"Sister, you are satisfied with meeting Mr. Hou today."
Under the clear moonlight, the two princesses strolled side by side in the small garden in the backyard. The accompanying maids and eunuchs were kept far away to facilitate the two princesses to talk to each other. At this time, the fourth princess Zhu Yaoyu blinked and tested her sister's feelings.
There are two princesses, the third and the fourth, one fifteen and one thirteen. Needless to say, the older one has just begun to have a love affair, while the younger one has just touched the threshold and seems to understand the relationship between men and women.
Different from the Han, Tang and other dynasties, the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were extremely restricted. There were so many targeted rules and regulations that it could be written into a book. This is why the memorial ceremony for the late emperor yesterday actually required four important ministers to argue for two hours. The root of the problem.
Historically, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was a well-known scholar who lived in seclusion for eighteen years and wrote books in memory of the Ming Dynasty.
He said in his book that "this dynasty is far superior to previous dynasties", which means that the Ming Dynasty is better than the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties. Many people say this, but he does not make general remarks, but directly gives examples.
So he cited twenty-four reasons, such as "princes dare not kill without permission, important ministers are not allowed to appoint their own subordinates, civil and military officials are not allowed to coerce prostitutes and the inner court is not allowed to specialize, mothers and queens are not allowed to rule, and honorary relatives are not allowed to interfere in politics" and so on.
However, what may surprise future generations is that the first thing he ranked was not "the emperor guards his own country", which is the much talked about emperor guarding the country.
What is it? It is "Princess widowed no longer chooses a son-in-law". That is to say, the princess will no longer marry.
As we all know, the princesses of Han and Tang Dynasties, especially the princesses of Tang Dynasty, are bold and unrestrained. Don't talk about remarrying after your husband dies. Even when he is not dead, he can still have fun outside with the monks.
But the princess of the Ming Dynasty was different, it was miserable. After looking through the records of the Ming Dynasty, there were only a few words about princesses. After reading the biographies of princesses in the history of the Ming Dynasty, I found that although the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were included in the official history, there were basically no specific deeds to record. What's amazing is that it's extremely simple things like whose daughter will marry whom and when she will die.
Not to mention the legendary ambitions of Princess Taiping and Princess Anle who were involved in politics and even wanted to be the queen. If you see a record of more than 100 words in Princess Biography, don’t think too much. The one who occupies the main page must be her husband, the Prince Consort.
For example, Princess Ningguo, the daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang, "married Mei Yin in the eleventh year of Hongwu." When Mei Yin entered the palace in the third year of Yongle, she was deliberately pushed off the bridge and drowned by former military governor Tan Shen and Jinyiwei commander Zhao Xi. In the ninth year of Xuande, the princess died at the age of seventy-one and remained a widow for twenty-nine years. Princess Deqing of Zhu Jianshen, Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, married Lin Yue in the ninth year of Hongzhi. "Yue died in the thirteenth year of Zhengde, and she died as a widow in the thirty-first year."
Now you know why in the Ming Dynasty, whenever a chaste woman appeared in a certain place, the local officials would report it to the emperor, and the emperor would issue a separate decree to build a chastity archway, right?
The princess is still required to be so strict, not to mention that Gao Pragmatic, a commoner among the people, has always been glad that he traveled to the Ming Dynasty as a man. If he had time traveled to the Ming Dynasty as a woman, the Ming Dynasty would definitely not be a good coordinate.
Of course, the princesses of the Tang Dynasty were also disliked by aristocratic families at the time, and were criticized as worthless in the Ming Dynasty. So think about it, women should try not to time travel, as this is the best era.
The third princess and the fourth princess also grew up under various rules. In their more than ten years of life, the most "legendary" ones were the two times they sneaked out of the palace with the emperor's brother and met Gao pragmatically. As for the beginning That chance encounter at the Buddhist temple can't be counted, because after all, it was intentional, and it was just a temporary accident.
If we have to include that one, then the three "legends" of the two princesses actually had high pragmatic participation. This is really a big shock to the two princesses who have never seen a man since their birth. Small.
After listening to her sister's words, the third princess hesitated for a moment and sighed softly, "Young Master Hou seems to be quite upright."
Of course, integrity is a good word, so the fourth princess laughed happily and said, "Congratulations, sister."
The third princess forced a smile but fell silent.
Seeing her sister like this, the fourth princess rolled her eyes and cautiously asked, "Sister, do you think Gao Xiuzan is better than Mr. Hou?"
The third princess was shocked. She quickly covered her sister's mouth, looked around, and warned, "Yao, don't talk nonsense. Are you going to kill my sister?"
The fourth princess Zhu Yaoyu quickly pulled away her sister's hand and looked around cautiously. When she saw no one was around, she said confidently and boldly, "What did my sister say? How could I want to kill my sister?"
She lowered her voice and whispered, "But compared to Gao Xiuzhuan, Mr. Hou is indeed a little worse."
The third prince opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally just sighed, "The book says that the best husband to choose is not necessarily the talented man with literary talent, but the one who will have the most stable life in the future is the woman's husband." Good home.”
The fourth princess curled her lips and said, "I suspect that these people who wrote books are all fools, or they are telling lies with their eyes open."
The third princess frowned and said, "Why are you talking?"
The fourth princess said unconvinced, "I'm just speaking from my heart." She shook her lips, stared into her sister's eyes, and asked, "Sister, let's not talk about those stories in the book. Let me ask you, if Gao Xiuzhan and Mr. Hou If you could choose, who would you choose?”
The third princess smiled bitterly and said, "This is impossible. What's the point of saying it? Yao Xiu, can't you see from the emperor's brother's usual words and actions his trust and expectations for Gao Xiuzhan? Gao Xiuzhan has passed." Those things were not all mentioned to us by the imperial brother in our usual chats. Otherwise, how could I have said those things when I met Gao Xiuzhuan at the Buddhist temple? I was just curious about him and wanted to see how great he was. Let the royal brother never forget him and think of him when talking about everything."
The fourth princess smiled and said, "Of course Gao Xiuzhan is great. He is the sixth champion and the best literary scholar in the world. Otherwise, why would the emperor give him that poem? The legend of Dragon and Tiger sings the golden list, and the jade crown is worn at the gathering of wind and clouds. He has been the best for two hundred years. I am writing poems and writings. Brother Huang is usually very confident in his literary talent, but when it comes to Gao Xiuzhuan, he looks like a tsk-tsk."
However, the third princess became more and more sad when she heard this, and said, "Yes, but because of this, Gao Xiuzhan will definitely have a future as a servant in the forbidden house in the future, and will never become an in-law with the Tian family."
Seeing her sister's face getting worse and worse, the fourth princess couldn't help but feel a little distressed, but she didn't dare to complain about this damn ancestral system. She could only advise, "Brother Huang has always been very kind to his younger brothers and sisters. Maybe he will treat this in the future." The ancestral system has been changed."
The third princess shook her head and said, "It's impossible."
"Why is it impossible?" the fourth princess pouted, "I think this is the rule."
"Shut up." The third princess's face became stern. "Yao Xiu, stop talking." She originally wanted to teach her sister a few words, but she couldn't say anything, so she could only tell her to stop talking.
Seeing her sister's appearance, the fourth princess also sighed and said, "I know, sister. Just like Mrs. Huarui said, poor beauties are always unlucky, especially those from the ruthless emperor's family."
