Chapter 1 Selling a Pig to Buy a Husband

"Pig, the pig is running away!"

Lu Qiniang was happily weighing the four taels and five cents of silver she had just received when she suddenly heard someone shouting loudly behind her.

When she turned around, she saw that the fat pig that she had tied up had broken free from the rope and ran away.

"Don't be afraid, I'll catch him!" Lu Qiniang rolled up her sleeves and rushed out.

Although she is fat, she is flexible!

The pig weighing more than 200 pounds was running in front, and she, weighing more than 200 pounds, was chasing behind.

The bustling twelfth lunar month market was suddenly thrown into chaos and filled with curses.

I don’t know how long she chased the pig, but she was still calm and collected.

Seeing the right moment, Lu Qiniang pounced forward and firmly pinned the fat pig down, laughing triumphantly, "I told you to run, but can you outrun me? Rope, bring me a rope!"

No one offered a rope, or even responded.

She clearly felt that there were people around her, but she fell into a strange silence.

Lu Qiniang raised her head and looked around blankly, and found that there was a circle of people surrounding her.

Oh, no, she is not the center.

The centerpiece was the large iron cage in front of her.

There was a man sitting in the cage, his face stained with blood, his long black hair hanging down in front of his chest and behind his back, his hands and feet were chained, his eyes were cold, and he was looking at her along with the people around him.

There were many police officers surrounding the iron cage, but they were obviously also shocked by her bravery in suppressing the fat pig.

After a while, someone laughed, and then everyone around started laughing.

"Haven't you seen people catching pigs?" Lu Qiniang muttered.

He has long hair but short knowledge.

The vendor who bought her pig came running after her, panting, carrying a shoulder pole and handing her the rope.

Lu Qiniang quickly tied up the pig, then stood up, clapped her hands and said, "If the pig runs away again, don't look for me."

The vendor handed her the shoulder pole and basket, and begged with a smile on his face, "Abandoned Mother, how about you help me carry this pig over? You see, I can't move it either, and I have to call someone..."

"Okay." Thinking that she would have to do business for a long time in the future, Lu Qiniang readily agreed, and then, in the stunned eyes of everyone, she stuffed the big fat pig into the huge basket.

"Go sit over there." She pointed to the specially made large bamboo basket on the other side and said to the vendor.

Everyone laughed, and the vendor was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, feeling too embarrassed to sit in it seriously.

"Hurry up, hurry up!" The officers, tired of the excitement, began to chase the people away. "This is a serious criminal of the imperial court. No one is allowed to approach!"

"A serious criminal? Is he as serious as me?" Lu Qiniang muttered.

The leading officer said, "Foolish woman! The person held here is the former General Po Lu, Xiao Yan, a wanted criminal that the Emperor is personally investigating!"

"What?" Lu Qiniang was stunned and touched her waist. "The emperor asked General Po Lu to beg for food?"

Begging for food by order!

Does she want to take two buns?

"Even General Po Lu has to beg for food, how are we ordinary people supposed to live? But he's sitting inside, so how much can he ask for?" Lu Qiniang asked again.

Everyone burst into laughter at the stupidity that was clear in her eyes.

"Get lost," the chief officer laughed until tears came out of his eyes. "A country woman. She was disrespectful to the emperor, and now he has sold her into slavery."

Sell?

This word made Lu Qiniang shudder all over. She quickly took two steps back and looked at Xiao Yan with a look full of sympathy.

She pinched her little silver again and seemed to say to herself: "I can't afford it."

"If you can afford it, do you dare to buy it?" someone said.

"If the emperor dares to sell it, why shouldn't I dare to buy it? How about you give me some silver and see if I dare to buy it?" Lu Qiniang snorted.

She is not someone to be trifled with. She doesn't dare confront the police, but she dares to confront passers-by.

"You can't afford five taels of silver?" The chief of the officers rubbed his red, frozen hands, and he had had enough.

It was the coldest time of the year and they had been waiting here for more than ten days, but no one dared to buy Xiao Yan.

I really hope someone comes and buys him so we can get back to the job quickly.

"I can't afford it, I can't afford it." Lu Qiniang seemed relieved and clutched her money tightly, "I only have four and a half taels of silver!"

The family finally saved up four taels of silver as capital, and she went to the countryside to buy pigs and sell them. She asked around and bargained for prices, fearing that if she bought a sick pig, it would be a waste of money.

After working so hard for several days, I finally sold the fat pig today and made half a tael of silver.

"If you can afford it, buy it?" the officer asked again.

Lu Qiniang lowered her head and muttered, "I can't afford it, that's all. It's not that I don't want to buy it, it's that I really can't afford it."

She looked a little disappointed.

"Hurry up, let's go." Lu Qiniang urged the pig vendor, "Otherwise I won't care about you anymore!"

"Okay, okay." The peddler quickly jumped into the basket, and then Lu Qiniang adjusted the carrying pole in full view of everyone and carried the man and the pig away.

She walked with ease, but the shoulder pole was bent, looking as if it couldn't bear the weight.

"This woman is quite strong." Everyone praised her and the officers also started talking about her.

Only Xiao Yan in the iron cage had a cold look in his eyes and closed them again.

Lu Qinniang sent the pig back and walked back with the shoulder pole, muttering to herself: "It's not that I'm ungrateful, it's that I don't have enough money. Others have money to burn, but I don't have any money, so what's the point of buying a grown man..."

But as she walked, she couldn't help but think of Xiao Yan's thin, bloody clothes, and she couldn't bear to do it.

"Damn it," she looked at the gloomy sky. She didn't know when the snow had started to fall. "You don't want me to get through this New Year!"

She reached into her collar and pulled hard, the red rope broke, and when she opened her palm, she saw a round silver gourd inside.

It weighs exactly half a tael of silver.

"I got fifteen taels of silver from him, and now I have to give back five taels. It's not a loss." Lu Qiniang comforted herself.

She went and came back, and the officer teased her: "What, have you collected enough silver?"

Lu Qiniang hardened her heart and handed over the silver she had gathered together, "That's enough!"

Everyone was shocked again.

"What do you want to buy people for?" the officer couldn't help asking.

"Go home and breed." Lu Qinniang said rudely.