Chapter 132: The Five Daughters: The Meat Spoils in the Pot

…

'She's given birth!!!'

Zhao Yu let out the breath he'd been holding and smiled at Li Lin and Ye Shi Yun: 'Could it be this child knew I wanted to save the mother, feared for its life, and came out obediently?'

Li Lin and Ye Shi Yun also let out their breaths.

Others might not know, but couldn't Li Lin and Ye Shi Yun themselves know they weren't true healers, and now they had no good antibiotics—if it came to surgery, even if Zheng Xiansu delivered the child, wouldn't she still have to walk through the Gates of Hell?

If Zheng Xiansu made it through, that would be fine.

But if she didn't, just look at how anxious Zhao Yu is about Zheng Xiansu—he won't come demanding them back?

Ye Shi Yun said: 'Empress, benevolent and kind, naturally blessed with heavenly fortune.'

Zhao Yu chuckled: 'Your Majesty's recent speech has grown remarkably gentle—what's the reason?'

Ye Shi Yun touched her own abdomen and spoke plainly: 'Practicing virtuous speech.'

Zhao Yu loved Ye Shi Yun's straightforward nature; he pulled her close, stroked her abdomen, and encouraged her: 'Your Majesty is also benevolent and kind—your heavenly fortune shall be great too.'

After waiting a while, no one came to announce the good news; Zhao Yu's heart, just now lowered, rose again: 'Why hasn't anyone come to announce?!'

Hearing Zhao Yu's urging, a female official ran out, stammering: 'Congratulations, Your Majesty, felicitations! The Empress has safely delivered a… Princess. Mother and child are both well.'

The moment the official finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

Zheng Xiansu did not give Zhao Yu a legitimate son!!!

That means the succession remains unresolved.

On the other hand, Zhao Yu already has four illegitimate sons.

Will the imperial consorts who bore Zhao Yu these illegitimate sons develop other ambitions now that he has no legitimate heir?

After all, if the throne becomes unstable, Zhao Yu might appoint one of his Imperial Princes as Crown Prince to secure his rule.

This is a common tactic emperors use to stabilize imperial power.

So the question arises: if such a day comes, which of Zhao Yu's sons will he name Crown Prince?

The eldest illegitimate son, Zhao Yan?

Zhao Di, son of the favored imperial consort Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao?

Or the son soon to be born to Wang Yisu or Guo Ting?

And furthermore, can Zheng Xiansu still intimidate the ambitious ones in the harem after failing to bear a legitimate son?

Trouble.

Yet, unexpectedly, after hearing the official's report, Zhao Yu burst into laughter: 'Excellent! I have a daughter! Double the rewards! Grand Tutor Zheng Shen is promoted to Second-Rank Commander of the Southern Army…'

The rewards Zhao Yu granted his first four sons combined were far less than what he granted this daughter.

Crucially, unlike naming his four sons earlier, Zhao Yu named her on the spot.

This time, Zhao Yu specifically had the Bureau of Celestial Observations calculate his daughter's birth chart.

The result showed the child lacked the element of Wood.

Thus, Zhao Yu carefully selected the character 'Xuan,' hoping she would never know sorrow in her life.

Later, to distinguish her from his sons, Zhao Yu deliberately added the character 'Wan,' hoping she would be gentle, harmonious, and beautiful.

In the end, Zhao Yu named his first daughter, the future Long Princess of the Zhao Song Dynasty, Zhao Wan Xuan.

Even without considering the promotions Zhao Yu granted Zheng Xiansu for bearing Zhao Wan Xuan, merely from the thought Zhao Yu put into naming her, it's clear he felt no coldness or distance toward Zheng Xiansu for giving birth to a daughter instead of a son.

On the contrary, all observant eyes saw that Zhao Yu immediately activated his protection mode for Zheng Xiansu, 'warning' everyone not to challenge her authority.

Soon after, Zhao Yu visited the slightly dejected Zheng Xiansu and told her: 'I'm only seventeen; you're not old either. We have a long future ahead. If you never bear a son, even at fifty, I'll still have you attend me.'

Zheng Xiansu laughed, then wept; she leaned into Zhao Yu's arms and whispered: 'Thank you, Your Majesty!'

The Book of Rites records: 'Concubines under fifty must be granted service every five days; thus, concubines over fifty are not permitted to attend.'

Accordingly, imperial etiquette explicitly forbids concubines over fifty from attending the emperor.

This rule stems from four considerations:

First, concubines over fifty have diminished physical functions and reduced fertility; the emperor's primary purpose in summoning concubines is procreation, and allowing elderly concubines to attend reduces opportunities for younger ones, hindering the emperor's lineage expansion.

Second, to balance harem relations and prevent the emperor from favoring older concubines out of lingering affection, thereby neglecting younger ones and sparking harem strife.

Third, to protect the lives of aging concubines. Even in modern society, elderly mothers face dangers far beyond common imagination—how much more so in ancient times with extremely rudimentary medical conditions?

Fourth, if an emperor excessively favors a concubine for too long—even as she ages—and continues to trust her deeply, court interference by the harem becomes inevitable.

Wu Zetian is the best example of this.

Without Li Zhi's excessive favoritism, how could Wu Zetian have gained the chance to interfere in court affairs? How could she have usurped the throne?

Thus, most later emperors, to prevent the same scenario, avoided continuously devoting attention to any concubine, no matter how much they favored her.

If an emperor truly could not let go, not only would the palace staff object, but ministers would also gently advise: Since Your Majesty loves your concubine so dearly, why not pass the throne to the Crown Prince? Then you'd have ample time to live with her.

Thus, the emperor must choose between love and duty.

Hence, the imperial rule forbidding concubines over fifty from attending.

But generally, this rule is redundant.

At fifty? Most concubines, even at forty, or even in their thirties, have long lost the chance to attend.

Take Zheng Xiansu in history as an example: historically, after age thirty-one, she had no further record of childbirth; thus, it's inferred that after turning thirty, Zhao Ji never touched her again.

This is normal.

After all, men always prefer eighteen-year-olds.

Though women can't remain eighteen forever, emperors never lack eighteen-year-old women.

Hence, it's no surprise that while Zheng Xiansu thanked Zhao Yu aloud, inwardly she didn't believe his promise. Raised in the palace, how could she not know that most women's prime lasts only until thirty? Fifty? Absolutely impossible.

Still, Zhao Yu saying this made Zheng Xiansu very happy.

And honestly, Zheng Xiansu didn't believe she'd never bear a son by thirty.

If that's truly the case, then it must be fate.

She would never defy heaven…

……

After visiting Zheng Xiansu, the fifth daughter returned to Li Lin's residence.

After the previous internal conflict, Yuan Qingcheng forgave Zhang Chun, but she never visited Zhang Chun's quarters again, maintaining only a superficial harmony with her.

As a result, whenever the five daughters gathered, it could only happen in Li Lin's palace.

As soon as she entered the secret chamber, Zhang Chun dropped her act, her eyes sparkling as she said: "Who would've thought Zhao Yu's streak of bearing sons would be interrupted by Empress Zheng? Tsk tsk, such is life—big intestine wrapping small intestine."

Ye Shi Yun couldn't stand Zhang Chun's smugness and couldn't help retorting: "Why don't you focus on yourself instead? Empress Zheng at least gave birth to the Princess, and Zhao Yu has been comforting her endlessly. What about you? How many of Zhao Yu's imperial seeds have you wasted?"

At Ye Shi Yun's words, Zhang Chun's face turned blotchy with rage. She glared at Ye Shi Yun and snarled: "Don't strike a man on the face, don't expose a man's weaknesses! Ye Shi Yun, you've gone too far!!!"

Ye Shi Yun stroked her own lower abdomen, as if speaking to herself or to Zhang Chun: "I must be a kind person now, accumulating virtue for my son. I can't stand petty people who rejoice in others' misfortune."

Zhang Chun fumed: "You!"

Li Lin halted the potential conflict: "Enough. Stop this nonsense."

Then Li Lin rebuked Zhang Chun: "From your perspective, Empress Zheng not bearing a son is good—but from the standpoint of our Great Song's imperial succession, it's not good at all. Shi Yun is right."

"Not from your perspective, but from ours."

"I haven't conceived yet—I'm not even sure I ever will. If not for our little group, what does it matter to me whether Empress Zheng bears a son or not?"

"Fine. To prevent you from misunderstanding me, I'll lay it all out clearly today."

"If Empress Zheng has no son, Zhao Yu will have no legitimate heir, and thus cannot name one."

"Knowing Zhao Yu as I do, he won't appoint Zhao Yan, raised by Shen Fuling through traditional methods, because such a Zhao Yan would likely become a puppet in the ministers' hands."

"So Zhao Yu won't choose the eldest—he'll choose the most capable."

"To be blunt, if we're choosing the most capable, how could the children of Shen Fuling, Wang Chuchu, Guo Wei, and others compare to our own? Our knowledge is a thousand years ahead of theirs."

"Then we'll teach our sons what we know: I'll teach history and politics, Lin-jie will teach military affairs, Shi Yun will teach economics, Xiao Jiao and Qing Cheng… whatever you can teach, teach it; if you can't teach, just provide the child."

"In this way, the future crown prince will almost certainly emerge from among our sons."

"As for whose son it is, it doesn't matter—as long as the meat stays in the pot."

"If… I mean, if you don't get the wrong idea—if Zhao Yu dies young like other Northern Song emperors, then we'll unite to rule from behind the curtain: I'll handle politics, Shi Yun economics, Lin-jie the military, Xiao Jiao science and technology, Qing Cheng agriculture."

Li Lin and the other four women had never imagined Zhang Chun thought this way.

"This…"

A spark flashed in Li Lin's eyes—she was intrigued. If this were true, she might even have a chance to lead troops in person.

Ye Shi Yun chewed her words, then said: "Isn't this just the same as how we live now?"

Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao agreed: "Exactly. Isn't that already what's happening? You help Zhao Yu with politics, Shi Yun with economics, Lin-jie builds the Divine Machine Army, I handle science, Qing Cheng studies agriculture?"

Yuan Qingcheng nodded, endorsing what Ye Shi Yun and Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao had said.

Zhang Chun thought to herself: 'To you, it's the same—but for me, it's vastly different. Who among you understands politics? Who knows how to govern? If that day comes, I'll be the one calling the shots—I'll be Empress Dowager Cixi!'

But aloud, Zhang Chun said: "It's not different now—but if the crown prince comes from someone else's son, we'll either be forced to bury ourselves alive guarding Zhao Yu's tomb, or be exiled to a cold palace like Meng Xiang and Liu Qingjing, slowly dying, possibly even forced to die with Zhao Yu."

"Forced to die with him?!!!"

Li Lin, Ye Shi Yun, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qingcheng all stared in disbelief. 'Is this really a thing? Feudal nonsense?'

Zhang Chun shook her head, as if they were naive. "In China, human sacrifice only lost its footing after Emperor Kangxi's reign and subsequent reforms. Only after the Xinhai Revolution was it legally abolished."

She paused, then added: "In the Song Dynasty, while there was no custom of human sacrifice, there were documented cases of voluntary sacrifice. Records show that after Zhao Gou's death, his concubines Li Shi and Wang Shi sacrificed themselves."

Here, Zhang Chun deliberately frightened the four women: "Think about it—we've practically ruled the harem. How many envy, resent, and hate us? With Zhao Yu protecting us now, no one dares touch us. But if he dies and no one protects us, forcing us to die with him? Entirely possible."

Hearing this, Ye Shi Yun was the first to speak up: "Fine. The crown prince must come from one of our sons. I refuse to die with Zhao Yu!"

Then Ye Shi Yun proposed: "From now on, all of you, ease up on exploiting Zhao Yu. Let's find ways to strengthen him, help him live longer. Don't you see? Only while he lives do we have peace. If he dies, we're doomed."

Ye Shi Yun's words were unanimously supported by Li Lin, Seeing Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qingcheng.

Only Zhang Chun tasted the words, thinking to herself: 'Did I push too hard?'

……

(End of Chapter)