Chapter Three: The True Emperor and Empress of the Ages!

“You! Nonsense!”

Seeing Empress Zhangsun nearly lose her breath from Hao Yun’s words, almost having a fit on the spot, Emperor Taizong of Tang hastily helped her to a seat, quietly comforting her.

“Guanyin maid, it’s all this foul boy’s nonsense. Don’t believe him...”

“Er Lang,” Empress Zhangsun’s body seemed utterly drained as she leaned against Emperor Taizong’s shoulder, “What have I done? Why, why is it that future generations brand me with eternal guilt...”

“It’s all his wild talk. We don’t even know if he’s truly from the future...”

“Er Lang, don’t lie to me.”

Empress Zhangsun struggled to rise, her gaze at Hao Yun sharp as an arrow: “You must give me a sufficient reason, or even if you are a descendant of the future, I will have you executed!”

“Is that reason so hard to give?”

A faint sneer tugged at Hao Yun’s lips, full of mockery.

“Do you remember the ‘Women’s Code’ you wrote? That very book, in the future, bears the same name as the ‘Admonitions for Women,’ becoming a sacred text used by men to oppress women! In its worst form, women were forced to bind their feet before leaving their homes, or else suffer brutal punishments like being dunked in pig cages!

“Until the founding of New China and the liberation of women, some even invoked your name to try to revive feudal-era persecutions of women, opening schools that harmed many girls!”

Hao Yun pulled out his phone from the system backpack, containing materials on modern society, which he had deliberately downloaded while still in the present era. History, naturally, was included.

As he showed images of bound feet from various dynasties after the Song, depictions of persecution against women, and the burgeoning women’s rights movements and feminist unions in the future, Empress Zhangsun was utterly speechless.

She had merely intended to comment on the behavior of ancient women, to provide future women with a point of reference... Never did she imagine that her virtuous reputation would be twisted to become a yardstick for men’s oppression of women during the feudal era!

In truth, Tang dynasty women were quite open; Princess Pingyang even led troops in battle, paving the way for Wu Zetian’s future reign...

Who would have thought it would devolve into such a nightmare! Seeing the horrific, deformed bound feet in the pictures and the domestic violence of later eras... Had she known, she would never have dared to write that damn Women’s Code!

“Er Lang, I was wrong, truly wrong...”

Empress Zhangsun collapsed into Emperor Taizong’s embrace, weeping. She had only wished for women to live better lives—why, why... sobbing...

“It’s not your fault. It’s those unfilial descendants who distorted your intentions. You didn’t even finish writing your Women’s Code, so just don’t write it anymore...”

Emperor Taizong comforted her repeatedly, though he could only blame the future descendants and dared not refute Hao Yun’s words.

The foot-binding and domestic violence were truly horrifying to witness!

The occasional glimpses of towering buildings in the pictures and videos, as well as Hao Yun’s phone itself, convinced Emperor Taizong entirely of Hao Yun’s identity and his status as a descendant of the Yan and Huang tribes in the future.

“Er Lang, I no longer want to write the Women’s Code...”

After much soothing, Empress Zhangsun finally fell asleep under Emperor Taizong’s care. He then gestured for Hao Yun to follow him out of the hall to avoid the crowd, leading him directly to the imperial garden.

“What transgression have I committed?” Emperor Taizong paced with hands behind his back, gazing upon the blooming flowers. “Since even Guanyin maid is condemned by future generations for writing the Women’s Code, what actions of mine have earned me the praise of ‘meritorious in my time but bringing disaster to future generations?’”

Hao Yun looked at Emperor Taizong in surprise. He had expected the emperor to be furious or reject future judgments, but never that he would invite him to speak so openly.

Indeed, none of the emperors who left marks on history were simple men—whether foolish or wise.

Emperor Taizong was among the most adept at admitting mistakes.

“Do you truly want me to say it?”

Hao Yun’s smile was half-mocking, eyes gleaming with a teasing depth.

“Speak! Today, no matter what you say, I will pardon you!”

“Very well, since you insist, I shall be frank.”

Hao Yun counted off Emperor Taizong’s faults.

“I won’t mention your good deeds—embracing diverse opinions, opening the imperial examination system. Today, let’s tally your mistakes as emperor.

“First, you imprisoned your father and killed your brothers, then took your brothers’ wives as concubines. Though personal moral failings, you set a precedent. From then on, all imperial sons competing for the throne would stop at nothing, regardless of means or consequences, just to ascend. You opened a very bad precedent! This is your first crime, a private moral failing. Do you accept it?”

“I... my father broke his promises. I had no choice but to retaliate. How can you blame me?”

Emperor Taizong felt aggrieved. Had he not initiated the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he might have been banished to a provincial fief, never ascending the throne to inaugurate the Zhenguan era or the Kaiyuan prosperity.

“Enough. Don’t treat future descendants as fools. Any clear-eyed person can see that after the fall of the Sui dynasty’s two generations, no matter how foolish, Li Yuan would never allow you, a martial emperor, to ascend again.”

Hao Yun sneered mockingly: “The aftermath of Yang Guang is still fresh in memory. Founding emperors inevitably leave devastation, and the second-generation heirs inevitably choose the civil emperor. This is historical inevitability. So don’t bother defending yourself here.”

“Fine, I admit it! This is a private moral failing, my fault!”

Though reluctant, Hao Yun’s evidence and over two millennia of hindsight left Emperor Taizong no room for argument.

“The second crime, the greatest grievance of the people and all successive monarchs, the biggest obstacle to your being hailed as the ‘Eternal Emperor,’ is this!”

“What is it?”

His eyes gleamed as he stared intently at Hao Yun.

“You, for the sake of the title ‘Heavenly Khagan,’ allowed foreign nations—especially Japan—to come to Tang to learn technologies. You enabled Japan to leap over a thousand years of progress in a short time, causing immense disasters for future generations!”

“Japan? A small country? Impossible!”

Emperor Taizong flatly denied it. He refused to believe a small, fragmented nation could wreak such havoc on future descendants of Yan and Huang.

“You don’t believe me? I have documented evidence.”

Hao Yun listed Emperor Taizong’s deeds.

“First, at the height of your nation’s strength, you sent a princess—your own kin—in marriage alliance, bringing as dowry technologies of agriculture, animal husbandry, steel weapon manufacturing, military strategy—accumulated over a millennium in China—to Tubo. This directly caused the fall of the Tang dynasty and the tragic era of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms!

“In the end, nine out of ten households in the Central Plains were emptied, and 90% of the Han people perished! You personally nurtured a great enemy for yourself and the Tang dynasty!

“Without the dowry you brought, Tubo would barely have enough food, unable even to settle the plateau, let alone threaten Han lands!

“Li Er, oh Li Er, while others betray their fathers, you are digging your own grave and dooming your descendants!”