Zhuang Li, whose palm was broken, went home early from school, but he was not idle. He first followed Mr. Qin to learn medical skills, then locked himself in the house to write and draw. Finally, he took out six drawings and ordered his servants to send them to six carpentry shops to make the parts on the drawings.
In the evening, Zhuang Xiaohui, who had gone out to buy daily necessities, hurried into his room, her face full of surprise: "Brother, it was you who was responsible for Feng Yu being expelled from the palace and Yu Yuxian being dismissed from his post, right?"
Zhuang Li immediately hid his hand, covered in ointment, in his sleeve and shook his head, saying, "I was just an instigator. The Emperor actually knows everything they did behind the scenes."
"You know everything? Then why did the emperor let Fengyu be the crown prince in his previous life?" Zhuang Xiaohui was surprised.
Zhuang Li's face darkened when he mentioned this. After a long silence, he said, "The Emperor probably has other plans."
Zhuang Xiaohui pondered for a moment, her eyes gradually brightening: "Brother, since the emperor knows everything, then after we die in our previous life, the Fifth Prince and Yu Yuxian will definitely not have a good end. The emperor will deal with them."
Zhuang Li hummed lightly, but crumpled up a piece of paper on the table.
Zhuang Xiaohui then noticed his abnormality and asked with concern, "Brother, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm just thinking about something. Xiaohui, come here." Zhuang Li forced a smile and waved to his sister.
Zhuang Xiaohui sat obediently beside him, looking at him worriedly.
"Xiaohui, in fact, the emperor has long known that Yu Yuxian is a woman, but he still hired and promoted her." Zhuang Li made a shocking statement.
"What?" Zhuang Xiaohui's eyes widened as she hurriedly asked, "Why didn't the Emperor expose her? Could it be that the Emperor—"
Thinking of Yu Yuxian's heroic yet bright and elegant appearance, and the men and women surrounding her who were attracted to her, Zhuang Xiaohui suddenly realized.
Zhuang Li bent his knuckles and rapped her forehead hard. "What nonsense! The Emperor definitely has no such intentions towards Yu Yuxian. Do you remember what the Emperor's mother did before she got married?"
Thinking of the Empress Dowager who had once been a female general, Zhuang Xiaohui clapped her hands and said, "Brother, I understand. The Emperor is grateful for the Empress Dowager's achievements, so he treats Yu Yuxian with such favor."
"So what?" Zhuang Li stared into her eyes.
Zhuang Xiaohui thought for a moment and understood: "So, we are lucky that the emperor is so magnanimous towards women all over the world. We don't have to confine ourselves to those old rules and customs. We can try to step out. Not in the name of men, but in our true selves. We women can also have our own world."
Zhuang Li smiled with relief: "That's exactly what I mean. So from now on, feel free to do whatever you want. Don't feel constrained by your status as a woman."
Zhuang Xiaohui, her mind further liberated, clapped her hands and laughed. "Brother, you're right. In fact, most of the time, I'm the one who's tying myself up. I can't be like Yu Yuxian, who lost his true self before even setting off."
She looked out the window at the courtyard full of blooming flowers, her eyes glistening with tears but also full of hope.
"Do you still want to do business and open a shop?" Zhuang Li asked tentatively.
"Of course I do!" Zhuang Xiaohui nodded vigorously.
"Do you want to open stores all over Dayan?" Zhuang Li continued to ask.
Zhuang Xiaohui hesitated: "I'm afraid this is difficult."
"Just say whether you want to or not."
"Of course I do."
"Then do you want to become the richest female businessman in Dayan?"
"Is this also possible?"
"Just tell me if you want to or not."
"Of course I do!"
"Do you want to change the fate of women all over the world, so that they can have independent and equal rights and status in the family and in society?"
"I think about it, I think about it in my dreams!" Zhuang Xiaohui's voice choked.
"As long as you want, you can realize these wishes." Zhuang Li held her trembling hand.
"But what should I do, brother? Even the emperor cannot change a woman's fate, let alone me?" After the heroic feeling faded, facing the cruel reality, Zhuang Xiaohui became timid again.
"Don't be afraid, I'll help you. Let's take it one step at a time. There's no rush. I've chosen a shop, let's open our first store first." Zhuang Li pointed to the sun in the sky and said, "Look, isn't our goal very far away?"
Zhuang Xiaohui covered her eyes and looked into the distance, her face full of fear.
"Look at your feet again. From the first step to the second step, is the distance very close?" Zhuang Li took two steps slowly.
Zhuang Xiaohui lowered her head and looked, a relaxed expression appearing on her face.
"Yet it is precisely these short steps, one after another, that have finally allowed us to reach our distant goal." Zhuang Li pointed to the horizon and said earnestly, "So, we can keep our aspirations in our hearts, focus on our feet, and take one step at a time."
He tugged at his sister's sleeve, a relaxed smile on his face: "Come on, come on, walk with your brother. Mr. Qin said that taking a walk every day is good for your health. Let's walk."
He opened the door and walked into the magnificent sunset.
Zhuang Xiaohui looked at his back, and her heart became as broad as the brilliant sky.
That night, Zhuang Xiaohui was so excited that she couldn't sleep the whole night.
Feng Ming, plagued by nightmares every night, prepared himself to stay awake until dawn. He dared not close his eyes, for allowing himself to sleep too deeply would mean losing control of his mind. At that moment, his subconscious would take him back to that square courtyard. In its center lay a deep, pitch-black well, its bottom connected to the underworld, from which the roars and groans of wronged souls could be heard.
Listen carefully, among those wronged souls are his mother, grandfather, grandmother, and even the crying of a baby...
Heads and streams of blood gushed out of the well like springs. The hellish fire, accompanied by the flowing sea of blood, slowly surrounded Feng Ming.
In his dream, he would be burned by flames and experience hunger and the pain of heartbreak and bone-wrenching pain again. All the suffering he had ever endured would be repeated.
This dream never stops. As long as Feng Ming falls asleep, it will come as promised.
It was like a hell, trapping Feng Ming in the human world.
But tonight, Feng Ming wasn't depressed, nor did he sit at his desk reviewing memorials overnight, nor did he run to the martial arts training ground to vent his energy. He was holding two slips of paper, turning them over and over, then trying to burn them over a candle flame and then steaming them over boiling water.
The words on the note were still the same, not a single more or less after being burned by smoke and fire.
Feng Ming tried everything but failed to discover the trap, so he had to carefully study the words on the note. He devoted all his attention to analyzing the meaning of these words, and the result of his intense concentration was that he hypnotized himself. His eyelids slowly drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep.
Today's dream is particularly different: there is no small courtyard like a coffin box, no deep well connected to hell, and no crying and screaming of wronged souls, only beautiful handwriting forming poems sliding across the white sky.
Feng Ming chased after these words for the entire night and was exhausted in his dream. When he woke up, it was still dark. He looked at the clock and it was already the next morning at 3:00 AM, and it was almost time to go to court.
Feng Ming sat up quickly, but he did not feel the usual dizziness or fatigue at all. He subconsciously placed the two notes next to his pillow and pressed them with a jade pendant, so they were not damaged.
Feng Ming breathed a sigh of relief and quickly rolled the note into a small roll and stuffed it into his pocket.
Stepping out of the bedroom and seeing the sky faintly glowing with white light, he felt for the first time that the morning light of this palace was beautiful.
---
Yu Yuxian's mood was not good at all.
She had gotten drunk the previous night and woke up in her own bedroom with a head aching like it was about to explode.
Her mother, Mrs. Li, came running over before dawn, pointed at her nose and scolded her, "Do you know how dangerous last night was? If I hadn't sent people all over the city to look for you, you would have almost slept in a brothel with several men!"
Yu Yuxian finally regained his memory and defended himself, "Mom, those were my friends. They sympathized with my situation and wanted to treat me to a drink."
"Can you go to a brothel just to relieve your boredom? Have you forgotten your identity? If you get drunk and forget yourself, and someone sees you—"
Having said that, Li stopped talking in time.
Yu Yuxian gradually realized how dangerous she had been the previous night. The building was full of women who worked that kind of business. If someone discovered her identity as a woman after she got drunk, she might be caught on the spot...
The more Yu Yuxian thought about it, the more frightened he became, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Seeing her completely pale face, Li's heart softened and she consoled her, "It's okay. When the servants found you, you were just sleeping on the table. You didn't do anything. Don't drink anymore, and don't go to those smoky and foul places again."
Yu Yuxian shook his head and said dejectedly, "Mother, I've been dismissed from my post. Now, apart from writing good poems and articles, what else can people admire? If I want to return to my official career, I must make connections and find a way out. And making connections requires attending various gatherings. Mother, what literary gathering is there without drinking and visiting brothels?"
Li also knew the atmosphere in the literary circle, so he was at a loss.
"You were doing a good job, why were you suddenly fired? Were you wronged?" she asked hopefully.
Yu Yuxian opened her mouth, but she couldn't defend herself. The emperor hadn't wronged her. Every single one of the charges in the imperial edict was well-documented.
It was all her fault for being emotional and impulsive. She agreed to everything Feng Yu asked. Spying on the emperor's whereabouts was a serious crime. Not only could the emperor dismiss her from her position, he could even execute her.
As soon as Li saw her daughter's expression, she knew that the emperor had not wronged her, which also meant that it would be extremely difficult for her daughter to return to the court.
"You can't be an official, and you can't mingle with the literary circle. What will you do in the future? Don't forget, you are the pillar of the family now, and you promised your father that you would bring honor to the family." Li took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and endless regret surged in her heart.
If the Yu family were defeated by her daughter, she would not dare to go to the underworld to meet the ancestors of the Yu family.
Yu Yuxian also thought of his father's last words before his death, and his fists clenched tightly.
"Mother, don't worry. I won't let the Yu family collapse. So, I will first take good care of the family business, and then slowly find a way out. Fortunately, you raised me as a man, so it's convenient for me to go out and do business. With money, it will be easier to smooth over the connections and return to the court in the future."
Yu Yuxian has no other choice for the time being except to manage the family business to make a living.
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