My wife has a secret

Chapter 281 Later
Xu Qing felt a little lost when he realized this. The system was like a pair of wise eyes, using the complicated program in the camera to scan Xu Qing's facial emotions.

Gradually, it seemed to realize something and turned from active action to silence.

……

Ten years later.

In front of the gate of Guangping Marquis’ Mansion, in the capital.

At a tea stall where traveling merchants rested, merchants from as far away as Persia gathered together to listen to a storyteller telling the secrets of the Great Zhou Empire.

"After the empress ascended the throne, Qi changed its name to Great Zhou. The etiquette and rules in the palace followed those of the ancient Zhou. She even ordered the Ministry of Rites to compile a surname list, ranking the Xu family at the top of the hundred surnames."

The bearded Persian merchant nodded repeatedly and looked towards the hundred-meter-high Tianshu in the capital.

This is the pillar commemorating the achievements of the Empress of the Great Zhou. Its full name is "The Great Zhou's Tianshu for Praising Virtues by All Nations". It was built with great efforts and money from surrounding countries.

The column is surrounded by dragons on all eight sides and reaches up to the sky. Anyone who has just arrived in the capital will be shocked beyond words by this architectural wonder.

When he first came here three years ago, he was stunned by the wealth and power of the Great Zhou. Therefore, the mysterious empire in the east became the place he had dreamed of all his life.

He loves to inquire about interesting things about the Great Zhou Dynasty. He would usually sit for an entire afternoon to learn about some stories from the streets and would be reluctant to leave.

The storyteller took a sip of tea and smacked his lips a few times.

He glanced at the Western barbarian and calmly stuffed the gold bars on the table into his bag.

"Well, I've heard about your story from Little Li... Your Excellency, you traveled all the way from the hot and poor Persia across the Western Regions. You didn't come here to hear such a well-known story, did you?"

These words made the Persian merchant's eyes light up and he was ecstatic.

He was one of the richest businessmen in Persia and had no worries about food and clothing.

But ever since I came to Da Zhou with my father, I have been planning today's trip.

After all, the rise of the Great Zhou Empire was hard to imagine, especially the stunning empress in the palace. The Persian king, who had the honor of seeing her face, suffered from insomnia for a month.

"My secrets are different from others'. Now, do you see the gate of the Guangping Marquis's Mansion? Do you know who lives inside?"

The Persian merchant, relying on the information he had heard along the way, replied in broken Chinese: "I know that Marquis Guangping is the nephew of the current empress, and he has made great contributions in the war against several northern countries."

He had heard people say that before the empress took office, the country was plagued by internal and external troubles and was always facing invasions by Hu people in the north.

But after ascending the throne, the empress made the national strength of the Great Zhou advance by leaps and bounds. In less than a year, she disintegrated the neighboring Liao Kingdom, crushed the Mongols with overwhelming combat power, and forced the female ruler of the Jin Kingdom to surrender voluntarily and naturalize in the Great Zhou.

The surrounding countries regarded the Great Zhou as a god, worshipped it, and paid tribute to it every year.

No other emperor can match this achievement.

"When the Liao Kingdom attacked the city, they used a secret killing weapon at Huangling Pass. The towering beast, which was ten feet tall, moved like a small mountain. But in front of the Marquis of Guangping, it couldn't move."

The storyteller said in a serious tone, "What's even more mysterious is that during the battle that caused the Mongols to collapse, there were violent storms and lightning in the sky. Whenever Guangping Hou started a war, there would be thunder and lightning from the sky, with the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning coming to help at the same time."

"This……"

The Persian merchant opened his mouth wide.

"Everyone says that Marquis Guangping and the Empress are blessed by heaven, but I have a top-secret message."

The storyteller stopped abruptly and held out his hand. The Persian merchant was so excited that he would not stop there, so he quickly took out another gold nugget and handed it over.

The storyteller weighed it and confirmed that it was the same weight as the first one, then he quietly moved over and opened the folding fan.

"Back then, there was a group of pagans who committed crimes and brought disaster to the world. The pagans in the group were called Star Lords, and each of them had the ability to go up to heaven and into the earth. I wonder what magical power the Marquis of Guangping used to bring these people under his command so that they could be invincible on the battlefield."

"Oh?"

Persian merchants had heard rumors about the White Lotus Sect, but this sect had long since disappeared.

Hearing that Marquis Guangping had a close relationship with this sect, he felt like he was scratching an itch in his heart and couldn't help asking, "What abilities do these people have that make them so powerful?"

"Ability? Supernatural powers cannot represent them. Calling the wind and rain, driving thunder and lightning are just common things... You haven't seen the empress in person, right?"

The Persian merchant said with regret, "The dignity of a saint is not something you lowly people can look up to. I heard from our king that he could only see him at the previous International Conferences."

"Well... I heard that the empress is nearly 40 years old now, but her appearance and skin are exactly the same as they were ten years ago. She even looks younger and more beautiful. Can you guess why?"

"what?"

The Persian merchant stood there in a daze, and immediately remembered the ancient legend.

The art of immortality.

"What are you doing at the door?"

An old man in his sixties, who was a little hunched but still in good spirits, walked up to the stall, grabbed the storyteller on the tea stall and dragged him out.

His face was engraved with the rings of time and his skin was like aged bronze.

"It hurts..."

"I asked you to wait for me here, why are you chatting with the barbarians from outside?"

The old man was obviously familiar with his son's character. He frowned and asked, "What did you talk to him about? What benefits did you get from him?"

The young man in his early twenties was timid and afraid of his father. He replied incoherently: "No...nothing, nothing."

"Sir, please don't blame this little brother. I only used two gold bars to hear the secret of the empress from him... It turns out that the Marquis of Guangping in the Great Zhou Empire knows sorcery."

The young man turned to look at the Persian merchant and saw that he was looking at him sincerely, obviously he had misunderstood what he had just said.

Then, the old man angrily found a fire stick in front of the stall and spanked his disappointing son on the buttocks, causing passers-by to stop and watch.

Not long after the fight, the old man returned the gold bars to the Persian merchant and was about to leave with his good-for-nothing son, when he happened to encounter a commotion in the crowd.

After a while, the crowd made way for a passage, and a dignified woman in gorgeous clothes, with swaying tassels and graceful manners with every step, came out.

If the woman's temperament were to be compared to a flower, she would be the plum blossom that stands proudly in the snow and frost, pure and elegant, yet with a bit of aloofness.

Her beauty is not superficial, but a charm that goes deep into the bones. Only by careful savour can one appreciate it.

After the woman looked the old man up and down, her calm face showed a slight smile and said, "Uncle Li, long time no see."

(End of this chapter)