In ancient feudal society, women's status was often ignored and discriminated against. During the Jingyuan Dynasty, couples who divorced were allowed to remarry.
However, the women who were defiled suffered unfair treatment. They were often seen as unlucky, leading some to commit suicide, others to be sent to nunneries by their families, and still others to be given away as concubines. These women suffered immense physical and psychological trauma, yet were unable to receive the respect and equal treatment they deserved. This unfair treatment not only severely impacted their quality of life but also caused irreparable damage to their personal dignity.
The moon, like a jade plate, hangs high in the sky, casting a silvery glow that illuminates the tranquil night, yet cannot illuminate the darkness of human nature.
Ancient Market, the most diverse and bustling place in the Jingyuan Dynasty, is where unknown items, stories, and experiences are traded. Whether it's lost treasures, extinct antiques, or rare items from home and abroad that defy description, you can find them all here.
This is a place shrouded in mystery, attracting not only adventurers seeking extraordinary encounters but also buyers with specific needs. They arrive here with hope and anticipation, searching for items that can fulfill their desires.
Li Xi found the thugs who had caused trouble at the restaurant earlier that day in a small alley in the ancient market. "Speak, who ordered you to cause trouble today?" Li Xi stood in front of them with his arms crossed. "Young master, we were blind and offended you. Please forgive us," the thug leader pleaded.
"Do you think I'd believe this nonsense?" Li Xi grabbed the thug by the collar and lifted him up. The feeling of weightlessness as his feet left the ground terrified him. "Young master, it was...it was the owner of You Ran Ju who sent me to cause trouble. I have elderly parents and young children to support...this...this..." The thug, his neck tightened, couldn't breathe and could barely speak. Seeing this, Li Xi threw him down in disgust.
"Someone with hands and feet, tall and strong, doing this kind of work?" Li Xi curled her lips, picked up a bamboo pole and squeezed it hard, instantly turning it into fragments. "If I ever see you doing bad things in the future..."
Seeing Li Xi easily snap the bamboo pole, he squeezed his legs together and kept bowing and apologizing, "Yes, yes, yes, we, we...we won't even step on an ant again." The group bowed and retreated, scrambling away around the corner. He, a man eight feet tall and weighing two hundred pounds, had been lifted up by a slender young girl and couldn't break free—it was terrifying! He had to get as far away as possible.
Lately, with the increasing strength of her forces, Li Xi has been sleeping less and less, mainly because she can't fall asleep. She recalls the Japanese anime she read in her past life, where the male protagonist transforms from an ordinary person into a superhero, undergoing a complete metamorphosis, but also becoming bald... Will she one day end up like that? In her past life, she worked day and night, and her hair did indeed thin with age. She died suddenly before she even went bald from all the overwork; what was the point of her life?
Wandering among the bustling crowds of the ancient market, Li Xi finally felt the vibrant life around her. The place was brightly lit and lively, with street vendors pushing carts and hawking all kinds of snacks. The food in the oil was fried until golden and crispy, one piece for one coin. She had always loved fried, high-calorie snacks.
Holding a bunch of snacks in one hand and stuffing them into his mouth with the other, he was extremely satisfied, walking and stopping frequently. A simply dressed young man squatted down beside him, with a tattered cloth in front of him displaying some trinkets. "Young man, why is your Luban lock different from others?"
"This, this is, this is a little trinket I made myself. Would you like it, young master? I'll sell it to you cheap," the boy said nervously, clutching his clothes. He hadn't sold a single one for days, his family's food supplies were running low, his younger sister had been sick for days, and he had no money…
The boy appeared to be thirteen or fourteen years old, with a delicate and clean face. He was dressed in thin clothes and seemed to be shivering from the cold. Li Xi squatted down, carefully examining the handicrafts. She picked one up and studied it for a moment, but couldn't figure out how to play with it =????(???*). Seeing this, the boy gestured for Li Xi to hand it to him.
The exquisite toy seemed to come alive in the boy's hands; it was unraveled in a few breaths and then easily reassembled. "Wow, this thing is so interesting! How much is it?" "Twenty coins," the boy whispered, as if afraid he wouldn't be able to sell it.
"Pack them all up, I've bought them all," the boy said ecstatically. "Thank you, young master." There were twenty different Luban locks of various sizes. "Young master, that'll be four hundred coins in total," he said carefully, handing them to Li Xi. "It's late, be careful on your way home," Li Xi said, slipping two taels of silver into the boy's hand before swaggering away.
"Young master, you gave me too much," the young man chased after him. "I'll give you change when I have a chance. I have to go now," Li Xi waved and walked away.
I strolled around the old market, bought some unique hair accessories, and then left. As the distance increased, the noise gradually faded away. The lake surface under the moonlight was sometimes as calm as a mirror, and sometimes rippling. The ripples on the water, stirred by the breeze, were like dancing musical notes, playing a symphony of tranquility and beauty. And the tree shadows reflected on the water were like dreamlike sprites.
A soft sob came from the bridge. Li Xi shivered; the scene was somewhat eerie, and she felt a chill and prepared to change course and go home. The sobs turned into uncontrollable wailing, the voice filled with utter grief. Curiosity drove Li Xi to walk onto the bridge, where she saw a woman in a red dress climbing onto the bridge railing, preparing to jump.
Startled, Li Xi rushed forward and pulled the woman down. The woman screamed in fright, seemingly not expecting anyone to appear so late at night.
"Oh, girl, life is precious. Life can be sweet or bitter, but it can't be tasteless. You can win or you can lose, but you can't give up."
“Now what reason do I have to live? My fiancé broke off the engagement with me after he found out I had been defiled by a lecher. My family all despise me, saying I have ruined the reputation of my sisters. My parents also think I am in the way and say they will send me to a nunnery tomorrow to become a nun and spend my life with only the sound of the lamp and the Buddha. I would rather die than spend my whole life there.”
The woman, wearing only two thin layers of clothing, shivered from the cold. Seeing this, Li Xi took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. "Girl, you're the one who's been hurt. If you jump into the river and commit suicide because of those rumors, you'll only be fulfilling their wishes. You belong to yourself, an independent individual. Don't worry, everything will be alright. Look at Jingyuan, there are many independent women there. Nowadays, the country supports women's independence. Then you won't have to care what others think," Li Xi said earnestly. His eyes held an unseen emotion; he really should have kicked that womanizer hard and sent him to be a eunuch.
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