Chapter 184: Three Lives Fairy

As for the other mid-grade Magical Artifact, Ruan Xing intended to leave it for Xu Can.

Because his mission had been completed quite well; when she went to check a few days ago, both the Righteousness Manor and the Women's School had already been built and put into use.

Originally, Ruan Xing thought the Righteousness Manor would provoke resentment from many commoners, but unexpectedly, the commoners accepted it quite well. In the past, when their own elders died and were buried on mountains or in certain cemeteries, they had to pay a sum of money to the Government and landlords. For families with an annual income of less than ten taels of Silver, this was a huge expense. If they had their own land, it was one thing, but if they didn't, they truly had to tighten their belts to ensure their elders departed with dignity.

Now that the Righteousness Manor and cemetery were free, it was considered good news for them.

As for the noble families whose ancestral graves were dug up and relocated, in the past, they might have bumped their heads against pillars in front of the palace gates to force the Emperor to stop, cursing him for disregarding human ethics.

But because the vegetable market entrance had been washed with water almost every day for the past few months, they were all as obedient as quails, terrified that they would be next.

Whether this Emperor was real or not, one couldn't be sure, but his house-raiding was absolutely real! Even the eggs in their homes had to be shaken until the yolks broke for the house-raiding Feather Guards to have as a late-night snack.

The chain reaction caused by the house-raiding even led many institutions into a state of semi-paralysis, with the minor clerks of the yamen being used as if one person were three.

Xu Can simply reorganized the Three Offices, transferred the surviving officials to other departments, and made the Household Tax Division independent, handing it over to the Inner Court to manage.

Most of the women in the Xumi Realm who had read books and had some education were from noble families. Originally, under pressure from their families or husbands, they did not intend to respond to the Emperor's call. But now that Xu Can had already given out real power and the departmental framework had been established, they would be officials upon joining, and gradually, they began to feel tempted.

The first task they handled was to audit the private assets of the raided officials, incorporate them into the national treasury, and allocate them reasonably.

By the time those noble families who still wanted to resist and protest with a passive attitude discovered that the Inner Court had become increasingly perfect and was on the right track, it was already too late to get a share of the spoils.

The basic team had already been assembled; even if they went, they could only serve as minor clerks who held the pen, unless other Female Officials in the Inner Court made mistakes and needed to be replaced.

But they were all clan wives who managed their own households; the confiscated assets were things they saw every day, so they wouldn't be deceived by those below them, and calculating accounts was something they were already well-versed in.

Naturally, the noble ladies were unwilling to be subordinates and minor clerks, which was exactly what Ruan Xing wanted.

She planned to wait for the first batch of graduates from the Women's School, who could then be directly assigned to the Inner Court to do this work. In this way, when others saw that the Women's School guaranteed job placement and that they could become officials for the Emperor upon graduation—even if they were minor officials—it would make ordinary families flock to send their girls to the Women's School.

The things these girls learned upon enrollment were not the grand principles of the classics, but the real skills of writing, bookkeeping, and using an abacus. Since they would be working in the Household Tax Division, they only needed to learn what the Household Tax Division could use. In about four or five months, the first batch of students could be fast-tracked to graduation.

When there were conditions later, Ruan Xing also planned to let them learn martial arts.

This progress was much better than Ruan Xing had imagined; naturally, Xu Can had to be rewarded.

This day, Lingyun Xianzi finally couldn't help but come to find Ruan Xing, "It's been so many days, how is your reform going? When can I go into the Xumi Realm to take a look?"

"Don't be impatient." Ruan Xing thought for a moment; those who needed to be killed inside the Xumi Realm had mostly been killed. Because Xu Can controlled public opinion well, the officials being raided that the commoners talked about in the streets and alleys were all corrupt officials, so it didn't stir up public grievances. There was only some unrest when the Women's School was recruiting, but it quickly subsided. After all, the Women's School was free and voluntary; no one was forced to go.

In that case, it was about time to put the Fairy's entry into the Xumi Realm on the agenda.

Ruan Xing said, "Then you can come with me to inspect the work this time. By the way, call Cui Yurong along."

Let Cui Yurong also see the changes in the Xumi Realm now.

There was no one in the dungeon, and Cui Yurong was also very free, so the three of them went to the Xumi Realm together.

Lingyun Xianzi had stayed in the Xumi Realm for quite a long time, and Cui Yurong was a native who had grown up in the Xumi Realm, so they could naturally feel the difference between the Xumi Realm and before.

The three of them walked on the street wearing veils. Cui Yurong looked at the place that was both strange and familiar, and not knowing what she thought of, her expression became somewhat sorrowful.

"If only it could have been like this earlier..."

Then she wouldn't have had to marry. Her father's obsession was that there was no one in the court; when he was thrown into prison, he couldn't even find anyone to help operate or speak for him, which was why he insisted she marry a scholar.

If it were now, she herself could pass the exam to join the Household Tax Division, and with her ability, she could certainly shield her family from the wind and rain.

It was just that all of this was too late now.

Cui Yurong shook her head and asked Ruan Xing, "Where were the Righteousness Manor and the cemetery in the Capital built?"

Ruan Xing replied, "Right at the location of the former mass grave. That place has been extremely heavy with Death Qi for years, the location is remote, and the area is large. Xu Can built a manor there, enclosed it with walls, and planned it out, so it could be put into use immediately. Do you want to go there to borrow the Death Qi for cultivation?"

"No." Cui Yurong lowered her eyes and said, "Although he betrayed and harmed me, my unborn child is innocent. I don't even know if that child was a boy or a girl, but I want to go and take a look, and light a Long-lasting Lamp for it, to bless it to be born into a good family in the next life."

Her heart was good, but there was no Underworld in this world, and people had no next life. Moreover, that child had died when it was only a few months in the womb; its soul hadn't even fully formed, so it had likely long since dissipated.

Ruan Xing didn't break Cui Yurong's delusion, only saying, "Then let's go take a look. Later, I plan to send the disciples who practice magic and the Sword cultivators in here to live in the Righteousness Manor, borrowing the Death Qi and grief to cultivate. Since you are a Ghost Cultivator, you can also live here."

The place outside the city that used to be a mass grave had now turned into green tiles and white walls.

Cui Yurong had once suffered Evil Corruption into a Ghost Cultivator in this place. She pushed open the door, and across the front courtyard, she could already smell the faint scent of blood and corpse rot from the mortuary inside. Those were the corpses waiting for funeral rites; after three to seven days, they would be moved to the back for burial, a mound of yellow earth, carved with a tombstone.

The gatehouse was occupied by a manor head and two night watchmen. In the hall in the middle of the main courtyard, a faceless stone statue of a woman was worshipped. The incense burner was burning with curling blue smoke, and the offerings still looked fresh. Below the stone statue were rows of Wooden Tablets slightly larger than a thumb, with names written on them in small regular script.

Ruan Xing was a bit confused. She remembered that there was no concept of gods or Buddhas in the Xumi Realm. Even if there were customs of burning incense and paper money, they only knew it was passed down from their ancestors and didn't know why they did it.

"What is this?" Ruan Xing pointed at the stone statue and asked the manor head.

The manor head replied, "It came from the Capital. It is said that a few months ago, the National Preceptor dreamed of an Immortal, who said that the Purple Star was in trouble. After the National Preceptor woke up, he followed the Immortal's guidance and rescued the Emperor. When the Emperor found out, he wept bitterly, saying that when he was trapped, he prayed every night and also dreamed of an Immortal who told him that someone would save him soon. When the Emperor and the National Preceptor compared notes, they discovered that the Immortal in their dreams was the same person, but after waking up, neither of them could remember the face, so they could only shape such a stone statue to worship in the National Teacher Palace to thank the Immortal. Everyone followed the National Preceptor and the Emperor, and also worshipped it in their homes.

I heard from the little Daoist boy in the National Teacher Palace and the storytellers on the street that this Immortal is a woman, with the title Three Lives Fairy. This 'three lives' refers to the previous life, this life, and the next life, so a statue is also worshipped in the Righteousness Manor. The tablets written below are all their own deceased relatives, placed in front of the Three Lives Fairy, hoping that after the Fairy sees them, she can grant them a peaceful and wealthy next life. Everyone says that because the Immortal is a woman, the Emperor only started to promote the Women's School and the Inner Court after he was rescued."

After hearing this, Ruan Xing's expression became a bit strange. No wonder she felt that the figure and attire of this stone statue were somewhat similar to her.

It turned out that Xu Can was flattering her by using the task of making up stories that she had entrusted to him, but he was afraid she would be angry and unwilling, so he didn't reveal her appearance and just fabricated a title.

This was also a bit too shameful...

Ruan Xing felt the aura of social death rushing towards her, but she quietly looked at Lingyun Xianzi and Cui Yurong, only to find that neither of them had much of a reaction.

In the world of Cultivation, women with profound cultivation could all be called 'Fairy'. She herself was called Lingyun Xianzi back then, so she didn't think there was anything to it, and she didn't connect this stone statue with Ruan Xing.

Ruan Xing often used the Illusion Technique to change into various appearances; in Lingyun Xianzi's impression, Ruan Xing was still that little short radish from back then.

Cui Yurong stared blankly for a while, then said to Ruan Xing, "I want to write one too."

Ruan Xing was expressionless: "... Write it."

It's fine, if no one finds out, it won't be awkward.

It was just that Cui Yurong picked up the brush but didn't know what to write.

Lingyun Xianzi looked at her with slightly pitying eyes and said, "You can give it a nickname."

"When I first became pregnant, I thought of many nicknames for it, but now it seems none of them are appropriate." Cui Yurong sighed and picked up the brush to write the two characters 'Xiaoman'. "May it have Consummation in its next life."

Xiaoman, it sounds quite nice, as long as the surname isn't Jiang.

Ruan Xing muttered to herself, and after Cui Yurong finished offering incense, the few of them left the Righteousness Manor.

Ruan Xing pointed out to her the rows of small rooms to the east of the Righteousness Manor and said, "Those are the rooms I prepared for the disciples; you can pick one first."

However, the layout inside was the same: a bed, a table, and a meditation cushion. Things used for cultivation wouldn't be built to be very luxurious, so it was about the same whichever one she chose.

Cui Yurong nodded, "Let's go look at other things."

"Alright, then let's go see the Women's School. You can pick a few from among those students to be your disciples and let them practice in the National Teacher Palace first," Ruan Xing said.

The Women's School was at the other end of the same street as the National Teacher Palace.

This place was originally the mansion of a hereditary marquis, but because they had stood on the wrong side that day in front of the palace gates, the family had been raided and the mansion had been turned over to the national treasury. Xu Can saw that the three courtyards of the mansion were large enough to accommodate over a thousand people, so he simply renovated it and used it as the Women's School.

Looking at the plaque that read "Three Lives Academy," Ruan Xing felt she could already be immune to it.

After entering, it was exactly class time during the day, and from several rows of rooms came the pleasant sound of reading, like the chirping of orioles.

The first batch of students was not large; a rough count added up to only seventy or eighty people. They were all women from ordinary or even impoverished backgrounds, of varying ages. The oldest looked to be over forty, while the youngest was still drooling and staring blankly, looking like a little girl brought along by an older sister who had come to study, because Three Lives Academy was free and provided meals.

After listening for a few moments, Ruan Xing knew that the academy had only recently opened, and these students were still at the stage of learning characters, being taught from introductory books.

Their progress was also not quite the same, because the previous Xumi Realm required all males to study, so the illiteracy rate among the lower classes was not particularly high; in every household, there was always one or two people who were literate and would teach the sisters and daughters of the family.

In order not to disturb these students, the three of them bypassed these rooms and prepared to go to the backyard to see the dormitories for students and teachers.

They hadn't walked far when Cui Yurong's expression suddenly turned ugly.

Ruan Xing had almost forgotten that Cui Yurong, like her when she first started Cultivation, had no common sense regarding the Cultivation world; she probably had her Divine Sense drifting outward at all times and had accidentally seen something.

The Immortal also guessed it and frowned slightly, "Using Divine Sense to look at others at will is an impolite behavior..."

"Bastard!" Cui Yurong cursed, then rushed toward a certain direction. She had recently been practicing the Nether Ghost Record and was also learning the Magic Art within it, and she had also dabbled slightly in the Ghost Escape Technique. At this moment, she seemed to flash, leaving only black afterimages in the open space.

Ruan Xing was startled and hurriedly used her Divine Sense to look over as well.

She saw a middle-aged man with a square face and short stubble being held by his hair by Cui Yurong, his clothes in disarray.

In the inner room, there was also a girl of fourteen or fifteen, her face covered in tear tracks, shrinking into a corner in a panic.

Ruan Xing, taking the Immortal with her, quickly walked over.

The man was cursing filthily: "Which class are you a student of? How dare you break into my room so rudely! Do you understand what it means to respect your teacher and the Dao?"

"And who are you, to bully students within Three Lives Academy?" Ruan Xing understood what was going on as soon as she saw it, and questioned him with a cold sneer.

The man clamored: "I am Zhao Zhibing, the top scholar personally appointed by the Emperor! A sixth-rank Scholar of the Cabinet! By the Emperor's order, I am the Chief Mountain Master of Three Lives Academy. What kind of thing are you, to be worthy of telling me what to do? Hurry up and let this official go, otherwise I will have the Feather Guards drag you into the dungeons of the Patrol Division, and by then, even if you kneel and beg me, it will be useless!"

Xu Can's order? How could Xu Can let such a person serve as the Chief Mountain Master of Three Lives Academy? It seems that the Mid-grade Magical Artifact will need further consideration before deciding whether to give it to him.

The Immortal said indignantly: "These students come to Three Lives Academy to study, understand reason, and learn skills so that they can enter the Inner Court to serve as officials in the future. You don't think about how to teach them well, but instead, you rely on your position to act lewdly toward them?"

"They are just lowly commoners. For women to be officials is already going against the heavens; I am just letting them recognize reality clearly!" The man sneered, "Besides, how do you know it wasn't her who seduced me? For the daughter of a lowly commoner, being able to come into contact with a high-level official like me in this lifetime is already her greatest fortune!"

Babies, have you seen the news? A criminal law professor raping female students; such a pervert can actually participate in the drafting of criminal law...

Thanks to _Panda-kun_ for the tip~ (End of chapter)