I traveled with them to the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 132 Five Women: The Meat Rots in the Pot
...

'It's born!!!'

Zhao Yu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Li Lin and Ye Shiyun, saying, "Could it be that this child knew I wanted to protect the eldest son and was afraid of losing his life, so he obediently came out?"

Li Lin and Ye Shiyun were relieved.

Others may not know, but surely Li Lin and Ye Shiyun themselves know that they are not real miracle doctors, and there are no good anti-inflammatory drugs available now. If surgery is really needed, even if Zheng Xiansu gives birth to the child, he will still have to go through a life-threatening ordeal.

If Zheng Xiansu had managed to get through, things would have been fine.

If Zheng Xiansu can't get through, just look at how worried Zhao Yu is about Zheng Xiansu, he'll probably ask them for him.
Ye Shiyun said, "Your Majesty the Empress is benevolent and kind, so naturally you are blessed with boundless good fortune."

Zhao Yu smiled and said, "My beloved consort has been speaking very kindly lately. I wonder what is the reason for this?"

Ye Shiyun touched her lower abdomen and said honestly, "Just be mindful of your words."

Zhao Yu liked Ye Shiyun's straightforward personality. He hugged Ye Shiyun, touched her lower abdomen, and encouraged her, saying, "My beloved consort is also kind and benevolent, and will surely be blessed with great fortune."

After waiting for a while, no one came out to announce the good news. Zhao Yu's heart, which had just settled, became anxious again: "Why haven't they come out to announce the good news yet?!"

Hearing Zhao Yu's urging, a female official trotted out and stammered, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Empress has successfully given birth to a... princess. Mother and daughter are safe and sound."

As soon as the lady-in-waiting finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Jeong Hyeon-suk did not bear a legitimate son for Jo Yu!
That means the position of crown prince will remain undecided.

On the other hand, Zhao Yu now has four sons born out of wedlock.

Did the concubines who bore sons for Zhao Yu have other intentions because Zhao Yu had no legitimate son?
It should be noted that if the throne were unstable, Zhao Yu might first appoint a prince as crown prince to stabilize his own position.

This is a common tactic used by emperors to stabilize their power.

So the question is, if that day really comes, who will Zhao Yu appoint as crown prince?
Zhao Yan, the eldest son born out of wedlock?
Zhao Di was the son of Ma Xiaojiao, the concubine whom Zhao Yu greatly favored.

Or is it the son born to Wang Yisu or Guo Ting, who will be born soon?

Furthermore, could Zheng Xiansu, who failed to produce a legitimate son, still keep the ambitious women in the harem in check?
Trouble.

However, to everyone's surprise, after hearing the female official's report, Zhao Yu burst into laughter: "Excellent! I have a daughter! Double the reward! Father-in-law Zheng Shen is promoted to the second-rank military governor of Zhennan..."

The combined rewards and honors bestowed upon Zhao Yu's four sons were far less than those received by this daughter.

Crucially, unlike when he named his four sons, Zhao Yu decided on their names on the spot.

This time, Zhao Yu specially asked the Imperial Observatory to calculate the birth date and time of his daughter.

As a result, it was calculated that the child's Five Elements were lacking the element of wood.

Therefore, Zhao Yu carefully selected the character "萱" (Xuān), hoping that she would be free from worries throughout her life.

Later, in order to distinguish her from his sons, Zhao Yu specially added the character "Wan" to her name, hoping that she would be gentle, mild-mannered, and beautiful.

Ultimately, Zhao Yu named his first daughter, the future eldest princess of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Wanxuan.

Even disregarding the promotion Zhao Yu gave to Zheng Xiansu for giving birth to Zhao Wanxuan, just looking at the effort Zhao Yu put into naming Zhao Wanxuan, it's easy to see that Zhao Yu did not become cold or distant towards Zheng Xiansu at all because Zheng Xiansu gave birth to a daughter instead of a son.

On the contrary, it was clear to everyone that Zhao Yu immediately activated the protection mode for Zheng Xiansu, "warning" everyone not to challenge Zheng Xiansu's authority.

Later, Zhao Yu visited the somewhat dejected Zheng Xiansu and said to her, "I am only seventeen, and you are not old either. We have a long future together. If you have no children, even if you are fifty years old, I will still teach you to serve me in bed."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiansu laughed and then burst into tears. She nestled in Zhao Yu's arms and whispered, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The Book of Rites records that "a concubine under the age of fifty must be served for five days, so it is known that a concubine over the age of fifty cannot be served."

Therefore, there are clear regulations in royal etiquette that concubines over fifty years of age are not allowed to serve the emperor in bed.

This regulation is based on four main considerations:

Firstly, concubines over fifty years old experience a decline in physical function and fertility. The emperor's primary purpose in having concubines serve him was to produce offspring. Having older concubines serve him would reduce the opportunities for younger concubines to serve him, which would be detrimental to the emperor's ability to have more children.

Secondly, it was to balance the relationships within the harem and prevent the emperor from favoring older concubines while neglecting younger ones due to lingering affections, thus avoiding harem infighting.

Thirdly, it was to protect the lives of elderly concubines. Even in modern society, the dangers faced by older mothers far exceed what people imagine, let alone in the extremely rudimentary medical conditions of ancient times.

Fourth, if the emperor favors a particular concubine for too long, even into old age, and still trusts her completely, it is inevitable that the harem will interfere in politics.

Wu Zetian is the best example of this.

If it weren't for Li Zhi's excessive favoritism, how could Wu Zetian have had the opportunity to interfere in politics? And how could she have plotted to usurp the throne?

Therefore, most emperors in later generations, in order to prevent the same situation from happening, would try to avoid constantly spending their attention on a particular concubine, no matter how much they favored her.

If the emperor truly finds it difficult to part with his concubines, not only will the people inside the palace disagree, but even the ministers will subtly advise: Since Your Majesty loves your concubines so much, why not pass the throne to the Crown Prince? That way, you'll have enough time to live with your concubines.

In this way, the emperor would have to choose between love and career.

That's why the royal family had a rule that concubines over fifty years old were no longer allowed to serve the emperor.

However, generally speaking, this rule is unnecessary.

For concubines who were fifty, forty, or even in their thirties, the vast majority no longer had the opportunity to serve the emperor.

Take Zheng Xiansu in history as an example: Historically, there are no records of her having children after the age of thirty-one. Based on this, it can be inferred that Emperor Huizong of Tang (Zhao Ji) stopped touching her after she turned thirty.

This is also normal.

After all, men will always prefer eighteen-year-olds. And while women can't stay eighteen forever, emperors will never lack eighteen-year-old women.

No wonder, though Zheng Xiansu thanked Zhao Yu verbally, she didn't actually believe Zhao Yu's promise. Having grown up in the palace, how could she not know that for most women, their prime years only last until thirty? Fifty? Absolutely not.

However, the fact that Zhao Yu could say such a thing already made Zheng Xiansu very happy.

Moreover, to be honest, Zheng Xiansu didn't believe that she wouldn't be able to have a son by the time she turned thirty.

If that's really the case, then it might be fate.

She wouldn't defy fate...

……

After visiting Zheng Xiansu, the five women returned to Li Lin's residence.

After the previous internal conflict, Yuan Qingcheng forgave Zhang Chun, but she never went to Zhang Chun's residence again, maintaining a superficial harmony with Zhang Chun.

Therefore, if the five women were to have another gathering, they would have to come to Li Lin's palace.

Upon entering the secret room, Zhang Chun dropped her pretense and exclaimed excitedly, "I never expected that Zhao Yu's streak of having sons one after another would be interrupted by Empress Zheng. Tsk tsk, life is truly unpredictable, and the big intestine is wrapped around the small intestine."

Ye Shiyun couldn't stand Zhang Chun's attitude, so she couldn't help but retort, "You should worry more about yourself. At least Empress Zheng gave birth to the eldest princess, and Zhao Yu comforted her in various ways. What about you? How many of Zhao Yu's offspring have you wasted?"

Upon hearing Ye Shiyun's words, Zhang Chun's face immediately turned pale and then flushed. She glared at Ye Shiyun, gritting her teeth, and said, "You don't hit someone in the face, you don't insult someone by revealing their weaknesses! Ye Shiyun, you've gone too far!!!"

Ye Shiyun touched her lower abdomen, as if she were talking to herself or Zhang Chun: "I have to be a kind person now, to do good deeds for my son, and I can't stand those gloating people."

Zhang Chun said angrily, "You!"

Li Lin called a halt to any potential conflict: "Alright, stop making a scene."

Then, Li Lin criticized Zhang Chun, saying, "From your perspective, it's a good thing that Empress Zheng didn't give birth to a son, but from the perspective of the succession to the throne of our Great Song Dynasty, it's not a good thing at all, so Shi Yun is right."

"Not from my perspective, but from our perspective."

"I'm not pregnant yet, and it's uncertain whether I'll ever get pregnant in this lifetime. If it weren't for our little group, what would it matter to me whether Empress Zheng has a son or not?"

"Okay, in order to avoid you misunderstanding me, I'll just tell you clearly what I'm really thinking today."

"If Empress Zheng has no son, then Zhao Yu will have no legitimate son, and in that case, Zhao Yu will not be able to establish a legitimate heir."

"Based on my understanding of Zhao Yu, he probably wouldn't appoint Zhao Yan, who was educated in the traditional way by Fu Ling, as such a Zhao Yan would likely become a puppet in the hands of the ministers."

"Therefore, Zhao Yu should not choose the eldest son as heir, but rather the most virtuous one."

"To put it bluntly, if we're talking about Li Xian, how can the children born to Fu Ling, Wang Chu Chu, Guo Wei, and others compare to the children we have? Our knowledge is a thousand years behind, okay?"

"When the time comes, we'll teach our son what we know. For example, I'll teach him history and politics, Sister Lin will teach him military affairs, Shiyun will teach him economics, and Jiaojiao and Qingcheng... we'll teach him whatever we can. If we can't teach him anything, we'll just provide him with the knowledge."

"In this way, the future crown prince will most likely be born among our children."

"As for whose son it is, it doesn't matter, as long as the flesh is rotten in the pot."

"If... I mean if, but don't overthink it, if Zhao Yu were to die young like the other emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty, then we would unite to rule from behind the curtain. I would handle the political aspects, Shi Yun the economic aspects, Sister Lin the military aspects, Jiao Jiao the scientific research aspects, and Qing Cheng the agricultural aspects."

Li Lin and the other three women were truly surprised that Zhang Chun thought this way.

"This……"

A glint flashed in Li Lin's eyes; she was somewhat tempted. If that were the case, she might have the opportunity to personally lead an expedition.

Ye Shiyun smacked her lips and said, "This isn't much different from the lives everyone is living now, is it?"

Ma Xiaojiao chimed in, "That's right, isn't it the same now? You help Zhao Yu with politics, Shiyun helps Zhao Yu with the economy, Sister Lin helps Zhao Yu build the Divine Machine Army, I do scientific research, and Qingcheng studies agriculture?"

Yuan Qingcheng nodded, indicating that she agreed with what Ye Shiyun and Ma Xiaojiao said.

Zhang Chun thought to himself, 'For you, it's about the same, but for me, it's a completely different story. Who among you understands politics? Who knows how to govern a country? If that day ever comes, my will will surely prevail, and I'll be like Empress Dowager Cixi!'

But outwardly, Zhang Chun said, "There is no difference, but this is because the crown prince is among our sons. If it were among someone else's son, we would either have to pack up and go to keep vigil for Zhao Yu until we die, or we would have to wait to die slowly in a side hall that is almost like the Cold Palace, like Meng Xiang and Liu Qingjing. We might even have to be buried alive with Zhao Yu."

"To be buried alive with someone?!?"

Li Lin, Ye Shiyun, Ma Xiaojiao, and Yuan Qingcheng all looked on incredulously. "Such feudal things still exist?"

Zhang Chun shook her head, looking as if she were making a fuss over nothing. She said, "It wasn't until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty and a series of measures afterward that the practice of funerary sacrifice gradually lost its foothold. It wasn't until after the Xinhai Revolution that the practice of funerary sacrifice was legally eliminated."

After a pause, Zhang Chun continued, "In the Song Dynasty, although there was no custom of human sacrifice, there were still cases of 'voluntary' human sacrifice. Records show that after Zhao Gou died, his concubines Li and Wang were buried alive with him."

At this point, Zhang Chun deliberately frightened Li Lin and the other three women: "Think about it, we're practically untouchable in the harem. So many people envy and hate us. Right now, with Zhao Yu protecting us, no one will dare to touch us. But if Zhao Yu dies, there will be no one to protect us anymore. It's entirely possible that we'll be forced to be buried alive with Zhao Yu."

Upon hearing Zhang Chun's words, Ye Shiyun was the first to speak up: "Just as you said, the crown prince must be chosen from among our sons. I don't want to be buried alive with Zhao Yu!"

Then, Ye Shiyun suggested, "From now on, you guys should squeeze Zhao Yu less. Let's think of a way to help Zhao Yu and live a few more years. You all see, right? Only if he lives can we have a good life. If he dies, we might be in big trouble."

Ye Shiyun's words were unanimously echoed by Li Lin, Ma Xiaojiao, and Yuan Qingcheng.

Only Zhang Chun thought about it and wondered, 'Did I use too much force?'

……

(End of this chapter)