. In the chaos, she and the handsome guest, Master Xue, fell into the lake together.
He was wet by the lake water, and his snow-white shirt was stuck to his chest, revealing a peach blossom mark.
Mei Yue'er's eyes immediately turned red. She risked her life to rescue him and brought him ashore. She tried every possible way to get close to him, hoping to recognize her brother.
However, eleven years later, he still couldn't recognize himself.
-
Crown Prince Xue Lang was assassinated in disguise, and the entire Qingzhou was on pins and needles.
Mei Yue'er refused to accept a large reward, begging to follow "Master Xue" by his side. Her spring-like eyes, whenever she gazed at him, seemed to have a thousand words to say.
Xue Lang was a woman as elegant as a bamboo, upright and refined. He declined several times, but Mei Yue'er always caught his eye, pestered him and showed her affection, never giving up.
At first he thought that this woman must have something she wanted. She was so pretentious and full of loopholes, and there must be a conspiracy behind it.
Gradually he thought that Miss Mei was a person suffering from a lot of hardships, so there was no need to blame her too much.
Later he thought, Fortunately, I have what Yue'er wants.
After finishing the business in Qingzhou, Xue Lang set off to return to the capital. He placed a nine-dragon jade pendant in her hand and said solemnly: "Yue'er, come back to the capital with me and we will get married."
Mei Yue'er, who tried to recognize him, was struck by lightning: "How can we get married?"
Xue Lang: "Why not?"
"We are brother and sister!" Mei Yue'er was horrified. In Xue Lang's suddenly dark eyes, she heard him suddenly smile and said.
"Miss Yue'er, the Crown Princess, isn't she as honorable as a princess?"
-
Mei Yue'er ran away overnight.
She recognized the wrong person. She didn't want to go to the capital, nor did she want to be the Crown Princess. She just wanted to find her family.
Xue Lang, who was abandoned, sat by the plum blossoms she gave him for several days and nights, and ordered to bring Yue'er back to the East Palace, from the horizon to his side, from the clouds to his eyes, both in the sky and on the ground.
Even if she is a liar, he can't live without her.
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