That night, as Ming Yi returned to her quarters, she dreamt of Ji Bozai, who was pulling at the door while clutching a pillow and gazing at her. The strands of hair that brushed against her lips were caught by the wind, and his thin lips pressed together. His calculating black eyes were unexpectedly filled with tears, slightly raised, both stunning and pitiful.
Early the next morning, Luo Jiaoyang and the others began their training in the courtyard. They noticed that the local fighters of Cangxue City were not as afraid of the cold; it seemed they possessed a unique flow of Yuan Power throughout their bodies. They decided they would learn to harness that Yuan Power so that they would not be affected by such frigid conditions in the future.
When Ming Yi yawned and opened the door, she was greeted by the delicious aroma of food.
“Good morning, Miss Ming,” Luo Jiaoyang said with a smile as soon as he saw her. He quickly set down what he was doing and rushed to serve her a steaming bowl of porridge. “Instructor Qin and Lord Ji have already left. Lord Ji specifically instructed me to save this hot porridge for you.”
The fragrant porridge was filled with chopped shrimp.
Ming Yi took a sip and felt her spirits lift. “Who made this?”
“Instructor Qin,” Luo Jiaoyang whispered, glancing around. “I didn’t expect him to have such skills. He even cooked it using Yuan Power. You missed it since you woke up late, but it’s quite impressive.”
A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, but when it came to training, it was a different matter. Qin Shangwu felt embarrassed to take gold without giving something in return, so he reluctantly showcased his culinary skills, which had been honed by his lazy wife.
Ming Yi finished the porridge and licked her lips, heading to the well to wash the bowl. However, Fan Yao quickly stopped her. “We have training tasks; all these trivial matters must be completed using Yuan Power.”
Washing dishes the ordinary way would have been simpler, but Ji Bozai insisted they keep their hands clean and not touch water or the bowls. Instead, they had to use Yuan Power to draw water from the well and clean the bowls.
At first, Luo Jiaoyang thought Ji was intentionally making them work, but after trying it, he realized that this method was more exhausting than the usual practice of striking wooden posts, yet it improved the precision of their Yuan Power.
Thus, Ming Yi’s bowl was taken from her hands.
Feeling both amused and exasperated, she walked into the courtyard and browsed through the books they had laid on the ground. To her surprise, one of them contained tips on how the people of Cangxue City used Yuan Power to ward off the cold.
Ming Yi raised her hand and tried it out.
Although the poison in her body had been neutralized, her meridians remained severely damaged. Before she could circulate her Yuan Power, she needed to mend the gaps in her meridians, which made her movements slower than the others.
However, once she repaired them, she flipped her hand, and the Yuan Power flowed through her, isolating the cold air and wind outside.
When Luo Jiaoyang returned after washing the bowls, he was startled and nearly lost his balance. “You—you learned it already?”
Ming Yi withdrew her hand and demonstrated again. “It’s not difficult.”
Fan Yao and Chu He were speechless.
They had been practicing for two hours and hadn’t even grasped the basics; this was quite disheartening.
Luo Jiaoyang circled her twice before finally admitting, “So it turns out that women are not without talent; they just lack the opportunity to practice.”
Her ability to comprehend was far superior to theirs.
Ming Yi smiled and demonstrated a couple more times. Once Luo Jiaoyang and the others understood, they began to circulate their Yuan Power as well.
As they were deeply engrossed in their practice, the door suddenly swung open from the outside. A group of guards clad in cold iron armor entered, scanning the area before fixing their gaze on Ming Yi and signaling for her to be taken away.
“What are you doing?” Luo Jiaoyang and the others stepped forward to protect Ming Yi. “In broad daylight, is there no law?”
The leader of the guards was taken aback by their words and then sternly asked, “Are you from the outer city?”
“Yes.”
“Which city do you come from, and what is your purpose here?”
“We are from Muxing City, just passing through to enjoy the scenery,” Ming Yi replied.
The leader waved his hand, signaling his men to step back, and looked at Ming Yi again. “Ladies should not wander about carelessly.”
With that, the group quickly retreated.
Ming Yi maintained her composure, but Fan Yao was puzzled. After closing the door, he muttered, “Did the lady offend them?”
“Cangxue City has a harsh survival atmosphere due to the weather, where the strong prey on the weak. Women are seen as inherently weak, serving only the purpose of reproduction. Therefore, every year, Cangxue City gathers all eligible women from each household for centralized breeding,” Ming Yi explained.
Luo Jiaoyang frowned deeply. “What do you mean by centralized breeding?”
“From the inner court relatives to ordinary commoners, all women are treated like goods, shared among them until they become pregnant. Once pregnant, they can reside in the maternal courtyard to give birth. The children born, as long as they possess strong Yuan Power, regardless of their bloodline, will be sent to the inner court for upbringing.”
“As for ordinary children or women, they will be returned to their birth families to be raised as their descendants.”
This was a unique survival method of Cangxue City, and it was the way Ming Yi despised the most. Therefore, whenever she encountered people from Cangxue City, she never held back.
“I thought the women of Muxing were already lowly enough, but I didn’t expect them to be treated like goods here,” Chu He glanced at Ming Yi. “If an ordinary woman is one thing, but if another like Miss Ming were to emerge, wouldn’t that be a pity?”
Ming Yi raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by ‘ordinary women are one thing’?”
Chu He was taken aback, not understanding.
“Ordinary women are still human. Even without Yuan Power, they can farm and weave; they are part of the nation. Without them, the city would only deteriorate further.”
She hadn’t intended to elaborate, but since these few would inevitably travel together in the future, Ming Yi wanted to clear the air. “The reason Cangxue City has resorted to centralized breeding is that women are regarded as worthless. Every household is reluctant to bear daughters to suffer this fate, and most female infants are drowned at birth. Day after day, the number of adult women dwindles to the point where there aren’t enough for every household to marry, which is why the government intervenes to forcibly take women.”
“Having someone with my talent is indeed precious, but because they deny any woman the chance to be treated as a person, even if Cangxue City has red-blooded female infants, they often die in the streams. Thus, ordinary women have no way to survive, and women like me have no way to survive either.”
Chu He pondered seriously, realizing the truth in her words; the atmosphere in the six cities was indeed like this.
However, they felt powerless to change it and had no desire to do so, as it didn’t significantly affect them.
Ming Yi didn’t expect anything to change; she simply wanted to express these thoughts. Seeing that they did not oppose her, she softened her tone. “To avoid trouble, I will dress in men’s clothing from today onward. You can just call me Ming Yi.”
“Alright, Ming Yi.”
Nodding, she stood up to return to her room to change, tying her hair back and heading out to buy molds for casting.
Today was the day of capture in Cangxue City, and the streets were filled with men watching the spectacle. As Ming Yi navigated through the crowd, she was unexpectedly tugged at the hem of her clothing by a small hand.
Turning around, she saw a young child, around thirteen years old, clutching their disheveled hair with one hand and holding onto her with the other, looking up at her helplessly.