Wang Dao sighed, “This shows your decisions are still consistent – it’s just a matter of profit. But you must know, besides profit in this world, there should also be virtue. How can all the world’s benefits belong entirely to your family? When they’re your daughters-in-law, the conferral should go to the husband’s family; when they’re your daughters, the conferral should go to your natal family.”

“Alas, sages measure others by themselves – heart by heart, feeling by feeling, kind by kind. You cannot achieve sagehood, but you shouldn’t obscure your own conscience and do things that only benefit yourselves while harming others.” Wang Dao sighed, “As Regional Inspector of Yangzhou, this official feels deeply ashamed.”

Those standing in the hall turned red-faced and were all ashamed.

Among the onlookers outside, someone shouted, “Inspector, this commoner has something to say.”

Wang Dao immediately invited him in.

A young man entered, dressed in patched clothing but not at all timid. After reaching the hall, he knelt down.

Wang Dao asked kindly, “What do you have to say?”

The man said, “From a child’s birth to maturity, the first three years require adults to care for them day and night. After three years, they need to be taught how to conduct themselves. After another four years, they must be sent to school to learn reading and writing. For a student who wants to become an official, just three years of schooling is insufficient. In all this, the family that raised them contributed the most – whether the child is male or female, it’s the same.”

Wang Dao nodded.

“Since biological parents contribute the most, when a woman becomes an official and requests patent conferrals, naturally it should prioritize biological parents. This is filial piety. The reason people argue is because morality has declined over the years. People in society only calculate gains and losses by profit, forgetting virtue. Today I ask the Inspector to petition upward on our behalf, to settle this matter and correct the social customs.”

The people outside all agreed, believing this young man spoke correctly. Wang Dao waved his hand grandly and agreed, immediately having someone bring pen and ink to write a letter on the spot and submit it.

This matter was witnessed by Yangzhou’s aristocratic families. Someone immediately wrote an essay and sent it to a printing house.

The printing house immediately published it upon seeing it. Because the essay was excellent, not only did the author become famous nationwide and become a renowned scholar, even that young man immediately became a model of morality.

Wang Dao took him in and recommended him to the court.

Because of this essay, the nationwide debate gained a direction. At this time, Fan Ying wrote an essay published in the official gazette, thoroughly settling the matter.

In the future, even if women married, when female officials requested patent conferrals for elders, they should prioritize their maternal family. This was filial piety and repaying the maternal family that raised them.

Once this theory was published, even more people nationwide voluntarily sent their daughters to school. Few still thought to hide girls away or force them to skip school and return home to work.

This was because escaping school couldn’t result in parents being punished. When enforcement officers came to the door, they would use the excuse that the child was unwilling to study to avoid punishment.

Now, such situations were greatly alleviated.

Chen Siniang placed the completed document to the side. Seeing a shadow cast on the ground, she looked up.

Fan Ying smiled slightly at her, waving the wine jar in her hand. “Drink?”

Chen Siniang smiled faintly. Rising and extinguishing the lamp, she walked over. Just as she was reaching for the wine, her gaze passed over Fan Ying’s shoulder to see Zhao Hanzhang standing under the tree in the courtyard below. Her expression changed slightly. She immediately stuffed the wine back into Fan Ying’s arms and stepped forward to bow.

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, saying, “No need for such formality. Can’t you see? I’m currently wearing casual clothes.”

Fan Ying, carrying the wine, followed behind. “This wine is from His Majesty.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Come, let’s find a quiet place to drink.”

Chen Siniang said, “…Your Majesty, it’s already late. How can you leave the palace?”

“I leave the palace often enough. We’re still within the Imperial City – what’s there to fear?”

A moment later, the three of them climbed onto the roof of the Ministry of Rites. They chose the Ministry of Rites naturally because they were already in its courtyard.

Fan Ying had followed Zhao Hanzhang campaigning north and south these years and had also trained in martial arts, so climbing roofs was no problem for her. She had just sat down and was about to pull Chen Siniang up when Zhao Hanzhang had already supported her waist and half-carried her, lightly stepping across the tiles to leap up…

Fan Ying looked at Chen Siniang with some jealousy and deliberately shifted position to let Zhao Hanzhang sit in the middle.

Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t polite either. She leaped down from the roof, gathered up the three wine jars on the stone table in one embrace, stepped on the wall to leap back up, and landed lightly between the two of them, stuffing a jar into each of their hands.

Chen Siniang held the wine and asked, “Don’t you feel cold?”

Zhao Hanzhang and Fan Ying shook their heads together. “When it’s cold, we’ll drink wine. Look at these stars filling the sky – the Imperial City is so quiet. It’s perfect for boasting and heart-to-heart talks.”

Chen Siniang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Your Majesty…”

She peeled off the cloth wrapping the wine jar and only then discovered the jar was warm – clearly it had been heated.

Though His Majesty was thoughtful, she definitely didn’t have the patience to heat wine herself.

Her gaze swept downward and she finally spotted Ting He and several female attendants in the shadows by the courtyard gate. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Zeng Yue and the guards must also be hidden nearby; she just hadn’t found them.

Fan Ying opened her wine jar and first took a deep breath of the wine’s fragrance. “Come, let’s toast our jars together first.”

Zhao Hanzhang also opened her jar and clinked it with hers. Chen Siniang reminded them, “Don’t get drunk.”

Fan Ying said, “Tomorrow is a rest day. Even if we get drunk, what does it matter?”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in agreement. She didn’t need to attend court tomorrow either.

Chen Siniang lowered her head and took a sip of wine. Not skilled at drinking, she choked momentarily and coughed twice. She felt for her person but didn’t find a handkerchief. Zhao Hanzhang handed her one.

Chen Siniang took it and wiped away the tears from coughing, saying softly, “Your Majesty need not worry about me. To achieve such results, this subject would die ten thousand deaths willingly – what’s mere gossip?”

“When Your Majesty rescued me from the chaos that year, countless people pointed fingers and gossiped about me. Later, when I left Xiping following Your Majesty, countless people questioned and disdained me to my face. Even my parents and brothers refused to acknowledge me. Now they gossip while avoiding me – what do I have to fear?”

Zhao Hanzhang drank a mouthful of wine, looking at the starry sky overhead. “Everyone argues, but they forget this patent conferral was requested by my Marquis Xuande and naturally represents the Marquis’s wishes. Yet no one thought to ask the Marquis’s opinion.”

She extended her wine jar. “I hope that one day in the future, all daughters under heaven can be free – able to confer grace on family members according to their own wishes rather than being constrained by law.”

Chen Siniang and Fan Ying clinked jars with her together. “Your Majesty’s wish will surely be realized.”

The three drank freely, draining half their jars in one go.

This jar of wine was like a beverage to Zhao Hanzhang, but for Chen Siniang and Fan Ying, the aftereffects were powerful. When they were helped down from the roof, both could barely stand steady.

Zhao Hanzhang called over female guards and ordered them to safely escort the two home before carrying her own wine jar and slowly walking back.

When she walked back to Deyang Hall, a breeze happened to pass. The sky was very bright, making the ground seem covered with a layer of white frost. Zhao Hanzhang suddenly turned to look at the sky and saw the celestial curtain above, the Milky Way pouring down, stars filling the sky sparkling like gems facing the sunlight.

Among the multitude of stars, one shone extremely bright – dazzlingly so. Yet the stars around it were not inferior, twinkling and emitting their own light.

—