Chapter 3 Confrontation: "Lord Feng is quite infatuated with her."...
Under the warm sunshine, the flowerbeds in the garden are ablaze with purple and pink hues, while the hot spring water murmurs along the path. Amidst the flowers and plants, several male peacocks display their plumage in courtship. Everything is as beautiful as a spring dream.
Feng Tan was hidden in the shadow cast by Xiao Yinshi's tall body. The man's strong sense of aggression and the unintentional pressure he released made her feel as if she were in the dead of winter.
Xiao Yinshi has been promoted to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief for five years. These five years have not diminished his ruthless and merciless demeanor as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. On the contrary, they have made this temperament even more resilient, as if it were engraved in his bones.
Feng Tan composed himself and replied, “I have three reasons for advising Your Excellency to return Lin Wanzhou to Hongxiu Pavilion. First, the court's laws are strict, and official prostitutes are under the court's jurisdiction; private transactions between officials violate the law. Second, as an official of the court, Lord Xiao has always been upright and strict, acting in accordance with the law. If word gets out that you have privately taken in an official prostitute, Your Excellency will lose all your prestige. Third, Lin Wanzhou's status is different from other official prostitutes; she is the daughter of Feng Youming. His Majesty will not forget her, and if he asks, Your Excellency will find it difficult to explain. Moreover, she is not yet of marriageable age and is not yet... not yet of age to entertain guests. As the ancients said, a beautiful woman of sixteen is... ready to break free from her virginity.”
Xiao Yinshi stared at Feng Tan's face for a moment, then a chilling smile appeared on his thin lips. "What a sharp tongue you have. You've said both good and bad things. If I don't release her, wouldn't I be acting against the country, being unjust as an official, indulging in lust, and secretly ruling alone?"
"What did he say wrong?!" The white-robed man who had been screaming earlier spat out blood. His head, which had been pressed to the ground by two guards, was forcefully lifted. The veins on both sides of his temples bulged from the force, and his eyes protruded. He had lost his elegant demeanor and looked exactly like a vengeful ghost from hell.
This is Su Bai, the most famous actress in the capital.
Xiao Yinshi raised his hand to signal the two guards to release him. Su Bai's restraints disappeared, and he collapsed to the ground, exhausted, but stubbornly struggled to get up.
His clothes were stained with blood, but his overall demeanor was as pure as snow. The light in his eyes was fierce and intense, a hatred for Xiao Yinshi that could never be erased.
Su Bai coughed up a mouthful of blood and angrily retorted, "Lord Xiao, without any evidence, came to the garden with the Imperial Guards to slaughter living people and force us to confess the truth. What else is he but someone who can cover up the truth?!"
“He is indeed a loyal servant,” Xiao Yinshi sneered. “I wonder if he would still work for his master if he knew that his master had already betrayed the information about the spy.”
Xiao Yinshi looked down into his eyes, his thumb and forefinger touching his chin. When he applied force with his thumb and forefinger, there was a "click" sound, and Su Bai could no longer close his mouth.
Xiao Yinshi's fingers remained firmly planted on Su Bai's chin. Su Bai seemed to sense something, and fear made him desperately pound and push Xiao Yinshi's arm. But the arm that was holding him was like steel, and it did not loosen its grip at all.
He struggled and whimpered, his whole body trembling like a leaf, his clothes below gradually becoming soaked with urine.
Xiao Yinshi remained unmoved and said indifferently, "After singing here for so many years, it's time to give your voice a rest."
With that, he swiftly and precisely severed Su Bai's tongue.
The red mass of flesh was casually flung out by Xiao Yinshi with a knife. Feng Tan suddenly closed her eyes, and several drops of blood were splattered on her fair face. Her heart raced and her breathing became rapid. She dug her nails into her palms to maintain her composure.
Xiao Yinshi took the clean handkerchief handed to him by his subordinate and slowly wiped his hands and cleaned the knife. "Take him away. Remember, don't let him die."
After saying that, he lifted his eyelids to look at Feng Tan, and seemed to smile, saying, "Compared to him, Lord Feng has even more backbone, daring to challenge me for the sake of a courtesan. But so many things have happened in the rise and fall of the country, and judges cannot distinguish between right and wrong, but officials can. Lord Feng is an official in charge of the Six Ministries. Is he just talking about serving the country, or is he only thinking about women?"
He paused, then said, "I have my own methods for doing things, Lord Feng, please don't presume to judge me. Besides, how does Lord Feng know that I forcibly took Lin Wanzhou into my household? I would never stoop to such a thing as abducting a woman."
The blade gleamed as the man held the sharp short knife, slowly gliding it across Feng Tan's clothes, as if to peel away her flesh. Finally, the blade stopped at Feng Tan's heart. "Considering that we served in the same court as Lord Feng, I will allow you to leave unscathed today. If there is a next time, Lord Feng will have to leave something behind. Don't you agree?"
Beneath the man's gentle demeanor lay a chilling killing intent. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Feng Tan's forehead as he struggled to defend himself. "Lord Xiao, perhaps there are other hidden circumstances in this matter. I was too anxious to investigate the ins and outs of the matter."
She closed her eyes, cold sweat sliding down her cheeks. Despite being so shocked, she still insisted, "But Lin Wanzhou is still young and doesn't understand things. Please, sir, return her to the Red Sleeve Pavilion."
Cold sweat dripped to the ground. Feng Tan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp and fierce. "If Your Excellency insists on taking her into the manor, you must first request permission from His Majesty!"
For many years, no one had dared to offend Xiao Yinshi's authority so repeatedly. In an instant, the surrounding scenery seemed to fade, and only two figures, one tall and one short, stood facing each other in the world.
Xiao Yinshi moved his short, sharp knife away from Feng Tan's heart, the tip pointing from her heart to her throat, pausing for a moment before gradually moving upwards, finally stopping at Feng Tan's cheek.
The man's dark, deep eyes locked onto Feng Tan's, his voice cool and slow, "Aren't you afraid?"
Feng Tan stared into Xiao Yinshi's eyes, "Afraid."
Xiao Yinshi watched as another bead of cold sweat trickled down the cheek of the boy before him, and chuckled briefly, "Even though you're this scared, you still want to save him?"
As he spoke, the blade had already slightly pierced the skin on Feng Tan's cheek, and a thin line of blood peeked out from the gap in the skin. The blooming red plum blossoms instantly blurred the stars and clouds, and a feminine aura arose from it, creating a stunningly beautiful scene.
Blood stained Feng Tan's cheek. The coolness of the blade against her skin and the man's heavy pressure made Feng Tan want to curl up, but her eyes met Xiao Yinshi's without flinching, and the tears of fear in her eyes refused to fall easily.
She raised her head slightly, her fearless cheeks fully exposed to Xiao Yinshi's eyes, and said, word by word, "My lord will not understand that there are always people who are willing to risk their lives to save the people they want to protect."
Xiao Yinshi, who had always been as steadfast as a storm, now leaned over to look at the boy's trembling, seemingly fearful yet courageous, his eyes filled with an avalanche brewing for a thousand years.
Such stubbornness, such... willingness to go all out, like a green bamboo that refuses to bend, growing ruggedly and swaying in the cold.
How similar this is to my past self when I had nowhere to turn.
After a few breaths of exchange, Xiao Yinshi slowly withdrew his short sword, a cold sneer escaping from between his teeth, "Lord Feng is quite infatuated with her."
Sheathing his dagger, Xiao Yinshi's expression returned to its usual cold and stern demeanor. "Tomorrow at dusk, I will send someone to fetch you to see her. However..."
He glanced back at Feng Tan meaningfully, "Whether you can take her away within twelve hours depends on your ability."
The man's intimidating aura receded, and Feng Tan, barely escaping death, felt her inner shirt soaked with cold sweat. In this very first battle, a battle between a dragon and a tiger in the capital, she had been caught completely off guard. She knew perfectly well that Xiao Yinshi hadn't attacked her only because she still held a position of authority.
Even a low-ranking official is still an official. Xiao Yinshi is a subject, not a ruler. Even if he wanted to kill her, he would never do so here. That's why Feng Tan refused to keep quiet in front of Xiao Yinshi. If she backed down, Lin Wanzhou would be in trouble.
Lin Wanzhou is Mr.'s daughter.
Therefore, she cannot back down.
During the eight years Feng Tan spent in the countryside, she had a tutor named Zhong, whom everyone in the private school called Mr. Zhong. Mr. Zhong was a man of great learning, living a life of quiet seclusion in the city. He taught his students the Confucian way, the way of governing the country, the way of serving the people, the way of officialdom... He also taught them the superiority of men over women and that patriarchal and husbandly authority were inviolable.
He was never Feng Tan's true teacher.
Feng Youming was born into a prominent family and was personally tutored by Grand Tutor Feng, the tutor of two emperors, from a young age. Grand Tutor Feng imparted almost everything he knew to her, including the Four Books and Five Classics, astronomy, geography, historical anecdotes, and the way of the gentleman. The education she received in a patriarchal society puzzled her. Why could men ride horses across the seas and conquer the world, debate in the court and become prime ministers and nobles, while women were like caged birds or trapped fish in a pond, confined to the inner quarters of the house their entire lives?
She understood from the books taught by Grand Tutor Feng that the world's system was unfair. This sudden realization filled her with indignation. In order to fight against feudal ethics, she established girls' schools and women's societies, and published articles criticizing male superiority and female inferiority, advocating for women's education, freedom of marriage, and women's right to participate in the imperial examinations. These efforts greatly promoted the liberation of women's minds at that time.
Feng Youming was a soul born for battle, a soul born for women's equality. She knew that reformers rarely met a good end, so when the emperor sent troops to Linzhou to arrest her, she was completely unmoved.
On that bright sunny day, tens of thousands of women in Linzhou watched her being led onto the execution cart, tears streaming down their faces. Only Feng Youming raised her head and sang: "Never say that women are not heroic, for every night the Longquan sword sings on the wall!"
Feng Youming committed a shocking crime, enraging the emperor, who arrested her on charges of treason and ordered her execution in the autumn. Feng Youming's younger sister, Empress Xiaoxian Feng Sangrou, set fire to Weiyang Palace to save her sister, sacrificing her own life in the flames.
Before committing suicide by self-immolation, Feng Sangrou secretly sent her biological daughter, Feng Qinghuang, out of the palace. She then used the whereabouts of the emperor's only daughter as leverage to forbid him from torturing Feng Youming, otherwise the emperor would never see Feng Qinghuang again in his life.
The world was amazed. Feng Sangrou was gentle and kind throughout her life. No one would have thought that the Empress would openly defy the Emperor's orders and commit suicide by self-immolation to save her own sister.
However, the case committed by Feng Youming is of great importance. Even if Feng Youming has the whereabouts of the emperor's own princess, the emperor cannot allow her to live under the public eye forever.
After the Empress's death, the Emperor interrogated Princess Feng Youming in prison, demanding to know her whereabouts. When he failed to get the answer, he angrily set a ten-year deadline. If Feng Youming still refused to speak after ten years, she would face execution.
Eight years have passed, the emperor's wrath has not subsided, and the time for slaughter is approaching. Time is running out for Feng Tan.
The mysterious deaths of Gu Junwei, son of the Minister of War, and Zhu Youqing, Vice Minister of Revenue, in the Red Sleeve Pavilion shocked the court and the public. Wan Niang was subjected to torture, and Lin Wanzhou was also implicated and secretly sent to Xiao Yinshi's hands. All of these events severely hampered Feng Tan's efforts to rescue Feng Youming.
The court is rife with intrigue and treachery. Those behind the scenes use the women of the Red Sleeve Pavilion as bait to wield power and indulge in lust, never imagining that this would crush their lives.
Feng Tan looked at the garden full of spring colors, and the intense sunlight shone endlessly among the flowers. Through these lights, she saw herself many years ago, sitting at the stone table in the Imperial Garden, looking up and asking her teacher: "Teacher, you say that Confucianism is pedantic and Legalism is heartless, but if I abandon them, I will have no books to read."
Feng Youming picked up the book in front of Feng Tan and said, "Then let's take the essence and discard the dross."
"So what is the essence, and what is the dross?"
“Remember,” Feng Youming gazed into Feng Tan’s eyes, “most of the words that attempt to teach you how to be a woman are absurd attempts by men to tame you. They are disguised in the cloak of sages to blind you. You should know that it is easier to defeat the bandits in the mountains than to defeat the bandits in your heart. You must be able to discern and understand, investigate things and gain knowledge, and then your heart will be bright.”
Looking into the little girl's confused eyes, Feng Youming grasped her shoulders and said earnestly, "The prosperous age you see, the sage books you read, are the prosperous age of men, the sage books of men, not ours."
At this point, Feng Youming sneered, "Gentleness and virtue are a woman's destiny? Destiny? Who put this destiny on her? They exclude women from mainstream competition, while they participate in the imperial examinations to realize their ambitions, enjoying a life of success and pleasure, while they... are born merely appendages of the father-husband system, tools in the hands of men throughout their lives, without freedom or human rights. This world has been sick for too long, with dark clouds obscuring the sun, which is why they cannot see the light."
Feng Tan paused for a moment, then said, "But sir, there's nothing we can do."
Feng Youming tightened her grip on Feng Tan's shoulders, denying it, "No, we haven't done anything yet."
She gazed deeply into Feng Tan's eyes, slowly releasing the girl's shoulders, and said, "The clouds are too thick; someone has to break through them to let the sun shine through. Today is the last lesson I will teach you. After tomorrow, I will no longer be your instructor."
Feng Tan tugged at her sleeve and looked up at Feng Youming, "Where are you going, sir?"
A gyrfalcon, unwilling to leave, perched on the palace eaves in the distance. The dim shadows behind Feng Youming could not obstruct the morning light in front of her. Her eyes held a stubbornness as if it were destiny, and she whispered to Feng Tan, "Go and tell them that they are free."
Eight years have passed, but Feng Tan still remembers how bright the gentleman's eyes were when he said those words, like the rising sun, bursting with youthful vigor, a yearning for the new dynasty.
Pure, bright, and radiant, reflecting all things.
At that time, the gentleman stood amidst the deep green and vibrant red flowers, already the most outstanding among them.
As for the countless women in this world who have been devoured by Confucianism, Legalism, and the rites and ethics, the blood of the deceased beneath her feet is horrifying and striking. The sandalwood in the wind extinguishes the wildfire burning rampant in their souls, and she repeatedly reminds herself that she is powerless to save them.
A note from the author:
Is anyone watching? (π_π)
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