Long live Emperor Wu!

Chapter 20 What do you know?
"Are you really brave? Are you ready to open a dyeing workshop just for giving some paint?" Xu Chongrong opened his eyes, his dull features were cold, and he looked at her from the end of his eyes, with an indifferent expression that made people's calves cramp.

Wu Rou had figured out her temper, so she wasn't too afraid, so she just smiled at her in a cheeky way.

Xu Hui raised the hand holding the fan, waved it gently and said:
"The rest retreat."

As soon as she finished speaking, the maids serving her bowed and retreated without saying a word.

Along with Arthurs who followed Wu Rou.

"Why, do you regret entering the palace?" Xu Hui asked.

The smile on Wu Rou's face disappeared, and there was some fierceness on her face, and she said firmly:
"I didn't. My mother-in-law doesn't know that my two brothers abused my mother-in-law and humiliated our sisters. I worked hard for the opportunity to enter the palace. It is the best choice I can have."

Xu Hui saw that her face had changed. Her young and immature face was filled with an unnatural aura. She was stunned for a moment and said:
"What are you in a hurry for? I'm just asking."

Only then did Wu Rou realize that she was excited.

She couldn't help but get excited when she mentioned her two brothers.So he quickly picked up his smile again and said with the innocence of a girl:

"Oh, your Majesty is different from me. I like your Majesty, and I can't help but feel pity for your Majesty. If she were outside the palace..."

Xu Hui raised the corners of her lips slightly and asked mockingly:
"What happened outside the palace?"

"...With my status as a queen, I can still live a noble life, and have a young, handsome, and loving husband." Wu Rou said very seriously, and even had a look of regret on her face.

They lived in the same palace and had been getting along for a long time, so Wu Rou could naturally tell.

Just like His Royal Highness the King of Jin's evaluation of Xu Hui, she admired His Majesty the Emperor very much.

A person who is usually arrogant and indifferent, once he hears His Majesty the Emperor's summons, his eyes will be as bright as stars, his face will be flushed with a blush of joy or shyness, his lips will be slightly raised, and even his voice will be warmer by three points.

It's like spring coming to the glacier.

If she heard that His Majesty had hired someone to serve as his bed attendant, especially a newcomer, she would frown, with a look of impatience on her face, and ask about her personality and appearance.

She was still very proud and indifferent, but she couldn't hide the loss and jealousy she felt at that time.

After hearing Wu Rou's words, Xu Hui asked directly:
"Is there a more desirable husband in this world than His Majesty?"

Wu Rou looked at her, thought about it carefully, and said:

"...His Majesty is number one in the world, but he is old, and doesn't he like Queen Wende the most?"

Xu Hui raised her chin proudly, withdrew her gaze, swayed the fan gently in her hand, and said:
"Then it's just that I was born at the wrong time. When I was born, you were already old. What's wrong with you, Your Majesty?"

As she spoke, she changed the hand of the fan, looked at the sky above the shade of the trees, her voice became more and more ethereal, and asked:
"What are your ambitions?"

"Ambition?" Wu Rou was stunned for a moment.

The word ambition is usually used for men, and is not needed in a daughter's family.So she had never thought about it before.

But if you ask her now.

Her pupils swayed, she wanted to be a second-grade concubine.If this vulgar ambition can be called ambition.

"Well... when people have ambitions and work hard for them, they will have goals, and life will not be hazy. Even if the goals cannot be achieved, they will gain a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in the process.

Regardless of whether you are a boy or a girl, everyone needs inner satisfaction, just as naturally as people need to eat and drink.

So even women need to have ambitions... This is what Queen Wende said in "Women's Rules". "

"The Women's Guide?" Wu Rou opened her eyes wide. The Women's Guide was written by Empress Changsun. "I read the Women's Guide, but it contains biographies of famous women in history. They teach women to understand gains and losses, learn from history, and correct themselves. Yes, I didn’t remember this.”

Xu Hui was laughing at her again, slightly curling her lips and saying:
"You see that it is a deleted version of "Nvzhi". The real "Nvzhu" is spread among the fourth concubine and the ninth concubine."

"Why should it be deleted?" Wu Rou frowned, "Is it because His Majesty doesn't like it?"

When Xu Hui heard her doubting the emperor, she suddenly sat up from her chair and frowned angrily:
"How many times have you met His Majesty? Don't speculate on him like this!"

Seeing that she was really angry, Wu Rou quickly lowered her head, stood up from the side, bowed and said:

"Arou is wrong, please punish me."

Xu Hui looked at her indifferently for a while with indifferent eyebrows, then lay back haughtily, and did not let her sit down, but said softly:

""The Rules for Women" was originally written by the Queen to warn herself and teach the concubines. Some of the words are too calm and rational.

When she was alive, she was never shown to His Majesty.Later, after she passed away, His Majesty saw it, cried bitterly while holding the book, and praised it so much that he ordered it to be printed and distributed throughout the world, naturally the entire volume.

However, when the content of the book was released, the world felt that the content in it was very inappropriate. They said that the Queen was the most extraordinary woman in the world, and there were some words that she could use that ordinary women could not use, so they deleted several pages of the book. "Like what?"Ordinary women cannot be ambitious? "Wu Rou tilted her head slightly.

Although she had never experienced it before, it didn't stop her from feeling it was unfair.

Xu Chongrong sneered, looked at the sky and said:

"Something like that. She also said that if a woman is limited by love, it is just like a man who is obsessed with beauty, and it will not become a big trend."

Both of them suddenly stopped talking.

Wu Rou was immersed in shock.

In her mind, Empress Changsun, who had never met before and whose demeanor and appearance were quite similar to His Royal Highness Prince Jin, at this time, in addition to the gentle and generous image of a god, had a bit more sacred aura, as majestic as a god. .

Xu Hui, on the other hand, was immersed in self-deprecation and ridicule. After a while, he said:
"...I can't become anything big, and I won't be able to become her in this life."

Wu Rou came out of the illusion, bit her lip, and comforted her softly:

"Why do you say that...you are pretty good too."

Xu Hui glanced at her with the tail of her eyes and sneered:
"Humph, even you have pity on me, how can I be so cool?"

She didn't wait for Wu Rou to respond, she immediately withdrew her gaze and said:
"I'm going too far... When I was at home, I didn't know what ambition was. I just liked to read and compare with my brothers and sisters.

I am good at this and have been far better than ordinary people since I was a child, so I have gained unparalleled confidence and happiness.But as I grew older, I learned that men studying can gain fame and become officials, while women studying only cultivates their sentiments and adds an invisible dowry to themselves. My joy in reading disappeared. "

She paused, and her indifferent face became a little gray with disappointment, as if the mood at that time swallowed her up again. Then her pupils moved, and she continued:
"At that time, my family wanted to discuss marriage for me, and naturally they wanted to raise my status. So I, Aye, took out all my old poems and started talking about them to almost everyone I met. Somehow, it reached His Majesty's ears. .

His Majesty read my "Mountain Pian" and found out that I had written it when I was young. He was very surprised, so he specially issued a decree to praise my family, rewarded me with many possessions, and then asked me to compose another poem. "

Wu Rou listened with rapt attention, sat back down and asked hurriedly:
"Which song did your wife compose?"

"I didn't do it." Xu Hui said very neatly with a cold face, as if he was angry.

Wu Rou was dumbfounded.

Then I heard Xu Hui say:

"Instead of writing poems, I wrote a letter asking him: Why can't women take the imperial examination and become officials? I have always been better than my brothers at home, but in the end no one recognized me. Since no one recognized me, they all thought I was joking, then I won’t fight for this in the future, I don’t know how.”

Wu Rou took a breath and muttered softly:
"Your Majesty...did you really say that?"

"Yes, the chamberlain who delivered the decree looked at what I wrote, because His Majesty gave a time-limited test question. When I handed him the written paper, my, including the Holy Envoy's face changed.

But in full view of the public, who dares to deceive you into hiding something?So the holy envoy took it back intact, while I, Aye, took the whole family and waited for punishment from the palace without eating or drinking. "

Xu Hui turned her head, her face was as glacial as spring again, her coldness and coldness had disappeared, her tone was as soft and warm as spring, and she asked:

"What do you think His Majesty replied to me?"

Wu Rou looked at her expression and knew that she would never be like this if she simply forgave her sin, so she shook her head honestly and replied:

"Arou can't guess it."

Xu Hui raised the corners of her lips and said with a smile:

"He said, although I can't change the situation and let you become an official in the court, I can allow you to accompany me and give advice at any time. You can read the books in the Hongwen Museum. If you succeed in learning and have the talent to help the world, I will follow my advice and your achievements will not be inferior to those of the officials, will you come?"

When Wu Rou heard this, her heart was shaken. She seemed to see the not-so-serious emperor writing these words wantonly. He was confident and calm, and had a broad mind, which made people happy and willing to surrender.

Xu Hui looked at Wu Rou's reaction with satisfaction. There was a smile in her dull eyebrows, tenderness and admiration, and she said:
"Do you think so? Is there a better man than him in the world? He..."

Xu Hui paused, his eyes flickering as if he had a thousand words to say, but it was difficult to describe them in words, and finally he said;
"...fulfilled my ambition, even though I was just a little girl at the time, ignorant of the heights of the world, and even insignificant."

Wu Rou lowered her head, and there seemed to be a surge of air in her chest.

She seemed to suddenly understand why the emperors and empresses of the Tang Dynasty, who were talked about and admired by people all over the world, were so popular. They turned out to be such people.

No, it should be said that they are indeed such people...

Xu Hui covered her face with a fan, leaving only her eyes exposed. The tail of her eyes still looked at her proudly and asked:
"What's wrong? If it were you, wouldn't you admire His Majesty? Are you still laughing at me?"

"I'm not laughing at you, empress!" Wu Rou said quickly, and then added with a serious expression, "...I understand."

Xu Hui smiled again, but her exposed eyes became colder and colder. She couldn't control her jealousy, and her mouth turned to ice again:
"What do you understand? Is it really because of my story that you love His Majesty as much as I do?"

(End of this chapter)