The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 383

Chapter 383: 197 Real Versus Fake Missy (two updates combined into one) _5

This round delved into policy questions.

The topic was so tricky that some candidates might well have wished to keel over at first glance.

The question asked for a discussion of the virtues of legitimate seniority.

The “Spring and Autumn Annals” states — the eldest legitimate son should succeed, not the more virtuous, the distinguished, not the eldest.

This means that only the legitimate son in a family is entitled to inherit the family fortune. Even if a child born out of wedlock is older, the legitimate son should take precedence, unless the legitimate son passes away, then it is the turn of the illegitimate son.

Take for instance, the late Young Lord of Zhaodu, who was the youngest son in his family, and had two older half-brothers, yet they had no right to inheritance, he was the only one who could be addressed as Young Lord.

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Now that he’s dead, the Marquis of Xuanping’s wealth should logically be inherited by his eldest illegitimate son unless another legitimate son emerges from Princess Xinyang’s belly.

If a family has several legitimate sons, then the eldest legitimate son inherits the property, like Gu Changqing of the Dignity Marquis Residence.

Both of them were in the legitimate and senior ranks based on their virtues, but there were also those who did not have the corresponding virtues, like the former Crown Prince.

The Empress Dowager had no children all her life. The eldest prince, son of Lady Liu, was made Crown Prince by the former emperor.

After his plot to rebel with the Liu family, he was demoted to commoner status. By convention, the second prince should have been made heir, but instead, the fifth prince, who is now the Emperor, was chosen.

After ascending the throne, the Emperor made Empress Xiao’s son the Crown Prince.

If you agree with the principle of promoting the eldest and legitimate sons but not the virtuous, then the Emperor’s throne is illegitimate; however, if you disagree, then you are criticizing the Emperor’s choice of Crown Prince, as everyone knows that although the Crown Prince is the legitimate son, he is not the most outstanding among the princes.

This is a question of life and death!

The candidates from Youzhou have gone mad.

Who have they offended in Youzhou this year? The provincial exam’s policy question was to reduce the size of the states, and the provincial exam question is even trickier, and they’re even examining the Emperor’s family affairs!

Although it is not fully articulated as the matter of succession, no one is a fool.

Furthermore, strictly speaking, succession is not the Emperor’s family affair, it is a state matter.

As it is a state matter, there is nothing that should not be used to test these candidates.

In essence, their minds should be thoroughly tested.

Thankfully, the weather was cold, so no one suffered a heatstroke, but two elderly candidates fell ill due to wind exposure, clearly frightened by the question.

Prince An squinted slightly when he saw the question.

Who came up with this question? The Hanlin Academy or the Emperor? If it was the Emperor, what was his intention?