Chapter 430: Co-Wives (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The smile on Qi Haoranâs lips froze and his heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, he knelt down and said, âYour Majesty, I appreciate your kindness. It s just that I already have a wife.â
The Emperor waved his hand nonchalantly and said with a smile, âEven if you have a wife, you can have another one.â The Emperor pointed at Minister Qin and said, âMinister Qin has a daughter who is gentle and virtuous. She can be your co-wife.â
All the officials, including the Empress, concubines, princes, and princesses, were stunned, except for Minister Qin.
Minister Qin looked calm on the surface, but he was very displeased in his heart. However, he had no choice. Sometimes, he could not convince the Emperor otherwise when the latter was intent on doing something.
Another person who was not stunned was Qi Haoran, who was kneeling below. Almost as soon as the Emperor finished speaking, Qi Haoran kowtowed and said, âI thank Your Majesty for your kind intentions. Itâs just that when I married my wife, I swore that she would be the only one in my lifeâŠâ The Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly and said with an indistinguishable expression, âOh? Did Minister Qi really make such a promise, or are you dissatisfied with the marriage partner Iâm proposing?â
Of course, he wouldnât believe Qi Haoranâs words. Which capable man wouldnât take in a concubine? The Mu girl would be his only woman?
Did Qi Haoran think he was a fool?
For a moment, there was silence. Everyone looked at the Emperor above and Qi Haoran below in a daze.
Mu Yanghng sat in her seat, anger surging in her heart. She looked up at the Emperor with a cold glint in her eyes. This was clearly the first time they had met. Why was this person so ugly?
Mu Yanghng threw the âhandsome uncleâ evaluation to the back of her mind.
Li Jinghua straightened her body nervously. There simply wasnât a good way to answer the Emperorâs words. However, with Fourth Brotherâs personality, he would probably stubbornly refuse to acknowledge this marriage.
As this thought flashed through her mind, someone stood up beside her. Li Jinghua was shocked. There was only Mu Yanghng beside her. She stiffened her neck and turned to look, only to see Mu Yanghng standing up with a dark expression.
Li Jinghua wanted to reach out and pull her back, but she avoided her easily and turned to walk out.
Suppressing the anger in her heart, Mu Yanghng tried her best to smile, but she realized that this seemed very difficult. She could only walk out with a dark expression. freewebn(o)vel.com
Mu Yanghng stood beside Qi Haoran and slowly knelt down. She looked up and said, âYour Majesty, I have a question for you.â
The Emperor looked at Mu Yanghng quietly for a while and asked, âAre you Qi Haoranâs wife?â
Mu Yanghng nodded, smiled, and replied loudly, âYes, Iâm from the Mu family.â âMadam Mu, what do you think of my matchmaking? Are you willing to get along with Fourth Miss Qin and treat her as your sister?â
Laughing from anger, Mu Yanghng asked, âYour Majesty, I already have a younger sister in my family. Sheâs exactly five years old this year.â The Emperor was a little angry. He clearly didnât mean that, but Madam Mu actually misinterpreted it. Just as he was about to flare up, he heard Mu Yanghng turn her head in confusion. âYour Majesty, I havenât studied much and have always grown up in the countryside, so there are many things that I donât understand. They say that âIf you donât understand something, ask. Otherwise youâll make a fool of yourself.â Now, there is something that I donât understand so I want to ask you.â
The Emperor sneered in his heart. He could almost guess what she wanted to ask. It was nothing more than why he wanted to grant Qi Haoran an co-wife. How could a country bumpkin understand the deep prestige of a ruler?
The Emperor nodded proudly. âAsk away.â
Mu Yanghng smiled. It was indeed as Big Brother Qi had said. The Emperor was really suspicious and self-righteous. Mm, he was stupid in her opinion. How did he secure his position as Emperor when his intelligence could not even match up to hers?
Mu Yanghng asked, âYour Majesty, Iâve only heard of wives since I was young, but Iâve never heard of the term co-wife. Therefore, I want to ask you what a â co-wife is.â
The Emperor was stunned, and then his face burned. His eyes darted to the Empress beside him. The Empress was smiling, but she had long lowered her eyes and pretended not to see the Emperorâs look.
How stupid. The Emperor should have directly issued an imperial edict and confirmed the matter, not giving them a chance to refute. Otherwise, he should have just perfunctorily skipped this topic and not given Madam Mu a chance to ask questions.
No, a topic like âco-wifeâ shouldnât be raised in such a place at all. Couldnât he just call the Qi and Qin families into the palace in private and instruct them?
Wasnât it embarrassing enough to bring it up in front of the ministers at the palace banquet?
The Emperor did not answer. The scene fell silent for a moment, but Mu Yangling looked at him with bright eyes. The Emperor was a little uneasy for a moment. What should he say?
The Emperor took a deep breath and was about to say that co-wives meant that both were legitimate wives when a voice said, âCo-wife, as the name implies, is a wife with equal status and rights.â
Assistant Minister Lu Zhen of the Ministry of Revenue glanced at Mu Yangling, who was kneeling, and said with a mocking smile, âFourth Madam Qi doesnât even know such a simple term. It can be seen that youâre indeed not educated enough.â
Qi Haoran took the time to glance at Lu Zhen with sympathy and gloating in his eyes. Mu Yangling was usually very normal, but if anyone dared to look down on her intelligence, she would definitely toy with them. She usually didnât speak much in front of outsiders, but when it came to arguing, she wouldnât lose to anyone.
Indeed, out of the corner of his eye, Qi Haoran saw Mu Yangling smile gently and happily. Mu Yangling looked at Lu Zhen and sized him up, then asked with a smile, âIs this the one and only Minister Lu who holds an official title and has co-wives in the 160 years since the Great Zhou Dynasty was established?â
Lu Zhen blushed slightly. He could hear the mockery in Mu Yanglingâs tone, but there was nothing wrong with her words, so he could only say, âYes, itâs me.â âAh, for Minister Lu to be able to pass the Imperial Examination and advance all the way to become the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, you must be very knowledgeable. I wonder if Minister Lu can help me resolve my doubts. How are the terms âco-wifeâ and âwifeâ interpreted in the âGreat Zhou Codeâ?â Mu Yangling stared at him and asked with a smile, âMinister Lu, why are you sweating?â novelbuddy .com
Lu Zhenâs face turned slightly pale. He glanced at the Emperor and shouted âThis is a palace banquet, not a place for you to have your doubts answered.âIf thereâs anything you donât understand, you can ask a teacher or your husband later.â
Mu Yangling smiled, the anger in her heart finally dissipating a little. Initially she couldnât decide if she should offend the Emperor. After all, if she offendedâ him badly this time, their lives would more or less be inconvenient in the future. Fortunately, Lu Zhen ran out.
Mu Yangling expressed that she adored him very much at this moment. This fellow had really come out at the right time.
âMinister Lu, I believe Iâm not the only one who has this question. Many people are also curious about this. Most of the teachers outside have specializations If you ask them about scriptures and histories, they might be able to tell you a thing or two. However, if you ask about the term âco-wifeâ, no one in the Great Zhou Dynasty can be as knowledgeable as you, right?â
As soon as Mu Yangling finished speaking, a white-bearded old man sitting in front of Minister Qin stroked his beard and smiled. âMadam Mu is right. Minister Lu, Iâm naturally quite knowledgeable, but Iâm also curious to know how the term âco-wifeâ is interpreted in the âGreat Zhou Codeâ?â
No one said anything and looked at Lu Zhen with interest. Compared to the similar performances every year, everyone was more interested in this juicy gossip. In any case, they could just watch on the sidelines without being implicated..
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