Near the bustling entrance, the area was packed with people, who were pointing and whispering about what was happening inside.
Zhen Wanwan carried Tianbao and curiously walked over, squeezing into any gap she could find.
Soon, through the crowd, the scene inside came into view.
An elderly woman and a four- or five-year-old girl were kneeling on the ground.
The words "Selling oneself to bury the whole family" were written on the ground.
There were literate people nearby who shook their heads pitifully at them.
"Alas! What a tragedy! A whole family of fifteen died in one night, and now only an old woman and a four-year-old child are left..."
Someone asked in shock, "Such a horrific scene! How could this have happened?"
An insider revealed, "This is not to be told to anyone else! I'm only telling you this! Once you leave here, don't let anyone else hear it."
"Hey! Stop rambling! Just tell us about it already."
The man smacked his lips twice and began to recount the tragedy of the grandfather and grandson.
It turned out that the daughter-in-law was beautiful and had caught the eye of a nobleman from the capital who wanted to take her as a concubine.
But how could they possibly agree?
The couple then took their complaint to the magistrate, and somehow, the whole family ended up in jail.
The beautiful daughter-in-law fell into the river in the middle of the night and was not pulled out by fishermen until the next day.
The authorities released the whole family, but the husband learned that his wife had died.
Overwhelmed with grief, she jumped into the river and died for love, leaving behind only her four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son.
Then, a few days later, while arranging the couple's funeral, the backyard accidentally caught fire.
Except for the old lady and her four-year-old daughter, all fifteen members of the family perished in the fire.
"If you go early, you might still see the ruins of the house; if you go late, the soldiers will probably have already cleaned up the scene."
Everyone felt sorry for the family, but no one dared to offer help.
They were all afraid of offending the nobleman from Kyoto.
After all, anyone with eyes can see who did it.
So what if we can see it? I've heard that this important person has a very powerful background.
Ordinary people like them can only try to live their own lives; there's nothing more they can do to help.
Zhen Wanwan looked at the two people kneeling on the ground. The old woman was probably two or three years younger than her mother.
The little girl is still very young, but you can vaguely tell from her features that she will definitely be a great beauty when she grows up.
The two men's clothes were covered in dirt, indicating they had likely crawled out of the fire ruins.
Sweetie naturally heard the conversation of the passersby and curiously looked at the two figures on the ground.
The little girl kept her head down, so she couldn't see very clearly. Instead, the old woman next to her looked somewhat familiar to her.
In particular, her eyebrows and eyes resembled those of her personal maid from her previous life.
Seeing that Tianbao was curious, Zhen Wanwan hugged her and moved closer.
Suddenly, the little girl looked up and glanced in Zhen Wanwan's direction.
Sister Yun'er!
Sweetie recognized Yun'er at a glance.
"Ahhhhh..." Mother, that's Sister Yun'er!
"Sweetie, what's wrong? Do you like this girl?"
Sweetie nodded frantically, "Yes, Mommy, please take her home!"
I thought I would never see Sister Yun'er again in this lifetime.
In her past life, after she fell into misfortune, if it weren't for Yun'er's secret help to her...
She was afraid that things would become even more difficult.
Unfortunately, neither of them had a good life in their later years; she was married off to that gambler.
Sister Yun'er didn't receive proper treatment from her brother either.
In the end, they even got their sister-in-law to sell Yun'er to that kind of place.
Poor Sister Yun'er, she threw herself into a well in the middle of the night and was scorned by her adoptive parents.
They simply wrapped her in a mat and carelessly threw her into a mass grave.
The older brother, who used to cherish Sister Yun'er like a precious treasure, was so afraid of upsetting his sister-in-law that he didn't even want to see her one last time.
At that time, her husband lost money gambling, and someone came to their house to collect the debt, so she didn't have a chance to bury her.
Even after his death, he was thrown into a mass grave by his adoptive mother's servants.
The two of them could be considered to have been reunited after death!
Zhen Wanwan didn't know the story between the two, but she saw that Tianbao seemed to have a good impression of that little girl.
She hesitated for a moment, having noted down what the passersby had said.
I wonder who this noble lady from Kyoto is. What if she intervenes and saves the person?
I wonder if this will cause me trouble.
Sweetie looked at Zhen Wanwan with a puzzled expression. Did her mother not like Sister Yun'er?
What should she do then?
On one side is her mother who gave birth to her, and on the other side is her older sister who has been with her since childhood and has helped her countless times.
This is such a difficult choice!
In the end, Tianbao still looked at Yun'er with tears in her eyes, reluctant to leave.
She silently apologized in her heart, saying, "I'm sorry, Sister Yun'er, I can't live without my mother."
If we meet again when I'm older, I will definitely protect you and make sure you have a peaceful life.
Kneeling on the ground, Yun'er looked at the adorable Tianbao and thought she was incredibly cute.
Seeing her looking at him with teary eyes, his heart had already melted.
Unfortunately, the lady didn't seem to want to buy her and her grandmother.
She lowered her head again and waited quietly for the buyer to appear.
Her family of fifteen is still in the ruins of the courtyard. She needs to sell herself for a good price so that her family can be properly buried.
At this moment, Old Lady Li and the others also came over, looking at the two with pity.
"Oh! How pitiful! Only two people are left in the whole family..."
Wang Cuihua also secretly wiped away her tears; it was truly too tragic.
Zhen Wanwan didn't miss the expressions on the others' faces, and secretly calculated the amount of money in her pocket.
She had enough money, but with two more mouths to feed, she couldn't quite grasp what Old Lady Li and the others were thinking.
She hesitated before asking, "Mother, this auntie with the child is quite pitiful. If you agree, I'll buy them."
Grandma Li paused in wiping away her tears, looking at her in surprise.
"What would ordinary people like us do with buying people?"
Grandma Li held Zhen Wanwan's hand and advised, "Wanwan, pity is one thing, but at worst, we can just give her two bowls of rice or donate a few coins."
"Let's forget about buying people!"
As expected, Zhen Wanwan was not disappointed.
But Sweetie's eyes kept drooping, which broke everyone's heart.
Although she didn't understand why Tianbao was crying like that, as a mother, she didn't want Tianbao to be sad.
"Mom, why don't we buy that little girl? She's so small and doesn't eat much. When Tianbao gets older, she can play with Tianbao."
Sweetie looked at Grandma Li pitifully, tears welling up in her eyes, ready to fall if Grandma Li refused.
Unable to resist her daughter and granddaughter's requests, Grandma Li finally nodded in agreement.
"Buy it! You're the kind of person who can't save money either."
Grandma Li looked at her daughter with a headache; she had seen through her daughter during this time.
Daughters have many ways to make money, but they also have many ways to spend it.
She couldn't stop him from spending money so extravagantly.
Forget it, she has her daughter to support her, so she should mind her own business if she can avoid it.
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