Seeing Bai Qingyan nod, the Imperial College student gained the courage to continue after exchanging glances with his classmates: "The new policies issued by Your Majesty will surely make won think deeply, but elders in the family are unwilling to spend silver coins on won, so won will certainly resist within their families, potentially causing chaos in Zhou!"
"Therefore, in my humble opinion, n and won should fulfill their respective duties. Allowing won to enter schools is sufficient; this is currently the best and most stable approach for Zhou. Zhou is full of talented individuals, with new talents erging in every generation. Even if we select only from n, there is no worry about lacking great talents. After all, historically... remarkable talents like Guan Zhong and Shang Yang were all n!"
The student hurriedly added, seemingly worried that Bai Qingyan might be displeased with his words: "I do not believe that won cannot achieve remarkable accomplishnts. I have a mother myself, and I respect and love her; I never intend to belittle won!"
The student looked up at Bai Qingyan: "I only feel that... for hundreds of years, in Zhou, n have worked outside while won managed the household. If everyone fulfills their respective roles, families will be harmonious. Won support their husbands and educate their children, and n, without worries, can strive outside! Only when the people’s families are at peace can Zhou remain stable. Zhou is newly established... and is implenting new laws, so stability for the people and the royal court should be prioritized. Allowing won to take civil service exams might lead to chaos; I urge Your Majesty to reconsider!"
"Well said! Won should indeed be content with their roles... Only by fulfilling their respective duties can Zhou achieve peace!" Xue Renyi added.
Cheng Yuanzhi and Shen Kunyang, who escorted Bai Qingyan along with the imperial guard, stood outside the small courtyard. Upon hearing this, Cheng Yuanzhi could barely restrain himself and almost charged inside again, but fortunately, Shen Kunyang stopped him.
"Don’t hold back, let beat that pretty boy to death! Damn it..." Cheng Yuanzhi said, his chest heaving with anger. "If it weren’t for our Young General Bai’s great victory over Yun Poxing on the southern battlefield, that pretty boy wouldn’t even be alive to speak! He would have been cut into hundreds of pieces by Yun Poxing. At that ti, no one talked about fulfilling respective roles, and now they bring it up! If they dare... damn it, why don’t they take a blade to Yun Poxing! Why send our Young General Bai to the battlefield! Yet he cherishes his life and hides in Dadu City!"
Cheng Yuanzhi’s loud voice attracted the attention of students inside the Naxian Hall, who all looked toward him, as did the scholars watching the commotion outside the hall.
Yang Wuce glanced at the emotional Cheng Yuanzhi and couldn’t help but reflect inwardly, indeed, these are the loyal Bai family soldiers of Bai Qingyan, staunch in loyalty, unable to tolerate any opposition, not even considering... what kind of person is the Empress of Zhou, easily dismissed by anyone’s argunt?
Yang Wuce had experienced Bai Qingyan’s eloquence... able to persuade a generationally loyal General like Zhao Sheng to Daliang; was that eloquence ordinary?
Zhao Sheng simply conveyed Bai Qingyan’s persuasion to him and even he, Yang Wuce, was convinced. That eloquence... extraordinary indeed?
Yang Wuce, holding his sword, glanced at Cheng Yuanzhi and caught sight of Xiao Rongyan standing out conspicuously in the crowd.
With the thought of establishing good relations with the future imperial consort or noble consort, seeing Shen Kunyang reprimanding Cheng Yuanzhi, Yang Wuce swiftly dodged the imperial guard and ran over to salute Xiao Rongyan: "Mr. Xiao is here as well!"
Under the shade of a tree, Xiao Rongyan nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on Bai Qingyan...
"General Cheng is sowhat impatient, I hope you can understand!" Bai Qingyan gracefully saluted the students, then gestured for the bowing student from the Imperial College to sit down before slowly speaking: "From the words of this student, I understand... First, he thinks that continuing with n working outside and won managing the household is excellent, fearing that allowing won to take the civil service exams might cause chaos! Second, he believes that Zhou already has enough talented people, so there is no need to select talents from won, correct?"
The student imdiately sat up and bowed to Bai Qingyan, indicating that Bai Qingyan’s words indeed reflected his thoughts.
"Then let’s first discuss n working outside and won managing the household..." Bai Qingyan said with a faint smile on her lips as she sat down.
The knocking of the bamboo stick could be heard, and all the students in the Imperial College held their breaths, looking at Bai Qingyan, hoping she could be persuaded by this student, or perhaps... persuade them instead.
The wind blew, under the dappled shadows of the swaying trees, Bai Qingyan’s voice resounded slowly: "Does n working outside and won managing the household really guarantee harmony at ho? All of you here are n, do you truly think... that your mother or wife genuinely enjoys being confined to the inner quarters, supporting their husband and educating their children? Or do you think... that only n have ambitions while won daydream about a small yard every day?"
Bai Qingyan adjusted her sitting posture, as if casually chatting with these students under the shade of a tree on a sunny day: "Have any of you ever asked your mother, or your wife, or your sisters, if they ever had any aspirations?"
The students of the Imperial College were stunned, as if... no one had ever considered asking their mothers or sisters, or their wives, about their aspirations. It seed naturally assud that won were born to marry and support their husbands.
For instance, when sisters were young, the family elders would have them learn needlework, while the boys were introduced to books and poetry.
"It is to confine them that the saying ’n working outside and won managing the household’ exists, hoping won will be content and care for the inner quarters, thus allowing n to strive without worry. But are won truly inferior to n?" Bai Qingyan looked at the students and asked rhetorically, "Esteed scholars... won like my grandmother Madam Dong, like General Fu Ruoxi’s mother Madam Fu, and like General Zhao Sheng’s mother Madam Zhao in Hancheng, are they not as capable as n? After their husbands passed, they supported their families single-handedly! If these won could have entered the court to serve as officials, they would have accomplished great things! But because won are not allowed to hold official posts, they are confined to the inner quarters..."
"To maintain a family, won often have to exert ten to a hundred tis more effort than n, simply because... of the low status of won." Seeing the students watching her quietly, she continued, "To speak frankly, without fear of you laughing, due to the ancient rule of male superiority and female inferiority... won cannot inherit family estates, during the Bai family’s hardships, the clan took everything under this pretext, leaving us widows and orphans of the Bai family to live off our mothers’ and aunts’ dowries."
Who wouldn’t know of this? The Shuoyang Bai clan did this because there were no n left in the Bai family, the clan mbers ca to Dadu City... They showed no respect even for the Eldest Princess, who was so esteed. What incredible achievents had the Bai family’s main line ancestors accomplished, yet the clan dared to act like this simply because there were no n left in the Bai family!
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