Chapter 881: Any whitewashing is vulnerable in the face of data

"The imperial edict has already been requested?"

Chen Guanlou was quite stunned; how had he not heard of this matter?

Chen Mengxun lowered her head and whispered, "Soon!"

Chen Guanlou sighed, "With an imperial edict, then there is no other way."

"But Uncle Lou just said not to compromise."

"That does not include an imperial edict. Your father and your grandfather cannot defy an imperial edict. What virtue or ability do you have to defy an imperial edict?"

"Are we only able to accept our fate?"

"Who said we have to accept our fate? An imperial edict has its own way of being played. First, tell me, who is the person you are to marry?"

Chen Mengxun looked slightly troubled. After a good while, she muttered, "I don't know either. Father told me to enter the palace for the selection; specifically which imperial prince I am to be betrothed to depends on His Majesty's will."

What the hell?

"You are to enter the palace for the selection? Who said that? How come I haven't heard of it?"

"Father said it before the new year. He said it was His Majesty's will, and we cannot refuse."

Chen Guanlou:...

His mind was a bit dazed.

Emperor Taixing specifically named the Hou Fu to send a daughter into the palace for selection and to be betrothed to a certain imperial prince as a wife—what does this mean? Using a woman to keep the Hou Fu in check? That seems unlikely.

Those who truly do great things rarely care about the lives of women, and they don't even care about the lives of their sons or grandsons.

However...

If...

The Master truly has no intention of rebelling and only wants to be a warlord and a powerful official, then marrying a granddaughter to an imperial prince is indeed a path.

"Which imperial prince do you want to marry?"

Chen Mengxun seemed to be stunned by the question, appearing very helpless and nervous. "I... I don't know."

"Have you met those imperial princes of age? What is your impression of them?"

"I have met them, but I haven't said many words to them, let alone understand them. As for impressions, they all feel about the same—equally polite and equally courteous. The Hou Fu has a large family and a big business; I think they want to win over the Hou Fu, so they are very polite to us sisters. As for their looks, they are just so-so."

Having grown accustomed to the outstanding looks of the men in the Chen family, she was naturally immune to the handsome faces of the imperial clan.

Chen Mengxun secretly glanced at Chen Guanlou, thinking that not a single member of the imperial clan could compare to Uncle Lou.

Chen Guanlou pondered for a moment, "If it cannot be avoided and you are destined to marry into the imperial family and marry an imperial prince, go find your father and have him give you detailed information on all the imperial princes—from their character, talent, maternal family background, to the strategists around them—a comprehensive analysis and understanding. Choose the one you think is most suitable to marry! Since you are marrying, you must become the strongest person in this domain! Do you know what the strongest in this domain is?"

"Is... is it the Empress?" Chen Mengxun said uncertainly.

"Yes and no. Let me tell you, the strongest person in your domain is the Empress Dowager! Who the Emperor is does not matter; what matters is that you must be the Empress Dowager, the Mother Empress Dowager! Do you understand?"

Chen Mengxun nodded as if she understood. "So, Uncle Lou, you will become the strongest martial artist, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then can I become the most noble woman in the world?"

"Do you have this thought?" Chen Guanlou looked like a vicious villain, yet also like an excellent elder, earnestly guiding her, explaining sentence by sentence: "If you do not have this thought, nor the perseverance, determination, and super-strong execution, I advise you to dispel this idea. Every step of climbing upward is very arduous; you must have a powerful willpower to pass through one barrier after another, only then is it possible to reach the highest position.

As long as you are soft-hearted, your methods are insufficient, your heart is too soft, you are easily misled, lack your own opinions, and fear difficulties while lacking execution—if you have even one of these, it is unlikely you will reach the top.

The inner palace of Great Daqian has never been a place of harmony. Read more history books, both official and unofficial. After reading them, if your ambition does not change, then you can start preparing and train yourself comprehensively."

Chen Mengxun was tongue-tied, and it took a while for her to find her thoughts again. "Uncle Lou, what you say is completely different from what they say. They all say Uncle Lou has no great ambition. Uncle Lou, why are you encouraging me to climb upward and become the strongest? Others only advise me to serve my husband and raise my children, to be a virtuous wife and mother. Even my father is like this. He doesn't expect me to be capable of much."

Chen Guanlou pondered for a moment before saying, "How capable you want to be depends on you, not your father. I am not your father, so I am standing completely from the perspective of a bystander to tell you how the path can be walked and what choices you can have.

Your father has no expectations of you, perhaps because of prejudice. He believes that a girl cannot achieve anything. I am different; in my view, people have infinite potential and are not confined by gender. Men have the Dao of men, and women naturally have the Dao of women.

You are my junior; serving a husband and raising children, being a virtuous wife and mother is one path. If you were marrying an ordinary man from a noble family, of course you could do so; that is a good choice.

However, since you are destined to marry an imperial prince, then the path of serving a husband and raising children as a virtuous wife and mother is clearly not suitable for your future status. Marrying an imperial prince means that your path is filled with thorns everywhere; there are backstabs from those around you, schemes from outsiders, and even oppression from the Emperor.

This path can only be walked by an unyielding strong person until the end. I do not wish to see you die young at such a tender age.

Perhaps no one has ever told you, but I secretly made a statistic: within the imperial family, the mortality rate of women is far higher than that of noble families. Do you understand what this means?"

Ah!

Chen Mengxun nervously covered her mouth, and it took a while before she asked tremblingly: "Really?"

Chen Guanlou did not lecture her with grand principles but spoke with facts. "You should know that the female prison is right next to the Heavenly Prison. The one managing the female prisoners is a eunuch. I have dealt with the other party and can obtain first-hand data. I don't even need precise statistics; just a rough look at the data tells me that the mortality rate of female relatives within the imperial family is far higher than that of noble families.

If you are interested, you can have your father help you find the data. Your father can certainly find it. There is no rhetoric that can be more intuitive and strike the heart more than data. Any whitewashing is vulnerable in the face of real data.

Even if one is as noble as a Prince's wife, those who can end well and live long are few and far between. They either die in internal strife and infighting, or they die from external pressure and persecution. If you are to marry an imperial prince, then the education you have received in the past is somewhat inapplicable. The path of serving a husband and raising children as a virtuous wife and mother is destined to harm your life. If your life is gone, what is there to talk about regarding the future?"

After listening, Chen Mengxun appeared to be in deep thought, as if she had received a great shock, her expression changing continuously.

"Uncle Lou, if Father asks, can I tell him truthfully?"

Truly a clever little girl, she even knew to ask in advance.

"Of course you can. Even if your father comes in person, these are the words I would say. Tell your father not to be too prejudiced. Just because you are a daughter, it doesn't mean these principles shouldn't be taught to you. That would only harm you."

"Would Uncle Lou teach Rongrong like this?"

"Rongrong is different; she is destined to marry an ordinary man. The path she walks is a completely different path from yours."

"I really envy Rongrong for having an enlightened uncle like Uncle Lou."

"No need to envy her. In the future, if you have difficulties, you can come to me at any time." ===== CHAPTER 882 =====