I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 115 What are you pretending for?

The horse-drawn carriage rumbled along the official road, heading towards Chengdu.

Inside the carriage, Liu Shan leaned against the cushions, playing with the newly made bamboo leaf green tea cake in his hand. After Zhuge Liang finished saying the words "Gui Mei", his fingertips paused slightly.

"A very bad omen?"

Liu Shan raised his eyes and looked at Zhuge Liang, who was gently waving his feather fan, with considerable surprise.

"Prime Minister, I know your abilities; they surpass even those of the Grand Astrologer. But my love for the Empress is deep. Is this divination truly ominous?"

Zhuge Liang slowly took out a scroll of silk from his sleeve and unfolded it in front of Liu Shan.

The silk scroll depicts the hexagrams of the sixty-four hexagrams. The hexagram "Gui Mei" is circled in cinnabar and surrounded by dense annotations.

"Your Majesty, the Gui Mei hexagram, with Zhen above and Dui below, signifies misfortune and no benefit. The second, third, fourth, and fifth lines are all inappropriate positions. The reason for 'no benefit' is that 'the yin line rides on the yang line,' meaning that the yin line is above the yang line, which violates the proper way of the balance between yin and yang."

Zhuge Liang pointed to the divination text, his expression serious, and said in a low voice, "This divination indicates an improper marriage, confusion between legitimate and illegitimate children, and a shaken foundation of the state; therefore, it is an ominous sign. Your Majesty and the Empress have been married for several years, and although they are loving, they have no legitimate heir. This divination has already fulfilled this prophecy. If we do not take action soon, I fear..."

"What are you afraid of?"

After a moment of silence, Zhuge Liang slowly uttered a few words.

"I'm afraid the political situation is unstable."

Liu Shan sipped his new tea without speaking, lifting the carriage window to watch the street scene receding into the distance.

Having been emperor for so long, he knew exactly what was going on.

The instability of the court was not due to the lack of princes, but because the interests behind the princes were too great.

Empress Zhang represents the interests of the Jingzhou faction. If she gives birth to the eldest son, the Jingzhou faction will have a new leader.

However, she remained infertile, leaving the Jingzhou faction in a state of constant anxiety.

After all, the Jingzhou faction suffered heavy losses in terms of troops and personnel after the Battle of Yiling, and its strength was far less than before.

If Liu Bei hadn't appointed Zhuge Liang as his regent before his death, entrusting him with overall command of the court, they would likely have faced immense difficulties in Yizhou.

Meanwhile, the Yizhou and Dongzhou factions wouldn't sit idly by. They were hoping that Empress Zhang of the Jingzhou faction wouldn't be able to give birth to a son, so they could have an excuse to send their people into the palace as concubines and have them give birth to the eldest son.

"Prime Minister," Liu Shan suddenly spoke up, "what does the 'Returning Maiden' hexagram you mentioned mean? I remember, doesn't 'Returning Maiden' mean marrying off a daughter?"

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The hexagram 'Gui Mei' originally means marrying off a daughter. However, the misfortune of this hexagram does not lie in the marriage itself, but in the word 'substitution' behind it. In the hexagram, the younger sister marries in place of the older sister, and the concubine becomes pregnant in place of the wife. The legitimate and illegitimate children are reversed, and the foundation of the state is shaken."

Liu Shan tapped his fingers twice on his knee and pondered for a long time.

"So, what the Prime Minister means is..."

"Your Majesty, please look," Zhuge Liang said, pointing to the annotation on the silk scroll. "The third line of the hexagram reads, 'The third line reads, "Returning the younger sister with a dowry, returning with a younger sister." This 'dowry' refers to the younger sister being given as part of the dowry when the daughter is married, hence the position is inappropriate.'"

"And 'returning to the concubines' means that Your Majesty must find someone related to your wives and concubines in order to resolve the problem."

Zhuge Liang withdrew his finger and gently waved his feather fan, saying, "My suggestion is that Your Majesty should consider selecting one of the Empress's maids as a concubine. If the Empress is unable to conceive, her maid can act as a surrogate."

Liu Shan listened with an expression that said, "Just as I thought."

Previously, when Zhang returned to her hometown to visit relatives, she brought her younger sister and personal maid back to Chengdu. Wasn't this the reason?

At that time, Zhang even took the initiative to let her take that maid as a concubine. It seems that women from noble families in ancient times always looked to the interests of their families.

"But Your Excellency, this maidservant comes from a lowly family, and her son is born out of wedlock and cannot be made crown prince. If he cannot be crown prince, how can the court be stabilized?"

Zhuge Liang did not object, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is quite right. The son born to a maid is a son born out of wedlock. Although he cannot be made crown prince, he is still of benefit to Your Majesty."

"What does this mean?"

"When I was making her empress, I cast a divination. Although she would have difficulty having children, there was a hidden change in the hexagram. And this change in the hexagram was 'Returning Maiden'. Now I have cast another divination for 'Returning Maiden', and the two interpretations are now perfectly aligned. This is the will of Heaven."

"If Your Majesty takes a maid as a concubine, thus following the will of Heaven, then the Empress's fate of having few children may also be changed."

Liu Shan remained silent for a long time after hearing this.

Zhuge Liang saw this and knew that Liu Shan was a man of great loyalty and righteousness.

Lady Zhang entered the palace at the age of sixteen and became empress at the age of nineteen. The couple were loving and affectionate, never vying for favor or complaining, and managed the harem in an orderly manner.

When Liu Shan established the Imperial Academy and faced a shortage of funds and food, it was Empress Zhang who repeatedly presided over the reduction of palace expenditures to support the new policies. It is no exaggeration to say that she was a wise empress.

But the most important thing for an empress is to bear children, continue the royal bloodline, and consolidate the family's position.

If you can't do this, no matter how virtuous you are, it's useless.

"Prime Minister, I'm afraid this matter is somewhat inappropriate." Liu Shan thought for a long time before saying, "Although the son of a maid is born of a concubine, what if other court officials support this son and oppose the future crown prince? What should we do then? The brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are a case in point."

In terms of lineage, Yuan Shu, the legitimate son, was superior to Yuan Shao, the illegitimate son, and only then was he qualified to call himself "a member of four generations of high-ranking officials".

However, Yuan Shao, with his personal talent and political skills, was more influential and powerful than Yuan Shu.

When the warlords were fighting against Dong Zhuo, they unanimously elected Yuan Shao as their leader, rather than Yuan Shu, who was born of the same family. This shows that the gentry at the time valued Yuan Shao's abilities and reputation more than his family lineage.

Later, Yuan Shao controlled the four provinces of Ji, Qing, You, and Bing, becoming the overlord of the north, far stronger than Yuan Shu, who only controlled the Huainan region.

"Your Majesty need not worry about this. A son born out of wedlock will always be a son born out of wedlock. As long as the legitimate sons are not extinct, it will never be the turn of a son born out of wedlock."

"Won't?"

"Absolutely not!" Zhuge Liang said confidently. "Does His Majesty intend to marry only one woman in his lifetime?"

"What does this mean, Prime Minister?" Liu Shan asked, taking a break from drinking tea to avoid Zhuge Liang's direct gaze.

"While the maid's position may be illegitimate, the wife's sister's position is perfectly legitimate," Zhuge Liang said with a smile.

"Prime Minister, Yun'er's younger sister is only six years old this year. Please do not speak jokingly."

Liu Shan said calmly, but a sly smile inadvertently flashed across his lips.

Zhuge Liang straightened his body and looked at Liu Shan with a knowing gaze.

Liu Shan immediately felt somewhat embarrassed.

Because he understood that the prime minister before him had seen through his inner thoughts.

The conversation between the two just now was entirely a test of each other.

Zhuge Liang used divination to suggest that Liu Shan take the Empress's sister and a maid as concubines to increase the probability of having a son, thus appeasing the Jingzhou faction elders and maintaining stability in the court.

Liu Shan initially understood Zhuge Liang's true intentions, but because Zhang's younger sister was too young, he made excuses and stalled for the sake of saving face.

But Zhuge Liang's last look told him, "There are only the two of us here, what are you pretending for?"