In the main hall of the Sihai Teahouse, the storyteller was repeating a tale he had told hundreds of times. Most of the audience below were not listening attentively, engaged in their own conversations.
Normally, even if they had heard the story many times, many would still have been willing to settle down and listen again. But today was different. A momentous event had occurred at court.
That was the impending investiture of the Imperial Crown Princess, scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
This was unprecedented in their dynasty, unprecedented in history, and unprecedented in the past several imperial dynasties. The very first Imperial Crown Princess in the world.
How could the crowd not be abuzz with discussion?
"Something big is happening. We're about to have our first empress. I originally thought the officials and royal family would strongly oppose it, but I didn't expect His Majesty's resolve to be so firm, so much so that not even the officials and royal family could stop it, and they could only acquiesce."
"This matter has far-reaching consequences. Although in the past there were laws supporting women establishing their own households and supporting parents in passing down their property to their daughters, such cases were ultimately in the minority. Most ended up having their families wiped out.
And there was no one to uphold justice for them.
Now that the Imperial Daughter is being established as the Imperial Crown Princess.
Similar incidents might change in the future. If someone's family is wiped out and they report it to the authorities, the government offices probably wouldn't dare dismiss it casually, and there would be hope."
"It's hard to say. It's rumored that the officials and royal family are very displeased, and besides, she is only being made Imperial Crown Princess now.
It will be at least another decade before she can formally ascend the throne.
So much can happen in a decade..."
"Indeed, unless His Majesty abdicates immediately and becomes the Retired Emperor, it's truly uncertain whether Imperial Daughter Yunxia will ultimately become empress. After all, years ago, who could have imagined the Crown Prince would conspire with former dynasty rebels to storm the palace? Who could have imagined His Majesty would not live for a thousand years? It's hard to say!"
"Oh dear, are you tired of living? How can you talk such nonsense? Let's talk about something else quickly. If you keep spewing such foolishness, I'll have to send you to the authorities."
"Haha, it's fine. Our dynasty has always been known for not punishing people for their words. What are you afraid of? We're just speaking the plain truth."
"Fine, fine, give me some face."
"Alright, then let's not talk about this. Let's talk about other things. For instance, now that Imperial Daughter Yunxia is to become Imperial Crown Princess, will she take a son-in-law into the household? What should her husband be called then? 'Fuma' doesn't seem quite right.
She can't be called Imperial Crown Princess's Husband, can she?
That title sounds rather strange!"
"What's this? When she formally ascends the throne, won't there be even more issues to consider? For example, in the past, emperors wore dragon robes, but can an empress still wear a dragon robe?
Should it be changed to a phoenix robe, or what?
Changing it to a phoenix robe also has problems. It feels like a phoenix robe is inferior to a dragon robe. Then, can the empress's husband wear a dragon robe? What kind of situation would that be? It's terribly troublesome.
Just thinking about it makes me feel sorry for the Ministry of Rites!"
"Exactly, exactly. When it comes to the investiture of the Imperial Crown Princess, the Ministry of Rites will be the busiest and most stressed. This is unlike the past investiture of a Crown Prince, where there were precedents to follow and they could simply copy them. The investiture of an Imperial Crown Princess is an unprecedented event in history, and they have to innovate everything themselves.
And it must conform to principles and rites.
Most importantly, it must satisfy His Majesty.
I must say, the Minister of Rites has a very difficult job. I heard the deadline is particularly tight this time; they must complete all preparations within two days and submit it for His Majesty's review. Only when His Majesty is satisfied will it be considered acceptable. I suspect the officials of the Ministry of Rites won't be able to sleep for the next two days."
"No wonder I saw other officials leaving during the morning court assembly, but none of the Ministry of Rites officials moved.
So they were kept behind to work overtime."
"Um, you guys, if the Imperial Daughter were to ascend the throne, would she also have three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two male consorts? Would it be possible to distinguish whose child it was then? That should be quite difficult!"
"Oh, it seems like it. Even with skilled physicians taking pulses, they can at best estimate the child was conceived within a few days, but they can't accurately determine the exact day, let alone the exact hour. So, if Imperial Daughter Yunxia ascends the throne and has many male consorts, she would probably have to favor only one male consort for half a month or a month to accurately determine whose child it is. Haha, how amusing!"
"Wait, in this scenario, wouldn't the danger posed by the maternal relatives increase significantly? Regardless, the general public still defaults to the male lineage for bloodline inheritance. If the child born after an empress ascends the throne has the bloodline of a male consort, that's certain.
Then the maternal relatives would be the imperial children's paternal clan.
Just thinking about it makes me tremble.
The difficulty for them to usurp the throne would be far lower than for ordinary maternal relatives. Indeed, there are reasons why many ministers and royal family members are unwilling to see an empress ascend the throne; the risks are too great."
"From what I know, there are frequent incidents in various regions where women who take in sons-in-law are killed by the son-in-law who then steals their family property. The reported cases are likely less than one-tenth of the actual occurrences, and those who are actually sentenced are less than one-tenth of those reported.
This proportion far exceeds that of women harming their husbands.
And the proportion of stealing a man's property."
"I don't think we need to worry about that. Wasn't it said earlier that the auspicious phenomenon was caused by Imperial Daughter Yunxia? And Imperial Daughter Yunxia even comprehended a Martial God-level cultivation technique. If all this information is true.
I think, given Imperial Daughter Yunxia's current perfect Heavenly Human realm, she will certainly break through to Martial Saint before her formal enthronement, and there's even a possibility of becoming a peak Martial Saint. With such a realm, what is there to worry about?
If any male consort were to cause trouble, they would have to weigh whether their own fragile body could withstand it."
"That's true. Martial artists are different from ordinary people. Among the women who took in sons-in-law at Yaochi Holy Land, I've never seen any who dared to have ambitions or try to steal their wives' property.
Ultimately, it all comes down to strength!"
"The most important thing is not to interfere in politics. Those sons-in-law who coveted their wives' property, didn't they either meddle in their wives' businesses or directly manage them? But those who could only stay at home honestly and receive a few taels of silver a month, how much trouble could they stir up?"
"Speaking of which, it's true. So, to ensure the sons-in-law remain stable, the most important thing is to treat them like women, confine them to the home, and have them raise their children and serve their wives.
They must never be allowed to gain wealth or power.
Once they have money or power, they become restless."
"These are indeed true words, but why does it make me feel a bit uncomfortable? By the way, haven't we been treating women this way for thousands of years?"
"If Imperial Daughter Yunxia truly ascends the throne as empress, the reforms she ignites will likely far exceed what you and I can imagine!"
"Not necessarily. What if she's a fool!"
"Enough, let's drink tea, drink tea..."