Qin Dynasty.
Qin Shi Huang asked, “Do you see that smooth, level ground and those things used for exercise? Can you figure out what they are?”
“This…” The court ministers looked at one another. They knew little about such things and could only tell that the fitness equipment seemed to be made of metal.
“They used so much metal to make those things called fitness equipment!”
“Perhaps that place is where the nobility go for recreation.”
“That makes sense. Such extravagance from the nobility is normal.”
Ying Zheng looked at these clueless ministers and instructed Li Si to seek out the Mohist School. He was to bring in people from every other school as well, in case they were needed.
After finishing one Video, An Ran scrolled down and found a compilation of beautiful women dancing in Ancient Costume.
One beautiful woman after another danced with either flirtatious charm or bold grace, dazzling the viewers.
Qin Dynasty
Qin Shi Huang felt little upon seeing them. He admitted they were beautiful, but he was generally indifferent to women. His thoughts remained on the park facilities from earlier and on Fusu taking his own life after dying young.
The clothing was the only thing that caught his attention. It did not seem to follow the style of any single dynasty; it appeared to come from several Later Generations.
Meanwhile, Liu Bang and Liu Che of the Han Dynasty brightened when they saw these beauties.
“They are absolutely peerless!” It was not only their looks, but also their bearing and Posture.
After seeing these beauties, he found the consorts in the Imperial Harem disappointing by comparison.
Tang Dynasty
Li Shimin praised the beauties as well. “Their looks, bearing, and dancing are all superb. And these clothes too—Guanyin Bi, most of them really are Tang Dynasty attire, aren’t they?”
“They are indeed.” Empress Changsun nodded. “It seems that many people in Later Generations must like us as well.”
“Hahaha, I told you so.” Li Shimin spoke with pride. Their Tang Dynasty had not appeared on the previous ranking, probably because it was powerful and had fewer regrettable figures and events.
When foolish and lustful rulers saw the beauties, they became even more vulgar and base. Some ordered paintings of the beauties and sent people among the Common People to find women who resembled them. Others compared the consorts in their Imperial Harem with the beauties; those consorts had once seemed attractive, but now paled beside them. With a grand wave of the hand, they decided to hold another Imperial Beauty Selection and bring more beauties into the palace.
Following the uploader’s page, she watched several more beauty compilation videos. Before long, the takeout arrived.
An Ran turned off her phone and hurried to open the door and collect it.
Although the phone was off, the Livestream continued. Everyone saw only a vast expanse of white, then heard a woman’s voice.
Not long afterward, a woman appeared on the Heavenly Screen, carrying something in her hands.
As everyone wondered what it was, the woman opened the boxes and revealed the food inside. The crowd then watched the first eating Livestream of their lives.
An Ran had ordered braised pork, beer duck, and braised eggplant. The food from this restaurant was delicious in appearance, aroma, and flavor, so she often ordered from there.
Everyone stared at the food, which looked delicious at a glance, and swallowed.
Some people hurriedly served the dishes they had prepared and ate while watching An Ran’s eating livestream.
Although they could not taste her food, the delicious-looking dishes and An Ran’s enjoyment made their usual, even barely edible, meals seem delicious.
The Common People had never seen such food, nor could they afford it. The emperors, especially those before the Tang Dynasty, felt heartsick. Remembering the delicious foods they had once enjoyed, they suddenly found their meals difficult to swallow.
Did the nobility of later generations all eat this well?
If they learned that even ordinary Common People in Later Generations ate this well, they would probably suffer a devastating blow.
After finishing her meal, An Ran lay on the sofa for a while. A commotion broke out downstairs. She sprang up, grabbed her phone, went to the window, and looked down.
She lived on the thirteenth floor, so she could not see what was happening below. To get a better view, she started recording with her phone. Fortunately, the other party was speaking loudly enough for her to make out the general situation.
A man had cheated on his spouse. While his Wife was at work, he brought his Mistress home to fool around, only for his Wife to return on sick leave and catch them red-handed.
If the Wife had been alone, things might have been fine. Unfortunately, her two brothers happened to come along as well. The two large, imposing brothers dragged the Mistress and her Husband downstairs and brutally beat them.
The Wife joined in, beating and cursing her Husband and the Mistress. In the end, she went home, threw all her Husband’s belongings outside, and told him she wanted a divorce and that the children would stay with her.
The Husband refused, but with two tall, ferocious brothers-in-law present, he did not dare say anything else. He could only leave dejectedly and plan to return after his Wife had calmed down to persuade her.
An Ran enjoyed the spectacle. Since it did not end with the sort of infuriatingly harmonious conclusion that would make her fume, she sat back down on the sofa, satisfied, and sent the Video to her Best Friend.
Gossip had to be shared promptly.
The People of Ancient Times followed the phone’s Camera as it moved, until it came to rest outside the window.
Seeing how high up it was, the common people were so frightened that their legs went weak.
“It’s so high. Aren’t they afraid of falling?”
“Rich people cherish their lives the most. There won’t be any danger.”
“How was something this tall built?”
“As long as you have money, I suppose…” a Young man said hesitantly.
Unlike the Common People, who had seen little of the world, the Aristocratic Clans and emperors were even more shocked by the building’s height. They were especially stunned by the other buildings that had flashed past earlier, some taller than this one.
How had people built them, especially when so many people would live up there?
And what was that transparent material? Glass? Could glass really be so transparent? What sort of people lived in a place that used so much of it?
Colored glass existed as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, but transparent glass did not appear until the late Ming and early Qing periods.
When they saw the transparent glass, some glass craftsmen’s eyes lit up. They began pondering how to produce it. They would surely make a great deal of money once they did.
Before everyone could marvel further at the high-rise buildings of Later Generations, their attention shifted to what was happening downstairs.
Some men frowned when they saw a woman have her brothers beat her husband because he had another woman. When she began beating and cursing her husband herself, the men started shouting angrily.
“How can this woman treat her husband like that? It is unreasonable.”
“Jealous wife! Wicked woman!”
When they heard the woman say she would drive her husband out of the house and even seek a divorce, the curses grew harsher.
This situation was especially severe in dynasties after the Tang Dynasty. In earlier dynasties, women faced fewer restrictions in this regard, and many obtained Marital Separation before remarrying. Although people did not understand leaving a husband merely because he had another woman, they did not react strongly.
The reaction was strongest in dynasties where women faced severe restrictions after the rise of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, particularly among Court Ministers and Scholars.
In their eyes, it did not matter whether a husband had one woman or many, or how he treated his Wife. She could only meekly endure everything. The husband was Heaven itself—how could his Wife beat or curse him, or even dare to request Marital Separation?
They insulted and belittled the woman in the Video, even spreading rumors that she must be Loose and immoral and had clung to another man. That, they claimed, was why she dared to request Marital Separation.
One after another, they declared that she had disgraced propriety, failed to observe a Wife’s virtue, and proved that women and petty men were indeed difficult to live with. They added many even uglier remarks.
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