Chitose words

Ling You looked at her quietly and suddenly asked: "Xie Zhao, you often say that you are just a person without a past. But along the way we have traveled, I feel that you do not have a past, but that you want to cut off your past. . It’s been a hard journey for you, right?”

He had a vague premonition, as if under the surface of Xie Zhao's peaceful life, there was an overwhelming and majestic wave crashing on the shore.

She seems to be an impenetrable wall, always confident and sure of everything, but no one can really be indestructible forever.

When Xie Zhao was still young and impoverished, she was still able to see injustice on the road, save a woman who was bullied and bullied by a wealthy country man, and provide proper accommodation for their family; even though her own life was uneventful. , whenever there is injustice on the street, he will still help others.

Such a person should not be as mediocre and dull as he is now.

It shouldn't look like it has no edges and corners now.

That's right, Xie Zhao just "looks like there are no edges and corners", not "really has no edges and corners".

If he couldn't even see this, then Ling You would think that he had known her for so long in vain.

Ling You could clearly see that there was once a ball of hot magma in Xie Zhao's heart, but for some reason it was suppressed by her own hands and held tightly in her heart.

But Xie Zhao seems to be born with a lively person. Even during the half-year period when she was at her most depressed and embarrassed, when she was lying on the bed with a serious injury and could not get up, whenever she woke up, she always had a smile on her face. No look of trouble.

It seems that no amount of gloom can really drown out her optimism and brightness.

As the saying goes, those who are too strong will be easily broken, but those who are kind and gentle will never be defeated.

Ling You couldn't help but wonder, was Xie Zhao in the past tougher than she is now?
Perhaps it was precisely because she had been completely "broken" once because of being "too strong" that she finally realized that at such a young age, she was careless about things and unfazed by people's favors and humiliations, as gentle as the spring breeze and rain.

But Ling Yue was not the careless Han Changsheng. He knew that Xie Zhao's "softness" contained edge and steel, but it would not show up easily.

However, it is actually very tiring for her to always stand upright and rely on others along the way, right?

That's why he asked this question: Isn't it a hard journey for you?

Xie Zhao was slightly startled when he heard this.

She originally thought that Ling He would ask why she and Min Xiaoyao knew each other - she knew that as long as Ling He was not stupid, he would definitely know that she and Min Xiaoyao were familiar with each other.

I just didn't expect that Ling You would actually ask such a question in the end.

He asked: Are you working hard?

Xie Zhao was distracted for a moment.

It seems that no one has asked her this question since her mother, Queen Xiaochun Xie Wan, and her master, High Priest Feng Zhi, passed away one after another.

When the late Emperor Wei was still alive, he would only look at her with a look of relief and pride, hoping that she would be more successful.

Emperor Wei hoped that this daughter could bear the motto obtained from the divination of the high priest Feng Zhi in the past, contribute to the rejuvenation of the Tianchen Dynasty, and assist the prince to become a shield for the dynasty.

It was undeniable that the emperor's father looked at her with fondness in his eyes, and she was indeed Emperor Wei's most beloved child.

But there was also an occasional flash of fear and fear in the depths of Emperor Wei's eyes when he looked at her, especially when she showed her astonishing talent in the martial arts realm.
In this era where chivalrous people use martial arts to break the law, no one in power in the four realms will be defenseless against the mighty power of martial arts.

Even between father and son, mother and daughter are no exception.

In fact, her brother Fu Jingyan is more like a child most of the time.Xie Zhao has been precocious since she was a child, and she often prefers to act stupid in the city that never sleeps.

She didn't want to live too transparently, as that would be too tiring.

Although Xie Zhao had never told anyone, she could see his well-hidden true thoughts from her brother Fu Jingyan's eyes.

——Fu Jingyan hoped in her heart that she could be a well-behaved eldest sister and a well-behaved princess.

Neither apostate nor overly strong.

Of course, it is not difficult to guess that Fu Jingyan would have such thoughts.

Frankly, he can't even be blamed for this.

After all, he had been taught since he was a child by the Taifus who were the most observant of ancient etiquette and the most knowledgeable about etiquette in the entire Tianchen Dynasty.

In the entire Southern Dynasty Tianchen's etiquette and his younger brother Jing Yan's understanding, the princess of the national dynasty should be decent and graceful.

In Xie Zhao's view, the Tianchen Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty and the Hanyong Dynasty of the Northern Dynasty were actually very "interesting" countries.

In Xie Zhao's understanding, this "interesting" has a derogatory meaning.

These two countries are obviously the most prosperous and powerful among the four borders of the Eastern Continent, but the status of women is not as good as that of the Fenglan Dynasty of Western Xinjiang, which they regard as a barbarian land, and what they call "tacky and heavy". Ruian, Zhongzhou.

Men and women are equal in Fenglan in Western Xinjiang. Even among the Fenglan royal family, the princess has the same right to inherit the throne as the prince.

This is generally the case in Ruian, Zhongzhou. Anyone who can make money for the family and ensure prosperity in the family, even a woman can become a respectable head of the family, and can openly lead the family's ships to trade on the other side of the mainland.

It seems that only Tianchen in the Southern Dynasty and Hanyong in the Northern Dynasty still have a world where men are respected.

In the Northern Dynasty, Hanyong advocated martial arts, and the 36 tribes were the most advocating warriors.

Therefore, except for a few women who are talented in martial arts, most ordinary Northern Dynasty women are not as powerful as ordinary men. This imbalance in strength is caused by the natural physiology of men and women - this also leads to the phenomenon of horse herding beyond the Great Wall. The women of the Northern Dynasties who lived here had been inferior to the men in the clan since ancient times.

Let’s talk about the Southern Dynasty Tianchen. The Tianchen Dynasty was located in the south of the Yangtze River. It was the most famous hometown of Confucianism, Taoism and ancient etiquette in the Eastern Continent for thousands of years. The gentleness and virtuousness to women under the rigid observance of etiquette was almost engraved in the bones of the Southern Dynasty.

Fortunately, in the past hundred years, the Southern Dynasties had successively produced several outstanding women, such as the "Shaoguang Sword Immortal" and the "Thousand-year-old Sword Immortal", and the status of women gradually increased.

In recent years, in the streets of the Southern Dynasties, we can see some women doing small business and showing their faces. We can even see women in martial arts halls and weapon shops. If we go back 100 years, we would not even dare to think about this. Things to think about.

Even the academies established by the "Thousand-year-old Sword Immortal" in the Southern Dynasties for poor disciples to study in the past also admitted women who wanted to study equally.

She publicly expressed her support for the attitude that women can and should read just like men, which caused a sensation among scholars in the Southern Dynasties at that time.

Fortunately, with the reputation of "Fu Jing Ci", the best sword in the world, "Thousand-year-old Sword Immortal", and the secret approval of the Xunyang Xie family, the leader of the world's literati, there is considerable resistance to the matter of women entering school. , but it can be regarded as pushing forward without any danger.

As for women taking the scientific examination and entering the officialdom, because the late Emperor Tianchen, Wei Emperor Fu Shang, was already very ill at that time, she knew that this matter needed to be done step by step.

Xie Zhao is well aware of the principle that when things go to extremes, they must reverse course. Since women in the Southern Dynasties can already enter academies and study with men, the imperial examination and official service should be pushed back slowly to avoid going too far and bottoming out.

Unexpectedly, later on, Shu was first hit by floods, and then the three counties were hit by epidemics.
At that time, Xie Zhao was anxious and hurried south to Shu. Not long after he returned to Zhaoge City, the late emperor Wei died of illness. After the new emperor ascended the throne, everything became complicated, the court became treacherous, and many factions began to fight against the new emperor. They made moves one after another in an attempt to reap bigger dividends from the temple.
In this way, the idea of ​​​​women entering officialdom in the Southern Dynasties was delayed for another two years.