Professional Ethics of a Concubine

It is said that the New Year begins after Laba Festival, and it is already the 18th day of the twelfth lunar month. The New Year atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger.

Ye Qingzhi played in the hot spring villa for three days and didn’t even feel like the New Year was approaching.

However, when she returned to the city and sat in the carriage, she looked at the street scene outside and immediately felt the strong New Year atmosphere.

There are lights and decorations everywhere, red lanterns, red couplets, the bright red looks festive.

There are more vendors on the streets than before, selling all kinds of New Year goods, and the sounds of hawking are endless.

There are more people buying things on the street, and it is bustling.

Although not everyone had a smile on their face, there was a sense of energy and spirit.

This energy and spirit comes from having enough food and clothing, and from having expectations for future life, and feeling that days will get better and better.

There was a woman holding a child in one hand and carrying meat tied with straw rope in the other. The child was licking a string of candied haws with a very happy look on his face.

There were also children passing by who looked at the candied haws in the other person's hand with envy, turned around and tugged at their mother's sleeve and acted coquettishly, wanting to buy one too.

"Oh, a string of candied haws costs five cents, which is enough for us to buy a meat bun." The woman was unwilling and raised her voice, frowning and shouting.

Ye Qingzhi's attention was also drawn to them. The mother looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and the child was probably four or five years old.

Although their clothes had patches on them, they were very clean and the children's faces were washed clean.

The woman carried a bamboo basket filled with various New Year's goods.

Ye Qingzhi heard the woman's frown and yelling, thinking that the child would not be able to eat the candied haws. Unexpectedly, his mother finally compromised, but she was still muttering,

"Okay, okay, I'll buy you one bunch, but don't even think about buying meat buns. If the harvest wasn't good this year, the government had reduced taxes, and it was New Year, you wouldn't even think about buying candied haws or meat buns!"

Ye Qingzhi couldn't help but smile when she heard this. She turned her head and smiled at Xie Jin who was reading a book next to her.

"Your Highness, did you hear that because of your tax reduction measures, the children can eat candied haws during the New Year.

Although this is just a small thing, it means that people’s lives are getting better.”

Xie Jin put down the book, looked out the window, and said with a smile,

"In two years, the woman and her child can have a meat bun in one hand and a candied haws in the other. They don't have to choose. They can buy both."

Ye Qingzhi was amused by his words, but she also liked his words very much and nodded in agreement.

"Your Highness, what you said is very good. People at the bottom of society just want their lives to get better and better.

They just wanted to have enough food and clothing for themselves, and for their children to have a promising future, to stand out from the crowd, to pass the imperial examination and become an official. They didn’t dare to think of any bigger goals.”

Xie Jin nodded, leaned over to her, and looked out at the street with her. After a long while, he spoke again,

"Have you noticed that there are a lot more young ladies on the street, and they are not wearing veils. Obviously, our new etiquette policy has had some effect."

"I don't go out much on weekdays, and I don't have enough knowledge about this, so I didn't notice it. However, since His Highness said there has been progress, it must be very effective."

Ye Qingzhi shook her head first, then smiled and offered a bunch of flattery, giving enough emotional value without hesitation.

"Your Highness, you are now doing things with ease. Even for such a difficult issue as overturning the etiquette, you can deploy the right talents and provide key support to complete the matter very smoothly, with almost no opposition.

Therefore, it is a blessing for a minister to work with a wise and resourceful monarch like you!"

Ye Qingzhi was not just flattering. At the debate on etiquette at the manor, it seemed that Prince Duan was hosting and controlling the situation, but there were also many things done by the Crown Prince.

For example, Princess Changping was actually invited by the crown prince because he knew his aunt's tough temper and that she hated some of the etiquette that restricted women, and he absolutely supported this matter.

Not only Princess Changping, but also the Ninth Princess of Dayan was invited by him through the request of Prince Duan. He thought that since she was from Dayan, she might have some different ideas. As it turned out, the Ninth Princess did have some different ideas, and she even gave him a fatal blow.

There are also several key people in control of the situation, and the prince has already communicated with them privately.

For example, the incident in which Ji Xuan got drunk and made a fool of himself in the brothel, and the scandalous act committed by Shen Xunxiang's ex-mother-in-law, Madam Zhou, twenty years ago, were also discovered by the Crown Prince and reported to Prince Duan.

It was because of the Crown Prince's key efforts, as well as his guidance and trust in Prince Duan, that the debate was a success.

In addition, much of the content in the subsequent booklets was also requested by the prince.

The prince's example fully demonstrates that the speed of a train depends entirely on the locomotive.

After Xie Jin drank the magic potion she had given him, he couldn't help but laugh. He stroked her hair and said,

"If it weren't for the sudden summons from our father, we would have returned to the city two days later and let this matter ferment. You would have found that progress would have been faster. People are more receptive to this ideological change than you think."

Ye Qingzhi also nodded excitedly and said with great emotion,

"What goes up must come down. It turns out that even ethics cannot counter the strong will of those in power."

To put it bluntly, etiquette and rituals, just like laws and regulations, are ideological tools used by the ruling class to educate, govern and enslave the people.

There are also some religious dogmas and doctrines that are naked means of rule.

As for whether the imperial power is stronger or some kind of ethics or ideology is stronger? Of course, the imperial power is stronger!

Can those in power change the existing ethical ideas and write new rules?

Of course, absolutely.

Just like Qin Shihuang's burning of books and burying of scholars, and promoting Legalist thought, it was to achieve ideological unity and ensure the emperor's absolute authority.

For example, Emperor Wu of Han later promoted Confucianism as the only doctrine, which made Confucianism popular and became the orthodox thought. This was because the people in power needed these rites, laws and moral principles to centralize power and maintain their rule.

The same is true in modern society. You feel that you cannot change the overall environment because you are just an ordinary person.

When you control political power and capital, you can always use power and money to impose your will on the people at the bottom.

Isn't this also true of the various public opinion trends and consumer traps that are prevalent today?

Therefore, the two people in power, Xie Jin and Ye Qingzhi, only made limited changes to some ethical concepts that restricted women. Compared with what Qin Shihuang and others did, their efforts were really too childish.

-

royal palace.

After returning to the palace, Xie Jin took Ye Qingzhi to see the emperor.

The emperor waited for them to finish their ceremony, and seeing Ye Qingzhi there, he said in a friendly manner,

"Master Ye, please step aside first. I have something to say to the Crown Prince."

Ye Qingzhi was very happy and was about to take his leave. I would rather my fellow Taoist die than let him die.

She was optimistic about the prince and believed that he would definitely be able to survive this fit of the emperor.

Anyway, the emperor has to draw this every time he receives a letter from the empress.

Your own parents are fighting each other. If you, as a son, can't bear it, who else can?

"Qingzhi, wait a minute, didn't you say you had a little story to tell your father?" The prince looked at Ye Qingzhi, winked at her, and said,

"It's what you told me. You said that two strangers had never met each other, but suddenly one day, due to an accident, the letters they sent to each other were sent to the wrong place and ended up in each other's hands.

From then on, they occasionally corresponded. What happened after that? You didn’t finish your story last time, so why don’t you tell it together? "

"..."Ye Qingzhi.

How does she know what happened next? She never told this story!

Seeing that the leader's eyes were about to cramp, Ye Qingzhi looked at him speechlessly, and could only smile at the emperor who was full of interest, and took over the topic, continuing it very smoothly.

"Your Highness, please stop taking credit for me. This is just a little story that goes against etiquette and is full of romance. I just told it to you for fun. How could it pollute the emperor's ears?"

While Ye Qingzhi was making excuses, her mind was actually working frantically, trying to think of how to write the rest of this story.

The leader gave her the task all of a sudden without informing her in advance, asking her to cooperate with him attentively.

It’s true...If her boss doesn’t pay her enough, she won’t do this kind of work.

However, her leader has given her a lot recently, and has taken good care of her career and emotions. Even if Ye Qingzhi wants to return the favor, she cannot leave him empty-handed when the leader has something to ask for.

But, the leader suddenly said that this story alluded to the correspondence between the emperor and the empress. What exactly did it mean and what purpose did it achieve? !

What I hate most at work is that the instructions from the leader are vague and you have to guess what he means.

Okay, I've guessed it. When you make a plan and ask him to push it forward, he insists on waiting and following up. He doesn't say anything and doesn't offer any constructive suggestions!

Such a leader can drive workers crazy, and make people want to give him a big thumbs-up (but they can only think about it in their minds).

Ye Qingzhi was still clear that her leader would arrange everything clearly for her to do.

Emergencies like this are rare.

It is estimated that her leader did not think clearly before telling this story. He was trying to persuade the Emperor not to be pen pals with the Empress to avoid being abused all the time (this matter was only known to the Grand Steward, she and the Crown Prince).

Or should we give the emperor a false love story to encourage his aging heart not to be afraid of setbacks and to bravely pursue love?

In fact, Ye Qingzhi thinks that love for the elderly is to find a partner with whom they can chat.

The two of them can reminisce about the past together, understand each other's funny and painful points of the past era, and there is no generation gap in communication. They no longer feel lonely from the bottom of their hearts, and they no longer feel that they are being eliminated by the times.

The two of them can also accompany each other, and someone can always be by their side when they have a headache or a fever.

Children are unreliable. Even though they are filial, they also have their own lives to deal with, and often they don’t have the time to accompany you even if you want to.

Of course, for the emperor, what he lacks is not care, not someone to accompany him day and night, but the kind of spiritual resonance and confidant, an equal and evenly matched feeling.

Although the emperor is supreme and respected by everyone, he is indeed a lonely man. It is difficult for him to open up to others and for people to get close to him.

Neither the former queen nor the other women in the harem could give him this kind of resonance and sense of intimacy.

Just like her and Xie Jin, she was able to win Xie Jin's heart and be cherished and valued by him because she did this, giving him a sense of soul resonance and allowing him to get the emotional value he needed from her.

So, she supported the ambiguous relationship between the emperor and the empress, a pair of elderly people.

That's right, because the emperor was hit hard by the truth that happened back then, he has been in a state of irritability and anger. He can't calm down at all and not only does he have tantrums from time to time, he also engages in some childish "revenge" on the empress.

In short, the emperor's childish mentality now firmly prevails, overwhelms reason, maturity and other emotions.

This made the people around the emperor very uncomfortable, and the chief steward was the most uncomfortable.

There are also the eunuchs and palace maids who serve the emperor. They work in a high-pressure environment all the time, and their mental tension is extremely high. They also feel very overwhelmed.

Needless to say, the prince couldn't bear it anymore.

Ye Qingzhi instantly analyzed the various reasons and the current situation in her mind, and she almost understood how to tell this story.

"Master Ye, you can go ahead and tell me what's going on. I'm also curious and want to hear what happens next."

The emperor immediately urged.

"Your Majesty, this is the little story I made up. If you want to listen, I will continue..."

While Ye Qingzhi was talking nonsense, she was thinking about how to tell the story.

It’s really made up!