The invasion of the abyss begins with the Laughing at the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 16: Selling the Head
The rain came quickly and went away quickly. Half an incense stick later, a seven-colored rainbow stretched across the blue sky, gorgeous and dazzling.

"Uncle, give me a donkey roll."

"Here, here are six cents, keep them."

On the deserted street, Shen Yuanliang was carrying large and small bags of medicinal herbs in his left hand and various snacks in his right hand. The aroma of the medicine mixed with the fragrance of the snacks made people feel intoxicated.

At this moment, Shen Yuanliang heard faint discussions with words like "pitiful" and "lose all the family", mixed with faint crying sounds.

Holding the wrapped donkey rolls, Shen Yuanliang turned the corner and came to the wall of a shop, where he saw a group of people pointing and talking around four little girls with straws stuck on their heads.

The so-called "caopian" means that life is worthless. With straw stuck on his head, it means that this person is a commodity and can be purchased at a low price.

The four little girls were thin and weak, with big eyes. In the coldest days of winter, they were wearing thin clothes, without padded jackets or fox furs, and they were shivering in the howling cold wind.

The youngest was about five or six years old, and the oldest was about twelve or thirteen years old. They were at the age of blooming flowers, and looked quite pitiful.

"The Sun family is so wicked that they wiped out the entire family, leaving four young girls with nothing and even selling themselves to bury their mother."

"The world is like this, what can we ordinary people do?"

"The pillar of the family has fallen, and there is no son to inherit the family line. The girls are not considered members of the Sun family, so it's good enough that they haven't been sold to a brothel by their own people."

"Alas! The imperial court suffered a great defeat a few years ago. Every family in Yongning City is in mourning. There are too many tragedies like this in the world. I can't handle it all. I just hope these girls can meet a good family."

"The Jiannu army has reached Shenyang and is about to sweep across southern Liaoning. I plan to return to the interior of the country after the New Year and seek refuge with my second uncle. I hope I will have something to eat by then."

From the chattering in his ears, Shen Yuanliang felt sympathy for the four little girls who were selling themselves to bury their mother, as they were the same people who had fallen on hard times.

Fortunately, Shen Yuanliang woke up a few days ago. Otherwise, if the Shen family had no male heir, the villagers of Jingbianbao would not let go of the fat meat in their mouths. My mother, Wan'er and sister would not know what kind of tragic fate they would have suffered!
Natural selection, survival of the fittest.

In the impoverished countryside, every family was penniless and even wore the same pair of pants. They had no idea where to start and had to rely on grains and wild vegetables to fill their stomachs.

In order to survive better, they can only eat the "corpses" of their companions to stay alive. They live a hard life, as tough as the weeds on the ground.

The act of eating up a family's entire family can be said to be immoral, unreasonable, and even inhumane, but this is the sadness of human nature. To live, everything is for the sake of living.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way."

Four or five sturdy men with broad shoulders and strong waists pushed aside the bustling crowd, and an old woman with flowers on her head, makeup on and dressed seductively appeared in everyone's sight.

Her skin, which has been pinched to reveal water, still vaguely shows her former beauty, and her graceful figure exudes a mature charm. She is the madam of the Qunfang Pavilion in Yongning City.

"Little girl, you look so pitiful. Come back with me. You will have delicious food and spicy drinks in your future, and you won't have to suffer from the wind and sun."

"Here is ten taels of silver. Bury your family properly."

The madam waved the round fan in her hand, squatted down and looked carefully at the four girls who had not yet grown up in front of her, from their teeth to their skin, from their body shape to their skeleton, as if she were looking at livestock.

From the perspective of an experienced brothel owner, these girls are all top-notch beauties. If they are trained well, they can be sold for a good price in the future.

"Isn't she the madam of Qunfang Pavilion? Ten taels of silver, four girls, good tactics, people are not as valuable as cows, who makes us common people." "Alas! How could the court of a small Later Jin Dynasty suffer defeat after defeat? If it weren't for this great defeat, their Sun family would be a well-known wealthy family in the surrounding area."

"There are unexpected changes in the world, and people are subject to misfortunes at any time. In today's world, it is good enough to be alive."

The onlookers were whispering, some complaining about the cruel world, some feeling sorry for the future fate of the Sun family girl, some expressing their indifference, and so on.

"Wait!"

Seeing that these little girls were about to fall into the fire pit, Shen Yuanliang, who couldn't bear it, suppressed his anger, glanced at the madam and her group with a sharp gaze, and scolded them.

Perhaps out of pity for the little girls, perhaps because they were both orphans of the Battle of Sarhu, or perhaps because of the influence of his memories from his past life, Shen Yuanliang chose to rescue them.

"Boy, you are meddling in our affairs, but you don't even bother to find out who is protecting our Qunfang Pavilion?"

"Get out of here as soon as possible, and don't let the brothers get involved. It will be bad if they bump into you or get hurt."

Seeing someone was looking for trouble, four or five sturdy men rolled up their sleeves, stepped forward, and stared at Shen Yuanliang fiercely, as if they were going to make him pay if he didn't agree.

"Little girl, this is twenty taels of silver, enough for you to bury your family and live a good life when you return home."

He killed a white-browed tiger with hanging eyes and massacred more than forty bandits in Tiger Tooth Mountain. However, Shen Yuanliang didn't even look at the idler in front of him who only bullied the elderly and the weak.

"Boy."

Being ignored by Shen Yuanliang, the four or five strong men in Qunfang Pavilion couldn't hold their face anymore. They picked up the sticks in their hands and prepared to teach this ignorant man a lesson.

Otherwise, after losing face in front of everyone today, who in Yongning City would be afraid of them in the future?
Isn't this cutting off their source of income?

Seeing that the conflict was about to break out, the madam who was watching coldly suddenly changed her expression and shouted, "Back off."

Then he walked forward with a smile, took a veiled glance at Shen Yuanliang's murderous eyes and the dark red blood on the corners of his clothes, covered his mouth with a round fan, and said, "Since you like these girls, I will give you the Qunfang Pavilion."

Without waiting for Shen Yuanliang's response, the madam stopped smiling and hurriedly disappeared around the corner with a few idle men, as if they had seen a ghost.

She couldn't help but be afraid. The experienced madam could see from Shen Yuanliang's eyes that he disregarded life. People like him were usually bandits who killed people without warning.

Qunfang Pavilion is a place for people to have fun, and the madam doesn't want to be targeted by desperate criminals.

"Thank you, benefactor. From now on, we will be your people. We will make the bed, fold the quilt, boil water, cook, and do all the other tasks that require waiting on others."

"Your Excellency, please do not abandon us. Otherwise, we will die and repay your kindness in the next life."

The oldest girl among them pulled Shen Yuanliang's arm and spoke pitifully, while showing her own value, hoping that Shen Yuanliang could take them in.

Although Shen Yuanliang gave them twenty taels of silver so that they could bury their mother, it was difficult for them to survive in this cruel world without the protection of their parents.

The clever little girl could only hug Shen Yuanliang's thighs. Seeing this, the other little girls pulled Shen Yuanliang's pants and refused to let go.

(End of this chapter)