Under the backdrop of a pile of garbage, three originally mediocre papers, by contrast, appeared passable. After all, as the saying goes, even a red flower needs green leaves to set it off, and with worse examples for comparison, things naturally look better.
This is what is meant by everyone else being judged by comparison.
"Fine, let's leave it at that for now."
Considering that they never expected to secure high official positions or honorary titles for their descendants, being less capable was acceptable; it wouldn't harm the common people anyway.
They would see how things unfolded later.
After the division of family assets, everyone had to live off their inherited property. They would be responsible for their own daily expenses, weddings of their children, social obligations, and the income from their assets would depend on their own capabilities.
With the passage of time and after learning from some lessons, they would eventually mature.
Moreover, she would live for many more years to protect them.
Therefore, there was naturally no need to worry.
Ding Yun quickly finalized the list of candidates for recommendation. One was her great-grandson Qin Su, and the other two were her great-great-grandsons, Qin Yanghuai and Qin Yangchun.
All were in their early twenties, illegitimate, and not favored.
Their current level of competence was likely mostly self-taught, as without favor, after completing the family's basic education, they received no further instruction from renowned teachers.
They even dared not appear smarter than the legitimate heirs.
Otherwise, they might have had their monthly allowances significantly reduced.
The steward distributed the silver, but they only gave it to their own daughters-in-law, who then passed it to their daughters-in-law. When distributing, the daughters-in-law of the legitimate wives would naturally give more to their own sons and less to the illegitimate ones.
Thus, the illegitimate sons had to live at the mercy of their stepmothers.
This was considered normal.
However, Ding Yun paid no heed to these matters. Lack of ability was lack of ability. To her, whether illegitimate or legitimate, they were all her descendants, as her husband had no concubines.
Therefore, after settling on the list, she went to sleep.
The next morning, she did not announce the list publicly. Instead, she first drafted a memorial and then took out a double-sided embroidered piece she had created a few days prior, with a vast landscape on the front and "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" on the back. She placed it in a gift box and sent it to the palace along with the memorial.
After that, she waited quietly.
She intended to announce the list after receiving the results.
...
Inside the Imperial Palace, in the main hall of the rear palace of the Yuzheng Palace.
Emperor Longsheng casually glanced at the memorials on the desk and noticed a rare memorial in the section for imperial clan relatives, which usually had few submissions. As it was the smallest in quantity, it should be the easiest to handle, so he picked it up:
"Princess Anrong's memorial. Which princess is Princess Anrong? Do we have such a princess in our dynasty? None of my daughters or aunts bear that posthumous title."
Princess Anrong was last famous seventy-seven years ago, on her wedding day. At that time, let alone Emperor Longsheng, his father had not yet been born, so it was natural that he did not recognize Princess Anrong as an elder.
Not only him, but even the well-informed head eunuch attending him paused slightly.
He then recalled the information about Princess Anrong:
"Your Majesty, this one is truly remarkable. Princess Anrong is the youngest daughter of Emperor Shenwu. In terms of seniority, she is of the same generation as Emperor Taizong and Emperor Zhangwen.
You... this servant is foolish.
For a moment, I don't know how Your Majesty should address her.
But in terms of seniority, she should be of the same generation as the Old Ancestors. Among the imperial clan, she currently holds the highest seniority, a veritable auspicious omen and the longest-living elder of the clan.
She should be ninety-four or ninety-five years old this year."
Upon saying this, even the head eunuch couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. This princess was truly long-lived. Of the late emperor's six princesses, one died young, and three passed away within five years of marriage. Currently, only two remained.
It was rumored that one of them was gravely ill.
Of the former emperor's five princesses, not one remained. Combined, none had lived as long as Princess Anrong.
No one in the entire imperial family lived longer than her.
"Ninety-four or ninety-five years old, and still the daughter of Old Ancestor Shenwu. By that calculation, she has lived through six reigns: Shenwu, Zhangwen, Jiahe, Kangde, Pingzhang, and Longsheng. Her lifespan is too long."
After listening to the head eunuch's explanation, Emperor Longsheng was astonished, but his heart was filled with more envy and jealousy. After all, even if his great-grandfather were still alive, he would only be two years older than this princess, yet now she was alive and well, while his father had been deceased for over a decade.
The disparity was too great.
For a moment, he even began to doubt.
Whether he could outlive this Princess Anrong.
"Those ministers in the court, who live through three reigns and presume to be 'Three-Reign Elders,' are already presumptuous.
It's a pity that this Old Ancestor of mine is a princess. If she were a prince, I would surely have her attend court every day.
Let's see who dares to be presumptuous with me.
Who can be older than her!"
Due to the large number of veteran officials in the court, many of whom were three-reign elders, Emperor Longsheng had been unable to act freely in his more than ten years on the throne. After calculating how many reigns Princess Anrong had lived through, he couldn't help but make some associations and regretted that she was merely a princess.
He couldn't bring her to court to be of use to him.
In this day and age, leveraging one's age and seniority was a powerful tactic.
But the key was that not everyone could pull it off, as not everyone could live that long, nor could everyone, while living that long, still hold high seniority.
If an eighty-year-old man had such low seniority that he had to call a three-year-old child "grandfather," how could he leverage his age and seniority?
"Your Majesty, Princess Anrong still has two sons alive. Their seniority is also quite high!
Although they only hold two honorary titles.
They can still be considered Five-Reign Elders!
Most importantly, those two are, after all, the direct grandsons of Old Ancestor Emperor Shenwu!"
Although a princess's sons were slightly less significant, it was still better than nothing, so the head eunuch immediately reminded him.
"You are quite sharp. Yes, settling for the next best thing is not impossible. It's just a pity that they have no merits. 'Elders,' after all, are not just about being old; they must also have some achievements in their service!
However, it's better than nothing. I will look into their physical condition later. If they are still capable, I will grant them an honorary position and have them stand with the military officials in court.
The military officials in the court are almost suffocated by the civil officials. Having two people with high seniority and the status of Old Ancestor Emperor Shenwu's grandsons would be enough qualification to counter the presumption of age.
So it's settled. Go investigate later.
See if they can still eat."
After some thought, feeling that trying it wouldn't hurt, Emperor Longsheng quickly gave instructions, and then he opened Ding Yun's memorial and carefully examined its contents.
Upon finishing, he couldn't help but sigh deeply.