Luo Cuiwei didn't think much of it, and casually asked with a smile, "After Your Highnesses got married, did you all give half of the seal to your partners?"
“Not necessarily,” Yun Lie said with a slight smile, reaching out to intertwine his fingers with hers and leading her outside. “People like Yun Huan, Yun Chi, and Yun tide didn’t receive any.”
"Then why did you agree to give it to me?" Luo Cuiwei turned her head to look at him, laughing as she walked.
Yun Lie turned his head to meet her smiling eyes, his thin lips slightly raised, "When I'm not home, if you encounter any trouble, feel free to use this seal to bully others."
The implied meaning in his words surprised and puzzled Luo Cuiwei.
"I thought this seal was only used to manage the treasury of Prince Zhao's residence..."
In the folk customs of Dajin, any family with a slightly larger business would have a special seal for the head of the family to facilitate command of clan affairs. This seal served as a symbol of the power to make decisions and take charge of affairs within their own territory.
During the years when Luo Cuiwei temporarily served as the head of the Luo family, she also held her father Luo Huai's family seal. Therefore, when Yun Lie gave her this half of the golden seal last night, she didn't ask any questions or think too much about it, and accepted it without surprise.
Hearing his vague mention now, she was startled to realize that the weight of this golden seal was obviously much greater than she had thought.
"Right now, it can only be used to manage the treasury and guards in the manor, since I don't have any fiefdoms or manor soldiers."
Yun Lie spoke casually, but Luo Cuiwei was shocked as if struck by lightning.
It's also because Yun Lie never put on too much of a "princely air" in front of her, which made her forget that the person she married was a prince.
A prince who has established his own household and holds a noble title.
If she hadn't misunderstood, he meant—
This half of the gold seal signifies that the holder of the seal has the same power as the Prince of the State. If the Prince of the State is granted a fiefdom, the holder of the seal can serve as the Prince of the State and share the military and political power of the fiefdom with the Prince of the State!
****
Yun Shi Jin was the first female emperor of Da Jin, Yun An Lan, who was a princess of a different surname, and she "inherited" her status from Li Shi Jin. The rule that "the golden seal of the Prince of Kaifu is divided into two" can also be considered to be influenced by the legacy of Li Shi Jin.
Around 180 years ago, during the late period of the Li family's Jin dynasty, the "new learning" that advocated "respecting men and belittling women" was at its peak, and the status of women in Dajin was greatly suppressed.
Apart from Yuanzhou, the fiefdom of Princess Chaohua Li Chonghuan, and Yizhou, which was later granted to Prince Ding Li Chongyan, local government schools refused to admit women as students and disregarded the founding traditions of the Great Jin Dynasty, ordering female officials to resign their posts and female generals to lay down their arms.
This move reduced women to subordinates confined to the inner quarters of their father's or husband's family, their status so low compared to men that it would shock people today.
To eliminate this long-standing problem, Princess Chaohua's daughter, Princess Wu'an Yun Anlan, joined forces with her uncle, Prince Ding, Li Chongyan, to seize the throne through a "military remonstrance," adopting "Tongxi" as the reign title and restarting the trend of gender equality. This event is historically known as "Yun replacing the Li family."
Nearly twenty years after Emperor Tongxi ascended the throne, many of the old guard members of the Li clan who supported the new learning were restless. At that time, people still had reservations about the Yun clan's "military remonstrance," which made Emperor Tongxi very cautious when facing the rebellion of the Li clan members.
To prevent Emperor Tongxi from incurring eternal infamy, Prince Ding, Li Chongyan, took the imperial decree and spent ten years quelling the remnants of the Li clan who were resisting the tide.
During these ten years, whenever Li Chongyan led his troops away from Yizhou, Princess Gu Chun of Ding took on all the affairs within Yizhou and acted as the regent.
To ensure that Gu Chun's orders could be issued without hindrance, Li Chongyan followed the ancient custom of Da Jin and divided the golden seal of Prince Ding in two, signifying that His Highness Prince Ding and His Highness Princess Ding were one, sharing the same will and bearing the same successes and failures.
For the officials of the various prefectures and government offices in Yizhou at that time, there was no need to distinguish whether the order came from Prince Ding or his wife; they only needed to see half of the seal to act in accordance with the order.
Inspired by this, Emperor Tongxi, Yun Anlan, encouraged the Yun royal family to follow suit. From then on, the golden seals of the princes and princesses were all divided in two and have been passed down to this day.
****
However, although the custom of dividing the gold seal in half has been passed down, the question of whether "the princes must give half of the seal to their partners" is not written into the law.
Whether or not this is carried out depends on whether Your Highnesses trust their partners enough.
“You can use this seal to do whatever you want,” Yun Lie chuckled, seeing Luo Cuiwei’s red lips part slightly in surprise. He leaned down and lightly pecked her lips. “As long as you don’t plan to start a rebellion, I’ll take responsibility for whatever mess you make.”
Even though she was so moved that her eyes were red, Luo Cuiwei stubbornly insisted on causing trouble for him.
"You're really not afraid I'll do something reckless?" she blinked, her eyes brimming with tears of emotion, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "What if I happen to have a sudden urge to rebel?"
This is a completely far-fetched and nonsensical assumption.
After all, the Prince Zhao's residence currently has neither territory nor troops. If they were to rebel, their troops would likely be wiped out by the Imperial City Commander and his garrison before they even left the street where the residence is located.
Yun Lie smiled and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes with his thumb, then playfully pinched her cheek: "Then I'll either eat 'royal family special prison food' with you in the Imperial Clan Court until I die, or we'll hang our heads together on the city gate tower for all to see."
“I won’t let you go to jail,” Luo Cuiwei suddenly threw herself into his arms and hugged his waist tightly, “and I won’t let you hang on the city gate tower.”
It turns out that Yun Lie's words last night, "I'll give you the money, and I'll give you my life," were not just empty words to flatter him.
He had truly tied his life and future to her.
Yun Lie smiled and hugged her back, letting her snuggle against him and secretly wipe away her tears.
A moment later, Luo Cuiwei lifted her face from his embrace, her eyes red with laughter, "What if I use this golden seal to do something improper?"
Yun Lie was stunned. "What do you mean by 'playing tricks'?"
"For example, forcibly requisitioning a brothel, or setting aside a courtyard to keep a few male concubines or something..."
"Do you only feel happy after saying those two cheeky things?" Yun Lie's face was ashen, dark with a hint of blue, and he gritted his teeth as he tightened his grip on her waist. "Believe it or not, I can squeeze you into a dumpling and swallow you whole?"
****
As their parting drew near, the two tacitly concealed their sadness and sorrow, walking hand in hand through their own courtyard like any newlywed couple in the world.
The others were also very sensible and didn't disturb their precious time together with trivial matters.
Yun Lie held Luo Cuiwei's hand and chatted with her about various matters in the manor, leading her to all the palaces and courtyards in the Zhao Prince's manor that she had never visited before, letting everyone in the manor know—
Luo Cuiwei is now the mistress of Prince Zhao's mansion.
Luo Cuiwei did not disappoint his unspoken feelings, "So you were just a lazy, idle manager who did nothing but eat and drink, leaving everything to Uncle Chen? Don't you think about how old he is? How can he have the energy to take care of everything? Look at the pillars in the back hall, the paint is peeling off, and the walls..."