Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Xiao Yuanchu lightly harrumphed and said, “When you asked that, you must have thought that all women were weak and soft and that only men should be strong. Men should protect women and women should be protected by men, right? That’s classic chauvinistic thinking.
“In Great Qin, men and women are equal, and everyone can make their own choices. Women can choose to be more powerful than men, and men can choose to be weaker than women. Powerful men can choose to protect women, and powerful women can choose to protect men.
“You can’t keep thinking that men have to be powerful; everyone can make their own choices in life. It can be said that you’re living in the best period right now. Our Majesty is heroic and valiant, which is why Great Qin has such a good outlook. You should be grateful to Our Majesty.”
Zhao Fu dryly laughed, no knowing what to say. He felt that he was quite different than the Majesty Xiao Yuanchu was talking about.
“Do you think this is alright?” Zhao Fu asked Xiao Yuanchu sincerely. He wanted to know how ordinary people saw this.
Xiao Yuanchu smiled and said with a firm tone, “Of course I do, we should all support this. We all want to praise Our Majesty for how open-minded he is, allowing everyone to make their own choices so that everyone can do their best in their own lives and do their best for Great Qin’s future.”
Zhao Fu let out a breath. In the future, he had to collect more information about the rest of the Kingdom.
“In August, Great Qin’s going to conduct another imperial examination. Perhaps I’ll have a chance this time to see Our Majesty’s incomparable countenance. Also, all of us scholars admire goddess Li Muqing the most!” Xiao Yuanchu suddenly said with a smile.
Hearing this, Zhao Fu lightly laughed and looked at Li Muqing beside him and asked, “Why is Li Muqing the goddess of scholars?”
Xiao Yuanchu said with a look of respect on his face, “Of course it’s because of her talent and beauty. She’s already incredibly popular with Our Majesty, and whenever it comes to matters of culture, Lady Li is always consulted upon in the imperial court. She’s one of the famed beauties of Great Qin.”
Li Muqing’s face became slightly red in embarrassment as she faced Zhao Fu’s gaze.
By now, the woman in red on the arena was confident that she had won and that no one would come to fight with her, and she prepared to take that handsome, delicate-looking young man away.
However, at that moment, a well-built young man walked up and shouted, “Wait, I want to challenge as well!”
Zhao Fu felt quite startled and asked, “Isn’t a man holding this martial competition for marriage? Other men can participate?”
By now, Xiao Yuanchu was getting quite frustrated. He sighed as he said, “Just which remote place did you come from? Stop getting so shocked at everything. Can’t men and men be together? Since ancient times, it’s only been prohibited because of ethics.
“Our Majesty, as the glorious Emperor of the human world, naturally would not be restricted by such things. Moreover, these things were already quite common in our old world.
“Now that all sorts of ideologies and cultures have gathered in Great Qin, they have intensely clashed and evolved. If this is not dealt with properly, Great Qin will not be at peace, and there will be all sorts of internal conflict.
“However, even if there is internal conflict, with Great Qin’s power, it will be quelled quickly. Regardless, internal conflict is not good. As such, we need to thank Our Majesty. Because Our Majesty is so brilliant and open-minded, Great Qin is able to become so prosperous.
“Think about it, who could have the broadmindedness of Our Majesty? He’s indeed an Emperor among Emperors, the man who will unify the human world. If Great Han was in power, we would have been cursed to death by those Confucians. If Great Shang was in power, most of us would have been executed.”
Facing these praises, Zhao Fu could only smile.
At that moment, the well-built young man on the arena ferociously punched at the red-clothed woman, bringing with him a large gust of wind. However, the red-clothed woman dodged to the side and viciously kicked out.
Bang!
A muffled bang sounded out as the well-built young man was kicked in the abdomen and flew backwards. He crashed onto the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The red-clothed woman walked up, wanting to follow up her victory.
At that moment, a man holding a saber and wearing black clothes with a black bird sewn on it said, “He’s already lost. You may not continue to attack.”
Hearing that man’s words, the red-clothed woman could only obey, and the well-built young man sighed and walked off the arena. It was as if no one dared to disobey that black-clothed man’s words.
Zhao Fu looked at that man, and Xiao Yuanchu assumed that Zhao Fu was wondering what was going on, so he started to explain. However, Zhao Fu smiled and cut him off, saying, “I know who he is.”
The black-clothed man was a law enforcement agent, and his duty was to maintain the law. Such people were also responsible for solving cases and making arrests.
They were different than City Guards, as City Guards were only responsible for defending Cities and suppressing any chaos. On the other hand, law enforcement agents like this man were in charge of taking care of various matters for civilians.
Because of the black bird on their chests, they were called Blackbird Guards and were created by Great Qin. This agency was something that Zhao Fu had come up with while talking to his subordinates.
As the number of residents increased, problems also increased, so they needed a group of people to deal with the issues people had amongst themselves. That was how this agency was created.
Moreover, Great Qin prohibited personal fights. No matter who was in the right and who was in the wrong, anyone involved would be punished. However, martial competitions like this or arena fights that were approved by officials were allowed. Otherwise, as soon as the martial competition began, law enforcement agents would have dragged everyone to jail. Xiao Yuanchu was quite surprised that Zhao Fu knew who this person was, but he did not pay it much mind because every City had such people.
Following this, the red-clothed woman stood on the arena and loudly shouted, “Who else wants to fight with your granny? Get out here!”
Everyone looked at each other, but no one came out.
Xiao Yuanchu smiled as he said to Zhao Fu, “Brother, you should give it a shot. That guy looks pretty good.”
Zhao Fu felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly shook his head.
Since no one went up to the arena, the handsome, delicate-looking young man naturally belonged to the red-clothed woman. The young man seemed quite pleased with the woman, and they left together. Without anything else interesting to see, everyone dispersed.
Zhao Fu was about to leave with Ge Nia and Li Muqing, but Xiao Yuanchu stopped him and asked him to go with him for a drink to discuss national affairs. However, Zhao Fu declined.
