My name is Wen Jingming, and I was born into a family of scholars.
My father was a man of great talent and was very strict with my studies. As far as I can remember, I could only read books all day long, which was very boring.
Whenever I wanted to play and looked out the window and was distracted, my father would scold me with a ruler.
Therefore, I could only focus on my studies with difficulty. However, by the age of ten, I had memorized most of the books and could even compose my own poems.
Only then would my father let me put down the book and empty my mind.
At this time, the sound of the little girl next door playing and having fun actually added a little fun to my every day.
I learned from my mother that the house next door was the residence of the Minister of Works, and that the little girl was the daughter of the Minister.
When I was a little older, my father passed away due to illness.
But I don’t know if it’s because of the habits I developed since childhood, but I no longer want to go out to play like I did when I was a child, so I still read in the yard.
The little girl next door had grown up, and one day she stuck her head out to pick fruit from the tree.
The woman had a bright smile, and I felt that I really liked that bright smile.
Only then did I know her name was Xiao Yimo. As time passed, she and I grew up like childhood sweethearts.
I secretly swore in my heart that I would marry her after I passed the imperial examination.
As expected, thanks to my talent, I won the top spot in the imperial examination.
Because the new emperor wanted to promote his own ministers after he ascended the throne, I, a young man, happened to be favored by the new emperor. Within three years, I had become the prime minister.
There were still many old ministers who were dissatisfied, but they had no way to resist.
After all, in addition to the emperor's favor, I have cultivated a lot of power of my own in these three years.
But I found that Xiao Yimo was no longer the little girl she used to be. An expression began to appear in her eyes that I couldn't understand.
She would sometimes ask me about the Emperor and the virtuous prince, and I would just think it was just girlish curiosity, and ignore the ambition in her eyes.
Once, Xiao Yimo asked me to accompany her to the temple. Seeing the expectation in the girl's eyes, I didn't refuse.
As I stepped into the temple, I felt my whole soul was cleansed, and I heard Xiao Yimo's chattering voice beside me.
At this time, a woman passed by me. The woman was dressed in white clothes as white as snow and had a pretty face. At that time, I had no idea what entanglement I would have with her.
Xiao Yimo, who was still talking, suddenly became quiet and looked at the woman next to her.
Nowadays, there are two beauties in the capital, one is Xiao Yimo, and the other is Fu Yunxi, the daughter of the Duke's Mansion.
"Do you think she is pretty?" I heard a girl's coquettish voice coming from the side, but I have never cared much about a woman's appearance, so I just smiled faintly and didn't answer.
I don’t know if it was my illusion, but I felt that the young lady from the Duke’s Mansion glanced at me.
When we asked for divination in the temple, I got the best fortune, but Yi Mo and the young lady from the Duke's Mansion seemed to have been mixed up, and finally they were swapped.
"This young lady holds the Phoenix King fortune stick," said the temple's senior monk. "Phoenix King fortune sticks usually indicate wealth or nobility, and the potential to be the mother of the nation."
The monk was right. The last person who took the Phoenix King's sign was the late queen.
However, not everyone who gets the Ho-Oh sign is like this, there are also those who give up on their own.
However, if a man marries a woman who holds the Phoenix sign, he will have the appearance of an emperor and be able to unify the world.
I stood aside and saw the uncontrollable smile on Yi Mo's face. At this moment, I felt a little distant from her.
On the other side, Fu Yunxi received a blank sign. The monk said with a complicated expression, "Donor, the world is unpredictable. Just do what you think is right."
Not many days had passed since this incident, when word spread in the early morning that whoever obtained the Phoenix King would rule the world, and Yi Mo was that Phoenix King.
I originally thought that she didn't want to marry into the palace, so I went to the Xiao Mansion to ask her opinion. If she didn't want to, I would be willing to take her away, even if it meant risking my life.
But the woman didn't look reluctant, so I had no choice but to agree.
Later, Xiao Yimo became a noble concubine in the palace. As a weak woman, she could not handle the affairs in the palace, so I tried my best to help her in any way I could, which also fulfilled our childhood friendship.
By this time I had reached the age to get married, and my mother was urging me to do so, but I was not in a hurry.
But Yi Mo always talked about this matter in front of me, feeling sorry for me, and even asked the emperor for permission to marry Fu Yunxi to me.
At that time, I just thought that this might make Yi Mo feel more comfortable, so I didn't refuse.
I was a little distracted when I got married, and the thought of sleeping in the same bed with someone I didn't know at night actually made me back off.
So at night I used the excuse of having official business to go to bed in the study.
In the following days, I got to know my wife better. She was not just beautiful as the outside world said. Instead, she was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
I felt a little guilty for a moment. If she hadn't married me, she might have married someone who truly loved her.
So I told him all these things and said to her, "I can treat you as a sister and give you everything you want."
There was a flash of hurt in the woman's eyes, but she was very polite and didn't say anything, leaving me with only her back.
In fact, she had guessed it as early as when she saw her husband and another woman in the temple, who looked like a perfect match.
In the days that followed, I treated her very well, giving her all the rare treasures I had, as if only in this way could I make up for the debt I felt in my heart.
The most commonly circulated stories among the people, besides how the emperor doted on Concubine Xiao, were how the prime minister doted on his wife.
I was ashamed to hear this news. After all, the emperor still truly loved Concubine Xiao, and I was just compensating Fu Yunxi.
But the woman did not show any sadness. Instead, she was very considerate to me. She would prepare food herself and send it to my study on weekdays.
The days passed like this, and I lived a very peaceful life.
Knowing that the border war had been lost, the Jiang Kingdom's request was to marry a woman born with the destiny of a phoenix.
Xiao Yimo spent the entire day in tears in the palace, so the Emperor naturally didn't want his beloved concubine to marry into a foreign alliance.
However, it is not easy to find a woman as beautiful as Xiao Yimo. If an ordinary woman is sent, the Emperor of Jiang will be dissatisfied and war may break out again.
At this time, the emperor thought of Fu Yunxi and came to discuss this matter with me.
Actually, I didn’t know this because Xiao Yimo mentioned Fu Yunxi in front of him.
With the proposal from the monarch I was loyal to and the person I used to like crying, I told Fu Yunxi about this matter.
After the woman heard this, the light in her eyes seemed to disappear. She did not resist much, probably because she knew that it would be useless even if she resisted.
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