Chapter 4639 — A Familiar Voice
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Had it been any other native of Cloud Terrace Island, such a novel term would certainly have left them dumbfounded. But Shangguan Lan'er had been with Wei Zhao so long, and had always pestered him for tales of the mortal world, that she was long since inured to such words. Hearing this, she smiled brightly at once: "No, she isn't. Feifei may be the princess of West Island, but the education she received wasn't purely feminist—it was about the same as ours."
"Why is that? Isn't she the heir to West Island?" Wei Zhao could not help but find it strange. Since Ning Xuefei was the princess of West Island, and West Island was a matriarchal society, that meant she would very likely take charge of the island one day. By any normal reasoning, she ought to have received orthodox feminist instruction—otherwise how would she wield power in the future?
"She is the heir—and precisely because of that, she can't receive purely feminist education. Otherwise how would she go out and deal with the other experts of Cloud Terrace Island in the future? Here men are of low status, but that isn't so elsewhere. If she really had been raised from childhood as a feminist, how could she ever change her mindset? There'd be a catastrophe!" Shangguan Lan'er said with a grin, though her words struck straight to the heart of the matter.
Only then did Wei Zhao understand. It was just as Shangguan Lan'er said: a true feminist's worldview was almost irreconcilable with everyone else's. But West Island could not possibly exist independently of the other great Cloud Terrace Islands. In that case, if a feminist were to hold sole power, there really would be grave trouble—she might well make enemies on every side, and the days ahead would be hard indeed.
Walking and looking all the way, by the time they neared the Island Master's Palace, Wei Zhao and Shangguan Lan'er's group parted ways. Shangguan Lan'er went first to rest at the residence within the palace, and the others scattered to their own affairs. Wei Zhao, as the official envoy of North Island, had to follow Feng Lu to handle certain related matters.
A visit between two islands was no less than diplomacy between two nations, and a mountain of tedious formalities was naturally unavoidable. When Wei Zhao had finally muddled his way through it all, he went at once to find Shangguan Lan'er.
The residence arranged for Shangguan Lan'er was inside the Island Master's Palace itself. By rule, no man might enter the Island Master's Palace—but Wei Zhao was an exception. He was the official envoy representing North Island; to treat him like an ordinary man would be to slap North Island in the face.
Moreover, Ning Xuefei had given special instructions to everyone in the palace days in advance: Wei Zhao was her good friend and was on no account to be slighted in the least. So once the guards confirmed his identity, they let him through without hesitation, and even assigned a man to guide him personally, lest he wander alone through the palace and stray where he should not.
Arriving at Shangguan Lan'er's residence, Wei Zhao was just about to raise his hand and knock when he suddenly heard bursts of laughter and conversation from within. Clearly the people inside were enjoying themselves immensely. But besides Shangguan Lan'er and Ning Xuefei, there seemed to be the voice of another girl—and it sounded very familiar?!
In an instant Wei Zhao felt as though he had been struck by lightning, and he froze outside the door, unable to move! (To be continued...)