The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

Mr. Yuan wanted to raise a flag, wave it, and shout, asking everyone present to follow him and charge forward - but there were few responses and there was complete silence, and his excitement and anger seemed a little embarrassing.

So he turned around and glared at his accomplices who had not spoken out in support, but was shocked to find that it was not because they were not afraid or angry, but because the circle of Jinwu Guards surrounding them had already drawn their swords that were flashing with cold light. Anger was written on the face of every candidate who realized that Lin Qiao might really be a woman, and that the Supreme Couple obviously supported this woman's entry into officialdom.

They want to be angry, but they dare not be too angry.

After all, they were just weak scholars. Even though they had a large number of people, they were no match for the well-trained Jinwu Guards who were loyal to the royal family. What's more, even if the emperor above them obviously wanted to allow women to enter officialdom and compete with men like them for the future, these scholars, under the constraints of the usual monarch-subject ethics, had never thought about the possibility of a common man's anger causing blood to splatter five steps away. Instead, they just thought roundabout how to convince the emperor to give up his absurd and scary idea.

At this moment, all their anger was directed at the woman standing beside the emperor.

"Even if there have been women taking the imperial examinations, it is unheard of and unseen for a woman to be an official!" A scholar with a goatee also blushed and said with gritted teeth.

Goatee was not brought here by the crowd, but was one of the "masterminds" of this incident. He also had the support of a considerable force behind him. However, since he was chosen to be the leader, it showed that he was not actually that important.

"If a woman passes the imperial examination and becomes an official, how will her rank be determined? What kind of official position will she be asked to hold?" Goatee felt that he had found a big problem for the court officials and the emperor and empress, and regained some confidence. "Besides, women must wear skirts and make up when they go out. If they stand among men with such appearance and show their faces, they will definitely disturb others. It is really... really too immoral!"

The customs of the Dasheng Dynasty were certainly more open than those of the previous dynasty. However, no matter how open it was, if an unmarried girl mingled with men all day, she would still be criticized or even cursed. The more radical ones might even regard the girl as being dissolute by nature and use this as an excuse to do something bad.

The protection between men and women has never been an easy matter.

But Xie Yuzhen didn't intend to follow their line of thought, but said coldly: "Are you saying that I shouldn't stand here?"

She shook her wide sleeves, folding them upwards to reveal her jade-like wrists: "I am here, not like the previous dynasty, covering my face with a long hat or a long robe, but standing here upright like everyone else. Does this hurt your style and ruin your customs?"

"Those who talk about right and wrong are the ones who are involved in gossip." She sneered, "You judge a person who is healthy and innocent, who has not done anything beyond the norm, just for standing here. Who is it that has misbehaved and whose heart is not right, that when seeing a woman, you associate her with women, and then conclude that the men who work with her or just stay in the same room with her will definitely be moved by her?"

"Only those who are lewd themselves will have lustful thoughts when they see ordinary people doing ordinary things, and think that all women in the world are willing to seduce you, and all men in the world are shallow people who only indulge in sensual pleasures."

"Reading is to cultivate virtue with the words of the saints, not to be used as a tool for you lecherous and prodigal sons with your heads full of prostitution and robbery to seek power and advancement!"

After she finished speaking, she changed her expression to a gentle one, looking at the courtiers who were standing there with their hands down and not saying anything: "My Lords, have you ever seen the maids and court ladies walking in the Lizheng Palace, and feel as agitated as this scholar? Do you think this scene is immoral?"

The courtiers who were questioned by the queen with a smile only felt a dangerous gaze hanging over their heads - this gaze clearly came from the emperor. After all, in the past two years, the woman who had been hanging around in front of the courtiers the most was Queen Xie herself, wasn't she?

The scholar with a goatee really set a bad precedent, starting with the idea that a woman and a man living in the same room as an official would disturb the man's mind and be immoral. He really killed them.

If I agree with him, wouldn't that mean... wouldn't that mean I'm coveting the queen?

Ok.

Even if we put aside this issue of losing one's head, just looking at the female palace maids walking in the Lizheng Hall from time to time, who would be willing to admit that he is a lustful man who can't walk and can't do anything when he sees a woman?

Cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world...If you can't even cultivate yourself, how can you continue to be an official and govern the country?

Even if he really likes women, he has to do it under the pretext of continuing the family lineage!

"In reply to Your Majesty, I have always been a well-behaved person, but when I saw a person of the opposite sex, my mind became shaken and lustful thoughts arose. How is I different from an uncivilized beast?" The one who spoke was the Minister of Justice. This official did not intend to side with Xie Yuzhen, but he also did not keep an eye on Empress Xie's party like the opposition, looking for every opportunity to attack them.

The Minister of Justice took a neutral stance and firmly followed the emperor's wishes in the general direction. He was also an upright person. He had only one wife at home and had no children for many years. He had never thought of taking a concubine, let alone adopting a child from the clan to inherit everything he had. Instead, he had built a separate small ancestral hall for the couple early on, and planned to donate the small ancestral hall and the salary he had saved over the years to a Taoist temple in the capital as soon as he died, and let the Taoist priests inside help to look after the incense for a few years.

Although Xie Yuzhen was envious of such a person, he had not yet figured out a way to win her over. Fortunately, the Minister of Justice was indeed an upright person: "If I can have a woman as my colleague, I will not treat her frivolously and disrespectfully because of her female status. Of course, I will not be lenient and lenient to her because she is a woman. For those who serve in the court, the first thing to do is to be loyal to the emperor and the people! Rather than being obsessed with such meaningless details!"

The Minister of Justice had a rough face, eyes like copper bells, and a big beard like Zhang Fei's on his face that trembled as he spoke, looking very ferocious. After he finished speaking and expressed his attitude, he retreated to his colleagues with a solemn face.

"Yes, lustful people see lust. If you don't have bad intentions, how can you see everything as..." Minister Xi said sarcastically, and bowed, "This person's heart is really not right. Your Majesty, I ask to deprive this person of his honors and investigate his past to see if he has done anything illegal."