The bickering ended with Ling Qingyu's inevitable defeat—thanks to Xiao Yue's shaless trump card: invoking Tang Ziyi.
Ling Qingyu let out a sharp breath and rolled her eyes. Could soone return her the old, elegant Xiao Yue? The one who was always half-asleep, beautiful, and indifferent? Not this sly, glint-eyed troublemaker grinning with unearned smugness.
Co to think of it, for all their ti together, the two warlords and war goddess—Tang Ziyi and Xiao Yue—had never truly opened up about their pasts. Ling Qingyu had never pried. She figured it was impolite to dig into others' secrets. Besides, she believed that as bonds deepened, the truth would naturally co forth.
Maybe she'd assud their silence was bound by so rule of Miss System. Or maybe... maybe she simply hadn't earned their trust yet. She didn't know. But after everything they had endured together, she was certain there had to be a reason behind their guardedness.
The thought that they might one day return to their original worlds flickered through her mind like a passing shadow. She pushed the idea down.
She didn't want to imagine what it would feel like to lose them—not even if her life was otherwise full.
"What do you want to ask?" Xiao Yue's voice sliced through her thoughts.
Ling Qingyu blinked. "Ah... I almost forgot what I wanted to say. You pissed off so much."
She chuckled despite herself. "Anyway, rember—I'm not trying to argue for the sake of it. I just want to know your thoughts. That's all."
"Then shoot. It's not like I can beat you right now. Why're you scared?"
"I'm not scared," Ling Qingyu scoffed. "But you know too well. I just don't want you to misread my intentions. I really just want your opinion."
Xiao Yue smirked. "Oh, co on. Isn't this just one of those tired argunts about how n and won aren't equal because they don't pay the sa 'blood price' for their country? All tied up in conscription and war glory nonsense. Why even bother?"
Ling Qingyu swallowed a sigh. The corner of her lip twitched. "I know that's not it. I an... Everyone contributes to their country in their own way. There's no doubt about that."
Before she could clarify her point, Xiao Yue cut in.
"So, only those who serve in the military deserve rights? That's the implication, isn't it?" she said, voice flat. "It's a toxic logic. Sure, so military brass might act like they're better than the rest—especially in autocratic states. But those people usually haven't seen real combat. The ones on the ground don't think like that."
"I couldn't agree more," Ling Qingyu said, recalling their recent run-in with the President and his entourage. "We saw it firsthand—how they treat even their own fighters like chess pieces."
"Exactly. Being useful in war doesn't equal permanent respect or equality," Xiao Yue said. "It's a flawed tric to asure anyone's worth."
Rights shouldn't have to be bought with blood, Ling Qingyu thought. That would reduce n to cannon fodder—another expendable resource in the machinery of politics.
And won? Won didn't earn freedom just by being raped in warzones or bombed in cities. Rights were not a reward for suffering. They were the baseline of humanity.
"If a country has to rely on conscription to survive," Xiao Yue continued, "it's already circling the drain. The economy collapses, food runs dry, trade halts, and the only thing left standing is the brute force of those in power. Civilization slides back into the jungle law."
She crossed her arms, her expression cool. "And if we insist on judging worth by warti usefulness—do we ignore what won went through to keep humanity going? Risking their lives in childbirth, raising children in famines, building hos from ruins?
"In the past, the maternal death rate was horrifyingly high. Even in my era, it was common to die giving life. So yes, without n, there'd be no child—but the agony and danger won faced back then?" She paused. "It's not less just because they didn't fight with swords."
Ling Qingyu nodded slowly. "You're saying it's not about who spilled more blood, but about whether we even recognize soone as fully human."
"Exactly. Won weren't seen as people—just attachnts to n. Property. That's why n were given the vote first—not just because they died in wars, but because won weren't even considered citizens in their own right."
Ling Qingyu smiled and added, "I assu the ones shouting the loudest are often those who hid behind the real warriors. They never paid a price, yet speak as if they carried the war on their backs."
Xiao Yue nodded, her brows furrowing thoughtfully. After a pause, she said, "If we're talking representation, believe —there were more won fighting while disguised as n than people care to admit. Not many, sure. But not so few as most reckon, either."
She continued, "As for the claim that feminists retreat to the kitchen once war breaks out... I can't say for sure. But I do believe many won were—and still are—willing to sacrifice for their ideals. Your history, and the history of this world, already proves it."
Xiao Yue didn't ntion their past world directly, but her silence was enough. Ling Qingyu could piece together the aning herself.
Indeed, just as Xiao Yue said—many won had fought. Perhaps not in overwhelming numbers, but certainly not so insignificantly that they should be erased from mory.
Ling Qingyu could na several examples off the top of her head. During the First World War, Russia had tested a Won's Death Battalion or sothing similar. Their determination and courage were extraordinary. They challenged norms, took up arms, and proved themselves on the battlefield—only for their achievents to be brushed aside or forgotten, even after success.
In the Second World War, female participation grew dramatically. The Soviet Union alone saw over 800,000 won serve in the ard forces—most as dics and nurses, yes, but that wasn't all. Around 200,000 of them were decorated for valor. Eighty-nine of them received the highest military honor: the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. They served as pilots, snipers, machine gunners, tank crew mbers, and partisans.
Yes—partisans. Guerrilla fighters, saboteurs, resistance. Throughout history, won's involvent in partisan warfare was far more common than many realize.
In China and Vietnam, too, won fought valiantly—against imperialism, during revolutions, and through bloody civil wars. Many beca symbols of strength and resilience.
But did they gain equal rights afterward? Sotis—briefly. Leaders might have praised these valkyries in speeches. Their nas might have been rembered—for a while.
But when peace ca, many were shoved back into the kitchen, back into obscurity. Those who had risked everything gained little. Promotion was harder. Reward rarer.
Was it right to ignore the rights they fought for—just because they weren't the majority?
Did rarity erase value?
If so, did that an the contributions of any minority group—ethnic, cultural, or ideological—could also be dismissed?
Did a person have to be part of the majority to be rembered?
Must every sacrifice be downplayed just because it wasn't common?
Now, Ling Qingyu already received a satisfactory reply. Tang Ziyi's reply should be similar too. Sure enough, intaking opinions from different perspectives enriched herself.
"I believe it's the upbringing of a child that creates today's dilemma," Xiao Yue concluded. "In the past, it wasn't as obvious because won often stayed at ho, and their behavior didn't impact society as directly. But in the modern era, when that sa 'princess' mindset persists—it's a total ss. It's not a gender issue, it's an issue of refusing to take responsibility."
She could already tell what Ling Qingyu was thinking. Today's conflict between the sexes stemd from this root cause. n lashed out at won, pointing to the worst examples—narcissists, manipulators, and so-called 'female scum.' Won, in turn, condemned toxic masculinity, blaming the societal system.
But Xiao Yue saw it differently.
n did have a point, but perhaps the bla should also fall on fathers and mothers who over-indulged their daughters. The kind of overprotection and worship that produced narcissistic "princesses" decades later.
anwhile, boys were raised with the unspoken rule that they had to earn love and respect. That success was the only key to being treated well by society. As a result, accountability often ca easier for n—not always, but in many cases as they learned the harsh rules of the world early.
After all, no spoiled children would grow with the correct world's view. Mother or father, either parent must take importance. Surely, there were clever children who didn't need such teaching to grow well but that was only tiny portion of the population.
Of course, there were exceptions. Always.Ling Qingyu silently agreed at Xiao Yue's remarks. She didn't have to look far—just at her past self. Her predecessor beca strong because she understood that nothing would ever be handed to her. Everything she had, she earned.
This had been the belief since her youth.
All in all, society was really turning for the better, not the worst, as people were convinced. Great changes took ti, always.
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