She spoke in a blur of sobs, bringing tears to Yueyue's eyes as well.
Su Yue, her eyes also red, squatted down and hugged her for a long time, crying bitterly, "Sister Yan Jin, you are so pitiful!"
The old woman stepped forward again, but Wang Wu blocked her way. She cursed through the crowd, "You wretched girl, you worthless brat! What's wrong with me selling you? If you hadn't run away from that village chief's nephew's house, the village chief wouldn't have come to us for a bride price, and he wouldn't have beaten your father so badly that he was bedridden and died! You jinx! You're the one who ruined your father!"
Yan Jin pushed Su Yue aside, stood up, wiped away her tears, and took a deep breath. "Did I kill my father? Wasn't it because my father caught you doing something shameless with that bastard that he was so angry he vomited blood and fell ill in bed for three whole years! When the village chief came to ask for the return of the betrothal gifts, you should have just given them to him. If you hadn't been greedy for the betrothal gifts and insisted that the girl was lost at the groom's house, and even demanded that the village chief give you a daughter in return, would the village chief have smashed the house in a fit of rage? Wasn't it because the house was about to collapse, and you, a lively and energetic person, didn't even try to help it up, which is how my father was crushed to death?"
The woman was so angry she jumped up and down, "You brat, you weren't even home, how would you know so much? Don't even think about making up stories and slandering me! You come here right now!"
Yan Jin took a step back and pressed tightly against Wang Wu's outer robe to cover his arms.
The woman then turned to Wang Wu and Xiao Youran, saying, "Now you heard that, right? She is my daughter! What right do you have to stop me from recognizing my daughter?!"
Wang Wu looked at Xiao Youran with a troubled expression. Indeed, if they were really mother and daughter, he had no reason to stop them.
Yan Jin took a deep breath before speaking, “After I escaped from the human traffickers, I went back to the village to see Dad. But I happened to run into his funeral! You wouldn’t even give him a coffin! You just wrapped him in a straw mat and buried him! I was heartbroken. I only found out from Aunt Wang next door that when Dad died, you were right next to the coffin. You would rather grab a clay pot from the coffin and hold it in your arms than hold onto the coffin itself, and you just watched it smash Dad’s head open! You’ve killed someone! I don’t have a mother like you!”
She glanced at Yang, who was smiling and serving porridge to the disaster victims at the front of the line, and at Qiao'er, who was standing obediently beside her. She immediately had an idea. She gave Xiao Youran a pleading look, and then said resolutely, "So what if I'm your daughter? I told you, I don't have a monthly allowance! Not only do I not have a monthly allowance, but when I was sold to the county magistrate by human traffickers, the magistrate paid me one hundred taels of silver! If you want to take me back, you can, but you have to return the money you paid to the magistrate first before you can redeem my indenture!"
The woman and her son were taken aback and took a step back. Then they said, "You think you can just say one hundred taels and it's one hundred taels? Look at your skinny body! I sold you twice and only got fifteen taels of silver!"
Xiao Youran couldn't stand it anymore. "How can the price you sell her for in that remote mountain village be the same as in the capital? Her indenture is still at the county magistrate's mansion. If you can come up with one hundred taels of silver, I will have someone retrieve the indenture. It clearly states that one hundred taels of silver were used to buy her."
The woman and her eldest son exchanged a glance, shook their heads, spat, and then turned and left.
He cursed as he walked, "If I had known this would happen, I should have brought this wretched girl to the capital to sell her; I could have gotten a good price for her!"
Yan Jin was practically spitting blood. What kind of mother was this?!
Seeing that the people had left, the few disaster victims who had been watching also dispersed.
Su Yue and Yan Jin were already good friends. Su Yue stepped forward to support her and comforted her, "Don't cry, Sister Yan Jin. I was also sold by my father and mother."
Yan Jin took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Sister Su Yue, I won't cry."
Xiao Youran glanced at her, said nothing, and walked straight toward the carriage.
Yan Jin covered her arm again, then curtsied to Wang Wu, who had lent her the clothes, and said, "Thank you, Brother Wang."
Wang Wu waved his hand, "Go back and pack your things."
Xiao Youran and Yueyue climbed onto the carriage one after the other, followed by Suyue and Yanjin.
As the carriage curtain fell, Yan Jin knelt down before Xiao Youran, saying, "Thank you for your help, Princess. I was acting on my own initiative and caused you trouble. I'm so sorry."
Xiao Youran's voice was childish, but her expression was indifferent, "What do you plan to do?"
Yan Jin sniffed. "I've been sold several times since I was little, so I find it hard to trust people. Even after being rescued by the government, I was too scared to trust anyone easily. Also..."
A look of shame crossed her face. "I was scared. Everyone else has parents or relatives coming to take them home, and in the end, I'll be all alone. That's why I told the other sisters not to trust the officials... I was wrong. I know that because of this, Miss doesn't believe me. But these days, serving Doctor Gu, Aunt Yang and her two daughters, Zhao Mama, and Su Yue in the manor have been the happiest, most joyful, and most peaceful days of my life. I don't want to leave. Please, just don't let me leave, I'll do anything! I know that Aunt Yang and her two daughters sold themselves to you willingly, and I beg you, please buy me!"
Xiao Youran glanced at Yueyue and asked, "Princess Jining, what do you think?"
Yueyue blinked and puffed out her little chest. "According to the rules of wealthy families, they would never use a wild girl of unknown origin like this. Besides, you know that Youran doesn't like you, and who knows if you'll do something stupid like stabbing her in the back one day. Why would Youran want to keep such a potential threat around?"
Yan Jin shook her head in a panic, "This servant is just hard to trust others, but this servant has never done anything immoral! What this servant said to... that old woman before was all true. This servant's home is in Wujia Gou, Liulitun, Pingyao County, and my aunt's home is at No. 4, Wujia Street, Pingyao County. You can send someone to investigate this servant's background!"
She pounded her head on the ground repeatedly, pleading, "Princess! I only ask for a roof over my head and a house to live in, so that I won't be sold from one place to another anymore. Please, Princess, take me in!"
Xiao Youran thought for a moment and then asked, "Tell me, how did you get captured by those thieving monks at the temple? What were you doing before? Don't blame me for being suspicious, but your manner of speaking and your name don't seem like those of an uneducated country girl at all."
When Yan Jin raised her head, tears were already streaming down her face. "When I was nine years old, I returned to the village and saw my father being buried wrapped in a straw mat. I wanted to go home and burn my mother and three brothers to death inside the house. It was Aunt Wang from next door who stopped me. She said that if I set fire to the house, all the houses in the neighborhood would be connected. What if the whole village burned down?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com