All sects work

Chapter 159 The Way to Survive
"Most of the local women are chaste and virtuous, and many of them are unwilling to show their faces in public." Madam Cao sighed, "I also know your Excellency's painstaking efforts, but I can't bear it when they come to me for begging."

Shi Xuanying drank a few sips of tea, and seeing that she didn't continue, she said, "The government doesn't stipulate that women must go out to work. If you don't want to go out, you can just stay at home to take care of your husband and children."

A thin, fair-skinned woman couldn't help but look sad: "What you said, sir, is the difference between this and 'Why don't you eat meat porridge'?"

Mrs. Cao's face changed slightly, and she felt a little regretful for bringing them here. She was about to smooth things over, but she heard Shi Xuanying's flat tone.

"how do I say this?"

Several people looked up and saw that there was no anger on her face.

The thin woman took a deep breath and said, "Nowadays, many families in the two counties will force women to work regardless of their wishes because of the benefits brought by the government decree."

"Is this caused by a government decree?" Shi Xuanying said incredulously, "You are at home taking care of your husband and children, your life and property are in the hands of others, and whether you live a good life depends entirely on the conscience of others. Their family has a bad conscience, and you come to pick a fight with me?"

If these people came to her for help in finding a solution, Shi Xuanying would definitely find a way, but to ask for the cancellation of the decree right away... she would like to hear what else they can come up with.

Another woman said, "You know, my lord, women at home have to serve their parents-in-law, wait on their husbands, and raise children. Poorer families also require women to do chores to supplement the family income. Some embroiderers have gone blind! If they are forced to go out to work again, with so many burdens on their shoulders, they are being forced to die! They were fine before, and I don't understand why they have to go through so much trouble!"

Was everything fine? For a rare moment, Shi Xuanying doubted herself: Could it be that I had not been in the world for too long and no longer understood the world?
However, this thought only flashed through my mind, and the girl selling fruit whom I met on the street that day appeared in my mind again. Her smile was wide and full of joy, and it was not fake.

She sipped the tea foam from time to time and asked seriously, "So, originally there were no women oppressed in the world, and everyone lived very happily. Is it my policies that caused many women's misfortune?"

"Have we ever said that there is no woman oppressed in the world? There are too many people in the world who have a miserable life, how can women be an exception? Your Excellency's words are just quoting out of context, aren't they?"

Shi Xuanying put down the teacup, leaned back in her chair, and asked with her hands folded: "Do you really like to be a good wife and mother, or can you only be a good wife and mother?"

This question was like a knife that cut through the layers of skin and flesh and went straight to the heart.

Several women had difficulty breathing for a moment.

Madam Cao sighed and pulled out a roll of bloodstained white silk from her sleeve. "I also listen to my husband telling me about your decrees every day at home. He said that you are a good official who truly cares about the people. However, too many women in the county are dissatisfied. They wrote a petition to the people with their blood and begged me. Every word is written with tears..."

The woman beside her at home often talked about the new policy. Mrs. Cao was not completely ignorant of it, but seeing the current situation of those women, she really couldn't bear to refuse.

She presented the white silk in her hand.

Shi Xuanying unfolded it and quickly scanned it. She already knew all the contents. However, several women saw it and thought she was just flipping through it perfunctorily. Their faces became even uglier.

The master has always believed that force comes first. When has she ever talked about reason with others? The current situation cannot be solved with a single blow. It really makes her feel overwhelmed.

At the same time, she also personally experienced Xiao Hongfan's difficulties. She was fighting for women's rights, but it was women who stabbed her the most in the back.

Shi Xuanying really hoped that they were as tough as Wu Cao, so that she could roll up her sleeves and kill them directly. However, looking at these women who were trying to be stubborn but showed cowardice in their eyes...

It is really unseemly to use a dragon-slaying knife to kill an ant.

However, even the Sect Master who gave up fighting and killing was completely different from Xiao Hongfan.

Her heart could be made of thousand-year-old black iron or ten-thousand-year-old ice, but it could never be a ball of cotton: "Negotiations require bargaining chips. You want me to change my mind every day. Are you ready for the bargaining chips?"

She slapped the white silk on the table, smiling, with frost in her eyes: "With this?" "Everyone says that you love the people like your own children, please have mercy on women."

Except for Madam Qin, the others all knelt down before Master Xuanying.

Shi Xuanying rubbed her temples, trying hard to suppress her temper.

When her decree was issued, those who opposed it at first were all Confucian scholars. After they were brutally suppressed by her, no one dared to show up. However, if they did not show up, they could use threats and bribes to coerce and bribe the women in their families to come out and charge.

This matter was organized and premeditated, and it didn't seem like something that a few women living in the backyard could have planned.

"You are all very courageous, but it's a pity that you used it in the wrong place. If there were really people like you who were willing to risk their lives to defend women in the former Xiao Chen Kingdom, they wouldn't have been constrained to this extent." Shi Xuanying stood up and walked to the woman who spoke first, pinched her jaw with one hand and forced her to look up, staring at her, "Who is the person who instigated you behind the scenes?!"

Countless souls have died under Master Xuanying's sword. Even if he does not deliberately release murderous aura, ordinary people cannot withstand it.

The woman's face was pale and she was trembling.

Madam Qin was slightly surprised. Was she also being plotted against? But she had personally investigated and found that many women were indeed in dire straits because of the government's orders.

But what the county magistrate said does make sense. Those families have lost their consciences and oppressed their wives and daughters for profit. How can they attribute all the faults to the government decree?

Shi Xuanying let go of the woman and saw her limp on the ground. Every word she said was as sharp as a knife: "Since some people choose to hand over their fate to others, they must learn to accept it. You can't get mercy by just kneeling on the ground. You want to threaten me with the words 'love the people like your own children'? Ha."

She sneered: "Whether you did it on your own initiative or were instructed by others, go home and wait for your fate to decide."

A woman who had been silent could not help but shout, "Sir, we are both women, so why do you not care about the lives of your own kind?! Some people, some people are simply powerless to resist!"

Shi Xuanying scratched her ears, feeling that this sentence sounded familiar. Oh, in her dream, Wu Cao had said the first half of this sentence to Xiao Hongfan.

What bad luck.

They obey their fathers at home, obey their husbands after marriage, and obey their sons after their husbands die. They have been staying in the rear house for too long, and the sky above their heads is completely blocked by their own "sky". They have not seen the real sky for a long time, and have long forgotten the feeling of running freely.

Shi Xuanying didn't blame them too harshly.

"If in the future, women who like to take care of their husbands and children, and do the daily necessities of life, choose to stay at home, their fate will not be controlled by others, and they will not be looked down upon. That is what we call true love and choice." Shi Xuanying looked at the men kneeling on the ground with their heads lowered, and said word by word, "I want all the women in the world to take care of their husbands and children if they want to, instead of just being able to do so!"

Several women looked up in shock, their faces full of longing and disbelief.

"Will there really be such a day?" someone whispered in a trembling voice.

Shi Xuanying agrees with what Xiao Hongfan said - responsibility is a by-product of rights.

The greater the rights you want, the greater the responsibilities you must bear.

There are always many people who can seize opportunities in the stormy waves caused by government decrees, fight against the waves, learn to conquer and control, and these people will be the cornerstone of the future she describes.

Change and power struggle mean bloodshed and death.

"In the midst of big waves, clinging to the person who came to save you and sinking together is definitely not the way to survive." Shi Xuanying said calmly, "If you can't swim to shore by yourself, you might as well go with the flow."