Chapter 28: Marking
When Chi Qi returned to the palace, it was almost dusk. The setting sun dyed the palace walls golden, the heat in the air had not yet dissipated, and her shadow slanted behind her.
She walked into the main hall. Danying was lighting the lamp. Zhao Mingyue was leaning over the table and had fallen asleep.
Chi Yan walked over and pushed her awake, "Have you finished grading the papers?"
Zhao Mingyue sat up sleepily. Seeing her, she said with a hint of complaint, "I finished reviewing it a long time ago. Why did you just come back, mother? I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Chi Qi took her hand, pulled her up, and sat down on the chair herself. "I didn't ask you to wait for me. I'm just grading a few papers. Are you tired already?" As she said that, she took the answer sheet on the table.
Zhao Mingyue came up to her and urged, "Mother, come and see if my review is good."
Chi Qi nodded softly, picked out the four copies that she had marked as top-notch, and read through them quickly.
The first one discusses the idea of "cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country and pacifying the world" and the etiquette and legal system in which women are in charge of the home and men are in charge of the outside world.
Only after becoming the mother of the family can a woman gain some power as the head of the family through filial piety. This is also the reason why people in the world prefer to have sons rather than daughters.
And it was precisely because the Queen Mother was the mother of the new emperor that she was able to become the head of the royal family and rule on behalf of her son. This was reasonable and legal, and no one dared to say otherwise.
Seizing power from men? Chi Li chuckled. This person had a clear analysis of the source of her power.
She threw this one aside and looked at the second one, which talked about "learning from history" and cited some measures taken by the powerful empress dowagers in the previous dynasties, such as establishing female households, distributing female land, opening female courses, building girls' schools, etc.
Chi Qi lowered her eyes, a hint of disapproval flashing across her eyes. If history was any guide, all these moves had ended in failure without exception.
Looking at the third and fourth papers... there are no new ideas. They are just answering questions for the sake of answering them, and their minds are not on the topic, but it is enough.
Chi Yan threw the papers back on the table, not bothering to look at the rest. "Let's just take these four. Write down their names and have the Ministry of Personnel draft an imperial decree to appoint them as fifth-rank imperial secretaries and transfer them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
Danying agreed, "Yes." She walked forward and removed the sealing paper covering the names on the answer sheets one by one.
Zhao Mingyue looked surprised. "Mother, why don't you take a look at the others? What if there are better ones than these four?"
Chi Li turned to look at her, her tone indifferent, "Since I asked you to review the papers, it must be because I believe you have the ability to do so. Otherwise, I would have done it myself. Why would I bother asking you to judge?"
Did A Niang trust her so much? Zhao Mingyue felt happy, but also a little guilty. She glanced at the table. That paper...should she let A Niang see it too?
Of the twenty-four papers, she had forgotten most of the essays written by people after reading them. Only the words on the first paper were still lingering in her mind.
"The powerful have the power to decide life and death."
"Those with great power can allow the most sinful to live, and the innocent to die, reward those who have done nothing, and seize the wealth of the wealthy."
When Zhao Mingyue saw these two sentences, she suddenly tightened her grip on the pen and her heart began to pound.
Let the sinners live, let the innocent die... Completely and absolutely control the fate of the world in your hands.
No wonder the book says that the emperor’s wrath will result in millions of corpses and blood flowing for thousands of miles.
The party that holds power will not be punished even if they do all kinds of bad things.
Because morals and rules are all made by them.
It was precisely because of this that there was the debate at the morning court: if a husband killed his wife or concubine, he could pay money to settle the matter, but if a wife killed her husband, it was an unforgivable crime.
Is it possible that the power that people pursue is created just to oppress others?
Zhao Mingyue felt a little uncomfortable, took a deep breath, and continued reading.
"Women are those without a home, family, property, or job."
"When you are young, you live with your father. When you marry, you live with your husband. When your husband dies, you live with your son. You live under someone else's roof all your life. That's why you have no home."
"Tracing back to its origin, we do not know who our ancestors were; tracing back to its roots, we do not know the surnames of our descendants. Therefore, we have no clan."
"When a household is extinct, no one can inherit the family property; when a state is established, no land can be distributed. Therefore, there is no property."
"A servant from a poor family cannot escape the hard labor of housework, while a noble lady from a rich family must spin and weave herself, and therefore has no job."
After reading this, Zhao Mingyue lowered her eyes and thought for a while.
So, does this mean that the situation of a noble princess and a commoner woman is actually the same?
Commoner women could not inherit family property, nor could they establish a household and share land. As a princess, she could not inherit the throne, nor could she inherit a title and share fiefdom.
As for the last point, Zhao Mingyue suddenly remembered that when her mother was alive, although she was already the queen, she still had to do needlework and make pajamas and sew sachets for her father and brother. When she was only four years old, she sat at her mother's feet, clumsily learning to knit, and she would sit there for an entire afternoon.
Her mother would touch her face and praise her, "Our Mingyue is so well-behaved and sensible."
In her memory, her mother's smile was so gentle and kind, but now when she recalls this memory, she is filled with sadness.
If her mother were still alive, she would definitely help her brother to secure the throne as she always regarded the title of virtuous queen as the greatest honor. As for her daughter, she would just choose a son of a noble family to marry.
It turns out that just like her father, in her mother's eyes, she and her brother are also different!
Even though Zhao Mingyue already understood this, her heart still ached when she really came to this conclusion.
However, both emotionally and rationally, she could not blame her mother for her favoritism. After all, her brother could give her the title of empress dowager, but she could give her nothing.
How many people in this world can completely put aside their own interests and love their children selflessly?
One in ten, or one in a hundred?
Zhao Mingyue didn't want to delve into this issue. The person was gone, and it was meaningless to think about it anymore.
She calmed down and continued reading:
"Throughout history, there have been many cases of women holding imperial power, but few have succeeded in passing the throne to a woman and prolonging the reign. Is it because they didn't want to? No, it's because they couldn't."
"Where does the power of the emperor come from? It is because every man in the world can be the father of the emperor. When the father dies, the son inherits. When the elder brother dies, the younger brother inherits. Regardless of whether they are powerful or common, the dynasty can last for eternity. Therefore, all men in the world support him as the emperor."
"Everyone competes to be a father. Sons are born as sons, and daughters are abandoned as ghosts. But without daughters, how can there be a wife? Without a wife, how can there be a husband? Without sons, how can there be a father? Therefore, a family line lasts for ten thousand generations, but within three hundred years, it is already extinct."
"The old dynasty has fallen, the new dynasty has been established, and even if the old system is restored, the paternal lineage will rule the country, yet no one has ever been able to break the three-hundred-year curse."
"Throughout history, all women who have ruled the world have always inherited and returned power to their husbands and fathers. This is because if power is passed on to women, it will inevitably be rebelled against by husbands and fathers all over the world."
"Have you not heard people say, 'Are kings, dukes, generals, and ministers of any race?' Have you ever heard people say, 'Are kings, dukes, generals, and ministers of any race?'"
"Therefore, if a woman wishes to take power, she must kill all the husbands and fathers in the world. Then, her family will be the ruler for three generations, or even ten thousand generations. No one will dare to exterminate her clan."
With a click, Zhao Mingyue dropped the brush in her hand on the table. It was a hot summer day, but she couldn't help but shiver.
Danying gave her a strange look, "Princess, is it too hot in the palace? Let me fan you."
"No, thanks." Zhao Mingyue refused, picked up the pen again, and placed it on the paper, but did not put it down.
Kill all the husbands and fathers in the world... Is this person crazy? How dare he say such a sinful thing?
Although she also agreed to take back the power that belonged to women, but, but, isn't there a better way than this?
Doing so will inevitably provoke a war, which will kill so many people!
Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't really want to be an emperor anymore. She doesn't like the feeling of having the power of life and death, nor does she want to oppress others, and she certainly doesn't want to see millions of corpses and thousands of miles of bloodshed.
She only hopes that good people will be rewarded and bad people will be punished, and that men and women can live equally and happily.
Zhao Mingyue bit her lower lip and finally made up her mind. She gave the paper a poor grade, then took a long breath, raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and felt much more relieved.
After that, she graded the remaining 23 papers very smoothly and selected four of the best ones.
But she never expected that Chi Li would directly use the person she chose instead of reviewing the papers herself.
This made Zhao Mingyue feel an invisible pressure and responsibility. What if she was wrong? What if she caused someone who could have been selected to lose this opportunity?
Just as he was struggling, Danying's voice rang in his ears, "Master, it has been copied."
Zhao Mingyue looked up and saw her handing the list to Chi Lan. She immediately stretched her neck to look at the four names she had copied on the paper: Jin Suwei, Bai Jun, Mu Jingde, and Qiu Shenniang.
Zhao Mingyue was a little surprised. She thought that even if there were no Six Shangs, there should be Twenty-Four Departments. However, she was not familiar with these names. They should be female historians of a lower rank.
Chi Li didn't care about these things and nodded, saying, "Okay, let them take over tomorrow." She only cared about whether there was someone to work for her.
Danying agreed and began to organize the other answer sheets.
Chi Li glanced at the sky outside. It was already dark, so she turned to look at Zhao Mingyue and said, "Since you are sleepy, go back and rest."
Zhao Mingyue pursed her lips, still hesitating whether to tell Chi Lan about the paper. If she didn't tell her now, she would have no chance.
Seeing that she looked worried, Chi Qi asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. Then I'll go back first, and mother should go to bed early." Zhao Mingyue said quickly, stood up, bowed, and left the palace.
Since the matter has been decided, it is better not to make any more trouble.
In the palace, Chi Yan watched Zhao Mingyue's back as she quickly left. A hint of suspicion appeared in her eyes. She looked at Dan Ying and asked, "Princess, did something happen to you today?"
Danying tilted her head slightly, as if thinking carefully. After a long pause, she replied, "The princess has been marking papers and practicing archery today. She has been waiting here for her master to return. She hasn't encountered anything strange. However, I saw the princess drop her pen once while marking papers, and her expression was a little strange for some reason—"
As she spoke, she quickly pulled out a paper from the stack and handed it to Chi Yan, "Master, you can take a look. This is it."
Chi Qi glanced at her suspiciously. It seemed like this person was setting a trap for her again, but she really fell for it.
He raised his hand to take the paper, and as soon as he unfolded it, the two huge words "inferior" came into view.
From the degree of ink smudges, it can be seen that Zhao Mingyue put a lot of effort into writing these two words.
Looking at the name again, Xue Qi? Isn't this the Xue Siji that Danying mentioned last time?
Chi Qi raised her eyes and looked at Dan Ying again, but saw that she had her brows lowered and looked very submissive. She did everything perfectly and there was really no fault to be found in her.
She withdrew her gaze and quickly scanned Xue Qi's answer sheet. After reading it, she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
This person is really interesting.
Chi Qi threw the paper back on the table, stood up and walked out of the hall.
Danying couldn't help but raise her head, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Chi Ling say:
"It's too late today. Call her to see me tomorrow."
Danying immediately arched her eyebrows and said, "Yes."
If it's done, Xue Qi can get the money!
These twenty-four answer sheets were naturally "carefully selected" by Dan Ying. Among them, Xue Qi was the one who was most willing to spend a lot of money. He almost used up all his savings in the past few years since entering the palace to win the position of Shishu.
However, Danying did not say anything final. She could not interfere with her master's decision. She just said that she would help her fight for more.
For this purpose, she deliberately placed Xue Qi's paper on the top so that Princess Mingyue would see hers first.
But she never expected that the princess would give Xue Qi an inferior grade without hesitation.
Although she didn't know what Xue Qi had written, she didn't think she should be given a low grade. You know, Xue Jiaoshi was recognized as the most knowledgeable female official in the palace.
Fortunately, she finally secured an opportunity for Xue Qi to meet the master. As for what would happen afterwards, that was not within her consideration.
————
The next day.
Chi Qi had just washed up and came out of the bedroom when she saw Liu Shen'ai sitting at the table in the outer room with his arms folded across his chest and his chin raised, looking like someone who was not easy to mess with.
The palace servants lowered their heads and carefully served tea, not daring to even look at her.
Even the usually calm Dan Ying felt uneasy standing next to her. "Sixth Instructor said he had something urgent to report to the Master, so I asked her to come in and wait."
Chi Yan knew what she was going to report and nodded to Dan Ying. "Go prepare some honey shaved ice. Everyone else, please leave."
Danying agreed and led all the palace maids out of the hall.
When Liu Shen'ai heard Chi Li take the initiative to ask someone to prepare honey shaved ice, he lowered his raised chin a little, "And there's the taste perception program we agreed on, don't even think about shirking your responsibility!"
Chi Yan opened the system store panel and used the nearly 1,000 points she had accumulated to redeem her five senses.
Liu Shen'ai took a deep breath and smelled the light sandalwood scent in the hall, which was very novel.
Chi Yan walked over to sit next to her and didn't waste time talking to her. "Tell me, what did you find when you went to Li Mian's place?"
Not even a word of concern for her. Humans are so heartless!
Although Liu Shen'ai complained in her heart, she still honestly repeated everything she heard while lying on the roof word for word because she had just gotten something good.
“…That’s what they said.”
Chi Li sat up straight, her eyebrows raised slightly. What had Liu Shen'ai just said? Did Li Mian send someone to kill Song Guangyi?
She was worried that she couldn't find an opportunity to depose the prime minister and directly take charge of the six ministries. Li Mian's actions were exactly what she wanted.
Of course, we also have to thank Song Guangyi for fully realizing his value and contributing his remaining energy to her until his death.
But the matter of Li Jiying surprised her a little.
She didn't know before that the Li in the case of Li causing the drowning of her husband, Xiao Shen, the son of Duke Cao, was actually the daughter of Li Xiaoci.
It is obvious that the Minister of Justice concealed this information in the file.
Li Jiying not only killed her husband, but also wanted to sue the father of her wives and concubines for killing them. The Minister of Justice colluded with Li Mian and others, not only intercepted the petition, but also let Li Xiaoci tear it up?
Chi Qi couldn't help but curl up a cold smile. This case was really interesting. If it was not made into a big case, wouldn't it disappoint the Li father and son?
She had already thought of a brilliant idea, but she still needed someone to carry out the most critical and dangerous step for her.
His gaze naturally swept towards Liu Shen Ai, who immediately sat further away with a wary look. "What are you doing? You want to order me around again? No way!"
Looking at her cold face, Chi Qi immediately denied it in her heart. No, Liu Shen Ai couldn't do this.
I need someone who is more approachable and kind, or at least appears to be kind.
To be able to convince people by appearance alone.
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