Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 393 On the Issue of Several Husbands

At this moment, an envoy from a small border country could not stand it any longer. He stepped forward and greeted Ying Jiuque with a smile.

"The envoy from Cheju Kingdom greets His Highness Prince Rui. May His Highness enjoy many happy returns of the day, and may he remain forever young and live a long and healthy life."

Who is this?
These days, most countries still adhere to the principle of humility, especially for a country like the Great Jing Dynasty that is rapidly recovering. If others notice something is wrong, wouldn't they be able to attack you whenever they want? That's not good. However, the sudden appearance of such a fawning fellow is still hard for everyone to accept.

What everyone was more concerned about was Prince Rui's reaction. If Prince Rui truly enjoyed such flattery, then they could also become just as enthusiastic. Fortunately, Prince Rui was of noble character; after hearing such a blatantly obsequious greeting, he turned around and smiled slightly, his attitude quite calm.

"This envoy need not be so polite."

The envoy from Cheju Kingdom was a young and handsome man, who looked to be in his early twenties. Everyone had been curious as to why Cheju Kingdom would send such an excessively young envoy, but after hearing what he said next, they understood and were filled with resentment.

Because this young and handsome envoy looked at Jiu Que with a gentle smile, exuding charm and allure.

"Your Highness, my name is Takimor, and I am the younger brother of our Queen. Ever since I heard of Your Highness's deeds, I have admired you greatly. It's just a pity that I never had the chance to meet you before. Now that I have met you, I find that you are just as I imagined—an exceptionally outstanding woman. Your Highness, I've heard that the Great Jing Dynasty favors sons over daughters. I wonder if you are happy in the Great Jing? If not, why not come and visit our country? Although Cheju Kingdom is a small country, our customs are open, and women and men have equal rights of succession. Like my Queen, she is exceptionally capable, and our people would prefer her to hold power. Moreover, someone like you would surely attract many handsome young men in our country, who might even offer themselves to you..."

"Ahem! Prince Taki, what are you saying? This is quite unreasonable. Don't you know that in the Great Jing Dynasty, a woman can only have one husband in her lifetime?"

The speaker was a high-ranking official from the Jing Dynasty. He was the kind of person who didn't know how to read the room. In this kind of situation, in front of so many foreign envoys, he said that a woman could only have one husband. Wasn't that a slap in the face to Prince Rui? Although Prince Rui hadn't said how many husbands he would have, he was already a prince. Even if he wanted to have ten or eight men, as long as he didn't openly show it, who could stop him?

Do you really need to make such a fuss here?
There were many onlookers, especially foreign envoys. The Great Jing always liked to put on an air of superiority in front of these foreigners. The officials were all cunning and shrewd, so the sudden appearance of this naive young man felt rather strange.

At this point, a high-ranking official from the capital city interjected appropriately.

"Prince Long has indeed overstepped his bounds. Our Prince Rui of Dajing has many admirers. Not to mention anything else, just look at this hall, there are countless young men who admire her. However, our Dajing has always valued humility, gentleness, and restraint, unlike the passionate and unrestrained Cheju Kingdom. Speaking of which, as a prince of Cheju Kingdom, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to say such things in this setting? Wouldn't you be criticized back home? After all, your words and actions represent the face of Cheju Kingdom."

"So what? In our country, if you like someone, you have to say it out loud. I'm currently unmarried, and I'm not bad-looking. Besides, I admire women like Princess Rui, true heroines! Since Princess Rui is also unmarried, why can't she accept my affections? Moreover, whether Princess Rui accepts my love or not is a private matter between the two of us. What does it have to do with you? Why are you so eager to jump in? Are you also someone who admires Princess Rui?" "You?! What are you saying? I'm over 40 years old!"

"So you're old and faded, you can't compare to me."

The minister who had just spoken was nearly driven mad by Prince Taki's unconventional behavior! He truly was a barbarian from a land beyond the pale; he couldn't even understand human language, and he could relate everything to love and romance. He didn't want Prince Rui to be involved with this foreigner—was it really for some so-called love between a man and a woman? Wasn't it all for the sake of the Great Jing?
Although he didn't like a strong-willed woman like Ying Jiuque, he had to admit that without her, the war wouldn't have been won so easily. Furthermore, given her past achievements, it was hard to trust her to marry into a foreign power. Besides, who could guarantee that she wouldn't commit other great feats after achieving so much?

By then, she will have already married a foreigner, and at least half of what she makes will be given to the foreigner. This is not what the people of Dajing want to see.

At this moment, he quickly gave a wink to the people around him. Regardless of whether they were on good terms or had any disagreements, they couldn't care less about saving face for the sake of the Great Jing Dynasty. Of course, they could criticize Ying Jiuque's various actions, but they absolutely did not want her to turn around and befriend foreigners.

Despite all precautions, they didn't expect them to use their good looks to seduce Prince Rui instead of wealth and luxury! Prince Rui is still young and hasn't had a favorite man before. He might actually be seduced by the gentle and affectionate Prince Long, which would be a loss for the entire Great Jing Dynasty.

Young men from all over the hall swarmed in, and somehow this situation came to be. They almost surrounded Jiu Que in layers, pushing Prince Long, who had spoken rudely earlier, to the outside, and not giving them a chance to talk!
Coming to her senses, Jiu Que looked helpless. She could already imagine how her mischievous friends would laugh at her after today. Sure enough, Chunyu Shuang, standing on the outskirts of the crowd, stared in disbelief at the scene before her, but only for a moment before bursting into laughter.

This was something she had never imagined these pedantic officials in the court would do such a thing! Weren't they the most particular about etiquette, social norms, and male superiority? Turns out, in the face of overwhelming self-interest, all of that was negligible. Tsk tsk tsk, if it came to shamelessness, how could she possibly compete with these people?

At this moment, Yang Linyuan, who was on the outskirts of the crowd, was also dumbfounded. Then he looked at his elderly father with pleading eyes.

"Dad, do you think it's appropriate for me to go up and strike up a conversation at a time like this?"

"...Still trying to talk! You might as well go find a block of tofu and smash your head against it!"

"Huh? Why?!"