2516 Disparity in Status



"This servant is Caixiu."

"Caiqi."

"Greetings to the crown prince consort." Two palace maids around 18 or 19 curtsied toward Qiao Mu. They had refined looks and had extremely respectful attitudes.

The young crown prince consort was hanging her petite head and lying listlessly on a divan covered with a rich red brocade.

The crown prince was sitting beside her. From the moment they got back, His Highness the Crown Prince had been continuously coaxing her to speak. He would feed her this and then bring her that to eat. He doted on and cherished her incredibly.

The way their masters interacted astonished the two palace maids.

They felt like these two people's roles had switched around?

Why was His Highness the Crown Prince the one trying to coax this young crown prince consort?

Because in their Three Provinces, the existence of females was much weaker than that of males. This situation was much more pronounced among cultivators.

There was no other reason than that male cultivators in the Divine Province were generally much more powerful than female cultivators. Even Heavenly Law was a hundred times stricter towards female cultivators than male cultivators.

The last hurdle in breaking through to the spiritual realm and advancing to the divine realm was the trial of the five spirits' samsara. The success rate for female cultivators was only one-hundredth of that for male cultivators.

This irreversibly cemented the supreme status of male cultivators in the Three Provinces.

For the noble ladies of great patrician families or women who commanded great authority, they could rely on their clans to seek out various dharma treasures, spiritual tools, and divine tools to increase their success rate when advancing realms.

For those normal itinerant cultivators or women from humble families, they would face extreme dangers when advancing. Those who were unlucky would perish in body and spirit.

As a result, it was much rarer for female cultivators to reach the divine realm. There were many female cultivators who stopped at the peak rank of level-15 spiritual cultivation because they did not want to risk their lives.

Because this fear created a crack in their cultivation hearts.

As they grew older, this "fear" would spread to their entire body. In the end, these people would eternally be demoralized and afraid to even take a small step forward.

Many of the smaller clans who had females with better talent would exchange them for resources, giving them to male cultivators to be the latter's cultivation vessels.

The females had no power to object.

The clan nurtured them and now needed them. What was there to object?

This was the tragedy of females in smaller forces in the Upper Three Provinces.

That was why for weak girls like Caixiu and Caiqi, it was already extremely fortunate that their familes had sent them into the imperial palace from an early age. They had obtained a lifetime of peace.

As long as they diligently waited on their masters in the palace, maintained a serious attitude, and did not make any mistakes, they would be able to live until they left the palace. At that time, the palace would dole out a "severance pay." They could then go back to their villages and buy some land, as well as hire a long-term worker to tend to the fields. They would most likely be able to live until old age.

Caixiu and Caiqi were both extremely well-behaved palace maids. Ever since they entered, they were even afraid of glancing about. They merely saluted and then stood to the side.

Qiao Mu merely glanced up when she heard them. Afterwards, she waved her hand. "Go outside."

Caiqi and Caixiu looked at each other. They did not understand their master's intent, yet they dared not make presumptuous guesses. They quickly retreated outside while bowing their heads.