Chapter 860 The Female Ruler [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]
As the dark blue night fell, it obscured the orange-red sunset sky.
The moon was bright and the stars were few. The vast lake was like a mirror, reflecting the bright moon and making the night on the lake brighter than on land.
Under the moonlight, the vast lake shimmered.
Lu Jinghong and Madam Li followed the middle-aged Yue woman on a raft, and it is unknown how long they wandered around.
When we arrived at an island deep in the mountains, it was almost midnight, and the moon was high in the sky.
Lu Jinghong and his companion looked around curiously.
The island is small but lush and exquisite, with a high mountain cliff.
The valley below is filled with plum trees, and the further up the cliff you go, the fewer plum trees there are, and the more peach blossoms there are.
As Lu Jinghong climbed the cliff, he vaguely saw that the other side of the cliff was covered with densely packed, thin, black shadows.
He and his mother, along with the kind-hearted middle-aged Yue woman, arrived at the cliff.
In the distance, beneath a round, jade-like surface, lies a small courtyard.
It faces a large lake, and green vines climb all over the pink walls of the courtyard, which sits alone on the cliff.
The middle-aged Yue woman led Lu Jinghong and Madam Li to the front of the courtyard, then turned and went down the mountain without saying a word.
Lu Jinghong and Madam Li exchanged a glance, waited for a moment, and hesitated whether to go into the courtyard.
A cold voice suddenly rang out from inside the courtyard:
"May I have your name."
It was the blonde, waist-length queen I met during the day.
Lu Jinghong and Madam Li breathed a sigh of relief.
The former, his spirits lifted, respectfully gripped his sword and clasped his hands in a fist salute:
"Your Majesty, I am Lu Jinghong..."
The candle in the snow spoke coldly:
"I didn't ask you."
Lu Jinghong: ...
The elegant woman standing beside him glanced at the dark courtyard wall in front of them, and gracefully bowed across it.
"My name is Li Wan."
The courtyard was quiet for a while.
Lu Jinghong and Li Wan vaguely heard some clear bell sounds.
A moment later, the cold voice of the eldest female ruler continued to echo from within the courtyard:
"What is your relationship with the Li family of Longxi?"
"Your Majesty, it is indeed my clan. However, I married into the Imperial Tutor's household of the Lu Clan of Fanyang as soon as I came of age, and I am now a member of the Lu Clan of Fanyang."
"Who sent you?"
Li Wan said timidly:
"Your Majesty, it is customary for male members of the direct line of the Imperial Tutor branch of the Lu Clan of Fanyang to come south to pay respects at the ancestral graves on Zhuo Island in Yunmengze to do so before their coming-of-age ceremony. My concubine and Jinghong are also following this ancient tradition."
The sound of the candle in the snow grew louder:
"Who gave you that jade bracelet?"
Li Wan lowered her head:
"Jinghong's aunt is also my sister-in-law."
The candle in the snow seemed to murmur a sentence:
"Her brother's wife and children..."
She suddenly said, "Bring me the bracelet."
Upon hearing this, Li Wan took out a jade bracelet from her bosom and prepared to enter the room.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flew down from a tree behind them, passed over the heads of Li Wan and Lu Jinghong, snatched the jade bracelet, and flew into the courtyard.
It vaguely resembles a three-legged bird.
Li Wan and Lu Jinghong stared wide-eyed, somewhat surprised and uncertain.
Having just passed by this tree and stood in front of it for a long time, they were completely unaware that there was something on the tree.
After the bird carried the bracelet inside, the courtyard was quiet for a while, and Xue Zhongzhu seemed to be carefully examining the jade bracelet.
Li Wan and the other two dared not urge them, and held their breath and waited.
The candle in the snow finally spoke again:
Why did she give you this? Did she say anything when she handed it to you?
Li Wan sighed:
“As expected, the eldest lady recognizes it. Speaking of which, this bracelet is a family heirloom of Jinghong. It was originally given to her by her mother-in-law and was worn by her. Later, when I entered the family, it should have been given to me, but my sister-in-law had been away for many years and never brought it back until a few years ago…”
She paused, then skipped over the point and continued:
"Before this trip south, my aunt picked it and gave it to me..."
The courtyard was quiet, everyone listening attentively to the plump woman's story. Lu Jinghong, standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up:
"Given by your aunt? Mother, don't you and your aunt have a bad relationship? You even had a fight, and Father couldn't stop it..."
"Shut up."
Li Wan turned her head instantly and glared at her straightforward son:
"That was a few years ago, after your father passed away. I began to understand my aunt's good intentions. What do you know, you little kid? Don't gossip about adults."
Having said that, she turned her head to look at the pink wall covered with ivy in front of her, sighed softly, and explained:
"This ancestral jade bracelet wasn't really a gift from my aunt; she just told me to keep it for now. Jinghong has been close to his aunt since childhood, and knowing that Jinghong would be going south to pay respects to his ancestors, my aunt gave me this jade bracelet and mentioned that if I encountered any trouble on my way south, I could take this bracelet with me and come to Yunmeng..."
Li Wan gradually stopped speaking.
The candle in the snow said coldly:
"Why did you come to find Yunmeng? What exactly did she say? Tell me."
Li Wan lowered her head and looked meekly:
"My aunt doesn't talk much, but her meaning is clear: she's asking the ladies to help her out..."
Lu Jinghong looked at her mother beside her with a surprised expression.
"My aunt knows I'm going south? She... she knows the Queen of Yunmeng Sword Marsh?"
Judging from his expression, he was unaware of this before, and this is the first time he has heard about it.
Lu Jinghong's tone suddenly became excited:
"Wait, could it be that my aunt's swordsmanship is...?"
Suddenly, Xuezhongzhu spoke, interrupting Lu Jinghong:
"Li Wan, did she tell you about Jianze?"
Li Wan lowered her head and said meekly:
"My aunt hardly mentions it at all, but when I was at home, I heard some things from the elders, but I don't know if they are true or not."
"What have you heard?"
The woman from the north whispered:
"It is said that my aunt was ranked third in the Empress's Palace back then..."
Lu Jinghong's face flushed red, and he swallowed hard, extremely excited.
"The Third... the Third Queen? Mother, my aunt is actually the Third Queen of this generation's Queen's Palace!"
Li Wan ignored her belatedly realizing son and spoke earnestly:
"Your Majesty, rest assured. Don't you know my aunt's temperament? She is very disciplined and self-disciplined. After returning, she never revealed anything about your clan and kept her mouth shut. I only did this because of family..."
She was speaking cautiously when a strange woman's voice suddenly came from the courtyard.
It wasn't that powerful female ruler; there was a second person in the courtyard!
“You’re right about one thing. Third Junior Sister is indeed the most disciplined, reasonable, and stubborn. When Master was alive, he entrusted the thatched cottage to her and advocated for punishments within the sect. Even if Eldest Senior Sister made a mistake, she would still get a few strokes of the cane.”
"Actually, it's not just her. Whether it's the fourth branch of the Northern Ancestor or your Imperial Tutor branch, the scholars and extraordinary women cultivated by the Lu family of Fanyang are all known for being stubborn and inflexible. The Lu family scholar who defied ancestral teachings and moved his entire family south to seek help from our clan three hundred years ago was like that, and so is the third junior sister who was exceptionally admitted to the Queen's Hall of our clan three hundred years later."
“The Lu family of Fanyang, who have passed down the three rites and been skilled in calligraphy for generations, are very good. But today there is an exception, which disappoints my eldest sister and me a bit because she lied.”
The eloquent Li Wan immediately fell silent.
Lu Jinghong, who had initially turned her head away somewhat embarrassed by the praise, also froze for a moment.
The unfamiliar woman's voice in the courtyard was gentle and slow, yet utterly certain:
"Third Junior Sister would never use such connections or back channels to ask our sect to take care of her clansmen by bringing some kind of token. That's ridiculous nonsense and would ruin Third Junior Sister's reputation. Back then, Third Junior Sister would rather remain silent and fight to the death than ask us for help with her family matters or private schemes."
"Now you've brought her jade bracelet, saying she wants my help to take care of her nephews and nieces. Li Wan, you're not being honest. But considering your maiden name is Li, the Li family of Longxi, you're a shrewd and sociable person who knows how to choose sides."
The courtyard was completely silent.
Only the sound of bells, which Li Wan and Lu Jinghong had vaguely heard not long ago, rang out again in the courtyard, as if accompanying the footsteps of the woman whose gentle voice had been heard.
Lu Jinghong turned her head and looked at her mother, who had been traveling with her all the way, her eyes filled with indignation:
"Mother, did my aunt really give such instructions? I'm also wondering why she didn't tell me. She's always been quiet with you, so why are you spreading rumors about her? This is not the kind of thing a member of the Lu family would do. Tell the Eldest Lady the truth."
Li Wan looked somewhat embarrassed, glancing at her anxious son and then at the quiet, ivy-covered courtyard wall.
She lowered her head, somewhat ashamed, and said:
"Your Majesty, I admit that there was a slight misunderstanding. My sister-in-law did not mention bringing the jade bracelet to see you. I brought it myself. It was left at home by my sister-in-law and it was indeed passed down from my mother-in-law. That is true. It's just that my sister-in-law did not instruct me to help her."
The voice of the candle in the snow rang out again, growing colder:
"Does she know that you took your son south to pay respects to your ancestors?"
Li Wan answered truthfully:
“My aunt probably doesn’t know that when we were preparing to go south to pay respects to our ancestors, she had not returned home for a long time and we had no news of her.”
Where did she go?
"I don't know, neither I nor Jinghong have seen her much."
The candle in the snow asked again:
"Have you resolved all those messy troubles of the Lu family of Fanyang and the other five surnames and seven clans?"
Li Wan lowered her head:
"Fortunately, my aunt came back to help, and the Cui and Wang families worked together to negotiate. With some small concessions, we were able to temporarily break the sage's open scheme in Luoyang. The ban on marriage among the five families was stuck at Fengtai and temporarily put on hold."
"Among the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Rites, all the sons of the five prominent clans and seven noble families, especially those Hanlin members from our Lu clan of Fanyang who studied the integrity of virtuous scholars and 'did not change a single word,' and all the officials who compiled books with our five clans, all withdrew from the compilation of the 'Clan Records'..."
"In the newly revised 'Clan Records,' the Wei surname has been placed in the original position of 'Cui Lu,' making it the first among the Jia surnames, ranking first in the world."
Snow Candle sneered and interrupted:
"But you still compromised and bowed down. Wei Zhao almost banned marriage among the five surnames and seven clans, breaking the spine that has stood tall for hundreds of years."
Li Wan gave an awkward smile and sighed softly:
"It can't be said that way. There was some compromise involved, but it wasn't a complete defeat. We still managed to push back the big hand that the Sage extended. You have to understand that from the very beginning, the Sage and the two Wei kings who were pushing things along behind the scenes were aiming to dismantle the five clans. The newly revised 'Clan Records' of this dynasty was just a pretext, an excuse to unleash their power."
"The Sage had actually wanted to do this for a long time, but he was interrupted along the way by major events such as the Yingzhou Rebellion and the Southwest Kuangfu Army Rebellion, so he kept it hidden."
"And the fact that this situation was resolved peacefully and allowed for a few years of calm was actually due to roughly the same favorable circumstances... The Sage, the King of Wei, and the King of Liang originally intended to take advantage of the completion of the Great Zhou's Songde Tian Shu to extort a large sum of money. We, the five clans and seven noble families, had no choice but to observe the Tian Shu ceremony. Under layers of pressure, the old patriarch of the Cui clan was even prepared to sacrifice a special Cui noblewoman to marry into a different clan in order to publicly demonstrate his stance..."
At this point, Li Wan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly:
"Fortunately, the Great Queen and the goddesses of your clan possessed great supernatural powers and unparalleled swordsmanship. They destroyed the Donglin Buddha in Xunyang, Jiangzhou, and inexplicably caused the four divine statues and the Songde Tianshu to collapse together, rendering all the enormous efforts of the Wei clan and the Imperial Astronomical Bureau futile."
"Now the Sage's mind is not on us, the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families. The rampant Wei Clan's two kings have also quieted down and dare not provoke us anymore."
"Your Majesty, it was my fault for using words and being so clever before. I was too eager to send Jinghong into the Sword Marsh."
"I brought Jinghong with me on this trip south to pay respects to our ancestors because I deeply admire your and your clan's elegance and grace, and I am filled with gratitude..."
“Jinghong has loved swords since he was a child, just like his aunt. In the past, his father and grandfather locked him in the attic to study, but he often broke branches to practice swordsmanship. His aunt taught him two moves at random, and he practiced them diligently. Although I, like his father, initially opposed it, I also watched it silently.”
"It is said that where there is a will, there is a way. Jinghong is indeed persistent. Who says that the men of the Lu family of Fanyang must study? Her aunt is also a role model. She can save the family from disaster without studying."
"If we could send Jinghong into your sect, even if he doesn't have the same extraordinary talent as his aunt, just learning a few moves would be a great honor. If his father knew this in the afterlife, he would surely be pleased. And the same goes for his aunt."
After Li Wan finished speaking, she knelt down and thanked him sincerely.
The courtyard fell silent for a moment.
The germaphobe Lu Jinghong didn't care about the dust on the ground. With a "thump," he knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his hand on his sword.
"Your Majesty, I hope you can give me a chance. Your sect is a holy land of swordsmanship, a place that countless swordsmen from all over the world dream of visiting. I... I have heard..."
He was somewhat agitated, and his words were slurred:
"I have heard about your sect's three rules for not accepting men, and your sect has always accepted women but not men. Only top swordsmen who enter the swamp to learn swordsmanship can stay and cultivate in seclusion... I always thought that I had no chance with your sect in this life, but I never expected that my aunt would have such a connection with your sect... It's like a dream."
"Furthermore, Your Majesty, although I come from a noble family, I have despised high-ranking officials and nobles since childhood. I have stayed in Zhuo County, Fanyang for many years and have avoided the world of fame and fortune in Luoyang. I also disdain those纨绔子弟 (spoiled brats) who like to divide their circles based on their family background... In short, like my aunt, I am devoted to the way of the sword!"
There was some silence in the courtyard; the eldest female ruler seemed to be making her final decisions.
Lu Jinghong, standing outside, became more and more fluent as he spoke:
"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but when I was in my hometown, the happiest thing was hearing news from the Jianghu in the south."
"At that time, I heard that the Great Buddha in Xingzifang, Jiangzhou, was destroyed by you, the incomparably brave one, together with that wise and unparalleled hermit!"
"Your Majesty, you are such a proud and unparalleled person, yet you are willing to cooperate with the reclusive lord hidden in the shadows, feigning weakness to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and personally condescending to cover for the reclusive lord, allowing him to destroy the Buddha with a single sword and leave gracefully. This perfect cooperation is simply amazing..."
"When I heard this, my heart was filled with emotion, and my admiration for you and the recluse was as boundless as a surging river."
Lu Jinghong continued talking non-stop, completely unaware of the gradually falling silence in the courtyard ahead.
He looked like a devoted fanboy, his eyes filled with longing, and waved his hand, saying:
"Elder Queen, putting aside everything else, tell me, which sect in the world possesses such a bond of life and death? Presumably, within Sword Swamp, the Hidden Lord and the other Queens have a very harmonious relationship. With such a united will, and with the Hidden Lord's Dingjian (a powerful sword) overseeing things, it's no wonder that the Xunyang Buddha was destroyed so easily, and that unfortunate Tian Shu (another powerful sword) was also destroyed with ease..."
But the next second, a cold, frosty voice suddenly came from inside the courtyard:
"Shut up!"
Under the moonlight, a strong sword aura filled the courtyard, as white as snow.
The air fell silent instantly.
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(PS: I can't update on time tonight at midnight QAQ. The main reason is that without the midnight deadline, I write very slowly and carefully choose my words. For example, I started writing this chapter yesterday morning and only finished it now...or2)
(End of this chapter)
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