The Second Volume The Country of Women Chapter 5 Skilled with Embroidery

  After dinner, we were led back to the northeast corner of the prison cells by another female guard. All prisoners lined up in rows of a dozen or twenty people each, standing in front of their respective cells. I followed Wu Yin and waited for the guard's signal before entering the cell to sleep. I found that there were hundreds of prisoners here, yet there was no roll call. When Wu Yin heard my question, she snorted: "This has always been a men's prison, and nobody has ever escaped."

  As soon as they entered the cell, they saw that it was roughly ten square meters in size. Against the wall, there was a large kang (a type of bed). In this small cell, there were over a dozen people, including the big and tall Yu Manli.

  There were no lights in the house. The prison guard lit a torch and stood at the door, seeing that all the prisoners had entered the house, shouting "Sleep!" before dispersing.

  Several people unfolded their bedding and were about to go to bed, when Wu Yin glared at them and said: "So unruly! Dragon Brother hasn't spoken yet!" Those few people hastily got up again and stood on the ground waiting for me to lecture.

  "Wu Yin smiled and said: 'Dragon brother, you first, choose a good place.'"

  I casually threw the quilt on the bed and said, "From now on, let's not bother with this stuff. If you really want me to set rules, there's only one rule: there are no rules, we're all brothers."

  "Is this all right?"

  "There's nothing wrong with sleeping."

  Wu Ying waved her hand and said, "Since big brother has spoken, don't just stand there." Only then did the group go to bed. Wu Ying and Yu Manli put the bedding on either side of me and also got into bed. The men lay down but didn't sleep, instead starting to chat idly about this and that, and not one of them fell asleep.

  I poked the warrior beside me and casually asked: "Hey, how did you get in?"

  "Thief."

  "Oh, what did you steal?"

  "I was originally a servant in a wealthy household's kitchen, along with Manli. It just so happened that one day when we were finishing work, we saw the main hall of the house was empty, and I went forward to grab a silver wine cup and was about to put it in my pocket when I was caught by someone. On the spot, I was taken to the government office, and then ended up here, which also got Manli into trouble with me."

  Yu Manli said with a smile: "If you sell that wine cup, the money will naturally not be less than my share. Since we've been caught, I'll admit it too. This is called sharing good fortune and bad fortune together."

  I asked Wu Yin: "How long have you been sentenced?"

  "Wu Yin said: 'Two years.'"

  "I was shocked: 'Stealing a broken wine cup is sentenced for so long?'"

  "Who made us men?" Wu Yin said with a bitter smile. "In their eyes, when we make mistakes, we should die."

  I said cautiously: "Do you know that in countries other than Women's Country, men are actually in charge?"

  Wu Yin Tao said: "It's actually heard that the emperor, prime minister and generals of that place are all men who take charge, even rough work like farming and ironwork are done by them."

  Before I could say anything, someone on the bed suddenly said: "Too scary!"

  "What's so scary?" I asked in astonishment.

  That man sneered: "You want me to farm or work in a foundry? I'd rather stay in prison than do that!"

  I cried and laughed: "Damn, I thought I was lazy enough, but you're even lazier than me."

  "Dragon brother, you... wouldn't be thinking of going through that kind of day again, would you?"

  I am speechless.

  Wu Ying stuttered: "Long Ge, I'm asking you something, don't get angry."

  "I said: 'Go ahead and ask.'"

  "Are you really... doing that kind of business?"

  As soon as I mentioned this, I suddenly got angry and shouted loudly: "No!" As soon as I shouted, others didn't dare to speak... Wu Yin then said: "Actually, I also think you don't look like it. When you punched me in the face that time, I thought so too. You're really not that kind of person, your temper is absolutely not as explosive as yours. You seem to be from those legendary 'countries of men'."

  I said with a bad temper: "I am originally! I tell you, I'm not only from 'Man's Country', but also the Sword God!"

  A group of people trembled and said: "Sword God?" Someone also whispered: "It seems that our daughter country's Su Jing is the only Sword God on the mainland."

  "I said loudly: 'Your Su Jing is nothing special, she even begged me to find her father and I slept with her on the same bed.'"

  As soon as he said this, the entire cell fell silent. After a long time, Wu Yin spoke to me with an open heart: "Dragon brother, originally you are the big brother, whatever you say, the younger brothers will follow, but bragging and boasting must have a limit, right? I'm telling you this, don't be unhappy, there's no outsider here, just consider it a joke, but if you go outside and talk about it, won't you get into trouble? You said that Lord Su slept with you...

  I indignantly said: "It was I who slept with her, not she who slept with me!"

  "Alright, let's just barely believe this then."

  Someone whispered, "It seems that Lord Su is not good at dealing with men." It looks like Su Jing is well-known in the country and has a high reputation. What puzzles me is that these guys have been oppressed by women for so long, yet they still protect her like this. But thinking about it again, I understand - it's just like how those little girls in a patriarchal society like young heroes, regardless of gender.

  Luckily I already knew no one would believe me even if I said it, so I just vented.

  "Wu Yin changed the subject and said: 'Dragon Brother, what did Bai Tianying come to you for during the day?'"

  I said: "What else can be done, just want to make a fortune."

  Wu Yingdao said: "We've thought of this too, everyone here has been hit by her."

  I said: "From her tone, as long as someone guarantees it, you can go out. How come none of you have family members?"

  Wu Yin sighed and said, "If someone had taken care of it from the beginning, we wouldn't have ended up here. In the past, the Women's Country didn't even have a men's prison. Unless you committed murder or arson, generally, if a man made a mistake, no one would bother to investigate. Even if it went to court, as long as your family was willing to make an effort, the officials wouldn't pursue it further. A light punishment and they'd let you off. But people like us, poor and uneducated, with no one to take care of us, gradually committed more crimes, so the imperial court built this men's prison camp. The head of the camp is the highest official here, that old woman loves money more than her life, unfortunately, this place doesn't have any benefits to offer. When you brothers arrived, you all had to suffer at her hands, if you could give her a little less, it would be better, but if you were poor and white, a severe beating was inevitable. The imperial court actually allocated quite a bit of money for the men's prison camp each year, but after going through the head of the camp's three deductions and two deductions, by the time it reached us, there was very little left, so we couldn't even eat our fill."

  I nodded and said, "So that's how it is. No wonder that old woman had a dissatisfied look on her face, she was resentful for not being able to extort any money." I asked Wu Yin, "Does this mean all the male prisoners in the country are locked up here?"

  Wu Ying nodded and said: "Yes, what you saw during the day was only a small part. There is also a prison camp in the northwest and southwest corners, adding up to over a thousand people."

  "How much?"

  "It's not that many, after all. With a population of tens of millions in the Women's Country, over a thousand male offenders like us have emerged," he said with a self-deprecating smile. "In a way, we're also one in ten thousand."

  I said: "What did you all come in for?"

  "Everything is there, petty thieves, wife-stealing and adultery..."

  I interrupted him and said, "And also having an affair behind his wife's back?"

  Wu Yin pointed to one side of the street: "Qi Xiaohuan was reported by his wife for being in a compromising position with another woman, that's why he ended up here."

  In the darkness, that one called Qi Xiaohuan suddenly shouted: "What's this 'hooking up' nonsense? I didn't even hold hands with her, and my evil mother-in-law beats me every day. Can't I find someone to vent to?"

  "I burst out: 'She hits you and you won't hit her?'"

  The other prisoners all burst out laughing: "Who dares to hit a woman?"

  If a man in modern times said this, I would respect him as a real man. But at this moment, the situation is different, and I inexplicably feel a sense of sadness and suffocation. I sat up straight, hugging my legs, and exclaimed: "Damn it, are you guys still men?"

  The crowd didn't dare to retort, but someone muttered in a low voice: "It's just that men don't dare to hit women."

  "Dragon brother don't be angry, let's talk about you instead. Don't you have anyone to guarantee for you either?"

  "Who does that old bitch think I am? She told me to go find that woman who gives me money during the day, where am I supposed to find her?"

  At this time, Yu Manli finally couldn't help but ask: "Big brother, what is a bitch?"

  "It's... women selling themselves."

  "Wu Yin frowned and said: 'Dragon brother, this matter is difficult to handle.'"

  "What's wrong?" I asked hastily. After a conversation, I found that Wu Yin was clear about the things in prison, and he said so, which made my heart lift up.

  "Like us, we have a limited time here, I'll be out in another year, but you're different, you were sent directly by the City Patrol Battalion, and you haven't even been tried yet. According to the rules, this matter can be big or small, and even if the government handles it strictly, you'll only be imprisoned for a year or two at most. However, now that the whole country is recruiting new soldiers, who will care about you? In fact, if the prison camp wants to release you, you can leave tomorrow without anyone asking questions. But if they want to scheme for that ransom, then as long as no one comes to bail you out, they can detain you for a day, and if no one comes in 10 years, they can detain you for 10 years, which is reasonable and lawful. That's why I say your situation is not looking good."

  "So your meaning is I'll die here?"

  "But I hope that Officer Wang will see that you have no more money to squeeze out of and let you go after a few days, who knows."

  My heart sank, Wu Yin's analysis was both emotional and rational, that old woman would most likely do such a thing. Originally, in the situation where I couldn't rely on Su Jing, my greatest hope was to get out as soon as possible and find the high-ranking officials of the country of Nü Guo to reveal my identity and ask for their assistance to return. If it were really like Wu Yin said, I'd rather die!

  I thought and thought but couldn't think of a solution, so I simply threw myself into the blanket and loudly said: "Sleep!"

  "Big brother is right, we still have work to do tomorrow, let's go to bed early."

  I poked my head out again and asked: "What are you doing, digging sand or moving stones?"

  Wu Yin smiled and said: "How could we do those rough jobs? We are embroiderers."

  I widened my eyes: "Embroidery?"

  "Yes."

  I sat up with a start and shook Yu Manli violently, saying: "You might as well strangle me!"

  Yu Manli stretched out her thick, club-like hand and gently pushed me aside, saying in a hoarse voice: "Dragon brother, calm down, if you really don't want to do it, I'll do the embroidery for you."

  I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time: "You? You can?"

  Wu Yin said faintly: "Manli's embroidery is a skillful hand, in the men's camp of over 1,000 people, no one can be his opponent."