The Useless Miracle Doctor Consort Is Spoiled Rotten by the Prince!

Chapter 1341: Chapter 1336: The Status of Women

Zhuo Qing was kneeling before Chen Ruobai at this moment, feeling as if countless steel needles were stabbing into her heart!

Chen Ruobai had evoked her hatred, and she deeply detested those two ungrateful men who had failed her!

Yet she had just visited them…

Her husband was a poisoned general, they were cold and hungry, off to battle, enduring the torment of being manipulated by poison, and her son… the child indeed was ignorant and had hurt her once.

But when he was playing joyfully at her knees, he was the hope that had supported her through countless nights.

Now he was starving, burdened with endless chores, and also enduring beatings.

When she visited him yesterday, he ran up to her crying, clinging to her legs, his face yellow and thin, his voice faintly pleading, “Mother, please save me! I realize my mistakes now, neither Father nor I want to die! Mother, don’t forget about me, save me, please!”

She simply couldn’t bear this heart-wrenching pain, no amount of vanity and pleasure that Chen Ruobai offered her could control her emotions anymore, she couldn’t peacefully abandon her husband and child.

To enjoy wealth and glory in the presence of Chen Ruobai, staying loyal to her while her family suffered.

She longed for their lives to return to the way they used to be.

Once Chen Ruobai learned of Zhuo Qing’s thoughts, she nearly dragged her out to be executed immediately, as a warning to others, to show those women distracted by things falling from the hot air balloons, exactly what happens when they betray her!

However, Xin Yi stopped her, her expression somewhat troubled, “Princess, Zhuo Qing is exceptionally talented, many policies have been enhanced and issued by her, if she is killed now… I’m afraid the military and political stability of Qiongzhou City might be shaken.”

Chu Yihan wasn’t launching a major attack but had released a bunch of hot air balloons instead, simply trying to disrupt the military morale of Qiongzhou City, thereby affecting Chen Ruobai’s rule, creating internal instability, and breaking through!

They must not fall for Chu Yihan’s trick!

Chen Ruobai calmed down, also realizing this point, but there was a hint of bloodlust in her eyes, her voice particularly icy, “Chu Yihan, what a subtly cunning mind! To understand a woman’s heart so well!”

This man was truly much more difficult to deal with than she had imagined!

Chen Ruobai had Xin Yi take Zhuo Qing to the prison for reflection, while she herself returned to her own harem for a visit.

To call it a harem, there was only Mu Rongche detained here.

Usually, there were a number of female officials recommending men of exceptional appearance to please her, but Chen Ruobai, having seen all kinds of men and especially disdainful of those fawning over her, played with them briefly before giving them poison and sending them to the Gu corpse camp.

At this moment, in her great hall, there was only Mu Rongche, chained up, crippled in his movements, and weak in body.

Mu Rongche, seeing no sunlight day in and day out, grew increasingly pale, with a sliver of sunlight from the opened door seam shining in, he looked greedily at it like a man starving for light.

But upon seeing that the visitor was Chen Ruobai, his gaze quickly dimmed again.

Chen Ruobai wore a red string around her ankle, with a small bell that jingled pleasantly with every step she took.

Mu Rongche’s heart stirred slightly as he thought back to those years. That thin red string had been tied around Chen Ruobai’s ankle by his own hands. He had found her tiny feet, so white and delicate, irresistibly adorable at the time.

He had said, with this red string tied, she would belong to him for life.

How had she agreed to it at the time?

Mu Rongche had forgotten. After being tormented by Chen Ruobai for so long, he had lost memory of when he first found her—a little girl of only seven.

Chen Ruobai understood him well, knowing this red string would trigger his memories. So, intentionally while walking, she would twist her ankle, letting the clear, ringing sound of the silver bells resonate through the entire hall, incessantly invading Mu Rongche’s already fragile nerves.

When she approached Mu Rongche, he could no longer endure the sound and asked with weakness and a plea in his voice, “What do you want me to do?”

She could have made direct demands rather than torturing him like this.

After all, she had already humiliated him beyond recognition. What else could she possibly say that he wouldn’t accept?

Chen Ruobai slowly sat down in front of him. At this moment, she was not in the mood to tease him but had a sinister look in her eyes, “I granted Zhuo Qing the highest power, the best glory and riches, and countless men for her amusement. So why would those few pieces of paper distributed by Chu Yihan shake her resolve and make her want to betray me?”

Chen Ruobai tossed the paper that had fallen from the hot air balloon in front of Mu Rongche.

A sliver of a gap opened in the palace doors, and Mu Rongche, taking advantage of the light, saw vividly beautiful drawings on it. They depicted men and women together, a husband instructing his child, mutual dependence, and mutual respect.

All of them glimpses of happiness.

These drawings didn’t explicitly label or deliberately depict anyone’s life, but they were a reflection of the lives of the common people of Qiongzhou.

For most people, their previous lives were just like that—calm and fitting for each other.

It was Chen Ruobai’s arrival that disrupted the tranquility of their lives, bringing with it outbursts, suppression, warfare, and all forms of panic and widespread death.

The paintings Chu Yihan’s men had spread were surely not just these. There must also be images most cherished by the hearts of the people of Qiongzhou or perhaps the lives they should have been enjoying.

In times of war and restlessness, when emotions are easily agitated, delivering a heavy blow to their hearts at the peak of unrest by reminding them of the past beauty was lethal.

Mu Rongche coughed heavily, his voice becoming more broken and hoarse, “Because what Chu Yihan offers is what they desire, what you offer… is not.”

This statement would undoubtedly anger Chen Ruobai, but after pondering, Mu Rongche decided to give her the answer she wanted to hear.

“Not true! Zhuo Qing is brimming with talent, and on the royal court, she is second to none compared to men. Many male officials pale in comparison to her. Why should she be concerned with a so-called husband and son? They are all dispensable! What is there to care about?” scorn filled Chen Ruobai’s eyes.

Men were the most unreliable. A father could sell his daughter to an enemy state for survival and pride; a husband could do the same and even share his wife with others, abusing and demeaning them recklessly, as if a woman’s life was not life at all, less valuable than livestock—less even than their warhorses!

Why must women nevertheless regard these men as their world, relying on them for a lifetime?

Mu Rongche looked indifferent, completely emotionless, “You think so because Zhuo Qing is the daughter of a prestigious family, who from a young age followed the rules, adhering to the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues, upholding the proprieties of a woman’s virtue, even if she is talented. She would never compete with men. She would only depend on them.”

Just like all women in the world, dependent on their husbands, never daring to dream of conquest or desiring to control others.