Hearing the officer's words, Yu Yuxian was so frightened that he started struggling like a madman on the spot.
She didn't want to die, she wanted to live! She still had many wishes that hadn't been fulfilled. She wanted to make a lot of money and become a very high-ranking official! She couldn't die!
The officers had received orders from their superiors to stuff a rag into her mouth to prevent her from spewing feces and accusing others of something.
Li cried uncontrollably, kneeling on the ground and clinging to the officer's legs, crying out that she was innocent. She had never heard of five lives being taken. Someone must have framed her daughter!
The officers and soldiers kicked her away and left in a mighty procession, leaving the yard full of the sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking.
Only then did Yu Yuxian's half-brother, who was also kneeling on the ground begging, raise his head and reveal a satisfied smile. He had helped him earn so much money before his death. This elder brother was really kind.
Yu Yuxian was locked up in a pitch-black cell, filled with a foul smell, like a mixture of blood, feces and urine.
One can imagine how many prisoners this cell has held and how much filth they have excreted.
Yu Yuxian, who had always lived a life of luxury, could not stand the stench and immediately retched a few times.
Suddenly, a delicate scent drifted from the dim corridor opposite the cell door, like a soul-drawing incense stick, irresistible. Yu Yuxian sniffed the scent and slowly walked to the cell door, his eyes fixed on the end of the corridor.
A pair of light footsteps came from afar, neither fast nor slow, and a handsome face flickered in the light of the faint candlelight.
This person is actually Zhuang Li!
Yu Yuxian suddenly opened his eyes wide, as if he understood something.
Zhuang Li's words instantly made her feel endless regret.
"You shouldn't have set your sights on my sister. I won't be able to sleep all night unless I kill you." He said these extremely cruel words in a light tone.
In this smelly place, there was not a trace of dirt on his body.
The murderous intent in his dark eyes frightened Yu Yuxian.
So that's how it is! I just tentatively flirted with Zhuang Xiaohui on the street, and Zhuang Li found out? Zhuang Xiaohui is so lucky! Zhuang Li indulges her, but at the same time, he protects her impeccably.
He had lost, completely, but the person he lost to wasn't Zhuang Xiaohui, but Zhuang Li. Thinking of this, Yu Yuxian couldn't help but sneer.
Zhuang Li saw through her arrogance and said lightly, "Yu Yuxian, I've known for a long time that you are a woman."
The smile on Yu Yuxian's face froze instantly.
Zhuang Li added, "However, the Emperor knew it earlier than I did."
Yu Yuxian suddenly opened his eyes wide, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Impossible!" she cried out.
Zhuang Li handed over a yellowed memorial. The cover bore the Dragon Guard's special seal, and the date was the day Yu Yuxian had been crowned number one in the imperial examination. The full text read as follows: "After investigation, it has been determined that the newly crowned number one scholar, Yu Yuxian, is a woman. Your Majesty, please direct how this matter should be handled."
Feng Ming's red calligraphy was written in a flourish: [Observe quietly, do not disturb.]
This is the greatest tolerance and magnanimity of an emperor. He gave Yu Yuxian the opportunity to control his own destiny, and Yu Yuxian should understand how precious such an opportunity is without anyone telling him.
"You have failed the emperor's expectations." Zhuang Li said calmly.
"No, no, no, it's impossible! You lied to me!" Yu Yuxian roared repeatedly, looking like a madman.
However, she recalled many details that proved that the emperor had known her identity for a long time.
The emperor led his ministers to the Western Hills to take a bath, but he never called her; when the emperor discussed matters with his ministers all night, he always let her go first; when the emperor went out of the city to hunt, he would definitely leave her in the camp.
It turns out that all this special care was not because of favoritism, but because of taboos.
The emperor knew everything, but he never criticized her, nor did he suppress or exclude her. However, in order to find a way out, she secretly helped Feng Yu to seize the throne, and even thought about using Feng Yu's power to fake her death and escape, so as to eliminate future troubles.
She wanted to abandon this dangerous identity and return to the palace as a noble lady. However, this identity was not dangerous at all and had long been approved by the emperor.
As long as she works hard and steadily, she will always be able to enter the cabinet and even become the prime minister.
She can achieve things that are unimaginable to ordinary people.
Yu Yuxian slowly knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. She had gone through so much trouble, what on earth had she been going through? She had completely ruined her bright future!
How could she accept such a fact?
If she accepted it, her whole life would be completely denied.
As she covered her face, lost in extreme regret, Zhuang Li said firmly, "Yu Yuxian, even if you hadn't gotten involved with Feng Yu, you were destined to achieve nothing. Therefore, all your assumptions are impossible. Your failure was doomed from the moment you were born."
"You're talking nonsense!" Yu Yuxian lowered his hands from covering his face, revealing a ferocious face. "My mother raised me as a man and gave me the best education. I'm better than any woman! I can accomplish anything I want to do! Zhuang Xiaohui is nothing. If you hadn't been helping her behind the scenes, she'd be nothing!"
"You're the one who's nothing." Zhuang Li sneered, "Do you know where the most powerful driving force in a person's heart comes from?"
Yu Yuxian remained silent, just looking at Zhuang Li with red eyes.
"It comes from here." Zhuang Li pointed to his chest and said slowly, "It comes from one's own recognition and affirmation of oneself. No matter how difficult the obstacle, this power will always tell him: You can do it, you can definitely do it. Therefore, there is no obstacle that this person cannot overcome."
Yu Yuxian sneered and said, "You're right. I remind myself of this all the time, so I got the top score."
"But do you still remember who you are? You've been wearing this man's skin for so long, have you forgotten that you were originally a woman? After being bullied by those five wealthy businessmen, why didn't you take revenge on them? Instead, you took it out on a few weak women?"
Zhuang Li slowly approached the cell, his tone growing colder. "Because when you became a man, your brain developed this idea—men are the symbol of power, while women are born to be oppressed and despised. This skin gives you strength, but it also devours your true self. The stronger your exterior, the weaker your heart. Because deep down, you cannot identify with your own identity, and you despise women even more than men.
"So after being bullied by men, you only seek out weaker women to vent your anger. You dare not resist authority. You are utterly cowardly and incompetent. You despise yourself, look down on yourself, and deny yourself, and as a result, you also despise, look down on, and deny other women. You have used five lives to fill the gaps in your heart. You have no strength, let alone the backbone to support yourself in this world. With someone like you, let alone being an official, you are not even worthy of being a human being."
Zhuang Li stared straight into Yu Yuxian's terrified eyes and said, "And my sister, if she had suffered the same thing as you, she would have dared to tear the heads off those who bullied her one by one. She still has her pride and strength. She knows she is a woman, but she is unwilling to accept her fate. She uses all her strength to fight against the world, while you only dare to hide under this rotten skin and do dirty things. This is the biggest difference between you and her. She is an upright person, and what are you?"
Zhuang Li pointed to his chest and demanded, "What are you? At night, when all is quiet, have you ever truly examined your heart and sought the answer? What are you? Man, woman, good, bad, or perhaps a beast in human form?"
These questions were more acute than the last, forcing Yu Yuxian to step back repeatedly and shake his head in panic.
She bumped into the wall and then fell to the ground, her face full of despair.
Zhuang Li looked down at her and sneered, "You already have the answer in your heart. Whatever you appear in your dreams, that's what you are in reality. No one knows better than you, your heart, what you truly are."
Yu Yuxian covered his head and started shouting, then banged his forehead against the wall frantically.
In dreams, she always appears in the form of a mouse.
She was covered in a gray skin and hiding in a dirty ditch. When she heard footsteps outside, she stuck half of her head out and looked at Zhuang Xiaohui walking in the sun with jealousy.
This dream kept recurring, making her anxious and angry.
It turned out that she had vaguely realized so long ago that she had transformed from a human into a monster.
"No, no, I'm not like that!" Yu Yuxian shouted at the top of his lungs.
Zhuang Li's chuckle pierced her eardrums. "It seems you know what you are. So from the moment you were born, your tragedy was doomed."
He shook his head, his tone calm, "Disapproval of one's own identity will ultimately lead to only one outcome: denial and destruction. So sooner or later, you will be defeated. Without the support of your core strength, how can you fight the world?"
As if he felt that continuing to talk would be a waste of words, Zhuang Li waved his hand and left the dungeon slowly.
He also took away the only unpolluted air.
Only after he left did Yu Yuxian finally break free from her state of extreme disorder. Only then did she realize that her life had been ruined from the very beginning.
The confusion of her identity caused her to lose herself, and subsequently her direction. In officialdom, every step requires careful consideration and deliberation, and the consequences of making a mistake are irreparable.
It was impossible for Yu Yuxian, who had no direction, not to make mistakes in such an environment, and it was even more impossible for him to reach the destination safely.
Zhuang Li was right, she would always fail, it was destined.
"Mom, you hurt me! You hurt me! I'll give you back this skin! I don't want it anymore!" Yu Yuxian began to pull her hair frantically.
After reflection, she blamed all the mistakes on her mother, which shows that she is beyond redemption.
Standing in the cold wind, Zhuang Li took a deep breath of the fresh air outside and asked, "Little idiot, does the script describe what happens after Yu Yuxian becomes the queen?"
"No." 7480 flipped through the script and spread his hands. "This script has a standard fairy tale ending. The hero and heroine live happily together."
"Really? Then I'll write a sequel." Zhuang Li pondered, "Yu Yuxian, who became the Empress, and Zhuang Yunzhu, who became the Imperial Concubine, fought endlessly. In the end, Yu Yuxian was deposed and died miserably."
7480 quickly wrote this sentence at the end and asked curiously: "Master, how do you know she will lose to Zhuang Yunzhu?"
"She has three fatal weaknesses: First, her background is murky; anyone with a discerning eye can uncover her dark past with a quick investigation. Second, she and Feng Yu have been through so much together that she knows each other's most shameful and unspeakable secrets. When they're in love, this is a plus. When they're not, it's a death warrant. Third, unlike Zhuang Yunzhu, she doesn't have a powerful maternal family and an incredibly powerful brother. Her position as queen is empty."
Zhuang Li shook his head and said casually, "So, whether in or out of the play, she will be nothing."
Meanwhile, Yu Yuxian, who had fainted from crying and then woke up, looked completely different. She had just had a terrible dream.
She touched her neck, which had no marks from being strangled, and her face showed a look of surprise, as if she couldn't believe she was still alive.
But not long after, she burst into laughter again: "Hahaha, it turns out what Zhuang Li said is true. No matter which road I take, I will die. Wrong, wrong, I was wrong from the beginning!"
After laughing wildly, she covered her face and burst into tears.
Endless regret surged into my heart like a tide, but it was too late...
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