"Next time, bring egg fried rice …"
The princess was not satisfied with the combination of Beggar's Chicken and liquor. She raised her head and took another sip, then tilted her head and said to Li Yi.
"There won't be a next time …"
Li Yi thought to himself, "What kind of taste is egg fried rice and liquor?" He wiped the grease off his hands and said, "Scholar Han fell ill, not because of you, but because of anger … Yesterday afternoon, nearly a hundred women blocked the gate of Han's house. The leading old woman said that Scholar Han killed her daughter and sat on the threshold of Han's house and cried for two hours. Everyone in the capital knew about it. After what happened in the court spread, the gate of Han's house was splashed with feces, and the wall was painted with 'Old Thief Han' and 'Traitor of the Nation' … Disregarding the lives of women. This alone can make his reputation plummet, and even his students have nothing to do with him. If it weren't for the intervention of the government, I'm afraid that even the gate of Han's house would have been torn down …"
"Scholar Han fell ill last night. I heard that he almost couldn't breathe. The name of Old Thief Han has been confirmed. Now all the women in the capital are trying to ask His Majesty to pardon you."
Li Yi told MIngzhu all the developments from yesterday to today.
The whole capital, from the government to the people, saw the power of women for the first time.
It turned out that they were not as weak as they looked on the surface, and they also had the ability to stir up a storm.
Li Yi did not expect this matter to have such a dramatic development. In fact, the brothel only told the people the truth. There was no embellishment, nor any artistic manipulation. The biggest effect was to let the people know the truth in the shortest time possible.
Splashing feces at the door and spraying paint on the wall, who came up with this idea? They didn't even need to be taught!
Women had always been a weak group and were bound by women's morality. Not to mention marriage, many people didn't even have freedom. Of course, there were some fierce women, but in general, it was a fact that women were weak.
And this was also a tradition for thousands of years. It was determined by productivity. Men were noble, and women had to lower their heads and serve their husbands and children for a lifetime. Perhaps even most women themselves thought so.
This concept had not been completely reversed even in the later generations where men and women were equal.
However, where there was oppression, there would be resistance. Especially after being oppressed for a long time, when the resistance came, it would be especially intense.
It wasn't easy for someone to stand up for women. All the women had been hoping that the princess would really do something for them. After being stirred up by Great Scholar Han, everyone's anger erupted. Hundreds and thousands of years of repression erupted, and something called women's rights began to awaken.
Now that things had developed to this point, it was no longer just a matter of early marriage.
MIngzhu put down the wine jar and wiped her mouth in a magnanimous manner. "Having such a stubborn old man in the imperial court will only bring more harm than good."
"At this moment, the imperial court is probably in an uproar. Not only the ordinary women, but the women of the noble families are also complaining. They are all going to the Empress to remonstrate. Some of the concubines even reported the matter to the Empress Dowager. Even the Empress Dowager, who has been cultivating Buddhism for a long time, specially sent a decree to ask His Majesty …" Li Yi looked at her and said, "If this continues, I'm afraid it won't end well."
This was all what Li Yi heard on the way here. It was already a big matter to use a knife against an official in the imperial court, and it involved the Eldest Princess. Coupled with the chaos of the Han family yesterday, it would be a wonder if the imperial court was peaceful today.
"Did you really not do what happened to the Han family?" The Eldest Princess glanced at him and said.
Li Yi was stunned for a moment and said angrily, "Do I look like that kind of person?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm not blaming you …" Her Highness patted his shoulder and said, "It's all that Han guy's fault. Thank you …"
…
…
Li Yi's guess was right. Today, the imperial court was indeed not peaceful.
It was not only Emperor Jing who had a headache. Now that things had developed to this point, the officials also felt a headache.
In just one day, the entire capital was in chaos. Rumors were everywhere, and the people were angry. How His Majesty punished the Eldest Princess was no longer the important point. The important point was that if this went on, something big would happen!
An old man held a ceremonial tablet and said righteously, "Your Majesty, the Eldest Princess has no regard for the law. In the imperial court, she publicly committed violence and assassinated an official in front of the civil and military officials and His Majesty. This behavior is so vile that it will not appease the people if she is not severely punished!"
All the officials shook their heads. Even now, he was still holding on to this matter. Did this old man not understand the situation?
Great Scholar Han had already been cursed by the people. The problem now was not how to punish the Eldest Princess, but how to appease the people's anger. Great Scholar Han's words yesterday had completely pushed the imperial court to the opposite side of the people.
The purpose of women's existence was to give birth? The lives of women were not important? Otherwise, why would the imperial court insist on early marriage and early childbirth, knowing that women could easily die from dystocia if they married early? Did the imperial court not see women as human beings?
No one could take the blame for this. They could not, and His Majesty could not. Now, it was only the capital. After a few days, when the news spread to the other counties, the impact would be even greater. At that time, it would really be chaos!
Didn't he see that even the imperial censors had calmed down and didn't mention the matter of the eldest princess anymore? At this delicate moment, if this old official still couldn't understand the situation, then Official Han would be a good example!
Deputy Minister Ma stood in the crowd and lowered his head in silence. Not only him, but all the censors in the imperial censor had been given a death order. Today, in the imperial court, they were not allowed to mention the Eldest Princess again.
He knew the situation in the capital better than anyone else. After this matter, Great Scholar Han's reputation could be said to be ruined. The status of the Eldest Princess in the hearts of the people of the capital, especially the women, had long reached a new height. Whoever held on to this matter would be like Great Scholar Han, nailed to the pillar of shame by the people of the capital. He did not want to experience the feeling of being hated by the people a second time.
Just when the court officials were abnormally quiet, a figure walked out.
"Your Majesty, the only thing we can do now is to appease the people first, then we can discuss other things." Prime Minister Qin raised his head and slowly said.
"Prime Minister Qin's words are reasonable!"
"I second it!"
The old man who had just spoken had long been forgotten. After Prime Minister Qin took the lead, the court officials stood up one after another. They avoided talking about the Eldest Princess and pulled the topic back to the main point they should be concerned about.
Emperor Jing took a deep breath. "Regarding this matter, my dear officials, do you have any suggestions?"
"I think that the Eldest Princess's remonstrance yesterday was very reasonable." Prime Minister Qin said, "Although it is important to increase the population, we cannot disregard the lives of women because of this. Moreover, Her Highness has already given us a way to solve both problems … The people of the capital are already angry, and the implementation of this system cannot be delayed."
Prime Minister Qin and Prime Minister Shen were the heads of all the officials. Prime Minister Shen was low-key and rarely spoke out unless it was a big matter. Most of the officials followed Prime Minister Qin. Following the Prime Minister, they would not make a big political mistake, right?
As soon as Prime Minister Qin said this, countless people agreed.
Seeing that everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding to avoid the Eldest Princess, it was indeed not the right time to mention it again. Emperor Jing, who originally wanted to easily let this matter go, had no choice but to suppress this idea …
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