After rebirth, I made the princes cry

"I've already told my mother that only when we women take power into our own hands can we truly win respect!"

The funeral ceremony in Shang'en Hall was finally officially held, but the queen mother "fainted" after wailing a few times because of "excessive grief". So Jiang Tai could only have someone help the queen mother out of the mourning hall and take her to a side hall to rest for a while. Xiping Yu also came to "serve" as a matter of course. After listening to the queen mother's gnashing complaints, she gave the above sentence as a summary.

"According to Han etiquette, although there is a saying that a woman should follow her husband's wife, filial piety is more advocated. When the king dies, it is in line with the moral code for the son to succeed the father. Even if the crown prince is young and weak, the queen mother can still rule on his behalf. They do not advocate 'the younger brother succeeds the elder brother's wife and concubines' at all. No one thinks it is natural for the younger brother to dominate the elder brother's wife and concubines. In the old system of the Qiang tribe, women were regarded as property. No matter how noble the women's birth was, how could they be truly valued?

Therefore, it is necessary to reform the system. Like the Han people, when the father dies, the mother is still alive. The sons cannot separate from the family and set up their own households. They must respect the mother. The mother is actually the head of the family. If such a ritual is established, all nobles will obey it. The royal family should set an example. Dongyu does not have a queen mother now, but there will be one in the future. If the queen mother wants someone to die, the emperor will not dare to stop her. If such a ritual is really implemented, why would the queen mother suffer humiliation?"

Queen Mother Yao rubbed her forehead. The continued anger had burned out her energy and spirit. She really felt tired now.

"My mother blamed me for keeping too many guests before, thinking that it was reasonable for men to take concubines and women should not do anything wrong. But she didn't think about it. It is natural to distinguish between the noble and the humble in this world. If we are the queen mother and princess of the royal family, we are not even as privileged as the ministers and the people of the tribe. We can't even make the decision on private matters such as love between men and women. If we interfere in state affairs and decide the life and death of others, wouldn't it be even more presumptuous?"

"Can these two things be confused?!"

"My mother has always followed the old system. Who would take my mother, the queen mother of this country, seriously now?"

Jiang Lina snorted softly, "Father originally wanted to let Wen be buried alive with him, but now my brother doesn't even mention it, and mother obeys my brother in everything. No matter how much she hates Wen, what can she do? Not to mention Wei. In my brother's mind, she is even more important than Wu. Why did mother only show her courtesy to Wei? It's nothing more than seeing the situation in my harem. In fact, no matter which woman holds the power, it all depends on who my brother is willing to give respect to."

"Do you want me to go against your brother?"

"My mother is my biological mother, and my brother is my biological brother. How can I sow discord between them? But if my mother doesn't want to continue to endure humiliation, she can no longer expect my brother's understanding and forgiveness as before. Doesn't my brother also want to make peace with Northern Zhao? My mother could have given more assistance in this matter. On the one hand, it would help my brother solve his problems, and on the other hand, it would also help win over the Gao family. The Gao family is from the Northern Zhao nobility. If the Gao family is willing to support the Yao family, the power of the Yao family will increase greatly, and my mother will not be treated as a decoration and humiliated again and again."

Queen Mother Yao really took these words to heart.

"This strategy doesn't seem like something you could figure out. I thought your mind was on Jiang Gaofan!"

Jiang Lina smiled softly, "In the past, Da Shangchen was busy with state affairs, and I always disturbed him with personal feelings. It was indeed willful. But when I asked Da Shangchen for advice on state affairs, Da Shangchen was willing to take time out of his busy schedule to patiently guide me. In fact, my brother also intended to cultivate the Yao clan to expand its real power and restrain the Wen clan and the Ran clan. At present, my brother has fallen into Wang Yingshu's conspiracy and had to declare that the Lord of Shenyuan Palace is indeed in our country. In order to continue to appease Northern Zhao and let Northern Zhao believe that our country has no intention of violating the covenant, we have to rely on the Gao clan to make more suggestions for our country. It would be best if we could alienate Northern Zhao and turn its spearhead against Dongyu, so that our country can reap the benefits. The Gao clan is the link, and I originally planned to advise my mother."

Queen Mother Yao nodded repeatedly.

When Gao married into the Northern Han Dynasty, she was not very respectful to Queen Mother Yao. Queen Mother Yao was not favored by Jiang Xiongying to begin with, but she was too proud of him. She thought that since Jiang Baiji was a noble of the Northern Han Dynasty, how could he marry a Xiongnu woman? So she warned Jiang Baiji to marry a Qiang woman as his principal wife, and strongly recommended the daughter of the Wu clan. At that time, Queen Mother Yao had already chosen the Wu clan as a wife for Jiang Tai. She thought that if she helped the Wu clan to have another noble wife, it would be the highest honor for the Wu clan, so how could they not remember her favor?

In the eyes of Queen Mother Yao, a woman has no right to stop a man from marrying several wives. Even as noble as she was, didn't she have to submit to Jiang Xiongying and endure the humiliation of being on equal terms with the Wen family?

But Gao didn't buy it. She was somewhat annoyed that Empress Dowager Yao was meddling in her affairs. Fortunately, Wu didn't want to be dragged into trouble by Empress Dowager Yao and didn't want to be enemies with Gao. Wu was indeed much wiser than Empress Dowager Yao. Over the years, she had been trying to maintain a good relationship with Gao. Jiang Tai was not a foolishly filial person, and Gao didn't have that much temper. Therefore, after Jiang Tai came to power, she still gave Empress Dowager Yao superficial respect.

This gave Queen Mother Yao confidence that she could win over the Gao family as long as she wanted.

"It's been three days of mourning. As the wife of a noble, Gao has to kneel and cry. Although she doesn't have to stay up all day, she can only take a nap on the couch in the Holy Hall. It's really hard. Lina, please ask Gao to come. Here, she can lie down comfortably for an hour or so, especially at night. After midnight, she doesn't have to go to the Holy Hall. She can just come here to rest."

Jiang Lina agreed and went to the mourning hall, but she happened to see Madam Wei coming out with Lord Shenyuandian and Yingshu.

As foreign envoys, Dianjun and Yingshu certainly did not need to mourn and keep vigil for the Emperor of Northern Han. They only came to the mourning hall to pay their respects and fulfill their etiquette. They could have returned to Baoguang Hall after paying their respects, but Jiang Tai had to summon the foreign envoys to discuss important matters. Jiang Tai was unable to get away, so Madam Wei had to accompany the foreign envoys to Yisheng Hall to wait.

Yisheng Hall is on the west side of Shang'en Hall, separated by a corridor. It is a place for ladies from outside the court who participate in the mourning ceremony to rest. Today is the first day of the mourning ceremony and it is not yet past noon, so there are no ladies from outside the court resting in Yisheng Hall. It is quiet and peaceful. Not long after she sat down, Yingshu saw Jiang Lina, the uninvited guest. Even though she was wearing mourning clothes, her style was still conspicuous. It was when the two of them walked closer that Yingshu recognized the other woman as Gao Nujun.

Jiang Lina wore no makeup today, her complexion looked rather dull, but her eyes and eyebrows were as bright as usual.

"The Queen is not available today, so it is Jincheng Jun who should be in charge of receiving the foreign envoys. Is there any need for you, Wei Shi, to take over?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he acted like he was going to cause trouble.

Jiang Lina seemed to be afraid that Ying Shu would stand by and watch, so she immediately asked, "Or is it that Deputy Envoy Zuo ignored Jin Chengjun and was only concerned with giving Wei a face because Wei was half Han Chinese and was closer to her, regardless of the fact that today was a national mourning ceremony?"

The Lord of Shenyuan Palace kept in mind Lord Xinsu's arrangements and became more taciturn and indecisive than before, becoming a decoration with a nervous look.

Gao and Yingshu had no personal grudges, but they were naturally hostile to each other. Although she knew that Jiang Lina was using her to provoke Yingshu, she was willing to cooperate: "Your Majesty once ordered my husband and me to go to Hanzhong to welcome the envoy. After arriving in Beijing, I was still responsible for taking care of the Palace Master and the Left Vice Envoy. However, the Left Vice Envoy was temporarily living in Baoguang Palace, so he became estranged from me."

"I haven't seen you for half a month. I thought the King of Northern Han felt it was inconvenient for you to go in and out of the palace, so he asked Madam Wei to take care of you. Why did you blame me for being distant? What should I do? Now that your Highness has returned to heaven, your country has followed the Chinese etiquette to hold a national mourning. During the national mourning period, no banquets can be held. I can no longer host a banquet for you to express my apology and gratitude."

In fact, Yingshu was not really interested in having such a meaningless argument with Jiang Lina and Gao, but one of her plans was to provoke the hatred of Empress Dowager Yao and her daughter towards her. It was not appropriate to stir up hatred by crying at the ceremony, but since the other party took the initiative to provoke her, it was an opportunity that she had to seize.

"What the Queen said just now makes sense. Originally, when we, the foreign envoys, came to the Shang'en Palace to express our condolences, the female guests should indeed be received by the Queen of your country. But I heard that the Queen Mother was in such a state of grief that she even needed the Queen to comfort and take care of her, not to mention presiding over the mourning ceremony. The mourning ceremony was all presided over by the Queen. Whether it is the etiquette of a great country or a small family, the reception of female guests should not be troubled by the families of the nobles who are more distant in terms of dress."

The person who died was Jiang Tai's father, not Jiang Baiji's father. Jiang Tai's family should be responsible for receiving the female guests. Why would Gao, an outsider, take over the responsibility?

"That's not right. According to Han etiquette, Wei is just a concubine..."

"Madam Wei is still not familiar with Chinese customs. In ordinary families, concubines cannot receive guests on behalf of the mistress, but in the royal family, the queen is the most honorable, but the other concubines are also noble ladies canonized by the monarch. Madam Wei's title is only below the queen, so she should share the work for the queen. Fortunately, the monarch of your country is familiar with Chinese customs, otherwise, if he listened to Madam Wei's advice, he would make a fool of himself."

Jiang Lina had dragged Gao over here in order to sow discord, but at this moment, she was really angry at Ying Shu's words: "According to what you said, Deputy Envoy Zuo, Wei's position is even higher than mine?"

"There is a difference between inside and outside. If a lady is married, she is an outsider. During a national funeral, even if she is in the room, she cannot come out to entertain guests who come to express their condolences."

"My mother often said that it was disrespectful for the Left Vice Envoy to interfere in our internal affairs. It is indeed true."

Unable to argue with reason, he brought up Queen Mother Yao again.

She is truly a filial daughter.

Yingshu held back her laughter. After all, it was a national mourning for Northern Han, and the emperor's body was still warm. It would be extremely disrespectful for her to laugh.

"Isn't this what you must argue with? It's impossible for you to interfere in your country's internal affairs if you have objections and express your own opinions. Moreover, today, Madam Wei accompanied you here to wait for the summons of your king. It is clearly your king's order. You refute your doubts with reason... Could it be that your country's national affairs are not managed by the king, but by the queen mother and you?"

Jiang Lina's face turned pale and she felt as if she was sitting on pins and needles.

Fortunately, a eunuch came at this time and invited the envoy to see the emperor, which rescued Jiang Lina.

Jiang Lina snorted coldly and walked away, no longer paying attention to Madam Wei, but fanning the flames in Gao's ear: "Aunt, you have seen it now, the Lord of Shenyuan Palace is a fool. He has a noble status, but he obeys Wang's daughter in everything. If Wang's daughter hadn't used tricks to force him, how could the emperor admit that Xuan is indeed the only descendant of Emperor Shenzong? But since Xuan has been trapped, we can't just let her go back to Dongyu!"

Gao didn't hear these words.

No matter how cunning Wang Yingshu was, as long as Jiang Tai put Northern Zhao first in everything, why couldn't he execute Xuan and the Dongyu envoy? In the final analysis, it was because Jiang Tai had already made up his mind to betray Northern Zhao and wanted to take advantage of everything, that he was forced to this point by Wang Yingshu.

In order to find a legitimate excuse, Jiang Tai even went so far as to murder Jiang Xiongying, and arranged for Ke Cao Ling to use Wumei Nu to assassinate the third prince of Dongyu, attempting to put the blame on Northern Han again!

Why didn't Jiang Tai dare to turn against Dong Yu?

He just wanted to use the name of Xuan family to win over those scholars who were not trusted by the Emperor of Dongyu and use them for the Northern Han Dynasty. Jiang Tai had the ambition to dominate the world and would definitely be the enemy of Dazhao!

However, if the mother and daughter of the Yao family were used to thwart Jiang Tai's evil plot and cause the alliance between Northern Han and Eastern Yu to completely collapse, it would certainly be of great benefit to the Great Zhao.

Gao was willing to pretend to be nice to Jiang Lina.

"I have had some contact with Wang Yingshu. On the way from Hanzhong to the capital, I saw clearly that it was not only Gui Sujun who was courting her, but even Jiao Sujun had a great liking for her. Although she is outstanding in appearance and has great skills in charming men, if her grandfather Wang Lan had not been trusted by the Emperor of Dongyu, the two princes would not have competed to marry her as a princess."

Jiang Lina is surrounded by many "guest officials", but none of the people she wants to marry wants to marry her. Even Duke Xiping, an old man whom she hates so much, actually wants to stay as far away from her as possible. Jiang Lina is jealous of all women who are favored by men. Recently, she heard that Yingshu's parents are the enviable couple in Dongyu. Lu didn't even have a son, but Wang Dao still refused to take a concubine. Jiang Lina was jealous of Lu and snorted coldly again.

"I have no control over how arrogant she is in Dongyu, but I will not tolerate her showing off her power in my Great Han Empire. Since the two princes of Dongyu are vying to marry her, I am curious. If she cannot return to Dongyu and dies here, will the emperor of Dongyu and the two princes vying to marry her openly declare war on my dynasty for her?"

Gao lowered her eyes.

Jiang Tai would not mind the death of Queen Mother Yao and Jiang Lina in Northern Han, but if something happened to Wang Yingshu in Northern Han...

Moreover, even Madam Xie in Jiankang Palace would not stand idly by!

According to Jia Ding, Chen Jun Xie has already confirmed the marriage with Linyi Wang, and Mrs. Xie even intends to register Gui Sujun under her name because of Wang Yingshu's relationship!!!

Wang Yingshu's position in Dongyu is not insignificant.