Chapter 23: The Prince Consort
"Master! Please let me go! Don't stop me!" Li Sihong cried while struggling to break free. She really wanted to die. Zhao Xiaofei was her heaven now. If Zhao Xiaofei didn't want her, she felt that living was meaningless.
This woman's constant threats of death were giving Zhao Xiaofei a headache. He shouted, "That's not what I meant. What are you doing? If you die, not only will you be letting me down, but you'll also be letting Xiaohong down! She ignored her own illness and came to me to cure you just so you could live. Think about it!"
"I... I... I can't live without you, young master. You are my benefactor and my heaven. Without you, how can I survive? I thought that if I followed you, I would have someone to rely on and be with my sweetheart every day. I didn't expect that you actually wanted me to escape and marry someone else. Young master, do you despise my humble status? Or do you not believe that I can't remain loyal to you after I go to Jinling?" Li Sihong said crying.
Hearing this, Zhao Xiaofei wanted to slap himself. Was he out of his mind? Why did he have to say those last two sentences? In the final analysis, he had no intention of staying in the Ming Dynasty for long. Modern society was so good! There was food, drink, and entertainment. Just surf the internet when you had nothing to do, and the world was full of wonders. Here, all you could do was marry three wives and four concubines, and then have sex at night. There was nothing to do.
You talk about listening to opera? Peking opera doesn't even exist these days. What's popular now is Hui opera and Kunqu opera. And he doesn't even understand Peking opera, aside from some famous excerpts on TikTok. The only thing keeping him alive in this world is money. Everything is about money, about making a fortune! He's emptied out all the antique paintings and calligraphy from the Ming Dynasty, all the gold from the Ming Dynasty.
"Our country doesn't have as many rules as the Ming Dynasty. Everyone is equal here, men and women are equal. How could I despise your humble status? The only difference between our country and the Ming Dynasty is that if a man falls in love with a woman, he must consider her. If there is a possibility that they may not see each other for a long time, men hope that women will start a family instead of remaining faithful to each other for their own sake. So there is no such thing as a chastity arch in our country." Zhao Xiaofei immediately made up a lie.
"Really?" Li Sihong's expression immediately became much better.
"Really! Our country believes that when men force women to remain chaste for the sake of their so-called face, it represents gender inequality. It is oppression of women! Also, our country does not allow women to bind their feet because it is also disrespectful to women. It is unfair to make women suffer so much since childhood just for the so-called beauty in their eyes. That's why our country has a slogan that women hold up half the sky." Zhao Xiaofei saw that his lies worked, and he was very pleased with his wit.
"That's great!" Li Sihong said suddenly.
"What's so great?" Zhao Xiaofei asked in confusion.
Li Sihong blushed and said, "I'm telling you, I actually never bound my feet. I'm the only daughter in my family, and my father doted on me so much that he didn't want to have my feet bound. But everyone in the family laughed at my father, saying I'd never get married. Later, my father said, at worst, we could just marry a live-in son-in-law!"
Li Sihong's words reminded Zhao Xiaofei of the time he'd changed her clothes back at Misty Rain Tower. He'd indeed seen her feet were natural, but Zhao Xiaofei hadn't paid much attention. While this was perfectly normal in the 21st century, it was unusual in the Ming Dynasty. He'd already seen this woman naked in Misty Rain Tower, and his previous statement about her finding someone to marry in Jinling was pure fuss.
"Okay! The first boy we have will be named Li, leaving a descendant for the Li family so that the family line won't be cut off. How about the second one be named Zhao?" Zhao Xiaofei said with a lustful look.
"Really?" Li Sihong asked in surprise, blushing and with a beating heart.
"Of course, for the woman who loves me, there's nothing wrong with that," said Zhao Xiaofei.
"I really want to have the opportunity to visit South Australia and see what it is like there. Since men and women are equal there, does that mean men cannot take concubines?" Li Sihong asked.
"No! You can marry, but they must be legal wives. There's no such thing as concubines. And once you get married, you must marry three. No limit on more! Marrying more shows you're responsible. There are more women than men in our country, a ratio of 1 to 5. If a man marries three wives, there are still two women who will never get married!" Zhao Xiaofei quickly made up his mind. This kind of question cannot be ambiguous; it's about protecting the man's interests. He praised his own wit again!
"Really?" Li Sihong felt unbelievable.
"I don't know why in our place. It may be due to the climate and soil. The proportion of women giving birth to daughters is particularly high. So there is no other way. Women have to go out to work, be officials, do business, and fight in wars." Zhao Xiaofei continued to talk nonsense.
"I wonder when the Ming Dynasty will be like the South Australia Kingdom?" Li Sihong asked. Zhao Xiaofei thought, "Another 400 years will be enough." I wonder if you can hold on.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. I want to marry you next month, and from now on you will be the princess of the second prince of South Australia." Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Yes! I will listen to you. Sir, I am willing to be your wife for three lifetimes and never leave you." Li Sihong was too shy to look at Zhao Xiaofei's appearance and put her face close to his arms.
Zhao Xiaofei gently lifted Li Sihong's face with his hands and looked carefully at the beauty in front of him. Zhao Xiaofei's face slowly moved closer. Li Sihong closed her eyes tightly. At the critical moment, Xiao Si shouted, "Master! Eunuch Wang is here! Please go and receive him quickly!"
Zhao Xiaofei was so angry! You didn't come earlier or later, but you pressed the pause button at the critical moment! He asked angrily, "Which eunuch Wang?"
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