By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

In fact, the Beijing Daily article about the probability of difficult childbirth for women and the age of childbirth had a greater impact than Wen Zongji had imagined.

Wen Zongji didn't feel it, mainly because the public reaction to it was not significant.

After all, ordinary people need more labor to help their families, and their ancestors have lived this way for hundreds of years.

They have more faith in the experience of their ancestors than in so-called data statistics.

They dismissed this article as just another example of the rich man's affectation.

Just like in wealthy families, women have to stay in confinement for a month after giving birth and are well taken care of.

But in ordinary families, many women go back to work in the fields just a few days after giving birth and still live a good life.

This is not only the thinking of the poorest people, but also of middle-class families.

These two groups have the largest population base, and since they don't take it seriously, the resulting impact seems minimal.

But that doesn't mean everyone is indifferent.

And this includes the person above all the people of the Great Chu – Emperor Shun'an.

Emperor Shun'an asked the Crown Prince, "Has the Crown Prince read the latest issue of the Beijing Gazette?"

The Crown Prince nodded: "Your subject has read it."

What are your thoughts on that article about the woman's difficult childbirth?

The Crown Prince said, "Wen Zongji is always meticulous in his work. Since he allowed this article to be published, it must be true."

Emperor Shun'an sighed, "Fortunately, Anhe is already seventeen years old, which is only half a year away from the eighteenth age mentioned in the article, when she is suitable for childbearing. Even if she gets pregnant at this time, it will be safer."

Otherwise, Emperor Shun'an would have had to remind Wen Zongji not to joke about Pei Rujing's safety.

"I intend to change the age for future imperial concubine selections to sixteen to eighteen years old. What does the Crown Prince think?"

Emperor Shun'an has stopped holding imperial concubine selections. This change will affect the Crown Prince's future selections, which is why Emperor Shun'an asked for the Crown Prince's opinion.

"Your subject naturally has no objection," the Crown Prince said, "but the common people's views are probably difficult to change in a short time. What if those women who failed in the selection are too old to remarry?"

Originally, in the end, only a few people, or at most a dozen, would remain in the talent show; most people would be eliminated.

Emperor Shun'an pondered for a moment: "You've considered this very thoroughly. So, what do you think should be done?"

The Crown Prince said, "How about we keep the selection rules the same, but all concubines must not be allowed to serve the emperor before the age of sixteen."

Emperor Shun'an: "You grew up in the palace since you were a child, so you should know how the palace is full of people who flatter and bully others. If a concubine has no chance of serving the emperor before the age of sixteen, it means that she has no imperial favor, and the palace servants may not take her seriously."

The Crown Prince added, "Then we will place all the concubines under the age of sixteen in one palace and have a dedicated person take care of them. As long as a reliable steward is chosen, I believe that the phenomenon of favoring the powerful and belittling the weak can be avoided as much as possible."

It's practically impossible to completely avoid it.

Emperor Shun'an nodded in agreement: "That is a good idea."

The Crown Prince then asked, "Father, should we express our high regard for this article, so that the court and the public will also take this matter seriously?"

One of them was the emperor, and the other was the crown prince. They both cared about the people, which is why they took this matter so seriously.

But other ministers might not care about these things.

Emperor Shun'an shook his head and said calmly, "Just issue this order."

The crown prince suddenly realized: "Father is wise."

Emperor Shun'an was the ruler of the entire Great Chu, and his every move was analyzed.

Emperor Shun'an didn't need to say anything more; as long as this order was issued, people inside and outside the court would naturally follow suit.

……

Wen Zongji had no way of knowing what was happening in the palace. He only learned about the order that concubines under the age of sixteen were not allowed to serve the emperor in bed from Pei Rujing.

Pei Rujing learned about it from the Princess when she visited her.

"My husband, my uncle must have given this order because he read your article."

"It should be."

Wen Zongji never expected that Emperor Shun'an would attach such importance to it.

Pei Rujing, however, thought it was perfectly normal: "My uncle has always loved the people like his own children and always kept them in his heart. Knowing that difficult childbirth for women is related to their age at childbirth, my uncle certainly couldn't ignore it."

Wen Zongji exclaimed, "His Majesty is truly a wise ruler."

He knew that Emperor Shun'an loved his people like his own children, and that he had issued this order only a few days after the new issue of the Beijing Gazette was published, which was a remarkably swift response.

"Of course."

Pei Rujing was very proud.

Pei Rujing then gloated, "Uncle's order has put many ministers in a difficult position, as they have quite a few young and beautiful concubines in their households."

Wen Zongji replied, "My lady, you're overthinking it. The new law doesn't punish the old ones. They just need to make sure that no concubine under the age of sixteen gets pregnant from today onwards. The Emperor won't pursue anything else. However, from now on, no matter what they do in private, they certainly won't openly take in any concubines who are too young."

He hadn't expected any major changes, but now it has exceeded Wen Zongji's expectations.

As expected, the celebrity effect is still needed!

……

Emperor Shun'an's order was still taking effect. The next day, Pei Rujing did not go to the newspaper office. Instead, she went to the mahjong club and played mahjong for a while before going to the back hall with Zuo Mingxuan to talk.

"Princess, I saw An Si yesterday. She looks much better than before, her complexion is much better."

Pei Rujing asked curiously, "Could it be that she has already accepted the engagement?"

Zuo Mingxuan shook her head: "Because Duke Anguo doesn't plan to force her anymore, at least not for the next two years."

Pei Rujing immediately thought of that article and asked in confusion, "Isn't An Si already sixteen?"

An Qingyan and Zuo Mingxuan are the same age.

Zuo Mingxuan said, "But it is clearly written in the article that it is safer to give birth after the age of eighteen, and Duke Anguo ultimately loves An Si."

Although Duke Anguo was angry at An Qingyan for being foolish and useless, he would never joke about An Qingyan's safety.

Pei Rujing pouted: "A year has passed, and Duke Anguo still hasn't managed to get An Si engaged, which shows he's not that determined. As long as An Si firmly disagrees, even if he doesn't decide to postpone it for two years, he probably can't do anything about it."

Zuo Mingxuan, however, saw it clearly: "It should also be related to An Si's good behavior in the past year. She has not dared to provoke the county princess again. When Duke Anguo saw her change, his anger probably dissipated a lot."

To put it bluntly, An Qingyan is spoiled.

When Duke Anguo stopped indulging her without any limits, she no longer dared to be so presumptuous.