Chapter 218 The Woman with Zero Fertility Value 21

Ji Zhilan was furious when she learned that Chu Nanxun had shamelessly gone to find Shi Yunzhen.

Unfortunately, he is currently unable to leave.

Now that Shi Yunzhen has demanded a joint operation of the three armies, he, who has just seized real power, has no time to spare to go to the Second Army. He can only ridicule Chu Nanxun in the communications, calling him a shameless vixen, and secretly implying that Pei Wujiu is incompetent and that a sly fox has taken advantage of the situation.

Although he knew perfectly well that Chu Nanxun's involvement was inevitable.

Pei Wujiu and Chu Nanxun naturally wouldn't accept Ji Zhilan's sarcastic remarks, and they both launched a counterattack, with the three of them arguing fiercely behind each other's backs.

Ji Zhilan, in particular, was the first person to stay by Shi Yunzhen's side, and therefore he was targeted even more fiercely by the two of them.

The two of them shared many sweet moments of their time with Shi Yunzhen with Ji Zhilan.

Pei Wujiu would share photos of her sleeping with her head resting on his shoulder. Of course, in the photos, Shi Yunzhen only showed a strand of her hair, and the rest was mostly her neck with red marks.

This made Ji Zhilan want to look at the objects and think of the person, imagining that Shi Yunzhen was leaning on him but he couldn't do anything about it.

Chu Nanxun sent a close-up photo of himself and Shi Yunzhen holding hands late at night, which kept Ji Zhilan awake until dawn.

Of course, although Chu Nanxun and Pei Wujiu were on the same side when they were putting Ji Zhilan down, they were not exactly on good terms with each other.

Especially since Chu Nanxun would be returning to the Fourth Army in just a few days, and in order not to expose too much, Shi Yunzhen did not publicly reveal her relationship with Chu Nanxun.

People are afraid of having what others don't, and Chu Nanxun naturally understood this, but he still couldn't help feeling anxious and increasingly craved every moment with Shi Yunzhen, wishing he could take all the time before their separation into his very bones.

Therefore, he intercepted many of Pei Wujiu's opportunities to "serve him in bed," which infuriated Pei Wujiu.

However, considering the overall situation, Pei Wujiu still chose to retreat to a safe distance.

...

While the central leadership was indulging in power struggles and living a life of debauchery, the Fourth and Fifth Armies quietly changed their leaders, and the Third Army was completely devoured, becoming a puppet of the three armies.

Unfamiliar figures began to quietly appear in the streets and alleys of Kyoto.

These highly trained special agents, disguised in various identities, blended into the crowd, quietly waiting for the right moment to arrive.

A wave of change is already upon us.

On August 15th, the anniversary celebration of the founding of the Empire was held as scheduled.

Inside the central parliament hall, officials at all levels were gathered together.

This is an annual routine meeting, and the agenda includes resource allocation for the new fiscal year, deliberation of policy proposals, and voting on revisions to major decisions.

After a fierce debate, all the allocated resources were quickly divided up, and the process moved on to the stage of revising and resolving the proposal.

After several rounds of tense negotiations, the various factions finally reached a compromise on the resource allocation plan.

Finally, there was the meaningless proposal voting stage.

In previous years, this step was just a formality, but this year, someone dropped a bombshell.

In the center of the meeting room, an official with a protruding belly shakily rose to his feet, his silk uniform stretched taut and gleaming.

"I propose revising the 'Law on the Protection of Reproductive Capacity,' abolishing the marriage system, eliminating the privileges of pregnant women, and placing all pregnant women under the unified management of the Music Pavilion!"

These words immediately sparked discussion, and the entire venue instantly descended into chaos.

A moment later, an elderly man with silver hair slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Absurd! The institution of marriage has existed since before the Great Cataclysm; it is not only the cornerstone of civilization but also the foundation of social stability! How can it be arbitrarily modified?!"

He stomped his cane twice heavily on the marble floor.

"Moreover, without a marriage contract, how can the bloodline of offspring be confirmed?"

There were also dissenting voices on the sidelines.

"I also object. The Music Pavilion? That's a filthy place for impotent women. Pregnant women are so precious; how can they be defiled by others?"

"The 'playhouse' system, though seemingly efficient, actually destroys the foundation of society. The family is not only a unit for reproduction, but also a place for emotional education and moral transmission. If pregnant women are collectively kept in captivity, the resulting population will be nothing more than a group of emotionally detached people, or even antisocial individuals, which is detrimental to the long-term development of the empire."

"Imperial soldiers fight to protect their homes. If even their wives and children could be conscripted into the entertainment industry, who would be willing to risk their lives for the Empire? If this proposal passes, the conscription rate will plummet by at least 50% next year."

"Data shows that the period with the highest birth rate after the Great Cataclysm coincided with the era when the marriage system was most stable. Forcing pregnant women into brothels? Aren't they afraid of a repeat of the mass suicides among pregnant women?"

"Don't forget, gentlemen, how many of you have pregnant wives or daughters? If you agree to send others to brothels today, your own bloodline might be next!"

Many opposed the proposal, but even more agreed, and these people stood up to refute it.

"You are all being far too conservative. With the birth rate now below the warning line, confining pregnant women to monogamous relationships is a waste of resources. Only by opening up the harem system and allowing multiple mating relationships can we reverse the population decline."

"From a resource efficiency perspective, the marriage system is indeed outdated. Pregnant women are a scarce resource, and only centralized management can achieve optimal allocation. The restrictions on the number of women in the entertainment quarters should be abolished, and an optimal gene-matching mechanism should be established. Only in this way can the birth rate of high-quality offspring be improved."

"As for concerns about emotional development, these can be completely resolved by increasing the weight given to psychological training courses. How can we throw the baby out with the bathwater?"

"Based on data from the past decade, the fertility rate within marriages has been declining year by year. It is absolutely necessary to include pregnant women in entertainment venues and manage them scientifically in order to reverse the population crisis."

"Emotions are a burden on procreation. Stripped of the constraints of marriage, pregnant women can focus solely on childbirth, and this is the direction of civilized evolution."

"Nowadays, women are all law-abiding citizens. Those violent incidents are just remnants of the old era and will not happen again. As for the specific individuals you are concerned about, I believe you all have solutions."

"What's all the fuss about? Why not auction off a pregnant woman's right to give birth, with the highest bidder winning? That would be fair."

"That makes sense..."

Throughout the council chamber, various factions engaged in heated debates and arguments.

Tragically, none of these powerful and privileged individuals spoke up for women as "human beings."

In their debate, pregnant women are reduced to a number representing the "fertility rate," objectified as tools for "genetic transmission," and alienated as resources requiring "optimal allocation"...

In this debate concerning the fate of humanity, the will and dignity of women as independent individuals were completely crushed in the cold calculation of interests.

In the shadows at the edge of the venue, more than a dozen women stood silently.

Among them were elderly women with graying temples and young girls who had just shed their childishness. Time had etched different marks on their faces, but their eyes burned with the same intense anger.

They were not officials, just some odd jobs, and they had worked hard to get those positions.

In this hall of power, women have been completely erased, and not even an inch of space has ever been reserved for them.

They exchanged a glance, then silently left the meeting room and entered the adjacent lounge.

As soon as they entered, a strikingly beautiful young woman exclaimed impatiently, "We can't let them pass this proposal!"

“But… what can we do…” someone said, bowing their head in frustration.

They have long been systematically excluded from the power structure, having neither the right to participate in decision-making nor the power to defend their own destiny.

Over the years, there have been instances of women resisting, but their efforts were like mayflies trying to shake a tree, and were quickly suppressed.

They could only watch helplessly as men systematically tamed women, cutting off their avenues for upward mobility and subjecting them to spiritual castration.

They were taught to be obedient and virtuous, to value family and procreation, and to measure a woman's worth by her reproductive capacity.

Watching them categorize women without reproductive value as non-resource-level population and throw them into the pleasure house to squeeze out their last bit of value.

Today, they are also a group of awakened individuals who have spontaneously organized themselves. They infiltrated various important departments, becoming inconspicuous dust, trying to gather information, but ultimately it was all in vain.

They had no power to resist, not even a gun.

The men were extremely wary of them.

They felt as if they were in a conscious prison, and the more conscious they were, the more they suffered.

They couldn't even escape this cage, because the outside world was full of strange beasts, and there was nowhere for them to hide.

The lounge fell into a deathly silence, the heavy air making it hard to breathe.

They felt as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss, surrounded by pitch blackness, with even the last glimmer of hope about to be swallowed up.

The gray-haired woman said, "No, perhaps we still have hope."

She was also the leader of this group, and her name was Qiu Die.

She had a beautiful name, but she was a very strong-willed person who dedicated her life to finding a way out for women.

Ironically, she was one of the awakened ones, while her husband was in the next meeting room, participating in a vote that would determine the fate of women.

However, it was precisely this absurd marital relationship that allowed her to keep abreast of their movements and place many of her sisters there.

Everyone turned to look at her.

She stood upright, her silvery-white hair dazzlingly white under the light, like frost and snow.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but recently there have been many unfamiliar faces in Kyoto. Even many of the security personnel this time are not the same ones as before."

"Aunt Qiu, you mean?"

Qiu Die nodded: "The world is about to change."

"Great! Perhaps this is a way out for us?"

“We can offer some help to overthrow these parasites and then get them to amend some legal provisions.”

"You're being far too simplistic. We don't even know who's behind this, so how can you be so sure they'll help us? They might just be another group of oppressors!"

"But we have no choice; things can't get any worse than they are now."

"Aunt Qiu, do you know who these people are?"

Qiu Die nodded slowly: "I have some guesses."

She was not like her short-sighted husband.

Over the years, because she played the role of a virtuous wife and loving mother well, her husband has always looked down on women and has no suspicion of her. He can even come and go from the study normally.

That fool was oblivious to the undercurrents beneath the surface, but she discovered many suspicious points through a large number of compiled documents.

Based on some clues, Qiu Die quickly realized the existence of a third party.

She was not entirely unaware of the power shift within the Third Army.

Thinking of the Second Army's growing strength in recent years and the corrupt Central Committee, she ultimately said nothing and even deliberately covered it up.

When Qiu Die did this, she didn't intend to do anything; she simply wanted to create some ripples and stir up the stagnant water.

But with this proposal today, this previously insignificant force has become the key to breaking their deadlock.

Qiu Die immediately said, "I'll contact them right now."

"If we retreat one step, we will retreat every step. We can't retreat any further!"

The group that was still discussing fell silent, exchanged glances, and nodded in unison, their expressions solemn.

"Aunt Qiu, you go ahead, we'll cover for you."

Qiu Die's gaze slowly swept over every face present, from middle-aged women with fine lines around their eyes to young girls who still retained their childlike innocence. Time had left different marks on their faces, but the resolute light burning in their eyes was the same.

She took a deep breath, nodded emphatically, and turned to leave the lounge.

In the capital city, in a secret base.

Pei Wujiu received a report from his subordinates stating that an old woman had approached them for cooperation, intending to jointly overthrow the existing ruling class.

At the same time, he was also given the old woman's information.

Shi Yunzhen also curiously came over.

After reviewing the old woman's information, the two men answered the call without much hesitation.

Before the call connected, Pei Wujiu looked at Shi Yunzhen.

"Yun Zhen, shouldn't you avoid this place?"

Shi Yunzhen waved her hand, "No need."

She never intended to remain behind the scenes forever; she wanted the whole world to see that she was the one who personally ignited the prairie fire that overthrew the old order.

And she was a woman.

Pei Wujiu thought about it and didn't object.

They had made preparations long ago and were not afraid of Yun Zhen's identity being leaked.

Therefore, when the video call connected, what Qiu Die saw was not only the familiar Pei Wujiu, but also an extremely beautiful stranger.

The words that had been brewing for so long suddenly stuck in my throat.

Qiu Die's fingertips trembled slightly, not from fear, but from a kind of almost dizzying anticipation.

The woman who could appear beside Pei Wujiu under such circumstances must not be an ordinary kept woman.

This was the first time in many years that she had seen a woman in the inner circle of power.

A spark of hope suddenly ignited in her heart, burning her chest.

"Ms. Qiu, what do you want to say?"

Pei Wujiu impatiently tapped on the table to bring Qiu Ya back to her senses.

She gave Shi Yunzhen a deep look and said something surprising: "I know you want to overthrow the current regime, and I can help you."

Pei Wujiu's gaze silently shifted to Shi Yunzhen, and he took a slight step back.

This subtle gesture completely relinquishes decision-making power.

Qiu Die noticed this, her pupils contracted sharply, and she became even more excited.

Perhaps her guess is wrong.

The one standing at the center of power was not Pei Wujiu, but this woman with unparalleled beauty and natural grace.

The commander of the Second Army was nothing more than a swordsman who bowed down in submission.