In a tranquil and peaceful village, an old woman was tying up a special kind of dried grass leaves. In the Empire, these leaves are used to make straw shoes, which poor people wear for most of their lives.
The old woman's eyesight seemed to be failing. She touched the leaves, feeling the dampness of the wild grass with her rough fingers. If they felt completely dry and tough, then these wild grasses would make good material for a pair of straw shoes.
Hunched over, the old woman's face was marked with the hardships of life. They say the Empire values commerce and is wealthy, but ultimately, it has nothing to do with these countryside folks.
Perhaps those city gentlemen have money, and those noble families who trade goods might be rich, but the common people of the Empire still lead primitive, ancient lives.
