116 Welcome Banquet (7)

The power an Empress had was connected to their husbands and their willingness to look the other way. If your husband doesn't love you, that Empress position was useless, you would just be a figurehead. Perhaps everyone overestimated themselves and thought they could keep the Emperor's love their whole lives, but honestly , how many have been able to do that, even within nobility, much less with the most powerful man. It was really just another form of self-torture. Then again, what else could they do? For men, even if they were disowned by their family, they could still find work and scrape by a living because people are willing to hire them. Women? At best, you could be an entertainer, at worse, you'd have to sell your body, and no matter how you are treated at a whorehouse, it would always be a shame on your name since a woman's chastity was one of the most important things for them.