Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 401 Reaching Agreement

While Your Majesty is still alive and Jiu Que is still young and vigorous, there is naturally nothing to worry about. But what if Jiu Que grows old one day? Who can guarantee that the successor will be as indifferent to gender and only care about ability as Your Majesty is now?

By then, everything in Jiuque will have vanished into thin air. Just like when General Ying rose to power, he led many women out to seek a living, but the country has only been established for a few years! How many of those women who once worked hard to earn a place for themselves can we see now? Even street vendors want their wives to stay home and manage the household while they control the finances. This is just a matter of a few dozen coins, yet men are so stingy. In the future, they will be vying for power over the entire country. Such a huge stake is enough to turn brothers against each other and fathers and sons against each other!

Will Jiuque be able to protect himself by then?
It's not just Jiuque, but also these women who bravely break free from societal prejudices. Many women today are attempting to break free of constraints, entering officialdom or pursuing commerce, and so on. Men, having had their living space taken away, will inevitably try their best to suppress women's status and even stifle their thoughts if they gain power. This might not be effective in a year or two, but what about over a hundred years?
With centuries of ingrained ideology, women's lives will only become more and more difficult. It's feared that they will become like those of the previous dynasty, confined to their homes, constantly talking about chastity, and even experiencing a resurgence of the morbid phenomenon where a man's slightest touch would result in the arm being cut off.

Just imagining the possible scenarios made Chunyu Shuang feel breathless. No! She absolutely did not want to go back to that era. How could a bird that had tasted freedom and the right to defend itself willingly return to a cage that confines its freedom?!

"Gentlemen, you should both know what kind of person the Fourth Prince is. I don't believe he can change his ways with the help of His Majesty and Jiu Que. Even if he does become a better person, it's just an act. As long as he can keep up the act until the day he becomes emperor, he will inevitably settle accounts with those who offended him in the past. Your relationship with him isn't very good. Do you want to be banished from the center of power then? Physician Xie is naturally indifferent to fame and fortune, but the medical resources you have now, the medical library in the Imperial Hospital that is completely open to you, the large number of patients flocking to you for treatment, and the family members who don't say much about your choices—all of this will disappear if the Fourth Prince or his son ascends the throne one day! Do you really think the Fourth Prince would appoint a physician who was once closely associated with the Regent Prince?"

"The people above care most about their own lives. They would never entrust their lives to a physician they don't trust. At that point, you will naturally fade out of the heart of the Imperial Medical Academy."

"Furthermore, Physician Xie, don't forget what Jiuque once mentioned to you about the future of medicine: a medical system that could spread throughout the world and benefit all people, the planned medical school, and the Medical Gathering that would select the best doctors in the country. All of that will vanish in an instant, all previous efforts wasted. Do you really want that?"

Xie Mingchen's eyes flickered. He was naturally unwilling. While he didn't crave power, he was deeply passionate about medicine. However, in this world, people were divided into scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants; doctors were only remembered when someone was ill. Even the head of the Imperial Medical Academy was only mentioned when the Emperor and the women of the harem were sick; they weren't even qualified to attend court. Xie Mingchen wanted to promote the medical profession, so he needed a ruler who appreciated and valued him. He had seen the Fourth Prince before, and he was certainly not a reliable imperial heir.

This made his choice clear. Seeing him nod, Chunyu Shuang turned to look at Wei Yuan, who instinctively waved his hand.

"And Lord Wei, don't think you can get away with this. To put it bluntly, do you think anyone in the entire court, except for Jiu Que, can treat everyone in this world equally? You shouldn't have forgotten the controversy that came with being the adopted son of a eunuch. You grew up in the palace, so you should know what kind of person the Fourth Prince is. Do you think he would be willing to give important positions to eunuchs, let alone their adopted sons?"

"Leaving aside others, even His Majesty the current emperor can only place extraordinary trust in Eunuch Jiufu. But what can Eunuch Jiufu do besides conveying imperial decrees and managing the palace eunuchs and maids? Of course, you might say that Eunuch Jiufu is old and doesn't crave power as much. But what about you? You are in your prime. Don't you want to freely display your talents in officialdom, leave your name in history, do something for this world, and have people still call your name a hundred years from now? Don't you want to make a name for yourself and give a good slap to those who once looked down on you?" "Stop talking, stop talking."

Wei Yuan was utterly helpless; he hadn't said he was unwilling to support Prince Chen. Moreover, it must be said that every word Chunyu Shuang uttered struck a nerve deep within him.

I knew before that Chunyu Shuang was a person who wouldn't let things go when she was in the right, but all of that was hidden under that calm and cold face. Now that she is doing well in her career, she no longer hides that bit of arrogance.

Chunyu Shuang nodded in satisfaction, then reflected on herself.

"And me. Of the three of us, I'm the one who most wants Jiuque to take power. Along my journey, I've offended countless people. There are countless men in officialdom who hate me with a vengeance, just waiting for the day I fall hard so they can trample on me a thousand times! Of course, I don't want to live like that. I still want to live the life I have now, where I'm riding high and everyone fawns over me. If I had to go back to the past, I'd rather die!"

"And then there are the young female officials who have finally managed to squeeze into the officialdom. They have put in more effort than most men and mustered up the courage to step out of their established lives. If we were to send them back now, their lives would be a hundred times more difficult than before! Even for their sake, and for the sake of more women who can enter the officialdom in the future, we cannot allow the Fourth Prince's lineage to seize power."

The three nodded silently, their thoughts now aligned. Even if His Majesty were to appoint Jiu Que as regent in the future, that position would be truly deserved, with all power firmly in his own hands. The Fourth Prince should be kept to father children. Even if a new emperor ascends the throne, he would still need Jiu Que's approval. Raising the child from a young age, ensuring his thoughts and actions are influenced by Jiu Que, completely isolating him from his father's influence, might yield unexpected positive results.

It seems to be the only way at the moment.

"If Your Majesty could live longer, you might still be able to have more children."

If they had a choice, they really wouldn't want to choose the Fourth Prince's lineage; the probability of a good shoot emerging from a bad bamboo is just too low.