People always said that the women in the imperial palace were pitiful.
In truth, that was merely a modern-day fantasy. People imagined that once a woman entered the imperial palace, she would have to stay there for the rest of her life, with no freedom.
But one had to understand that women's status was already low in ancient times. Even outside the imperial palace, once a woman married, she had to stay home, care for her husband, and raise her children.
Under normal circumstances, she was not even allowed to leave the house. If she happened to be beautiful, she would also have to endure the covetous eyes of all kinds of men.
Even if her husband could accompany her outside, with how lacking ancient entertainment facilities were, what could she do besides take a walk and buy a few things?
Wouldn't it be better to stay in the imperial palace and enjoy the supreme status and sense of security? There, she could have anything she wanted, and everything would be the best.
Besides, if there really was some extravagant entertainment, would the emperor not bring it into the palace? In the imperial palace, was there any fear of lacking entertainment facilities?
When Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to go shopping in the imperial palace, he simply had an entire street moved inside for him to wander around and shop, letting him fully enjoy the pleasure of a marketplace.
If he wanted to watch a play or listen to music, he could invite the most popular theater troupe of the day to perform in the imperial palace with a single word.
If he wanted to eat rare and exotic animals or delicacies from land and sea, a single word was enough to have anything he wanted brought to his table as quickly