However, the book "Rules for Women" diminished Qin Qianluo's goodwill towards Empress Zhangsun, as many of the constraints placed on women came from this book.
Qin Qianlu rubbed her slightly sore head, pondering how to change these mindsets after conquering the Xuanyuan Kingdom, and how to control people's addiction to opium. These were all headaches.
Thinking this, Qin Qianluo sat up, picked up her pen and carefully wrote down the details about these things. She decided to write them down herself and let her father and Sister Su figure out a solution, as she really didn't have the ability to do so.
Those who heard the whispers exchanged bewildered glances. They hadn't seen the light screen and didn't know what was written in those two books that Princess Qingyun had so disliked. But Ling Xue and the others did. They swarmed around Ling Xue and the others, their eyes burning with curiosity.
Xuan You asked, "What is 'Humble First'? What book is this?"
Ling Xue and the others looked at Xuan You, then at the crowd, knowing they were curious. As they gathered together, Ling Xue explained the general contents of the book in detail. The crowd listened with furrowed brows, wondering what all this was.
Xuanmei spoke up: "Your husband is dead, and you won't let him remarry? Are you going to spend your whole life guarding his tombstone? Are all women in Xuanyuan Kingdom this devoted?" (PS: "Liangren" is also a term for husband, and it's an older one.)
Mo Yuan then asked, "What would happen if you remarried?"
Ling Xue paused. It wasn't necessarily deep affection; it was just that this was the kind of thinking she had been taught since childhood. In families with better tempers, nothing would happen, but in families with bad tempers, the woman would be branded as a jinx and forced to hang herself.
Looking at the puzzled looks on her face, she swallowed hard and said, "Generally, women don't remarry. If they do, they will be stigmatized, their families will be disgraced, and they won't be allowed to have a memorial arch erected to commemorate their chastity."
Everyone was taken aback when they heard "chastity archway." What was that? Was it important? What kind of honor was it? It was as if a new world had opened up for them, and their eyes were filled with curiosity.
Xuan You asked, "What is a chastity arch? Does it have any special meaning?"
Ling Wei continued, "It is a tribute to women who remain unmarried after their husbands die. If a woman's name is engraved on a chastity archway in a family, it is a great honor that can elevate the status of the entire family."
After hearing this, everyone fell silent again. They didn't understand why this was considered an honor. What was so praiseworthy about it? Were women destined to be bound for life?
After a long silence, the crowd asked many questions, such as what it means to give credit to others, what it means to be humble first, what it means to yield to the sixth, and so on.
After hearing Ling Xue and the others' explanation, they really didn't know what to say. Everyone originally thought that foot binding was already unacceptable, but they didn't expect there to be so many more rules and regulations.
Xuan You thought to himself, no wonder Princess Qingyun left with a stiff expression after only listening to a few sentences. Now that he understood these things, he couldn't stand listening to them either. What kind of strange and bizarre remarks were these?
The crowd then thought of the two people Princess Qingyun had mentioned who wrote such books, and they were also puzzled. Judging from their names, they were women, so how could they have written such remarks targeting women?
Ling Xue and the others were also somewhat confused at this moment. After all, this was what they had known and learned since childhood, and they had never thought there was anything wrong with it. In fact, many of the women among them had taken this as their goal and standard.
But judging from the expressions of the guards on the other side, it seems that these things are also wrong and not understood by them. Is it only women from the Xuanyuan Kingdom who would learn these things?
Ling Xue, Ling Wei, and An Yue thought even more deeply. They could hear the disdain in their mistress's voice. Could it be that these things, like foot binding, were also wrong? Thinking of foot binding, they felt that it must be wrong.
They had lived in the Tianxuan Kingdom, and even if they hadn't observed it closely, they had never seen the books "Admonitions for Women" or "Rules for Women" in the Tianxuan Kingdom, nor had they ever seen a "chastity archway".
The crowd fell silent, each person pondering their own thoughts. The guards wondered what else the Xuanyuan Kingdom possessed that they had never heard of or seen before, while Ling Xue and the others wondered whether what they had seen and learned over the years was right or wrong.
When Qin Qianluo came out, this was the scene she saw: everyone sitting together, heads bowed in deep thought. Curious, she asked, "What's wrong with 001 and the others?"
001 glanced at her and said, "Luo Bao, Xuan You also heard the women reading aloud. After returning, he asked Ling Xue and the others. Ling Xue and the others explained it to them in detail, but they probably didn't quite understand."
Hearing Qin Qianluo's thoughts, everyone came to their senses. Qin Qianluo looked at everyone but didn't ask any questions. For a moment, the space fell silent until Qianying and the others came over and called out to everyone.
Everyone stood up and escorted Qin Qianluo to the dining area, waiting together for dinner to arrive. No one brought up the topic again.
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