Qin Yao rolled her eyes at him. Does he need to be told this?

If there was a relationship, Madam Qi would not have had such a long conversation with General Mu Ling in front of her.

"By the way." Qin Yao smiled proudly at Liu Ji, "Do you know the identity of the person who was with the princess in the backyard today?"

Liu Ji shook his head and thought to himself that she might be a capable female official beside the eldest princess.

Qin Yao answered word by word, "It's Mu Ling, the left general who controls half of the imperial guards in Kyoto. She's a woman."

She emphasized the last two words. Liu Ji thought he had misheard. He said, "Huh?" and then he came to his senses. He looked at Qin Yao in shock and said, "I don't have much education. Don't lie to me!"

Qin Yao: "I wouldn't use this to deceive you even if I wanted to. If you don't believe me, go ask your teachers and senior brothers. They will definitely know."

"Then why didn't they ever tell me?" Liu Ji didn't believe it. How could a woman be the Left General? It was absolutely impossible!

"So, we both have too little experience. We only know about the things in this small piece of land and have never even stepped out of Zijing Mansion. We have no idea what the people and things outside are like." Qin Yao sighed.

Liu Ji said it was impossible, "How is this possible!"

"Women can join the army. I just found out about this today." Qin Yao told Liu Ji about the privileges of aristocratic women that she learned from He Zhanghua. Liu Ji felt that his three views were about to be overturned.

He subconsciously looked at her with worry, thinking that if every woman could become a general, wouldn't he be suppressed by this evil woman for the rest of his life and never be able to turn things around?

Hearing about the threshold for joining the army, she heaved a sigh of relief and laughed a few times: "I said, if ordinary women can join the army and earn military merits, the world of Shengguo will definitely change."

"A fifth-rank official's wife, hahaha, there really is such a thing. She is a good rich girl, but she is stupid enough to go to the military camp and suffer with a bunch of stinky men who don't take a bath or wash their feet."

Having said this, Liu Ji was suddenly startled. Something very important flashed through his mind, but he couldn't grasp it.

Qin Yao, who was walking in front, also suddenly stopped. She had just been thinking that this world was not as bad as she had imagined. At least women from the scholar class could gain power through military merit.

But on the other hand, women are born with weak physiques, but they still choose to join the army. Isn't this also a helpless act after being subjected to extreme oppression from patriarchy?

Even though it was such a difficult road, commoner men like Liu Ji were deeply afraid that one day the world would be turned upside down and a man like him who had no power, no influence, no ability and no merits would no longer be able to enjoy the protection of patriarchy.

The noisy environment ahead suddenly became quiet, and the couple, who were lost in thought, looked up together.

A group of women wearing the same simple red military uniforms appeared in the alley at some point. There were five of them in the group, each of them was tall and strong, holding a sword in their hands, and they were serious. Just standing there brought a strong sense of oppression.

The hawkers all fell silent and lowered their eyes in fear, not daring to look at these female generals who were obviously of extraordinary status.

The leading woman stepped forward, clasped her fists and asked, "Qin Yao?"

Qin Yao looked at them warily. Just as she was about to take a step forward, she realized that her clothes had been grabbed. Liu Ji hid behind her nervously, muttering:

"No way, no way." Could it be that what the evil woman said was true, and the princess sent people to capture him and make him her lover?

Qin Yao glanced at him and knew what he was thinking. She pulled her hands off the corner of her clothes speechlessly and stepped forward to answer, "It's me, I'm Qin Yao, who are you?"

Seeing that she didn't look flustered at all, the other party raised his eyebrows in an ambiguous way, but didn't answer her. He just raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation, "Qin Yao, our Lingtou wants to see you, please!"

"General Mu Ling?" Qin Yao was a little surprised. Didn't they just meet?

Several people made way for her and, with some coercion, forced her to go.

Qin Yao looked back at Liu Ji and pointed to the street corner next to her. "Wait for me there."

Liu Ji quickly responded with an "oh oh", showing a rare look of worry for her, and asked tentatively: "Madam, are you sure you don't want me to accompany you?"

Qin Yao put her hands on her hips and sighed helplessly. Look, do these five women want to invite you to go with them?

Liu Ji smiled awkwardly, slipped away, ran quickly to the corner of the street, leaned against the wall, and secretly stared at the black carriage parked in front of the main gate of He Mansion.

Qin Yao followed a few women to the carriage, and Mu Ling's teasing voice came from the carriage:

"I heard that you have supernatural powers. I wonder if you can split the two stone lion statues in front of the He family's gate with one palm."

Qin Yao frowned unhappily, "General, you want to see it? Then you have to prepare the compensation yourself. I can't afford it if you break it into pieces."

The car curtain was lifted, and Mu Ling glanced outside at the two stone lions. "So, you can split these two stone lions with your bare hands?"

Qin Yao raised her eyebrows and folded her arms before taking a half step back. She didn't like looking up at people, and her neck felt uncomfortable.

Now stepping back a little, my eyes were level with the wooden feathers on the carriage, and I felt much better instantly.

Mu Ling glanced at her calmly and reminded her: "You are a commoner, but you don't even salute this general. You are so brave!"

As soon as these words came out, the female soldiers immediately cast threatening glances at Qin Yao, and the leader shouted, "How dare you, Qin Yao, kneel down before you see our general!"

However, the woman who was being shouted at did not move at all. She smiled faintly and said, "Which article in the laws of Sheng State states that commoners must kneel down to greet a general?"

The five female soldiers were really stunned. Is there such a rule in the law? It seems so. Hasn't it always been like this?

Mu Ling simply couldn't bear to watch, so he waved his hand, signaling them to leave, and said to Qin Yao in person:

"She is a village woman, but she is quite courageous. However, it is written on page 35 of the Laws and Etiquette of Sheng State that all common people should kneel down to show respect when meeting an official."

Qin Yao nodded, indicating that she had learned something new. "But I am just a country woman, I don't know how to squat, can you teach me?"

She was sincerely seeking advice, but to the five female soldiers, wasn't this a blatant provocation?

"You" the leading female soldier wanted to take action, but was glared back by Mu Ling.

Qin Yao looked at Mu Ling innocently. She really couldn't do it, but she also really wanted to learn.

Mu Ling sneered in his heart, then I will teach you, see if you can be polite!

She jumped off the carriage, called the leading female soldier to come forward, and asked her to demonstrate to Qin Yao.

The so-called squatting ceremony is to place the legs forward and backward, bend the body and squat completely until the buttocks touch the calf of the back leg, and place the hands horizontally and flatly on the knees of the front legs, and say respectfully: "I am Liu Qinshi, a commoner, and I pay my respects to the general!"

The female soldier finished the demonstration and looked at Qin Yao provocatively, "It's your turn."

Mu Ling didn't believe that she would salute him at all. After all, talented people always have a bit of pride and would rather break than bend.

She had already thought about what she would say after Qin Yao stopped rudely.

After all, she has always used the method of giving a big stick and then throwing a carrot, suppressing first and then praising, which has always worked.

But I never expected it!

Qin Yao squatted down and saluted her in a standard manner, "I am Qin Yao, a commoner, paying my respects to General Mu Ling!"

After the greeting, he stood up and looked at her with a smile.

The female soldiers were dumbfounded: How could this not be played according to the rules? Where is your pride? Where is your stubbornness?

The air was strangely quiet for a moment. Mu Ling's mind buzzed. He couldn't tell whether it was disappointment or the expectation was disrupted. He was angry and felt like he was being fooled! (End of this chapter)