Free Web NovelChapter 125: Chapter 125
Chapter 125
"Are you the one who embroidered this cloth?" Yueqian didn’t want to hear any more nonsense. She ignored the middle-aged woman’s words and directly asked the girl in front of her.
The girl didn’t answer and didn’t even lift her head, looking extremely timid. This made the middle-aged woman feel embarrassed.
"Yi’er, answer the mistress," she said. Although her words did not contain any vulgar language, her tone was full of pressure. After speaking, she even turned to smile at Yueqian. However, her hand was nearly digging into the back of the girl’s hand, almost drawing blood.
"Y-yes, I did it," the girl, who was only about seven or eight years old and extremely thin, answered out of fear. Thus, her voice was trembling.
"Is that so? So, your name is Yi’er? What’s your family name, your father’s family name?" Yueqian deliberately asked this to let the little girl know that she wasn’t on the middle-aged woman’s side.
The little girl glanced at Yueqian and then lowered her head again, but Yueqian could sense the change in her expression.
"M... My name is Qu Yi, from the Qu family," the little girl answered to the question. The beauty nodded once again.
"I am from the capital. I admire the embroidery skills of your little niece. I wonder if you would allow her to come to work for me. Don’t think I’m buying her to be a pitiable slave. I just want her to do embroidery for my household. How about I purchase her for 20 silver taels?" Yueqian spoke in this manner, pretending to be an eldest young miss.
Ladies from the capital were like this; if they liked someone’s skills, they would often request to buy them for work. This was not unusual, so speaking plainly wouldn’t anger anyone. However..., Yueqian’s offer of 20 silver taels for the little girl was quite a high price.
Even the middle-aged woman was shocked into silence.
A quietness enveloped them all. The children were also stunned by the shock but didn’t say anything. This was their sister-in-law’s decision, and it had nothing to do with them. Wasn’t the money their sister-in-law’s? So, what else could they say?
Previously, their big brother had married their sister-in-law for only 100 silver taels. Now, their sister-in-law was offering 20 silver taels to buy someone. Wasn’t that too much? It was a significant amount compared to buying just one slave.
They didn’t know that the Qin family had given 100 silver taels as an insult. To them, 100 silver taels was nothing. But the children didn’t think that way. Their big brother always said they owed their lives to their sister-in-law. Without her, they wouldn’t have money saved for their education.
So, to them, 100 silver taels were as heavy as a mountain.
"T-Twenty silver taels. The truth is, we love this niece of ours very much. Besides, she’s not married yet, so having her serve someone else would be difficult." Although the middle-aged woman was panicking, she didn’t easily agree to sell the niece she despised. No matter what, she must squeeze out more money from her first.
"Indeed, I heard you love this niece of yours very much. It was my mistake. How could I offer to buy her. Letting the girl grow up happily with you is better." Yueqian shook her head, pretending to say like she was a fool. However, her apparent indifference only made the middle-aged woman more anxious.
"Besides, doesn’t Qian’er already have plenty of maids at home? If you need special embroidery, you can hire workers from the city," Mu Heng, understanding his wife’s intentions without needing any words, supported her.
He didn’t know why his beautiful wife wanted to buy someone, as she wasn’t one to enjoy being around many people or servants. Thus, there had to be a reason for this.
"True, I just have a strong liking for embroidery. So, I’ll just buy this embroidered cloth. How many brass coins do it cost?" Yueqian turned back to the middle-aged woman.
Upon hearing the mention of brass coins, the woman’s heart sank, and her face flushed with panic. The silver taels vanished in a blink of an eye, would there be only a few brass coins left?
This was impossible. How could she accept this?
Initially, she had intended to increase the price of the daughter of that vile couple since she was going to sell her anyway. Why not get more money? Who would have thought that the niece’s identity wasn’t interesting enough?
Well, even her family had gone to the next world and left her here alone. How could there be a person in this world who wanted her? It was just her own foolish thinking. Just having someone offer to buy her for one silver tael was already too much.
Qu Yi, who inherited the Qu family name, should be hers. If it wasn’t for the fact that she wanted to torment her and take her family inheritance, would she take her in? After all, she was just the maternal relative of the niece. She had no affection for her, only hatred.
Qu Yi’s father was supposed to be her husband, but her own older sister had the audacity to seduce him, leading him to marry her instead. In the end, she was left to marry a foolish and unattractive man. What choice did she have? Once married, she had to fulfill her duties as a wife. After all, he had more money than anyone else in the village. If he hadn’t had enough money, did you think she would have married him?
Still, his wealth was that of a rural man. Who could easily talk about 20 silver taels?! If she had 20 taels, wasn’t that mean she could buy as many new clothes as she wanted? Moreover, she could tell her husband that she sold the wretched girl for only 5 silver taels. Her husband would be overjoyed with just that. The rest of the money she could use for buying more clothes and gambling to earn more, making her happiest.
"Mistress, please wait. Although I wish to keep my niece with me, I cannot hold onto her without hope for her future. I am just a poor villager. I cannot support her crafting skills better than you can. Letting her go with you would give her a brighter future." The middle-aged woman was good with her words.
She even showed herself to be a genuinely loving relative.
"Mmm, I can have her trained by doing embroidery on a real fabric. But she’s very young. This considered separating the child from her caregiver. To really proceed this, there must be a contract.”
"No problem at all, Mistress. I will find an official. I know many people, so there’s no need to worry.”
"Is that so? Then that’s good," Yueqian said without further comment. The middle-aged woman hurried to find an official who knew how to draft contracts. She even hired one for 30 brass coins, which was quite a sacrifice for her.
Those 30 brass coins were a significant amount for her. Those could be used to buy many things, but this contract would bring her many times more money. So, the middle-aged woman must pay for that.
Not long after, the contract was drawn up. Contract-making in this era was simple. Once they each had a signed copy, it was complete. After that, the official would handle the rest.
This contract was a permanent sale. Yueqian hadn’t ordered it this way, but in this era, selling someone outright was more common. It was their custom and wasn’t wrong. Besides, Yueqian didn’t intend to pay 20 silver taels for nothing. She was willing to pay such a large amount to show the little girl how much she valued her.
"The contract is ready. Both parties can sign now." Once it was done, Yueqian took the girl, while the middle-aged woman happily received a large sum of money.
Yueqian’s eyes briefly showed disdain before it quickly disappeared. After all, buying someone for 20 silver taels was not a loss for her. It was the other party who might cry for it later.
"Come along," Yueqian told the girl, not displaying any affection or closeness like how it should be. The distinction between master and servant still existed. Qu Yi needed to learn this.
She could not be treated the same as Huan’er or Xiao Long, whether now or in the future. Though both were good children who enjoyed helping others and didn’t think there were social hierarchies, allowing a bought servant to act with such demeanor could be used against her and the younger siblings in the future. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Well, those issues were far off. For now, Yueqian could only focus on handling the current situation as best she could.
"Sister-in-law, why did you..." Huan’er felt pity. The girl, who was close to her age, suddenly went from having freedom, family name, and the honor of the family to become a servant of her sister-in-law, just because her sister-in-law admired her work. Wasn’t this unnecessary?
"Why did I buy her?" The girl hadn’t spoken, so Yueqian spoke for her.
Huan’er nodded, her eyes glistening with small tears. She used to hear the main house of the Mu family discussing selling her off as a servant. At that time, she had sworn to herself that if she were really sold, she would kill herself.
But who would have thought that today, her kind and beautiful sister-in-law would be the one to propose buying someone else as a servant instead... How could little Huan’er’s heart remain calm?
“It was her wish to sell herself,” Yueqian didn’t explain herself but handed the matter over to the young girl who was following behind obediently. Though she still looked thin and frail, she seemed strangely more spirited, not at all like someone who had just been sold. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
“Huh?” The child didn’t understand, and Mu Heng didn’t understand either. He only knew that this girl, Qu Yi, was not upset; she even seemed happy. Her demeanor clearly showed once the matter was handed over to the authorities.
This was truly bizarre.
“Why is it like this? Sister-in-law said you wanted to sell yourself. Is that true?” Huan’er turned to ask the girl behind her. This time, the other party dared to meet her gaze, smiling happily.
“Yes, I, no, this servant wanted to sell herself,” the girl spoke clearly and seriously. Huan’er’s tear-filled eyes turned to shock.
“You, what are you saying? Do you know what it means to sell yourself? Once you sell yourself, you can’t return to your family. Many people will call you a servant. They can do whatever they want with you. If you sell yourself to an old man, you might have to satisfy his desires. If you sell yourself to a cruel woman, you could be easily beaten. Do you know what you’re deciding?” Huan’er detailed the horrors of selling oneself into slavery. But instead of being frightened or depressed, the girl smirked at Huan’er with deep eyes.“Not everyone has freedom from the start like you, Young Miss.” Her words were few, but her tone and expression were strangely mocking of fate. This immediately silenced Huan’er, who had wanted to lecture her a bit more.
