Chapter 129 Foot Binding
After Kangxi took Yuying back to their temporary residence, he let go of Yuying's hand.
"Everyone else, go out." Kangxi ordered in a cold voice.
Qingtao and Qingdai, who came in with Kangxi, looked up at Yuying worriedly after hearing what he said. They both noticed that Kangxi was in a bad mood at the moment and were afraid that Yuying would be implicated.
Yuying received the concerned gazes from the two men and shook her head at them, indicating that she was fine and asking them to listen to Kangxi and leave for the time being.
When only Kangxi and Yuying were left in the hall.
"Is this the good show that Aying mentioned? Is Aying satisfied?" Ever since Wang appeared, Kangxi finally vented out the emotions that had been suppressed throughout the entire banquet.
His expression seemed hurt and puzzled.
"Aying, aren't you afraid that I will really take that person into my harem?"
Yuying looked at Kangxi and thought about what he said.
[She was the biological mother of your fifteenth, sixteenth, and eighteenth sons. You even reprimanded Crown Prince Yinreng for the death of the eighteenth prince, and eventually deposed him.]
"Your Majesty, I believe in you."
Kangxi took a few steps back. He didn't expect that when he just questioned Yuying why she didn't care about him so much, he accidentally involved her in the matter of deposing the crown prince.
He suddenly lost his temper, "Aying, why don't you think about it carefully? Since I had you, have I ever looked for someone else?"
[No way!]
Yuying was horrified. In the palace, she and Kangxi did not see each other every day. Kangxi was busy and would only visit her in Yongshou Palace about half of the time in a month, or he would call her to Qianqing Palace. So she naturally thought that on the days when Kangxi did not visit her, he would summon other concubines to sleep with him. After all, Yuying did not expect Kangxi to remain chaste for her.
No one in her palace had ever told her about this, and she thought they were just afraid of making her sad. But today, Kangxi himself exposed her secret.
Yuying asked in confusion: "Why? Your Majesty, isn't Concubine Yi beautiful? And the Han woman just now, Your Majesty, don't you like them?"
If it weren't for Yuying, perhaps he would continue to favor these people, but now he only wants to win the heart of one person, so naturally he will no longer take others into consideration.
"I...I..." Kangxi seemed to find it difficult to speak.
[Traveling through the aura is so terrifying!]
It was so amazing that even an emperor with three thousand beauties in his harem became love-brained.
[So… Little Fourteen really has no chance of being born now? But it’s OK, anyway, Little Fourteen and Little Four don’t have a good relationship, and without the youngest son, I don’t think Concubine De can treat everyone equally? And with one dragon missing, there should be no chance of succession…]
After understanding the stakes, Yuying immediately looked at Kangxi with admiration, "I am so lucky to meet the emperor!"
Yuying meant this sincerely. After all, if she were to travel back to an ordinary family, she would probably not even be able to get enough food and clothing. In Kangxi's harem, at least Kangxi would not lack what she needed, and he was even willing to let her do whatever she wanted.
Kangxi was pleased with what he said. You can see that his expression, which had just been surprised, has returned to normal.
"It is my luck to meet Aying."
"Aying is the luck of the entire Qing Dynasty."
Kangxi looked at Yuying who knew nothing about it, a feeling of relief flashed through his mind, and he sighed.
Seeing that Kangxi was finally back to normal, Yuying breathed a sigh of relief and then brought up what she had wanted to tell Kangxi at the beginning.
"Your Majesty, did you notice the dancer's feet?"
Yuying's topic went off the topic completely, and Kangxi asked hesitantly, "Aying, are you referring to... the three-inch golden lotus?"
Yuying nodded.
"Aying... could it be that you like her?"
Kangxi was anxious, fearing that Yuying would also bind her feet. "Aying, you don't know that although the three-inch golden lotus is favored by scholars, it is a great sin for women. Aying, you must not have this idea."
"What's more, the Empress Dowager has previously issued an order that all girls with bound feet who enter the palace should be executed."
"After I ascended the throne, I banned foot binding. However, foot binding is different from shaving the head. Women rarely leave the house, and their feet are also their private parts, which are not easily exposed to outsiders. Therefore, the law banning foot binding is very difficult to implement, especially in the Jiangnan area. It is common in Yangzhou's thin horses."
Moreover, due to the promotion of scholars and writers, there was even a phenomenon of "women not getting married when they grow up". Without a pair of small feet, they could not get married, so many women had to bind their feet.
As time went on, not only the Han people, but even the Manchus, who originally lived on horseback, secretly bound their daughters' feet.
If even the princes and ministers are like this, their subordinates will follow suit, let alone the common people.
The law does not punish everyone, and Kangxi was helpless and often had a headache. But he would never choose a woman with bound feet as his son's wife, which made the ministers hesitate.
Yuying watched Kangxi pleading. Her original intention was to ask Kangxi to abolish foot binding, but Kangxi misunderstood her meaning and thought that she wanted the so-called "three-inch golden lotus".
Yuying couldn't help feeling a chill.
"No, no, no, Your Majesty, I don't want it. Don't get me wrong." Yuying waved her hands repeatedly.
Yuying straightened her expression and said, "Your Majesty, an open ban is useless because your attitude is vague. Even if someone did it, you didn't give a clear punishment." If the intensity was as strong as that of the Literary Inquisition, she didn't believe that anyone would dare to ban it openly but do it secretly.
"What's more, if the ban doesn't work, then issue an order to abolish it."
Yuying didn't understand the twists and turns in Kangxi's mind and spoke in a decisive tone.
Kangxi was stunned after hearing Yuying's words and asked, "Aying, did you do this on impulse or..."
After all, Yuying has always been easy-going and it is rare for her to be so resolute.
Yuying didn't expect Kangxi to ask this, she paused.
How should I tell Kangxi?
During the whole time she followed Emperor Kangxi on his southern tour, she saw very few women on the road, almost none at all. This made Yuying, who had understood the truth that "women hold up half the sky" since she was a child, very uncomfortable.
The reason for this phenomenon may be that the Qing Dynasty treated women relatively harshly, but when she saw Wang yesterday, she had other guesses in her mind.
Perhaps this may be the reason why women have difficulty moving after having their feet bound.
And just at this time Cao Yin sent Wang to Kangxi again, so she planned to use this as an opportunity to bring up the matter with Kangxi.
"Your Majesty, whether it was a spur-of-the-moment decision or a long-planned one, I just think that foot binding for women is against the laws of nature."
Kangxi held Yuying in his arms and said, "It's not easy to accomplish this."
Since the Qing army entered the pass, the so-called Han people have been hoping to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming. The imperial court's order to shave the hair and change clothes was successful only under the iron-blooded and tough means.
Countless people even regarded foot binding for women as the last resort of dignity and a symbol of uncompromising resistance to the Qing court.
After the Manchus entered the Pass, the relationship between them and the Han people was already tense. Kangxi had been adhering to a pro-Han and conciliatory policy over the years. If he used tough measures at this time, Kangxi was afraid of causing public resentment and also afraid that someone would use this incident to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty.
Kangxi broke down the truth and explained it to Yuying.
Yuying still remembered that this happened in front of Kangxi. She resisted the urge to curse and only managed to say: "How hypocritical."
Isn't that just hypocrisy.
If this dignity is really so important and inviolable, how can those Han officials in the court still feel at ease serving as officials of the Qing court? Listening to the words of the Qing emperor? They should have died in the Qianqing Palace.
This is clearly a typical case of wanting everything.
They could neither give up the high official salary nor the so-called integrity they talked about, so they put all the blame on the woman's feet, which made people feel extremely disgusted.
"Your Majesty, this is clearly a woman's own business. Why do those men have the right to force it on women? We should give these women the right to choose for themselves. Whether to bind their feet or not, women should decide for themselves."
"If those men have objections, don't they have feet of their own? Let them wrap themselves up!"
"If they don't want to, we can still help them. After all, we are doing this for their own 'dignity', right?"
Yuying fell backwards, putting all her weight on Kangxi, acting like a rogue.
Then, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and her body, which was originally lying on Kangxi, suddenly sat up straight. Yuying turned her head and looked straight at Kangxi, and said anxiously: "Your Majesty! How about we call that Wang to ask her face to face? Let's ask her whether she was willing to have her feet bound?"
After saying this, she leaned forward slightly, her beautiful eyes staring at Kangxi expectantly, waiting for his response.
Kangxi looked at Yuying, not knowing what he was thinking, "Then let's do as Yuying says."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Yuying hugged Kangxi.
…
After Wang was dragged away, she no longer had the shyness and timidity she had just shown. She stayed in her small courtyard trembling with fear, waiting for her punishment.
But she didn't wait for the punishment, instead she waited for Cao Yin to come first.
"Sir." Wang knelt on the ground.
Cao Yin looked down at her and sneered, "Oh, you useless thing! I have kept you for so long, but you are of no use at all!"
"Please forgive me, sir. I don't know what's going on."
Wang Shi looked pretty when she cried. Cao Yin looked at her and said, "Forget it. Since the emperor doesn't like you, there are others. There will always be someone who will like you."
Wang was horrified when she understood what Cao Yin meant. "Sir... please... let me go! I don't want to..."
Boom boom boom——
A knock on the door interrupted her plea, "Is Miss Wang here? I am a servant serving the Emperor. The Emperor sent me here to ask you to come over."
Wang was stunned. On the contrary, Cao Yin saw that there was a chance for a turnaround. He quickly helped Wang up and shouted to the outside: "Miss Wang is here, Miss Wang is here. Please wait a moment, eunuch. Miss Wang will be here soon."
Cao Yin glanced at Wang. Could it be that the emperor was blaming him for giving him someone in public?
Before Wang could react, Cao Yin was about to scold her harshly, but thinking that he still didn't know why the emperor asked her to go, he decided to be nicer to her for the time being.
"Why don't you clean up and wipe your face clean!"
"Yes, yes...I will go right away."
In a moment, Wang pushed the door open and went out, without any trace of her previous embarrassment.
"Father-in-law, let's go."
Along the way, Wang hoped to find out from Wei Zhu what Kangxi wanted him to do. But Wei Zhu was like a gourd without a mouth, and he didn't say a word.
Seeing that she could not find out anything, Wang did not force it. Anyway, she would know everything after meeting Kangxi.
"I pay my respects to His Majesty, Your Majesty."
Wang walked in and saw Kangxi indulging Yuying in making trouble. She lowered her head in panic, not daring to look around, but knelt down and saluted Kangxi and Yuying.
"Aying, just ask whatever you want to ask." Kangxi ignored Wang's greeting and looked at Yuying.
Yuying sat up straight and said, "You get up first. Don't be nervous. I just want to ask you something. Just answer truthfully."
"Yes, thank you, Madam. I will tell you everything I know."
Wang didn't dare to make any more small movements at this moment, and stood up with lowered head.
"Okay, first question, when did you start binding your feet?"
Wang's body froze. This was a problem she had not expected. She seemed to be brought back to the time when her father-in-law broke her toes when she was a child. No matter how she cried, how she went on a hunger strike, or how she tried everything, her father-in-law still forcefully bound her feet, and this binding lasted for ten years.
Wang took a step back and almost fell.
After she steadied herself, she squeezed out a few words from her throat: "My queen, I am five years old."
Yuying looked at her, as if she was afraid of irritating her, and said softly: "If you were given the opportunity to choose, would you be willing to bind your feet?"
Wang was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, "Your Majesty, I don't want to."
She didn't even want to recall the pain.
Yuying glanced at Kangxi, as if to say, "Look, I'll tell you."
Having said that, we can actually end it here.
But Yuying looked at Wang's helpless look and felt a trace of pity in her heart, "Okay, I understand. If you have any reward you want, you can ask me."
Wang suddenly raised her head and looked at Yuying, as if to confirm whether what she said was true or false.
But seeing that Yuying was serious and didn't seem to be joking, Wang knelt down again.
There was already a tremor in her voice, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Your Majesty... I... I want to leave Cao's house, please grant me your blessing!"
Wang kowtowed repeatedly, and after a few kowtows, her forehead became swollen.
"Okay, okay, you get up first."
Yuying quickly stopped her to avoid seeing blood.
Yuying glanced at Kangxi, who still looked like he would let her make the decision. Only then did Yuying feel relieved and agreed to Wang's request.
So, Yuying called Qingdai, handed Wang over to her, and asked her to give Wang some silver and send her away.
"After leaving Cao's house, do you have anywhere to go?" Yuying asked worriedly.
"Your Highness, the whole world is a place for me to go. Besides, I can embroider, which is enough to support myself."
She didn't want to dance anymore.
Yuying was stunned and laughed. She looked at her back as she walked away, with a light heart, like a bird about to fly out of a cage.
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