In the night, the capital of West Chu was ablaze with lights. Some people were happy while others were sad.
The gates of the palace, which had already been locked during the night, opened one by one. A carriage that did not conform to the rules and etiquette slowly drove in. A withered old man without an official's robe stepped out. The new head eunuch of the Ceremony Directorate was about to go forward to support him when he was waved away by the old man.
The old man followed the head eunuch of Da Chu who had inexplicably become the number one eunuch in Da Chu. The latter felt uneasy. He didn't know why the old Grand Preceptor insisted on visiting the palace in the middle of the night to have an audience with the Emperor. He also didn't know why the Emperor wanted to meet the head of the Secretariat in Taiji Palace.
The gates of Taiji Palace were wide open. Sun Xiji struggled to walk up the steps. The lights in the palace flickered. The old man could faintly see the figure of the Emperor.
The head eunuch felt a heavy atmosphere like a storm was coming. The Emperor of Da Chu did not sit high on the dragon chair to wait for the old man. She did not walk out of the palace to welcome the stabilizing force of the Da Chu dynasty.
She stood behind the threshold of the palace, wearing a dragon robe.
Her hands were behind her back. She had an arrogant attitude that kept people a thousand miles away.
Sun Xiji stopped a dozen steps away from the door of the palace and gazed at her. The old man's weathered face became increasingly bitter. It was not only because of the insidious assassination attempt that had occurred in the manor of the head of the Secretariat. It was more because the woman in front of him had for the first time openly shown her resistance. It made the old man feel both discouraged and guilty.
After the head eunuch bowed and retreated far away from the palace, Sun Xiji slowly said, "Your Majesty, the Song family has let down Da Chu. They have let down the scholars of Da Chu. I, Sun Xiji, am blind. I cannot absolve myself from the blame …"
The woman with her back to the lights in the palace interrupted Sun Xiji. "As an official, shouldn't you kneel in front of the ruler of a country?!"
The old man, whom even the previous Emperor of Li Yang treated with respect, did not become angry. On the contrary, he felt relieved. Sun Xiji patted his sleeves and knelt down without hesitation. "I, Sun Xiji, head of the Secretariat of Da Chu's Ministry of Secretariat, greets Your Majesty!"
She sneered and said, "Tonight, the Head of the Secretariat did not wear official robes and entered the palace to meet the Emperor. Zhen considered that you are already old, so Zhen will not blame you. If you have something to say, then say it. We are all ears! "
Sun Xiji kept his head down and used all his strength to say in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the Song family cannot be trusted. Many of the civil officials in the central government cannot be trusted. Even I, Sun Xiji, do not trust them. However, I implore Your Majesty to trust the 200,000 soldiers on the frontlines. I implore Your Majesty to not take out your anger on the heroes who died for Da Chu. Don't …"
The Da Chu Empress Jiang Si rudely interrupted the old man for the second time. "Vent your anger? Don't forget that We are standing right in front of you, just ten steps away from you! If I really want to vent my anger on you, do you really think you can live past sunset? "
She raised her voice, "The Song family is blind, but I can tell you, Sun Xiji, even if there is no Cao Changqing in the capital and no imperial guards loyal to me, I can still kill all the traitors who dare to betray the Jiang family of Da Chu!"
Sun Xiji's palms were pressed against the cold ground. His hands were cold, and his heart was even colder.
After a moment of silence, the old man could only hear the endless sorrow in her words. "I have a hundred thousand swords. They were originally used to kill the Li Yang army, not the people of Da Chu, and definitely not …"
The old man could no longer hear what she said after that.
Sun Xiji knelt there, speechless.
The door suddenly closed. Through the door, the Da Chu Empress sneered and said, "You can leave. Sun Xiji, please rest assured. Da Chu, please rest assured. Since I am the daughter of the previous Emperor, I will die in the palace like the previous Emperor!"
The old man stood up with difficulty and looked at the door.
The Head of the Secretariat, who had been refused entry, turned and left. He walked down the steps of the Dan Emperor carved with golden dragons and auspicious clouds. The submissive eunuch of the Ceremony Directorate stood there quietly like a night owl, waiting for a long time.
This old man, who had been able to enter the central government of Da Chu when he was just 20 years old, only now realized that the number of times he had taken the initiative to talk to eunuchs could be counted on one hand. The old man laughed at himself. Tonight, he still did not open his mouth to exchange pleasantries. He left the palace without saying a word.
— —
In a secluded little courtyard where the lights were waning, she sat alone on the threshold wearing a dragon robe. A pair of rough brocade boots were neatly placed beside her feet, and a knife was placed horizontally across her knees. She lowered her head and took out the copper coins that she had treasured for many years, placing them from one end of the scabbard to the other.
She was regarded as the owner of Da Chu's empire, but she had always felt that the only thing that truly belonged to her was these copper coins.
The two seniors that she trusted the most in her life, the old man wearing a sheepskin coat and the uncle waiting for the order, both regarded her as a rare genius in the way of the sword. However, during the last and only time that she traveled with Li Chungang in Jianghu, she was always unwilling to practice swordsmanship with Li Chungang. Sixty years ago, many Jianghu masters yearned to receive a few words of advice from Li Chungang. She did not know why, perhaps because she had seen that person practice the knife and felt that it was too difficult and too frightening, so she did not dare to practice swordsmanship. She only knew that she was timid. She had been timid for so many years and had been bullied for so many years. Why did she have to practice swordsmanship when she could easily study and earn money? In fact, there was one thing that she did not dare to admit at that time. What if one day she really became an immortal on earth after practicing swordsmanship? Would she really stab him to death?
No matter how rebellious the old bastard Song Wenfeng was, there was one thing that he said that reflected the thoughts of many old people of Da Chu. That was, even if Beiliang was the place where Jiang Ni lived, it was definitely not a place where she could rest in peace.
The Xu family and the Jiang family were not ordinary neighbors who clashed with each other. Instead, the Xu family's cavalry trampled Da Chu's mountains and rivers. It was Xu Xiao who personally forced the Da Chu's late emperor and Da Chu's empress to death. It was Hsu Fengnian's father who personally killed the parents of the new Da Chu's emperor, Jiang Si.
However, if that was the case, it was not impossible for her, who had long had vague memories of Da Chu and who was used to hiding whenever something happened, to leave the capital.
It was already so difficult for Beiliang, which was sandwiched between Liyang and Beimang. Then the person who took over the burden from his father not only had to face the million-strong army of Beimang, but also had the wary Central Plains and the imperial court behind him. What if he took her away today? How would the emperor who took away Da Chu face the people of the world?
How would the people of the world curse him?
In the first battle, the Beiliang cavalry had already lost more than a hundred thousand men. Would the Beiliang cavalry, who could have died a heroic death on the battlefield of Liang Mang, have to die just because of a fox spirit like her, who could bring disaster to the country and the people? Could he really not feel guilty about this?
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