Chapter 292: Do men also want to marry up?

What nonsense!

What nonsense!

The envoy's remark was truly grating; the instant it landed, a chorus of voices shouted it down:

"You're talking nonsense!"

"How dare you look down on our big brother on our own turf!"

"Exactly! You scoundrel, you have no sense! How can our big brother's looks and talent not be top-notch? I'm even afraid that if that whatever princess turns out ugly, she wouldn't be good enough for our big brother!"

"Exactly! Our big brother could easily match a princess, or even an empress—more than enough... Oh, what? The empress has been married before? So what! Over the years, how many women have sneaked around with our big brother?"

Amid the clamor, the scene was indeed chaotic.

Not to mention the envoys, whose temples throbbed; even Liu Ji, who usually wore a face as thick as a city wall, couldn't help but feel embarrassed, his cheek muscles tightening slightly—

Damn it.

I should have told the brothers not to spread this around; now look, the more people who keep their lips sealed, the more who actually know about it.

How so?

Someone sought a brief taste of fish-and-water bliss with him, yet refused to show affection—could that be something especially respectable?

Such talk can at most show he's good-looking, that someone indeed feels attracted, but it can't turn him into some timeless treasure.

Exactly, in the end he's just a person, not some priceless wonder whose value can be jacked up after a few hands.

Throughout history, society has bound women with the shackle of chastity, demanding their beauty, obedience, and, intact bodies...

Few realize that if the roles were reversed—women strong, men weak—or if a man married into a woman's family, those same shackles ought to fall on men as well.

When a man marries into a woman's family, it is the woman who does the choosing.

It is the man who must take on the social position commonly associated with women, join a wholly new family, and enter a wholly new environment.

Not the idea that "I've married into your family, so my children take your surname, but I'll go out drinking, gambling, and whoring as I please—you just have to manage the household, and you must still return to my parents' home for holiday meals."

It is the man who must be surrounded by numerous relatives and friends at the New Year feast, plastering on a smile amidst a crowd of strangers, and if he is slow to father a child, he must also endure the occasional jab: "Whose rooster is impotent? A perfectly good egg won't hatch a live chick."

This is what most women go through, or rather, what every "chosen one" ought to experience.

Only the chosen one needs to be scrutinized closely, their looks judged to decide whether they qualify to be put on display.

This step isn't even directly about gender; it's all about power.

Whoever holds power is the boss.

And for the chosen one to judge another chosen one's appearance, temperament, and so on...

That is nothing short of sheer absurdity.

No one can pass judgment on that princess who appeared out of nowhere.

No matter how this princess looks, it's a fact that she controls half of Yongzhou.

Liu Ji reckoned that with two cities under his and his brothers' control, he could comfortably be a mountain king, but the princess's power would be even greater.

If they really still wanted to "borrow influence," the brothers shouldn't bring up those past events; instead, they should praise his beauty, docility, and...

Chastity.

Exactly, chastity.

We can't go around saying he's blatantly promiscuous, that anyone can have a fling with him; instead, we should spread the word about how he used to reject those big and small wives.

That way, he won't appear utterly promiscuous, and anyone can still have a fling with him.

That way, who knows? Perhaps a chosen one will pick him up and rescue him from his misery.

Exactly, exactly.

Liu Ji initially placed himself in exactly that posture.

That's also why he turned down so many women, big and small, and why he's remained single for so long.

At the start—no, let's not even say "at the start"; even half a year ago, he was still a loafer idling about the streets all day.

Apart from his face, he had no redeeming qualities.

For the first decade or so of his life, he could only rely on that face to plot his future.

And it was precisely during those years that Liu Ji discovered something many others had missed——

In this world, few women aspire to marry up, but many men do.

Women have long been suppressed by ritual and law; although they may hope for a better life before marriage, if they are truly bound by parental orders and matchmakers' words, and by the neighbors' constant cries of "good woman," no matter how poor and miserable they are, they actually take pleasure in hard labor, just to get by.

But men.....

If they get a chance to climb the social ladder, they'll shout something like "heaven-sent opportunity" and rush at the scent of it.

Liu Ji once heard a story about a fellow townsman: a scholar who had been supported by his rough‑haired wife for over ten years finally passed the licentiate exam in his thirties; the whole village celebrated, thinking his long‑suffering wife had at last been rewarded——

However, just a few days later, those eager to curry favor with the newly appointed licentiate official before he took office sent matchmakers to break down his door.

The scholar chose the county magistrate's granddaughter as his new wife, while his first wife, returning home one night, jumped into the river and never awoke from its icy waters.

But what about that new wife?

Did she really end up living a good life?

No.

She followed her husband into office for only a few years when, by chance, he happened to be promoted; then an even higher official came seeking him, and over drinks they praised the scholar's official career as smooth sailing—though only forty, he already held a high post, with a limitless future ahead.

Coincidentally, his daughter had just returned home from her husband's house around this time, about the same age as him; he didn't know who was currently by his side, nor whether he'd be willing to see them——

The scholar could easily abandon his first wife for the new one, and naturally could discard the old again for an even newer wife.

Even so, the newest wife might not necessarily live a good life.

Women's jealousy of other women usually stems from looks, family background, incompatibility, etc., and typically leaves traces.

Men's jealousy of other men, however, is often innate; they need not scrutinize the cause—if they spot a chance, they'll kick the other down the well.

Even thinking with your toes, you know the scholar could remarry a high‑official's daughter who had returned from divorce for the sake of power and status; but if that official fell from grace, the remarried woman would become a kind of "disgrace".

Scholars will worry day after day, fret moment after moment, until...

Until they meet the next dazzling carrier of power and authority.

Compared to the rare instances of fickle women, men's fickleness becomes so common, even taken for granted, that histories barely record it, merely adding a more noble pretext.

Perhaps it is called, "Knowing the Times."

Perhaps also called, "Going with the Wind" and "Pursuing Fame and Profit."

In short, there is always an excuse.

Liu Ji didn't really want to become that kind of person.

Or rather, even in his youthful dream of a "high marriage," he never imagined becoming that kind of person.

Upon hearing the two words "Princess," he indeed recalled that old dream and uttered those words without falsehood...

But precisely because he remembered, he could not let his brothers slander him!

The envoys before him were still there, the crowd exchanging glances for a long time, before hearing Liu Ji's flushed face force out a sentence—

"Don't talk nonsense, I, your elder brother, am still a novice."

The envoys: "......?"

The brothers: "......?"

"Big... big brother, what's wrong with you?"

"Hey folks, weren't we just talking about the Princess properly?"

"What does that have to do with whether big brother is a novice or not?"

"What on earth is big brother thinking in his head?!"