Chapter 1 The Yamen Sends a Man
During the Daye Dynasty, Huachidu Village.
Aunt Zhang forcibly pulled Gu Xixi out of bed and tried to persuade her kindly:
"These men were assigned by the government by the number of people. There are eight people in our village, including unmarried girls aged 16 and above, plus widows. Each one gets one position."
"Even if you don't go, the last one left by others is still yours."
Gu Xixi covered her face with the quilt and said in a muffled voice, "Don't try to persuade me. This is absolutely not possible!"
Two days ago, she got off work from the Botanical Research Institute and went home to cook a taro she had collected from the wild.
She listened to the farming audiobook she had been following recently and dipped her hand in the soup to taste it.
Then he lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she became Gu Xixi, the female supporting character with the same name in the book.
Gu Xixi was very clear that the husband she was going to buy today was the source of her unfortunate fate.
The mother of the heroine in the book died early, and her father, Mr. Gu, also passed away last year, leaving behind a small blue brick courtyard and 32 acres of land.
Unfortunately, the year was bad and there was war, so the local grain harvest had been poor for years.
The female supporting character doesn't know how to manage the farm, the family's surplus food is about to be used up, and they can't pay the workers.
All the farmhands had run away, leaving only the lonely widow Aunt Zhang to continue managing the kitchen.
But the supporting female character did not think about reviving the family business, but instead fell madly in love with the male protagonist Mu Nanzhao.
He erased his slavery, sought medical treatment for him, and even sold his land at a low price.
Ten years later, Mu Nanzhao became the youngest regent of Daye and held great power.
As his first wife, the female supporting character was thrown into a villa on the outskirts of the city, where she was bullied, beaten and scolded by a group of servants, and lived a life worse than that of pigs and dogs.
Mu Nanzhao never went to see her until she died of illness.
Aunt Zhang sighed when she saw that she couldn’t pull Gu Xixi away.
"You are almost seventeen. If you remain unmarried for one year beyond the age limit, you will be fined thirty taels of silver or one mu of paddy field."
"One more year..."
"Thirty taels?!" Gu Xixi was shocked and pulled back the quilt.
Aunt Zhang nodded sympathetically.
If you tell others about this, no one will believe it. Xixi's father, Mr. Gu, also known as Gu Baopi, only left behind thirty copper coins after his death.
He lived frugally all his life, and used any money he saved to buy land.
Unexpectedly, he died suddenly in middle age and did not even have time to recoup the money he spent on buying the land.
It has been two days since Gu Xixi traveled through the book, and she has been thinking about how to survive.
Basic survival issues are already being addressed.
The only biggest crisis she wanted to avoid was Mu Nanzhao, but in the end she couldn't!
Gu Xixi sighed, crawled under the bed and rummaged around for a while, then pulled out a black wooden box from under two floor tiles.
This is Gu Baopi’s money box. In the past, only Gu’s father and daughter knew where it was.
Now Xixi no longer avoided Aunt Zhang and poured all the copper coins on the table.
I counted it twice, and there were exactly thirty.
Aunt Zhang said worriedly, "I've asked around, and other families get at least 40 coins, and sometimes even more. What if this isn't enough..."
When talking about not having enough money, Gu Xixi's eyes lit up.
She put aside her previous reluctance and dressed herself quickly.
"Aunt is right. Each family has its own conditions. We should do business within our means."
She picked up a copper coin and said, "This is all I can afford."
Aunt Zhang stared for a moment and reminded anxiously, "Other things are fine, but I'm afraid of offending the officials..."
Gu Xixi said seriously, "We are currently strapped for cash. If we spend all our money and encounter an emergency, that would be a real problem."
Under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, the yamen runners had already sent the eight men assigned to Huachidu Village.
The young girls and wives who were watching were looking ahead, some were pushing and shoving, some were giggling, and some had blushing faces.
Gu Xixi couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.
She knew without even looking that it must be that sickly Mu Nanzhao who was attracting so many men.
In the crowd, a clear female voice was heard with a hint of sweetness:
"My sister Xixi likes Jun, don't compete with her for it!"
Everyone laughed, "Don't worry, we don't have Gu Xixi's good fortune, we can't afford to keep this useless thing!"
Gu Xixi broke out in a cold sweat.
This girl is too honest.
He was clearly speaking for his cousin, but in fact he made people laugh.
She herself seemed unaware.
The heroine of the book, Gu Qingye, is the most beautiful girl in Huachidu Village. She is fourteen years old and is kind and simple.
She is the daughter of Gu Xixi's uncle and Mu Nanzhao's true love.
Mu Nanzhao always remembered her life-saving grace and did not care about her remarrying, so he promised her the position of mistress of the prime minister's mansion.
While the female supporting role was being tortured in the other courtyard, Mu Nanzhao married the female protagonist...
"Qingye." Gu Xixi raised her voice.
The girl in pink cloth turned around and blinked her almond eyes, looking pretty and charming.
Especially her snow-white and delicate face, which is rare among country girls.
"Come here, Sister Xixi, I've saved a seat for you!"
Gu Xixi smiled at her, squeezed to the front, and recognized Mu Nanzhao at a glance.
After several years of war, most of the men on the Daye border were killed or injured.
The imperial court could only select exiled prisoners nearby and marry them to women of marriageable age in order to reproduce.
Most of these prisoners have rough temperaments and dark faces.
There is only Mu Nanzhao.
This face has experienced the northwest wind and frost and the scorching sun, but it is still handsome and extraordinary.
He stood there in tattered clothes, with an indifferent expression as if he was a banished immortal.
Just as Gu Xixi was looking at Mu Nanzhao, Mu Nanzhao's gaze moved and their eyes happened to meet.
Gu Xixi shuddered suddenly, as if she had jumped into a cold pond in midsummer.
Fear of the female supporting character's fate splashed inside her.
Fortunately, at this time a yamen runner started bidding, diverting everyone's attention.
"This one, thirty-five cents, this one, fifty cents..."
This was originally a measure taken by the imperial court to benefit the people.
The local government only collected a symbolic amount of money to cover the prisoners' meal expenses during the journey.
Except for Gu Xixi, most people in Huachidu Village were very happy about this.
After all, farmers are the ones who need heavy labor the most.
You can't buy livestock with this little money, but you can buy a young and strong man.
As long as you are tall and strong, able to have sex and have children, and able to hoe the fields like an ox, you will make a lot of money.
When he came in front of Mu Nanzhao, he suddenly started coughing, covered his lips with his hands and his face turned pale.
The girls were so scared that they ran away. "So he's a sickly guy. No wonder he's the cheapest!"
"Look at that little guy. Not only can he not pull the plow, he probably needs people to serve him!"
However, even the cheapest Mu Nanzhao was priced at thirty-five cents.
Gu Xixi had no intention of buying anything. She waited until everyone had finished choosing before she spread out her hands and showed a penny.
"Brother Cha, I can only take out this much cash, otherwise..."
She originally wanted to procrastinate and say she would buy it next time.
Unexpectedly, the bailiff grabbed the copper coin and pushed Mu Nanzhao in front of Gu Xixi.
"It's just an embroidered pillow that no one wants anyway, so I'll give you a penny for it."
He smiled an understanding smile, "Little girl, you've waited until now just for his face, right?"
The bailiff left.
Gu Xixi froze in place, not daring to look at Mu Nanzhao's expression.
How could she have expected that a penny would lead to such unpleasant words!
Mu Nanzhao said coldly, "Pretending to be poor and pitiful, using other people's mouths to humiliate me, you are so scheming girl."
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