My eunuch An is a yandere

Although no one echoed King Jing's words, everyone actually agreed. They were all waiting for Bai Ningwei to become angry and lose her defense so they could regain control of the game and win the match.

"It seems you all agree with what Prince Jing said, that all women are stupid."

Yao Yuanying stood up.

"Queen Dowager, calm down. Prince Jing did not mean that. It's just that men are superior to women and husbands are the wife's iron will. This is the rule that Nuwa created mankind at the beginning of the world. Women should be gentle, respectful and frugal, and not be too aggressive."

Yao Yuanying's words were implicitly implying that she was abusing her status as the empress dowager to act arrogantly and was overbearing and unreasonable.

Bai Ningwei ignored him and dealt with King Jing first.

"I'm not angry, I just vaguely remember that Prince Jing's mother was Consort Shujia."

As soon as these words were spoken, King Jing's face immediately turned red. He wanted to embarrass Bai Ningwei, but he was slapped in the face instead and became a laughing stock.

But it's not over yet.

"I didn't realize that all the ministers present here are legitimate sons and grandsons of the family. Are there no illegitimate sons or collateral branches?"

They all checked their names, and those who were not legitimate sons quietly lowered their heads. They had a premonition that the Queen Mother's next words would be very damaging.

"You're a bunch of people who keep quoting the words of saints, yet you look down on and belittle women. Aren't you just indirectly cursing your mothers? Doesn't that count as unfilial?"

Filial piety is more important than anything else, and no one would accept being labeled as such.

"The Queen Mother is wrong. Prince Jing's words are inappropriate and completely different from what the Queen Mother said."

"What? Degrading your own woman isn't the same as insulting your own mother? Then let's put it another way. Since women are stupid and lowly in your eyes, why do you take concubines and give birth to children with lowly people?"

This remark made many people feel like they had been slapped in the face. Bastards already had a low status in the family, and they had finally made it through their own efforts. Now that their scars were exposed, it hurt.

"Continuing the family line is a matter of course. Queen Mother, please don't be unreasonable."

"What nonsense? You're asking women you look down upon to have children. Isn't that just being hypocritical?"

Everyone was confused for a moment, not understanding what it meant to be both responsible and upright. After a while, someone finally figured it out, and immediately became so angry that his face turned red, but he couldn't utter a word.

Then more people reacted, opened and closed their mouths, but couldn't say anything to refute.

Bai Ningwei sneered.

"Every one of you is a hypocrite. You suppress and demean women, yet you crawled out of a woman's belly, fed on milk made from her bones and blood, and grew up learning everything from your first steps to your first words. Which one of you didn't learn from women? You look down on women. Why didn't your esteemed father raise you after you were born?"

"Since ancient times, people have embraced grandchildren rather than sons."

Some people stubbornly tried to make amends and save face, but were criticized again.

"If I don't have any sons, how can I have any grandsons? Without the stupid women you perceive, how many of them would be alive today and stand here to tell me that men are superior to women?"

"I heard that some places don't even let women sit at the table to eat. You really are too masculine."

Bai Ningwei trailed off after the last sentence, and no one besides Wang Xi could hear it clearly. But the first sentence struck a chord with some people. They hadn't noticed anything wrong with it before, and they still didn't feel anything wrong with it now.

But it seems that this matter needs to be changed, at least before the Queen Mother forgets it.

"Hmph, now that we've come to this, I'd be sorry for wasting all my time with you today if I didn't do something. Where are the people from the Ministry of Rites?"

"The minister is here."

Lord Wang, who was named, stood up, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, not knowing what he was about to face.

"Starting today, count all the successful Jinshi candidates, tracing back to the previous year. All successful Jinshi candidates whose widowed mothers raised them will have their mothers awarded the title of Glorious Mother. For Jinshi candidates in the top three, the local county magistrate will reward them with a wedding banquet on their widowed mother's birthday each year. For Jinshi candidates in the second place, the local county magistrate will reward their widowed mother with a wedding banquet and cloth on their birthday. For Jinshi candidates in the first place, the local county magistrate will reward their widowed mother with a wedding banquet, cloth, and ten taels of silver."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. They had thought the Queen Mother, so enraged, would issue some embarrassing decree. It turned out to be merely a reward for the widowed mother, which was understandable. Anyone who objected would likely become a public enemy.

You have to know that most of the top three Jinshi are waiting for vacancies in the reserve army, and some will never get a position in their entire lives. This honor may not bring much benefit, but it can remind the family of their past glory, which is very important.

Therefore, this matter was directly approved by default, and the ministers felt that although the young empress dowager had a strong personality, her vision was limited, and they would be able to find ways to restrain her in the future.

Bai Ningwei, however, knew that improving the status of women in this world would not happen overnight. Fortunately, the first decree passed smoothly. Once there's one, there's another. Like a frog in boiling water, who knows who will prevail in the future?

The court resumed its proceedings, and Bai Ningwei remained silent. She listened as the others commented on the new emperor's accession to the throne, urging caution against northern barbarians who might exploit the emperor's youth and launch a large-scale attack during the winter. Then the Ministry of Revenue jumped in, claiming they had no money. The generals also joined in, accusing the civil servants of being completely incompetent, inaction, and shameless.

After finally making it to the end, Bai Ningwei carried Xiao Qi back to Qingning Palace. She had moved her palace today, and by now, she was almost done packing.

Not only was the palace bigger, but there were also many more palace maids, all busy coming and going.

She called Hezi and asked him to announce that Princess Xiao Yuaner had come to the palace. She then turned and went to the study and added Fuzi's name to the list of concubines.

The reason why Fuzi was chosen by Anjiu to be her substitute was that Fuzi wanted to get rid of her identity as a lowest-ranking palace maid, but Anjiu used her as a handle against her and she had to be invisible for more than three years.

Now she has finally gotten what she wanted, and in return she has obtained the status of a little concubine, with someone to serve her and a life of wealth and prosperity.

Her family could not be forgotten either, so her father resigned immediately and went to Beijing to enjoy the title of marquis. Her mother was granted an imperial decree, and Bai Liangchuan was suddenly made the crown prince.

By the time she finished dealing with these trivial matters, Xiao Yuan'er had also arrived.

"See Queen Mother."

After nearly a year of marriage, Xiao Yuan'er has changed a lot, and her every move and gesture has become much more calm.

"Come and sit."

"How are you and your husband doing lately? Are you getting along well?"

Xiao Yuan'er held the tea bowl and scraped off the foam, avoiding answering.

Bai Ningwei did not ask any further questions. She knew something about Xiao Yuaner's marriage. Their sweetness lasted only half a year before a rift arose between them.

Although the consort was a direct descendant of the Cui clan, he wasn't from the eldest son's family. Xiao Yuan'er's mother-in-law didn't have the grace and skill of a clan member. Ever since the imperial decree granting the marriage came down, she'd been eyeing the princess's dowry. While they were in a state of intense affection, she asked Xiao Yuan'er for two shops.

Xiao Yuan'er was very happy at the time and gave it away generously. However, the good times didn't last long. During the New Year, the prince consort said he had a lot of social engagements and hadn't returned home for several nights. Xiao Yuan'er was no longer the ignorant little girl in her previous life, so she sent someone to investigate.

After checking, she found out that it was true that the prince consort was entertaining people, but it was in a brothel, and he was using the money he earned from the two shops she had rented out.

How could Xiao Yuan'er tolerate this? She closed the shop, drove away the shopkeeper who was forced in by her mother-in-law, and arrested the prince consort and made him kneel down as punishment.

Since then, the relationship between the two has dropped to freezing point and has not eased yet.

Bai Ningwei summoned her to the palace this time not to comfort her, but to give her something to do. If she could enjoy having something to do from now on, wouldn't she be able to become her right-hand man?