0129 The Golden-Clad Swordsman (Part Two)
Shu Fu's idea was actually quite simple. First, she wanted to slow down Liang Zhiyan's mother's marriage proposal. Coincidentally, Liu was a devout Buddhist and would go to Xiangji Temple to burn incense and pray for important events. This time was no exception, so she decided to put some effort into it.
She told A-Jian to prepare the fortune slip in advance and find a way to get Liu to receive it when she went to pray.
A-Jian thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Then he asked urgently, "What is the second thing?"
Shu Fu then told A Jian about how she had suspected him of plagiarizing the poem he had composed in response to Xi Duzhi's poem at the Thousand Autumns Lantern Festival.
"Since he calls himself a scholar, then I will expose the one thing that scholars despise most about him."
Although this matter was not a big deal, at most it would only attract a few sarcastic remarks from others, Liang Zhiyan himself cared about it, and usually valued his reputation more than half his life.
Once this matter is exposed, he will be busy clearing his name through various means for a long time, and then he will have no time to bother her anymore.
“That’s a feasible idea, but…” A-Jian’s eyes lit up at first, then dimmed again. She lowered her voice and said dejectedly, “Miss, you’re currently confined to your quarters by the Madam. How are you going to gather evidence?”
Shu Fu gave a soft "humph," a smile appearing on her face: "But you taught me how to climb trees before, didn't you? Although it was only once, I learned about 70-80% of it. Even if I made a mistake, it was just a twist of the ankle. If I can't even endure this little bit of hardship, how can I talk about accomplishing what I want to do?"
"These two matters should be handled sooner rather than later. I don't know when Liang Zhiyan and his mother will make their move, so I will leave the manor early tomorrow morning to try to find out about Liang Zhiyan's situation. As for Xiangji Temple, I'll leave it to you."
...
The next day, just as she had said, Shu Fu seized the opportunity during the handover between the servants and deftly scaled the wall.
Once she left the Shu residence, she began to seriously consider where to start. After some deliberation, she finally decided to go find Li Miao.
Li Miao had already returned to Chang'an from Fanchuan after Shu Fu left, and these past few days he had been looking for someone to rebuild a hut for his beloved pet Tangyuan.
The craftsman had just finished designing and making several models when he brought them to her. As she was picking through them, Cai Cai came up and told her that Shu Fu had come to visit.
Li Miao was slightly surprised.
"Didn't she insist on going home a few days ago? I tried to persuade her several times, but she wouldn't stay. Now she's come looking for me again. I'm afraid there's some trap waiting for me to fall into!"
Li Miao gave a soft hum, but the model in her hand had already been placed on the table.
Cai Cai smiled and said, "Does the princess mean she doesn't want to see the second young lady? Then this servant will find an excuse to go and inform the second young lady."
“Go, of course I’ll go!” Li Miao flicked his sleeves and stood up abruptly. “I want to see what she’s done that makes her so insistent on coming to my temple.”
Shu Fu was still drinking tea in the waterside pavilion, carefully counting how many red carp were in the green waves of the pond, when a series of tinkling sounds of jade pendants rang out behind her.
She had just turned around when she was grabbed and hugged: "You heartless little woman! You said in Fanchuan that you wouldn't come to see me until this matter was settled, making it sound like you were on a military campaign. Now you know to come looking for me?"
Shu Fu's ears turned red. She broke free from Li Miao's embrace, poured herself a cup of weak tea, and slowly touched her with her fingers.
Seeing Li Miao hum and raise his chin, but still take two sips of tea, Shu Fu slowly sighed and said with a sigh, "I was too confident before. Now I'm being eyed by villains and I've slunk back to beg for the princess's protection."
Li Miao sensed the predicament beneath her flirtatious words, and his expression hardened. He turned his phoenix eyes to her, his gaze deep and unfathomable.
Shu Fu recounted these events to Li Miao, who immediately flew into a rage, slamming her hand heavily on the tea table: "Shameless! You shameless scoundrel! Shu Fu, I'll take you to the palace right now to explain this to your aunt. At worst, we can ask for her decree. Then neither Liang Zhiyan nor your mother can force you anymore!"
Shu Fu shook her head: "You and Her Majesty the Empress have been working hard to balance the various forces in the court over the new policies. If you ask Her Majesty to interfere in the marriage just for my little matter, it will only give those people an excuse to attack Her Majesty."
Upon hearing this, Li Miao gradually calmed down: "Then how do you want me to help you?"
"I have an idea in mind, but I lack the manpower to do so. Therefore, I would like to borrow some manpower from the princess to investigate such a person: he is from Xiangzhou, just like Xi Duzhi of Pingkang Ward, or perhaps from Huaizhou or Weizhou, which are near Xiangzhou. He is about twenty years old and should be quite talented..."
She thought for a moment and added, "Focus on looking among those who are struggling financially. Since Liang Zhiyan dared to blatantly plagiarize his poems and even read them aloud in a bustling place like Pingkang Lane, either this person sold the poems to him, or he was certain that this person was penniless and couldn't possibly enter Pingkang Lane. But either way, this person's situation must be extremely dire..."
Upon hearing this, Li Miao immediately summoned someone and instructed them to search for this person among the people Liang Zhiyan had been associating with recently, based on Shu Fu's description.
After the man acknowledged his order and left, Li Miao looked at Shu Fu's face, her lips moved, and she finally spoke, "If we really find out that such a person exists, what are you going to do?"
Shu Fu rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the shimmering blue pool in the distance: "Let's cause Liang Zhiyan some trouble. I'll only be happy if he's unhappy."
Li Miao stared intently at her. After a moment, Shu Fu also looked back. The two exchanged a glance, both knowing that this was nothing more than a delaying tactic, ultimately only treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
“You wrote a letter to your father a long time ago, and now so much time has passed, but Minister Shu’s reply has not yet arrived. I’m afraid…” Li Miao made up her mind and finally told Shu Fu her speculation.
The girl's eyelashes fluttered, and she said softly, "I know that the reason I trust my father is simply because he is my father. But if he is not considerate of me, but of Liang Zhiyan, who is also a man, then my trust is completely useless."
"and you……"
Li Miao's eyes showed reluctance. Throughout her life, her parents had respected and loved each other, and both had been very kind to her. She had never known that there was such a completely different kind of family in the world.
Shufu slowly raised her eyes, her gaze not showing frustration, but rather a glimmer of light.
“I remember that Your Highness has been busy with another matter recently. She wants to open a new category of ‘women’s households’ in the law of the Household Registration Department. Unlike the previous dynasty’s requirement that ‘only households with no male members and property can be registered’, the conditions have been relaxed. Anyone over the age of fifteen who is not a slave can be registered if they wish. In other words, as long as I want, I can open a household on my own without relying on my father and husband.”
Li Miao was shocked: "You want to start your own business?"
Shu Fu nodded, paused, and then smiled slightly: "Anyway, Your Highness's laws only count if someone actually enforces them; otherwise, what's the difference between them and empty words? The reason why those people in the court vehemently oppose the establishment of schools, but readily overlook the issue of establishing female households, is simply because they have seen through some of the hidden secrets—"
"Since they had tried to erase the ruling model of the southern tribes, which was different from that of the current dynasty, from all the books of the current dynasty, they were even more afraid of having a special school to teach these novel things one by one."
"In comparison, opening a female household seems less unacceptable. After all, in their view, as long as one's wisdom is not yet developed, even if one impulsively goes out and establishes another household, one will eventually be forced to return to one's original father or husband to seek reconciliation due to livelihood. They are actually more willing to see such a thing happen."
“Those shameless old men, what’s this about choosing one or the other? Of course we want both.”
Li Miao scoffed coldly, stood up, and walked towards the gatehouse.
Shu Fu also stood up and followed: "I know, so please entrust this matter to me, Princess and Your Highness, and let Afu be the first woman to establish her own household. Afu will not back down for any reason. Even if it has little effect, setting an example is still very good."
Li Miao was taken aback. He turned to look at her and saw the girl standing gracefully in the spot, the breeze from the pond swaying her pink skirt, making it flutter wildly.
She was speechless for a moment, then laughed: "Afu is truly the most deceitful young lady in the world. On the surface, she seems the most obedient and gentle, but in reality, she is more fierce than anyone else."
———
Feifei will probably appear in the next big headline... (flips fingers)
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