Chapter 257 My biased mother wants me to adopt my younger brother’s son!
When Si Yuan heard the Third Prince's question, he looked at him in surprise, and then asked, "Half a year ago, Earl Ningyuan suddenly fell ill and died. His death was sudden and without any warning. How did the title of Earl Ningyuan inherit?"
The third prince was speechless. Earl Ningyuan died suddenly. The title would naturally be inherited by Earl Ningyuan's eldest son. If there was no eldest son, it would be inherited by other legitimate sons. If there were no other legitimate sons, a concubine's son would inherit. If there was no concubine's son, a son from a side branch would inherit, or the court would take back the title.
However, after the Female Inheritance Act was officially promulgated, the order of inheritance became legitimate sons and daughters → illegitimate sons and daughters, and finally the turn of the heirs from the side branches.
If the women who inherited the title died of childbirth, it would be no different from the sudden death of Earl Ningyuan. Everything would be handled according to the inheritance law, and the heirs would inherit the title.
But this still could not solve the doubts and problems in the Third Prince's heart, because if he ascended the throne in the future, his legitimate daughter would be a princess. If his bold idea came true, she would be an empress. The emperor died in childbirth, and the crown prince was not born safely in the empress's belly. Would the throne fall into the hands of a small branch of the clan?
The third prince could not hold back any longer, so he pulled Si Yuan to a deserted place and whispered something to him in a low voice.
Si Yuan looked at him in surprise. He really didn't expect that the third prince would consider making his legitimate daughter the heir.
Si Yuan is promoting the Female Inheritance Act, but he has not yet included the royal family in this inheritance act. After all, the position of the crown prince cannot be determined by an inheritance act. He was planning to take it slow, but he never thought that the third prince would give him such a big surprise.
If even the Third Prince, the designated crown prince and future new emperor, considers letting his daughter be the heir, then other court officials or ordinary people will certainly be more likely to accept a daughter inheriting the family business.
Si Yuan immediately became more positive and gave the Third Prince some advice: "Your Highness is now in the prime of life, you can let the princess give birth to an heir safely first, and then consider establishing a princess. And your Highness doesn't have to worry too much. If the worst result really happens as you imagined, and the emperor dies without an heir, isn't there already many precedents in history?"
It was not uncommon for an emperor to die without an heir. Many male emperors died without an heir. So even if a female emperor died without an heir, what was the big deal? It's nothing more than adopting a son from the royal family to inherit the throne. After all, the meat will rot in one's own pot, so there is nothing to worry about.
However, Si Yuan has already started thinking about how to promote obstetric knowledge. After all, if the third prince has such considerations, then other heads of families who want to make their daughters heirs will inevitably have such considerations as well.
After listening to Si Yuan's suggestion, the Third Prince thought about it and felt that it seemed to be the case. He began to consider how to choose a husband for his daughter.
The third prince was conflicted again: "But what if her husband's family is ambitious and wants to usurp the throne..." After all, this is still a patriarchal society. Even if the child takes the mother's surname, the child's father will inevitably feel that the child is his own blood. As long as he changes the surname, he can take over his wife's family's inheritance.
It would be fine if it was just an ordinary foundation, but this is a vast empire!
If the son-in-law finds a way to make his grandson change his father's surname, wouldn't that be changing the surname of his own family?
Si Yuan was speechless after hearing this: "Who cares who the father of the child is? As long as the child is born from the princess's belly, he is your grandson. No one can fake it."
If a son is chosen as the heir, the grandchildren born to the third prince by his son's wives and concubines may not be his biological grandchildren. After all, the royal family is professional in preventing cuckoldry. In the harem, there are only palace maids and eunuchs. Isn't it to prevent the situation of raising children for strange men?
But if a daughter is chosen as the heir, no matter who the father of the child is, they are still grandchildren born from the belly of one's own daughter, so the bloodline will not be confused.
The third prince frowned slightly: "But the child's father is unknown..."
Si Yuan continued, "Isn't this better? We don't have to worry about the monopoly of power by foreign relatives."
Because of his inherent ideas, the Third Prince thought it was shameful for a woman to get pregnant and give birth to a child before getting married, and the father of the child was unknown. But when he stepped out of this framework, it was indeed a good thing that the father of the future Crown Princess' child was unknown. He didn't have to worry about his own kingdom being usurped and his surname changed by his son-in-law.
The more the Third Prince thought about it, the more he felt that this was the truth, so he said to Si Yuan gratefully: "Thank you, Duke Cheng, for your guidance."
Then the third prince turned around and returned to his palace, carefully selecting several handsome and talented men to give to his most beloved daughter.
The three imperial concubines were all shocked. How could a father give a lover to his daughter?
The third prince said confidently: "This prince gave beautiful women to his son, so he cannot be partial to his daughter. Of course, he must give his daughter a handsome man! And it is no problem for this prince's daughter to have three husbands and four servants!"
The Third Royal Concubine could not accept the Third Prince's idea and almost fainted. However, the Third Prince and his concubine's legitimate daughter, Princess Zhaohua, understood the Third Prince's intention from his act of sending a beautiful man and gladly accepted it.
The Third Royal Concubine was still very respectful to the Third Prince and did not dare to disobey his wishes. She did not dare to say anything in front of the Third Prince, but as soon as the Third Prince left, the Third Royal Concubine scolded Princess Zhaohua: "How can you directly accept these concubines? What about your reputation? How can you get married in the future?"
Princess Zhaohua smiled brightly and said smugly, "Mother, don't you understand? Father doesn't want me to get married at all."
The Third Princess was horrified: "What? How could your father not let you get married?"
Princess Zhaohua was simply helpless towards her mother. This was a good thing, why couldn't her mother understand it?
Princess Zhaohua patiently explained to her mother, "Mother, are you aware of the female inheritance law promoted by Duke Cheng?"
The Third Princess frowned slightly and said, "I have heard a little bit about this, but probably only those families who have daughters but no sons will support this. Most families will not be willing to do so."
Princess Zhaohua chuckled and asked, "Then do you support it, mother?"
The Third Princess thought along the lines of her daughter's words. If the female inheritance law promoted by Duke Chengguo was followed, the Third Prince's heir should be her legitimate daughter, Princess Zhaohua, and not those illegitimate sons... She smiled bitterly and said, "If possible, of course I would like to support it, but your father is already..." He is already the invisible prince. How could the future emperor make his daughter the crown prince?
Princess Zhaohua couldn't help but remind her mother more clearly: "Mother, don't you understand the deep meaning of my father's reward of giving me a concubine?"
After hearing this, the Third Princess suddenly had an idea. The Third Prince did not want his daughter to get married, and he also said that she should be treated the same as his son. Doesn't that mean... "Does your father want to make you the heir..."
The Third Imperial Concubine didn't dare to continue talking. After all, she wouldn't dare to dream so big even in her dreams.
Princess Zhaohua raised her eyebrows proudly and said, "Perhaps my father has not yet made up his mind, but at least he has given me a fair chance to compete with other brothers. As long as there is this opportunity to enter the competition, I don't think those losers can compete with me."
The reason why Princess Zhaohua could make the Third Prince take the initiative to make her his heir was because she was so much better and more outstanding than her brothers. Her half-brothers were more mediocre, incompetent and stupid than each other. Their only advantage was that they were boys.
But it is precisely this gender advantage that forces Princess Zhaohua to pay a higher price to compete with them on the same starting line.
Princess Zhaohua could also foresee that when her father ascended the throne in the future, she would stand in the court to compete with her brothers. Her mediocre, incompetent and stupid brothers would be able to recruit a large number of ministers loyal to them just by relying on their status as princes, while she, as a princess, would naturally be targeted by those pedantic court officials who looked down on women.
Those people targeted her not because they had hatred among themselves, nor because they had conflicts of interest, but simply because they looked down on her because she was a woman. They believed that women should stay in the backyard and take care of their husbands and children. How could they be the first to crow at dawn?
But Princess Zhaohua refused to accept her fate. Even her father was willing to look favorably upon her and support her. So what was there for her not to fight for?
The excitement in the Third Imperial Concubine's heart was simply beyond words. She had only given birth to Princess Zhaohua, a child in her life. After that, her body could no longer bear children due to the conspiracy of the concubines in the backyard. She thought that she could only be a virtuous and qualified original wife in the future. She hoped that the Third Prince would take into account the feelings of the married couple and not depose her.
As for those illegitimate sons who became as quarrelsome as chicken eyes when they grew up, it had nothing to do with her, the childless wife.
The Third Princess never expected that her daughter would be so capable and able to gain the Third Prince's attention with her own talents and be qualified to compete for the right of succession.
If my daughter is lucky enough to ascend to the throne in the future, then wouldn’t she be…
The Third Imperial Consort excitedly grasped Princess Zhaohua's hand tightly and said incoherently: "Your father thinks so highly of you, you must work harder and be more outstanding so that your father will think more highly of you..."
Princess Zhaohua smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. I know everything. But the most important thing for me now is to have another child."
The third imperial concubine was stunned. Why did the topic suddenly turn to the issue of having children?
Princess Zhaohua smiled slightly and said, "As a woman, my biggest disadvantage is that I need to give birth to a child myself, which is very detrimental to my energy and body. So I have to give birth to an heir now when the competition is not so fierce, so that my father will know that I already have an heir, and then he can pass the throne to me with confidence."
Princess Zhaohua had already figured this out when the Third Prince rewarded her with a handsome man.
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