Chapter 69
Mu Yulu's eyes also reddened, but her voice remained calm, unlike Mu Wanyi's exasperated tone: "You just said that I'm always flitting between different men, and that's true, I won't argue with that."
She forced a bitter smile: "But if I had a choice, I would rather be with different women than with different men. Do you think dealing with men is a pleasant thing?"
She spoke as if to Mu Wanyi, but also as if to herself: "I also want to ask, why are the regent, the business genius, and the martial arts master you mentioned all men?"
Her tone was soft, but her voice was firm: "Why can't these identities be held by women? If all these people in high positions of power were women, my life would probably be much easier than it is today. At least when I interact with them normally, I wouldn't be gossiped about behind my back as a promiscuous woman."
As she said this, she recalled what Xu Xingzhi had said at the dinner table earlier: that apart from that lady, there were no other women in the world more capable than men.
But if the school continues to develop, there may be more and more women like this.
She suddenly understood what Madam Qi's master was doing, and also understood why the school founded by her junior sister only accepted female students.
Men have endless classics and philosophical texts to read and endless long discourses to expound, while women, on the other hand, are only just beginning their journey to literacy.
If more and more women could rise to high positions of power, then women all over the world would have a much better life.
The future empress of Xuanwu Kingdom is a living example.
Her words enlightened herself, but clearly did not enlighten Mu Wanyi.
Mu Wanyi stared at Mu Yulu in disbelief, completely failing to understand what she was saying: "If the Regent Prince isn't a man, then he could be a woman? Women are naturally weaker and not as good as men, and they are not as thorough in their thinking. Even if they practice martial arts or do business, they are still not as good as men. I really don't know what you're talking about."
Mu Yulu didn't care about these questions, and she had no intention of arguing with Mu Wanyi.
She was immersed in a kind of ecstatic awakening.
Originally, she only had a vague idea: to escape the Mu family and the capital, and live freely in a place where there were no Mu family members or Prince Mu.
But how to live, and for what purpose, remained a complete blank in her mind.
But just now, she had a clear goal.
That is to go to school.
She was going to Xuanwu Kingdom, to the Qiye Academy that Qi Zhi Qiu had mentioned, to become Xu Zaiye's student, to study and learn the principles of life.
However, the fire in her heart had just started burning when it was extinguished by Mu Wanyi's words: "No wonder Father often says you're crazy. You really do say crazy things that no one can understand from time to time. You're about to get married, and you're still like this."
Mu Yulu was stunned. "What? They're getting married soon? Who's getting married?"
No matter what Mu Wanyi said to her earlier, she remained calm and composed. But now, upon hearing the news that she was to be married, she finally panicked.
Mu Wanyi naturally noticed the change in her emotions and realized that only this matter could truly hurt Mu Yulu. Her tone of voice changed: "After rambling on for so long, I almost forgot that I came here today to congratulate my elder sister on her wedding."
Mu Yulu was terrified and clenched her fists tightly to keep herself calm.
Mu Wanyi continued slowly, "In a few days, my sister will become the Princess Consort of Dingyuan. This is a marriage that all the women in the capital envy. Moreover, this marriage was personally bestowed by the Emperor. Others would beg for it if they could."
Seeing that Mu Yulu's expression was somewhat dazed, Mu Wanyi quickly added fuel to the fire: "By the way, His Majesty is in a hurry, the wedding date is set for five days from now, time will fly by..."
Before Mu Wanyi could finish speaking, Mu Yulu rushed out the door.
Five days later.
In five days, she will marry Mu Qinhan and return to the Mu Prince's Mansion, a place she has never seen the light of day.
She hadn't expected this disaster to come so quickly, far beyond her expectations.
As she hurriedly rushed to the Mu residence, she tried her best to calm herself down, taking deep breaths while thinking of possible solutions.
However, upon returning to the Mu residence and seeing the entire household decorated with lanterns and filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, her emotions, which had just calmed down, were instantly reignited.
Madam Mu Zhao and Aunt Wang were ordered to guard the main gate. When they saw Mu Yulu return, they rushed over to her one after the other.
Aunt Wang beamed with joy: "Congratulations to our eldest daughter on finding such a wonderful marriage, especially since it was bestowed by the Emperor himself. This is a great honor for the imperial family."
Mu Zhao said sarcastically, "You're such a worry. Ever since you threw the embroidered ball last time, your father and I have been worried about your marriage every day, afraid that you would ruin your reputation and be unable to get married. But now, Prince Mu is actually willing to take you."
Mu Yulu raised her eyes and scanned their faces one by one, then walked past them without saying a word into the mansion.
The servants in the manor had already informed Mu Yugang of her return. At this moment, Mu Yugang was waiting at the entrance of the main hall, looking at Mu Yulu with a joyful expression, his face almost squeezing together with all the flesh.
Mu Yulu walked through the crowd, went straight to him, and then knelt down with a thud, saying, "I will not marry."
Mu Yugang's smile froze on his face.
He first looked around, then awkwardly raised his hand to touch his nose, before pretending to help Mu Yulu up in mid-air. "What are you doing, child? You're going to be the Princess Consort of Dingyuan, and you're still behaving like this. Get up quickly, or the servants will laugh at their mistress."
Mu Yulu stubbornly knelt on the spot, raised her head and stared intently at Mu Yugang, and once again said in a firm voice: "I will not marry!"
Mu Yugang was instantly enraged. He practically jumped up and roared at Mu Yulu, "You won't marry me? Fine, then are you going to make our whole family die?"
His roar was so powerful it shook the earth and made everyone tremble. The maids hanging lanterns under the eaves stopped what they were doing, and the musicians playing instruments in the courtyard also put down their instruments.
All eyes turned to Mu Yugang and his daughter, who were facing off in the center of the courtyard.
Perhaps out of consideration for Mu Qinhan, or perhaps because he thought that Mu Yulu would become the Princess of Dingyuan after marrying into the Mu family, Mu Yugang suppressed his rage in front of Mu Yulu for the first time. After taking a few deep breaths, he tried to persuade her in as gentle a tone as possible: "I'm begging you, can't you stop making a scene?"
"Your marriage to Prince Mu is an imperial decree, not something your father is forcing you to do. If you refuse, that would be defying the imperial decree. I ask you, can you bear the crime of defying the imperial decree? Even if you are not afraid of death, I ask you again, can you really bear to implicate the entire Mu family and have dozens of Mu family members die with you?"
"No matter what, your father has raised you for more than ten years. I don't expect you to be successful and repay your parents' kindness in giving you life and raising you, but I beg you not to bring trouble to the Mu family. Give your parents and sisters a way out. Is that so hard?"
As he spoke, he walked down the steps to Mu Yulu, bent down, and tried to help her up himself. "What kind of status and position does Prince Mu have? To be able to marry him as your principal wife is a blessing you have earned in three lifetimes. Get up quickly and stop fooling around. Your father and mother will prepare a generous dowry for you so that you can marry him in a grand and glorious manner."
He grasped Mu Yulu's arms with both hands, but he couldn't pull her up no matter what he did.
Mu Yulu used all her strength but refused to get up. "Father, I still stand by what I said, I will not marry. If you are worried about implicating the Mu family, you can cut off my hair right now and send me to the mountains to become a nun, or you can disfigure me now. Without this face, Prince Mu will probably not allow me to be his princess."
She was truly driven to the brink, otherwise she wouldn't have said such self-destructive words.
Mu Yugang was so angry that he slapped her across the face.
He slapped me hard, and his own hand was trembling uncontrollably afterward.
"Why am I so unlucky to have given birth to such an unfilial daughter like you?" He slapped her again, pointing his finger at her nose and cursing, "As your father, I've worked so hard to raise you, haven't I wronged you?"
"It's one thing for you to be ungrateful, but you also want to drive your whole family to a dead end. Let me tell you, that's impossible!"
"Your behavior is so outrageous and disrespectful to your parents. Even Heaven will not tolerate you. You will be struck by lightning, do you know that? You disobey the imperial decree and refuse to marry. Then let me ask you, what am I doing having you as a daughter? Am I raising a vase in the mansion as a decoration?"
In his rage, he almost wanted to rush up and kick Mu Yulu, but the imperial edict in his hand preserved his remaining rationality.
Although the person in front of him was still his daughter, and in principle he could beat and scold her however he wanted, she would soon have another identity.
He could hit his daughter, but he couldn't hit the Princess of Dingyuan; he still had a sense of right and wrong.
Mu Yulu knelt in front of him and nodded, then banged her head on the floor tiles, making a loud thud. "I will repay you for the kindness of giving birth to me. Just pretend you never had a daughter like me."
When Mu Zhaoshi and Aunt Wang arrived, they witnessed this scene. They stood outside the courtyard for a while and watched. Seeing that Mu Yulu's face was covered in blood from kowtowing and she was still kowtowing, Aunt Wang walked up to Mu Yugang and raised her hand to soothe his breathing. "Master, calm down. Quickly help the eldest young lady up. If she keeps kowtowing like this, she will really be disfigured."
Mu Yugang snorted, ordered someone to bring a chair, and sat down in front of Mu Yulu. "If she insists on kowtowing, then let her do it. No one is allowed to stop her. Let's see how long she can keep up this act!"
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