The horse gallops in the spring breeze, and I can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day.
Young students are the most elegant and ambitious. In the bustling and crowded crowd, Rong Tang felt a little dizzy after standing for a while.
Su Huaijing pulled him out and watched from afar the candidates of this year's Linyuan Academy chatting with Ke Hongxue and others.
Across the street, the crowds were much less dense, so they found a deserted place and looked around aimlessly.
On the opposite side was a man in a Confucian robe and a scholar's cap, and on this side were court officials who were looking at those people. Occasionally, a whiff of powdered scent wafted over, but they were all some of the more famous matchmakers in the capital.
Be it the imperial examination or finding a son-in-law, it seems to have little to do with women.
Rong Tang recovered from the dizziness. He couldn't tell what he felt in his heart, but he always felt a little bit sad.
For this era, and also for the scarcity of educational resources and ignorant ideas.
He turned his eyes away and didn't look over there anymore, but instead focused on the green fruits scattered under a camphor tree on the roadside.
The ants carried food they had found from somewhere and crawled towards their own anthills, avoiding the birds one by one.
Su Huaijing suddenly said softly: "I asked the Chief Censor a question a few days ago."
There are two Chief Censors in the Censorate. Su Huaijing has not yet held that position, and they are both his immediate superiors.
Rong Tang looked up in surprise, not quite understanding why he suddenly wanted to talk to her like that, but he still subconsciously agreed: "What?"
"I asked him that since male wives can take the imperial examinations and serve as officials in the court, why can't female wives do the same," Su Huaijing said softly.
Rong Tang was suddenly startled and looked at him in surprise.
Su Huaijing smiled softly upon seeing this, and took his hand and started squeezing it.
It is mid-spring and approaching summer. Although the temperature in Beijing is not yet scorching hot, the light at noon is already dazzling.
There was a grand banquet in front of the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall, and the Jinwu Guards were walking around in armor.
Su Huaijing said: "Mr. Zhongcheng said he didn't know, but he mentioned that in the early years of his service, he had seen a woman standing in the court, at the head of all officials, refuting slander, clarifying right and wrong, and offering good advice."
Rong Tang pursed his lips and knew who he was talking about: "Grandmother."
Su Huaijing nodded and said with a smile: "It's Her Royal Highness the Princess."
"Your Highness has been in and out of the court twice, once when Emperor Mingzong ascended the throne, and once when the late emperor took power." Su Huaijing asked, "Tangtang, do you know how many memorials the officials have submitted to impeach Your Highness over the years?"
Rong Tang shook his head.
This is a past that was not told in the original novel. Duan Yi now rarely communicates with others except in the Buddhist temple. Rong Tang only knows that she was once praised as a female prime minister of her generation and was a woman praised by countless great scholars of the time, but he really doesn't know the answer to Su Huaijing's question.
They were too far away from the crowd, so Mu Jingxu glanced over here and confirmed that they were all there, then he spoke to the students of the academy with peace of mind. Su Huaijing said softly, "There is a three-story attic behind the Qinzheng Hall, which contains many extinct orphan books, political memorials, imperial notes, good policies for governing the country, and... some memorials that the emperor was unwilling to put into the cabinet for archiving."
There are honest advice and also slander, all classified into different categories. Perhaps due to family background or power, there will always be things concealed in history books.
Some of them were purely because the emperor did not want to see, deal with, or hear them, and he did not want the cabinet ministers to discuss and then tell him a so-called "most reasonable" solution.
"When I was a kid, I was playful and sneaked in without my father's knowledge. There were two big boxes on the third floor of the attic, each taller than my head. Now that I think about it, it was probably this high." He stretched out his hand and measured it to the waist level: "I was very curious about what was in it, so I moved a small stool and stepped on it, and at first glance I saw a memorial."
Su Huaijing paused, and said softly with an indescribable emotion: "It's densely packed, all memorials."
"One box had Mingde written on it, the reign title of Emperor Mingzong, and the other box had Yuanxing written on it," he said. "I flipped it open and saw the first sentence was 'I will die to make a remonstrance.'"
Su Huaijing smiled, but his eyes were cold: "I thought it was a big deal, and I became nervous immediately, because I know the person who submitted the memorial. He is a senior official in the cabinet. He is known for his open-mindedness and knowledge. If you count carefully, half of the officials in the court can be related to him."
"But even such a high-ranking official who was admired by his colleagues and praised by the emperor, was described in the memorial as 'a hen crowing at dawn', 'overstepping one's authority', 'women should not interfere in government affairs', 'a woman's kindness cannot handle a great responsibility', and 'the princess does not stay at home and frequently goes in and out of the court and government offices, which may cause unrest among the people and unrest among the officials'..."
Su Huaijing's voice was very soft, so soft that it circled around Rongtang's ears and was blown away by the spring breeze.
Not a single word will reach the ears of others.
The sun above made him feel dazed. Rong Tang was confused. Su Huaijing held his hand and said, "But Tangtang, do you know? The military fortress in Longxi was built by your Highness' request. The taxes in the mountainous area were reduced after a long discussion with Emperor Mingzong. It was also her who proposed that the elderly, disabled and childless people in Dayu could go to the government to receive two taels of silver as living allowance every year. In the beginning, in order to smoothly implement this policy, your Highness the Princess donated most of her family property that she had accumulated in the royal family for more than 20 years."
"Why do you think the current emperor respects her so much? Why do you think that all the royal relatives have died, but Your Highness is just an adopted daughter, but she can still live in the Princess's mansion?"
Rong Tang fell into a long silence.
In the original novel and in his previous two lives, Her Royal Highness the Princess has always been accompanied by green lamps and ancient Buddhas, and is an old lady who is not involved in any worldly affairs.
She has sons and daughters, and her descendants are prosperous, but she makes people feel that she is indifferent to the extreme, not competing for fame and fortune, and not clinging to family ties.
The original text even says that because she lives opposite the mansion where the male protagonist lives after leaving the palace - Duke Xianguo's Mansion, readers have always speculated whether she might be a hidden boss.
But until the original text was locked, Rong Tang didn't see any sign that Duan Yi might turn evil.
Although according to the current development, Her Royal Highness the Princess is connected to Su Huaijing, she should be a villain in the later development of the original novel, but...
How can this be called a villain
Rong Tang didn't say anything for a long time, and the system also froze in space.
Su Huaijing said: "When the fortress in Longxi was built, the local military expenditure was saved by a quarter; after the tax in the mountainous area was reduced, not only did the local villagers have a small amount of extra money, but the number of missing women and children reported in the neighboring prefectures each year also decreased a lot; as for the cost of living security... Tangtang, do you know how many rebellions there were in Dayu every year before Mingzong ascended the throne?"
Although it is not much and it cannot amount to anything, it at least exists.
If the people cannot live in peace, they will naturally develop the desire to riot and rebel. This is an eternal truth.
Su Huaijing said, "If any of these achievements were given to the cabinet ministers, they would be remembered in history and loved by the people. But when these policies were proposed by a woman, it became 'a hen crowing at dawn, I am afraid that it will be like the ancient Empress Dowager Zhang, who ruled the country from behind the curtain and disrupted the government. I am willing to die to advise Your Majesty to abolish the Princess' right to attend court.' Tangtang, do you think this is fair?"
Rong Tang's heart trembled. For a moment, the sunlight above his head and the high-spirited crowd opposite him looked like a bizarre abstract painting with unclear faces.
Su Huaijing squeezed his palm, as if to comfort and appease him: "Of course it's unfair. The late emperor was not a very qualified monarch."
Rong Tang was slightly stunned and looked at Su Huaijing in surprise.
Su Huaijing smiled and nodded: "What I said is true."
He said: "He has a gentle temperament and doesn't like to care about things. He always trusts his ministers and brothers, especially those who stay with him for a long time, and he treats them better."
An emperor cannot be like this. An emperor is good at using power and should be even better at manipulating people's hearts.
But the late emperor's lazy nature made it impossible for him to guess and control the minds of his subjects one by one. It would be better for him to go back to Fengqi Palace and let his eldest son cook the meals for his mother.
The harem is harmonious because the late emperor was lucky and the concubines he recruited were all of non-competitive nature.
There were no disasters in Dayu and the officials had sufficient salaries, so even if the fathers of those concubines were greedy for money and power, they would always exercise restraint and would not make things too embarrassing.
The reason why the late emperor was wise was that he was a good man and happened to never make any mistakes in the general direction of every decision he needed to make.
When there was unrest on the border, he appointed Xian Guogong to quell the war.
As Confucianism declined, he allowed the imperial teacher to leave the palace to give lectures.
When people were suffering, he opened the national treasury to provide relief to the victims.
If all officials could remember the three days and three nights they spent writing essays in the examination hall, the sun and moon shining above their heads, and the people and the country's destiny in their hearts, perhaps Dayu could move towards a bright future under the leadership of a king like the late emperor.
But once someone has a different intention, a thousand-mile cave will be destroyed by ants, and they will eat it away bit by bit, and even a century-old tree will collapse one day.
Su Huaijing himself had thought about it many times, how exactly things happened. He didn't understand when he was young, but the older he got, the clearer it became.
An emperor can never sit firmly on the throne just by having a kind heart.
He smiled and found that he could put aside his hatred at this moment and chat with Rong Tang like this, even he was surprised.
And then again, Su Huaijing said: "So even if he wants to protect someone, it's actually not that easy."
All he could do was to make an exception and give Duan Yi the title of Princess, put all the impeachment memorials aside and ignored them, still acting like a student, and when he encountered unclear matters in the political affairs, he would condescend to ask his aunt and teacher.
But the eldest princess had withdrawn from the court once in the past, so it was not difficult to predict that she would withdraw again at that time.
She went in and out of the court to help her younger brother and nephew. When they no longer needed her help or her presence would cause them a lot of unnecessary trouble, she would retreat without any reluctance.
The late emperor could pretend not to have seen those memorials, but he could not really go to the Princess's residence and tie Duan Yi up and bring her to the court to discuss state affairs.
But even so, after the incident in the 25th year of Yuanxing, ministers of the royalist party went to the Princess's Mansion and denounced her for disrupting the government, being restless at home and not taking care of her husband and children, and even raising a son who plotted treason.
Of course, all those ministers were killed by Emperor Renshou, but their words all passed through the wooden door of the Buddhist temple and were heard by the ancient Buddha and sandalwood.
Su Huaijing sneered, "Don't you think it's ironic? When the country is stable and prosperous, they say she is the hen that crows at dawn; when the country is in turmoil, they say it's her fault."
"I don't even understand their logic," said Su Huaijing.
Rong Tang's lips were a little dry, and his eyes were fixed on the ants under the tree that were struggling to move the camphor fruits.
Su Huaijing: "Compared to the late emperor, my brother is actually more suitable for that position. He once said that the first thing he would do after ascending the throne would be to establish a girls' school. Since male wives can serve as officials in the court, why can't women take the imperial examination and become officials?"
Rong Tang was stunned and looked across. Mu Jingxu and the other two were surrounded by a group of students, some young and some older.
"Is it Lord Mu?" he asked in surprise.
Su Huaijing nodded and shook his head: "It's the eldest brother, but the third brother agrees with him on many issues. They used to say that if the eldest brother becomes the emperor, the third brother will be a wise king and assist his brother in leading Dayu to prosperity."
Although the Third Prince would always smile and say whenever he talked about this, "I'll have to trouble you, Crown Prince, to be kind to me and give me six to nine months of vacation every year. I want to take Ah Xue and Xiao Qi out for a walk."
The fourth princess came over and strangled him, threatening him without any respect: "Still have me, still have me! Don't leave me alone! Otherwise I'll let bugs bite you!"
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was about to refute his third brother's dishonest words, but when he heard the words, he glanced at his brothers and sisters who were looking forward to it, and waved his hand helplessly: "Father said that he will test you on policy today."
The Third Prince panicked and rushed to the Shangshufang to catch up on his lessons.
Cicadas are chirping outside the temple, and the sunlight is long and ancient.
Su Huaijing stopped talking. Rong Tang glanced at him and saw that he was distracted and had no idea what he was thinking about. He did not say anything to remind him and just waited for him to come back to his senses.
A gust of wind blew, and the fruits that the ants under the tree had been carrying for a long time rolled to the side. Su Huaijing blinked his eyes, waking up from the faded and almost unrememberable scenes, and smiled at Rong Tang.
"Tangtang, I originally just wanted to seek justice for my parents and relatives, but now I have changed my mind."
Rong Tang felt inexplicably nervous and asked in a hoarse voice, "What?"
Su Huaijing: "I will do what my brother didn't do. What do you think?"
He suddenly realized that his third brother's words did not seem to be completely a lie to Ke Hongxue.
He seemed to understand a little.
Su Huaijing stood under the bright spring sun, smiling slightly: "One day, I want to see not only people in blue shirts but also people in silk skirts standing in front of the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall."
"Tangtang, would you like to try harder and come with me to watch it?"
(End of this chapter)