In the Da Xi Daily, Yi Shuihan issued his first major edict since taking office: abolishing the status of "inferior" and prohibiting the buying and selling of people, declaring that everyone would be a free citizen and equal before the law.

Households that need manpower can hire others as servants. Both parties must sign an employment agreement to agree on the salary and term of employment.

This edict spread rapidly throughout Dae Hee with the publication of the Dae Hee Daily.

For those of lowly status, such as slaves, servants, laborers, musicians, and retainers, this was naturally great news.

Shedding their status as outcasts and gaining equal status with ordinary citizens was something they never dared to dream of.

Now, my dream has actually come true.

From then on, they could stay in the master's house if they wanted, and leave if they wanted, without having to worry about being punished by family law or executed by private torture for making mistakes.

Their lives are no longer in the hands of others, but in their own.

Nothing could have been more exciting for them.

Originally, it didn't matter much to them who became emperor, but now it's completely different.

They vowed to defend Yi Shuihan, the new emperor, to the death.

For people accustomed to ordering servants around and treating them as private property, this edict was as bad as it could be.

How can the lowest class be given the same status as the common people?

How can ordinary households be on equal footing with official households?

Without the distinction between high and low, noble and common, wouldn't it be complete chaos if rulers didn't act like rulers, ministers didn't act like ministers, and sons didn't act like sons?

This is a sign of the collapse of social order and morality.

They strongly opposed this edict.

Some officials even threatened to resign, saying that if they were to be stripped of their status as "lowly people," they would quit their posts.

To this, Yi Shuihan only replied, "A servant's life is also a life."

Since it's all fate, why distinguish between high and low, noble and base?

Those self-proclaimed noble families, can they be reduced to the lowest social class with just one wrong step?

As long as the status of the lowest social class exists, civilization will never arrive.

The reason he took on the mess that was Xi Kingdom was to change the world where slaves were not treated as human beings and everyone lived in fear.

Only in this way can the people live and work in peace and contentment, and society enjoy long-term stability and security.

That's why Xiao Qingyin was willing to stay.

He sent all the officials who strongly opposed the edict to work in the mines.

After experiencing firsthand the dark, arduous, and hopeless life of slavery, these people all abandoned their original views and began to sing the praises of the edict.

It was praised as "a ray of dawn that cleaved through the chaos," a feat comparable to Pangu creating the world.

They even praised Yi Shuihan as a great emperor throughout the ages.

Xiao Qingyin was overjoyed when she found out.

When Yi Shuihan delivered the gifts to urge her to get ready, she teased, "You're really ruthless, sending a bunch of civil officials to work as miners."

Yi Shuihan chuckled: "They don't know the pain until they're whipped themselves. And they can't guarantee they'll stay high and mighty forever. What if one day I confiscate their property, exile them, and confine them to a lowly status?"

The abolition of the status of "inferior" has only benefits and no drawbacks, and only short-sighted people would feel that their interests are threatened.

Xiao Qingyin nodded in agreement: "That's true. There's no such thing as true empathy in this world. Only by putting yourself in someone else's shoes can you understand their situation."

Yi Shuihan tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said with a burning gaze, "Don't worry about these things. Just rest well these next few days. The sixth day will be our auspicious day."

Xiao Qingyin glanced at him sideways: "Are you worried that I haven't rested well and will delay your driving?"

Yi Shuihan: "..."

You heartless bastard.

She's the one who's afraid, okay?

He said irritably, "I'm afraid you'll get into a car accident."

"Then how about we don't drive?" Xiao Qingyin said with a smile. "Anyway, there are other ways."

Yi Shuihan said coldly, "You want to live like a widow before you're even married?"

Xiao Qingyin laughed heartily: "Don't say such unlucky things, although I don't mind using your money to support a man."

Still want to support a man?

Yi Shuihan laughed.

He cupped the woman's face in his hands and said in a dark voice, "If you dare to keep a lover, I'll come back to kill you even if I have to go to the underworld."

Xiao Qingyin rolled her eyes.

A man's words are indeed deceitful.

He once said that it was none of his business how many men she kept, and that she could do whatever she wanted.

The death warning has started now.

She poked the man's forehead and said with a grin, "Then you'd better perform well. If you end up like Ouyang Xiuqi, don't blame me."

Yi Shuihan's face darkened.

How dare they compare him to Ouyang Xiuqi, a pretty face but no substance? Just wait and see!

He left, seething with anger.

After looking at the dowry he sent, Xiao Qingyin went to check her dowry.

You wouldn't believe it until you counted; her dowry filled several rooms.

A dowry list cannot be called a dowry list.

It should be called a dowry book.

Fu Weiyun didn't want any of Yun Wanyin's dowry that he had retrieved from the Xiao family; he gave it all to her and even added a lot more for her.

Yun Zhao was busy with coastal defense and could not return to attend the wedding, so she sent several large boxes of treasures back to the capital for her.

Ning treated her like a daughter, and when she was about to get married, Ning naturally prepared several more trunks for her.

There were also gifts sent by Ji Yunhua, Qiu Sanniang, and the former Crown Princess...

Xiao Qingyin herself has accumulated a considerable fortune over the years.

Looking at the dowry filling several rooms, she felt like she had suddenly become rich.

She was so dizzy from counting that she finally finished.

After resting outside for a while, Situ Zhi came to find her.

"Miss Xiao, my mother has moved to a new house, and I'm planning to move in as well. We'd like to invite you to our housewarming dinner tonight. Would you be available?"

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