Dong Zhen was proclaiming his selflessness, but neither the emperor nor the emperor were listening.
Emperor: Has my mouth really been blessed lately? There really are people who don't have daughters!
The message reads: "Liu Zhangmin...uh...Brother Sweet Potato, he does have daughters, but his eldest daughter gets dizzy just looking at books, and besides, she's already married. He told his wife that a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl, there's no need to plan anything more for her. Haha, what a scumbag father!"
The article expressed disgust. Aside from feeling a little embarrassed when he was called "Sweet Potato Brother," Liu Zhangmin didn't seem to care about what was said afterward, and even felt that he was absolutely right.
[My second daughter doesn't get dizzy when she sees books, but only picture books, hahaha! When the teacher makes her practice calligraphy, she copies picture books; when the teacher makes her memorize texts, she memorizes picture books; when the teacher punishes her by making her copy texts, she writes picture books. Her main motto is: I'm only destined for picture books!]
Liu Zhangmin began to feel uneasy and started listing the various drawbacks of women entering officialdom, attempting to divert Chuanwen's attention, but Chuanwen:
[The third daughter is very well-behaved, but... she's obsessed with opera... she spends all her time in her room doing needlework, sewing nothing but opera costumes, and then at night she plays cosplay, hahaha!]
Liu Zhangmin was sweating, while Dong Zhen's lips curled up. He had said it before: women are all useless. If such people were allowed to become officials, wouldn't the Great Jin Dynasty be doomed?
[Fourth daughter...]
besides? !
The emperor and his ministers were curious about how many daughters Liu Zhangmin actually had. They glanced at Dong Zhen, thinking that some were suffering from drought while others were flooded with water.
Noticing the sympathetic looks from everyone, Dong Zhen blushed immediately. He didn't care for that kind of daughter!
[Minister of Rites...]
The gossip had already spread from Liu Zhangmin to the Minister of Rites. The Minister of Rites' small eyes widened in surprise, and he hesitated for a moment. Could he back down now? But then he thought about how his daughters were all so well-behaved that there was no such thing as a magical gossip. So he stood there firmly. "It is against propriety for a woman to enter officialdom. I, the official, will oppose it!"
The Minister of Rites' two daughters are both intelligent, excel in their studies, and are quite talented... So why do you, Minister of Rites, oppose women entering officialdom?
Chuanwen was puzzled, thinking that even if the Minister of Rites didn't support it, he shouldn't oppose it, since his two daughters would have a good chance if women could enter officialdom.
The Minister of Rites was taken aback by the question, but his initial wavering was quickly suppressed by the principle that rites and morals are paramount. He firmly opposed women entering officialdom and went on and on about rites, morals, and shame.
While he was lecturing on traditional ethics and morality, Chuanwen also uncovered why he was so opposed to it.
At first, the Minister of Rites wasn't so opposed, but after the Censor-in-Chief Dong Zhen invited him for tea a few times, he...
The Minister of Rites and Dong Zhen were both taken aback. The former was stunned for a moment, but still firmly opposed women entering officialdom. However, a hint of guilt flickered in the latter's eyes.
The Minister of Rites was Dong Zhen's brother-in-law, and he had long been jealous of the fact that Dong Zhen's two sons were more capable than his own. Now, if women were allowed to hold official positions, Dong Zhen would likely be even more overshadowed by the Minister of Rites. So, he kept telling Dong Zhen that women entering officialdom violated the ancestral rites and laws... But this Minister of Rites seemed quite shrewd; how could he be so easily fooled by his brother-in-law?
Chuanwen looked curiously at the Minister of Rites who was still rambling on. Why did the Minister of Rites seem to be speaking less fluently than before?
Everyone was curious. The Crown Prince, who smelled the aroma of melons, skillfully rolled up his sleeves and looked at the Minister of Rites, who was still listing the disadvantages of women entering officialdom. He smiled and winked at Zhang Qing.
Zhang Qing: ......
Your Majesty, are you sure you don't want to consider changing the crown prince? What kind of crown prince is so blatantly gossiping about court officials?
However, Zhang Qing wasn't in a hurry to argue with this group. She felt that she didn't need to intervene; Chuanwen could dismantle them one by one. Sigh, what could she do when they all had their own selfish motives?
At this moment, Chuanwen also figured out why. He looked at the Minister of Rites, his eyes crinkling into slits with laughter. The Minister of Rites instantly felt uneasy, and sure enough:
[Wow! The two were relatives when they were children. Because the Minister of Rites was short, he was often teased by other children his age, but Dong Zhen would always appear and scold the other children away for him. So the Minister of Rites trusted Dong Zhen completely; Dong Zhen was his best friend in the world, hahaha!]
The Minister of Rites didn't understand what was so funny, but Dong Zhen was already getting unsteady on his feet. He should probably retreat back into the ranks, lest he have no one to stop him when the Minister of Rites pounces on him.
In fact, Dong Zhen was in cahoots with those who mocked the Minister of Rites' peers; not only were they accomplices, but he was the mastermind! He saw the candied hawthorn in the man's hand, so he sent people to ridicule him, then appeared to save him, and finally complimented him, saying, "Wow! Xiao Ming, your candied hawthorn looks so big and round!" Xiao Ming then eagerly stuffed the candied hawthorn into Dong Zhen's hand, along with sugar figurines, sesame candy, clay figurines...
Minister of Rites: ......
The Crown Prince looked at Dong Zhen with disdain. He never expected that the Imperial Censor would be like this!
Dong Zhen tried her best to maintain an innocent expression. "Huh? What did you say? I don't know? I don't understand? That's not me."
[Until his beautiful younger sister was taken by that short, ugly jerk, the brother-in-law was completely stunned. Then he started secretly cursing the guy, calling him treacherous and ungrateful. They say you shouldn't mess with a friend's wife, but you can't just steal your friend's sister away like that! Haha!]
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