After New Year’s Eve had passed, the auspicious day chosen by His Majesty finally arrived. This matter, after all, was somewhat improper to mention during court sessions, so after court was dismissed, Li Yue summoned a few officials who were rather renowned in the literary circles to the Zichen Hall, saying he had a good thing for them to look at.
Thus, these few ministers, under the envious gaze of their colleagues, held their heads high and walked briskly toward Zichen Hall.
Inside Zichen Hall, Meng Fu was sitting by the window writing a book, while Li Yue sat behind the table handling memorials. When he saw them come in, he put down his brush and said, “Recently, I read a book and thought it was quite good. I wanted to share it with you beloved ministers for a look.”
The few officials were momentarily stunned. What kind of book could receive such praise from His Majesty? And even be personally shared with them?
It must surely be a stunning masterpiece!
Some time earlier, Li Yue had ordered the palace staff to make several transcriptions of Meng Yanxing’s book. He lifted his hand, and the palace servants came forward with the books, handing one copy to each of the ministers.
They looked down, only to see the cover boldly bearing two large characters: “Male Virtue” (男德).
“Quickly, take a look. After reading, tell Us what you think,” Li Yue urged.
The several officials, with great reverence and high regard, opened the “masterpiece” in their hands—but after reading just two lines, their facial features scrunched up. What was this thing?!
The Nu Jie (女诫) began with the statement that women are humble and weak, while the first section of Male Virtue opened with the claim that men are filthy. Meng Yanxing had thoroughly implemented Meng Fu’s request to “lower oneself” in every possible way. The book wrote that when a man saw a woman on the street, he should quickly step aside to avoid offending her. It further said that men lacked restraint and were too indulgent, and thus should hand over silver and money to the women of the household for management—this was the true way of maintaining a household. They must tidy up their image, learn to please their wives, and only then could the family be harmonious. In short, each line was more absurd than the last.
The few ministers only managed two pages before they felt physically unwell—but with His Majesty watching from above, they had no choice but to grimace and finish reading the entire Male Virtue with distorted expressions.
In their entire lives, they had never read a book this terrible!
After reading, one of them flipped back to the first page, wanting to know which idiot had written such a thing—only to see, written there in large characters, the name: Meng Yanxing.
In an instant, the minds of all the officials contained only a single thought: Has Meng Yanxing gone mad?! Did someone dig out his brain to write this nonsense?
Among the group was Meng Yanxing’s archenemy, Li Wan. Ever since the imperial wedding, he had teased Meng Yanxing several more times, and every time he recalled Meng Yanxing’s reactions, he could laugh for a good while. But now, standing here looking at this Male Virtue, Li Wan finally felt a flicker of remorse. He began to reflect on whether, at that palace banquet, he had gone too far and provoked Meng Yanxing too badly—was that why he had written this?
“Beloved ministers, what do you think of this book?” Li Yue asked. Though he hadn’t finished reading it himself, judging from their expressions, it must be extremely good.
“Utter nonsense, all of it is utter nonsense! Your Majesty, this Meng Yanxing must have lost his mind to write something like this!” Minister of Rites Zhang Songzhi lost his composure, his face full of fury.
Li Yue raised his head and looked at Zhang Songzhi, his voice sinking: “Is that so? Yet We feel that he wrote it very well. We not only want you to read it, We also want the entire world to read it!”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Songzhi felt darkness cloud his vision. What kind of taste was this His Majesty had?! Fearing Zhang Songzhi might say something inappropriate, Li Wan quickly stepped forward and cut in, saying: “Your Majesty, a gentleman’s conduct has already been clearly prescribed in the writings of the sages. There is truly no need for this Male Virtue.”
By the window, Meng Fu set down her pen and turned her head to ask softly: “Lord Li, I feel the sages’ texts lack sufficient guidelines on the behavior of men within the household.”
Li Wan frowned and said, “Your Highness, this has always been the way since ancient times.”
Meng Fu asked, “But Lord Li, just because it has always been so, does that make it right?”
She paused for a moment, then continued: “In the past, people ate raw meat and wore bird feathers and animal hides. Why is it now that they pursue silk garments and fine food? In the past, there was no Nu Jie, yet today women are guided by Nu Jie and have become more thorough in their conduct. It shows that this world progresses bit by bit. As for this Male Virtue, though it did not exist before, it can exist now. Years later, people will come to understand the benefits of this book.”
Before Li Wan could open his mouth, Li Yue slapped the table and said, “Empress, you don’t need to explain to them. We just think this Male Virtue (《男德》) is very well written—on par with Nu Jie (《女诫》). Since women have such a fine book like Nu Jie, men must not fall behind—they should also have a Male Virtue!”
For a moment, the officials in the hall couldn’t help but feel confused. Were these two being sarcastic, or did they genuinely think this book was good?
Li Wan stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, “Your Majesty, this matter carries great weight. Why not keep it for discussion at tomorrow’s court session?”
“What kind of important matter is this?” Li Yue’s expression darkened. “We know that scholars are often jealous of one another. You mustn’t be jealous of Meng Yanxing just because he wrote such a good essay!”
Jealous of Meng Yanxing?
Heaven and earth bear witness—in the days of the former emperor, they had indeed occasionally been jealous of Meng Yanxing. But this time, absolutely not!
If Meng Yanxing were kidnapped right now, they would risk their lives to rescue him—but please don’t write things like this and bring ruin upon them, all right?
Li Yue completely ignored their faces—each looking like they were about to throw up—and simply said: “In ancient times, Ban Zhao authored Nu Jie and was honored as Madame Cao. Now, in the present day, Meng Yanxing has written Male Virtue—it’s only fitting that you call him Master Meng, is it not?”
Li Wan’s face immediately turned black. Damn it—what kind of era is this? Master Meng?! Might as well send him to the grave instead!
His mind spun rapidly, guessing at the Emperor’s intentions. No matter what, he could not allow his archenemy to truly become a revered sage admired by all. What’s more, he himself had nearly ten wives and concubines at home—if Male Virtue were to be implemented, there would be absolutely no benefit to him. Since His Majesty kept comparing Male Virtue to Nu Jie, then the only path was to discard Nu Jie as well.
Having thought it through, Li Wan immediately said, “Your Majesty, this humble official believes Nu Jie is unworthy of high scholarly halls. And this Male Virtue is the same! If a person were to be called a great master simply by writing a piece like this, the world would only laugh.”
Li Yue sneered and said, “The book that all the women of the world are required to study—you say it is unworthy?”
Li Wan said, “Just as Her Majesty the Empress said, even the words of sages can contain mistakes. If it was wrong before, it’s not too late to correct it now.”
Upon hearing Li Wan mention the Empress, Li Yue’s expression softened slightly. He turned and looked at Meng Fu, who was sitting by the window, and asked her: “A’Fu, what do you think?”
Meng Fu thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, I believe this still depends on the public’s reaction. If the common people feel that Nu Jie is not good, then there is no need for Male Virtue; but if the people feel that Nu Jie has merit, then Male Virtue does as well.”
At this point, Li Wan and the others finally fully understood the intentions of the Emperor and Empress—Male Virtue was never truly about the men. It was born because of Nu Jie.
But even though they understood, they had no choice but to abandon Nu Jie. After all, given His Majesty’s temperament, he truly might promote Male Virtue across the land—and in that case, the only one who would benefit in the end would be Meng Yanxing.
They had to strangle this whole matter in its cradle—they had to make Male Virtue into a laughingstock. And to achieve that goal, Nu Jie would have to be dragged down with it.
These men were all influential figures in the literary world. Eight out of ten scholars in the land were their disciples. If they fully resisted books like Nu Jie, then this trend should die out within a few years.
In truth, from the moment the Empress became involved in state affairs, they should have seen this day coming.
“This humble official understands.” After weighing the pros and cons, the several officials all spoke in unison.
“Good, as long as you understand.” Li Yue nodded. Then, after a moment of thought, he added, “This Male Virtue by Meng Yanxing was not easy to write. You all had better not go jump him in an alley.”