Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 205 Shame
Yes, is it really worth getting hung up on such trivial matters? Emperor Jingtai probably wanted to ask his son, "Have you lost your mind?!" Actually, Emperor Jingtai didn't mind his sons eyeing his throne. If princes don't even dare to dream of the throne, what's the point? But the problem is, second son, you need to focus on the right things. You should be concerned with matters of state, why waste so much breath on Jiu Que?
Besides, as long as a person is beneficial to the country and can be used by you, what does it matter if they are male, female, or androgynous? For someone in a position of power, the most important thing is to know how to use talent, not to drive talent away over such trivial matters. Has the second brother forgotten that Ying Jiuque just developed a new salt-making method? Not only is salt production more than ten times higher than before, but costs have also been greatly reduced. To put it bluntly, the entire Great Jing will never lack salt again, all thanks to Ying Jiuque. She is destined to be a figure who goes down in history; are you trying to compete with her at a time like this, hoping to be infamous for eternity? For the common people, they don't care whether the person providing their salt is male or female!

How foolish! Utterly foolish!
Jiu Que first glanced at the persistent Second Prince, then at the silent Emperor, and understood. He wanted her to resolve the matter herself. Jiu Que actually had many questions about this Second Prince, so she took this opportunity to ask him.

"Your Highness, I have a question that I hope you can answer."

Before the Second Prince could speak, Jiu Que made a decisive statement.

"I have heard that you have been setting a good example for scholars and writers recently. Speaking of which, you, the First Prince, and the Third Prince are brothers. As the saying goes, 'Brothers fight tigers together, fathers and sons go to war together.' Although the First Prince and the Third Prince have passed away, their reputations are tarnished, and they will not rest in peace even in the afterlife. Why don't you, Your Highness, attribute your achievements to the First Prince and the Third Prince, so that they can be respected by future generations? I wonder if Your Highness would be willing?"

"What nonsense are you spouting?! The First Prince and the Third Prince deserve their fate. Why should I attribute my achievements to them? In any case, they cannot be buried in the imperial mausoleum..."

The second prince instinctively tried to refute, but then he heard a burst of frantic coughing beside him, and he realized that Ying Jiuque had set a trap for him! He instinctively wanted to retort, but found that he had already lost the initiative.

"Yes, why should he? Even Your Highness wouldn't attribute your merits to your own brother, so why would you think I would give my hard-earned credit to someone who has severed ties with me? Besides, what blood relation do I have with Lin Wei? My surname is Ying, and I grew up with my mother. My name should rightfully be recorded in the Ying family genealogy. Lin Wei, you despicable man, willingly married into my mother's family, yet after her death, you secretly changed my name to the Lin family genealogy. Perhaps you ministers will think Lin Wei had deep feelings for me, which is why he was willing to include his daughter in the Lin family genealogy, but in reality, he only recorded my name on that piece of paper. His actions weren't due to a deep affection for my mother; he just wanted to vent his anger because he felt being a son-in-law was beneath him. If it weren't for the fierce resistance from my mother's family, perhaps he would have changed my surname as well."

"After altering the family genealogy, he didn't want me, the witness to his humiliating past, by his side, constantly reminding him of that shameful history. So he simply abandoned me on a manor in the suburbs, where I've been for thirteen years. I've never seen him once during those thirteen years. May I ask, Second Prince, what father-daughter relationship do I have with Lin Wei? Did he finally remember me only to use me as a bargaining chip for a marriage alliance, or did he hastily sever ties with me when I was in danger, fearing I would implicate him?"

"I severed ties with Lin Wei long ago, so what the Second Prince said makes no sense to me. During my trip south, I was captured by local thugs and taken to the mines. I mined and ate rice bran, and I had to compromise my principles to survive. To this day, there are still uncaptured, living dead people lurking in some unknown corner of Qianzhou. May I ask the Second Prince, while I was risking my life and nearly not returning, my good father was peacefully serving as the Vice Minister of Rites in the capital. Was he in any danger? Did he remind me of the difficulties of traveling? Did he offer me even the slightest help? None of that."

"Therefore, Your Highness, please forgive your words, but I cannot agree with them. I am who I am, Ying Jiuque, daughter of General Ying Chongming, an official personally appointed by His Majesty. I eat His Majesty's salary, and as the saying goes, 'He who eats the emperor's salary must serve the emperor.' I only need to do what His Majesty assigns. Because when I was risking my life outside, no one told me to work hard, and all the merits I gained in the future were attributed to Lin Wei!"

The entire court stared dumbfounded at the woman who had been behaving so amiably, hardly believing their eyes and ears. What was Ying Jiuque saying? Was he slandering his own father? But what he said was truly shocking! It turned out that Lin Wei had long ago concealed his identity as a son-in-law and secretly altered Ying Jiuque's family register! Altering it was one thing, but to have climbed to his current position by relying on General Ying's influence, yet treat their only daughter so poorly—that was going too far! No wonder Ying Jiuque didn't even deign to be compared to him.

This father is a complete failure.

Lin Wei watched helplessly as Ying Jiuque exposed all his past transgressions, his face turning from pale to red and then to black. These were humiliating memories he didn't want to revisit, and now Ying Jiuque had laid bare everything. She was simply, simply a rebellious daughter!

Lin Wei wasn't the only one with this thought; the Second Prince did too. He practically wanted to devour Ying Jiuque alive. Now was the perfect time for him to showcase his intelligence to his father. As for the eldest and third princes, who were already dead, he never hesitated to flatter them to ease his father's mind. After all, they were already dead; what difference would it make if they received some mourning?

But this woman revealed her true thoughts to the Emperor in just a few words. If the Emperor remembered what he had said before, wouldn't he doubt the truth of what he said?
Sure enough, when he looked up, Emperor Jingtai's expression was not good.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes today, I wouldn't believe that my court was full of fools! The first one to be blamed is the second prince. It was one thing for him to lose face in front of me before, but now he's losing face in front of the entire court!
(End of this chapter)