Today was a day of twists and turns. One second I was fined 160 taels of silver, and the next second I was promoted to the fifth rank. The Jiajing Emperor is indeed the great leader of the Ming Dynasty. He first slapped me in the face, and then gave me a sweet treat. He was really good at this trick...
Of course, this is better than just giving someone a slap and giving them nothing.
"Your servant Zhu Ping'an accepts the order and thanks the emperor. Long live the emperor." Zhu Ping'an placed his hands on the ground, kowtowed to accept the order and thank the emperor, then respectfully took the second imperial edict with both hands.
Li Shu and other female relatives also kowtowed again.
After receiving the second imperial edict, Zhu Ping'an thought that there would not be a third imperial edict this time, so he prepared to stand up again and put the two imperial edicts on the incense table for worship.
"Haha, Lord Xiao Zhu, don't worry. I still have an imperial edict that hasn't been announced." Eunuch Jia smiled and waved his hand again.
Well.
There actually is one
Are you a wholesaler of imperial edicts
Upon hearing this, Zhu Ping'an looked up at Eunuch Jia speechlessly, then leaned over and continued to pose to receive the order.
There is also an imperial edict? What is the purpose of this imperial edict
The old lady of the Marquis's Mansion, the Sixth Miss, and other female members of the family opened their mouths in surprise once again. What if the imperial edict was worthless? Why were three imperial edicts announced at once? They had never heard of any minister having such treatment.
The third imperial edict that Eunuch Jia unfolded was also made of a black ox horn axis, and also had two flying golden dragons at the top. However, the color of the imperial edict was brighter. It was woven from three kinds of silk: yellow, green and red. The imperial edict looked very colorful, and had a graceful and festive atmosphere.
After unfolding it, Eunuch Jia began to read the imperial edict: "The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: 'When the state extends favors to its subjects, it must also extend favors to their families, so as to strengthen the foundation of human relations. Li, the wife of Zhu Ping'an, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and a secretary of the Wuyi Palace, is diligent and helpful, virtuous and worthy of the ancients. She is hereby specially conferred the title of Yiren. You should accept this great favor and never Don't forget to be vigilant.' June 27, the 30th year of Jiajing."
The imperial edict was very short, with less than a hundred words (there were no punctuation marks in ancient times), and Eunuch Jia read it out quickly.
However, the impact of this short imperial edict on the Linhuai Marquis Mansion was much greater than the previous two imperial edicts.
A glance back and a smile brings out all the charm, making all the beauties in the house pale in comparison
After listening to this, Li Shu's big watery eyes were smiling and charming, and her cherry lips raised a beautiful arc. A smile blossomed on her rosy and shiny face, like a blooming red plum, overflowing with pride.
A radiant appearance.
The old lady, the sixth young lady and others from the Linhuai Marquis's Mansion were suppressed to the point of being unable to breathe.
Pleasant! This is a royal title.
From that day on, Li Shu suddenly became a fifth-rank lady with the title of Yiren, which could be said to be a sudden rise to fame.
Although many hostesses in mansions are called young lady, madam, old lady and so on, strictly speaking, they are not qualified to bear such titles.
Strictly speaking, in the Ming Dynasty, the wife of an official of the first or second rank was called "Madam", and the stepmother was called "Taimai"; the third rank was called "Shu Ren", the fourth rank was called "Gong Ren", the fifth rank was called "Yi Ren", the sixth rank was called "An Ren", and the seventh rank and below were called "Ru Ren".
A person without title and rank is called a wife.
The fifth rank Yiren and above were called Gaoming, that is, Gaoming Lady, and the sixth rank Anren and below were called Chiming.
Lady of Imperial Concubine, Lady of Imperial Concubine, that is to say, in the Ming Dynasty only female masters with the title of Yiren or above can be called Madam, those without the title can only be called "wife".
Confer titles on his wife and provide protection for his son!
For women in the Ming Dynasty, being a wife depends on the status of the husband, having a title for the wife and blessing their children, and having their husbands bestowed with imperial edicts or decrees by the emperor because of their excellence are almost the highest dreams and honors they have ever dreamed of.
Having such a title can make you stand out from the crowd and be in an absolutely advantageous position when you gather and chat with the women around you, gaining everyone's envy and jealousy, but they can't do anything to you.
However, in the Ming Dynasty, such a title was difficult to obtain.
Generally speaking, only officials with outstanding achievements had the opportunity to receive imperial decrees to confer titles.
You have to know that in such a huge Linhuai Marquis Mansion, there are dozens of hostesses, but only the old lady and the wife of Linhuai Marquis have titles granted by imperial decree. The other aunts, aunts, ladies and young ladies have no titles at all. Moreover, the titles of the old lady and the wife were all conferred by the emperor according to custom when the old Linhuai Marquis and the current Linhuai Marquis inherited the title.
So, when they heard Eunuch Jia reading out the imperial edict conferring the title of Fifth Rank Concubine on Li Shu, all the women in Linhuai Marquis' Mansion became green-eyed and looked at the dazzling new Fifth Rank Concubine - Li Shu - with envy and jealousy.
Even the old lady and wife of Linhuai Hou, who already had titles, could not help but feel envious and jealous.
They were all given titles when their husbands inherited the titles. They were the legacy of their ancestors, so it can be said that their titles were also inherited.
It's not that the wives are powerful because of their husbands, or that their husbands are powerful, but that their husbands' ancestors are powerful.
One is an inherited title, the other is a title earned through one's own ability. It is clear at a glance which one is more important.
At this moment, they felt like the sons of noble families who inherited the title, unable to straighten their backs or raise their heads in front of the officials taking the imperial examinations, and they still felt a little uneasy in their hearts.
The maids and servants in the mansion were only envious and jealous of Li Shu's title of Concubine, but they dared not hate her. Li Shu was already far superior to them, and as maids and servants, they were destined to never have the chance to be awarded a title in their lifetime. However, the women in the mansion were different. Li Shu was originally in the same rank as them, but now that Li Shu had soared to the sky, they naturally felt envious and jealous.
Therefore, the women who suffered the most from the Marquis's mansion were those who did not have titles except for the old ladies and madams of the Marquis's mansion of Linhuai, especially the young ladies and young ladies of the younger generation.
Especially the sixth, fourth, third and other daughters of the Marquis' Mansion.
The one who was most stimulated was the Sixth Young Lady of the Marquis' Mansion.
When Sixth Miss heard Eunuch Jia read "When the state extends favors to its ministers, it must also extend favors to their families", she already had a bad premonition. When she heard "Li, the wife of Zhu Ping'an, is diligent and supportive, virtuous and worthy of the ancients, and is hereby granted the title of Lady of Honor", Sixth Miss's pretty face was distorted with envy and jealousy, and the handkerchief in her hand had already been pinched with several holes by her fingernails.
A diligent and supportive wife, virtuous and capable
Is the emperor blind? How can Li Shu be a diligent and helpful wife, virtuous and capable? !
Li Shu always uses cow's and goat's milk and fresh flowers to take a bath. She is such a spendthrift woman. How can she be a helpful wife
Li Shu always looks down on people, falsely accuses and bullies her own sisters, and even strips a maid naked, makes her kneel in public, whips her, and falsely accuses her. One by one, any one of these things shows that she has a heart of a vicious snake. How can Li Shu be virtuous
No matter how hard you try, Li Shu can never be compared to Keqin as a helpful wife or a virtuous person.
Woo woo woo!
Why, why should Li Shu, an uneducated, unruly and unreasonable village girl who has been married for less than half a year, be given the title of Lady of Imperial Concubine
Isn’t it just about marrying well
How can she be as good as me? How can she be worthy of my brother-in-law
I'm so angry.