After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

She'll still get married.

While a woman's innocence is important, her life is more important than her purity.

The Crown Prince pushed open the door and entered: "What you say makes perfect sense, Madam! Some people have dirty bodies but clean hearts. Some people have clean bodies but dirty hearts."

Xie Yubai once told the Crown Prince a story.

Two countries were at war, and one was defeated, leaving its people displaced. The general and soldiers responsible for defending the city led the able-bodied men and women out of the city, ostensibly to preserve the nation's strength and the court's ability to resist the enemy. When the enemy army breached the city, only the elderly, women, and children, powerless to resist, remained.

The enemy general was enraged and ordered the massacre of the entire city's inhabitants. At this critical moment, the general's wife stepped forward. Behind her were women from the general's household, beautiful commoners, and girls who made a living selling their smiles in brothels. They volunteered to serve the enemy soldiers, hoping only to appease their anger and spare the city's people.

They sacrificed themselves in exchange for three years of peace for the city's inhabitants. Three years later, the general in charge of defending the city returned with his soldiers. They drove out the enemy, but ordered the execution of their wives, sisters, and daughters, claiming that they had lost their chastity and had not perished with the enemy.

Upon first hearing this story, the Crown Prince shared the same thoughts as the generals: that women of Beiliang should never submit to the enemy. How was this any different from surrendering or betraying the country? Xie Yubai didn't refute him, but simply asked, "Has Your Highness considered that this city was never meant for them to defend? They lost their innocence, but protected the lives of all the city's inhabitants. If they had perished with the enemy as Your Highness suggests, what would have become of the city?"

What then?

Four words that struck straight to the crown prince's head.

It was impossible for a few women to perish with all the enemies; they would most likely be killed. Because of their actions, the enemy would no longer treat the city's inhabitants kindly, and the elderly, women, and children who failed to escape would become victims of the enemy's blades. Within two days, corpses littered the fields, everywhere filled with the bodies of the elderly, children, and women.

Those women may not be able to escape the calamity of being violated.

Three years is enough to turn this city into a ghost town. Even if the general who was defending the city comes back, what meaning will it have for the people in the city and for Beiliang?

Compared to the fleeing general, the women who bravely stepped forward were the true heroes; they used their frail bodies to ensure the safety of the city's inhabitants.

Then, Xie Yubai told him a second story.

The older sister went to the temple to burn incense and pray, but encountered robbers on the way. In a moment of desperation, she made a deal with them. She had a younger sister who was exceptionally beautiful, and she was willing to lure her sister out if the robbers would let her go. The younger sister was already betrothed, and her parents valued her highly. To quell the trouble, they would surely pay a large ransom.

Of course, the robbers wouldn't just believe the sister's side of the story. They had someone investigate and found that what the sister said was true.

The robbers left one of the older sister's personal belongings, instructing her to go back and trick her younger sister into coming out.

At this point, the older sister has three choices.

One option was to report to the authorities and have them come to the mountains to suppress the bandits.

One option is to inform one's parents and have them report the incident to the authorities. As for the item left behind by the robbers, it can be claimed that it was stolen by the robbers.

The last option is to trick her sister into leaving and hand her over to the robbers, according to her agreement with them.

The first and second options, while damaging to her reputation, would have protected her and her sister, as well as the family's wealth. The elder sister chose the third option, allowing her already married sister to be kidnapped by bandits and become the bandit leader's wife.

There are three reasons why the older sister harmed her younger sister. First, she was jealous of her sister. Second, she had suffered herself and wanted her sister to suffer even greater misfortune. Third, she wanted her sister's marriage. The marriage agreement between the two families was already made, and it was impossible to break it at the last minute. Once the younger sister lost her chastity, the groom's family would definitely not want her anymore, and then she could take her sister's place and marry the groom.

Unlike her older sister, the younger sister, despite becoming the bandit leader's wife, never considered colluding with him. Instead, she used his favor to secretly contact the government and wipe out the entire bandit stronghold.

On the day the bandit leader was beheaded, she stood in the crowd watching her calmly.

Afterwards, the younger sister went to her fiancé's house to annul the engagement. Her fiancé not only refused but also felt sorry for her ordeal and admired her composure. On the day of her sister's wedding, the older sister stormed the wedding procession, her words implying that her sister had lost her chastity and was unworthy of her fiancé. She claimed that her fiancé marrying her was a disgrace to the entire family.

The younger sister lifted the sedan curtain, threw down her older sister's personal belongings, and said calmly, "When I was kidnapped by robbers, my older sister said I had lost my innocence. But what about you, older sister? Not only were you kidnapped by robbers, but you also made a deal with them. Even your personal belongings are in their hands. In terms of innocence, I'm afraid I'm more innocent than you."

Seeing the surrounding chatter, the older sister couldn't hold back and stormed off.

The groom said nothing and continued the wedding ceremony. On the second day of the marriage, the head maid accidentally dropped the tray she was carrying. Within half a day, everyone in the city knew that the younger sister was innocent. Furthermore, the government intervened, claiming that the younger sister's abduction was a scheme orchestrated with them, and the matter was dropped.

Whether the younger sister and the bandit leader had a marital relationship is only known to the younger sister and the bandit leader. The truth about the bandit leader's execution is known only to the younger sister. Whether the younger sister is innocent or not is known to her husband, but he doesn't care; what others care about is simply their business.

After telling this story, Xie Yubai asked His Highness the Crown Prince, "Who is more innocent, the elder sister or the younger sister? If His Highness were the brother-in-law, who would he marry? The elder sister or the younger sister?"

His Highness the Crown Prince pondered for a long time before speaking of his younger sister.

He wasn't considering who was innocent and who wasn't; what he was concerned about was that he couldn't marry his sister, who was capable of betraying even his closest relatives. This woman was jealous and malicious; whether she entered the palace or was brought into the household, she would cause chaos and unrest.

A woman's innocence lies not in her skirts, but in her heart. A man who truly loves you won't care about your innocence; he'll only regret not appearing sooner. Those who truly care about family, lineage, and profit won't care about your innocence either. What they want is a woman who can bring harmony to the family, prosperity to the clan, and the greatest benefit to them.

"So, is this woman's innocence important or not?" Liu Ying was completely confused.

"Whether something is important or not is not for outsiders to judge, but for yourself." Holding Liu Ying's hand, he said earnestly, "I know that you and Lu Yun and Han Ting are like siblings, and I have never thought of arbitrarily matching you up. Your life's most important matter is for you to decide. You should choose someone who truly likes you, someone you also like, someone you want to grow old with and live a good life with."

Liu Ying glanced at the Crown Prince and said shyly, "Why did you bring up my marriage again? I won't marry. I want to stay with you, Madam, for the rest of my life!"

“I’m just afraid you’ll act impulsively.” Lu Zhiyuan pinched her cheek. “I’m afraid you’ll get carried away by the medicine and unwittingly tie yourself to Zuo Yi. Zuo Yi is a good person, someone you can entrust your life to. With His Highness as your backer, the future is promising. I hope you two are together because of love, not because of so-called innocence.”

The Crown Prince chimed in, "Liu Ying, think carefully about what Madam said! Also, I have something I need to trouble Madam with!"

The constables found a carriage not far from the Duke's mansion. Inside the carriage were more than a dozen children of varying ages, all of whom were already dead when they were discovered.

Cause of death unknown!