"Your Majesty, I have a suggestion, and I would like to ask that Your Majesty consider it."
The emperor was used to her sudden ideas and indulged her greatly: "Go ahead."
Jiang Jiuniang stood up and said, "I believe Your Majesty also admires my Lianhua, but what I want to say is that there are many outstanding women like Lianhua, but they have no opportunity to show their talents and can only stay in the backyard to be good wives and mothers and do needlework. Isn't that burying their talents? Why not set up a women's examination and give women the opportunity to enter the court and serve as officials? In this way, Your Majesty will not only be known as an enlightened ruler, but also have more people to help Your Majesty make plans. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
These words caused an uproar in the audience.
How could Jiang Jiuniang dare to appoint a woman to an official position?
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! Otherwise, the world will surely descend into chaos!"
"That's true. Since ancient times, men have been in charge of external affairs and women have been in charge of internal affairs. This is the harmony of yin and yang. If women are allowed to serve as officials in the court, then what are men supposed to do?"
"Nonsense, utter nonsense!"
...
Some of the old-fashioned people present immediately started cursing.
Even a woman as capable as Jiang Jiuniang did not serve as an official in the court. She would only appear and say a few words, which did not affect the operation of the court. But if women were allowed to serve as officials in the court, what would the court look like?
When someone criticized her, Jiang Jiuniang immediately felt a surge of energy. She rolled up her sleeves and said, "How chaotic can the world be? What's wrong with a man taking care of the child? Why are there so many complaints about him taking care of his own child? A woman has already walked through the gates of hell during childbirth. Shouldn't the man help take care of the child? When you marry, you're looking for someone to spend your life with, not a maid to take care of you from birth to death!"
"We're all human, so why is it that men can go to court and make their mark, while women, no matter how talented they are, can only hide in the backyard, facing all sorts of messy things every day, and being tormented until they're just empty shells?"
"Cooking, washing dishes, and taking care of children—who can't do that? Why is it that only women can do these things? Can men just sit back and wait to be waited on?"
Jiang Jiuniang had always known that allowing women to enter the court was a very slim possibility, but someone had to speak up for it, and now that she had the opportunity and the right, she casually mentioned it.
Knowing they would object, but not expecting them to say such hurtful things, Jiang Jiuniang was so angry that she started arguing with a group of old men.
Anyway, she's already full, so scolding her will only make her eat two more bowls of rice.
Seeing how resolute Jiang Jiuniang was, the Lu family remained silent. At this moment, the greatest help they could offer was to refrain from disturbing her.
Even Lu Baichuan didn't say anything, but silently picked up a piece of fish for her and started picking out the bones, so she would eat it when she got tired of talking.
Jiang Ruoya felt a mix of worry, pride, and heartache as she watched her daughter dare to make such a scene in the court. This child, unable to be pampered by her side, had to become fierce to protect herself.
Seeing that his wife's mood was clearly affected, Mingze immediately comforted her, "Don't worry, His Majesty is deliberately letting her be; nothing will happen."
Jiang Ruoya nodded. She was aware of this as well and wasn't too worried.
Jiang Jiuniang fought against a group of people all by herself without feeling tired at all. She was spitting everywhere and no one could out-argue her.
What's even more infuriating is that these old ministers also had female relatives with them. Listening to Jiang Jiuniang's words, they were all very tempted and felt that she was right.
Anyone can take care of a child. Why should women have to stay at home to take care of the child and give up their own dreams?
Why can't men take care of children? Aren't they their own children?
They are all living together as a large family, so why do the men do nothing and the women do all the housework?
It's one thing for wealthy families, but what about poor families? Women work in the kitchen all day but aren't allowed to eat at the table. Why is that?
The women present were all very angry. Even when their own men were arguing with Jiang Jiuniang, they would stand by and speak up for her, making the scene completely chaotic.
The emperor, however, found it amusing. After watching for a while, he said, "Alright, alright, the banquet is still going on. We can discuss these matters later. However, I think Madam Lu's words make sense, and I will consider them carefully."
Snap! The hammer blow sealed the deal!
The old fogies were frantic, unable to understand why the emperor was so biased towards Jiang Jiuniang!
Could it be that he harbors ill intentions towards Jiang Jiuniang?
That must be it! Otherwise, why would he treat Jiang Jiuniang so well!
The court officials were dissatisfied, but dared not show it openly. In their hearts, they cursed and wished they could curse Jiang Jiuniang's ancestors for eighteen generations.
This little vixen is stirring up trouble in the court!
Jiang Jiuniang loved seeing these people dislike her but couldn't do anything about it. Like a proud rooster surveying the entire scene, she strode back with her head held high.
The Lu family looked at her with admiration, feeling that she had brought honor to the Lu family.
Although what she did was quite conspicuous, it didn't matter. Someone had to take this step, and they were proud that Jiang Jiuniang was the one who took it.
Not long after Jiang Jiuniang sat down, the Emperor looked at Mingze and said, "I have long admired the name of the Pavilion Master of Qianfan Pavilion. I have heard that the Pavilion Master has a group of elite talents under his command. Are you interested in cooperating with the court?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment before they realized why the emperor had specially invited everyone from the Lu family to the palace banquet tonight—it turned out he was waiting for them here.
Jiang Jiuniang had long considered having Qianfan Pavilion do things for the imperial court, but after a series of events, such as the emperor embarrassing her on the spot and wanting to obtain the recipe for the Little Black Ball, she gave up on the idea.
I thought this matter would never be brought up again, but tonight the emperor orchestrated this whole thing, and I found myself bringing it up again.
Mingze didn't know what the emperor meant by this. He had heard that the emperor had recently lost a lot of people. Could it be that the emperor was reluctant to part with his own people and wanted to take advantage of them instead?
If that's the case, then the emperor is truly despicable.
He looked at Jiang Jiuniang, wanting to see her reaction.
Jiang Jiuniang didn't expect the emperor to bring this up on his own initiative. If it were before, she would definitely have suspected that the emperor was up to some bad idea again. But after getting to know him recently, she could feel that the emperor was genuinely repenting for what he had done in the past. He must have been sincere in bringing this up tonight.
So she nodded to Mingze.
Mingze decided to listen to Jiang Jiuniang, stepped forward to the center of the hall, cupped his hands and said, "It is an honor for Qianfan Pavilion to cooperate with the imperial court."
The emperor was very satisfied and bestowed many rewards and preferential treatment upon him. As for where he intended to use Qianfan Pavilion, he would not say so in person, as not everyone could know. He brought it up tonight simply to make it clear to Qianfan Pavilion that he had invited it to join his cause, so that the court officials would treat it with respect in the future.
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