Chapter 272
[Master knows that marrying cousins within three generations is considered inbreeding. But you don't know that in Dongyi, marriages between brothers and sisters are common occurrences.]
"Are their tastes that heavy? Is it because there are no attractive men and women in other Dongyi families, or does the Dongyi royal family just prefer this and insist on keeping it all within the family?"
[Because the Dongyi royal family wants to maintain the purity of their bloodline, they generally do not marry outsiders.
Matsuyama's father is also his uncle, and his mother is also his aunt.
Among his siblings, some are his paternal cousins, and some are his maternal cousins.
Half the reason Matsuyama was able to represent Dongyi as an envoy to Dayan this time is that he is among the taller ones of his brothers.]
Not even 1.6 meters tall is considered tall? Then wouldn't the short ones be dwarf-sized!
Yue Fuguang silently counted on her fingers, and the others, one by one, silently tried to sort out the complicated family tree.
Hiss!
Yue Fuguang suppressed the urge to click her tongue and spoke to the system, "Little Zhu, are they trying to keep their short-melon genes from spreading?
How awfully kind of them!"
Let alone the others, even the system could hear the thick sarcasm in her voice.
The crowd nodded silently. Speaking of nobility, across the six nations, who could compare to the Junior Preceptor, who was like an immortal descending to earth?
Even their Dayan royal family would have to step back a bowshot's distance in comparison.
[That's not it. After all, Dongyi is a small country, and you can hardly find anyone tall on the island. It's been better these past few years, but twenty years ago, Dongyi was full of short melons under 1.5 meters rolling all over the place.]
"Why has it gotten better these years? Did they eat swelling agents and undergo genetic mutation?"
This was the second time tonight the crowd heard the Junior Preceptor mention the word 'gene.' Although they didn't understand what it meant, they felt it was something extremely important.
[It's not a genetic mutation, but genetic improvement by bringing in excellent breeds!]
"Little Zhu, elaborate on how they brought in breeds for improvement?"
[Master, twenty years ago, when Emperor Mingxi's father, the old Emperor, was still on the throne, the new Emperor of Dongyi, Emon, carefully selected among the five nations and ultimately chose Dayan, which had excellent conditions in all aspects, as their breeding... seed-borrowing base!]
Yue Fuguang didn't react much, but upon hearing the words 'seed-borrowing,' many of the Dayan ministers in the hall dropped their teacups to the ground with a clatter.
The sound of each was small, but there were so many of them!
Emperor Mingxi frowned. Weren't his trusted ministers being a bit too unsteady? It was just seed-borrowing; was there a need for such a huge reaction?
It wasn't as if they were borrowing their seed, so why get so worked up?
Even though he was displeased, in order not to expose anything, he still had to cover for them!
Emperor Mingxi, full of smiles, said to the Empress beside him, "It seems our beloved ministers have had quite a bit to drink tonight; they can't even hold their teacups steady."
The Empress also smiled and said, "Today is our Imperial Son's big wedding day. The lords are happy, so it is inevitable they drank a little too much. I have already ordered the attendants to brew hangover soup.
I will have someone deliver it to the gentlemen right away."
Emperor Mingxi nodded in appreciation and said, "My beloved Empress is very thoughtful!"
As he spoke, he even took the Empress's hand, looking like a deeply affectionate couple.
Yue Fuguang said, "I hope the Emperor can consistently maintain his respect for the Empress, and not spoil another one like Zhou Yunxin and the Ninth Prince in a few days.
He's already in his early forties; wouldn't it be better to just focus on his career?"
"With the current development of Great Yan, Emperor Mingxi's posthumous title might not be Emperor Yanmin as it was in the original timeline."
Emperor Yanmin!
Emperor Yanmin!
Min means pity and sympathy! Min means compassion and sorrow!
Emperor Mingxi's happiness lasted less than three seconds before he was utterly stunned by the posthumous title of Emperor Yanmin!
Although he was prepared for the fact that, while he wasn't the ruler who lost the nation, the blame for Great Yan's ultimate downfall would still be pinned on him by future scholars.
Not to mention he was poisoned by his own son; getting even an average posthumous title would be a blessing.
But he never expected that his posthumous title would contain so much pity!
For an emperor to be pitied by his own ministers and future generations, Emperor Mingxi felt his old face burning with shame!
Everyone in the hall silently lowered their heads. They didn't know if they would still be around when His Majesty passed away.
Or if they would have a hand in drafting this posthumous title...
Emperor Mingxi, who was almost fainting from anger, hadn't thought of this yet. He secretly clenched his fists. The Junior Preceptor was right; he needed to focus on his career. He refused to believe that if he expanded the territories and vigorously developed civil administration,
he couldn't earn a posthumous title related to civil or martial greatness after his death!
While the infuriated Emperor Mingxi secretly cheered himself on, the two ancestors over there, having lit the fire, had already shifted the topic back.
"Little Zhu, who in the Great Yan capital has been... you know?"
Her bright eyes swept over the officials in the hall. Those caught in her gaze inexplicably felt a bad premonition. Were they going to lose their reputations in their old age?!
All the men present, except for Emperor Mingxi, silently prayed to all the gods and Buddhas for protection. They shrank their bodies to minimize their presence, wishing they could be as petite and exquisite as Matsuyama right now.
They forgot, however, that the current topic was sparked precisely by the petite and exquisite Matsuyama.
Unfortunately, running into Yue Fuguang meant even the gods and Buddhas couldn't save them.
Ask and you shall receive. Just as everyone feared, the Junior Preceptor had no intention of letting them off. Yue Fuguang's teasing and curious voice reached their ears: "Has anyone among the civil and military officials fallen for it?"
Compared to the Junior Preceptor's teasing curiosity, the Divine Artifact's voice was even more cheerful and gloating: "Master, of course there are, and more than one!"
Not only were there some, but more than one!
The sovereign and ministers of Great Yan collectively gasped, the hairs on their bodies standing on end!
They looked at each other, their eyes revealing only one question: Is it you?
Everyone shook their heads in unison, like they were performing a pantomime. If it weren't for the prop wine cups in their hands, onlookers would have thought they were possessed or having a seizure!
Not me!
It is you!
The crowd remained silent but locked in a stalemate. People who were just acting like best brothers and chatting merrily over tea now wanted to throw the blame onto each other. The little boat of friendship capsized just like that!
"Then tell me, who exactly is it?"
Who was it? Before the Divine Artifact could start its socially fatal roll call, some of the guilty ones were already on the verge of a heart attack!
On such a joyous day, did they really have to discuss such a cursed topic?
The crowd looked toward their Emperor, but Emperor Mingxi turned his head to bond with the Empress.
They then looked at the protagonist of this wedding banquet, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. If His Majesty will not intervene, will you not step up and do something, Your Highness?
The Crown Prince copied his father and silently lowered his head. Intervene?
How could he intervene? With what?
And who would dare to intervene?
If they didn't let these two ancestors enjoy their gossip to the fullest, they would become the gossip themselves! They would be stripped down until not even their underwear was left!
Although they had pretty much already been stripped to the point of losing their underwear long ago, being repeatedly dragged out and beaten like dead horses was still unacceptable!
Anyone with a shred of self-respect wouldn't be able to stand this for a second.
Shen Junshu silently watched the subtle exchanges of glances among the people in the room. For some reason, she felt an inexplicable surge of excitement.
Her pretty face flushed a rosy pink from the thrill.
Seeing this, Xie Zhiyan assumed she had simply had too much to drink and quietly handed her a cup of sobering broth.
Shen Junshu cupped the broth in her hands, staring blankly ahead, just as the high-pitched voice of Lord Artifact rang out in her ears.