"Sister, are you satisfied with meeting Mr. Hou today?"
Under the clear moonlight, the two princesses were strolling side by side in the small garden in the backyard. The accompanying maids and eunuchs were kept far away so that the two princesses could talk to each other. At this time, the fourth princess Zhu Yaoyu blinked her eyes.
, to test my 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 long-lasting root cause.
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 was better than the Han, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties. Many people said this, but he did not make general remarks, but directly gave 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 hijack prostitutes... the inner court is not allowed to specialize in specialties, 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" - that is, the emperor guards the country, which is much talked about.
What is that? It is "Princesses who are widowed no longer choose a son-in-law". That is to say, princesses no longer marry.
As we all know, the princesses of the Han and Tang Dynasties, especially the princesses of the Tang Dynasty, were called bold and unrestrained. Not to mention remarrying after their husbands died, even when their husbands were not dead, they could still have fun outside with the monks.
But the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were different, and they were miserable. Looking through "Records of the Ming Dynasty", there were only a few words mentioning princesses. After reading "History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of Princesses", I found that although the princesses of the Ming Dynasty were included in the official history, they were not included in the official history.
There are basically no specific deeds to record. What is remarkable is that whose daughter married whom, when she died, and other extremely simple things.
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 here must be her husband
Prince Consort.
For example, Princess Ningguo, 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 killed by Tan Shen, the former military governor, and Zhao Xi, commanded by the Jin Yiwei, deliberately pushed her off the bridge and drowned. In the ninth year of Xuande,
The princess died when she was seventy-one years old and remained a widow for twenty-nine years. Princess Deqing of Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, married Lin Yue in the ninth year of Hongzhi. "Yue died in the thirteenth year of Zhengde, and the princess died after being a widow for thirty-one years."
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?
Princesses have such strict requirements, let alone the common people? Therefore, Gao Pragmatic has always been very happy that he traveled to the Ming Dynasty as a man. If he had 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 despised 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 cannot be counted as it was 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 Xiuzhan 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 your 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 with Gao Xiuzhuan, Mr. Hou is indeed... well, he is indeed a little behind."
The third prince opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, and finally just sighed: "The book says that the best husband to choose is not necessarily the talented man with literary talent. It is always the woman who will have the most stable life in the future."
A 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, "How do you talk?"
The fourth princess said unconvinced: "I'm just telling my heart!" She shook her lips, stared into her sister's eyes, and asked: "Sister, let's not talk about the stories in the book. I'll ask you, if Gao Xiu writes
If you could choose between Mr. Hou and Mr. Hou, who would you choose?"
The third princess smiled bitterly and said: "This is impossible, what's the use of saying it? Yao Xiu, can't you see from the royal brother's usual words and actions his trust and expectations for Gao Xiuzhuan? Gao
Aren’t those things about Xiuzhan’s past mentioned to us by the emperor’s brother in our daily chats? Otherwise, how could I have said those things when I met Gao Xiuzhan that time at the Buddhist temple? I... I’m just a little curious about him and want to see it.
See how great he is, the emperor has always been thinking about him, and he can always think of him when he talks about everything."
The fourth princess smiled and said: "Of course Gao Xiuzhuan is great. He is the number one scholar in the world with six poems! Otherwise, why would the emperor give him that poem, 'The Legend of the Dragon and the Tiger, the Singing Gold List, the Gathering of Wind and Clouds, the Jade Crown. Two hundred
I have been the leader in recent years, and I have written a lot of poems and poems for you. Isn’t the emperor usually very confident in his literary talent, but when it comes to Gao Xiuzhuan, he looks like... tsk tsk."
But 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 that her sister's face was 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 good to his younger brothers and sisters. Maybe he will treat them better in the future."
Should this ancestral system be changed?"
The third princess shook her head and said: "It's impossible."
"Why is it impossible?" The fourth princess pouted: "I think this rule..."
"Shut up!" The third princess' face became stern: "Yao Xi, stop talking." She originally wanted to teach her sister a few words, but she couldn't say it, so she had to ask 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 always have a bad life, and the most ruthless emperor's family is the most ruthless."