After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Men should marry when they are of age, and women should marry when they are of age.

This is natural and inevitable.

I remember when the Grand Tutor was explaining the types of taxes in Daliang, he mentioned this in conjunction with the tax system.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, King Goujian of Yue issued an order that if a woman did not marry at the age of seventeen and a man did not marry at the age of twenty, his parents would be punished.

Later, during the Han Dynasty, Emperor Hui of Han decreed that women should marry at the age of fifteen, and if they did not marry, they would be subject to double the tax.

Adults were required to pay a poll tax of 120 coins per year, which was already quite heavy.

However, a woman who was fifteen years old and still unmarried was charged a tax of six hundred coins!

Five times that of the average person!

Such heavy taxes were completely unaffordable for ordinary families, and daughters often had to prepare dowries when they married off, so from that time onwards, cases of infanticide became frequent...

She frowned, not quite understanding the decree, and looked up to ask the Grand Tutor why.

The Grand Tutor, holding a scroll in his hand, said leisurely, "Your Highness, this is to increase the population... Farming requires people, war requires people, water conservancy requires people, repairing city walls, building palaces... These corvée labors and taxes all require people... Increasing the population has always been the court's top priority..."

At that moment, she lowered her head and remained silent for a long time.

Even in the Great Liang Dynasty, which prided itself on treating its people extremely well, there was a similar poll tax. Men were required to marry at the age of sixteen and women at the age of fourteen. One of the core aspects of the court's performance evaluation system for local officials was to verify whether the population figures on the Yellow Register had increased.

The young doctor is very tall, almost of age, and should indeed get married.

She sat on a stool in the kitchen, expertly picking vegetables, a smile suddenly appearing on her lips.

It's strange, I've only done this a few times, but it seems like I'm very familiar with it, and I'm picking vegetables faster and faster.

But after a while, her smile faded and her movements slowed down.

in fact……

She should get married soon.

Her elder brother's health was deteriorating and he was about to abdicate. In just over two months, she would inherit the throne, and the Ministry of Rites had even begun to draft an era name.

The sooner he finalizes his marriage after ascending the throne, the more beneficial it will be for stabilizing the court.

Her husband would be called the Grand Prince Consort, or the Grand Prince Consort of Liang.

Of course, although she would become empress, her children with the prince consort would not be able to inherit the throne.

After giving birth to her daughter, before her daughter comes of age, she and the Zhu clan will jointly select a member of the Zhu family to marry her.

Once the couple has a son, he will be made the Crown Prince, awaiting his succession to the throne and the return of power to the Zhu family.

There is precedent for this approach.

Sixty years ago, when the Zhu family's empire was in turmoil, Princess Xuanwu restored order to the country, ascended the throne in Nanjing, established the Southern Liang dynasty, guarded the Yangtze River, repelled the Qing army, and protected half of the Zhu family's territory, making great contributions to the ancestral state.

Later, Princess Xuanwu betrothed her daughter to a distinguished young man from the Zhu family. Their son was the future Emperor Longchang, Zhu Changjun, who was also her grandfather.

During the Longchang era, the Zhu family clan office added a clan decree allowing women to succeed to the throne, which can be considered a new "ancestral law" that established the legal lineage for empresses.

If she and her husband were unable to have a daughter in the future, she would need to choose an adopted son from the Zhu family to be adopted.

In conclusion, power will eventually be returned to the Zhu family.

In exchange, her and her son-in-law's offspring would be granted titles, which would be hereditary and last forever, sharing the fate of the nation.

For this reason, when her elder brother passed the throne to her, there was not much turmoil in either the clan or the court.

There are precedents for this.

She lowered her eyes and remained silent for a while, then stood up and scooped a ladle of well water to wash the vegetables she had prepared.

While cooking, my mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts, and I even forgot to add salt to the dishes.

But I didn't expect it.

The plump auntie still ate happily.

"Wow, what skillful hands you have!" A smile was forced onto the chubby face, and his eyes were almost invisible.

Aunt Sanjin didn't blame her for being careless. While eating, she smiled and said, "I'll cook dinner. Cuicui, you're too tired."

Ning Shi could only drink porridge, so she didn't care anymore, but a hint of worry appeared on her face.

"Does the betrothal gift really have to be this much?" Aunt Sanjin asked Aunt Pang calmly at the dinner table.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cuiwei knew that Aunt Sanjin was a middleman appointed by the Ning family to represent them in discussing the marriage with the woman represented by Aunt Pang. The sharpness of their words was no less than that of negotiations between two countries.

Aunt Pang smiled broadly: "Sister-in-law Sanjin, as you and Sister-in-law Ning know, that girl from Yangjia Village is famous for her outstanding looks for miles around. Her appearance, figure, and needlework skills are all top-notch!"

"Ningwa is good too, she's one of the best in our village..." Aunt Sanjin said, raising her chin.

"Hey, Sister-in-law Sanjin, we know Ningwa's reputation even if you don't tell us. Let's be honest..."

The plump aunt lowered her voice, glancing towards the inner room, seemingly afraid that Ning would hear, and whispered...

"In the surrounding villages, everyone's a bit afraid of him. Daring to offend Master Li is like being a bandit! A few years ago, everyone was saying, 'When did this kid go up the mountain? He's gone astray...' Sister-in-law Sanjin, to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that his family has over ten acres of land, and he's quite hardworking—I heard that last year one acre yielded 1.9 shi of grain—what decent family would marry their daughter to him!"

"Ouch!"

After making her insults, the plump auntie gave an embarrassed smile, her yellow teeth still sticky with vegetable bits, and slapped her mouth: "I'm a straightforward person, I say what I think, please don't take offense, sister-in-law..."

Sister-in-law Sanjin put down her chopsticks and frowned, saying, "Ningwa knows about herbs and can read. I even saw him writing the other day..."

"So what if you can read? Does that mean you can become the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

"Oh my, Sister-in-law Sanjin, you can read... Do you know how many literate scholars in Hangezhuang want to marry this family's daughter?"

"You can't even count...you know that?...Even a scholar couldn't get married...so what if you know a few words?!"

"These days, marrying a scholar isn't necessarily as respectable as marrying a butcher! And he's literate... pshaw... how much money is that worth?"

"Let me tell you, this amount of betrothal gift is already a great favor from the bride's family. It's just a matter of a few acres of land, and they've managed to marry a good woman from a good family..."

A moment later, Zhu Cuiwei silently cleared away the dishes.

She didn't know if the two had reached an agreement, but later, Sister-in-law Sanjin said she was going to go see the young lady.

At dinner time, Sister-in-law Sanjin came back and said that the young lady looked lucky and probably weighed two hundred jin.

Yang Qiniang and Sanzhuang's mother both held their foreheads, their faces full of worry.

The two of them also inquired around, asking matchmakers in Yangjia Village and Wangjia Village, but as soon as the matchmakers heard the man was from the Ning family, they waved their hands repeatedly, saying, "We can't afford to offend them, they'll lose their heads sooner or later!"

Aunt Sanjin drank a large bowl of tea, wiping the tea from the corner of her mouth: "No wonder even Fatty Aunt could only find someone weighing two hundred jin, and she still wants so much dowry... Hey... what do we do?"

The three aunts argued in hushed tones in the main room.

Zhu Cuiwei then realized that the young doctor had such a terrible reputation... She felt a little relieved.

But not long after, the anxiety that had been relieved returned.

After the three aunts discussed the matter with Ning Shi in the inner room for a while, Ning Shi seemed to be planning to arrange the marriage.

"A big bottom means good fertility and the ability to work. Being a little chubby also means you're less likely to get sick. At least you have some fat to rely on... that's a blessing!" Ning said to them, rubbing her eyes and grinding her teeth.

The three aunts laughed and said, "As long as you feel blessed, that's all that matters."

Ningwa's marriage is indeed a problem. Not to mention other villages, even in Lijia Village, no one dares to let a woman marry him.

San Zhuang's mother looked somewhat ashamed.

Back then, fifteen-year-old Ningwa rescued twelve-year-old Qiujie with a knife, or rather, snatched her back from Master Li's hands.

But when Qiu Jie was fourteen, her father found her a husband.

Sanzhuang's mother knew... that her husband was afraid that Qiu'er would marry Ningwa, and she acquiesced to it, even hoping to marry Qiu'er off as soon as possible...

Time flowed by slowly, one breath at a time.

Night fell.

The pitch-black night grew ever deeper.

Zhu Cuiwei was reading in Ning Nan's room when, around 9:00 PM, she heard a noise outside the door. She frowned and guessed that Ning Shi must have come out from the inner room.

Before long, a little light shone through the crack in the door... Ning lit the lamp in the main room.

Then, a series of very low sobs and sniffling sounds came from the main room.

She pursed her pink lips, put down her book, stood up, and peeked through the crack in the door.

Ning Shi, dressed in her robes, knelt before the offering table, speaking in a low voice. Her shoulders shrugged slightly, and she would occasionally wipe her eyes with her sleeve, like an old cat that had lost its cubs, lying on the earthen mound and meowing softly.

The same three memorial tablets were still on the offering table.

She knew that the three memorial tablets belonged to Ning's father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband, all of whom had died nearly twenty years ago.

She had never seen such a scene before, nor had she ever seen Ning Shi like this. Before tonight, she could not even imagine that the usually energetic and cheerful Ning Shi would ever be like this.

Even now, with Ning's back right in front of her, she couldn't imagine the expression on Ning's face...

She stared in silence for a while, then lowered her eyes and paused, before gently closing the door behind her. She returned to her desk, sat down quietly, and said nothing.

A while later.

She took out the silver bracelet that Ning had given her the night before, stared at it for a moment, and then slowly put it on her left wrist. The silver bracelet was of very good quality, and it shone with a crystal-clear light under the oil lamp, which complemented her fair wrist perfectly.

She took a breath, then pressed her pink lips tightly together, stood up, unlatched the door, and as if summoning immense courage, slowly walked to the offering table, stopping and starting with each step. She reached out and helped Ning Shi up... like gently picking up a senile cat.

The next day, as dawn broke, Zhu Cuiwei, blushing, called over Yang Qiniang and the others, as well as the plump matchmaker.

It is said that Ning Nan's marriage is settled.