Chapter 1010: Chapter 736: Damn, There’s Really a Throne to Inherit
Yu Mingyue scoffed, "You, marrying a man, and even helping him take concubines, urging him to rest with other women. Do you know how disgraceful this is to women? And you call yourself virtuous—"
Stopping here, she bit her teeth forcefully.
"...?"
Shang Ruyi was taken aback, having thought of many reasons why she might be "looked down upon," but this...
She couldn’t even afford to be angry, couldn’t bother with barely hearing the words "historical text" swallowed mostly by Yu Mingyue, only slightly frowned as she looked at her, thought for a moment, and calmly said, "I’m not jealous, not alone, what’s wrong with advising my husband to be with his concubine? Should Lady Chu be left alone? Do you know how hard it is for a woman to be alone after marrying? As a woman, I can’t be so domineering, nor can I let others experience such suffering."
At this point, Shang Ruyi’s tone became heavier.
If she remembered correctly, Yu Mingyue’s mother—of course not this Yu Mingyue in front of her, but the one who has long passed away, was abandoned by Yu Dingxing.
Even if she hasn’t experienced it, she should have heard something and should have some feelings about it.
"What does other people’s suffering have to do with me?"
Unexpectedly, Yu Mingyue sneered, "I’m saying, a woman like you is a disgrace to women!"
"..."
At this moment, Shang Ruyi faintly felt that the Yu Mingyue in front of her seemed no longer like the usual Yu Mingyue, who, though typically arrogant towards her and hated her group, always spoke in veiled words, with malice that was never so clearly expressed.
Seeing her slightly reddened eyes, Shang Ruyi understood it might be because of drinking, just embarrassed in the hall, causing her usual mask to slip, revealing her true self.
Her malice, it seemed, was not only directed at her.
But towards something else unknown to Shang Ruyi.
Thinking this, Shang Ruyi completely gave up trying to be angry with someone who was drunk and possibly about to expose all her hidden thoughts, perhaps from hundreds of years later, letting herself calm down, and using a calm tone, she said, "How am I disgraceful to women, tell me and I’ll listen."
"Haha, hahahaha,"
As if hearing something funny, Yu Mingyue supported herself against the nearby pine, the congestion and oppression in her chest made her want to vomit, but she couldn’t, forcing herself to hold back the nausea, gritted her teeth, and viciously said to Shang Ruyi, "Men and women should be monogamous, staying together till old. No concubines or secondary wives, it’s called one life, one couple, do you understand?"
"...!"
Shang Ruyi’s eyes suddenly brightened.
One life, one couple?
These words, like a warm current, suddenly melted into her heart, caught off guard, making her feel an indescribable relief, she instinctively turned around, looking into the dark night, still brightly lit, like a splendid heavenly palace’s Bai Fu Hall, thinking of Yu Wenye still being toasted inside, thinking of the mutual understanding and cherishing, love and companionship along the way.
Monogamous till old.
One life, one couple.
If it truly is so...
Imagining this possibility, she instinctively smiled, with seemingly some expectations in her smile.
But the next moment, a cold wind blew, slightly shaking the pine beside Yu Mingyue, rustling, also waking Shang Ruyi up again. She looked at Yu Mingyue with complex expression, pondering her experiences, and once thought of the human world, then slowly said, "This, indeed, is—is very good."
"..."
"But, no matter—concubines, or women who are concubines, they can’t be regarded as the main wife. Their choices are limited to begin with."
"Again with this sentence!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Mingyue’s face darkened further—this was the sentence that allowed Shang Ruyi to counter her when she teased Lu Xiao earlier, now again, but she reacted quickly, immediately sneering, "Must you marry? Can you die without marrying? Can you die without men!?"
Her words stunned Shang Ruyi for a moment.
But thinking again, she still said, "But, if a woman doesn’t marry, how should she live? You and I were born wealthy, but—"
Saying this, she herself also smiled bitterly and said, "Not to mention the suffering both you and I endured as women."
After her father’s death, in the mourning hall, she was driven out of the Shang Family by her brother Shang Shoufei.
Yu Mingyue’s own experience was also after being abandoned with her mother, suffering much hardships, eventually desperate, committed suicide. Just, she had a twist of fate, borrowing the body to live again by the soul in front of her, able to relive another life, making bold claims here.
It’s a pity she couldn’t cross the river herself, yet immediately mocked others who drowned after being saved.
"What do I care how you live!"
Seeing Shang Ruyi’s bitter smile, Yu Mingyue seemed to understand what she was about to say after "born wealthy," suddenly as if her anger has made her lose reason, she waved forcefully, "In short, for a man to take concubines, urged him to other women, you are, you are a disgrace to women!"
Shang Ruyi sneered, "How can you not care? You and I in high places can’t just care for ourselves."
"..."
"There are so many women in the world, not just you and me."
"..."
"You can’t live yourself, yet tell people to go this way."
This statement effectively silenced Yu Mingyue. Her throat choked, her gaze cleared up somewhat, but when she looked at Shang Ruyi again, it turned cold and harsh as she sneered, "You simply must be supported by others? Can’t you find a job yourself?"
"Job, job?"
Another term she had never heard of, Shang Ruyi looked at her in surprise, "What’s a job?"
Yu Mingyue bit her lower lip, glaring at her with disdain and speechlessness, "A job! A job! Something to support yourself with!"
"Something to support yourself with?"
"You work, people pay you, then you support yourself! Whether it’s carrying manure or chopping wood, is it that hard to support yourself?!"
"Which family would hire a woman to carry manure and chop wood?"
Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but find it laughable, shaking her head as her gaze gradually turned contemptuous, "Just now you said me going to battle brought disgrace, and now you want women to carry manure and chop wood? Aren’t you just being extremely two-faced?"
"..."
"Besides, even if it’s carrying manure or chopping wood, men have more strength than women, who would hire the weaker for such jobs?"
Yu Mingyue was furious, "What about weaving? Aren’t you all about men farming and women weaving? Weaving and spinning, surely you can do that! And it doesn’t require going out and showing your face!"
Shang Ruyi said, "Weaving indeed doesn’t require showing your face, but not every woman in this world can weave."
"..."
"As I said before, the options for women are too limited."
"..."
"Moreover, you said women should have a ’job’, but once a woman is married, managing the household and raising children, isn’t that also a ’job’ as you said? Isn’t it equally laborious as a court minister or an academy professor?"
"..."
"It’s just that one salary is visible and the other is not."
"..."
"Why do you view marriage so disdainfully? Then why do you—"
"You!"
Yu Mingyue was filled with rage, squeezing her hand into a fist against the tree trunk. Shang Ruyi frowned slightly, sensing that the other seemed ready to tear her hair out. While being the Princess Qin and Mingyue’s lower status wouldn’t allow her to act rashly, she was still somewhat astonished.
This person indeed had no sense of hierarchy, so to things and people displeasing to her, she instinctively rebelled. Yet perhaps, something taught her not to act recklessly.
Could it be that the world she lived in had no sense of hierarchy?
Shang Ruyi’s mind wandered momentarily.
She instinctively said, "Yu Mingyue, your ’hometown’ is really—"
"Enough!"
Yu Mingyue waved her hand fiercely, cutting her off as if she didn’t want to get entangled in thoughts she herself hadn’t sorted out. She coldly said, "In any case, I look down on you. Just for letting your husband take concubines, I despise you!"
Shang Ruyi’s brows gradually knitted together.
Even though she tried her best to control her emotions, hoping to dig out some hidden thoughts from Yu Mingyue who was drunk, such stark disdain made her uncomfortable.
Despise?
At most, she just felt a bit uncomfortable in her heart... Even though this discomfort had to be suppressed for the dignity of the Princess Qin, how could it lead to contempt?
She thought for a moment, then sighed and calmly said, "I don’t know why you are so against me on this matter, but what I did, I have a clear conscience to Heaven above and my heart below."
"..."
"Moreover, letting him spend more time with the concubine isn’t just selfless on my part, it’s also to make Lady Chu’s life easier."
"..."
"Furthermore, this act is also for the Royal Family to spread its branches."
"..."
"After all, he is King Qin, a royal prince. If I—hypothetically—I can’t give birth to a Princely Heir, at least the concubine and others can have a son to inherit his—"
"Have, a, son?"
Upon hearing these four words, Yu Mingyue sneered immediately, her eyes full of disdain and a sense of contemptuous relief like Shang Ruyi had hit a nerve with her, "I can’t stand this talk about having sons, what’s the use of having a son? Does his family have a throne to—"
She paused here, her expression turning awkward and unpleasant.
After a while, she mumbled, "Damn, they really have a throne to inherit."
