The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 200: dragon and phoenix
Chapter 200: The Best of the Best
On the second evening, before it got completely dark, bright yellow lanterns were hung high on every stall in the Mengcheng market.
The whole Mengcheng was shrouded in warmth, with crowds of people, the sounds of children playing, and the hawking of peddlers. It was noisy and chaotic, but for some reason it made people feel lively and warm.
Xiao Rongyan planned to leave for the capital of Southern Yan tomorrow morning, so he came here today to join in the fun of the evening market.
It was probably because Xiao Rongyan made such a big show and was so generous when he came on the first day, so many vendors who saw him recognized Xiao Rongyan and came forward holding their own goods.
Xiao Rongyan was attracted by a white horse that day and missed the slave market. He came here today specifically to take a look there.
When he walked to the slave market under the escort of the sword-carrying guards, the biggest slave trader in the market was pulling a dishevelled little girl to sell her on a high place: “Don’t look at her dishevelled appearance, but look at the material she is wearing… She is definitely the child of a wealthy family in Jin State! She must be delicate and tender. Buy her back and train her well, and you will have endless happiness in the future!”
As soon as the slave trader’s loud voice fell, a man who was watching the excitement squeezed into the crowd and shouted: “How can we know if she is wearing such thick clothes? Take her off and let us take a look… Let us touch her, so that we can know if she is really skinny and tender!”
Some women who were watching the fun at the slave market frowned and left in a huff.
The young lady, whose arms were pulled by the slave trader, trembled all over. She hugged herself tightly, her face pale. If she was stripped of her clothes in public and then touched by others, she would not be able to live anymore. She immediately struggled: “Let me go! A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated! I will never accept such humiliation!”
The young lady spoke in a crying voice, knowing that a gentleman could be killed but not humiliated. She also spoke the official language of the Jin State, so it seemed that she was indeed a girl from a wealthy family.
The more violently the girl on the stage struggled and the more miserably she cried, the more excited the audience became.
“You can’t just touch it! But I can certainly let you take a good look at it!”
As he said this, the slave trader began to tear the girl’s clothes.
But before the slave trader could really tear off the girl’s clothes, he pulled his hand back as if stung by something, and looked around with wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost. He was caught off guard and the crying girl struggled free from his hand, almost hitting her head against the pillar. Fortunately, she was caught in time by the slave trader’s two thugs.
The slave trader looked down at his swollen hands. What the hell?!
“Hey! Are you going to let us see it or not?!” a man below started to make a fuss.
“Sir, would you like to buy it after looking at it?” the slave trader asked with a smile.
The man who was questioned hid his hands in his sleeves, his ears turned red, and he shrank into the crowd. He just wanted to take advantage. If he really had the spare money to buy a slave, wouldn’t he have gone to a brothel to have fun?
The young lady who was captured by the slave trader’s thugs was still crying and begging the slave trader to give her a quick death!
The wealthy man who was originally interested in this young lady who spoke the soft official language of Jin State gave up the idea when he saw that the young lady wanted to commit suicide. Otherwise, if he bought this girl and she committed suicide, wouldn’t it be a waste of money?
Xiao Rongyan was far away, his sight fixed on the high platform made of wooden boards. He saw a stone not far from the slave trader’s feet, and then his eyes looked past the trafficker towards the cage behind him.
In the darkness of the cage, there was a ragged young man sitting cross-legged in the corner. The boy did not look very old… about fifteen or sixteen years old, but he sat like a pine tree, with the demeanor of a young master from an aristocratic family.
Perhaps noticing someone was looking at him, the young man raised his eyes…
Xiao Rongyan’s eyes narrowed slightly. The child’s eyes looked familiar, dark and deep. If he could knock the slave trader away with a stone, he must have some skills. How did he get caught? !
Or… was he sold because his family was poor?
The boy sat calmly and steadily in the cage without avoiding Xiao Rongyan’s gaze. How could he be a child from a poor family? Moreover, he was fifteen or sixteen years old and was a strong laborer. He was not a three or four-year-old child who could only eat and drink and could not be relied on.
Xiao Rongyan thought about it, then turned his head and gave an instruction to Wang Jiuzhou beside him.
Wang Jiuzhou nodded, walked around the crowd in front and went to the back to find the slave trader. He pointed to the one sitting cross-legged in the cage and said he wanted to buy one.
The slave trader said with a small face: “You have a good eye! That’s a Jin soldier I rescued on the road. He’s strong and healthy. I can buy him for anything! It’s just a little expensive!”
Wang Jiuzhou smiled and took out a purse from his sleeve and threw it to the slave trader, saying, “So much… to buy this Jin soldier, and the little girl from Jin just now! Is it enough?!”
When the slave trader opened it, he was so happy that his eyes narrowed into slits, and his attitude was even more fawning and attentive than before: “Enough, enough, enough! Absolutely enough! No more, no less! So… I feel bad for taking so much money from you! You can pick two more to take away…”
The slave trader seemed ready to introduce his slaves to Wang Jiuzhou. Wang Jiuzhou smiled and said, “No, I just want these two! Our master is waiting, I dare not delay! I dare not take the initiative!”
The slave trader then nodded repeatedly and had the girl and the boy in the cage brought out for Wang Jiuzhou to take away.
Before leaving, the young man looked at the slave trader and bowed to the ground, thanking the slave trader for saving his life. Regardless of the slave trader’s purpose, in the icy cold Jing River, if the slave trader had not saved him… he would have frozen to death long ago.
The slave trader was probably stunned for a moment as it was the first time he saw someone being sold and still bowing to others. Before he could come to his senses, he saw the young man and the manager walking away.
Wang Jiuzhou brought the two people he bought back to the big house that Xiao Rongyan had rented.
Someone was asked to fetch water for the two to bathe and change clothes. Wang Jiuzhou sat on a chair and drank tea leisurely, guessing the master’s intention of buying this man and woman.
Soon the young man came out after bathing and changing his clothes. Even Wang Jiuzhou, who had seen countless people, was surprised.
The young man was dressed in a straight robe, with a tall and slender figure, handsome facial features, especially his eyes… They were sharp and pointed, and his demeanor was definitely not that of an ordinary boy. He could be called a rare talent among men.
How could such a person fall into the hands of slave traders?
In addition to being puzzled, Wang Jiuzhou felt that his master’s eyes were as sharp as a torch. Even though this young man was so disheveled and curled up in the cage, his master also knew that he was an extraordinary person.
Perhaps because of the young man’s noble bearing, Wang Jiuzhou, who was used to being a servant, spoke to him very politely and asked him to go with him to meet his master.
Come on, come on, who is this gentleman? Can you guess?!