Several elderly women sighed and said, "What can we do? A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl; she's gone, and her family still has its own lives to live. Who would be willing to stand up for a married daughter?"
Women already had a very low social status. Unmarried girls might be able to stand up for themselves, but married women were no longer able to do so.
Consort Liu was stunned; she never expected this to be the reason.
As a woman herself, she understands that there are many things in this world that women cannot control, but she never expected that in ordinary people's homes, a woman's life would be so worthless.
Although her family sent her to the palace to become a concubine, she never lacked the treatment she deserved from childhood. Moreover, before deciding to send her to the palace, they spent a lot of money on her. Although she knew that her parents had their own plans, she had to accept that the money was spent on her.
However, these women in the countryside had little use to their families, so their life or death didn't matter much to them.
Consort Liu's mood instantly soured. Many people couldn't understand Jiang Jiuniang before. It was one thing for her to be unconventional, but she also wanted to lead others to do these unorthodox things.
Now she could deeply understand Jiang Jiuniang's thoughts, because she had the ability and knew that women at the bottom of society had a hard time, so she wanted to help them.
The retired emperor was also stunned. He never expected that people would treat human life so casually, and that a woman's life would be so cheap.
"This is absolutely outrageous!"
The retired emperor slapped the wall hard and shouted into the air, "Go and bring that shameless family back!"
The next moment, a person appeared out of thin air and swept forward, instantly grabbing the whole family, leaving the elderly women stunned.
The retired emperor waved his hand at the group and said, "Thank you for informing me. Today I will rid the people of this scourge!"
After saying that, she turned and left, and Consort Liu followed, leaving the several old women stunned on the spot.
The women took a while to come to their senses and said, "Did we just meet some important person?"
"It looks like it. That person suddenly appeared, flew in front, and grabbed that old slut!"
"So we didn't say anything bad that offended any important people, did we?"
"Huh? I don't think so, I think..."
The Emperor Emeritus was angry the whole way, saying nothing and taking very long strides.
Consort Liu hurriedly caught up and pulled the person back, whispering, "Please slow down, don't get upset and harm your health."
Seeing that there were no outsiders around, the retired emperor said angrily, "I have thought of countless possibilities, but I never imagined that they were begging on the street for this reason! And I have given them money time and time again!"
Although the amount of money wasn't much, it was really unlucky that my good intentions had been betrayed, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got, which is why I lost my temper so badly.
"Of course I know you mean well, but we've learned our lesson. Next time we encounter this situation, we can't act rashly. We have to investigate thoroughly before making any decisions and spend the money on those who truly need it."
Consort Liu patiently comforted him until the Emperor Emeritus's mood gradually improved.
Instead of taking the people directly to the government office, they took them to the backyard of the inn where they were staying and had the backyard surrounded to prevent anyone else from entering.
The elderly beggar couple and their gambler son were terrified when they were arrested, especially the elderly couple, who knew that being arrested meant they had offended this important figure. They lowered their heads, trembled, and dared not move.
Their son, Lu Dong, thought they were debt collectors and kept his head down, not wanting them to see his face clearly, hoping they had mistaken him for someone else.
"That's wonderful!"
The retired emperor sneered and said only this one sentence.
The people around them immediately drew their swords and held them to the necks of the family of three. Without saying a word, the elderly couple were terrified and kowtowed repeatedly to admit their mistake.
"My lord, we didn't mean to lie to you; we have our reasons!"
"We only have one son. If you have any problems, come at us. Don't make things difficult for my son!"
"The child is still young, and we parents have no other choice but to raise him this way..."
Now, not only was the Emperor Emeritus angry, but even the eunuchs beside him were furious. Just then, they saw the Emperor Emeritus take a deep breath in anger, and without the Emperor Emeritus giving any orders, they stepped forward and slapped the family of three across the face.
The retired emperor was much happier after they were slapped, but he was no longer in the mood to interrogate them.
There's no point in wasting breath interrogating such a person.
He waved his hand wearily and said, "Send them directly to the government and let them investigate whether they really killed their daughter-in-law and sold their granddaughter. Those who should be beheaded should be beheaded, and those who should be exiled should be exiled. Don't leave them here to disgust me."
His men immediately went to do it. After returning to his room, the retired emperor paced back and forth, looking very troubled.
Consort Liu looked puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, is there anything else that displeases you?"
"I'm thinking, should I write to Dog's mother and ask if they've encountered the same thing before?"
The retired emperor looked like he was questioning the meaning of life, clearly indicating that he had experienced few setbacks and was feeling somewhat vulnerable at the moment.
Empress Dowager Liu was both amused and exasperated: "We don't even know where they've gone now. How are we supposed to send this letter? Besides, it's not a big deal. When you're traveling, all sorts of things can happen. If we have to tell them every time something happens, it will be too much trouble."
As she spoke, she pulled the old emperor to sit down and patiently said, "Your Majesty, after this incident, I have seen many things more clearly and understand why Madam Lu has always been committed to helping women become independent and strong. Before, I only expressed my support in my heart but never provided any practical help. However, after this incident, I understand that Madam Lu's strength alone is not enough. We must work together."
The retired emperor nodded, finding it very reasonable, but still didn't understand how to do it specifically.
Jiang Jiuniang does different things every time, you could say she creates a suitable package for each person, but they don't have that experience, and if they want to help more people, they can't create a plan for each person, that's simply not realistic.
Now, even Consort Liu was a little confused. She said, "We need to study this carefully. Why don't we write back to see what the Emperor thinks? If the Emperor is willing, it will be much easier to implement."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor Emeritus's expression immediately turned grave. He said, "This matter can only be done in private, not in the open. Otherwise, those people will cause a huge uproar. Before the Third Prince has fully cultivated his capable people, any faction in the court is in danger, especially since he doesn't take concubines to balance power. The pressure will only increase. Let's do it in private, try not to cause him any trouble, and also help women in the common people."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com