I've been bullied and humiliated for thirteen years; when I wake up, I'll be bloodthirsty.

Chapter 350 Jiang Zhiyi, willing to die ten thousand times!

what?

Lu Yangyang stared at Liu Xiang in shock.

Jiang Zhiyi looked at her in disbelief.

Liu Xiang's voice was bitter: "The two young ladies don't know this, but in the eyes of those... noble people, people like us are not even human. I am lucky to have been able to live a few good years. If I were sold again to those rich merchants, I would basically be used to entertain guests. Some of the guests have bad tempers and I might be beaten to death at any time. I am already considered lucky."

"The worst off were the women who contracted venereal disease. Everyone knew it was incurable, and since they weren't going to die anytime soon, it was just a waste of food to keep them alive. So those who didn't have money or connections to bribe their way out were sent to the salt mines, which... were no place for humans. Those who boiled salt were originally called 'salt cooks,' and they could only make a living by boiling salt for generations. Their lives were the hardest. When I was a child, my family was a salt cook, and we all lived in the salt mines, living a life worse than pigs and dogs. Later, His Highness the Crown Prince reformed the system, abolished the salt cook system, gave us the status of free citizens, and provided us with local resettlement. I thought good days were coming, but my family favored boys over girls. When they saw that I had some beauty after I grew up, they sold me."

"After the salt-making households were abolished, the work of boiling salt in the salt mines became paid labor. Some of the able-bodied men from the surrounding area were drawn to do it, while others were convicts or exiled prisoners. The hours were set, and apart from being hard, it wasn't too deadly. But over time, some officials, in order to embezzle the labor fees, used convicts instead of laborers. So the salt mines became a place where batches of convicts lived. They were living hand to mouth and didn't care how they died, since they were going to die anyway. So those girls who had contracted diseases were especially popular there. They were allowed to do whatever they wanted to them, and if they died, they were just thrown into the abandoned salt pits. Anyway, there would always be new 'fleas' being sent over. Nobody cared about this kind of thing, nobody reported it to the authorities, nobody cared about the lives of those convicts, and nobody cared about the lives of those prostitutes who had contracted venereal diseases."

Liu Xiang spoke softly, not daring to look at Jiang Zhiyi and Lu Yangyang, "The girls in our building all know about this, so they are all terrified of being sent there. Many of them who are sick either have the courage to hang themselves with a rope or... wait for fate to decide."

She herself was the same. From the moment she discovered she had the disease, her greatest wish was to find a place to quietly wait for death, even if it was better than... ending up like that.

She gripped her sleeves tightly, thinking of the fate of the women who had been sent to the salt mines. Suddenly, she mustered her courage, knelt down, and pleaded in a low voice, "Please, miss, save them too. Even if they can stay in the brothel, at least they can survive. If they go to the salt mines, they'll be like chickens about to die of disease."

Lu Yangyang and Jiang Zhiyi both fell silent.

Lu Yangyang felt she had already experienced suffering, and Jiang Zhiyi felt she had just suffered the most insurmountable calamity of her life. But it turns out that in this world, there will always be unseen sorrows, subtle and insidious.

Liu Xiang was still kneeling on the ground.

Lu Yangyang felt a sudden surge in her chest, as if something was about to burst forth from the earth. She seemed to finally understand the Crown Prince's ambition and her elder brother's unwavering courage. Changing the world is difficult, but if you do it little by little, making changes bit by bit, you can make it a little better than before.

She initially learned medicine from her aunt, who forced her to do so. Later, she discovered it was a skill that could make a living. The more she learned, the more she could eat. Once she arrived in the capital, the more she learned, the more knowledgeable she would become, and the less likely she would be bullied. Later still, she wanted to heal His Highness's leg so that he could realize his ambitions, because she admired him.

What about her?

She recalled her last time at the border, when she proved that cowpox could prevent smallpox, and the tearful expressions of the doctors. That was the first time she had used what she had learned to save so many people.

But is that enough?

Not enough, far from enough.

She could save even more people. Her life's goal shouldn't just be to save His Highness, but to save thousands, tens of thousands, millions of people, just like His Highness.

Only in this way could her aunt's teaching of these things have not been in vain, and only in this way could she have received the warning from heaven and had that dream, thus avoiding the tragic ending in the dream.

May the "she" in my dream die this winter.

But now she will survive this winter, and she will lead many others who will not survive it to survive this winter as well.

This is the path she should take.

Lu Yangyang's eyes suddenly brightened strangely. She walked up to Liu Xiang and reached out to pull her up again. "Get up."

Liu Xiang looked up at her and was startled by her eyes.

Then she heard Lu Yangyang say, "I'll save them."

Liu Xiang was stunned. After a long while, she was sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

Jiang Zhiyi looked at Lu Yangyang with a completely resolute gaze.

She called out towards the door, "Qingzhu, take Miss Liu to find Miss Wen."

Qingzhu came in and led Liu Xiang out.

Only Lu Yangyang and Jiang Zhiyi remained in the private room.

Jiang Zhiyi stood up and walked to Lu Yangyang. Suddenly, she knelt down very solemnly and said, "Jiang Zhiyi greets Your Highness the Crown Princess."

Lu Yangyang looked down at her.

The moment their eyes met, Lu Yangyang knew that Jiang Zhiyi had guessed her identity long ago. It must have been from the moment Jiang Xun first hinted at her that Jiang Zhiyi began to suspect and guess who she was.

Before Lu Yangyang could speak, Jiang Zhiyi continued, "That day at the mountain stronghold, the girl told me that I have hands and feet, I've been to school, and I'm the daughter of an official, so I must have learned a lot. I can earn money to support myself, why should I rely on others? I don't need to be anyone's daughter, or anyone's wife, I can be myself! Women can live very well on their own. Maybe the world isn't so friendly to women right now, but people can find a way. Perhaps things will change in the future?"

Jiang Zhiyi said firmly, "These words have awakened me and given me a chance to be reborn. My lady, I am not talented, but I have read a few books. I wish to follow you for the rest of my life. If the world is not friendly or fair to women, then I want to follow you to change things a little. I hope that one day, in this Great Zhao, in this world, every woman will have the courage to step out and live her life, and the courage to be herself."

"Jiang Zhiyi, I would gladly die ten thousand times over."