Chapter 8: Fighting
Chi Li's smile disappeared from her mind, and her heart began to beat rapidly. Zhao Mingyue paused for a moment, then reached out to open the car curtain to let the wind outside in.
Looking out of the car window, the marching team was so huge that you couldn't see the end at a glance.
Suddenly, there was the sound of horse hooves, and a familiar dark blue figure passed by the window.
Zhao Mingyue was a little surprised and shouted, "Mother, aren't you going to take a carriage?"
The man pulled the reins, slowed down, turned around and looked at her, a gentle smile suddenly bloomed on his stern face, "It's Mingyue, it's too stuffy sitting in the car, I'm going for a ride on horseback."
Zhao Mingyue saw that she was dressed in casual clothes, long boots, long pants, and a short shirt with narrow sleeves. She didn't have her hair in a bun or a hairpin, but wore a black soft gauze hat on her head. Some hair leaked out from the sides of her ears, fluttering slightly in the wind, making her look very refreshed and comfortable.
She couldn't help but think, "Then I want to ride a horse too..." Before she could finish the word "ride a horse", she was interrupted by a loud voice.
"Your Majesty, it is extremely disrespectful for you to ride a horse like this!"
Zhao Mingyue frowned. Where did this madman come from? How dare he scold the queen like that?
She swallowed the words in her mouth and looked in the direction of the voice. She found that the person coming was Zhao Chun's study companion, Li Xianyou, the eldest grandson of the prime minister Li Mian, who was also the one who taught her brother to say that the queen was vicious.
Li Xianyou was deeply influenced by Confucianism and had always been dissatisfied with Queen Ji's interference in state affairs. When he accompanied the prince to study, he would occasionally bring in his own ideas and instill in the prince the idea that women should not participate in politics and that Queen Ji was despicable and vicious.
After learning that the emperor had been murdered, he immediately suspected that it was Queen Chi who was responsible. He tried desperately to find evidence and even secretly read the confessions of the eunuchs who had committed the crime.
In the end, he found no concrete evidence and had to give up for the time being, but he never gave up the idea of overthrowing Queen Chi.
Therefore, when he saw Queen Chi behaving inappropriately, he immediately ran over and scolded her.
"Even as the Queen, you should still uphold your duties as a woman. Showing yourself in public like this will only damage your reputation and draw criticism. Please return to your carriage immediately."
Chi Qi reined in her horse, narrowed her eyes slightly in the morning light, and looked at the young man standing in front of her who was shouting at her.
He was only sixteen or seventeen years old, but he was dressed in a dull way, and with those dead fish-like eyes, he looked like an old scholar who had just been unearthed.
"Who are you?" His tone was somewhat contemptuous.
Li Xianyou was so angry that he almost jumped up and down, but he didn't dare to lose his temper. He suppressed his anger and said, "The Queen is really a forgetful person. I am Li Xianyou, the prince's study companion!"
Chi Yan remembered the name and slowly raised the corners of her mouth, her eyes cold. "Oh, you are the Li Xianyou who told the prince that I was vicious by nature?"
When Li Xianyou heard this, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat. It was just an unintentional remark he made to Zhao Chun after getting drunk. How could the Queen know about it?
Zhao Mingyue, who was sitting in the carriage, was also a little panicked. It turned out that Danying had told this to her mother. Could her mother have misunderstood that she was the same as Zhao Chun?
No, it must be explained clearly.
Zhao Mingyue immediately stood up and jumped off the carriage. The two maids, Chun Ying and Qiu Shi, hurriedly followed, "Princess, we can't afford to offend anyone, so we'd better not get involved."
Li Xianyou, who had been speaking confidently just now, suddenly felt timid when he looked at Chi Qi's dark and cold eyes. He took a few steps back and lost confidence in what he said.
"I, I have never said this to the Crown Prince. I always teach him to be... filial to his parents. The Crown Prince absolutely has no intention of disrespecting the Queen. The Queen should not believe the instigation of this villain."
"So, Li Bantu is doing his job conscientiously," Chi Yan smiled slightly. "Then have you taught the Crown Prince to uphold his duties as a man?"
Li Xianyou didn't understand and looked confused. "What do you mean by a man's duty?"
"Since you believe that women shouldn't be seen in public by men, then by the same token, men shouldn't casually look at women's faces. That would be more in line with etiquette, right?"
Li Xianyou said righteously, "Of course!"
Chi Li's smile widened. "That's strange. Since men should avoid women as a courtesy, why don't you avoid me when you see me? Instead, you stare at me. Doesn't this tarnish the reputation of the emperor? Li Xianyou, as a subject, what crime should you be punished for insulting the emperor?"
Li Xianyou was stunned. Could it be that Chi Qi really wanted to convict him with such a ridiculous reason?
He immediately argued, "No, that's not right! The etiquette the sages spoke of is about the distinction between men and women, with men being superior to women. There's absolutely no reason to punish someone for looking at a woman more than once!"
The smile on Chi Li's face disappeared instantly, and she said coldly, "You still dare to quibble? Come here, dig out Li Xianyou's eyeballs and tell him to abide by his manly duties in the future and never dare to look around again!"
Li Xianyou's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at Chi Qi in disbelief, his face turned pale, and he opened his mouth, "I I am...you you can't..." He hesitated for a long time and couldn't say a complete sentence.
At this time, the marching team had already stopped, and the area was filled with officials.
At first, these officials did not dare to interrupt.
After all, one of them was the eldest grandson of the prime minister, and the other was the queen with real power. Before the situation became clear, everyone weighed their own weight and knew that they could not afford to offend either of them, so they simply kept silent and waited and saw what would happen.
Among them, the vast majority are from Li Xiang's faction, backed by aristocratic families, with noble status, and naturally stand on Li Mian's side.
A few of them are from humble backgrounds. Due to being suppressed by the nobles, they have no choice but to support Queen Chi to find a way out. But if Queen Chi loses power, they will definitely run away faster than anyone else.
In addition, there are those who claim to be neutral and do not participate in the disputes between the two factions. They insist that they want to be good officials who do practical things for the country and the people, but no one knows whether they have actually done so.
Faced with the dispute between Queen Ji and Li Xianyou, these officials with different positions and identities naturally had their own considerations in their minds.
Who knows, is Li Xianyou just a young man who simply can't stand Queen Ji, or is he representing Li Xiang's faction and testing Queen Ji's bottom line?
Etiquette is just a superficial cover.
Li Xiang did not want the queen to seize power, so he used etiquette to restrain her; the queen wanted to fight for power, so she used etiquette to attack Li Xianyou.
It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong. What matters is who will be the final winner. After all, history is only written by the victors.
But they didn't expect that things would develop to the point where Queen Chi wanted to dig out Li Xianyou's eyes.
When they heard Chi Lu's order, everyone gasped. This was the prime minister's grandson. Was the queen crazy?
The atmosphere suddenly became solemn, and everyone's eyes were tense. You looked at me, I looked at you, all with faces full of hesitation and struggle.
After all, Queen Chi was notoriously cruel. What if they stepped forward to persuade her and accidentally lost their heads? Li Xianyou had a prime minister grandfather as a talisman, but they didn't.
Their eyes darted around, and finally all focused on Zhu Chengqin, the captain of the Jinwu Guard, who was guarding nearby.
But he was seen holding the sword at his waist with one hand, standing there motionless as if he had not heard what Queen Chi said.
Without the captain's order, the guards dared not move.
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Zhu Chengqin came from one of the four major families in the capital, so he still had some pride.
He couldn't possibly follow the Queen's orders and attack Lee Hyun-woo, that would be chaos!
When the officials from the prime minister's faction saw that Zhu Chengqin did not take action, they immediately felt emboldened and stepped forward together to plead for Li Xianyou.
"Your Majesty, please take back your order."
"Li Xianyou's bold and direct criticism was for the sake of the royal dignity and His Majesty's reputation. He has done nothing wrong. The Queen really shouldn't have taken her anger out on him."
"Please ask the Queen to revoke your order!" the officials said in unison, their voices deafening.
Zhao Mingyue had been pushed to the edge long ago. Looking at the solemn faces of these officials, she felt only fear in her heart.
This is not a plea, it is simply coercion.
But why? It was just a ride, it didn't bother them in any way, so why make such a fuss?
Zhao Mingyue looked at Chi Lu who was still sitting steadily on the horse, and thought worriedly that if it were her, she probably would not have the courage to face the doubts and criticisms of these officials.
She would just go back to the carriage in shame, hide in her boudoir, and never come out again.
Even now, she couldn't help but want to persuade Chi Yan, "Mother, forget it, don't offend them."
But after spending so many days with Chi Lan, Zhao Mingyue already knew her character very well, and Chi Lan would never listen to her.
She will not retreat when faced with difficulties, but will face them head-on.
However, Li Xianyou knew nothing about Chi Lan's character.
Seeing so many people standing up to speak for him, the fear in his heart gradually turned into ecstasy. He puffed out his chest and looked directly at Chi Lan again.
He just didn't believe that Queen Chi would dare to offend the public and attack him!
This time, it is his victory. I believe this incident will be the most exciting one in his political career. Even his grandfather will look at him with admiration after knowing it.
Thinking of this, he trembled with excitement and shouted, "Queen, even if you dig out my eyes, you can't deceive the eyes of the world. Who is right and who is wrong will be judged by the public!"
Chi Qi's face was gloomy, and the anger in her heart had already risen to a thousand feet high. This man was really looking for death!
However, through this incident, she saw clearly the attitudes of these people.
Zhu Chengqin, even if the old emperor dies, the Jinwu Guard will not obey her orders. This is really good.
And these officials too, none of them are trustworthy.
A cold gaze swept across everyone's faces, and there was an uncontrollable murderous intent in his eyes.
She memorized these people's faces.
They all deserve to die.
It's a pity that she can't do it herself, otherwise, just as they wish, she will lose all her prestige.
Chi Li's cold gaze returned to Li Xianyou's face, and she said in a cold voice, "Anyone present here who dares to dig out Li Xianyou's eyeballs will be rewarded with five hundred taels of gold and be granted the title of First-Class Imperial Guard."
Everyone was stunned. The air around them seemed to freeze, and breathing became heavy in the silence.
Li Xianyou did not expect that even at this time, Queen Chi would still refuse to give in.
He swallowed and looked at the team of guards nervously. Would they fight for the position of a first-class guard?
Fortunately, no one moved as far as the eye could see. It seemed that Zhu Chengqin was very authoritative and no guard dared to offend him.
Li Xianyou breathed a sigh of relief, then curled up the corners of his mouth, and excitement flashed in his eyes.
No one dared to stand up. He wanted to see how Queen Chi would end up!
After seeing her impotence and rage, those poor families who dream of rising to the top by supporting her should give up.
Riding a horse is not something a woman should do, nor is being in power.
Just as Li Xianyou was about to speak, a clear voice rang out, "Your Majesty, I dare!"
He was startled and turned his head hurriedly, only to see a green figure flying towards him.
Behind him, there were shouts of surprise one after another, "Stop her!"
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