After being choked to death by a copper coin, she became a demon Jin Ji in the other world

Chapter 129: Sheep Into the Tiger's Mouth

However, the situation of Qi at this time was not very good. It had only been six years since Yue Yi and the other five countries invaded Qi, and it had been less than two years since Qi was restored. Currently, the country was weak and had a lot of work to do. It was not much better than Han and Yan.

Therefore, the scene that Shen Yuelan and others saw after entering Qi territory was that large tracts of land were barren, countless villages were abandoned, and broken bones were scattered all over the ground.

Although there are still many villages with residents, they are no longer what they used to be, and there is not much time left for Qi to restore its national strength.

The same was true for the capital Linzi. The grand scene recorded in "Strategies of the Warring States: Strategies of Qi" - "On the road to Linzi, the wheels of the wheels of the carriages hit each other, people rubbed shoulders, the hems of their clothes were connected like a curtain, their sleeves were raised like a curtain, and their sweat looked like rain" is no longer there.

Although most of the buildings destroyed by the war have been repaired after nearly two years of renovation, some houses are still collapsed and in a terrible condition.

But as the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even though it has suffered the ravages of war, this Haidai capital is still much more popular than Xianyang City.

From the eighth year of King Zhao of Zhou (1045 BC), when Jiang Taigong was granted the title of Duke of Qi and established the State of Qi, to the first year of Emperor Qin Shihuang (221 BC), when Qin unified the six states, Linzi City served as the capital of Qi for more than eight hundred years.

Unlike the Qin capital Xianyang, Linzi City consisted of two parts: the big city and the small city. The small city was located in the southwest corner of the big city. It was the palace city where the king and major ministers lived. The big city was the outer city where officials, civilians and merchants lived.

The area of the big city is about four times that of the small city. At one time, the population in Linzi City reached more than 70,000 households, making it a metropolis between the sea and the mountains.

Compared with Xianyang City, which was built less than a hundred years ago, Linzi City obviously better meets Shen Yuelan's definition of the capital of a great country. It's a pity that King Min of Qi was incompetent and played a good hand badly, destroying the good situation left to him by King Wei of Qi and King Xuan of Qi.

【Alas, when King Wei and King Xuan were alive, Qi was so prosperous. During its heyday, all the talents of the six kingdoms yearned for it. Zou Yan, Chunyu Kun, Tian Pian, Jie Zi, Shen Dao and more than 70 other great talents were honored guests of Qi. 】

[Even King Huiwen of Qin had to behave himself in front of the two kings and did not dare to act rashly. However, he did not expect that his unworthy descendant, King Min of Qi, would ruin his family business.]

[After King Min of Qi ascended the throne, he vigorously cracked down on the originally open atmosphere of Qi society, killed the people who criticized the monarch, executed the Qi royal family members who spoke out, and killed the ministers and officials who had a good reputation. The whole country of Qi was full of complaints. ]

[The result of his actions was the war between the five kingdoms against Qi, the disastrous defeat of Qi, the loss of a large part of Qi's territory, and the death of King Min of Qi himself in the war.]

Looking at Mi Ping, who looked excited and talked eloquently about the history of the decline of other countries, Shen Yuelan stood aside with some amusement and listened to him for a while.

Indeed, if there had been no King Min of Qi, perhaps the Qin Empire's pace of unifying China would have been delayed by hundreds of years, or Qi would have unified China before Qin, and all kinds of thoughts and cultures since the pre-Qin period would have been preserved under its protection.

But, there are no ifs in history, right?

Shen Yuelan and the others originally wanted to find a hotel that was still open in the city and stay there for a short period of time, but after walking around, they found that there were no inns open in the city at all.

Well, they haven't found a place to live yet, so who has time to do business? Shen Yuelan and others have no choice but to find an unoccupied house that is relatively intact to stay temporarily.

At sunset, Shen Yuelan secretly climbed to the commanding heights in the city and overlooked the entire capital.

Although it was almost evening, there were still many places in the city where people were active. The most lively places were the Jixia Academy outside the west gate and the palaces in the southwest town.

Which place should we go to first? In the face of beauty and knowledge, Shen Yuelan chose beauty without hesitation, and Shen Huanyan beside her was speechless when she saw this.

She looked at the fiery clouds in the west and secretly criticized Shen Yuelan in her heart, "Hmph, she claims she's not a philanderer, but the beads are about to jump onto her face."

Shen Yuelan quickly strolled into the Qi Palace under the cover of night. Today, Shen Yuelan truly experienced what the ancients said: "A dark moon is a good night for murder, and a high wind is a good day for arson."

There was no curfew in the Song Dynasty, so wherever Shen Yuelan passed, the lights were often on. As for the Qin State, because of Wei Lan's strict control, Shen Yuelan rarely had the opportunity to go out for a walk.

Today in Qi State I realized how dark the night is without the moon shining. At this time, it is too easy to kill someone.

Of course, the prerequisite is that you have to be able to get close to him, otherwise there would not be any eternal legends such as [Zhuan Zhu Assassinating Wu Liao] and [Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin].

However, these were not a problem for Shen Yuelan. She was lying quietly on the roof of the palace, trying to see what was going on inside the house by flipping up a tile like in the TV dramas.

But I have to say, that damn TV series is a bit misleading. No one's roof is just covered with a layer of tiles, let alone a royal palace. After Shen Yuelan lifted the tiles, she saw a layer of wooden boards underneath, and she couldn't see anything at all.

With no other options, Shen Yuelan had to jump off the roof, trying to see the king and queen by poking a hole in the window paper. But after Shen Yuelan came down, she suddenly discovered that there was no paper on the windows from the Warring States Period.

Paper-pasted windows only became popular after the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Windows in the Warring States Period were generally just a piece of wood that could be opened when needed. Therefore, Shen Yuelan could not find the window she had imagined.

After being rejected twice in a row, Shen Yuelan was severely ridiculed by Shen Huanyan. Shen Yuelan squatted on the roof speechless. Alas, she finally took the initiative to show off, but she didn't expect such a result.

Fortunately, the outdoor temperature during this period was neither high nor low. Although she couldn't see the beauty, it would be nice to sit on the roof and enjoy the breeze. However, things did not go as she wished. Just when Shen Yuelan was about to lie on the roof and have a comfortable sleep.

The tiles and wooden boards under her suddenly broke, and Shen Yuelan, who was lying on them, fell straight down. Unable to react in time, Shen Yuelan fell from the roof into a soft embrace in an instant.

Shen Yuelan and the owner of the embrace looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, not knowing how to react. When the owner of the palace saw that the visitor was a little girl, he not only put aside his initial hostility, but also joked to Shen Yuelan with interest:

[Haha, I told the palace stewards a long time ago that the roof of my palace was not strong and needed to be repaired, but they insisted that it could still be used. Now, you have fallen into this situation because of me. It is the fault of my Qi State.]

When Shen Yuelan heard this, she knew that the other party was teasing her. She quickly struggled to get up from the gentle embrace. On the surface, she apologized frantically to him, but secretly she was savoring the gentle touch in her heart.

But what puzzled Shen Yuelan was that the king and queen did not make any noise or fuss about her sudden intrusion, as if they were facing a catastrophe and remained calm.

And there seemed to be something wrong with the way she looked at him, her eyes revealed an undisguised greed.

What Shen Yuelan thought was right. At this moment, the Queen was greedily scanning Shen Yuelan's body, admiring her carefully, from her face to her neck, from her chest to her lower abdomen, and continuing downwards.

It seemed that he didn't want to let go of any corner of Shen Yuelan. Even though Shen Yuelan was dirty now, he was willing to do so.

[Hehe, look, my little beauty is all dirty, and my body is also covered with dust. Coincidentally, the hot spring in the west room is already ready. My little beauty, why don't you take a bath with me? ]

Shen Yuelan's legs went weak when she heard that. She knew she was like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth. Sob.

Chapter 130: Xuan Jiang and Wen Jiang

Having said that, Shen Yuelan was a person with lustful thoughts but no courage. She didn't dare to have close contact with anyone she didn't know, even if the person in front of her was a great beauty, so she quickly refused.

Before the Queen could utter another outrageous word, Shen Yuelan quickly fled through the hole in the roof.

The queen who stayed there with a seductive look heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that the [thief] had left. Her temperament changed instantly, and she became gentle and virtuous. It turned out that the artificial attitude just now was just an act.

[Tsk, although that little girl is indeed beautiful, if I had not married the King of Qi as his queen, I would definitely spend some time with her, but now that I am a wife, I must keep my promise. I have already broken my promise to my father, and I must not break my promise to my husband again.]

Looking at the big hole on the roof, the queen became more worried. What a silly little girl! Why was she wandering around on the roof for no reason? Repairing the big hole on the roof would be another expense.

After the five kingdoms invaded Qi, Qi's treasury was cleaner than my own face. Where could I get the money? Oh, this is such a sudden disaster. It's so cold. I can't stay in this room anymore.

Shen Yuelan naturally didn't know about the Queen's muttering in the Prince Qi's Palace. At this moment, she was being scolded by Shen Huanyan.

[Master, you are such a wimp. She has already thrown herself into your arms, but you didn't rush forward and just ran out like this in a mess? This is delicious, this is delicious, Master, Master, this is delicious! ]

Shen Yuelan's face turned red when she heard this, and she felt that she had to say something to protect her reputation.

[You…what are you talking about? Didn’t I tell you from the beginning? I…I just went there to take a look and collect stamps. I’ve been cultivating myself and my character lately, okay? I don’t have any intention of finding a new love at all.]

[What's more, she's already a wife and mother. If I continue to provoke her, wouldn't that be a bit ignorant? It's better to destroy ten temples than to ruin a marriage.]

Shen Huanyan looked suspicious when she heard this. She asked uncertainly:

[But... isn't Liu E also a wife? ]

[Hey! That couple is just bored and came to provoke me first. If I don’t fight back, Zhao Heng will think I’m a sick cat! ]

[And according to Liu E, she liked me when she first saw me, and she hadn't married Zhao Heng at that time? ]

[Um... Master, at that time, Liu E was nominally married to Gong Mei, so she was also considered a wife.]

Shen Yuelan opened her mouth when she heard this, and was so angry that she couldn't speak for a long time. Tsk, what's going on? Why are all the women she met recently married? No, no, she can't go on the road of being a thief and never come back.

Anyway, I have collected the stamps, so I'd better walk around the Palace of King Qi in the future. Speaking of the queen just now, although I have long known that the customs in Qi, Lu and Wei are relatively open, I didn't expect that she would be popular with both men and women. It's really surprising.

When talking about the romantic stories of Qi, we have to mention the sisters Xuan Jiang and Wen Jiang. These two were famous for being seductive. Feng Menglong commented in "Records of the Warring States of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty":

[Duke Xi of Qi had two daughters, the elder was Xuan Jiang and the younger was Wen Jiang. Xuan Jiang committed adultery with her uncle, and Wen Jiang committed adultery with her brother. Human ethics and natural principles were thus destroyed! ]

There is also a poem that says: [The two most beautiful women in the Spring and Autumn Period, Jiang, caused chaos in the order of Qi and Wei. A natural beauty brought disaster to the country, but Wuyan was not as good as Wang Bo! ]

The deeds of these two people would make Mei Xi and Daji exclaim in disgrace upon hearing about them. After all, no matter how much Mei Xi and Daji tossed around, they were just hanging around their husbands. Unlike these two people, they even spared no effort on their uncle and elder brother.

The Duke of Qi wanted to marry Wen Jiang to the Crown Prince Hu of Zheng (Duke Zhao of Zheng), but the affair between the two Jiangs was well known throughout the world. How could the Crown Prince Hu dare to take such a wife back home? He declined the request on the grounds that "Qi was too old to be a good match."

Wen Jiang was eventually taken in by Duke Heng of Lu, but within two years of the marriage, she began to behave dishonestly again. She took the opportunity of returning to her parents' home to have an affair with her brother Duke Xiang of Qi again.

After being discovered by Duke Heng of Lu, Duke Xiang of Qi, relying on the power of Qi, sent people to beat Duke Heng of Lu so badly that several of his ribs were broken. This was really too much.

The incident ended with the execution of the murderer who injured Duke Heng of Lu, but Wen Jiang, the culprit, remained at large for several years and finally died peacefully in the 673st year of Duke Zhuang of Lu ( BC).

Her elder sister Xuan Jiang was not much better off. Her successor was Duke Xuan of Wei. Therefore, her name contained the word "Xuan", which means Mrs. Jiang of Duke Xuan's family.

Not only did this guy have an affair with his uncle before marriage, but after marriage, in order to let his son ascend the throne, he even schemed to kill the crown prince of Wei, disrupting the normal succession order of Wei and causing unrest for five generations of Wei.

Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty commented on her:

[Xuan Jiang of Wei plotted to endanger the crown prince and wanted to establish her son Shou as the heir, and secretly arranged for a strong man. Shou and the others died together, and Wei was indeed in danger. There was unrest for five generations, and the chaos was caused by Jiang.]

After Xuan Jiang caused trouble, in order to save her life, Duke Xiang of Qi married her to her husband's eldest son, Wei Zhaobo. This move completely disregarded morality and human relations, and it is a glimpse into the collapse of rituals and music in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Shen Yuelan's impression of the Queen now is similar to that of Er Jiang. She must be a woman who cannot bear to be lonely. You can't afford to offend her. It's better to stay away from her.

But since fate made them meet, how could they miss each other so easily? So, when Shen Yuelan visited the Jixia Academy on the second day, the two met again.

At that time, the Queen was accompanying King Xiang of Qi, listening to the discussions of the "senior officials" in the Jixia Academy. These senior officials were talented people who did not hold actual positions but could receive salaries from the State of Qi.

Although they were not in the position, they could plan for the government. They were allowed by the King of Qi to discuss state affairs and provide advice to him, similar to the university scholars in later generations who had no real power.

However, the social status of these [senior officials] is much higher than that of the so-called university scholars. After all, one is a scholar and the other is a slave, they cannot be compared.

Shen Yuelan and the others were mixed in with the crowd of students below, listening to the opinions of everyone in the academy. The two pairs of beautiful eyes instantly noticed each other in the crowd, and their eyes met.

Everyone pretended not to know each other, and they couldn't say they knew each other. How could they suddenly know each other in the middle of the night? If nothing had happened between them, no one would believe it.

As for Shen Yuelan, she had no intention of getting to know the king again for the time being. She was currently listening to Xunzi's lecture with great interest.

Although Xunzi's remarks were limited by the times and might not be entirely correct, his language was humorous and his lessons were lively and humorous, which made them sound quite interesting.

For Shen Yuelan, it doesn’t matter whether Xunzi’s thoughts are correct or not. What matters is the personal charm he exudes.

Although Xunzi, who is only in his thirties now, still looks young, he has already initially formed his own ideological system, an ideological system that is based on Confucianism and integrates the essence of various schools of thought.

He was indeed a very good teacher, able to make everyone present understand his teachings easily.

However, not everyone present seemed to think so. In the eyes of the senior officials of the Jixia Academy, Xunzi was more like a challenger who was challenging the existing mainstream ideological system.

The shock felt by the Confucian school was particularly strong. You have to know that Xunzi was originally a Confucian scholar, but now he has rebelled against the sect and set up his own school. This is a naked betrayal to the Confucian scholars present.

Therefore, Xunzi has always had a bad reputation in the feudal society where Confucianism was dominant. Cheng Yi commented that he was "talented but poorly educated, and not known to sages"; Su Shi said that he "liked to express different opinions without giving in, and dared to make profound remarks without paying attention". All of these were bad comments.

Therefore, no matter how reasonable what Xunzi said on the stage was, the audience below the stage would always find fault with him, constantly looking for loopholes in Xunzi's words, refute him, and try to prove that his ideas were wrong.

Chapter 131 Being Targeted

Xunzi, who was at the top of the stage, remained unmoved in the face of the storm from the audience. He calmly and patiently resolved all the verbal attacks directed at him, repelling the malice from the people around him time and time again, allowing Shen Yuelan to see what it means to debate with a group of scholars.

The lively atmosphere here also attracted the attention of the queen. She listened carefully to Xunzi's theory for a while, thinking about the points of convergence between his ideological system and the reality of Qi State.

But unfortunately, after careful consideration, the queen felt that Xunzi's theory was not suitable for Qi.

This was because Qi had just emerged from war and had a lot of work to do. Rather than imposing harsh laws, it needed to recuperate and develop. It should not think about becoming a stronger country for the next thirty or forty years.

However, Xunzi was a man of great talent and he must not be allowed to leave Qi easily and go to other countries to help with reforms. The lesson learned by the people of Wei was profound enough.

Zhang Yi and Fan Ju, two generations of Wei people, took over and directly pushed Western Qin to the position of overlord. It was really terrifying.

What's more, Xunzi now has other uses for the State of Qi. If the current Jixia Academy is compared to a pool of stagnant water, then Xunzi's existence is like the catfish that can instantly revive the lifeless school of sardines.

Xunzi's unorthodox ideas would constantly force the senior officials of the Jixia Academy to change and reflect on their own theories, which was really a good thing for the Jixia Academy.

Moreover, the little girl was also among the audience below, so there might be some relationship between the two. The queen decided to investigate. In order to raise money to repair the roof, the queen sold several pieces of jewelry.

When the Queen went to bed last night, she clutched her empty jewelry bag. The more she thought about it, the angrier and more aggrieved she felt, because those were all her favorite treasures.

No matter what, I have to get the money for my jewelry back from Shen Yuelan. It was clearly her mistake, why should I pay for it?

Shen Yuelan didn't know that she had been targeted by the Queen because of what happened yesterday. At this moment, she was trying to get close to Xunzi, wondering if she could get a set of "Xunzi" from him.

Although she was not sure whether Xunzi had written "Xunzi" during this period of time, it didn't matter if he hadn't written it. She could just treat it as a reservation.

Mi Ping, who came with Shen Yuelan, was much calmer, but his restless old hands revealed his excitement.

Without asking, Shen Yuelan knew what the old guy was thinking. He simply saw the potential for Chu to become stronger in Xunzi, and wanted to persuade Xunzi to go to Chu. In fact, Xunzi would go without him doing anything.

Xunzi lived in Qi for most of his life and also briefly visited Qin and Zhao, but his final destination was Lanling (Linyi) in Chu. It is said that he was forced to leave the Jixia Academy because he was slandered by the people of Qi.

Later, when he was traveling in the State of Chu, he was appointed by Chunshen Jun Huang Xie (one of the four princes of the Warring States Period) and served as the magistrate of Lanling County for a period of time. After Chunshen Jun's death, he was dismissed and lived in Lanling until his death.

Therefore, it would be useless for Xunzi to go to the State of Chu. At most, he would be appointed as a small county magistrate, and would not be allowed to enter the court of Chu to make any reforms.

Seeing Mi Ping's excitement, Shen Yuelan curled her lips and thought, "Forget it, just let him have his sweet dream for a while. It's never good to pour cold water on someone."

Although Xunzi's ideas were met with hostility, his popularity was much better than Shen Yuelan had imagined. After the debate, Xunzi was instantly surrounded by the people in the audience, some asking for advice and some wanting to eat.

Shen Yuelan wanted to squeeze in but couldn't. After trying several times, she had to give up for the time being. Mi Ping, who was behind Shen Yuelan, saw that Shen Yuelan was disappointed, so he touched his nose in frustration and turned away.

After all, Mi Ping was a man who had been a powerful figure in the court of Chu for many years. It was somewhat difficult for him to save face and curry favor with a junior, even if the junior was a talented person.

However, Xunzi, who was in the center of the crowd, noticed the two people leaving with his sharp eyes. He had a hunch that they might be the noble people who could change his wife's fate.

But he did not chase after her immediately, because there were countless pairs of eyes staring at him at this moment. If he made contact rashly, it might backfire and ruin everything. He had to think about this matter carefully.

Shen Yuelan returned to the city, unaware that she was being targeted by two big guys, the Queen and Xunzi. At this moment, she was using the gold [Yingyuan] looted from the capital of Chu to exchange for the knife coins of Qi.

During the Warring States Period, silver currency was rarely circulated. Only the Chu State in its later years used silver to mint coins. The recognized hard currency among the seven countries was still gold.

Various types of copper coins minted by the seven countries were also circulated to varying degrees.