Chapter 1387 - 1306: Struggle for Favor

Zhao Hanzhang quickly provided them with an answer.

After the holiday, the Ministry of Rites finally organized the list of honorary titles to be conferred and submitted it to the Ministry of Supervision.

The Ministry of Supervision reviewed it thoroughly and forwarded it to the Emperor.

Zhao Hanzhang looked over it, singled out the documents for Fan Ying, Chen Si Niang, Sun Linghui, and Zhao Yunxin, while setting the others aside for now.

She approved these four documents and sent them to the Central Secretariat.

The doctor at the Central Secretariat saw Zhao Hanzhang set aside so many documents and only approve these four, feeling uneasy and unsure, immediately went to find Fan Ying.

Fan Ying glanced through the four documents and immediately understood Zhao Hanzhang’s intentions, promptly handing the documents back to the doctor, saying, "Among these are the honorary titles for my father and mother; I should not participate in this matter. Please submit them to Ming Zhongshu for a decision."

The doctor then delivered the documents to Ming Yu.

After reviewing them, Ming Yu pondered briefly and said, "Draft the edicts according to the documents."

"Your Majesty still has several documents pending..."

Ming Yu said, "Conferring honorary titles is like bestowing rewards; it needs to be done gradually. No need to worry, draft these four edicts first. Your Majesty hasn’t said there’s any issue with the documents."

Only then did the doctor comply and withdrew to draft the edicts.

The edicts were sent back to the Ministry of Supervision for review. Seeing the content unchanged, they immediately approved the edicts and passed them to the Ministry of Rites, then waited for the remaining edicts to arrive.

But they never arrived, even the next day. The Ministry of Rites also sent someone to ask, "Why were only four edicts approved?"

They spent half a month working to finalize the honorary titles based on the officials’ ranks and positions, working overtime to exhaustion, yet only four were approved?

The Ministry of Supervision was too much; where did they go wrong, point it out!

The Ministry of Supervision felt wronged too, saying, "We’ve already reviewed the documents and submitted them, but the Central Secretariat only sent four edicts. We review whatever is sent to us, if you have issues, go to Ming Zhongshu."

A junior official from the Ministry of Rites naturally didn’t dare to directly approach Ming Yu, so he went to find the Minister of Rites Zhao Cheng.

After brief consideration, Zhao Cheng said, "Since only four edicts were approved, let’s announce these four first."

Fan Ying’s parents have passed away, and they died heroically defending Xiping County, considered martyrs. Coupled with Fan Ying’s accomplishments, the posthumous honorary titles are quite high.

The edicts were published in the official gazette, along with newspaper narratives reporting Fan Ying and his parents’ deeds.

Then came Chen Si Niang’s story, one person per day, while ordinary citizens are often drained by lengthy official court news, they are intrigued by these tales.

Storytellers also prefer storytelling, relieved to interpret newspaper documents less, more stories like this, they enjoy narrating.

The stories quickly spread, and Xiping County soon saw newspapers circulating from the Capital City. Local bookstores reprinted them twice, just enough for nearby counties to absorb.

People knew the four individuals featured in the gazette; they were all from Ru Nan County, and soon the stories of the other two individuals were published in newspapers and spread locally.

Fan Ying, Sun Linghui, and Zhao Yunxin were fine enough, but the Song Family exploded over Chen Si Niang.

The long-silent Song Family finally couldn’t bear it and protested and opposed at the Xiping County Government, and even went to the Chen Family, saying, "Si Niang is our Song Family’s daughter-in-law, even if it is a hereditary honor, it should benefit the husband’s family, there’s no tradition of a married woman benefiting her natal family."

Before, the Chen Family didn’t dare to confront the Song Family, so even knowing the Song Family wanted Chen Si Niang to die in her husband’s tomb, they were discontent but didn’t pursue it as it was unsuccessful.

But now it’s different, they also didn’t want to lose Chen Si Niang as a daughter, even changing their mindset.

Previously, they thought Chen Si Niang running around with Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t good, repeatedly persuading her to return to the Song Family to remain loyal to the widow’s life, or remarry, instead of appearing publicly.

Upon the news of Chen Si Niang’s ennoblement, they no longer mentioned it, even deliberately distanced themselves from the Song Family, hoping to monopolize the benefits brought by this daughter.

When the Capital City’s newspaper arrived, seeing the gazette of ennoblement for Chen Si Niang’s parents, they were even more reluctant to give up their daughter.

For the first time, they openly clashed with the Song Family, saying, "Our Si Niang left your Song Family early; when your family was so malicious, my short-lived son-in-law died, you wanted Si Niang to die in the tomb. Thankfully, His Majesty saved her; otherwise, grass would have grown on Si Niang’s grave by now."

Mr. Song was furious, saying, "Keep from slandering us, our Song Family would never do something so disregarding human ethics, there is no such thing as dying in the tomb. So many years, Si Niang hasn’t remarried, which proves she’s still thinking about my son. As long as she doesn’t remarry, she remains our Song Family daughter-in-law, so the honorary title should belong to us."

The court’s delivery of the edicts wasn’t so swift, so before the edicts arrived, the two families were fighting endlessly over whose household Chen Si Niang belonged to.

Even the County Magistrate of Xiping couldn’t decide, so he had to ask his superiors for help.

The situation was so chaotic that not only Xiping County, but all the people in Ru Nan County knew of it, and everyone was curious, watching and taking sides.

One person said the honorary title should be for biological parents, another said it should be for the husband’s family.

In just a short half-month, due to differing opinions, there were couples fighting to the point of taking it to the county government, with local magistrates increasingly skilled in handling trivial family disputes.

With newspapers, information spread quickly, and the trend in Yu State quickly reached Yangzhou.

Wang Dao never thought he, as Inspector, would have to rule on such a case someday.

Three County Magistrates finally couldn’t tolerate it and led a bunch of people to the Inspector Mansion to hear verdicts, asking the more insightful Wang Dao to determine who was right or wrong.

A total of eight cases belonged to three counties, all quarreling over differing opinions due to Chen Si Niang’s case, exclaiming "if paths differ, there’s no point in sharing," wanting to divorce, split families, even parents wanting to sever ties with children.

Wang Dao sat in his position, seeing the clearly divided two groups in the hall, he slowly revealed a smile, "You’re quarreling and disturbing the neighbors, wanting to divorce and split families because of the Marquis Xuande’s honorary title?"

The eight families nodded together and then asked Wang Dao, "Sir, should the honorary title of Marquis Xuande belong to her natal family or her husband’s family?"

Wang Dao asked them, "Among your eight families, who has daughters? Step forward."

All eight families stepped forward.

Wang Dao asked again, "Who has sons, step to the right."

All eight families stepped to the right.

Wang Dao said, "Those who believe a daughter-in-law will have the ability to request honorary titles for her parents and that the honorary title should belong to the husband’s family, step to the left."

All eight families stepped to the left.

Wang Dao said again, "Those who believe that daughters, whether married or not, will have the ability, and that they should request honorary titles for their biological parents, step to the right."

The eight families vaguely understood but hesitated to move, then Wang Dao laughed and said, "So, aren’t your choices quite unanimous? You all agree daughters should request honorary titles for the husband’s family."

The eight families refused to acknowledge, hastily stepping to the right.