Within two days, Tang Feng departed with his men but left Tang Guo with a military command token. The army remained camped outside the imperial city, gradually building a new city called Datang City. During their free time, they disguised themselves as ordinary people and began making a living.
Yet the presence of those gleaming cannons left the people of the imperial city living in constant fear.
Many dared not voice their thoughts aloud, but in their hearts, they blamed Emperor Xuanyuan Mo. If not for his selfish actions, would they be living under the constant shadow of potential bombardment?
As for those who once dared to scold the Imperial Concubine, who would still dare now? If her people overheard, one cannon blast could obliterate their entire family. No one wanted to die.
Later, something rather amusing happened. People began composing songs and poems praising the Imperial Concubine, and even writing stories about her. Unknowingly, the imperial city became filled with people admiring her as a woman of true temperament.
Not to mention, many women, inspired by the Imperial Concubine, began to stand up for themselves. No longer willing to endure injustice, they courageously confronted the unfair treatment they faced.
Originally, none of this had anything to do with the Imperial Concubine. Such issues could have been easily suppressed.
But one day, the Imperial Concubine and her lover wandered out of the palace and happened to come across a woman being violently beaten by her husband. The woman recognized the Imperial Concubine, she had knelt beneath the city wall that day and seen her face.
After hearing about the Imperial Concubine’s deeds, she had deeply admired her courage.
Having been beaten severely, she didn’t think twice and rushed forward, kneeling before the Imperial Concubine. “Your Grace, I beg you, please save me!”
“What is it you need me to save you from?”
The woman shared her story. For years, she had endured abuse at the hands of her gambling husband. People around her would only urge her to bear it, saying, “Everyone goes through this. If your man beats you, just endure it. Close the door, and life will go on. Patience is the answer.”
They told her, “Once you become a mother-in-law, once your children grow up, once your husband grows old or dies, life will finally get better.”
She used to believe this as well, but the Imperial Concubine’s life had completely overturned her way of thinking.
Why, she thought, should she endure her husband’s beatings? Why should the money she worked so hard to earn be squandered on his gambling?
Why should she forgive her husband just because he said a few kind words?
Why should she believe, as many others say, that her husband is a decent person when he’s not gambling?
Why should she accept all of this? Just because he was occasionally decent, did she have to tolerate a lifetime of his cruelty and violence?
No, she refused.
“You don’t want to live with him anymore?”
“Yes,” the woman said firmly. “Although my hands are rough and unsightly, I can support myself and my children. Other than gambling, I honestly can’t think of any other use for this man.”
After she finished speaking, she noticed the woman sitting in the carriage smile softly. “Very well,” the Imperial Concubine said. “I will help you divorce him. Not only that, but I will also make sure you live a life that others can only envy.”
Later, she and her husband divorced.
With the Imperial Concubine’s intimidating presence, the man was terrified. Afraid of death, and terrified of the cannons, he didn’t dare cause trouble. He didn’t even dare to visit his children. Later, it was said that he owed too much debt and was beaten to death by the moneylenders.
As for the woman… she became the owner of a dyeing workshop and an embroidery business. She spent a fortune hiring fifty guards and made sure that ten of them accompanied her wherever she went.
Anyone who dared to insult her would face swift retribution from her guards, who showed no mercy.
She had, indeed, started living a life that everyone envied.
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