Chapter 28: He and Suo Gege

  "That just goes to show he has eyes but no eyeballs!" Min Xiu still wouldn't let up.

  "Miss, you're wrong. We both disguised ourselves as men and entered the school, fearing that others would recognize us. Zhou Xuanzhang didn't recognize you, not because he's blind, but because your disguise is excellent, and you deceived him."

  "He's not a good person anyway, and he's made me so uncomfortable that I can't even enjoy my bath. If he fell into my hands, humph!" Min Xiu gave a piercing look, causing Zhou Xuanzhang inside the curtain to shudder.

  Min Hua's temper flared up, and Cherry had to shut her mouth. She helped Min Hua put on her clothes and called in another maid to carry out the wooden tub.

  Min Xiu stretched and yawned, saying to the cherry blossom at the door: "Close the door, I'm not feeling well, I want to lie down for a while."

  "Yes, miss." Cherry replied and closed the door.

  Min Xiu said to go to bed and sleep! Zhou Xuan Zhang was shocked, his heart cried out in distress. The only thing that could be covered on the bed was a brocade quilt, but before Zhou Xuan Zhang could pull it up, Min Xiu had already walked to the bedside and opened the curtains.

  Two people stared at each other! Big eyes met small eyes, and they stared at each other for a full ten seconds!

  Zhou Xuan Zhang couldn't dodge it, and hastily clasped his hands together, grinning as he said: "So it's Brother Min, you're safe and sound!"

  Suddenly, with a swift movement, he leapt from the bedside to under the clothes rack, stretched out his hand and pulled out a treasured sword. With another leap, he landed beside the bed, shook his wrist, and pointed the sword at Zhou Xianzhang's throat.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang broke out in a cold sweat, and his mouth hastily flattered: "Good skills! Brother Min Xiu's skills are so impressive, yet he is relegated to a lowly soldier position. Liu Guan Duan has eyes but no pearls! In my opinion, Brother Min Xiu can fully take on the role of Guan Duan..."

  "Bullshit! Who's your brother?" Min Xiu was so angry that his face turned bright red, the sword tip pressed against Zhou Xuanzhang's throat, and if it went in just one more inch, Zhou Xuanzhang would have lost his life on the spot.

  "Of course you are my brother! Yesterday evening we chatted happily by the pond, and today we gather together again. With such a good fate, since we're both men, we should swear an oath as brothers. I see that Wu Sheng Temple is not far from here, so I suggest we hurry up and go to Wu Sheng Temple to kowtow to Lord Guan and become sworn brothers."

  Zhou Xuan Zhang deliberately emphasized "they were all men" in order to make Min Hui believe that although he was hiding under the bed, he hadn't seen anything. What Min Hui saw was a gege (a high-ranking imperial concubine), and looking at her body would be a capital offense!

  "Nonsense! Who has been chatting with you so happily? Who has been gathering together with you? Zhou Xianzhang, how dare you sneak a peek at Ben Gege, I must kill you..." Min Hui's wrist shook, and the sword tip drew a line of blood on Zhou Xianzhang's throat.

  "Be careful, brother, and slow down!" Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted loudly: "You probably didn't sleep well last night and are still in a daze. Gige is the emperor's daughter, and brothers are first male, secondly not related to the emperor by blood, how can you call yourself Gige? This is a serious crime of usurpation! Let's stop here, please rest assured, brother will never go out and spread rumors."

  Zhou Xuanzhang kept saying "male body", speaking with a tone that was almost believable, making one wonder if Zhou Xuanzhang really hadn't seen her take a bath.

  "What! What are you doing here?" Ming shouted.

  "My dear brother, you don't know what happened. After our delightful conversation last night, your words struck me like a sudden enlightenment, better than reading books for ten years! So, after I returned to my dormitory, I kept thinking about your teachings and couldn't sleep all night. As a result, during the exam this morning, I was not in high spirits. Therefore, I hastily finished the test and wanted to find a place to take a nap. You know the rules of our school, students are not allowed to return to their dormitories until bedtime. So, I came here and happened to see a bed with a pillow. The temptation was too great, even an iron-willed man couldn't resist it. So, I lay down and fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw..."

  "What did you see!" Min Xiu was extremely tense.

  "I see you holding a treasured sword pointed at my throat." Zhou Xuan Zhang said: "The rest I haven't seen."

  "Is this really true?"

  "Absolutely true!"

  Min Xiu's heart was in a state of great turmoil. In fact, Zhou Xuanzhang's lie wasn't that good, and yet he was hiding under the bed, sleeping like a dead pig. Just now, Min Xiu and Sakura had been talking for half a day, how could they not wake him up? The bed and the wooden bucket were just a few feet apart, how could Zhou Xuanzhang not see her taking a bath?

  It's just that Mian Xiu, a young girl with a yellow flower in her hair, was still a princess, and for no reason, she was seen by a big man, which was really embarrassing. So, Mian Xiu also had an illusion in her heart, hoping that Zhou Xuan Zhang was really asleep, although this illusion was very slim, but it's better than nothing.

  Nan Mingxiang was also extremely intelligent, seeing Zhou Xianzhang repeatedly denying having seen her bathing, and for the time being, it was difficult to verify, so she pretended to be calm on her face, put away her sword, and smiled: "Since that's the case, brother, I'd like to ask big brother for a favor."

  Min embroidered with a gentle attitude and a warm smile, Zhou Xuan Zhang was overjoyed: "Brother, just say it, I will definitely do it."

  "Help me carry the wooden barrel out."

  "Weren't the cherries already taken out just now......"

  "Zhou Xuan Zhang!" Min Xiu shouted loudly, her precious sword pointing directly at Zhou Xuan Zhang's throat: "I'm going to kill you!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang only then realized that he had been deceived by Min Yu!

  This sentence, in fact, proves that he not only watched Min's bath from start to finish but also eavesdropped on the conversation between Min and Sakura.

  This thoughtless remark drove Zhou Xuzhang to desperation and also drove Ming Yuanguang to desperation.

  In the Qing dynasty, gege was divided into five ranks: the daughter of a qinwang (first-rank prince) was called "heshuo gege", the daughter of a shizi (heir apparent) or junwang (second-rank prince) was called "duoluo gege", the daughter of a duoluo beile (third-rank prince) also called "duoluo gege", the daughter of a gushan beizi (fourth-rank prince) was called "gushan gege", and the daughter of a zhen guo gong (fifth-rank prince) or fu guo gong (sixth-rank prince) was simply called "gege".

  Mingyu is a good girl!

  That is to say she was a top-ranking gege, one of the most noble geges in the Qing Dynasty.

  However, Hexiao Gege is noble, but Hexiao Gege is not just a delicate one.

  In the midst of He Shuo and Ge Ge, Min Xiu may not be the most noble, but she is absolutely the most special one.

  The biological father of Xianfeng Emperor was Aixinjueluo Yizong, the Prince Qingxi of the First Rank. His uncle was Aixinjueluo Yicong, the Prince Gong of the First Rank.

  Her brother is the current emperor, Guangxu Emperor Dezong.

  Yi Xiu, Prince Chun of the First Rank, was the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor and a half-brother of the Xianfeng Emperor.

  Yixuan's wife, Yehe Nara Wengong, was the sister of Empress Dowager Cixi. In 1875, Emperor Tongzhi died at the age of 19 without an heir. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi had been in power for 13 years and held great power, designating Yixuan's son Zaichun as the successor to the throne, who became the Guangxu Emperor.

  Mianyu's birth mother was Yixuan's secondary consort, Lady Yanjia. After Lady Yanjia died early, Mianyu was raised by Empress Dowager Cixi as if she were her own daughter, making Mianyu the younger sister of the Guangxu Emperor in all but blood.

  Because Empress Dowager Cixi's foster mother, Wenjun, was her own sister, Wenjun often brought Shouxing into the palace to meet with Cixi. Shouxing had a lively and strong personality that matched Cixi's temperament. Cixi especially liked this little princess and regarded Shouxing as her own niece.

  She is pretty and has a strong personality, doesn't like to wear cheongsam, likes to wear men's clothing, walks with a swagger, talks loudly, and has some remnants of the Manchu ancestors' martial spirit. There is also a unique aspect, she dislikes books about sages and virtuous women, hates the legend of loyal women, advocates for the Western idea of "ladies first", and especially envies those Western ambassadors' wives who can sit with their husbands in the banquet hall, receiving men's hand-kissing courtesy.

  Unlike the majority of the Manchu nobility who were hostile to Westerners, Xianfeng liked Western etiquette and Western toys. If she heard that someone had a Western toy, she would go to great lengths to get it and play with it endlessly.

  The Manchu nobles were very conservative, their hatred for foreigners had reached the point of "hating the house and the crow", the foreign devils were hateful, the foreign devils' cameras, watches, bicycles, trains, steamships, telegraphs were also hateful! Li Hongzhang, Gong Prince and others who dealt with foreigners were scolded as slaves of foreigners. Xianfeng was always playing with Western toys, although he wasn't scolded as a slave of foreigners, it still made the princes and nobles furious. Someone reported to Empress Dowager Cixi that Xianfeng, as a princess, worshipped foreign things and lost face for her family and the imperial court!

  Min Hua heard that someone had reported her misdeeds to the Empress Dowager, but she was not flustered. The next day, early in the morning, she brought a group of people and carried a camera into the palace, arriving at the Empress Dowager's bedroom. Min Hua really knew how to stir up trouble, and it is unknown where she found some theatrical costumes, dressing up the Empress Dowager as Guanyin Bodhisattva, herself as the Jade Maiden, and her personal maid Cherry as Shancai Tongzi. The three of them struck a pose, and with a click of the camera, a picture of Guanyin descending into the world was created.

  The Empress Dowager was overjoyed when she saw the photo, and the matter of reporting was dropped. Instead, Minyu was rewarded with a large sum of silver.

  After that, the camera, which was considered to be a soul-stealing device by the conservative Manchu nobles, entered the Forbidden City with dignity, and this is also one of Cixi's great achievements.

  Although Min Hua was arrogant, after all, she was a girl. Even if she made a big fuss, she couldn't stir up any major trouble. At most, she would just take some photos and ride her bicycle. She wouldn't go so far as to cause chaos. Therefore, the Empress Dowager indulged Min Hua's mischievous behavior, which unexpectedly added a lot of fun.

  She relied on the support of Empress Dowager Cixi and her brother, the Emperor Guangxu. She was arrogant and looked down on everyone, fearing neither heaven nor earth, not even her father, Prince Chun. Whether in the palace or in the prince's mansion, she acted as if no one existed. The eunuchs in the palace and the officials in the imperial court did not dare to stop her. Later, she even rode a bicycle openly in the Forbidden City, causing Confucian scholars to be heartbroken.

  It's just that this unprecedented and unrepeatable, awesome Heshuo Gege was actually seen through by Zhou Xuanzhang, a little rascal!

  This is too much for Xiangjun to bear!