novelhk Chapter 1223 Gao Yao's persuasion pushes Li Yunrui out!
Chapter 1223 Gao Yao's persuasion pushes Li Yunrui out!
"Your Highness need not overthink it." Gao Yao seemed to see through her thoughts and smiled calmly. "These are merely trivial matters that cannot be brought to the table. The real key is whether Your Highness can, like Zhan Doudou, turn a temporary expedient into a lasting legacy. If Zhan Doudou could do it, why can't Your Highness?"
Li Yunrui remained silent for a moment, then slowly asked, "In your opinion, what should I do next?"
Gao Yao's gaze fell upon the dark river outside the window. The moonlight was hazy, the river was silent, and faint lights could be seen on the distant bank.
"Stabilize Jiangnan and win over the hearts of the people." His voice was calm and resolute. "Let those who are wavering see hope in following His Highness. Let those who harbor ulterior motives not dare to act rashly. And then... wait."
"Wait for what?"
“Wait for an opportunity.” Gao Yao turned around, his gaze falling on Li Yunrui’s face. “Wait for Emperor Qing to make a mistake, wait for changes to occur in Northern Qi, wait for the tide of the world to tilt in the direction we want. Zhan Doudou waited for more than ten years to go from a little emperor who was protected to a monarch who truly controls Northern Qi. Your Highness, do you have the patience?”
Upon hearing this, Li Yunrui remained silent, only nodding emphatically.
Zhan Doudou is a woman! The emperor of Northern Qi was a woman!
What does this mean? It means that the seemingly impregnable patriarchal world has actually been cracked for some time. It means that women are not limited to hiding behind men and relying on their power to survive. It means that for over a decade, Zhan Doudou, as a woman, has been managing the vast Northern Qi dynasty, governed by court officials obsessed with male superiority, and even rivaling the Qing kingdom!
If Zhan Doudou can do it, then why can't Li Yunrui?
For a moment, Li Yunrui was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. Shock, disbelief, admiration, jealousy, resentment... all these emotions intertwined and ultimately transformed into an unprecedented impulse and desire.
She didn't realize that from the moment she heard the news, she had never doubted Gao Yao's words. She subconsciously believed it, believed that Zhan Doudou was truly a woman, believed that it was all real. Because she so desperately wanted it to be true, so desperately wanted someone in the world to prove that women could do all this too.
Gao Yao watched the ever-changing expression on Li Yunrui's face, a slight smile playing on his lips, a barely perceptible glint in the depths of his eyes. He knew he had achieved the effect he desired.
This news was enough to completely shatter the last shackles in Li Yunrui's heart, enough to make her let go of all her doubts and hesitations, and truly wholeheartedly embark on the path he had paved.
Gao Yao's heartfelt conversation, his shocking revelation about Zhan Doudou's identity as Empress, and his insightful analysis of bloodlines and political maneuvering—all these reassured Li Yunrui, strengthened her resolve, and provided the final push that allowed her to set aside her doubts and wholeheartedly embark on that path. Gao Yao clearly saw the look in her eyes as she left—a look that contained shock, gratitude, awe, and above all, a rekindled, burning ambition.
She thought she had found her most powerful ally. She thought she was about to embark on a path that no woman had ever walked before. She thought she would be the next Zhan Doudou, or even surpass Zhan Doudou, becoming a true empress who reigns supreme over the world.
Gao Yao picked up the cup of cold tea and took a small sip. The coolness of the tea slid down his throat and into his stomach, but it couldn't extinguish the almost ruthless flame in his heart.
She was wrong. She knew nothing.
Zhan Doudou was a woman; her actions were a desperate act driven to the brink of desperation, a gamble born of maternal instinct, a miracle achieved through the protection of a grandmaster and over a decade of forbearance and pretense. Yet, even so, Zhan Doudou could only hide behind the identity of "Emperor," ruling Northern Qi in the name of a man.
She couldn't reveal her gender, couldn't be worshipped as a woman, and couldn't face the world with her true self. Every day was a performance for her. Every word she spoke had to be carefully considered. Every decision she made had to be made in the consideration of whether it would expose that fatal secret.
Was that a victory? Perhaps. But it was a victory in shackles, a victory from which the pretense could never be removed. Zhan Doudou won, but she never truly lived.
And what about Li Yunrui?
She thought she could go further. She thought that with her own help, she could truly sit on that dragon throne as a woman.
But she was no Wu Zetian; she didn't have Wu Zetian's fate, nor did she possess Wu Zetian's temperament or methods.
Who was Wu Zetian?
She was the only female emperor in Chinese history to be officially recognized as the ruler of a unified dynasty. Starting as a concubine of Emperor Taizong of Tang, she navigated the bloody power struggles of the court for decades, using every trick in the book to climb to the pinnacle of power, stepping over the corpses of countless others. She officially ascended the throne at the age of sixty-seven, establishing the Great Zhou Dynasty. She inherited the mantle of the Tang Dynasty, the legitimacy and popular support accumulated over nearly a century by the Li Tang dynasty.
Even so, centuries after her death, some people still curse her as a "thief of state," some still portray her as a ruthless and cruel empress, and some still use the harshest words to judge her life in history books.
Did she win?
Perhaps. But it was a victory that came at a terrible price. She lost her husband, her son, and countless loved ones. While she was alive, the world worshipped her; after her death, the world scorned her. She traded her life for a crown, but that crown never truly belonged to her.
And what about Li Yunrui?
What does she have?
All she had was the identity of Emperor Qing's sister, temporary control of the three prefectures of Jiangnan, and a group of generals with their own agendas who could defect at any moment, along with a motley crew of 500,000. What she had was Emperor Qing's vague and complex feelings for her, and the insignificant bargaining chip she had obtained by exchanging her body and bloodline.
She overestimated herself. Or rather, she overestimated this so-called "cooperation".
From beginning to end, she believed that Gao Yao chose her because she was valuable, because she possessed an irreplaceable identity and resources. She thought it was an equal partnership, an alliance between two powerful individuals. She believed that as long as she was smart enough and cautious enough, she could protect herself in this game and even become the ultimate winner.
She was never a collaborator. She was merely a pawn. A pawn used to test the temple.
Thinking of this, Gao Yao's eyes grew even more profound. His gaze pierced through the window frame, casting his eyes into the boundless darkness, as if trying to penetrate the layers of night and see the most profound and core secret hidden in the deepest part of the world.