V2: Chapter 187: Then Let's Begin the Counterattack!
Liang Lin still couldn't calm down. She went to the slums, and seeing the people's miserable lives, she couldn't bear to look any longer. What use was all the money the Langwendi family had?
"Laura, give them some black bread. Buy several baskets, no, just buy all the bread from the bakery today and put it here. Give one to every commoner who comes."
Liang Lin's eyes welled up; she felt she was about to cry.
There was just too much suffering in this world. She couldn't help everyone, but she wanted to do what she could.
Liang Lin took a deep breath.
"Not in my name..."
"In the name of Langwendi," Liang Di interjected. "Now is the time, and... it's almost time. Foolish Doris... it's time to pay the price for their foolishness."
The eighth month of Gael's ascension to the throne.
Women's already meager rights were further stripped away.
“Education has become a male privilege; women are excluded from the formal education system.”
“Women’s marriages are subject to even stricter control by family and society, depriving them of their right to choose and refuse. Women are merely appendages of male power and interests.”
These two points alone are enough to chill one to the bone.
Liang Lin now stands by the French windows, looking at the thriving back garden.
“Doris is a woman too, so why does Gael hate and look down on women so much? I can’t understand…”
Liang Di smiled softly.
“Perhaps in his eyes, only mothers are different from other women. I can’t understand the thinking of such a person either. Everyone has a mother; Doris isn’t the only mother. Gael, just like his father, has no compassion or empathy whatsoever.”
It was the eleventh and a half month since Gael ascended the throne.
The consequences of the severe exploitation of the common people were finally becoming apparent.
“Heavy taxes and land rents on the economy, political oppression, and social inequality. Frequent wars also led to the deaths of a large number of civilians.”
“Excessive taxes exacerbated the suffering of the common people. Taxes were increased to raise funds for the military and large-scale projects. These taxes exceeded the common people's ability to bear them, plunging them into poverty and despair. Hundreds of people starved to death and committed suicide every day.”
At the same time, a plague broke out.
“When the plague and famine occurred simultaneously, the King did not take effective measures (such as providing relief food and medical aid), and the death rate among the common people rose sharply. Although this was not a direct policy of exploitation by the king, his inaction undoubtedly exacerbated the suffering of the common people.”
By the French windows, Liang Lin noticed that some of the flowers in the back garden were withering.
“Liang Di, isn't it time?”
“Soon, just one more month.”
Liang Di looked towards the door.
“Doris, she's about to lose her composure. Soon... she'll have Gael attack us.”
Gael's first year and one month on the throne.
“Miss Liang Di, please come with us. Someone has reported you for colluding with another country and betraying our great Soteland Empire.”
When a group of knights burst into Liang Di’s home, she was leisurely sipping tea.
“Oh?”
She put down her teacup.
Behind her, Liang Lin was impeccably dressed, wearing armor she hadn’t worn in a long time. Her hand rested on the sword at her waist.
Liang Di smiled at the knights.
“What if I say I won’t go with you?”
“How dare you! Disobey..."
Thud!
"Ahh!”
The longsword pierced the knight’s arm.
Liang Lin didn’t kill him, but instead kicked him hard to the ground.
“Not a crime deserving of death.”
Liang Lin sheathed her sword and raised her fists.
“I think this is enough.”
For a knight to have their sword sheathed and their bare fists used was a profound humiliation.
How much contempt must they have for them to sheath their sword?
Liang Lin's hair had been cut much shorter, tied into a high ponytail that only reached her shoulders. She found it too long, inconvenient for fighting.
Every punch landed with a vengeance, each blow capable of destroying the enemy's equipment. In just eight minutes, all the enemies lay on the ground, groaning in pain.
"Phew~"
Liang Lin stopped in her tracks.
"Warm-up complete."
This was an even greater humiliation. For Liang Lin, this was merely a warm-up.
"Let's go, Sister Liang Lin, we should go to the civilian area. Could you help me up?"
Liang Di, sitting in a chair, extended her hand to Liang Lin. Liang Lin, with impeccable manners, accepted her hand with a slight bow.
"It's my pleasure... Miss Liang Di."
Liang Lin lightly kissed the back of Liang Di's hand.
The two sat side by side in the carriage. Liang Di took out a bandage from a small box and wrapped it around her smooth calf.
“From now on, I am the noble lady who has been harmed by the knights,” Liang Di said to Liang Lin.
Liang Lin nodded.
The roadside was desolate.
In the narrow alley, the muddy road was even more uneven and potholed in the rainy season, with sewage flowing everywhere and emitting a pungent smell. On both sides were dilapidated wooden and stone houses, their walls mottled and cracked, as if they could collapse at any moment. The roofs were covered with a few broken tiles or tangled straw, offering little protection from the wind and rain.
Few pedestrians were on the street; occasionally, a few ragged commoners could be seen hurrying by, their faces filled with weariness and helplessness. The cries of children and the sighs of the elderly mingled, creating a mournful symphony. They cried from hunger or groaned from illness; the weight of life had robbed them of their former laughter.
The air in the slum was thick with a sense of oppression and despair.
The people here lacked sufficient food and clothing to ward off the cold and hunger, relying solely on meager incomes or begging to survive. Disease ravaged the area, and the scarcity of medical resources left many struggling in agony, awaiting death.
Liang Lin couldn't bear to watch any longer.
Liang Di gently placed her hand on Liang Lin's shoulder.
"Sister Liang Lin, don't be sad anymore. We're about to change everything."
"Yes!"
Liang Lin nodded vigorously.
The carriage stopped in the center of the square, in front of the enormous statue.
Liang Lin jumped off the carriage first, then caught Liang Di, who had jumped down on one leg. She carefully placed Liang Di on the ground.
Liang Di acted convincingly, walking with a limp, her face filled with pain. Her public persona has always been that of a sickly, frail, and gentle young lady.
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