in2ebook Chapter 247 The Concubine Restriction Order
Chapter 247 The Concubine Restriction Order
Cheng Yan and the others drank wine and ate meat, while Qin Yizhen, along with several accompanying ladies, went to the pavilion in the garden to enjoy the moon, drink tea, and eat mooncakes.
As night falls, the full moon hangs in the sky, and lanterns hanging from the eaves of pavilions and trees in the garden burn quietly, illuminating a bright and bustling scene.
Several little girls were running around hand in hand under the trees in the garden, giggling and chattering, while the old women and maids beside them ran after them.
Qin Yizhen had some mooncakes cut and offered them to everyone: "These were made by me and the Marquis today when we had nothing else to do. I made the filling, and the Marquis made the mooncake molds. We gave some to the Empress Dowager, and there are still some left. Please try them."
"The princess and the marquis made the mooncakes themselves? We must try them!"
“The princess and the marquis have such a leisurely life. My husband would rather beat the child when he has nothing to do than bother with these things.”
Qin Yizhen smiled and said, "It would be good if he could teach the children more. As long as he puts more effort into teaching them and raises them well, it will be a blessing for the family."
Unlike scholars, the children of military officers were mostly very mischievous. As they grew older, they would jump around, climb trees and roofs, like little monkeys. If they caused trouble, they would often get a beating.
"That's true. But it's also a headache. If you don't manage him, the kid is very wild. He doesn't study properly, he doesn't practice martial arts properly, and he only thinks about playing all day. But when you try to manage him, you don't know how to reason with him. When you get angry, you can only resort to violence."
“It’s heartbreaking to see him like this. When I talk to him, he says things like ‘a doting mother spoils her son,’ or ‘loving her son is like killing him.’ I just don’t understand.”
How to teach children is one of the age-old problems.
The thought of a disobedient child constantly climbing on the roof and causing trouble everywhere is enough to make one's scalp crawl.
If good bamboo produces bad shoots and raises an unfilial son, the weather will give me a headache.
Leaving aside others, just considering Princess Huizhen alone, she was enough to give Empress Dowager Cheng and Cheng Yan a headache.
Some people said, "Both the princess and the marquis are meticulous people. If they have a child in the future, they will definitely be able to teach it very well. Moreover, the princess is so beautiful, the child will surely grow up to be beautiful as well."
Qin Yi was not particularly moved by compliments about her appearance, but she was happy when others praised her future children for being good-looking.
Although she doesn't have children yet, the thought of having a child who looks like her and also like Cheng Yan makes her happy.
No, she definitely had to talk to Cheng Yan again; she was determined to have the baby.
The group enjoyed the moon and mooncakes together, and chatted about some interesting things happening in their hometown or Qindu.
Some people's hometowns still have the custom of worshipping the moon, some people's hometowns don't eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival but eat zongzi instead, and some people have to stay indoors on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival and can't go out, etc.
Qin Yizhen was truly amazed by what she heard, and in the end, she could only sigh at how vast the world is and how different the customs are.
"Speaking of which, do you know that girl from the Min family?" After some discussion, someone mentioned Min Siyue.
"After her divorce, she was constantly harassed by the Pei family, which was extremely annoying. The Min family then offered to choose a husband for her. Originally, they had their eye on a young scholar who was the son of an old friend of Lord Min."
"This was supposed to be a good thing, but unexpectedly, this scholar agreed readily on the surface, but then got drunk and complained that Miss Min was unclean. He even said that he had no choice but to marry her because of his father's friendship. Otherwise, who would want a woman like Miss Min who had remarried?"
"Is that so?" Qin Yizhen was taken aback, then frowned.
"This happened just yesterday. I heard that some people who felt wronged heard his outrageous remarks and got so angry that they beat him up."
"Well done." Qin Yizhen wanted to applaud and cheer. "It's because of people like these that hurtful rumors are spreading more and more. He doesn't even know his own limitations."
Qin Yizhen had also suffered from those rumors and gossips, so naturally she hated those people.
"That's right, they think they're something special."
"This is coming from the south. They say that starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a big one. Women should be virtuous and gentle, and remarrying is a loss of virtue. Those people are just bored and have nothing better to do than bully us women."
The customs of Eastern Qin and Southern Qi were different. In Eastern Qin, if a woman divorced and remarried, she would at most be criticized, but once the matter was over, it would be over. However, in Southern Qi, if a woman divorced and remarried, or if a widow remarried, it would be considered a loss of virtue and chastity.
“It wasn’t like this before, during the Southern Qi dynasty.”
"That was in the past. Now everyone knows that the Southern Qi is rolling in money, spending money to buy peace and living a comfortable and wealthy life. After living a comfortable life for a long time, they started to bully their own people."
The Southern Qi dynasty valued literature and suppressed military affairs, giving scholars a very high status and generous salaries. Even those who passed the imperial examinations to become scholars were entitled to tax-exempt land. It is unknown how much land an official controlled without paying taxes.
Scholars, having both money and leisure time, began to dabble in these kinds of things.
Instead of wasting so much time, it would be better to spend some on the army, so that neither Eastern Qin nor Western Liang would take them seriously and attack them at will.
Qin Yizhen frowned deeply: "This trend must not be allowed to continue. Although it originated in Southern Qi, if it goes on for a long time, some men may also think this way, since it can only benefit them and not harm them."
"Women, confined to the inner quarters, naturally become more virtuous and gentle in order to please their husbands, striving to be good wives in their husbands' eyes. Over time, these men will likely take advantage of this, making things even more difficult for us women."
"Indeed, by then, the Empress Dowager's decree restricting concubines will probably be nothing more than a piece of paper."
After Empress Dowager Cheng came to power, she issued a decree restricting the number of concubines a person could take.
Ordinary people are only allowed to marry one wife and are not allowed to take concubines.
Those who held the rank of ninth to seventh were only permitted to marry one wife and take one concubine.
Officials of the seventh to fifth rank could take two concubines, officials of the fifth to third rank could take three concubines, and the remaining first and second rank officials, and even nobles, could only take four concubines, and their sons could only take two concubines.
Even the royal family was subject to restrictions. Within the inner palace, His Majesty could marry an empress and twelve concubines, while princes and dukes were limited to six.
Although it did not completely eliminate the practice of noble families and officials taking concubines, it did prevent noble families and officials from keeping concubines without restraint. You should know that in the past, there were quite a few people who kept ten or eight concubines.
Furthermore, it encouraged widows to remarry and permitted women to divorce.
The women of Dongqin, enjoying such carefree days, all cherish the memory of the Empress Dowager's kindness.
“Princess, why don’t you talk to the Empress Dowager? These things need to be addressed. Otherwise, if this goes on for too long, these people will become too arrogant and it will be difficult to control them.”