Chapter 350: So What If I’m a Woman?
After spending a night in Lizhou, Jun Liluo ordered to continue heading south. The team was ready at 9:00 p.m. and set off again by boat.
"Your Majesty, the Lizhou governor presented a lot of game early in the morning and also prepared a recipe. He said that eating it is good for your health and spleen, and it is very beneficial. Would you like to try it at noon?"
Hearing Li Zongguan's question, Jun Liluo responded, "Then order the imperial chef to follow the recipe, so that all the ministers can have a taste of it."
"yes."
At noon, all the ministers and concubines gathered in the imperial boat and sat down in their respective seats.
The palace servants walked back and forth, placing game dishes on the table.
"This is game presented by the Lizhou governor. The imperial chef cooked it according to local methods. I think it is very delicious. You can try it too."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Everyone looked at the fresh and spicy game in front of them and picked up their chopsticks.
Some people like spicy food and feel it more and more as they eat, while others cannot eat spicy food and will cough due to the choking.
Song Yunchu used chopsticks to carefully remove the chili from the game until there was not a trace of chili powder on the meat, and then put it into his mouth.
She likes spicy food, but unfortunately her taste buds can only tolerate a limited amount of spiciness, so she just needs to taste it lightly.
Halfway through the banquet, someone suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something that has been bothering me for a long time. I decided to report it to Your Majesty so that Your Majesty will not be misled by others!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Jun Liluo and Song Yunchu both looked in the direction of the voice.
The person who spoke was Zhou Ji, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.
Jun Liluo asked him, "What are you worried about?"
"To be honest with you, Your Majesty, I heard a piece of news a while ago that I found incredible, but since it concerns the country, I have to mention it even if it means offending the emperor."
"Oh?" Jun Liluo showed a hint of curiosity, "What on earth is it that makes you feel guilty?"
"Because what I want to say is related to His Royal Highness Prince Ning."
When Zhou Ji said this, he turned his gaze and landed on Song Yunchu. "If I have wronged His Royal Highness Prince Ning, I am willing to be punished by Your Majesty. But if Your Royal Highness Prince Ning is wrong, I beg Your Majesty to handle it impartially."
Song Yunchu looked at him and said casually, "Tell me, what did I do wrong?"
"Your Highness, I would like to ask you something." Zhou Ji looked at Song Yunchu steadily, "Are you a man or a woman? Can you prove your identity?"
As Zhou Ji finished speaking, the people around him were in an uproar.
"Why is Lord Zhou asking such a ridiculous question? Is he drunk?"
"Master Zhou, you can eat whatever you want, but don't say anything you want!"
"Mr. Zhou doesn't look like he's drunk, so why do you ask this?"
Listening to everyone's questions, Zhou Ji turned to Jun Liluo and said, "Your Majesty, I am not drunk. I am very sober now. I hope Your Highness Prince Ning can give me an answer."
"Before answering Lord Zhou's question, I would like to ask you a few questions first."
Song Yunchu played with the wine glass in his hand slowly and leisurely, "Since the day I entered the court, have I ever done anything that is detrimental to Your Majesty?"
Zhou Ji was a little surprised when Song Yunchu asked this question. After he came to his senses, he felt inexplicably uneasy.
How could Song Yunchu remain so calm when he asked such a question to his face?
Could it be that the information given by King Kang was wrong, and Song Yunchu was not a woman?
This shouldn't be the case...King Kang wouldn't joke about such a thing.
While he was thinking, Song Yunchu quickly raised a new question.
"When the plague was rampant and countless people were killed and injured, Your Majesty was extremely distressed, and all the civil and military officials in the court were silent. Who was it that, regardless of his own safety, proposed to go to the west of the city to be quarantined and fight the epidemic together with the people of the west of the city?"
"Afterwards, Prince Yi colluded with the enemy and betrayed his country. He and the remnants of the Rong Kingdom launched an attack on Longlin Mountain, attempting to murder Your Majesty. Who saved Your Majesty at the cost of his own safety?"
"The princess of Xiling came to negotiate the treasure map, and she asked for a 30-70 split right from the start, because she had two fragments and I only had one. Tianqi and Xiling were in a stalemate for several days, so who negotiated a 50-50 split?"
Song Yunchu asked three questions in a row with a cold voice.
Everyone was silent for a moment.
These three questions all concern the country and the monarch, and the answer is King Ning. No matter which one is taken alone, it is a great achievement.
King Ning did not directly answer Minister Zhou's question, but instead asked him a question in return. Does this mean that -
The answer to Minister Zhou's question was not favorable to Prince Ning.
If Prince Ning were a man, he would have been furious at this question and shouted that it was outrageous.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Song Yunchu seriously.
It must be said that if Prince Ning were dressed as a woman...
Maybe she will be as heroic as the Princess of Xiling Kingdom?
But compared to that princess, Prince Ning's eyebrows seemed much sharper.
“If it weren’t for me, how could Tianqi Kingdom get this 50%? In other words, if I had embezzled the remaining scrolls from the beginning and made a deal with the princess privately, then this huge fortune would have fallen into my hands instead of falling into Tianqi’s treasury.”
"I may have let many people down since I was alive, but I think I am worthy of the emperor and Tianqi. How many of you here can compare to me in my contribution to the country?"
"You may all be dedicated to your duties and loyal to the emperor, but compared to me, you are inferior. You should also understand the laws of the world. Those with talent occupy high positions. If you must define the strong by gender, your vision is too narrow!"
Song Yunchu finished speaking and his eyes fell back on Zhou Ji's face, "What do you think, Lord Zhou?"
Zhou Ji looked unhappy when asked this question.
Song Yunchu counted out his own merits, and few people present dared to argue with him.
According to initial expectations, after he raised the gender issue, Song Yunchu should have been besieged by ministers with fierce remarks.
Using her body as a woman to oppress civil and military officials and abuse her power was, in the words of Prime Minister Liu, heresy. However, these officials who had been suppressed by her for a long time remained silent at the critical moment!
It would have been fine if others didn't dare to speak, but Shangshu Huo, Prime Minister Liu, and Academician Zheng also pretended to be dumb.
If King Kang had not made him a significant promise, he really would not have wanted to be the first to take action.
It would be great if General Ye were here at this time. General Ye has made great achievements and would definitely be able to support him and not put him in such a difficult situation.
Zhou Ji took a deep breath and said expressionlessly, "So, Your Highness Prince Ning, are you admitting that you disguised yourself as a man and deceived the world?"
After these words were spoken, Jun Liluo, who was sitting on the first seat, couldn't help laughing.
Zhou Ji thought for a long time and came up with this stupid question to fight back.
Compared with what Song Yunchu just said, it was really not very lethal.
"Deceiving the world? Oh, I'm not deceiving the king. What crime have I committed? Besides, I have nothing to be ashamed of. At most, I just said something unpleasant and let down some civil servants."
Song Yunchu said in a leisurely tone, "So what if I'm a woman? You look down on women, but none of you are as good as me. You can't scold me or beat me, and you can't even compare with me in political achievements. What qualifications do you have to criticize me?"
As she spoke, she swept her eyes over the people in front of her, "If anyone disagrees, then just show me your own achievements and compare them with me. Why bother with the question of whether it's a man or a woman?"
Before this, Song Yunchu did not directly answer Minister Zhou's question, so everyone had a vague answer in their minds. However, when they heard her admit with her own mouth that she was dressed as a man, they were still quite shocked.
This king of a different surname, who is highly valued by His Majesty and second only to the emperor, is actually a woman!
If Minister Zhou had not exposed them in person today, they would have thought that Song Yunchu was just a fair-skinned and handsome man. They would not have made groundless assumptions because she was usually domineering and liked to hold a folding fan in front of others to act free and unrestrained, with none of the manners of a woman in her every move.
Even though they suspected that this person had a homosexual relationship with His Majesty, they never suspected that she was a woman disguised as a man.
"But there has never been a woman in our dynasty who has a foothold in the imperial court. Although you have made great achievements, you also have a bad reputation!"
Song Yunchu heard a heavy and hoarse voice coming from the front left, so she looked in the direction of the sound and saw that Master Chen had also stood up from his seat and looked at her coldly.
"Since you became the Prime Minister of Song, you have been oppressing officials and acting recklessly. Everyone has seen this."
"You violate the moral principles and disregard the rules of propriety. How can you be the head of all officials?"
Song Yunchu's eyebrows moved slightly, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a cool voice from the right -
"The moral principles and etiquette mentioned by Chen Qing's family, do they mean that women can only be confined to a certain place, take care of their husbands and children, and devote their lives without complaint, but cannot have lofty ambitions, cannot try to become pillars of the country, and contribute to the country and the people?"
Upon hearing this, Scholar Chen turned to look at Jun Liluo who was sitting on the first seat. His gaze met his cold eyes. His heart tightened immediately and he lowered his head, "Your Majesty, I..."
"Thank goodness, when I held the Talent Selection Conference, I asked you to be one of the examiners. Now it seems that you don't understand my intention at all."
"Strong people should not be divided by gender. It's just that you are used to the sight of all the civil and military officials in the court being men. Now that you suddenly know that the head of all officials is a woman, you regard her as an invader and are extremely dissatisfied with her high position. But don't forget that she is a citizen of this dynasty just like you. As she said, she has never been ashamed of Tianqi and me. She doesn't need to admit her mistakes, let alone listen to your ridiculous accusations!"
"You seem to be filled with righteous indignation, but you are just venting your resentment. You try to ignore her contribution to the country and repeatedly emphasize that she deceived the world and called her arrogant and domineering. Have you ever realized that you are also deceiving yourselves?"
Jun Liluo stroked the wine glass in his hand and glanced coldly at everyone present.
"I might as well tell you that I knew Yunchu's identity early on. She has the ambition to serve the country and the will to strive for the top. I see in her the tenacity and courage of a strong person. Such a person, whether male or female, will become a pillar of the court. Why can't I give her a chance? If I deny a person's ability because of gender, it would be too ignorant and narrow-minded!"
"And the facts have proved that Song Yunchu did not disappoint me. She did many things that you could not do. No matter how unwilling you are, you cannot erase her contribution to Tianqi."
"I am very glad that I kept her in the court. With her assistance, I have benefited a lot. If you still want to target her, you are denying my ability to judge people!"
When Jun Liluo finished speaking, his eyes were filled with anger and his tone became heavier.
"You all might as well think carefully, do you want to go against me?"
After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent for a moment.
The emperor's overwhelming power inevitably makes people tremble with fear and dare not step forward to touch his reverse scale.
Song Yunchu rarely saw Jun Li Luo get angry, and when he saw him scolding his ministers, he felt warm in his heart.
Although she knew she was a good speaker and never lost in arguments, she would always face a lot of verbal attacks since the fact that she was disguised as a man had been exposed. Jun Li Luo, as a monarch, was able to speak for her and stand firmly with her. For her, this was like adding wings to a tiger.
She was accompanied by officials of the third rank and above on this southern tour. This allowed these people to accept her existence first. After she returns to the court, when she faces other controversies and accusations, there would naturally be many people willing to speak up for her.
Although there are many pedantic officials in the court, there are also quite a few who are sensible. They should understand that she has not only power and achievements, but also the support of the emperor Jun Liluo. Even if they don't give her face, they still have to give the emperor face.
Of course, she didn't think that all Song party members would be able to accept her sudden change from male to female. After all, the concepts of this world were a bit backward, and most people were prejudiced against women serving as officials, even those in her own camp were no exception. But no matter what, for the sake of their future, they had to support her unconditionally.
If there really are people who have second thoughts because of her gender, then they should get as far away from her as possible. As long as she is still Prince Ning, there will be many people who want to join her camp.
"Your Majesty, please calm down."
Song Yunchu advised Jun Liluo, "I expected this day to come. You don't have to get angry and hurt yourself. Although you recognize my ability, I understand that many people will still treat me as an alien. I will spend more time to prove to the world that I am worthy of the honor given to me by Your Majesty."
"Very good." Jun Liluo looked at her and smiled with satisfaction. "The most important thing for a strong person is to be focused and not be affected by disturbances. I believe you will achieve more in the future."
"Your identity has been revealed. You will inevitably hear some bad things in the future. You don't have to take it too seriously. No matter what others say, you are still the Prince of Ning whom I trust the most."
At this point, Jun Li Luo looked at Chen Xueshi, "Mr. Chen, you are also a veteran minister in the court. You have been an official for many years without any mistakes, but you are really pedantic and rigid. King Ning did have disputes with you veteran ministers, but it cannot be said that he bullied you. As the king of a country, I am not interested in your verbal battles. I only want to see real achievements. Do you understand?"
Scholar Chen had no way to refute, and he did not want to anger Jun Liluo again, so he could only bow and say, "This old minister will remember your majesty's reprimand."
"It would be best if you could remember it."
Jun Li Luo's gaze turned and fell on Zhou Ji, who had exposed Song Yunchu. "Minister Zhou, do you have any objections?"
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