Chapter 125 Transformation

Guan Suyi covered her chest with one hand and pulled the hem of her skirt with the other, standing in front of the bronze mirror she hesitantly said, “Is it really okay to wear it like this? Would it be too indecent? Besides, it’s just spring, and the weather is still a bit cold, but I even put on thin muslin, I’m afraid I’ll be a laughingstock when I go out.”

Jinzi hesitated to speak, but Minglan waved her hands indifferently, “Miss, you are thinking too much, let alone spring, even in the mid-winter of the twelfth month, some people wear it like this. Just wear a fox fur coat outside, and when entering the inner room, you can take off the coat, it will definitely overwhelm the crowd. This is a trend brought by the eldest princess. The noble girls and noble ladies in Yanjing City are flocking to it. Every banquet will be full of fragrance clothes and shadow on the temple*describe the beauty of women, ice flesh and snow skin*describing a woman’s clean and beautiful skin, which makes people dazzled when they see. If you don’t wear it like this, you may even be scolded for being old-fashioned.”

“Oh? This dress has become popular in the capital?” Guan Suyi was surprised.

The Zhao family was inferior to the noble families, did not mingle with the upstart, and did not communicate with the low-level officials, so the position in the capital was very embarrassing. When Zhao Luli was deprived of the title, the situation became even worse, and Guan Suyi didn’t even have a chance to go out to a banquet. If she widely send out invitations to others to visit her, it was unlikely to get promised, and she seemed to be isolated. Therefore, after marrying into the Zhao Mansion in this life, she only spent her free time reading books and busily managing the family, and never paid attention to the changes in the outside world.

She still remember that at this time in her previous life, Second Miss Xu had entered the palace and was named Zhaoyi. Because of her outstanding talent and beauty, sincere and upright, she was quite favored by Emperor Sheng Yuan, and soon took charge of the authority of the Six Palaces. Later, she became famous for “Lesson for Women”, and then flew up the branches and turned into a phoenix, which attracted noble ladies in the capital to follow suit. Everyone took pride on being unwavering and had virtuous virtue.

The clothing style of the previous dynasties was originally more relaxed. In the early days of the establishment of the Wei Kingdom, it also adhered to the that tradition, the heroic and rambunctious characters of the Jiuli people were also dominant, and the lavish style prevailed for a while. But it was reversed under the preach of Second Miss Xu, and it became more conservative day by day. The commoners might not feel deeply, nor understood what “Xu’s Neo-Confucianism” means and how it affect their lives, but the upper circles bear the brunt of it, becoming distorted and grotesque.

The term “the top move, below follow” had been vividly interpreted. “The King of Chu has a slender waist, and many of them starve to death in the palace*it’s a proverb, which means that what is good for the top, the bottom is eager to cater to it.”, and the situation of the Wei Kingdom was also strikingly similar. The emperor only respected Confucianism, and all scholars abandoned what they had learned before and went to study Confucianism instead; the emperor advocated Neo-Confucianism, and the rotten, rigid and arbitrary patriarchal thought became popular; the emperor liked women who were faithful unto death, and reconciliation and remarriage became a disgrace and taboo. A transformation quietly took place in the upper-class circles, and in ten, twenty, thirty years… this trend would surely seep into the lower-class people, completely imprisoning their thoughts.

The women who were killed by “Xu’s Neo-Confucianism” were not only Guan Suyi and Li shi, but also many more. She closed her eyes and casually looked into her memory, and she could find frame after frame of bloody pictures. A woman who returned home after she reconciled was beaten to death; a woman who was disrespectful to her husband was arbitrarily abandoned and thrown into the river; there was even a little girl under the age of fourteen who was helped by a guard because she stumbled while walking, her hands were chopped off by her father who adhered strictly to Neo-Confucianism, just to keep her innocent.

Once the barriers that isolated her memory were opened, all resentment and unwillingness flood into her heart. Guan Suyi originally thought that living in Cangzhou and ignoring world affairs was her struggle against Xu’s Confucianism and her self-rebellion. Only now did she realized that in the process of studying “Lesson for Women” every day and refuting it, her thoughts had already been deeply poisoned.

It’s just a gorgeous gown, how could it be “indecent”? Besides, so what if it’s indecent? She had a prominent family background and had a respected status. As long as she did not disgrace her family reputation, why shouldn’t she wear this?

Once the gate of the dangerous heart was opened, even Guan Suyi herself couldn’t lock it. Looking at the beautiful and graceful woman in the mirror, she liked it very much. Unknowingly the hand covering her chest had been put down, and her light-white fingertips twisted the crooked hairpin and smiled slowly.

This smile was not at all like the gentle and shallow smile in the past, dignified and elegant, instead it exuded a suffocating charm. Just with a different expression, her non-aggressive qualities disappeared without a trace, becoming sharp and intense, severing Minglan and Jinzi’s eyeballs like a knife blade. They felt that their miss seemed to be different from before, but they couldn’t tell what was different.

She no longer covered her chest and shrank her shoulders, but raised her chest and raised her chin slightly, looking at the bronze mirror proudly.

“It’s really beautiful, the more I look at it, the more beautiful it becomes.” She smiled softly, unaware that the clothes she was boasting were still hers, and that tender and sweet voice made Jinzi and Minglan get goosebumps all over.

“The color of this hairpin is not bright enough, let’s replace it with the exquisite jadeite crested phoenix hairpin.” She stroked her temples with her fingertips, and took off the golden hairpin lazily.

Minglan was the first to come to her senses, rummaging through the box with a blushing face. Jinzi was still stunned. She was used to seeing her master with her face facing the sky. The first time she saw her dressed up, it was really hard to extricate herself. She wonder what would happen to His Majesty when he saw her? Probably dizzy. She then heard her master ask, “Can you sing the most popular lewd songs in the pleasure house nowadays?”

“Ah?” She had a dumbfounded expression, and immediately reacted, hurriedly waved her hand, “Miss, this servant has only received poison and martial arts training in the dark guards, and has never studied seduction technique.”

“What nonsense? Just say whether you can or not.” Guan Suyi changed the head ornaments according to her own will, and when she squinted, her eyes were gleaming, seducing other people’s souls.

Jinzi’s whole body stiffened, and she said quietly, “Yes. The popular things in the underworld, this servant basically familiar with them.”

“That’s good.” After dressing up properly, Guan Suyi took out a delicate small wooden box from under the bed, stuffed the newly made skin mask, and said with a low smile, “This is the Rizui wine brewed by my maternal grandfather, by refining and fermenting the essence of five grains and the aroma of hundred fruits. The wine taste is not heavy, it’s like drinking nectar and jade dew in the throat, and it only takes three cups to make people drunk. This skin mask is of an ordinary-looking man. When you enter the Jueyin Temple, you put it on, approach Lu Fengming as a servant, and deliver this wine to him. After drinking three cups he won’t know if it’s day or night, then quietly hummed lewd songs in his ear. He loves to linger at that pleasure house place, and this will definitely reveal his true color.”

Jinzi was stunned when she heard this, before she murmured, “Miss, didn’t you say that you don’t care about a dying person? Why do you plan to ruin his reputation?”

Guan Suyi walked to the door and turned her head to look back. The bright sunlight shone from her back, casting a shadow on her face. “I suddenly realized,” the corners of her mouth rose slowly, and her tone was a little weird, “In this life I should change my way of living. Whether becoming a hypocrite or fake nobleman, I also can’t let myself live in humiliation.”

“That’s right! Who doesn’t want to live happily.” Minglan laughed, diluting the suffocating aura.

Jinzi hugged the things in her arms tightly, not daring to slack off. She always felt that from today onwards, afraid His Majesty would be more suffocated. Just thinking about this, she saw her miss turned back, opened the drawer and took out three pieces of skin mask, fold them into thin squares, and put them into the purse on her waist, said while laughing softly, “When going out, these faces are indispensable, one of mine, one of an ordinary man, and one of blank mask ready to be molded. If you find me disappearing suddenly in the future, don’t panic, just sit and wait in the tea-house in front of the mansion, and I’ll be back when I’m done playing.”

“Miss, you haven’t played enough?” A drop of cold sweat dripped from Jinzi’s forehead, feeling that this errands were getting harder and harder.

“There is a saying called ‘Live until you get old and learn until you get old’. I think I have to add another sentence, ‘Live until you get old and play until you get old’. This is the true meaning of life.” As she spoke, she stepped very gracefully and walked away, leaving Jinzi and Minglan to looked at each other.

—-

Seeing that her daughter had changed a few pieces of jewelry, but it was more luxurious and bright, Zhong shi was naturally very satisfied, and immediately took her to the mountain. Due to the grand scale of the literary gathering, the crowds were swarming, not only in the Jueyin Temple, but also in the pavilions outside the temple.

The men were all dressed in loose gown with wide girdle, looking elegance, and the women were all dressed in brocade and splendid make-up. They gathered together in twos and threes to chat and laugh. If it was the previous life, except for the noblewomen of the Jiuli tribe who were stubbornly resisting, how could the Han women dare to indulge like this?

Seeing the scenery that was completely different from her previous life, Guan Suyi let out a long sigh and finally smiled slowly. She followed Zhong shi to meet some acquaintances of the elders, and after a few chats, she was pushed to the Bodhi Garden to socialize with the young people.

Catching a glimpse of the woman standing by the gate, with brilliance light that threaten all the women, the courtyard was silent for a moment, and then a man whispered, “Which lady is this?”

“It should be the di daughter of the Guan family, the one who was just reconcile.” A noblewoman of the imperial family introduced in a low voice, didn’t know whether it was intentional or not, she still added another sentence. She and Guan Suyi were in the main hall while reading the scriptures for the late empress dowager, so she naturally knew her.

“It turned out to be her!” Some people shook their heads and sneered with disdain; some people suddenly realize, their faces looked infatuated and some people remained silent, with cool eyes of a bystander. Even if the Wei Kingdom’s customs were more open-minded, for the noble family’s children, a reconcile woman in the end was not a good match, not worthy of their favor.

The noblewomen who were originally very jealous of Guan Suyi  began to snicker, as if they had won a battle. How could a broken flower, withered willow*fallen woman be compared with a delicate flower bud? The momentary amazement subsided, and everyone continued to hold the scroll and read it. If there was a wave of literary thoughts and the poetry idea was rising, they would pick up their brush and write the words on the white wall.

Among so many young men and women, there was only one person surrounded by many people, which had attracted much attention. She wore a long-sleeved dress that could not have been more conservative. The tender green color made her lips red and her teeth white, and her face was like peach and plum. Surrounded by luxuriously dressed noblewomen, it made her looked more fresh and refined and different.

Holding a book in her hand, she recited word by word, which attracted a group of students to listen carefully, completely fascinated with her.

Guan Suyi, who was isolated by everyone, didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, and slowly paced over, waited until the woman to raise her teacup to moisten her throat, she then cupped her hands and asked, “Second Miss Xu, whose masterpiece is this? It seems to be a lecture interpretation? ”

Xu Yayan smiled and replied, “This is my father’s humble work, called “Subset Commentary”, to solve the doubts of the students all over the world and points out the way.”

Solve the doubts of the students all over the world? Xu Guangzhi wants to pick up the name “Master of the World”! Guan Suyi’s eyes flashed and then she grinned.

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