Someone is about to connect so soon?
"Connect." Gu Sang washed her face and poured herself a glass of water.
She then gracefully sat on the sofa.
At this moment, a huge screen descended from the virtual space.
The randomly initiated connection system, after watching Gu Sang's live stream, would randomly select someone to connect with and answer questions.
After selecting the person to connect with, the system would automatically enter that person's mind to send a notification.
On the projection screen, a palace maid was seen huddled in a dark corner, gazing excitedly at the small image appearing before her.
"It's true, the heavens have answered!"
"This servant greets you, Your Ladyship." The maid bowed repeatedly in excitement to Gu Sang.
Gu Sang chuckled and interrupted her, her voice calm as she inquired, "What would you like to ask me?"
"Your Ladyship, this servant wonders if you're in the underworld or in heaven?"
"Does such a place really exist?"
The maid stared at Gu Sang, both curious and excited.
She was seeking an answer.
A possibility.
A future.
Everything that had happened during today's live stream had left her utterly shaken.
She was astonished that a woman could live a normal life, walk the streets, wear the clothes she liked, and have dignity!
She was so envious, so envious...
"It's real, but it's neither the underworld nor heaven, but another world," Gu Sang patiently replied. "It's the civilization of China two thousand years from now, a prosperous and thriving era."
Yes!
A prosperous era!
An unimaginably prosperous era!
"Your Ladyship, the world you live in is so blissful. This servant longs to avoid beatings and scoldings, and not have to constantly worry about being executed by the master."
"What must this servant do to go to your world?" The maid's eyes shone with hope and fantasy.
She wished she could go there too.
Gu Sang looked at the glimmer of light in her vacant eyes.
Gu Sang felt pity for that gaze, but still shook her head regretfully, "You're not from this world, you cannot come."
As expected...
The maid lowered her head in disappointment.
But soon, she raised her head again, revealing a smile of acceptance.
She knew she had been too fanciful, for how could a wretched person like her be worthy of going to such a wonderful place?
She had no right to go there!
But...
She really longed for it!
"Your Ladyship, after seeing your life in the other world, this servant does not know what to do."
"This servant has only a month left before turning 25, when the master will assign her to become a man's concubine. But this servant fears childbirth, having witnessed many women die in labor."
"This life of vying for favor within the mansion is not what this servant desires, but there is no way out."
"This servant once thought of staying in the palace until old age, but few remain until old age; most anger the master and are executed!"
"If only it were in Your Ladyship's world, the master would strive to protect his subordinates."
Hearing the maid's words of envy and regret, Gu Sang said, "You still have one chance, to leave the palace."
The maid knelt down in bewilderment and fear, "But this servant is afraid of not knowing anything! With no family or connections outside, could this servant truly survive?"
"Moreover... if this servant were to make such a request, would the master think this servant is overstepping?"
The response to the maid was a statement that could stir one's blood to boil!
"How would you know if you don't even try?"
"There must be someone who takes the first step!"
"If you don't fight for it yourself, if you don't dare to risk everything for a glimmer of hope, then the only possibilities left for you are childbirth and execution within the palace."
"If you can successfully obtain permission to leave the palace, I will introduce you to a craft so that you can live a normal life in the secular world."
Could she really live a normal life...?
A craft, but aren't women not allowed to be seen in public?
But in Your Ladyship's world, they can!
Why should only men be allowed?
Why only them?
No!
She can too!
Your Ladyship has given her a chance. She doesn't want to die in childbirth, nor remain in the palace constantly fearing execution. She wants freedom.
She wants to be like the women in Your Ladyship's world, able to support herself!
As she thought about it, a determination to gamble her future suddenly arose.
The maid's expression grew more and more resolute, "This servant thanks Your Ladyship for your guidance!"
"This servant wants to leave the palace! This servant wants to live for herself! No longer confined within the palace walls, which are nothing more than a larger cage."
"Why should women not be able to live by their own crafts? This servant will try, even if it means death! For what difference is there between living such a suffocating existence and being a walking corpse?"
As she spoke, she kowtowed three resounding times.
Each kowtow loud and sincere!
Each kowtow a witness to her breaking free from fate and living for herself!
"Good luck to you."
Seeing her resolve, a hint of gratification appeared in Gu Sang's eyes as she smiled and ended the connection.
At the same time—
The system notification sounded: "Merit increased by one!"
Look, she has changed the fate of an ancient woman!
Girls are truly adorable.
Give them a glimmer of hope, and they dare to risk everything to ascend!
They are willing to gamble their lives to prove to men that they are not incapable of being self-sufficient.
Rather, it is certain arrogant men in power who have forcibly clipped their wings!
...
The imperial harem was unusually quiet tonight.
The women who would normally vie for favor in every conceivable way were, unprecedentedly, not fighting for it.
Some of the closer palace ladies gathered to discuss the strange sights witnessed tonight in Qiyang Palace.
"I think Consort Gu was just putting on an act with that supernatural nonsense, trying to deceive His Majesty," said Consort Zhao, who had called Gu Sang "Sister Sang" during the live stream.
Now, in private with a few of her close confidantes, she made no effort to hide her jealousy and scorn towards Gu Sang.
And even more so, her envy.
"But this servant thinks it seemed real. If it were fake, then Your Ladyship must possess extraordinary powers."
"Have you been hit in the head? You believe such things?"
"You believe there is a place where women can choose freely, walk around with their chests exposed without being scorned?"
"But come to think of it, if there truly were such a place where women didn't have to live for men..."
She didn't need to finish; the palace ladies present all understood.
If only, ah.
If only there were such a place.
Where women didn't have to live for men, where women could strive like men, walk freely on the streets without issue.
How wonderful that would be!
Then they, as women, would no longer have to depend on men for survival...
