HMIME Chapter 60: Your grandfather does not agree with this marriage

However, making a man the Empress is not an easy task. Everything Chu Ya did, such as piling up merits on Bai Lu and elevating his status, only changed his humble background and lowly status. Bai Lu fundamentally remained a man, which was the most difficult hurdle to overcome. Throughout history, men who achieved merit were rewarded with titles and ranks, never with the position of Empress.

If a guard performed meritorious service, and the reward was directly to be made a certain high-ranking concubine, wouldn’t that be confusing? If meritorious service could lead to becoming a concubine, then the concubines in the palace wouldn’t need to compete for favor anymore. They might as well take up swords and go to the battlefield to gain merit and establish their careers.

Killing a hundred enemies earns the title of a concubine, killing a thousand earns the title of a noble concubine, killing ten thousand earns the title of Empress, guaranteeing the unification of the empire within three years.

Ironically, even though the Chu Dynasty wasn’t as oppressive or biased against women as in historical times, and marriage and marriage customs were relatively relaxed, being a feudal society, there was still some favoritism towards men over women. It was virtually impossible for women to go to war and achieve military merit.

However, when it came to the matter of appointing an Empress, it had become a requirement for it to be a woman, reversing the bias in favor of men.

When Chu Ya mentioned this matter during the morning court session, it immediately met with strong opposition from the courtiers.

Two highly respected old courtiers opposed it vehemently. In their eyes, appointing a male Empress not only violated customs but also went against morality, ignoring the norms and inviting divine punishment!

If it were just appointing a male consort, and His Majesty still favored other consorts and left descendants, it might have been acceptable. But considering the current situation, Chu Ya clearly intended to disband the harem after appointing an Empress.

How could a male Empress give birth to royal heirs? These two courtiers, who had been waiting anxiously for someone to give birth, finally had a wise and decisive monarch, and they didn’t want to see Chu Ya’s bloodline cut off in this generation.

These two eager-to-see-heirs old courtiers were not young anymore. Chu Ya originally intended to conceal this from Bai Lu and make a decision without consulting him, finding a reason to let them retire peacefully.

But after some thought, Bai Lu had become more astute now after experiencing many things. Though his intelligence hadn’t significantly improved, deceiving him would only lead to endless trouble. So Chu Ya decided to ask Bai Lu’s opinion first.

After pondering for a moment, Bai Lu asked, “Who are these two people? They must be important to the court. You can’t just dismiss them, you heartless boss.”

Chu Ya smiled helplessly, “It’s no coincidence. One of them is the current Prime Minister.”

“Prime Minister?”

Bai Lu didn’t react at first, but after a few seconds, he suddenly realized, “Wait a minute! Prime Minister? Isn’t that my mom’s current dad?”

The current Prime Minister, Bai Weihai, was sixty-eight years old. Bai Lin was his youngest daughter, with several older brothers. Being the youngest daughter, Bai Weihai doted on her excessively, treating her like the protagonist in a drama.

Bai Lu calculated their ages in his mind and couldn’t help but admire silently: Being able to father children at fifty, truly still vigorous in old age! The sword is still sharp even in old age!

But this situation was truly messed up. The generations were all mixed up. To summarize: My mom’s dad, who is also my maternal grandfather, is trying to prevent me from marrying my boss? It sounds like the plot of a fantasy drama.

Chu Ya tentatively asked, “So, what do you plan to do?”

He was very worried that Bai Lu might give up becoming his legitimate partner because of these obstacles, as Bai Lu didn’t seem to care much about these titles himself. He always felt that as long as they were together with open hearts, what did the rest matter? Titles were unnecessary, and he even found marriage troublesome.

But Chu Ya was different. His lifelong wish was to make Bai Lu his lawful lover, to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in a legitimate, indisputable identity, and he was willing to do whatever it took for that.

Bai Lu looked at Chu Ya and, as their eyes met, for once, he understood his intentions.

Bai Lu sighed softly and grasped Chu Ya’s hand with his palm. Though his hand was small, his fingers were delicate, and his palm couldn’t even fully envelop Chu Ya’s hand, the warmth transmitted between their skin was overwhelming, pulling one from the loneliness of deep autumn into springtime.

Chu Ya smiled, “Okay.”

With this smile, Bai Lu immediately locked onto it, unable to resist kissing him on the cheek in broad daylight, taking advantage of the moment, and then immediately sitting up straight again, solemnly saying, “I’ll try to handle the Prime Minister’s side. You just focus on dealing with the other one.”

Chu Ya hesitated slightly, “Can you handle it?”

Chu Ya loved him, but it didn’t stop him from doubting Bai Lu’s intelligence and abilities.

“I can’t.” Bai Lu said without hesitation, speaking frankly, “But my mom can.”

Chu Ya: “…”

When in doubt, call for mom. This was an eternal truth. Without delay, Bai Lu immediately went to the Lotus Pavilion to find his dear mother.

At this moment, Bai Lin was enjoying the autumn sunshine alone in the maple forest, leisurely eating grapes and admiring the red leaves.

She caught sight of Bai Lu and waved happily, calling him over, then took a plate of fresh, plump grapes and handed it to him.

Bai Lu waved it off, “Thanks, Mom, I’m not hungry.”

“I want you to peel them for me. I didn’t bring any maids with me today.”

Bai Lu: “Oh…”

He sat on the stone bench opposite Bai Lin, wiped his fingers with a handkerchief, and began to peel the grapes for her. As he peeled, he cautiously said, “Mom, I want to discuss something with you.”

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“Well, there hasn’t been anything major recently, so I and Chu Ya are planning to get married…”

“Oh, getting married…” Bai Lin’s hand, which was holding the grapes, suddenly stopped, her almond eyes widening instantly, her voice rising several degrees, “Married?!!”

Bai Lu rubbed his stinging ears and said, “Yes, he wants me to be the Empress.”

“Ah, this is a big happy event!”

Bai Lin’s face was covered with a thick layer of joy, and the smile in her eyes was about to overflow. She reached out and patted Bai Lu’s arm, urging him, “Indeed my son, you must hurry up and get things done, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore. How about you two go to the bridal chamber tonight!”

“No, it’s not…” Bai Lu hesitated, “We can’t get married yet because someone opposes it.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Bai Lin’s face suddenly changed from joyful to fierce. Her cheerful demeanor turned into a fierce one. She slammed the table and said angrily, “Who?! Who dares to obstruct my precious son from hooking up with a good man! I’ll smash their head!”

Bai Lu whispered, “It’s Dad.”

Bai Lin: “??? What are you talking about, silly child? Your grandpa has been dead for many years. Even if he knows from the underworld that his grandson is marrying a good man, he’ll be so happy he’ll jump out of his grave and toast with joy. How could he oppose it?”

Bai Lu explained helplessly, “It’s my current ‘grandpa’, the Prime Minister, Bai Weihai.”

As soon as he said this, Bai Lin understood, and her expression became somewhat troubled. “Even if he is my nominal father, how can I smash his head? Let me go back and talk to him, my dear.”

“… Mom, you’re a girl now. Can you stop thinking about smashing people’s heads all the time? If You are like this…”

 You won’t be able to get married in the future.

Bai Lu didn’t dare to say the second half of the sentence, fearing that if he did, he would be the one getting smashed. He sighed and reminded her, “Well, you must persuade him properly, talk to him with reason, and never resort to violence.”

Bai Lin patted her chest confidently, saying, “Don’t worry, Mom is best at reasoning.”