If one's father was the emperor, even if born to a concubine, one still held the status of a princess, a genuine royal scion.
Conversely, if one's father held a less prominent position, like An Bi Huai, then even if An Xiao Niao was a legitimate daughter, she would still be looked down upon upon entering the imperial harem.
Even within the same family, the status of a legitimate daughter was not significantly higher than that of a daughter born to a concubine.
What does "legitimate" mean?
Early on, Jiang Ling had always believed that "legitimate" meant being born to the principal wife. Children born to the primary wife were legitimate.
However, after truly delving into history, she realized how gravely mistaken she had been.
If "legitimate" simply meant being born to the principal wife, then why did the "Nine Princes Seizing the Throne" incident occur during Emperor Kangxi's reign?
Prince Yin Reng, one of the contenders in the "Nine Princes Seizing the Throne," was born to the Empress. He was a legitimate son by birth. If he was already legitimate, why would he need to compete for the throne? Wouldn't that be utterly nonsensical?
Therefore, assuming that "legitimate" solely meant being born to the principal wife was simply laughable.
"Legitimate" truly signified the right of inheritance.
The "Nine Princes Seizing the Throne" was a contest for the legal right to inherit the imperial throne.
And in ancient times, daughters had no right of inheritance, regardless of whether they were born legitimately or to a concubine.
This resulted in a vast disparity in status between legitimate sons and sons born to concubines, while the status difference between legitimate daughters and daughters born to concubines was actually quite small.
When inheritance of noble titles and family property was not involved, the only distinction between legitimate daughters and daughters born to concubines was the size of their dowries.
Legitimate daughters received more, while daughters born to concubines received less, but not to an extreme degree.
This was because the marriage of a daughter born to a concubine also represented the family's face, and a meager dowry would invite ridicule.
It was a pity that many people did not understand the true essence of "legitimate."
After casually reading a few novels about palace struggles and internal family strife, they assumed that daughters born to concubines were inherently lowly, mere cannon fodder for legitimate daughters, and pathetic figures to be bullied.
It is worth mentioning that ancient Korea practiced the "mother follows servant law," where concubines could not be elevated to the status of principal wife. Children born to concubines, regardless of the father's prestige, held the same lowly status as their mothers.
This resulted in children born to concubines being branded as "lowly people" from birth, relegated to serving the legitimate children as slaves.
Jiang Ling strongly suspected that these so-called "legitimacy cults" were poisoned by watching ancient Korean historical dramas, and thus they transplanted the Korean system, rendering ancient daughters born to concubines worthless.
It is said that ancient people had feudalistic thinking, but some modern people have even less developed minds than the ancients.
The ancients bound their feet; these people bind their brains.
After extensive verification, the facts proved that what Hua Ru Yi had said was true.
The "New Book of Tang," in an effort to prevent Liu E's usurpation of power, used indirect allusions and veiled criticisms to denigrate Wu Zetian, making her appear utterly worthless.
Furthermore, many current screenwriters, in order to stimulate the audience's senses, constantly push boundaries by adding pornographic unofficial histories, involving incest and affairs with sisters-in-law and nieces.
Over time, Wu Zetian's entire family became depicted as incredibly sensual and scandalous.
Seeing Hua Ru Yi respecting history and adapting and filming based on the "Old Book of Tang," people found it jarring, believing he was distorting facts and drastically altering history.
Now that they have discovered that history is vastly different from their imagination, they are shocked and have shifted their stance, beginning to praise the drama.
【So powerful, as expected of Director Hua!】
【Refusing to follow trends and go with the flow, taking a unique path and being original, this is Director Hua's style!】
【The previous dramas about Wu Zetian depicted her as utterly wicked, speaking of her abusing rivals and smothering her own daughter. After repeated indoctrination, I truly believed it, and lost touch with the actual historical facts.】