Chapter 5

Under the vast sky, everything belongs to the emperor; on the land, all are his subjects.

In ancient times, the hierarchical system was extremely strict. Officials were officials, commoners were commoners; scholars were scholars, and the poor were the poor; people were divided into three, six, and nine classes.

In the Han Dynasty, the emperor was naturally the supreme ruler, the only one of his kind, and everything in the world belonged to him. Next were the kings, marquises, generals, and ministers, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and the imperial relatives, all high-ranking officials in the court. They represented the imperial power, held high status, and were the emperor's spokesmen. The emperor relied on them to govern the entire country.

Below them were various officials, both large and small, and local officials. Below them were the landowners and gentry. The next lower class was the common people, and below them were the merchants. In most dynasties of ancient times, agriculture was valued while commerce was looked down upon, so common people had a slightly higher status than merchants.

Of course, there were people even lower than common people and merchants, and those were the slaves.

Each class had many strict rules and regulations, clearly defined, and no one could overstep them in the slightest. For example, when a person of a lower class met someone of a higher class, they had to show respect, and kneeling to pay respects was mandatory. Even if they did not kneel, they had to perform the proper formalities, such as clasping their hands in a salute. When they met, they had to lower their eyes and step aside, allowing the person of a higher class to go first.

There was a rule that a person of a lower class could not look directly at a person of a higher class without permission, or they would commit the sin of disrespecting their superior and be punished. Especially the female relatives of higher officials, servants could not look at them or scrutinize them, or they would face the punishment of having their eyes gouged out, or even be beheaded.

Of course, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, due to the chaotic state of the court and local governments, many important matters were neglected, and people's lives were difficult, even struggling to make ends meet. Therefore, these etiquette rules were not as strictly followed.

However, while the common people were less concerned, the court officials and landowners still paid great attention to these rules, especially in their circles. They still adhered to these formalities and treated each other with great respect.

Who was this lady in white? She was Zhang Jie, the daughter of Zhang Jun, the current imperial physician. Zhang Jun, as an imperial physician, was in charge of various affairs in the court, and his position was just below that of the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Grand Secretary, indicating his high status. In Luoyang, who would dare not show respect to Zhang Jun? As Zhang Jun's daughter, even high-ranking officials with status and position would not dare to look at her casually when they met her. Now, a mere soldier had dared to offend her.

She had been raised with proper traditional etiquette and deeply influenced by the ideas of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues and the hierarchical order between men and women. How could she possibly tolerate the lewd gaze and actions of a lowly militia soldier?

Moreover, if this incident were to spread, given her father's stern and upright character, not only would Liu Yi face severe punishment, but she herself might also be punished by her father, with a harsh scolding inevitable. How could a woman come to the military camp without regard for her reputation? As a woman, she should be at home supporting her husband and raising children, not working outside. She had barely managed to persuade her father to let her come out to treat the wounded, but now she had encountered such a despicable soldier. If this incident prevented her from continuing to treat the wounded, she would feel an intense hatred that could only be quenched by the soldier's execution.

Of course, if it were just her and Liu Yi alone, and he had only glanced at her a few times without being too excessive, she might have been able to tolerate it and not take it to heart. However, the problem was that he had acted so rudely in front of so many people, which was truly intolerable.

However, she didn't need to worry about how to punish Liu Yi, as the handsome young man beside her was the first to become angry and speak up for her, immediately sentencing Liu Yi to the ultimate punishment!

Who was this handsome young man? As Liu Yi had guessed, he was actually a woman in disguise, a woman of great importance. To be precise, she was the eldest and most beloved daughter of the current emperor, Princess Wan Nian Liu Mu.

Now that she had spoken, Liu Yi was doomed.

Princess Wan Nian Liu Mu did not like embroidery but preferred martial arts. However, to meet the expectations of the emperor and empress, she had also studied under several learned scholars in the court, including Zhang Jun, known for his stern and upright character, who was one of her many teachers. Of course, she had only nominally studied under him and did not formally become his disciple. She rarely studied with those scholars and often used the pretext of seeking knowledge to sneak out of the palace and go to the martial arts school run by the great swordsman Wang Yue to learn martial arts.

On this day, she had come to Zhang Jun's residence under the pretext of studying, and out of curiosity, she had asked Zhang Jie, who was veiled, where she was going.

Zhang Jie rarely went out, especially after her husband's unfortunate illness and death, which had left her in a state of mental collapse, crying every day. Later, inspired by something, she had started learning medicine from a physician who was a friend of Zhang Jun, and had studied for two or three years, rarely leaving the house.

Recently, Zhang Jun had been expelled from the court by the emperor's guards due to the militia issue. After returning home, he was in a bad mood. Zhang Jie, upon inquiring, learned that her father was troubled by the fact that the militia, who had fought against the Yellow Turban rebels, had not received any rewards from the court, and the wounded militia soldiers had not been treated. Knowing the situation, Zhang Jie thought that her knowledge of medicine might help alleviate her father's worries, so she volunteered to treat the wounded militia soldiers for free.

When Princess Wan Nian learned that Zhang Jie was going to the militia camp to treat the wounded, she found it interesting and insisted on coming along. This was why Zhang Jie and Princess Wan Nian were in Liu Yi's camp.

However, Liu Yi had no idea who she was, that she was the daughter of the current emperor, or that she was Princess Wan Nian. He also had no idea that his gaze could cause trouble, that just looking at her and swallowing his saliva could be a capital offense.

But as a person from two thousand years later, even if he had known, what difference would it make? Liu Yi had no concept of the hierarchical order and the idea of respecting superiors. He did not think that looking at the lady doctor a few times was a grave sin. Therefore, when he heard the handsome young woman say she would have him executed and saw Huang Zheng and Wu Yang kneeling in terror, he became angry.

What's the big deal about being looked at a few times? I didn't really do anything to her. Women are made to be looked at, right? Besides, I didn't see anything. To be executed for this would be more unjust than Dou E.

Just as Liu Yi was getting angry, the tent flap was suddenly pulled open, and several fierce-looking guards burst in without expression.

"Liu Fu, take him out and execute him!" Princess Wan Nian Liu Mu, her beautiful face flushed with anger, pointed at Liu Yi on the bed and ordered the lead guard.

"Yes!" Liu Fu bowed respectfully and walked over to Liu Yi with a cold gaze.

"Ah! Young Master! Lady Doctor! No, no..." Huang Zheng and Wu Yang were so terrified that they were trembling and could hardly speak. Although Liu Yi was severely injured and it was uncertain whether he could be cured, dying untreated and being beheaded were two different things.

"Wait!"

"Wait!"

Just as the guards were about to drag Liu Yi off the bed, Liu Yi shouted.

And another voice came from the lady doctor, Zhang Jie.