Three days later, Qin Shuo had finally calmed himself down and went up to the court. Standing on the ground, the high-spirited officials all bowed to Qin Shuo, as Qin Shuo was thinking about asking the court officials about the Imperial examinations.
"Minister Wen," Qin Shuo called out majestically, although Yin Fufeng was the head of the hundred officials, his prestige in the imperial court was inferior to the Minister Wen, so most of the ministers there listened to the Minister Wen.
"This humble subject is here," the Minister Wen responded as he strode to the center of the great hall. He cupped his hands together and glanced at Yin Fufeng from the corner of his eyes.
In his heart, he was thinking, could it be that the Emperor wanted to talk about the matter of a woman being selected as an official in the Imperial Examinations?
Sure enough, Qin Shuo cleared his throat and asked coldly: "Minister Wen, why have we not carried out the test on women?"
Before he left, he had already issued a decree. More than ten days had passed, but after he returned, Minister Wen and the rest did not make any movements, as though they did not plan to carry it out.
With a cold face, he stared at Minister Wen like an eagle. Minister Wen had nowhere to run, he mustered his courage and said, "Your majesty, ever since the ancient times, women have never heard of scientific examinations, let alone participated in political negotiations. How can this be carried out?"
Minister Wen obviously didn’t want to humiliate her and let her take the exam. Being an official in the same court was a huge disgrace to them.
Therefore, they would rather be criticized by Qin Shuo than to carry out his orders.
Minister Wen clenched his fists tightly. He gritted his teeth and continued, "Your majesty, this is the rule set down by the old ancestor. If the woman doesn’t take part in the Imperial Examinations, does your majesty want to destroy the old ancestor’s rule?"
Minister Wen was determined to oppose this matter. He brought out the Old Ancestor, in order to suppress Qin Shuo.
Yin Fufeng stood at the side and sneered disdainfully: "Who said that this is the rule set by the old ancestor. Go and look through the records to see if the old ancestor has any rules to prevent women from taking the Imperial examinations!"
Yin Fufeng retorted back coldly.
"It’s against ethics for a woman to take the Imperial examinations." Minister Wen was not willing to admit defeat, and immediately followed up, "This is something that has never happened before."
"Who says I don’t. Isn’t South Yue and West Frontier also the participation of women in political negotiations? I, as a man, have been inferior to women for several years. It’s time to reform." Yin Fufeng shot a glance at the Minister Wen, and continued, "Among the females, there are some that are like the males, who have extraordinary intelligence.
This time, Minister Wen had nothing else to say, but this did not mean that he had admitted defeat.
To have a woman as an official, that was the shame of a man with East Court. Minister Wen clenched his fist, the contempt on his face obvious.
"The politics of East Court are all dictated by the men. Many soul-stirring decisions are plotted by the men of the previous generations. If it were women, the country would have been destroyed long ago." The Minister Wen did not spare him, as he and Yin Fufeng faced off, insisting on the tradition of East Court men being officials.
"Minister Wen, you are so heroic that you don’t even yield to a man. From my point of view, you are afraid that the young talents of women will replace you!" Yin Fufeng smirked and said with a playful tone. Otherwise, why would the Minister Wen insist on not allowing women to take the examination?
"Nonsense!" Prime Minister Yin, I am seeking truth from facts, the tradition of the East Court should not be broken, and the one who brought it up is the Empress. As a woman, how could I possibly understand the matters of the Imperial Court? " Minister Wen’s body carried the pride of a scholar, and at the same time, the cunning of an official. When he spoke, his gaze would occasionally turn towards Qin Shuo, as if wanting to see if Qin Shuo had the intention of stopping her from speaking further.
"The Empress is talented and capable, how could she not know about political affairs?" It was obvious that he was ridiculing the Minister Wen for being incapable of writing martial arts, but he had the face to slander Hu Xiao here.
Minister Wen was a smart person, how could he not understand the meaning behind Yin Fufeng’s words!
s face paled. Damn Yin Fufeng, he glared at Yin Fufeng and said while clenching his teeth, "The Empress is adept at literature and martial arts, but a woman’s knowledge is not as good as a man’s. Letting a woman enter the imperial court, wouldn’t that be destroying our East Court?
The Minister Wen squinted his eyes, holding onto this question. He knew, no matter how much argument he had with Yin Fufeng, the final decision was up to the emperor.
"Your majesty, this humble subject is doing this entirely for the sake of the country, and even more so for your majesty’s sake!" Minister Wen knelt on the ground with a thump, his face full of solemnness.
Qin Shuo squinted as he looked at the chattering Minister Wen and Yin Fufeng. He did not ask them to stop and allowed them to argue.
Qin Shuo did not express his opinion and directly waved his hand, and said: "Minister Wen, get up first, I know that you are thinking for the nation, but women taking the Imperial examinations are also doing so for the nation, the selection of talent is extremely important for the country, I think, whether it is male or female, everyone has the qualifications to be an official."
He was affected by Hu Xiao, so he gradually accepted this fact. Xiaoxiao was right, there were women who were diligent in studying, worried about the affairs of the nation, and there were also those who were generous enough to not meet. Why not let them participate in the construction of the country?
In Qin Shuo’s opinion, the Minister Wen was an old-fashioned, inflexible old man. Hence, he was unable to come up with anything useful when discussing matters with the Minister Wen.
The matter in the hall had already been spread out, and Hu Xiao was extremely furious after hearing Minister Wen’s explanation, what did it mean that the knowledge of a woman was not as good as that of a man? What nonsense was this!
She raised her sleeves and angrily said, "This damned old man! I want to meet him. I don’t know shame for saying such words. I can compare myself to him in every way, yet he says that I’m not as knowledgeable as him!"
Hu Xiao scolded. Zhi Lan had long understood her temper, so she did not stop her. She followed behind her and went to the palace gate.
"Minister Wen!" Hu Xiao had already been standing in front of the palace gate, waiting for Minister Wen and the others to come out!
Hu Xiao placed her hands on her hips, looking completely different from what a queen should be. She laid horizontally in front of Minister Wen and said angrily: "Minister Wen, have you forgotten what happened last time?
Hu Xiao purposely brought up old matters. If only Minister Wen had won against him last time, it would have been fine. But when she said those words, she did not have that much of an opinion towards him.
Are women inferior to men, or are men inferior to women?
After Minister Wen heard this, he felt that he had lost all his face, his face was flushed red, but just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by Yin Fufeng.
"To still act so arrogantly and look down on others even after losing the bet, this is the first time I’ve seen such a thing." Yin Fufeng continued with a smile on his face as he looked at Minister Wen who had an embarrassed expression on his face. The smile on his face deepened.
With so many people watching, the Minister Wen felt extremely humiliated.
This content is taken from free web nov𝒆l.com
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com