On the day Sheng Yuan left the capital, it was still drizzling when she first left the mansion. But when she arrived in front of the city gate, the clouds had dispersed and the rain had dispersed, and the sun was shining brightly.
Because she didn't say hello in advance, not many people came to see her off. Except for her classmates Ouyang Ling and Xia Shuangjun, they were just a few girls who were officials in the same department.
"Sister Yuan, it has been a few years since you and I temporarily retired from the mansion in the autumn of that year. At that time, Brother Ling and I returned to our hometown to observe filial piety, and you and Brother Yu were here to say goodbye to us; now, we I have just come back not long ago, but I have to send you off to Beijing... The same season, the same scenery, the same you and me... This day is really the same as that day."
Xia Shuangjun, who came first, held Shengyuan's arm and sighed softly.
"This is the normal state of officialdom. It's rare for people to stay in one place for a long time. It will be like this when you and Brother Ling are nominated on the list." Sheng Yuan looked at her with a smile, "I'm waiting to hear your advice in Shou'an City good news!"
When Xia Shuangjun heard this, he slowly lowered his head.
She remained silent, and Sheng Yuan was a little surprised: "Sister Jun, you won't give up halfway, right? I remember that you are now an official."
"Due to various reasons, my marriage with Brother Ling has been postponed. Our families are looking forward to having children as soon as possible after we get married... Sister Yuan, although I am slightly talented in reading, I have not pursued a career in the officialdom. Instead of wasting time in the examination room, it would be better to satisfy everyone."
What Xia Shuangjun said with lowered eyebrows shocked Sheng Yuan.
Is the calm girl in front of her still the hard-working girl in her memory?
"Then you are willing to give up what you have learned over ten years so easily?" Although Sheng Yuan disagreed, she also understood the pressure on her friend.
Not everyone is as open-minded and tolerant as her parents.
Without the support of her family, it is even more difficult for a girl to have a successful family and a successful career. In this era, it is even more difficult to do so.
"It's not like giving up. Apart from raising my children and managing the family business, I can also try to write books and establish my own opinions, although the process may be a bit difficult." The grown-up Xia Shuangjun's smile looks much more graceful.
"..." Sheng Yuan sighed softly, looked at her sideways and asked, "Brother Ling, what did he say?"
Mentioning his fiancé, Xia Shuangjun's eyes were full of smiles: "After he won the exam, he didn't want to continue to take the exam... Originally he thought of applying for a teaching job at Jiujiang College and being an assistant to the college professor, and then supported me to continue taking the exam. of."
Sheng Yuan did not expect that the little fat boy in the past would be quite responsible when he grew up. She couldn't help but praise: "He has a conscience!"
Xia Shuangjun smiled: "It's a pity that the elder of the Ouyang family didn't agree. Although he didn't make trouble with me, he slapped him dozens of times, then made him cry and put him in solitary confinement. Later, he even asked him to reflect in the ancestral hall. , I won’t let him out until he changes his mind.
My family originally had an indifferent attitude, but their family cared so much that the elders in my family also changed their minds, saying that it would bring bad reputation to my sisters, nieces and children in the family.
After that, from home to clan, more than a dozen elders took turns telling me, and my sisters-in-law also cried to me that I was annoying them and they lost their temper... Let's just leave it like that!
After all, the family that gave birth to me and raised me was supported by my family before I could study and take exams, but in the end, I can’t have my daughter in the family being affected because of me, right? "
"I didn't know there were such twists and turns." Although Sheng Yuan had not seen it in person, she could still smell the oppressive momentum from Xia Shuangjun's understatement.
It was hard for her to imagine how helpless Xia Shuangjun felt when he was isolated at that time.
Sheng Yuan held her friend's hand with great distress: "I'm really sorry for you."
Xia Shuangjun had already looked away: "It's not that painful. Although I was a little frustrated at the time, it was not without gain... The Ouyang family probably felt that it was a little too much. They didn't really want to fall out with the Xia family, so after the incident subsided, , his family offered to compensate him for taking a concubine if he had no children for forty years."
"The news is good news, but with your character, Sister Jun, if you still want to take a concubine after marrying you, you really deserve to be struck with thunder!"
Sheng Yuan snorted: "If you ask me, between heaven and earth, everything should be balanced! There should be only one couple in a family. If the husband takes a concubine, the wife should also find a male favorite. Come on. It’s only fair if I go! At worst, in the end, the men and women, as a family, can just fool around and live together!”
Xia Shuangjun, who was a little depressed at first, couldn't help being amused after hearing these words: "Only Sister Yuan, you can say such shocking words! If the people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate hear it, I'm afraid you haven't heard it yet." When I leave Beijing, I must read this book for you!"
"If one day we can legislate a system that prohibits monogamy from taking concubines, what will happen if they are allowed to impeach?"
Hearing the carelessness in Sheng Yuan's words, Xia Shuangjun's smile gradually disappeared. She paused and showed a rare serious expression: "Sister Yuan, I heard what you said was not a joke. I think you have a plan? If so , I’m just afraid I’ll have to cry for the next girl!”
"Sister Jun, what do you mean?" Sheng Yuan did not expect that her friend would react like this, and was a little confused for a moment.
Xia Shuangjun looked around, took Shengyuan's hand and walked a few steps to the side, and then said in a deep voice: "Do you know how strong the opposition will be if you make this suggestion? I'm afraid it won't be just the husband in the world. Even if you criticize me verbally and verbally, many girls will hate you so much!"
"Is it that serious?" Sheng Yuan thought that her friend was exaggerating.
Xia Shuangjun pursed his lips and looked at Sheng Yuan for a while, then suddenly sighed softly: "You grew up in the Sheng family. Concubines are rare in the Sheng family. Your parents only have each other, and brother Yu also has a commitment, so you think canceling the concubine is just a matter of course. It's just a small thing.
However, you don’t know that the gentlemen you have in front of me are rare in the world!
Do you think concubinage is just a pastime for husbands? No, that is a symbol of their power and status!
I once heard from my servants that even some wealthy farmers would have the idea of taking concubines.
An ordinary farmer, a small broker, a small businessman with little ability, these ordinary men in this world, as long as they are not so poor, can have the same privileges as the men from noble families.
Guess, are they willing to give up?
You want to legislate to restrict couples in the world to only have each other. Maybe you can restrict the subjects in the world, but you can restrict the royal family?
Even if the royal family cooperates, will those men and women who hope to support their families by marrying their daughters to the royal family agree?
Not to mention, in the eyes of the courtiers, the idea you proposed is a provocation and a shackle, an overthrow of their status, and a restriction on the prince. "
