The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 242

Extra 17

The Academy

The temple bells had been set upon the Ascension Platform at some unknown time, their thunderous peals ringing one over another until hearts trembled and ears rang.

            

The ascending monk was escorted by a throng, with soldiers and the county magistrate clearing the way as he was brought up to the platform.

At midday the sunlight was blinding, its golden rays striking the Ascension Platform. Qu Sheng had long since understood the platform’s design — luminous crystals were set into its top, and the common people below could barely glance up before being forced to lower their heads to recover.

The lotus-seedpod watering cans around the Ascension Platform sprayed their contents, and the people jostled to bathe in the mist — but Qu Sheng had replaced all that water with ordinary well water.

            

When the ascending monk took his seat at the center of the platform and the sunlight converged, golden rays radiated outward — and his body vanished, leaving behind only a monk’s robe¹ lying there.

The common people watched the ascension proceed exactly as before, and every one of them fell to their knees in worship.

The ascending one’s voice used the echoes of the open space to proclaim his immortality to the people — but this time, his words left the crowd bewildered.

            

“I am Lu Fa, and also today’s Lu Chai². Having received immortal guidance, I have taken my place among the celestial ranks. I am grateful to all living beings for sending me on my way, yet I have no good medicine to deliver the suffering masses. The monk’s robe was lent to me by the Buddha as the instrument of my ascension along the Western Heavenly Path, and now I pass it on to a person of destiny, to be kept in trust by Hua Zong Temple³ until a wealthy person of destiny appears.”

“What does that mean? How can someone ascend to immortality twice?” The common people below were starting to catch on, questioning the person on the Ascension Platform.

Zuo Gaomin, the garrison commander, flew up from below to the top of the platform and shouted to the kneeling masses: “As you see and think at this moment — there is no such thing as mortals ascending to immortality.”

            

Zuo Gaomin signaled to the soldiers beside him, and the “immortal” who had disappeared from beneath the platform was brought out.

The common people were dumbfounded.

“Impossible! Impossible! You’re all liars!” When the people below saw the “Dharma Master Lu Chai” walk out, their reaction was fierce. The ascended immortal they had believed in with all their hearts was a fraud — how could they possibly accept that?

            

“You must be liars!” But even as the people shouted these words, their minds went blank. They were calling them liars — yet everything had been done exactly the same way as before, and those people had already ascended to immortality.

Liars, all of them liars!

Unrest began to spread among the common people. Some tried to force their way up the Ascension Platform. The soldiers pushed and blocked but could not hold them back — since Qu Sheng had ordered that no harm come to the common people, the soldiers dared not use force, and after a moment’s resistance, someone clambered up onto the platform.

            

But soon another group of soldiers appeared from within the city and surrounded the people.

“Her Majesty arrives!”

The crowd parted to make way. Qu Sheng came walking from one side with Xiao Bingying and others. The common people on the Ascension Platform had been bound and detained, but Qu Sheng looked at the stunned crowd and waved her hand to have them released.

            

The soldiers untied the ropes. Qu Sheng ascended the Ascension Platform.

Qu Sheng was not wearing imperial robes. The common people still harbored doubts, but when the county magistrate and the garrison commander knelt, they realized — the Empress of Quzhao had truly come.

“This humble subject bows before Your Majesty. Long live my Emperor, long live, long live!”

            

The officials knelt, and the soldiers knelt as well.

Impersonating the emperor was punishable by the execution of nine clans. The common people realized this and all dropped to the ground in prostration.

“Long live my Emperor, long live, long live!” The shouts rose in uneven waves. Qu Sheng looked down at the people below, her expression no longer bearing the same grim resentment as before.

            

“I imagine you are all wondering why We⁴ had this ascension reenacted.” Qu Sheng swept her gaze over the common people. Though there had been unrest moments ago, the crowd had now grown calm.

Lin Xizhao was right — she was the Sea-Calming Divine Needle⁵ in the hearts of the people.

The people remembered all the good she had done for them, and so they were willing to trust her.

            

Qu Sheng drew a heavy breath and said, “When We learned of the ascension matter several months ago, We were deeply alarmed. We ordered the Minister of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice to investigate this matter thoroughly. Because the consequences of this ascension fraud run so deep and wide, We had no choice but to find a way to let Our subjects see the deception for themselves.”

As Qu Sheng spoke, she swept her gaze across the people, then let her eyes fall upon the carriages in the open space before the Ascension Platform.

Lin Xizhao stood by the carriages holding their daughter’s hand, watching from that direction.

            

The corners of Qu Sheng’s lips curved upward, barely perceptible, before she continued: “After months of investigation, Minister Lin has captured these lawbreakers. They are now in the prison carts before you.”

As Qu Sheng finished speaking, the soldiers pulled the black cloth covers off the thirty-plus carriages.

Inside were people with cloth strips stuffed in their mouths — those arrested at the banquet the day before. Nearly all of them were the managers who had shown their faces and the temple accomplices.

            

As for the remaining underlings, Qu Sheng had already sent people to arrest them.

At this moment, the common people who had traveled great distances nearly every time already recognized them. If someone had told them before this that everything was a sham, they probably would not have believed it — but now the evidence was laid out before their eyes, and they had no choice but to accept it as truth.

It was all a scam to amass wealth.

            

The common people surged forward, clambering onto the prison carts, unleashing their fury with punches and kicks — but before long, the soldiers pushed them all back.

“Please remain calm, everyone! Her Majesty will surely bring these criminals to justice and deliver justice to the victims. Please return to your places!” The county magistrate stepped forward, calling out to the furious crowd.

The common people were ushered back by the soldiers, and Qu Sheng ordered a decree to be issued.

            

All temples, Taoist shrines, and religious institutions in Quzhao would henceforth be placed under the administration of the Ministry of Rites’ Monk Registration Bureau⁶. Temples were not beyond the reach of the law, nor were they a banner for swindlers and frauds.

All monks and Taoist priests would be required to hold ordination certificates⁷ issued by the court. Any gathering of one hundred or more people had to be reported to the authorities with an explanation of its purpose. Anyone who privately collected wealth from the people would be punished with Bone-Picking Slow Slicing⁸.

The punishments Qu Sheng had set were harsh — but some matters, once allowed to run unchecked from the start, became nearly impossible to control afterward. Without the threat of extreme penalties, she feared it would be impossible to eradicate such things.

            

After the ascension assembly was exposed and concluded, Qu Sheng ordered numerous physicians gathered to treat the common people, and had already drafted plans to establish the National Medical Academy, offering free instruction, with Cheng Xi appointed as its head.

She had originally planned to take the children north, but had to turn back halfway. Qu Sheng was busy with state affairs every day, and her attention to Qu Ning had diminished once more — but Qu Ning no longer thought her Mother Emperor did not care about her.

Qu Ning was now stricter with herself, but not because she was forced to be. Traveling across the land with her Mother Emperor had made her feel the weight of her position as Crown Princess — the road ahead was long and the burden heavy.

            

The throne was not, as she had once thought, something that could be secured by absolute military power alone, allowing one to rest easy.

Water can carry a boat but also capsize it.⁹

Whether the water would capsize the boat depended entirely on the ruler who held the helm.

            

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Several years later, in the northern lands of Quzhao.

Qu Sheng took her daughter on another journey across the realm, arriving at their final destination — the Northern Frontier of Quzhao.

The scenery was magnificent, but few came to this harsh land of swirling snow and bitter cold.

            

Lin Xizhao layered thick coat after thick coat over Qu Ning, never quite satisfied that her daughter was warm enough to leave the military encampment tent.

Qu Sheng had been waiting outside for a while. Seeing that her daughter still had not come out, she went back into the tent.

“Ah, Empress Mother, how can I practice martial arts wearing all this? Mother Emperor is waiting for me.” Qu Ning pouted, trying to get Lin Xizhao to remove some of the layers.

            

“Take them off one by one when you get hot. Don’t catch a cold.” Lin Xizhao was always worrying about this mother and daughter. Before Qu Sheng went out, Lin Xizhao had bundled her up in just as many layers.

Qu Sheng saw that Qu Ning was about to argue further with Lin Xizhao and called out, “Ning’er, listen to your Empress Mother.”

Qu Ning turned at the sound, and when she saw Qu Sheng, her eyes curved into a smile — she looked so much like Lin Xizhao standing behind her that they could have been cast from the same mold. But Qu Sheng’s gaze was fixed entirely on Lin Xizhao.

            

“It snowed heavily today. Why not shorten practice by one shichen¹⁰?” Lin Xizhao still spoke in her gentle voice of persuasion.

Qu Sheng nodded, walked over, and without avoiding their daughter’s gaze, pressed a kiss to Lin Xizhao’s soft lips, replying, “Alright. I’ll listen to Wife.”

At some point, Qu Ning had grown accustomed to this kind of intimacy between her two mothers. She watched them, seemingly imagining the fierce love they must have shared in their youth — a love that had not dimmed even now.

            

Qu Ning had grown into a young woman. Trained in martial arts personally by Qu Sheng and instructed by Xiao Bingying, her skills now surpassed even Qu Zhimu’s. She used a light sword in combat.

Also traveling with them were Xiao Bingying and Zhao Ningying.

Cheng Xi was running the National Medical Academy, far too busy with its many affairs to have the time to travel north with them.

            

If Zhao Ningying had not wanted to come along, it would have been Feng Qi who accompanied them instead.

Xiao Bingying and Cheng Xi had been separated for months. Xiao Bingying wrote a letter home every night, but received precious few in return.

And the contents of those letters were mostly about household matters.

            

“Mother.” Zhao Ningying puffed mist from her lips as she rubbed her fingers, red and cold from sparring with Qu Ning. “Is that a letter from Mother?”

Xiao Bingying turned back, about to fold the letter and put it away, but Zhao Ningying had already hurried over, saying, “Let me see.”

Xiao Bingying hesitated for a moment, then unfolded the letter again and placed it in Zhao Ningying’s hands.

            

Zhao Ningying held the letter and read aloud with a laugh: “It’s only been a year since Mu-jiejie¹¹ had her hair-pinning ceremony, and Maternal Aunt is already busy finding her a match.”

“Grandfather and Grandmother caught a cold a few days ago, but they’ve taken their medicine and are mostly better.”

“And Mother even asked after me — as if I’d have anything to worry about.” Zhao Ningying finished reading, saw there was no more text below, and flipped the letter over to find the back blank. She looked up at Xiao Bingying and asked, “Is that all there is?”

            

Xiao Bingying gave a soft “Mm” and reached out to take the letter back, folding it neatly and slipping it into its envelope.

“How was your sparring just now?” Xiao Bingying’s expression was gentle, betraying no particular emotion.

Zhao Ningying’s eyes were still following the letter in Xiao Bingying’s hands. Hearing the question, she looked up and replied, “Oh, Ning-jiejie works hard, but she uses a light sword, and there’s a gap between that and my long spear. I won by a narrow margin.”

            

Zhao Ningying had always been modest in her speech, but over the years she had gradually opened up, no longer so quiet and reserved — a change that stemmed from those earlier years when Qu Sheng had taken them traveling.

What Qu Ning learned, Zhao Ningying learned as well.

Xiao Bingying nodded. “Go wash your hands and eat.”

            

“Okay.” Zhao Ningying nodded in agreement and watched Xiao Bingying go to fetch the water basin.

After lunch, Zhao Ningying went to Qu Sheng and Lin Xizhao’s tent.

“Ying’er pays her respects to both Maternal Aunts.”

            

Zhao Ningying cupped her hands in a bow. Lin Xizhao looked at her — she had grown into a pretty child who looked just like Cheng Xi — and smiled. “Ning’er is in the tent out back.”

Zhao Ningying blinked and didn’t casually look into the tent, saying, “Then I’ll go find Ning-jiejie.”

“Go on,” Lin Xizhao said, then suddenly remembered something. “Wait — take this with you.”

            

Lin Xizhao had someone bring over a plate of pastries. “You girls can have these later.” This was a military encampment, where pastries were uncommon — they had been bought from a county town dozens of li away.

Zhao Ningying took the plate and thanked her with smiling eyes. “Thank you, Maternal Aunt. Ying’er will go find Ning-jiejie now.”

Seeing Zhao Ningying leave, Qu Sheng suddenly thought of how Xiao Bingying had seemed unhappy these past few days. She asked Lin Xizhao, “Is Bingying upset because she came along on this trip?”

            

Setting aside the ruler-subject distinction at court, Qu Sheng did not treat Xiao Bingying as an outsider. She cared about her joys and sorrows.

Lin Xizhao looked up at Qu Sheng and replied softly, “I don’t think that’s it.”

A few days later, after staying for two months, Qu Sheng and her party set out on the journey back to the capital. Qu Sheng and Lin Xizhao took Qu Ning directly back to the imperial palace, while Xiao Bingying took Zhao Ningying back to the Zhao Residence.

            

It was dinnertime at the Zhao Residence. Zhao Dian and Mother Zhao had prepared a table full of food and drink. Zhao Ningying ate to her heart’s content, but Xiao Bingying barely touched her chopsticks.

Cheng Xi had not yet returned.

Even before they set out, Cheng Xi had sent word that she would be returning home today. And when they arrived at the nearby county town, someone had already sent word that Cheng Xi was on her way back — but at this moment, there was still no sign of her.

            

After dinner, Xiao Bingying took Zhao Ningying to the National Medical Academy to wait for Cheng Xi.

“When is Mother coming out?” Zhao Ningying and Xiao Bingying had been waiting at the gate of the National Medical Academy for a full shichen. She rubbed her small hands, keeping her eyes fixed on the entrance.

“She should be out soon,” Xiao Bingying said, though her voice lacked conviction.

            

She didn’t know when Cheng Xi would come out either. It was freezing outside, though still not as cold as the Northern Frontier.

“Mother!”

Zhao Ningying spotted Cheng Xi the moment she emerged. Cheng Xi stood at the gate of the academy, seemingly waiting for the carriage that the Zhao family had sent.

            

Hearing her daughter’s voice, Cheng Xi looked over. Seeing her daughter running toward her, she quickened her steps and gathered Zhao Ningying into a full embrace, asking happily, “When did you get back?”

“Just today. Mother, Ying’er missed you so much.” Zhao Ningying nuzzled against Cheng Xi’s chest, and Cheng Xi stroked her small head, unable to get enough of this closeness.

“Oh, right — Mother is over there.” Zhao Ningying slipped out of Cheng Xi’s embrace and pointed behind her to where Xiao Bingying stood.

            

Xiao Bingying had already walked over. When Cheng Xi saw her, her smile was still almost too beautiful, and she asked, “Why didn’t you say you were coming back?”

“I wrote to you about it before.” Xiao Bingying looked at her wife. At Cheng Xi’s question, her smile grew slightly stiff.

“Did you? Oh, I think you did mention it. I’m sorry — I forgot.” Cheng Xi sounded genuinely apologetic.

            

Cheng Xi saw that Xiao Bingying was still as subdued as before. She smiled and said, “Let’s go home.”

Xiao Bingying’s lips twitched. “Alright.”

The three of them returned to the residence. Cheng Xi held her daughter and talked with her for a long time, but Zhao Ningying knew when to step back — knowing that her two mothers had been apart for too long, she claimed she was tired and wanted to rest early, leaving Cheng Xi’s time for Xiao Bingying.

            

After Zhao Ningying left, Cheng Xi saw that Xiao Bingying had finished bathing, and went to bathe as well.

Xiao Bingying lay on the bed, flipping through a book, waiting for Cheng Xi to return.

Cheng Xi’s bath was brief. When she returned, she had already changed into her nightclothes. She shrugged off the heavy outer cloak draped over her shoulders, and Xiao Bingying shifted to make room on the spot she had been warming.

            

Cheng Xi curved her brows with a slight smile, lifted the edge of the covers, and lay down beside Xiao Bingying.

Cheng Xi lay down and extinguished the lamp. Before long, she closed her eyes to rest — but Xiao Bingying, who had not seen her wife for so long, ached for her not just in thought but in body.

In the darkness, Xiao Bingying wrapped her arm around Cheng Xi’s slender waist and pulled her entire body into her embrace.

            

When her lips pressed down, there was no response for a long time — but just as Xiao Bingying began to wonder, Cheng Xi started kissing her back.

Their warm bodies intertwined freely, and before long, soft murmurs filled the room.

The trembling of the woman beneath her seemed to ease the longing that had consumed Xiao Bingying these past months — but after one round, Cheng Xi said, “Let’s stop here for today.”

            

Xiao Bingying looked up at Cheng Xi. She would never force Cheng Xi to do anything she didn’t want — when Cheng Xi said no more, Xiao Bingying stopped. But in her heart, she couldn’t quite accept it.

Seeing the slight bewilderment on Xiao Bingying’s face, Cheng Xi lifted herself up and kissed Xiao Bingying on the lips. “We have plenty of time ahead.”

“Mm.” Xiao Bingying gave a soft sound of acknowledgment.

            

Early the next morning, when Xiao Bingying woke, Cheng Xi had already left the residence.

Xiao Bingying sat on the bed, head bowed, staring blankly at the empty space where Cheng Xi had lain.

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The author has something to say:

            

Xiao Bingying: “At my age, what’s the point of romance?”

Cheng Xi: “Then don’t.”

Xiao Bingying: “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Wife, I’ll talk!”

            

Leave a comment for a red packet! The side-couple extra is coming.

Next update will be a bit later~

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