"Come over here, young lady. These are all from the village, and they're all very capable workers," Chunniang said, leading Jiang Hua through the yard as they selected some.
"It's just that the family couldn't afford to raise him anymore, so they sold him to help their brothers get married."
"Ignoring all that, is there anyone without any ties?" Jiang Hua asked, frowning.
Jiang Hua was somewhat reluctant to buy a maidservant who would be a bloodsucker like the Xu family, who would want to drain you dry. She didn't want to have to deal with their messy affairs.
“You’re a thoughtful young lady. Please come with me,” Chunniang said, tucking the handkerchief in her hand to her waist, and led Jiang Hua toward the second courtyard.
Previously, some people bought maids from the outer courtyard, but not long after they brought them home, the maids' families found out and started making trouble every day.
In the end, the master had no choice but to return the maid to the slave market. Of course, this was only a minority, but if you encountered it even once, you would feel disgusted.
Jiang Hua followed Chunniang to the second courtyard. It was obvious that the people in this courtyard were more diverse, including men, women, the elderly and children. Some of them had dirty clothes.
However, judging from the fabric of their clothes, they must have come from a well-off family before they fell to this state.
“Miss, you can buy these people without any worries. We can just get them stamped and registered by the government.” Chunniang explained.
Jiang Hua circled around and finally stopped in front of a pair of sisters. There were more than just the two of them in the cage.
Behind them was a man whose features resembled theirs; he was probably their elder brother. Next to the man was a woman with her hair styled in a traditional Chinese updo.
"Has the young lady taken a fancy to these two girls?" Chunniang followed Jiang Hua's gaze.
Just as the man in the cage was about to say something, Chunniang spoke first:
"Shut up! All you do is ruin my business. If you utter another word, I'll sell your two sisters and wife to Yingchun Brothel!"
"Where did they come from? They don't look like they're from around here," Jiang Hua asked.
“Miss, they were sold here from Jiangnan City. There are only a few of them left in his family, so there’s definitely no trouble for them,” Chunniang replied.
He then leaned closer to Jiang Hua and whispered, "They are said to be supporters of the Regent's faction. After the Regent disappeared from the capital, they were sold off here."
"I wonder what they did wrong. I guess they betrayed the Regent."
Jiang Hua raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Girl, I was just saying, just take it with a grain of salt," Chunniang said with a laugh, her previous mysterious demeanor gone.
“I know,” Jiang Hua nodded.
"Then let's take them."
"Do you want these two?" Chunniang asked, pointing to the two younger maids.
Ignoring Chunniang's glare, the man in the cage pleaded, "Buy us all. I know martial arts, and I can guard your house and protect you."
“I’ll take all four. How much silver do you think it will cost?” Jiang Hua asked Chun Niang.
"Are four enough?" Chunniang asked.
"Let's leave it at that for now."
Chunniang's face lit up with joy. She gave a wink to the henchman guarding the courtyard, who immediately handed her an abacus.
The abacus clicked loudly in Chunniang's hands: "Miss, I'll give you ten taels of silver for each person."
"You know, you get what you pay for, right?"
"Alright, that's enough. Let's go to the yamen to complete the formalities," Jiang Hua interrupted Chun Niang.
"Miss, you only need to pay four taels of silver for the errand, and our people will handle it for you within half an hour and deliver it to you," Chunniang said with a smile.
Jiang Hua took out fifty taels of silver from her spatial storage and handed it to Chunniang: "Go quickly and come back quickly."
Chunniang immediately accepted the silver from Jiang Hua with a beaming smile and instructed the henchman who had just been holding the abacus to go and do the job right away.
"Why don't you sit and wait in the main hall, young lady?" Chunniang asked.
After waiting in the main hall for almost an hour, Chunniang's people returned with the indenture stamped with the yamen's seal.
"Miss, here's your change and the indentures of those four servants," Chunniang said.
"My men have offended you just now."
After obtaining the indenture, Jiang Hua left with the rest of them.
They went straight back to the renovated shop and temporarily settled them there.
"Thank you so much for saving my life, young lady!" The four figures knelt upright before her.
"Don't talk about saving lives or anything like that. I bought you to work and serve people," Jiang Hua interrupted them.
"If you don't keep to your duties, your fate will be even worse than if you stayed in the human market."
The four of them exchanged glances, then lowered their heads and listened attentively to Jiang Hua's words.
"I don't care what your past identities were, but you'd better remember who you are now," Jiang Hua said coldly, looking at them.
“You may be working in a shop in the future, and my shop sells food. Please keep yourselves clean and tidy.”
"I hope this is the last time I see you looking so dirty."
As she spoke, Jiang Hua took out another twenty taels of silver and placed them on the stone table, along with a spare key to the shop.
"Use this twenty taels of silver to buy two sets of clothes and tidy yourself up. Also, no one has lived in the courtyard for a long time, so there's nothing there. You can arrange for anything you need to buy yourself."
"Don't you live here?" the man asked.
"No, I won't stay," Jiang Hua replied.
"Aren't you afraid we'll run off with the money?" the man asked again.
"You dare ask that? Do you think you can escape? Don't test me here. I never do anything I'm not sure I can do," Jiang Hua said slowly.
run?
Where can it run to?
Once you run away, there's only one outcome: death.
Upon hearing this, the man immediately lowered his eyes and remained silent.
What are your names?
"Our surname is Wen, Wen Yuyang. My two younger sisters are named Wen Qingru and Wen Qingya. This is my wife, Yu Fangru," the man introduced.
"From now on, your names will be Wenyu, Wenqing, Wenya, and Fangru," Jiang Hua said calmly.
"Yes, miss." The four of them replied in unison.
"Alright, I'll come back to see you tomorrow." Jiang Hua said a few more words and then left.
"Take care, young lady."
After Jiang Hua left, Fang Ru quickly asked, "Have we just left the human market?"
Even now, she still feels it's unreal, and she collapses to the ground, feeling completely relaxed.
"Sister-in-law, are you alright?" Wenqing and Wenya asked worriedly.
"It should be fine now. She just said that as long as we behave ourselves and do our jobs well, everything will be alright," Wen Yu said thoughtfully.
The Wen family is a thing of the past; they'll have to live this kind of life for the rest of their lives.
However, it's still better than being in the human market. That Chunniang was already getting impatient with them. If it weren't for Jiang Hua buying them today...
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