Chapter 44 Xue Yuxian
A dozen palace maids filed in carrying red lacquer boxes, and plates and bowls filled with fish and meat delicacies were neatly placed on the dining table.
Chi Qi took her seat first, Zhao Mingyue followed her, and Xue Qi and Wu Wenxiu sat down shortly after.
Danying stood at the table and set the dishes.
Chi Yan took a bite of her food and looked at Xue Wu and the others, who were sipping their tea with a reserved demeanor. She couldn't help but smile, "I don't like the rule of not talking while eating or sleeping. You guys can be as casual as you want."
Zhao Mingyue nodded in agreement and looked at Xue Qi with shining eyes. "Yes, Master Xue, tell me your story!"
She was genuinely curious.
At first, after reading the shocking article that answered the question "How can women take power", she thought Xue Qi was a dangerous person with a murderous nature and was terrified.
Afterwards, the prison warden and Xue Qi worked together to rescue the death row prisoner, only to discover that she was actually an extremely gentle and calm person, which changed her impression of her.
When she went to the imperial court for the trial, Xue Qi gave her advice and angrily rebuked Zhen Ruicai. He also listened to her citing scriptures to refute the officials and redress the injustice for the female prisoner, and he was extremely impressed.
And now, Xue Qi is also her teacher!
Compared to that unreliable Liu Shen'ai, she still likes Xue Qi more.
Facing Zhao Mingyue's curious gaze, Xue Qi simply smiled gently. "My story isn't very interesting, but if Princess wants to hear it, I'll obey your orders—"
Fourteen years ago, Xue Qi was ten years old. Because her family was implicated and convicted, her mother asked the old servant to take her south to live with an old friend.
Unexpectedly, the old servant had bad intentions. Before leaving the capital, he sold her to a human trafficker and ran away with the money.
The human trafficker beat and scolded her every day and forced her to bind her feet. He planned to keep her for two years and then sell her to a brothel for a good price.
She had never suffered such pain before. She was sad and angry, and she came up with some doggerel every day to curse them. She was overheard by a fortune teller passing by. Seeing that she seemed to be educated, she asked her where she was from and how she ended up like that.
Xue Qi explained everything one by one. The fortune teller felt pity for her because she spoke clearly, answered questions fluently, and was well-versed in literature, so she told her to wait patiently.
At night, the fortune teller came quietly, knocked the human trafficker unconscious, and stole Xue Qi away.
After that, Xue Qi followed the fortune teller and traveled around the country, going from street to street, telling fortunes for a living.
And this fortune teller was none other than her master, Xue Yuxian.
Xue Yuxian is not an ordinary fortune teller.
Born into a prominent family, she was originally a lady of noble birth. However, at the age of twelve, she resolutely refused marriage and became a nun. Although she chanted sutras and beat the wooden fish in the nunnery every day, she did not believe in Buddhism. Instead, she enjoyed studying Taoist texts, specializing in the art of yin and yang, numerology, the eight trigrams, and the five elements.
For this reason, she discovered that many female masters who founded sects and religions in ancient times were gradually lost in the long river of history, and their extremely wise thoughts and theories could only be seen from the few remaining words.
To this end, she decided to travel around the world, clear away the mist of history, collect and organize the works of talented women, and pass them on to future generations.
"...Over the years, I've read many books and traveled many paths with my master. I've witnessed the ugliness of human nature and the shamelessness of men. My master wanted to redress the names of women and compile a book for them. He toiled for half his life, but ultimately failed."
"She then realized that individual efforts are ultimately useless. We must gain power to write true history."
Zhao Mingyue was deeply shocked after hearing this. She had never imagined that such a legendary woman could exist in this world. She hurriedly said, "Master Xue, let's invite your master into the palace as well. She's so capable, she's sure to accomplish great things!"
Xue Qi lowered her eyes and whispered, "Princess, my master can't enter the palace. She passed away five years ago."
"Ah...?" Zhao Mingyue was extremely surprised.
For some reason, she had never met Xue Yuxian, but when she heard of her passing, she felt indescribable sorrow and regret in her heart.
Master Xue must be even sadder than her because her beloved teacher passed away with regrets and her long-cherished wish could not be fulfilled.
Zhao Mingyue glanced at Xue Qi and found that her expression was still gentle, but there was a light flickering in her dark eyes, like a dazzling fire.
She suddenly understood why Master Xue wrote "Kill all husbands and fathers in the world."
That's because she has hatred in her heart.
————
"Hate? That's right! I hate Queen Mother Chi, I wish she would die!"
Li Xiaoci has been imprisoned in the Yiluansi for several days, and he has not had a good night's sleep during these days.
Every night, the Yiluansi would take him out of the cell and torture him to find out who were his accomplices in the rebellion.
He confessed and mentioned many people's names, all the names he could remember.
But Empress Dowager Chi was still not satisfied and asked him to spit out more names.
Does she want to kill everyone in the court?
The oil lamp on the wall made Li Xiaoci's eyes sting. He was tied to a chair, and his hands and feet were in torture instruments. The torture instruments made a crackling sound, and his finger bones were broken by the torture instruments.
His face suddenly turned pale, his facial features were distorted, and he wailed and screamed. He even shouted out all his anger towards Empress Dowager Chi because he could not bear the pain.
After cursing, she cried and begged for mercy, "Sir! Aunt! Kill me, please, just kill me!"
"If I kill you, how can I report to His Majesty?" Ling Qiong snorted coldly and raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
The room was too hot and charcoal was burning. She felt a little suffocated and turned around to see if the iron in the charcoal basin was red hot.
When Li Xiaoci saw the scalding hot iron, his pupils shrank immediately. Imagining the pain of it branding his skin, the muscles on his face began to tremble uncontrollably with fear. He really wished he could die immediately.
His lips trembled and he spat out a mouthful of blood, "No, don't..."
At this time, a voice came from outside the door, "Master Lingqiong, the Liu mother and daughter are here. You said before that you could let them in to visit the prisoner."
Li Xiaoci's sluggish pupils suddenly brightened. Who came to see him? Was someone here to rescue him?
Anyone who can enter the Yiluansi late at night must be someone extraordinary. Maybe, someone has come to commit a crime for him!
Hope suddenly rose in his desperate heart, and he looked up at the door.
Ling Qiong glanced at him, sneered inwardly, and raised her voice, "Let them in. It's just right, I also want to rest for a while. This person is very stubborn and it's not easy to deal with him."
The door was pushed open, and two women who looked very familiar to Li Xiaoci walked in.
His eyes widened instantly, in disbelief, "Liu, Liu Ruiyun... are you a human or a ghost?"
Liu Ruiyun looked at his miserable appearance covered in wounds and almost laughed out loud, "Li Xiaoci, I never thought you would end up like this. When you had my body dumped in the deserted mountains, you didn't expect me to come back alive!"
Li Xiaoci didn't care about her sarcasm at all. Seeing that she was still alive, he immediately shouted, "I want to seek justice! I didn't kill Liu Ruiyun, she's not dead at all!"
Ling Qiong looked at him, looking wronged and aggrieved, and burst out laughing, as if she had heard a funny joke. "Agreed for justice? You committed the serious crime of treason, and you still want to seek justice? Why don't you want to go to heaven?"
Li Xiaoci's expression froze, but he was unwilling to give up. He shouted to his daughter, "Ji Ying, please save Daddy! Think about how good Daddy was to you when you were little. He even took you riding a big horse. Didn't you say you loved Daddy the most?"
"Li Xiaoci, I came here to tell you that you are not my father now. Mother and I have moved out of the Li family and set up our own household. Oh, and my surname is no longer Li, but Liu." Liu Jiying walked up to Li Xiaoci and said with a smile.
Li Xiaoci cursed subconsciously: "What did you say? You unfilial——"
Pah! Before he could finish, he was hit on the face. The pain made him twitch, his heart was in turmoil, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Watch your mouth! You look so pitiful, it's really pitiful. But don't worry, my mother and I will live well, so you can go with peace of mind."
After Liu Jiying finished speaking, he took Liu Ruiyun's hand, thanked Lingqiong, pushed the door open and walked out.
The dim cell slowly closed behind her. Just as she was about to lift her foot, she heard a crackling sound behind her, followed by a shrill scream, and there seemed to be a smell of burnt meat.
Liu Jiying and Liu Ruiyun looked at each other, and a hint of pleasure flashed in each other's eyes.
Knowing that Li Xiaoci would have an extremely miserable end, she finally felt relieved. After her mother returned, she could sleep peacefully.
————
After Li Mian fell from power, his followers were imprisoned one after another. People were constantly being arrested and killed.
For a time, the court was in turmoil and filled with cries of grief.
At this time, everyone realized that Queen Mother Chi was not a docile sheep, but a ferocious jackal.
Some people are afraid and dare not resist it, but some people are wary of it and develop a rebellious heart.
But no matter what they thought, no matter how angry and unwilling they were, they could only watch as Empress Dowager Chi kicked out Li Mian and took charge of the six ministries. From then on, all government orders had to be decided by her.
On this day, Privy Councilor Zhen Ruicai and officials from the six ministries came to the Tianji Palace, waiting to be summoned by Empress Dowager Chi.
After a while, the palace servants called them in. When they got inside, they saw that officials from the Sujisi and Yiluansi were already sitting behind the table in front of the throne, and Princess Mingyue was also there.
Zhen Ruicai looked at the seat below the Yiluansi and walked straight over to sit down.
Of the six heads of the six ministries, two were vacant, leaving only the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, who had served their sentences for meritorious service, as well as the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. The four of them also hurriedly sat down in order.
After a while, Chi Qi came out and everyone stood up to greet her.
Chi Li was always too lazy to talk too much. She waved her hand and asked them to sit down. "Let's stop talking nonsense and discuss the matter."
The officials were silent for a moment, looking at each other. The official from the Ministry of Personnel coughed and stood up first. "Your Majesty, the positions of Prime Minister, Minister of Revenue, and Minister of Works are now vacant. Officials should be selected to take over in a timely manner."
The expressions of the officials present immediately changed. Who will succeed the prime minister is a major issue that affects the future of the court. Who wouldn't have any thoughts in mind?
Chi Li looked at everyone's reactions, her gaze sweeping from Wu Wenxiu to Zhen Ruicai, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, "Tell me, who do you want to recommend?"
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