The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 100 Xichun - The Awakened Valkyrie

"Fourth sister is still so selfish and cold-hearted."

A voice suddenly came from outside. Everyone looked up and saw Master Zhan coming in.

"Fourth sister, there is a saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If you see someone being bullied by Xiren and her friends, shouldn't you step forward to help?"

Xichun snorted coldly, turned her head away, and said with a pout:
"Humph, I can't even protect myself right now, how can I care about others?"

Master Zhan shook his head and sighed:

"Have you forgotten how you ended up in this situation, Fourth Sister?"

"If you could be nicer to the people around you, why would you end up being deserted by everyone?"

"Many times, you can change the fate of the people around you by just saying a few words."

"It's just a simple task, but you were so stingy with your efforts. Don't you regret it at all now?"

After hearing this, Xichun said bitterly:

"The hierarchy in this world has already been determined. It is useless to struggle."

"Even if I say a few words to help them, can I really change their fate?"

"It's just some unnecessary hope!"

"With this seemingly hopeful, but actually hopeless thought, they will suddenly have many unnecessary thoughts, thinking of climbing up the pole. Not only will they suffer countless hardships, but they will probably still cling to my thighs and won't let go until they pull me into the water!"

"Even if I treat them well, will you let me go?"

"Whoever I am nice to is my weakness, and you can manipulate them, which will only hurt others."

"Everything is destined!"

"Everything is useless!"

"Amitabha……"

"Huh?" It was the first time that Mr. Zhan heard such a statement from someone else.

Xichun's words, at first glance, seemed to be just an excuse, but upon closer inspection, one would find that they completely reflected the whole society.

A servant is always a servant, and a master is always a master.

The master treats the servant well, giving the servant the illusion that they can climb up the ladder. But after working hard for a lifetime, they suddenly realize that everything is just a pie in the sky. Instead of working hard for a lifetime, it is better to lie down and be comfortable.

Now Xichun's method of "accepting everything that comes her way" has some flavor of the "magic skill of lying down".

So this is the crux of the problem!

After realizing the problem, Mr. Zhan no longer cared about Miaoyu.

This is not a problem that Buddhism can solve at all. It makes basically no difference whether Miaoyu is there or not.

Master Zhan has to do it himself!

Ideological and political classes should be arranged!
Of course, it is no use talking to her about the nature of society, exploitation and oppression. We can't let her spend the rest of her life thinking about rebellion in the backyard.

Heart disease needs to be cured with heart medicine. Since Xichun believes that people's fate is determined at birth, all she needs to do is pile up counterexamples.

"Comrade Xichun, you have long hair but short knowledge!"

Mr. Zhan had a solemn look on his face. He sat in front of Xichun and began to give her a political lesson.

"You only think that people are born with different statuses, but you have never read history books and don't know the reason why kings, princes, generals and ministers are not born with the same species."

"The female version of the Divine Religion is wrong. We still have to look at the male version of the Rebellion Method!"

"Look at the founding emperors of all dynasties. Is there any one who was born as an emperor?"

"If they think like you, they will never become emperors!"

Xichun heard this and just curled her lips in disdain and said:
"They were indeed not born as emperors, but they were the stars from heaven that came down to earth. They were destined to be emperors. If they do something, it will naturally be the will of heaven and everyone will follow them. How can ordinary people compare to them?"

The ruling class's policy of keeping the people ignorant is truly amazing. In this era, everyone truly believes that the emperor is the Son of Heaven and that it is destined!
But Xichun, a real exiled immortal, couldn't help but make people laugh when she said this. When Master Zhan heard this, he burst out laughing and said:

"These stars have no memories of the past. How do you know that you are not a star?"

This time, Xichun was too lazy to say anything and just stood there sneering.

"Well, there is no evidence that the immortal descended to the earth, so let's put the emperor's matter aside and talk about some other examples."

"There are countless scholars in this world who study hard every day and eventually pass the imperial examinations and change their destiny. This should be forgotten, right?"

Who knew that after Xichun heard this, her neck stiffened and she cried out:

"The top scholar is the god of literature who has descended to earth, isn't he a star in the sky?"

"Tsk!" Master Zhan said speechlessly, "There is only one number one scholar every three years. Does that mean a literary star falls from the sky every three years?"

"How many literary stars are there in the sky? There are too many!"

"Besides, don't just look at the number one scholar. Look down at the hundreds of people in the Jinshi category. Could it be that all of them are stars descended from heaven?"

"If we relax the rules, then the number of people who were born in poverty and changed their fate is beyond the thousands."

This time Xichun was silent, and after a while she snorted coldly:
"These are all men. What do they have to do with women like us?"

"Women are born as girls. They cannot take the imperial examinations or become officials. Even if they marry someone, it all depends on luck. They are like duckweed floating in the water, floating here and there. How can they change their fate?"

Master Zhan then sneered and shouted:

"You are throwing Wu Zetian aside!"

"If you say that Wu Zetian is also the descendant of the Purple Star, then what star is Hua Mulan, and what star is Liang Hongyu?"

Xichun remained silent again, and after a long while she sighed:

"Of course, these are all heroines, but unfortunately, there are only a few of them in the past thousand years."

"Yes, they are indeed rare." Master Zhan nodded in agreement, then changed the subject and said, "It's because most women in the world think like you do, thinking that fate is predetermined and no matter how hard they try, it's useless, so they just give up and don't try. How can they change their fate?"

"What I just said are all people who have left their names in the world and completely changed their own destiny. But in addition to these famous people, there must be many unknown people who have also changed their own destiny through their own efforts."

"But because the change was so minor, it left no trace, so you and I never heard of it."

"In fact, there are many such people around you and me."

"For example, Aunt Zhao was born as a maid. If you think in your way, she will be a maid all her life. But now she is an aunt in the mansion and has given birth to a son and a daughter. If you raise these children well in the future, they will definitely be promoted to a higher level."

Originally, Master Zhan wanted to use Aunt Zhao's personal experience to persuade Xichun to be his aunt obediently. However, after hearing this, Xichun sneered and said disdainfully:

"So what if I'm your aunt?"

"Isn't it because my fate is controlled by others? Master Zheng and the Second Madam beat me whenever they want, scold me whenever they want, and I don't even dare to cry in front of them. What is there to envy?"

"Hiss..." After hearing this, Master Zhan couldn't help but take a breath.

This sister Xichun is quite ambitious!
Why do I feel like Qingwen, with a heart as high as the sky but a life as fragile as paper?

However, it seems that the women in Mr. Cao's book are all extraordinary and even more distinctive than the men.

This time it was Master Zhan's turn to remain silent.

Xichun wants to take control of her own destiny, but it is simply impossible in this era, and it will not be realistic even in a thousand years.

Unless you are born into a good family, your fate is most likely in the hands of your boss.

Master Zhan smacked his lips and sighed heavily:

"Sister Xichun wants to completely control her own destiny. It's not impossible, but... it's too difficult!"

"I do have a way to help Sister Xichun take control of her own destiny so that she won't be manipulated by others. I'm just worried that Sister Xichun can't bear this hardship!"

When Xichun heard this, she didn't believe it at all. She just rolled her eyes and thought he was talking nonsense.

Mr. Zhan was indeed talking nonsense, but he was confident that Xichun would definitely not be able to tell the difference, and he was bullying Xichun because she was ignorant!
"Come, Xiren, show Sister Xichun the postures that the master taught you!"

Hearing her master's order, Xiren came to the center of the room with a smile on her face and stretched out her graceful body, doing all kinds of poses, such as cat pose, dog pose, cobra pose... She made Xichun and Miaoyu, who was lying on the bed, blush and their hearts beat fast.

Before Xichun could react, Master Zhan pointed at the table and told Xiren:

"Come on, Xiren, punch him hard."

"Hah!" Xiren exhaled and shouted, and with a "bang", a hole was made in the table.

This time, not only Xichun was startled, but Xiren was also startled.

Xiren had usually noticed that her strength was increasing, but now she was no longer required to do physical work, so she had no clear idea of ​​how much her strength had increased, she only knew that it was a lot.

Now that this punch had created a hole in the wooden table, she suddenly realized that her own strength had become so exaggerated.

Mr. Zhan had said at home that his family was a fairy who had descended to earth, but of course he couldn't say that in front of Xichun, so he changed his words and said nonsense:

"The movements Xiren performed just now are the Shaolin magic skill Yi Jin Jing, which is the best for prolonging life and increasing strength."

"But relying on the Yi Jin Jing alone is not enough. You also need my secret medicine and hard practice to reach Xiren's level."

"Now that war is raging everywhere, if Sister Xichun works hard and starts learning martial arts today, she may be able to make great achievements on the battlefield and become the next Hua Mulan."

"At that time, if anyone dares to hit or scold you again, you will punch him to death. You will no longer be restricted by anyone and will completely change your destiny."

Xichun stared blankly at the hole on the table, her eyes wide open, unable to utter a word.

It was unknown how long it had passed before Xichun slowly came back to her senses. She saw Master Zhan handing her a broom. She subconsciously reached out to take it, then looked at Master Zhan blankly, not knowing what he meant.

Master Zhan smiled and said:
"Sister Xichun may not believe it and think that I made up the Yi Jin Jing to fool you."

"You don't remember that you practiced Yi Jin Jing many times every night and took the 'secret medicine' produced by the master. You already have a foundation, and your own strength must be much greater than before."

"Look at the wooden handle of this broom. It's as thick as a thumb. You might as well try to bend it."

After hearing what Master Zhan said, Xichun subconsciously exerted force with both hands, and with a crisp "crack" sound, the wooden handle of the broom was easily broken by her.

Xichun was shocked and hurried to check it carefully, but she saw that the cut edge was full of burrs, obviously it had just been broken off.

She carefully checked the intact wooden pole again and found that it was indeed made of wood and was very strong.

She tried to bend it again, and the wooden pole broke again.

Xichun finally believed it and took a deep breath. A glimmer of hope suddenly ignited in her heart.

Seeing Xichun's eyes full of surprise and expectation, Master Zhan smiled and said:
"In fact, Sister Xichun herself doesn't know that your current strength is much greater than those little nuns of Zhineng'er. If you really want to escape, there is no nun in Shuiyue Temple who can stop you!"

"It's just that Sister Xichun is stubborn and always thinks that these efforts are useless. She never resists, so she has been confined here."

Xichun was stunned for a moment. She looked down at her own white and tender hands and the broken wooden pole. She believed Mr. Zhan's nonsense more and more. At the same time, her confidence in her family's past principles of conduct began to waver.

She was smart since childhood and had seen through the dirty things going on in the Ning and Rong mansions very early. She felt that as a weak woman, she had the title of a lady but her fate had already been determined and she had no control over it. She was powerless to do anything.

Rather than working hard for this predetermined fate, only to find that nothing can be changed in the end, it is better to be cold and indifferent, not care about anyone at all, and seek peace for yourself.

Later, after reading Buddhist scriptures, I became less and less interested in caring about people and doing things, and just wanted to escape from reality.

But if we really talk about age, she is only in her teens now, in the prime of her life. How can she be willing to live a lonely life like this?

But what if she was unwilling? Her smart eyes could not see any hope at all. What else could she do except accept it?

Resistance is meaningless except causing more suffering!
But now, a real opportunity to change her destiny appeared before her.

Even if she may not really become a female general like Mulan, at least with enough military power, she will have the opportunity to struggle against the many shackles that restrict her.

To put it bluntly, if life is not going well in the future, she might as well leave home and find a village to be a queen, which is better than suffering bullying at home!

Human beings are just like donkeys. They always need a carrot hanging in front of them to have the motivation to keep moving forward.

Even if this hope is false, as long as the person concerned doesn't find out, you can continue to deceive him.

Xichun was originally a smart girl. After hesitating for a long time, she finally made up her mind, stood up, put on her clothes, and bowed down in front of Master Zhan, begging:
"Brother Zhan, I would like to ask you to teach me the Yi Jin Jing and the martial arts for fighting on the battlefield. I will be very grateful."

Seeing that Xichun had taken the bait, it was now Mr. Zhan's turn to take advantage.

He sat down on the chair, crossed his legs, swung his toes, and said with a smile:

"When you are useful, you call me Brother Zhan, and when you are useless, you call me surnamed Zhan. Why is Sister Xichun so respectful at first and so disrespectful later?"

"Of course I know this martial art. It's no problem for me to teach you the Yi Jin Jing. Even if I use the 'secret medicine' to help you increase your strength, I won't hesitate to do so, but..."

"Why?"

"Who are you to me?"

"What can you do for me in return?"

"Don't talk about being a slave in your next life. I don't need you as my slave!"

Seeing Mr. Zhan like this, Xichun blushed. She knew what he wanted to hear, but she was hesitant and found it difficult to speak.

If she married another man in the future, she might have a chance to rebel and become the queen, but if she became Master Zhan's concubine, just looking at Xiren and Zijing who were eyeing her covetously, she would know that her strength was not enough to resist the suppression of the two, and it would be impossible for her to escape.

She learned martial arts not to become a female general or a queen, but purely to control her own destiny. However, if she agreed to become a concubine of the Zhan family, she would be worried that all her efforts would just be a jump from an old, fragile cage of fate into a new, more solid cage of fate.

Master Zhan didn't rush her. He just sat there leisurely, waiting for her to figure it out.

Xichun stood there in silence for a long time. Mr. Zhan was not in a hurry, but Miaoyu, who was tied to the bed at the back, became anxious first.

"Sir, since you already have a solution, there is no need for me to do anything else, right?"

"Master, why don't you just let me go and let me go on my own? I swear to heaven that I will never tell anyone about what happened between you two!"

Master Zhan turned his head to look at Miaoyu, whose curves were distorted by the ropes, and said with a grin:
"That's true. You're useless now. Just kill me!"

Zijing understood what she meant, so she reached out and grabbed Miaoyu, trying to drag her outside. Miaoyu was so scared that she started screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice sounding like a hen about to be killed.

"Do not kill me!"

“It’s still useful!”

“It’s still useful!”

Mr. Zhan then asked with a smile:
"What use are you to?"

Miaoyu's voice paused, and just as she hesitated, she felt the force from Zijing's hand again. She immediately didn't care about anything else and hurriedly shouted:

"I can use the ransom to redeem him, sir, please spare his life!"

Master Zhan shook his head unhappily and said:

"The master is a viscount of the imperial court, not a bandit from the mountains. Why does he need your ransom?"

Zijing dragged her out again. Miaoyu struggled hard and cried out:
"I am an expert in innate numbers and can help you get rid of disasters and solve problems!"

"Oh?" Master Zhan asked curiously, "In that case, you can tell me for yourself and see if I will let you go today."

"If you calculate correctly, the master will spare your life."

Miaoyu had a bitter look on her face. She knew what Master Zhan was planning, but she couldn't care less now. She just wanted to save her life first, so she said in a bitter voice:
"I don't need to tell you this, I know that the master will not let me go."

After listening to this, Mr. Zhan laughed and said:

"Yes, your divination is quite accurate. The master doesn't intend to let you go, so I will spare your life."

"But the master doesn't keep idle people around him. Besides fortune-telling, what else can you do for the master?"

Miaoyu lowered her head and thought for a moment, then said:

"I have been familiar with Buddhist scriptures since I was young, and I can burn incense and pray for you, Master."

Mr. Zhan nodded seriously and said:
"That's fine too."

"Well, from now on, you will burn incense and pray for the master in Shuiyue Temple."

"Master, I will tell Nun Jingxu to provide you with vegetables and tofu for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day."

"Anyway, you are a cultivator with your hair uncut, so you must have gotten used to this simple meal. It is normal for you to accompany the ancient Buddha with the green lamp day and night."

After hearing this, Miaoyu opened her mouth and wanted to say that she came from a wealthy family and was not used to eating such coarse food. She was always surrounded by people who played music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and rarely saw ancient Buddhas and green lamps. But she was afraid of angering this lord and bringing about a disaster that would lead to her death, so she closed her mouth and said no more, thinking only about how to escape in the future.

Mr. Zhan knew that Miaoyu was not someone who could endure the hardship, so he wanted to keep her in Shuiyue Temple for a while. But when he saw that she agreed, he no longer paid any attention to her and turned back to look at Xichun who was standing beside him.

After a long while, Xichun finally figured it out in her mind, raised her head and asked:

"What Brother Zhan wants is nothing more than my body. If I can really learn some skills from it, I would not mind giving it to Brother Zhan."

"But Brother Zhan must explain to me clearly. If I want to put what I have learned to use in the future, what will be my attitude, Brother Zhan?"

When Master Zhan heard this, he knew that Xichun had fallen into his trap, and he immediately agreed without thinking:

"Sister Xichun has only known me for a short time, so I don't know much about you. I am the most compassionate and kind person in the world, and I never want to restrict women."

"Other families think that it is embarrassing for a woman to show her face in public, but in the eyes of the master, this woman who can support the family has a unique temperament and style, and it is particularly romantic to play with her in bed."

"So Sister Xichun, don't worry that the master will stop you in the future."

"Whether you want to be a female general, a female knight, a female thief, or a strong woman in the future... the master will only support you wholeheartedly. He can also make a special uniform for you, and even help you hype and become famous!"

Xichun listened, although she didn't quite understand, but she knew the general meaning, so she felt relieved, but she asked loudly:

"What if I don't want to be someone's concubine anymore?"

Master Zhan still smiled and replied:

"As long as you can defeat the many female soldiers in the Zhan Mansion, you can become my wife even if you want!"

"Even if you don't even want to be my wife and want to leave the mansion, as long as you can be invincible in the mansion, can we still stop you?"

"The core of this problem is not with me, the master, but with you, Sister Xichun!"

"As long as you are strong enough, you will be able to break all obstacles and shackles in the world. Even if the gods from heaven come, they cannot stop your determination to pursue freedom!"

After Xichun heard this, she agreed with him deeply, so she bowed down again and said with a red face:

"In that case, from today on, I belong to Brother Zhan. I hope Brother Zhan will teach me the martial arts skills."

Master Zhan was delighted, so he stretched out his finger to lift Xichun's chin and said frivolously:
"Since we are all family, why call me Brother Zhan anymore? We should call me Master instead!"

Xichun lowered her eyes, blushed, and called out softly, "Master."

“Good shout!”

Master Zhan laughed heartily, leaned forward, took Xichun's cherry lips in his, and took a sip.

Xiren and Zijing also came over to join in the fun, "Congratulations, Master, for having another beautiful lady."

Master Zhan waved his hand and said, "You two have made great contributions. I will reward you generously later. You two will not suffer any loss!"

As it was getting late, Master Zhan asked Master Jingxu to prepare wine and food. He held Xichun in his arms and enjoyed her service.

It was only Miaoyu who suffered. She watched others drinking and eating big chunks of meat while she could only eat some tasteless boiled cabbage beside them.

In the past, because of her spiritual practice, she seldom ate meat or fish, and rather loved light vegetarian food. However, those vegetarian dishes were all made by skilled chefs, so how could the taste be comparable to that of ordinary farm dishes?
Compared with the vegetarian dishes she had eaten in the past, the food in Shuiyue Temple now was not much different from pig food.

But the vicious lord was having fun nearby, and she dared not even breathe, for fear of getting into trouble and being dragged over and molested.

But the room was so small that she couldn't run away even if she wanted to. Even if she closed her eyes, she could still hear the noise clearly.

Coupled with the emotional live broadcast of Xiren APP, Miaoyu felt that her whole body was polluted.

She also thought about hiding outside the house, but how could Master Zhan allow such a thing as running away from the battlefield? He had her arrested and reprimanded:
"You are a nun, don't you know that this human body is just a bag of rotten skin?"

"If you can't even understand the principle that form is emptiness, what's the point of practicing?"

"Come on, tie up this fake nun and put her next to the bed. Make her watch and listen carefully, and then write an 800-word review. If she fails to do so, you'll drag her out and chop her to pieces!"

Miaoyu had no choice but to bite her lips tightly, kneel beside the bed and watch carefully, not daring to cry out loud.

Mr. Zhan is now encouraging the development of original content, so tonight's live broadcast is just to let Xiren serve as an example, and then it will be left to Xichun to perform.

“It is said that if you read 300 Tang poems by heart, you will be able to recite them even if you cannot compose them.”

"Good Xichun, now is the time to test whether you have recovered from your illness!"

"Come on, come on, you will be responsible for continuing the rest of the story."

Xichun half-lay on Xiren's body, their eyes met. Seeing Xiren's playful look, she felt so embarrassed that her whole body was burning hot. She quickly closed her eyes and began the first trial story.

"...But, but after Xichun was hugged by the master, she felt weak all over and her mouth became dry..."

After all, it was the first broadcast, and the signal was too bad. The sound was like the humming of a mosquito, and if you didn't listen carefully, you couldn't hear what was being said.

Mr. Zhan didn't care. He knew that the poor signal was mainly due to the lack of a fixed base station to help strengthen it, and it would definitely improve sooner or later.

Mr. Zhan has always been a gentle and considerate man, and he never over-emphasizes his desires.

This is a girl's first time. How can it be done hastily in such a simple place like Shuiyue Temple?
He had to return home, set up a banquet at home, call everyone over, bless Xichun in public, and then go into the bridal chamber to enjoy the feast slowly.

Which concubine in the Zhan Mansion didn't go through the special process of worshipping heaven and earth?

Xichun is of course no exception!
So tonight's main purpose is to have a follow-up visit, to make sure Xichun's "submissive" personality has completely disappeared, so that she can be discharged from the hospital.

Xichun also knew this, so she was very proactive tonight. Not only did she take the initiative to submit to Xiren APP, she also took the initiative to ask for Master Zhan's secret medicine.

Mr. Zhan was such a magnanimous person that he immediately opened the granary and allowed her to use the granary as she pleased.

Xichun was also very curious about this "secret medicine". While taking the medicine, she asked while panting:
"Master, your 'secret medicine'... why is it so weird?"

Mr. Zhan continued to talk nonsense:

"Sister Xichun, you don't know that I, the master, have been practicing the Dinglu Magical Skill since I was young. It is specially designed for female monsters to absorb yang and replenish yin. It complements the Yijinjing you practice. It is a magical skill that complements each other."

If it weren't for her own personal experience, Xichun would never have believed such nonsense, but facts speak louder than words. No matter how ridiculous the words were, she couldn't refute them. She could only roll her eyes and ignore the matter.

They continued to toss and turn until dawn. Xichun ate until she was full, then collapsed on Master Zhan, struggling to ask:

"Master, have I recovered from this illness?"

Master Zhan laughed and said:

"Yes, congratulations, my dear sister, you have recovered from your illness and can go home with me now!"

(End of this chapter)