My husband, who abandoned his father and kept his son, actually wants me to be his concubine.

Chapter 181 Women Can Also Participate in the Imperial Examination
Lu Jinshi frowned and asked, "Senior Brother Mu Yan's stepdaughter? Wan Niang's daughter?"

Rong Yi nodded and said, "It was her. My brother Prince Jin and my sister-in-law were furious because of this. Mu Rou didn't implicate her because she was young. Otherwise, given what her biological father did, she wouldn't be alive today. Besides, her mother also caused my sister a lot of trouble back then."

Lu Jinshi sighed, "No wonder you sighed. Fortunately, it wasn't my Zhang'er. Of all people to like, Qi Li had to fall for Mu Rou..."

Rong Yi said, "Indeed, this matter is a headache for Prince Jin and his wife, but we should also start looking for a Crown Princess for Zhang'er. He is fourteen years old, and in three more years, he can get married."

Lu Jinshi said, "Let it be. I'm not in a hurry to choose a crown princess for him. What if... he has someone else in his heart in the future? Let him decide on his own marriage."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "So that you won't end up like you did back then... actually making me your concubine?"

Rong Yi smiled helplessly and said, "Why are you bringing up old grievances again? Weren't you my principal wife back then?"

"So you're marrying me as your principal wife, yet you're still thinking about taking concubines? And you want me to raise Zhang'er for you?"

Rong Yi said in a low voice, "Isn't Zhang'er your child too?"

"You knew who I was back then, yet you deliberately played tricks on me, wanting to make a fool of myself..."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi, "Look at what you did back then, it still makes me angry..."

Rong Yi said, "Didn't you also treat me like a male concubine who abandoned his father and kept his son? I wasn't even angry..."

Looking into Rong Yi's eyes, Lu Jinshi's anger turned into a smile. Time really can make up for so much.

Rong Yi lowered his head and kissed Lu Jinshi, only releasing her after a long while.

He then picked Lu Jinshi up and carried her to the bed, saying, "Today I will make it up to you properly, so please don't be angry."

Seeing the bed curtains fall, Lu Jinshi said, "We still have to go to the morning court tomorrow..."

Rong Yi smiled and said, "Just once."

The next day, when Lu Jinshi woke up, it was already daylight, and it was time for the morning court session.

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi beside him and said, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Rong Yi said, "It's fine for them to sleep a little longer. Let them wait a little longer."

Lu Jinshi smiled and instructed the palace maids to quickly dress her up. After dressing up, Lu Jinshi put on her court robes and went up to the main hall with Rong Yi.

"Your Majesty and the Empress, we pay our respects."

"Your Majesty, Queen."

A group of court officials knelt beneath the dragon throne in the main hall.

Lu Jinshi turned his gaze to Marquis Anyuan and said, "Marquis Anyuan, I heard that you submitted a memorial yesterday saying that you were worried that if women studied, they would not have children, and that the population would be depleted during the Great Sheng Dynasty?"

Marquis Anyuan stepped forward and said, “Yes, Your Majesty. Nowadays, female students who graduate from Lingxiao Academy generally only have two children and are unwilling to have any more. Some even refuse to have any more children after having a daughter, and they do not allow their husbands to take concubines. If this continues, our Great Sheng will be in dire need of manpower, and we may even have no one left in the army in the future.”

"Your Majesty, I believe what Marquis Anyuan said makes sense." "Women should focus on continuing the family line and giving birth to more boys. I hope Your Majesty will abolish girls' schools."

Lu Jinshi said, “I don’t think so! You say that women studying will greatly reduce the number of children they will have, and that the population of Dasheng will not be large in the future. Have you ever thought that half of the population of Dasheng today can only have children at home?”
Looking at the entire court, it is currently filled with men. If women were allowed to enter the court, there would be half as many officials again.

The same principle applies to the military. Nowadays, the army is mostly made up of men. If there were one-third female soldiers, it would be equivalent to having one-third more troops.

Rather than confining women to the inner quarters, it would be better to let them contribute to the country and its people. If a woman gives birth to two daughters and two sons, as you say, the daughters are confined to the inner quarters...

The daughter did not study, and afterwards, the only usable population for the Great Sheng Dynasty was two sons.

But if one has a son and a daughter, and the daughter is also educated and can leave the inner quarters, then the two children and the mother can all serve the court. Why worry about a prosperous population declining?

Lu Jinshi said, "The idea that women should be banned because they are afraid that they will not want to have children after studying is simply absurd! Lingxiao Academy is clearly meant to allow half of the population of Dasheng who could have served the country to come out and contribute to the prosperity of Dasheng. It can increase the population by half, not reduce the population."

And... you all keep saying that marrying a bad wife ruins three generations, but I didn't agree with that saying...

However, there is sometimes a reason for this. You want your wife to stay at home to take care of your husband and raise your children, but you also complain that your wife has long hair and short-sightedness, which is a childish view. If women could also read and understand reason, and children had such a mother as a role model, their literary and martial talents would surely surpass those of ordinary people today.

If every woman in the Great Sheng Dynasty could read and write, and if every child could read and write, how prosperous would our Great Sheng Dynasty be?

Girls' schools should not be abolished, and for the sake of the so-called great population prosperity you all speak of, women should enjoy the same rights as men.

From this day forward, women may also take the imperial examinations and join the army; the rules for taking the imperial examinations and joining the army are the same as for men…

Lu Jinshi spoke such a long string of words that the officials below all felt something was wrong, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Upon hearing Lu Jinshi's last words, the court erupted in uproar: "Your Majesty, please reconsider."

"Your Majesty, we must not allow women to enter the court and govern."

"Your Majesty, I beg you to rescind the Empress's decree."

Rong Yi said, "I think the Empress is right. Aren't you worried that there will be a shortage of people in the court and the army in the future? Then let women enter the court and the army. In this way, Da Sheng can have half more people. The Empress is truly a wise person."

Lu Jinshi looked at Rong Yi and said, "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."

Rong Yi's words made the court officials who opposed girls' schools feel like they had shot themselves in the foot. They should have abolished girls' schools, but how did it turn into allowing women to enter the court?

They suggested that the population might decrease, and that women entering the court and the military would fill a significant gap. The court officials had no choice but to leave disappointed.
-
The fifteenth year of Jingning.

Joyous occasions abound in Chang'an City. Prince Qi Li, the heir apparent of Prince Jin, is about to marry Princess Mu Rou, while Princess Fu Le of Prince An's Mansion and Princess Rong Jin will be holding coming-of-age banquets.

In early spring, Dasheng welcomed its first spring imperial examination, in which women were also allowed to participate.

When the results were announced, a female scholar named Xie Yuan was surprisingly selected. Xie Yuan was the daughter of the Xie family in Shanyin City.

Speaking of which, she has some connection with Lu Jinshi. Xie Yuan is the niece of her deceased first fiancé. Lu Jinshi even held Xie Yuan when she was a child. Xie Yuan is three or four years older than Zhang'er.

When Lu Jinshi was about to marry into the Xie family, Xie Yuan had just been born.