After the eldest sister-in-law of a fishing family became a widow, her disabled younger brother-in-l

On their way to the palace for court, the officials whispered amongst themselves, all discussing who the woman who had been brought into the palace the day before really was.

"Lord Zhou, have you heard about what happened yesterday?"

Several ministers gathered around Zhou Wencheng, the Minister of Rites, and whispered, "His Majesty previously said that the ceremony for the investiture of the Empress would be held on the fifteenth of this month. Last night, news came from the palace that His Majesty had brought back a woman. It seems that this woman is His Majesty's chosen Empress."

At this point, the minister lowered his voice even further, "Does Lord Zhou know whose daughter this is?"

Hearing this, Zhou Wencheng, the Minister of Rites, sighed. "When I heard the news yesterday, I sent people out to inquire. In the capital, all the well-known families have daughters of marriageable age who are staying at home safely. I have never heard of any young lady being taken into the palace."

At this point, Zhou Wencheng's thoughts turned somewhat worried. "His Majesty was away from the capital for more than ten days in a row. I'm afraid that woman is not from the capital."

Upon hearing this, the ministers began to discuss among themselves again. Zhou Wencheng waved his hand and said, "There's no need for you all to make such wild guesses. We can just ask her at the court meeting later, and we'll surely find out who that woman really is."

Song Jinglan sat upright on the dragon throne in the main hall. After the officials had paid their respects, Zhou Wencheng, the Minister of Rites, was the first to raise a question.

"Your Majesty, last month Your Majesty mentioned that the investiture ceremony for the Empress would be held on the fifteenth of this month. Now that the investiture is imminent, I wonder if Your Majesty could reveal the identity of the Noble Lady to this humble subject so that we may make preparations in advance."

With the Minister of Rites' words, everyone held their breath, waiting for Song Jinglan's reply, and he certainly lived up to expectations, slowly opening his mouth.

“Minister Zhou and I are truly of one mind. I just happened to be announcing this matter at the court meeting today, and Minister Zhou asked about it.”

Song Jinglan said calmly, "Just as you said, with the Empress's investiture imminent, I should also announce the Empress's identity. My Empress does not come from a distinguished family; she is the eldest daughter of the Jiang family of Jinling, Jiang Yuyue."

Jinling? The Jiang family?

The ministers all had different expressions. Anyone who had been an official for a while could recall the turmoil of the Prince Ning case four years ago.

The case at that time also involved Xie Yunqi, who was the son-in-law of the emperor, and wasn't the eldest daughter of the Jiang family in Jinling Xie Yunqi's previous wife?!

Why did Your Majesty choose such a woman to be your Empress?!

Zhou Wencheng's expression was slightly subtle. He really didn't expect that the empress Song Jinglan had chosen would be Jiang Yuyue. But even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to mention that Jiang Yuyue had been married before. So even if he wanted to object, he could only bring up her background.

"Your Majesty! Please reconsider this matter before acting."

Zhou Wencheng bowed and immediately said, "Jiang Yuyue comes from a merchant family. Since the founding of our Wanqi Kingdom, there has never been any reason to make a merchant's daughter the empress. The empress is the mother of the country, and a woman of dignified status must be chosen to serve as empress!"

With Zhou Wencheng setting the precedent, the other officials followed suit, but dared not oppose too vehemently. They could only offer some roundabout "compromise" suggestions. Only Jiang Feili stood leisurely among the officials, showing no intention of speaking.

"If Your Majesty is truly fond of this woman, there is no need to elevate her to Empress. Even making her a Consort would be fine. The position of Empress should still belong to a noble lady from an official family. We must not allow foreigners to laugh at us!"

"..."

The court officials offered a cacophony of suggestions, all essentially expressing their dissatisfaction with the decision to make Jiang Yuyue empress and wanting Song Jinglan to retract her appointment. Song Jinglan, however, remained silent, listening quietly until the ministers sensed the awkward atmosphere and gradually quieted down.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Song Jinglan slowly spoke, "Have all of you ministers finished speaking?"

Although Song Jinglan's words were devoid of emotion, they made all the ministers extremely nervous. Zhou Wencheng's forehead was already covered in a thin layer of sweat. Seeing that no one spoke, Song Jinglan turned his gaze to Jiang Feili in the crowd.

"Jiang Feili, what's your opinion on this matter?"

Upon seeing Jiang Feili being called out, everyone's attention turned to him. As always, he acted nonchalantly, taking a step forward but not answering Song Jinglan's question. Instead, he looked at Zhou Wencheng.

"Just now, I heard Lord Zhou say that this Jiang family daughter comes from a merchant family and her status is not commensurate with that of the royal family. Therefore, Lord Zhou feels that it is inappropriate to make this Jiang family daughter the empress?"

Faced with such a question, Zhou Wencheng could only nod in agreement, "That's exactly right."

Jiang Feili clicked his tongue and said, "That's really strange. They say heroes don't care about their origins. If I remember correctly, Lord Zhou is also from a poor family. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have such deep prejudices about social status. Why is he now so concerned about status?"

These words made Zhou Wencheng's face flush red and then pale, and he stammered for a long time, unable to squeeze out a complete sentence, "This..."

Upon witnessing this scene, Song Jinglan's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. This was something he had agreed with Jiang Feili yesterday—to speak on Jiang Yuyue's behalf in court. He hadn't expected that this man's eloquence had improved so much.

"No rudeness."

Seeing Zhou Wencheng's flustered expression, Song Jinglan spoke up to stop him, and then continued, "However, he did make a good point. Not all of you ministers here come from aristocratic families. I have always appointed people based on merit, regardless of their background. Naturally, this applies to the selection of the Empress as well. The reason I have chosen this Jiang family girl is because of her character."

Upon hearing this, the ministers were not entirely convinced, but Song Jinglan continued unhurriedly, "Previously, the Southern Zhao Kingdom repeatedly invaded, and Shuozhou City was almost completely destroyed, and the people were all displaced. However, my Wanqi has been at war for years, and with the previous rebellions of the Prince of Ding and the Prince of Liang, the national treasury is empty. Even if we wanted to help the people of Shuozhou, we would be powerless to do so."

"It was thanks to the Jiang family that they voluntarily donated most of their wealth to the national treasury, which has relieved my immediate crisis."

At this point, Song Jinglan paused again, "Of course, the Jiang family's good deeds go far beyond this."