[Gender Disguise] [Feel-Good Infrastructure Building] [Milking the System] [Unconventional Child-Rearing]
[No Identity Reveal in the Main Story] [Historical Scholars Get Blindsided in the Extras]
In the thirty-fifth year of the Tian'an reign, the emperor was incompetent, the court was mired in factional strife, and foreign enemies watched hungrily from beyond the borders.
The Xu family of the Chancellor's household sensed that their great house was on the verge of collapse. To preserve their bloodline, they sent their youngest son, Xu Qing, to serve as a county magistrate in Shu.
So the Xu family's youngest son set out with his family.
Halfway there, the barbarians breached the passes. The capital was massacred, and the entire Xu family gave their lives for their country.
On hearing the terrible news, the already frail youngest son of the Xu family could not draw another breath and died as well.
Just as the whole family was at a loss about what to do, Xu Qing's wife, Madam Cheng, appeared before them wearing Xu Qing's official robes.
She looked with utter disdain at the children, who were all crying their eyes out. "Why are you crying? Get moving! If we're any later, we'll miss the autumn harvest!"
The children: ??? Has Mother gone mad????
Xu Anran thought she had the worst luck. Just as she had achieved financial freedom, she was chosen by a useless child-rearing System and transmigrated.
Fine, she could transmigrate, but why did she have to become a widow with children?
She had never even been in a relationship, and now she was the mother of five. Who could she complain to?
To survive, Xu Anran quickly got the System to explain the situation.
Then she...
Then she changed into her original body's husband's official robes and took up his post.
The child-rearing System cried out in alarm: [Host! What are you doing?!]
Xu Anran retorted, "Come on, it's a time of chaos. How are we supposed to raise kids without money or status? Power them with love?"
The System was at a loss for words.
Xu Anran chuckled to herself, then asked, "Um, the kids' grain is too coarse. Do you have any better seeds? The kind that's easy to grow and gives a high yield?"
The System: ...
The System: I think you're trying to milk me, and I have proof!!!
Xu Qing's eldest son, Xu Jingze, thought the world had gone mad.
He had merely been sick for a while. When he woke up, not only was his father gone, but his mother was gone too.
At first, when he learned that his mother was impersonating his father to take up his post, he was so anxious he feared someone would expose her and they would all lose their heads.
Later, the world fell into chaos, and the people under his mother's rule lived in peace and prosperity. He was still anxious, afraid their success would attract unwanted attention and cost them their lives.
Later still, his mother led her people to reclaim the realm in every direction. He was still, still anxious, because...
Because his mother was going to ascend the throne, and he was going to become Crown Prince!!!
In later generations, Emperor Wen Xu Jingze was praised as the ultimate "ally to women."
Not only did he support women working outside the home, he also broke precedent by allowing women to take the imperial examinations. Before his death, he boldly passed the throne to his eldest daughter.
Unlike his father...
While Xu Qing ruled, he ruthlessly suppressed women who stood out. After being forced to abdicate, he gathered a group of old-fashioned traditionalists to oppose Emperor Wen's policies on women.
He was practically the worst emperor in history...
If he hadn't been such a capable fighter and expanded the empire's borders, he would have been removed from the textbooks long ago.
After transmigrating into the future and reading this passage in a history book, Xu Jingze's mouth twitched. He couldn't help remembering the conversation he'd had with his mother back then.
Xu Qing cracked sunflower seeds and said, "We have to play both sides. You play the good cop, and I'll play the bad cop."
"Why? Mo... Ah!" After a sharp rap on the head, Xu Jingze asked indignantly, "Why, Father?"
Xu Qing patted his head. "Silly boy, remember this: if you want a play to go the way you intend, make sure the stage is full of your people."
Xu Jingze hadn't understood at the time. Now he did.
Theme: Gender equality
