Tang Daniang was from a village nearby. She was seventeen, worked hard and quickly, and had three older brothers and two younger siblings at home.
With so many mouths to feed and only nine mu of land, even getting enough to eat was a struggle—let alone selling grain for money. The family was desperately poor; her eldest brother was already past twenty and still couldn't find a wife.
Tang's parents were frantic. As it happened, a family in the next village was also poor, with only one son and one daughter, and they proposed a swap marriage.
That family's son was said to be simple-minded, nearly thirty, and prone to violent outbursts. He'd already beaten his own mother to death, and many villagers had been chased and attacked by him too. Everyone was terrified, so they'd begged the village chief to exile the family outside the village.
The father of that simpleton figured he had to get his son a wife to carry on the line—otherwise, the family would die out, and he'd have no face to show his ancestors. But they were poor, couldn't afford a bride price, and his daughter had had her leg crippled by her eldest brother. She was malnourished and frail, hard to marry off. After asking around, he heard about the Tang family.
The Tang family was poor too, so they couldn't be picky.
Besides, a man in his late twenties—even if he weren't that poor—wouldn't be able to marry anyone decent anyway.
On the day the families met, Tang Daniang was tied up by her eldest brother and dragged over. They'd barely sat down at the simpleton's house when the man went into another fit, bursting out of his room. His father had locked him inside so he wouldn't scare anyone, but somehow he'd gotten out. The moment he saw people, he let out guttural roars, his hair disheveled and face twisted. He wouldn't let anyone touch him and probably hadn't washed in days—his face was caked with mud and blood, filthy from head to toe. He didn't even look human—more like a wild beast. He started swinging, grabbed a stool, and hurled it at people.
Tang's eldest brother was terrified and ran out first. Tang Daniang, still tied up, couldn't move fast. She'd barely made it to the door when the madman grabbed her hair and yanked her back. She was shoved to the ground, he straddled her, and then his hands closed around her throat...
Even now, every time she closed her eyes, she could still feel the pain at her neck, the struggle, the suffocating horror of having her throat crushed.
Was she really going to marry someone like that?
The madman's family was destitute—calling their place "bare walls" would be generous. It wasn't even a proper house; it was like a cattle shed, dirty and cluttered.
Poverty didn't scare Tang Daniang—she could work.
But... she was terrified. Truly terrified. The madman was just too frightening when he lost control.
If she married him, she probably wouldn't last two days.
Just then, soldiers came to the village, spreading the word about conscription. That night, she overheard her parents saying it was a good deal. The madman's sister, though lame, was still fairly pretty, and she could still do some work—so it was a fair trade, even if they were losing out a bit.
Tang Daniang's heart turned cold.
Her father had gone with them to the madman's house. He'd seen with his own eyes how that man was—and he still wanted to throw her into that fire.
She'd always known her parents favored her brothers. No matter how big or small the chore, it fell to her. Whenever she argued with her brothers, her parents would scold her first, without asking anything, grab her arm, even hit her, saying she had no right to talk back to her brothers. But she'd thought—hoped—that her parents loved her at least a little. Yet after they came back yesterday, her father's own legs had been trembling with fear, and he still wanted to marry her off.
The next day, Tang Daniang carried firewood to town to sell. She saw people signing up for conscription and heard that once recruited, they'd be taken to Hezhou. Those who performed well could even stay in the ranks.
Hezhou was very far from home...
Before she knew it, she was standing outside the yamen. She saw the recruiting officers and the young master in charge of conscription for this area. As if possessed—or making one last desperate gamble—she stepped forward and asked: did they take women? She wanted to go too.
She had to leave. If she stayed, she wouldn't survive.
The people around were stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
They laughed at her for not knowing her place, as if she'd told the funniest joke.
One of the men in line even tried to shove her away, telling her to stop blocking the way and not to cause trouble—women had no business here, so she should just leave. But Guaizai was quiet for a moment, thinking it over. Then he stood up, stopped the man, looked steadily at Tang Daniang, and said in his still-babyish voice:
"Big sister, you want to join the army too?"
After the words left her mouth, Tang Daniang suddenly came to her senses. The laughter around her made her face burn with shame. She lowered her head and was about to leave—but Guaizai's next words made her stop dead in her tracks.
"It's not impossible."
Everyone was shocked.
One soldier immediately tried to stop him: "Young master, this isn't proper!"
The onlookers chimed in: "That's right, that's right—this won't do."
"What's 'proper'?" Guaizai was feeling pretty cocky now. He whipped out his Ultraman badge and slapped it onto the table with a smack. "Guaizai is what's proper now."
The commoners dared not say another word.
They just thought the young master was being utterly reckless.
Women joining the army? That was men's business.
Guaizai ignored them and looked straight at Tang Daniang. "If you want to be a soldier, it's not impossible—but you have to train, and it's really, really tough. Can you stick with it?"
Tang Daniang answered without a moment's hesitation: "I can."
"Good. But we still have to check if you meet the requirements," Guaizai said. "And besides, it's not just you saying you can—show Guaizai what you've got! Also, do you know what you'll be doing once you're recruited?"
Defending the country—to put it bluntly—is really just a fight.
Whoever's stronger, whoever's got the guts, whoever can get it done—that's who should step up. Since when was it written that only men can do this job?
Guaizai was trained personally by Fang Zichen. At first, Fang Zichen was just a little taken aback—but if he'd taken one look and said "no" simply because she was a woman, that would've been discrimination.
With that one move from Guaizai, the first-ever female unit of Da Xia army was born.
Others didn't agree. At the time, everyone thought it was pure chaos. But later, when floods hit Nanping County and Anhe County, this unit of female soldiers was the first to show up at the disaster sites. They rescued over a hundred ordinary people. And when they went on to campaign across the land alongside Fang Zichen, helping him take Da Yuan and subdue Northern Qi—that was when the people finally understood.
The saying that women can't match men had become a joke.
Tang Daniang hesitated for a moment, then pointed at the line of men waiting nearby and said: "I can take on two at once. If you take me, I count as two."
That made the men's hands itch.
Take on two at once?
Even an ox wouldn't brag like that.
And besides—how dare she look down on them like that? Saying something like that out loud!
Guaizai stood up. "Sister, you're that awesome?"
Tang Daniang nodded.
Guaizai blinked. "But words are cheap, you know!"
Tang Daniang was practically throwing caution to the wind. "I can fight them."
She had no way back.
Guaizai nodded and asked, "Uncles, who wants to go against her?"
"Me."
"Me."
Several men rushed forward, eager to teach the arrogant Tang Daniang a lesson.
Guaizai casually pointed out two of the men.
Everyone automatically cleared a space. Some people loved a good spectacle, and by now they'd completely forgotten any qualms about hitting a woman—they were hooting and hollering, telling them to "get her," "teach her a lesson," "show her who's boss."
Damn it all—how dare she say something that made men look bad!
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