Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 903: Chapter 814: Unwilling to Be a Slave 34

The Empress spoke and sighed helplessly. It wasn’t that the Empress didn’t want to set aside all rules to be with the Emperor; the Emperor felt that despite the comfort of rules he always felt a bit uneasy with the Empress, and the Empress felt the same as well.

Just that the Emperor’s character, the Empress knew too well, valued decorum and rules far above comfort, so the Empress dared not do anything unbecoming of an Empress even by a fraction, except for the occasional harmless joke in private.

”Sometimes, I even envy the couples of ordinary people; at least they don’t have to face so many women of their husbands, they can be with their husbands freely without having to strictly follow decorum and rules, using all sorts of means to win their husband’s hearts.

And yet, because I am the Empress, because I am the mother of a nation, I must value decorum and rules, must maintain dignity, must not be jealous, must take care of the Emperor’s women, and see the Emperor’s children as my own!”

Nuoxiang watched the Empress with her sorrowful expression and couldn’t help but sigh as well. Over the years, the Empress often had such laments. In the end, it’s because which woman wouldn’t want to live harmoniously and affectionately with her husband, to hope for a heart-to-heart and mutually supportive marriage.

But having become the Empress, these thoughts can only be unrealistic dreams, and the respect she has with the Emperor today is the result of careful planning by the Empress. Hence, the Empress feels stifled in her heart.

Yet Xia’er, seeing the saddened Empress, pursed her lips and said, ”However, I don’t think so, Empress. It’s still better to be the Empress.”

Nuoxiang frowned, looked at Xia’er, and slightly shook her head, indicating for Xia’er to stop talking. This Xia’er had such a direct and impulsive nature. The Empress was feeling melancholic at this moment, and Xia’er was just making the Empress unhappy.

But the Empress, seeing Nuoxiang’s action, couldn’t help but chuckle and said, ”Alright Nuoxiang, you don’t need to signal Xia’er to stop talking. I actually want to hear what Xia’er thinks.”

With the Empress’s permission, Xia’er said, ”The Empress said that wives in the countryside don’t have to face countless women of their husbands. But Xia’er’s father is just an ordinary commoner, living by farming. When the harvest was slightly better, Xia’er’s father bought a concubine back home.

Since having the concubine, Xia’er’s father no longer noticed me, his daughter, or my mother who toiled for the family. Once the concubine bore a son, even Xia’er’s brother and sister lost favor, and Xia’er and her mother lived a life worse than a maid at home.

If it hadn’t been for the clear stipulation in the law that concubines cannot be promoted to the main wife, Xia’er’s mother would have already been dismissed by my father, replaced by that concubine as the legitimate wife.

My father was the eldest son of the family. Although my mother wasn’t favored by my father, she was still the matron of the clan. As the matron of the clan, the rules she had to follow were countless and harsh, and despite being a small, unremarkable clan, the rules were as many as the stars.

Later, Xia’er’s hometown suffered disaster for two straight years, reducing harvests. The family was struggling. My father couldn’t bear to let go of his concubine and illegitimate son, and unbelievably, he wanted to sell his wife!”

Tears suddenly filled Xia’er’s eyes as she looked at the Empress and asked, ”Empress, do you know what it means to sell a wife?”

The Empress shook her head in confusion. She had never heard of the term ’sell a wife’. Xia’er wiped her tears and continued, ”Empress, coming from a noble background, of course, you wouldn’t understand this poor man’s sordid practice.

To sell a wife means for poor people to lease out their wife, who is particularly good at bearing sons, to some landlords or wealthy merchants for a period of time, to bear children for these landlords and merchants in exchange for silver. After giving birth, the wife returns to her husband’s family.

The women who have been sold and returned home are subjected to discrimination because they are considered unchaste. But isn’t this the man’s own wrongdoing? They uselessly give their wives to other men to have children to earn money, yet despise the wives who earn money for them. It’s utterly ridiculous.

Empress, did you know, every year people are sent from the palace to villages to buy good-looking girls to be trained as palace maids, but no girl from a family that still manages to survive is willing to enter the palace as a palace maid.

Because a palace maid’s life is so lowly, a single illness, a tiny mistake, or a single word from the master could cost her life. Even if one is lucky enough to survive, by the time a palace maid exits the palace at the age of majority, she is already old and worn, and her latter life is destined to be miserable.

The last few times people from the palace came to buy palace maids, my mother desperately stopped my father from wanting to sell me as a palace maid. But this time, I actively approached the people buying palace maids, sold myself to prevent my mother from facing the fate of being sold as a wife.

I was lucky. Soon after entering the palace, I caught the Empress’s eye and was continuously rewarded, allowing me to send money back home to ensure my father wouldn’t continue thinking about selling a wife. Later, I became a confidante of the Empress.

Borrowing the Empress’s status, I left the palace with others, sternly admonished my father so that he wouldn’t continue to bully my mother and ensured my mother received the honor a legitimate wife should have, stopping the concubine and illegitimate son from continuing to tyrannize over my mother and siblings.

And in the countryside, men like my father are everywhere. So, Empress, the so-called ordinary couples in the countryside are not as good as you imagine.”

With Xia’er finishing her story, the Empress no longer felt sad. She was already in shock from the miserable world Xia’er described. But Nuoxiang wasn’t too surprised because she was also a daughter of an ordinary family, and though she hadn’t experienced it herself, she had heard of it.

The Empress held Xia’er’s hand, somewhat pitying, and said, ”Good Xia’er, tomorrow I will grant your mother something, just saying it is a reward for raising a good daughter.”

Xia’er hurriedly knelt, ”Empress, you don’t have to do this. I didn’t say these things to gain pity or rewards.” The Empress shook her head and smiled, stopping Xia’er from continuing her defense.

Gently saying, ”I know, Xia’er, you said these things out of loyalty, to remind me that the lives of common people are even harsher. Besides, having been by my side for so many years, if you wanted to use your background to gain pity and rewards, you would have done it long ago. There was no need to wait until now. I won’t misunderstand. I just wish to support those dear to me, so that your mother can live better.”

Xia’er, with tears in her eyes, deeply bowed to the Empress, ”Empress, thank you, Empress! Thank you, Empress!”

The Holy Decree to promote Feng Jing Jieyu and the decree of the Empress quickly reached Yingyue Palace. Jing Jieyu looked at the Holy Decree in her hand, the smile on her face slowly spreading. For so many years, she had always hoped to have a title, even more so than the desire for advancement, because in the harem, a title is even harder to obtain than a promotion.

Now she finally had a title, and even if it was just the character ”Jing”, she knew why the Emperor gave her this title. But Jing Jieyu gently touched her abdomen, thinking that even so, so what.