Chapter 165 - 164: This is the Young Empress!
Chapter 165: Chapter 164: This is the Young Empress!
That was a very long time ago, but how could Qian Qiu ever forget? That was her first meeting with the young Empress named Taichu. From then on, for the rest of her eternal life, she dared not forget.
She was a descendant of the Qingyun Family. Although the Qingyun Family was not as powerful as the Four Great Aristocratic Houses, it was still a prominent clan. Their entire clan excelled at perfumery. They were born with an acute sense of smell and a unique natural body fragrance. This innate talent was only passed down to daughters, not sons, so the Qingyun Family only recruited live-in sons-in-law.
However, it was precisely this practice that brought about a devastating catastrophe. A live-in son-in-law discovered that the blood of the Qiu Family members seemed to have some miraculous effect. Thus, he colluded with outsiders to massacre the Qiu Family.
For a massive clan like the Qingyun Family, an external invasion could not have wiped them out so quickly. After all, a massive institution is not easily toppled. But when disaster erupted from within, the entire edifice could easily collapse overnight.
It was hard to imagine that the immense Qingyun Family was just wiped out like that. The few surviving members escaped and began a life of exile. But because of their natural body fragrance, which they could not conceal for long, it was incredibly difficult to evade their pursuers. Their numbers dwindled until, in the end, only she and her mother were left.
When she was ten years old, her mother was brutally murdered while protecting her. She didn’t even have the ability to retrieve her mother’s body, because those people were exceedingly cruel and intended to use human flesh and blood to make medicine.
She could only run, and keep running. She spent several years living in constant exile. She thought about ending it all with death to conclude the fate of the Qingyun Family, but she couldn’t. She carried a blood feud on her back. The weight of hundreds, even thousands, of Qingyun Family lives pressed down on her, leaving her breathless.
But the enemy was too powerful, and she ultimately could not evade them forever. They finally caught her, looking her up and down with wanton, frivolous gazes.
"This should be the last one to slip through the net. However, we can’t kill her. Bring her back and make her bear a few more children. If the Qiu Family bloodline is severed, the loss will outweigh the gain."
"Exactly. It’s just like raising fish; we can’t slaughter them all."
"Hahahaha! Come! Let’s drink this cup to celebrate our great success."
She knew very well that if they actually took her back, a terrifying fate awaited her. Her limbs were shackled, and a gag was stuffed into her mouth. She couldn’t even end her own life; she could only listen to them drinking and laughing loudly. Despair finally enveloped her, and her heart turned to ashes.
However, it was at this very moment that a sudden twist occurred.
SWISH!
An arrow tore through the air and pierced the throat of one of the burly men. One strike, instant death!
The other men’s expressions drastically changed. They abruptly stood up, adopting defensive postures. "Who’s there? Why are you messing with us brothers?"
What followed was the sentence she would remember for a very, very long time.
"No particular reason. You ruined my mood."
When the Divine Emperor arrived in person, total silence fell over the area. This place was so remote, a desolate backwater. Why would the Empress, who sat high up in the imperial court, come here? But she had come, catching everyone completely off guard.
The Empress’s voice was indifferent. "Ming Yue, kill them."
A whip lashed out, instantly strangling the necks of the remaining burly men.
CRACK!
The whip retracted, leaving behind bloody gashes so deep that bone was visible. It was another one-strike kill, ruthless and brutal.
It wasn’t until the Empress crouched down and personally untied her that Qian Qiu finally began to process what had happened. It felt as if everything was a dream. She dared not make a sound, nor did she dare to breathe, terrified that the dream would shatter.
In her daze, she heard the Empress ask her, "I heard that the Qingyun Family members all excel at perfumery. Is that right?"
She pursed her lips and replied, "Besides perfumery, I also learned tea-making, cooking, and brewing from my mother... I have dabbled in all of them."
As she finished speaking, she slowly lowered her head. She felt ashamed before her ancestors, unable to bring glory to the Qingyun Family.
The Empress pondered for a moment before asking the woman beside her, "Ming Yue, is the position of Minister of the Ministry of Rites still vacant?"
Guanglu Temple was one of the nine temples of the Xuan Dynasty, the central official office responsible for managing imperial court meals and sacrificial banquets.
The woman respectfully replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. We haven’t found a suitable candidate yet."
"She’ll do," the Empress finalized directly. "Before taking office, let her study for a while. Leave this matter to my teacher."
The woman chuckled. "You hand so many people over to Lord Ye. He truly has his hands full."
The Empress said lazily, "I believe in my teacher’s abilities."
The Emperor had made the final decision, and no one dared to object.
She opened her mouth wide in disbelief. The Minister of the Ministry of Rites was in charge of the entire Guanglu Temple—this was a Third Rank Official! To think the Empress would hand such an important position over to her; wasn’t she afraid she would make a total mess of it?
She climbed into the carriage in a dizzy daze and also learned the name of that Imperial Concubine—Zhuge Mingyue.
She attempted to find a topic of conversation to ease her overwhelming nervousness. "Lord Zhuge, what about the previous Minister of the Ministry of Rites?"
"The previous one?" Zhuge Mingyue said casually. "Her Majesty had their nine familial branches executed."
She froze in shock. Exterminating three branches of a family was already a massive punishment, let alone nine!
Seeing that she seemed frightened, Zhuge Mingyue smiled faintly. "Miss Qianqiu, don’t be afraid. That family was no good. The fact that your Qingyun Family has withered to this state is partly due to their handiwork."
Her expression shifted slightly, and she clenched her fists.
"They deceived the Emperor above and oppressed the commoners below. The imperial court was full of their lackeys. They had to be eliminated." Zhuge Mingyue scoffed. "They actually thought Your Majesty would be as easy to manipulate as the late Emperor. It’s a pity. Your Majesty doesn’t play court balance games with human trash like them. If they deserve to die, they die."
She stared blankly in silence. No wonder the Empress had come to find her. It turned out she had avenged the Qingyun Family.
Zhuge Mingyue’s smile deepened. "Your Majesty is currently short of hands. Lord Qian Qiu, welcome to our ranks."
At that time, she never expected this to be just the beginning. What followed were several years of fighting side by side.
It was just that time flew by too quickly. She witnessed with her own eyes the Xuan Dynasty returning to its peak, and then she watched the nation shatter, foreign tribes invade Mingjing, and the common people being exploited. In the blink of an eye, another four hundred years passed. The world completely transformed, and she once again saw the thriving New Nine Provinces of today.
However, along this journey, many, many people were no longer around. The comrades-in-arms who had once fought alongside her had all become part of history. Some of them didn’t even have a single name recorded in the history books.
Tears shimmered in Qian Qiu’s eyes, and their rims turned red.
Shi Changying only assumed that her hand had been squeezed too hard by that young man. Her voice was icy. "I told you to let go."
"Little girl, I advise you not to meddle in other people’s business." The young man sneered. "If I were you, I’d run away right now. If you want to play the hero, you have to see if you actually have what it takes!"
Shi Changying cracked her wrists and said, "Qiaoqiao, step back."