Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 213 Yu Daru

"Master Yu? Who is that?"

Chunyu Shuang could only give a brief introduction.

"This Master Yu is no ordinary man; he is a master of rites. He is a direct descendant of the Yu family in Jiangdong, and I heard that he was intelligent and quick-witted from a young age. At the end of the previous dynasty, he achieved the highest rank in the imperial examinations, but he did not accept the official appointment offered by the court. Instead, he chose to resign and live in seclusion. For nearly thirty years, he has been studying and comprehending the Tao, and he has established academies with students all over the world."

Jiu Que frowned. Although Chunyu had only given a brief introduction, why was someone with such a background not well-known in the Great Jing Dynasty? Since he was a scholar who did not care about fame or fortune, why would he choose to come to the capital at this time? Don't tell her that the great Confucian scholar Yu didn't know that the Second Prince was currently enjoying great popularity.

This is a crucial time when the princes are fighting amongst themselves for the throne. If you don't want to get involved in this mess, it's best not to go to the capital. Doesn't that great scholar know that?
Why would he come to the capital at this time? Did someone invite him?

Chunyu Shuang nodded heavily. Not only had someone invited her, but that person was none other than the current Second Prince.

Alright, now Jiu Que understands. This Grand Confucian scholar was most likely recruited by the Second Prince to bolster his power and influence. However, given his merit in supporting the new emperor, few in this world could possibly stop him. It's just a pity that the peaceful days in the capital are numbered; a bloody storm is likely to erupt again soon.

That's not right. If this great scholar has nothing to do with him, why would Chunyu bring it up at this time?

As expected, Chunyu Shuang's expression was not good.

"This scholar, Yu, had a son and a daughter. His son stayed with him, while his daughter married into the prominent Jiang family of Jiangdong. Unfortunately, less than a year after their marriage, the Jiang family member died of illness. Yu's daughter was pregnant at the time and gave birth to an only daughter six months later. Less than three days after giving birth, she hanged herself to follow her husband in death. This story spread widely in the Jiangdong region, and people there said that Yu had raised his daughter well and that she was virtuous and chaste. If he could raise his own daughter so well, he would naturally be more diligent in educating his students. From then on, even more students went to study at the Jiujiang Academy founded by Yu."

Isn't this tantamount to stepping on his own daughter's corpse to make a name for himself? But outsiders can't really say anything about this, after all, it was the daughter of the great scholar Yu herself who made the choice.

But the matter wasn't over yet. Yu Daru's daughter's only daughter had grown up and married last year to the only son of Yu Hanlin, a scholar in Beijing. Unfortunately, her life took a turn for the worse; her husband died of illness less than a year after their marriage. Perhaps concerned for his granddaughter, Yu Daru brought his wife and children to Beijing, presumably to deal with this matter.

"It sounds like he's doing his best for future generations. But at this critical juncture, the Second Prince's invitation to him just doesn't feel quite right."

Jiu Que rubbed his temples, feeling increasingly bewildered by the situation in the capital. His Majesty, so wise and powerful, was he really going to stand by and watch the Second Prince plunge the capital into chaos? He'd heard that the Second Prince was not only drastically suppressing the status of women, but had even come up with a new scheme: if a woman was over eighteen and unmarried, her family would have to pay a fine! And the amount wouldn't be small.

What kind of ridiculous tactic is this? It's insulting to the point of being so blatant. In the Great Jing Dynasty, women generally marry late. After the chaos of the previous dynasty, both officials and commoners want their children to stay with them as long as possible. Some fathers, especially doting on their daughters, don't even find them husbands until they're over twenty. To impose fines like this is ridiculous! If this tactic is adopted, Jiu Que can already imagine commoners marrying off their daughters much earlier to ease their financial burden.

Childbirth is a life-threatening ordeal for women, and if a woman is already grown up and has a larger frame, the risks are less. However, if a woman marries and has children at the age of fifteen or sixteen, it will cause irreparable damage to her body.

Did the Second Prince and his staff actually know anything about this? Or was it simply a scheme specifically designed to target a few female officials who were rising in the court?
If that's really the case, then the Second Prince's vision is far too short-sighted.

Hearing this, even Cui Zhufeng, who hadn't originally planned to show herself, couldn't hold back any longer. She appeared out of nowhere, and after a long pause, finally managed to utter a muffled half-sentence: "This is outrageous!"

If these officials are so sycophantic, setting this policy simply to please their superiors, then it's utterly disgusting. With so many women in this world, isn't there anyone to stand up for them?

Thinking this, Cui Zhufeng turned his gaze to Jiu Que.

If we were to say that among all the civil and military officials, there were none who truly cared about women, it would only be female officials like Chunyu of Jiuque.

Jiu Que sighed and patted Senior Cui's hand.

"Don't worry, senior. As long as I'm in this officialdom, I will stand up for what I see as injustice. If this policy had been implemented at the beginning of the founding of the nation, it would have been acceptable to vigorously support population expansion. But now that the country is peaceful and the people are living in peace and contentment, such a policy is not in line with reality. Although His Majesty loves his son, he will surely prioritize the affairs of the country. There is no need to worry about this in the short term."

What Jiu Que didn't say was that the prerequisite for everything to be peaceful was that the Second Prince wouldn't cause any more trouble at this crucial time.

The group of close friends looked at each other, their heads aching over the chaotic situation in the capital. It wasn't as peaceful as when they were out in the capital as imperial envoys, diligently investigating cases and handling affairs. At least they didn't have to worry about so much useless stuff.

However, Jiu Que never expected that her words would come true, and in just five days, something bad happened.

After that small gathering at the restaurant, Jiu Que returned to the court to perform her duties. Now that she was a Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat, she naturally couldn't stroll around the streets as she used to. Her place of work had long since changed to the Wenyuan Pavilion in the palace. Speaking of which, when she first went to the Wenyuan Pavilion to report for duty, the seven Grand Secretaries there treated her quite gently. As expected of Grand Secretaries who had already risen to the top of all officials, they were not so shallow.

Of course, it was out of the question for these Grand Secretaries to confide in her and teach her how to perform her duties. The Grand Secretaries were busy handling national affairs; they had no time to mentor a complete novice. Therefore, Jiu Que could only observe silently from the sidelines.

Since she can get paid for each day she works, wouldn't she be able to slack off blatantly if no one asks her to do anything?

Seeing her calm and composed demeanor, the elders' impression of Jiu Que improved considerably; at least she wasn't one to seek attention.

Life was peaceful and uneventful until Jiu Que returned, at which point her colleagues began to look at her more and more strangely.

Jiu Que knew, of course, that it was because the Second Prince's recent actions had further fueled the anger of these officials who were already dissatisfied with her being granted the title of Earl. However, if they hadn't offended her directly, Jiu Que had no intention of turning against them.

(End of this chapter)