085
"I understand. I'll do as Lord Su says." Song Ling rubbed her forehead, feeling a little annoyed.
It's not worth it for Zhou Yuanrong.
But they are inherently on opposite sides, and at most can only feel sorry and sigh. Giving Zhou Yuanrong power would only lead to endless troubles.
At this moment, Song Ling couldn't help but feel fortunate. It was better to die at this time, as it preserved the dignity of a royal princess.
But this is only from Zhou Yuanrong's own perspective. In actual historical records, it would never be written this way.
Princess Zhou had to, and could only, willingly abdicate. History is written by the victors, and the victors are the ones who decide the fate of the nation.
However, Zhou Yuanrong is indeed capable of accepting defeat.
Song Ling put down her brush and stared at the dark figure standing outside the door, who seemed to have been there for who knows how long.
He sighed helplessly, "Are you planning to stand all night?"
The shadow paused, then slowly pushed open the door and walked in expressionlessly.
"General, you must be tired from your journey. Please go to the inner room and rest," Song Ling said without looking up, and picked up a new commemorative document.
It's unclear who among the court officials found out about her, but they actually sent all the accumulated matters to her directly.
In fact, it was mainly some astute and quick-witted senior officials who noticed some rumors, but they were unable to find a way to contact General Yu. They only learned that Song Ling had a close relationship with him.
Just as Song Ling was wondering why the other party wasn't making a sound, the folded document in her hand was suddenly snatched away.
“What’s the point of reading these pointless reports? Look at me, A-Ling.” Yu Baizhou hugged her tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “I was wrong, I missed you so much. I shouldn’t have been angry with you, please don’t ignore me…”
He had been in the city for a day, but she would rather talk to Marquis Wu'an than give him even a glance.
Yu Baizhou was practically driven crazy with grievance.
“Your master told me everything about you. He beat me up before he left.” Yu Baizhou rubbed her neck. “Take a look at me. It still hurts.”
Song Ling was completely worn down and lost her temper.
"You used to have so many wounds on your body without ever complaining of pain."
"Why are you complaining of pain now!"
"Get up and review my memorials! This is all your work."
Song Ling pulled the person out, saying, "I'm still angry. I'm going to rest. You approve."
"I'll approve it tomorrow." Yu Baizhou picked him up: "I'll keep you company tonight."
"Ah Ling isn't afraid of the cold, let me warm you up."
Song Ling: "I'm not cold today."
Yu Baizhou: "A Ling Leng."
...
Morning
Song Ling pushed away the person clinging to her like an octopus and said helplessly, "I know you're awake. Go and handle your official business."
"No." Yu Baizhou leaned forward and captured her lips. "Are you still angry, A-Ling? Can we kiss a little longer..."
Song Ling glanced at him, then bit his neck. "No good."
Didn't you kiss enough last night? Her lips are still swollen.
Yu Baizhou realized he had gone too far, and then rubbed her wrist, asking, "Does your wrist still hurt?"
"I'll go to the palace and fetch the imperial physician."
Under Song Ling's meaningful gaze, his tone softened: "Then I'll massage A-Ling for a while longer."
"To be honest, General, you need to hurry up and deal with the memorials," Song Ling said. "Learning to handle government affairs is what you should be doing right now."
"What does Ah Ling want to do?"
"I need to rest for a few days." Song Ling stretched, got up and dressed, and looked back at him: "General, come back to me when you have learned to be a qualified emperor."
"From now on, the Song residence will not receive any guests."
She laughed and said, "Including the general."
Finally free from so many burdens, Song Ling decided to take a break. Her master was right; the court wouldn't collapse without her.
What should she do first? Song Ling thought of the girls' school that Wang Zhiyan was running so successfully in the southwest. Perhaps she should do something interesting too.
As a result, half a month later, the imperial court was flooded with memorials that nearly overwhelmed Yu Baizhou. Without exception, they all impeached Song Ling for running a girls' school.
Because the local unrest had not yet subsided, Yu Baizhou knew that this was not a good time to ascend the throne. However, the court officials were very perceptive.
After repeatedly requesting permission, and seeing that Yu Baizhou truly had no intention of ascending the throne at this moment, he reluctantly moved the morning court session to the general's residence.
"General, this is absolutely against the rules!"
Several people began to cry and complain.
"Where is the rule wrong?" A sharp female voice came from afar: "This general finds it perfectly reasonable!"
Lin Qing strode in, brandishing a knife and holding it to the minor official's neck. "Should this girls' school be established or not?"
The minor official was nearly scared to death, and hurriedly nodded, head twitching, "It's done, it's done..."
"What Miss Song wants to do is what I, Lin, want to do, and what the tens of thousands of soldiers behind me want to do!"
"Those of you here may not know me very well."
"I'm usually easygoing, but if anyone says anything disrespectful to women or dares to be disrespectful to Miss Song, then I'm sorry, but I, Lin Qing, will absolutely not let them get away with it!"
She glanced around at everyone present, then threw a cloth bag she was holding onto the table.
Only then did everyone notice that she was carrying something else.
The dark cloth bag was soaked, and blood was dripping sparsely from its bottom...?
Yu Baizhou opened the cloth bag.
Those present couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
That was clearly a head covered in blood!
"You...you...you...you...she-devil!"
Yu Baizhou, however, remained much calmer, raising his head with interest to examine it closely: "This is..."
"Oh, just the head of the governor of Yizhou." Lin Qing said indifferently, "He said that women should just eke out a living in the company of men, so I twisted his head off and made him stay in the sow's scrotum for three days. Then, unfortunately, the sow got hungry, and when I sent someone to check on him the next day, he was just a skeleton."
Everyone present turned pale and trembled at her words, clutching their necks.
“Well done,” Yu Baizhou nodded with a smile. “Go tell your Miss Song the good news, and ask her for a reward while you’re at it. I have nothing here.”
Yu Baizhou took out a box and handed it over: "Take this imperial edict to her as well, and tell her to study at the girls' school first. It won't be too late for her to take office after I have cleaned up some of the incompetent officials."
As soon as he said this, several people stepped forward to object.
Then... Yu Baizhou slowly drew his longsword and chopped off a corner of the table: "Any more objections?"
"No, no..."
"The general is wise..."
Lin Qing's lips curled slightly, and he glanced at everyone present like the King of Hell before slowly carrying his knife away.
He seemed to be whistling, and looked to be in a good mood.
………
Two years later.
“Miss, after Wu Sheng and I leave,” Qi Man tossed the bundle to Wu Sheng, her eyes red with tears, and hugged Song Ling, “you must take good care of yourself.”
Song Ling smiled and patted her arm: "Go ahead, and you can come back to visit if you get tired in the future. I'll stay here."
"And this too." Song Ling took out a purse. "Even though these brocade pouches are useless now, I still wanted to give you one to carry with you. It'll put my mind at ease."
Qi Man's tears fell in a steady stream, then turned into loud sobs: "Girl, I can't bear to part with you, sob sob... I can't bear to part with Zhi Ning either..."
Wu Sheng, standing to the side, smiled helplessly: "It's not like we'll never see each other again."
“Manman, I will miss you too.” Almost four-year-old Zhi Ning, with her tiny steps, grabbed Qi Man’s trouser leg and said in a soft voice like a little adult: “Be happy, don’t cry.”
"Don't cry, hiccup, don't cry..." Qi Man squatted down and hugged Zhi Ning. "Zhi Ning, you must never forget me. I will come back to see you!"
Song Ling watched the carriage drive away, remaining motionless for a long time.
Wang Zhiyan held Zhi Ning in one arm, standing beside her, and patted her shoulder with the other hand, "It's getting windy, let's go back."
"We'll meet again someday."
Back at the Song residence, Zhi Ning was taken by the servants to take a nap, while Wang Zhiyan played chess with Song Ling.
"His Majesty should be back from Youzhou in a few days, right?" Wang Zhiyan asked with a smile. "Has he really decided not to enter the harem?"
"That's good, we're all restless. The palace is a prison."
Song Ling placed a piece on the board. "Now that the girls' school is up and running, I'll bring up the imperial examinations again after A-Zhou returns. Now that you've entered the court, it will be much easier to implement."
"We have to thank General Lin for this," Wang Zhiyan said with a smile. "This girl can't stand it when others say bad things about you. She almost slaughtered all the powerful and influential people in Luoyang because of it. The key is that His Majesty always turns a blind eye. Many people have complaints but dare not speak out."
"Ah Ling, tell me the truth, what are you thinking?" Wang Zhiyan's expression became more serious. "With such a big move from you, I don't know if my guess is right, but it will give us some direction in the future..."
Wang Zhiyan was truly afraid that if the crown prince were to turn against them in the future, all of them would perish because of Song Ling's drastic changes.
Song Ling's eyes were intense: "Ayan, what I can assure you is that after Azhou, the crown princes for the next three generations will definitely be women."
"After that, all we can do is try our best and leave the rest to fate."
Wang Zhiyan breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Then I'm relieved. After that, it's no longer something you or I can control. Now that the world is at peace, I'll be returning to Yunzhou after this report."
She glanced sideways at the person in the wheelchair not far away, "I will try to go back and have a daughter, so that I can support the crown prince."
"If someone is truly incapable, then I will send my son to the Crown Prince's backyard."
Moson, who was being hinted at, pinched the corner of the page with his fingertips, his ear tips turning red.
Wang Zhiyan had no idea how shocking her words were, "Anyway, A-Ling, don't worry, following you in my life is the best decision I've ever made."
"If I have a next life, I will still look for you."
She still harbors some resentment about what she said under the tree that year: "In the next life, I must meet you before someone else."
Helpless, Song Ling changed the subject, "How about we go check out the girls' school?"
Wang Zhiyan: "Okay."
...
"Hey, little one, slow down!"
The man followed, panting, "No need to rush."
The girl, who looked to be only eight or nine years old, stared curiously at the long queue: "Dad, can I really go to school? Like those boys?"
"Of course," the man patted his chest, "Father has brought more than enough money."
Just then, the girl smiled and tried to pull her father into line, when she suddenly saw two figures entering the girls' school.
"Father!" She grabbed the man's hand and pointed at the fleeting figure: "That, that woman, is the fairy sister who saved us a few years ago!"
"Really?" The man looked around for a long time but couldn't find her. "Perhaps she's also a teacher at the girls' academy. Nannan, you must study hard and make a name for yourself to thank your benefactor for saving your life back then..."
“Yes,” the girl’s eyes lit up, “I definitely will.”
Song Ling suddenly felt a gaze upon her, intense yet not unpleasant. She looked up in the direction of that gaze, then froze on the spot.
On a pavilion not far away, a man stood with his hands behind his back by the railing, looking at her with a smile in his eyes.
The general who went out to fight has returned to the capital.
On her nineteenth birthday.
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