The man steadied himself and bowed to Gu Qianying.
"I thank you, young lady, for your assistance. However, I am still a member of the Su family, and thus, I must ask for your leave."
Su Cheng chose to return with Su Yuxi.
Watching his limping figure depart, Xiao Yihao was greatly puzzled.
"Why does he still have to go back with them, even after being bullied so badly?"
Gu Qianying ruffled her son's hair and led him to the window.
"Look outside, look carefully. What kind of scene is this?"
She pointed to the people coming and going, stopping and lingering below, letting Xiao Yihao discern for himself.
Yihao was now nine years old and had grown considerably. He stood on tiptoe and could see the scene outside.
Most men on the street walked with their heads down, while women walked with their heads held high.
And among those who stopped, men were either being scolded or abused by women.
Such scenes were astonishing. Xiao Yihao scratched his head, not understanding what was wrong with these people.
Knowing that he had noticed the difference, Duan Xifeng explained, fanning himself.
"Actually, I heard about this place a long time ago. This Nanyi Kingdom has always been a place where women are revered."
"Here, men are only enslaved and beaten; they have no social status whatsoever.
Moreover, they dare not retaliate against women.
Su Cheng, who was just convulsing from being beaten, dared not block the descending whip, precisely because here, if a man resisted when being disciplined by a woman, he would be arrested and sent to the yamen."
"There is such a place in the world."
Gu Qianying was also surprised that such a place, where women were superior and men inferior, actually existed.
Seeing the men on the street bruised and battered by women, and the scorching sun overhead, Xiao Yihao felt a pang of sympathy. He tugged at his mother's hand and spoke softly.
"Mother, look at them, they are so pitiful. And that brother who protected me, Yihao feels a sense of kinship with him. Can we save them?"
Knowing her son's soft heart, Gu Qianying also observed the behavior of the women here.
Even if women were superior, there was no need to beat and humiliate men.
She nodded and looked at Duan Xifeng.
"Brother, let's return to the inn first. This Nanyi Kingdom is truly strange, and the behavior of its people is exceptionally violent. We need to make a long-term plan."
Duan Xifeng agreed, and the two of them, along with Xiao Yihao, returned to their lodging.
Gu Qianying wrote a letter, preparing to send it via carrier pigeon to the Yijing Pavilion.
Now that Nangong Li, Bai Yulan, and the others had returned with her, more people meant greater strength. She wanted them to help investigate the reasons behind Nanyi Kingdom's current state.
On a secluded island far away, Meng Qinghua was drinking and discussing poetry with Du Chun.
They had not settled the score in their last drinking session, and this time, he was determined to see who was superior.
"Alright, you two, stop drinking." Bai Yulan, holding a letter, took away their wine jars.
"Qianying has sent a letter, asking us to help investigate the situation in Nanyi Kingdom."
"I've never heard of this place before."
Meng Qinghua took the letter.
He had received a letter from a stranger saying that Old Man Bai had taken Xiao Gu Nian and Hu Keke to Nanyi Kingdom, so he had casually told Gu Qianying.
He didn't know where that place was, but he didn't expect her and Duan Xifeng to find it.
"The letter says that the people of Nanyi Kingdom behave very strangely, and most women are cruel, while men are willing to be subjugated and beaten. Susu Yao, let's investigate what this country has experienced."
Meng Qinghua relayed the contents of the letter to everyone.
Bai Yulan tilted her head.
"What kind of logic is this? Although women are not subservient, randomly beating men is a bit too much, isn't it?"
She couldn't help but laugh, but she was still eager for everyone to search within the Yijing Pavilion.
This matter truly couldn't be helped from outside. Since everyone was here, they might as well go through the ancient texts in the pavilion and see if there were any records of Nanyi Kingdom's history.
It was true that whenever Gu Qianying had something to do, everyone would come to help.
Seeing the group, who were chatting and laughing one moment and busy the next, Meng Xiangxiang brought a teapot with Meng Xiaoyi to pour tea for everyone.
Seeing his wife arrive, Du Chun was overjoyed. He quickly got up and helped his wife to the side.
"Wife, don't trouble yourself. I can do all of this. You just sit here and watch us work."
Seeing their affection, Meng Qinghua couldn't help but tease.
"Oh, it's truly a case of some starving while others drown. Why is no one bringing me tea and water?" His words caused Meng Xiaoyi to pout and retort.
"Uncle, you should talk less and do more, and then a sister will naturally take a liking to you."
His words left Meng Qinghua speechless and made the others laugh.
Indeed, there was strength in numbers.
The group worked for three days and finally found ancient texts recording Nanyi Kingdom.
Unexpectedly, there were many pages about the history and development of this country, and its twists and turns were quite colorful.
This couldn't be explained in a few sentences in a letter. Meng Qinghua meticulously copied the records of Nanyi Kingdom from the ancient texts, folded them into a thick letter, and had someone deliver it to Gu Qianying.
During the days of waiting, there were no more major disturbances in the city like before.
Xiao Yihao, who was soft-hearted, was not allowed to watch the women on the street disciplining men. Gu Qianying did not let him watch.
Boredom had reached its limit, and they finally received Meng Qinghua's letter.
Looking at the thick stack of copied pages, Gu Qianying and Duan Xifeng read for an entire night.
It turned out that the root of everything in Nanyi Kingdom originated from the imperial palace.
It seemed that only by infiltrating the imperial palace could they have a chance to find the source and resolve the gender conflict here.
Thinking that it was already past midnight, they should rest. The matter of entering the palace still required careful consideration.
In the past few days, due to constantly thinking about this issue, except for Xiao Yihao who slept a lot, Gu Qianying and Duan Xifeng had not rested properly.
Now that they had a clue, they could finally get a good night's sleep.
By the time the sun was high in the sky, Duan Xifeng was still sleeping in his room.
Gu Qianying woke up early. Looking at the still closed door, she and Xiao Yihao carefully pushed open his room.
Seeing his uncle still snoring, Xiao Yihao used a brush from the table to tickle Duan Xifeng's nostrils.
"Achoo." The person on the bed sneezed violently and woke up.
"You two."
Seeing them holding bowls of noodles, Duan Xifeng was somewhat surprised.
"Because we were waiting for news these past few days, we even neglected to celebrate your birthday properly. Now that we have a general understanding, let's properly celebrate this birthday. Tomorrow morning, after preparing everything, we will be ready to attack."
Gu Qianying handed the longevity noodles to Duan Xifeng.
She knew that after today, if they successfully entered the imperial palace of Nanyi Kingdom, their days would not be so easy.