good season

Chapter 251 Hunger (Two chapters combined)

When Qing arrived, she saw a man walking back from the back of the house, crying.

He walked to the wall, saw a pool of blood on the ground, and cried even more bitterly.

Wen Qing also saw the pool of blood. She was startled. Seeing the man crying so sadly, she wondered if the blood belonged to his family. Had his family member been injured?
She mustered her courage and asked, "Do you need me to fetch a doctor for you?"

The man cried even harder: "No, really, no, waaaah, if my wife finds out, she'll beat me, waaaah!"

Wen Qing looked at the small courtyard in front of her, then at the man: "Is this your home?"

The man nodded, tears streaming down his face, and asked Qing hurriedly, "Does Sister Jian Deng live here?"

The man sobbed, "You're looking for my wife? She...she's not home. Please, please don't tell her...sob, I didn't mean to."

Wen Qing was stunned. Was this Sister Jian Deng's man?

Wei Ren led her into the courtyard, then sat down in front of the large basin and continued washing clothes. As he was washing, the child inside woke up. Wei Ren wiped his hands on his apron and went inside to comfort the child.

This was the first time Wen Qing had ever seen a man so skilled at housework. No, she had never heard of a man who could do laundry and take care of children. Oh, and this man was also a crybaby.

Even live-in sons-in-law don't have this kind of relationship.

Could this man have been bought by Sister Jian Deng?

Wenqing's eyes lit up. She was disfigured, and it would be incredibly difficult for her to marry into a good family.

Rather than being criticized and nitpicked, it's better to spend money to buy a man like Sister Jiandeng did.

The man you buy can have children, take care of them, and do housework. A man, a child, and a warm bed—how wonderful!

Suddenly, Wen Qing had a goal. Ever since she was disfigured, she had been living day by day, thinking that this was how her life would be. At the age of fifteen, she was already heartbroken.

But at this moment, seeing Wei Ren, Wen Qing saw hope.

She wants to make money, lots of money, she wants to buy a man to live with!
Just then, a voice came from outside the door: "Why don't you close the door? Aren't you afraid of thieves breaking in?"

As soon as she arrived, Jian Deng came in from outside. When she saw Wen Qing, she understood: "So there are guests. I was wondering why the door wasn't closed. Sister Wen Qing, I was just thinking of you on the way here."

Wenqing looked at Jiandeng with admiration. Before, she only thought that Sister Jiandeng was quick-witted and full of energy. Now she realized that Sister Jiandeng was also the head of the family and had the skills to tame her husband.

This was the first time Wenqing had ever seen a woman who could be the head of a household.

After she was scalded that day, Wei Ya'er had her beaten again. Her front teeth were knocked out, and she was thrown into the woodshed like trash.

In the middle of the night, she developed a high fever and thought she was going to die. A man in black took her out of the woodshed, showed her a doctor, and bought her food. She stayed at the doctor's for two whole days until the night of the third day when the man in black came again and took her back to the woodshed in the Wei residence.

For the past two days and two nights, no one has come to check on her in the woodshed. If it weren't for that man in black, she might already be dead.

That man in black is Jian Deng.

When she first arrived in the capital, Wenqing had her fortune told by a blind man on the street. The blind man said that she was destined to have a benefactor.

Wen Qing was just doing it for fun; he didn't take it seriously.

But now, she has asked Qingxin, and she will definitely thank the blind man when she sees him again someday.

The lamp-trimming signifies a benefactor in one's destiny.

Jian Deng was also happy to see Wen Qing arrive. Just as she was about to speak, Wei Ren took out a bag of silver from his pocket, about a dozen taels. He held the silver in both hands and presented it to Jian Deng: "Wife, this is the silver I earned today."

Jian Deng took the silver and asked, "Is this all?"

Wei Ren felt like crying again. He knew that Jian Deng would complain that it wasn't enough, but there was nothing he could do. He had done housework all day and hadn't gone anywhere. The only person who had come to him was a poor man with only a dozen or so taels of silver on him.

Seeing Wei Ren looking aggrieved, Jian Deng softened and picked out a small silver ingot weighing one tael from the bag of silver: "Take it, spend it sparingly."

Wei Ren burst into laughter through his tears, took the tael of silver, and was as happy as a child: "Thank you, wife! You're so good to me!"

Jian Deng laughed and waved his hand, "We have guests today, so go cook some rice and make a few more dishes."

Wei Ren happily went to cook, leaving Wen Qing dumbfounded. She also wanted to buy a man who could not only do housework but also earn money.

A dozen taels a day, that's three or four hundred taels a month. She wants to buy a man who can earn three or four hundred taels.

"Sister Jiandeng, how much did you pay for this man?"

Jian Deng: "He wouldn't have asked for money, but he was so eager to have it. He wouldn't listen to me, he cried his heart out, sigh!"

Sister Qingjiandeng is so awesome!

Wen Qing explained his purpose: "The Princess of Changling County asked the Chief Secretary of the Liang Prince's Mansion to go to the Wei family to ask for her and bring her to the Liang Prince's Mansion."

Jian Deng sneered, "She's really dreaming. She's got some nerve, treating the Liang Prince's mansion like a garbage dump."

The Liang Prince's Mansion in the capital and Liangdi each had a chief secretary. The chief secretary of the Liang Prince's Mansion in the capital was a man of Emperor Yongjia. Since Zhao Tinghan left the capital, all dealings between Liangdi and the Liang Prince's Mansion had been kept away from this chief secretary.

After thinking for a moment, Jian Deng said to Wen Qing, "Go back and tell Wei Ya'er that you have delivered the message. As for whether the Chief Secretary will go or not, that is not something you can control."

Wenqing nodded and got up to leave, but Jiandeng kept her there, insisting that she eat before leaving.

Wei Ren prepared four dishes and a soup. Although they were all simple home-style dishes, they were very delicious. When Wen Qing left, Jian Deng even packed a few steamed buns for her to take with her.

After seeing Wenqing off, Jiandeng was about to go out as well, but Weiren was worried and said, "I'll go with you."

Jian Deng: "I'm going to see the Second Miss. You stay home and take care of the child. Wash the clothes I just changed out of and give the child a bath."

Zhao Shiqing was delighted to see Jian Deng: "Sister Jian Deng, you've been in the capital for so long, but you haven't come to see me!"

Jian Deng stepped forward and hugged her: "You've grown taller and gained some weight."

Zhao Shiqing beamed: "Where are Brother Wei Ren and your little rascal?"

"They're staying at home. I'll bring them another day. I came here because I have something to discuss."

Originally, Jian Deng did not want to disturb Zhao Shiqing, but now she needed someone who could make decisions. The eldest princess was far away in Liang, and although there were messengers, it would take several days for her to come and go. Zhao Shiqing was in the capital, and the second young lady was also involved in this matter. Therefore, Jian Deng came to find her.

Zhao Shiqing perked up immediately upon hearing this. She was going to Tongzhou with Xiao Zhen next month, so why not do something before they left?
Miss Zhao hates nothing more than being idle, and that's been the case for the past two days; she's been very bored.

When Wen Qing returned to the dungeon, Wei Ya'er was waiting for her anxiously.

Upon seeing her return, Wei Ya'er asked, "When will the Chief Secretary of the Liang Prince's Mansion come to pick me up?"

Qing thought to herself, "This person has a really big face."

Who do you think you are? But she still repeated what Jian Deng had taught her. Wei Ya'er scolded, "What a useless servant! You got my golden hairpin for nothing, but you can't even get a proper answer. You useless piece of trash!"

Wen Qing rolled her eyes: "At least I can still get out. What about you? Which of us is the useless one?"

Wei Ya'er raised her hand to hit her, but Wen Qing dodged. Wei Ya'er was furious: "You bitch, you dare to dodge?"

Wen Qing spat, turned and left, ignoring her completely.

Wei Ya'er cursed for a while, then her stomach growled loudly with hunger. She paused for a moment, then realized that she hadn't eaten anything since she woke up, and hadn't even had a sip of water.

"Wenqing, you wretched woman, go and get this county magistrate some food!"

But Wei Ya'er waited for a long time, and not only did no one bring her food, but Wen Qing also did not appear.

She tried to open the door, but it was locked from the outside, leaving her sitting futilely on the bed.

Suddenly, I remembered that Wei Wubing, that sickly bastard, had been fooling around with those men and women on this very bed.

She suddenly felt nauseous and jumped out of bed. At that moment, she suddenly missed the Ministry of Justice prison.

At least there's food and drink there.

The next day, Wen Qing still did not appear, no matter how much Wei Ya'er's cursing echoed in the dungeon until she had no strength left to curse.

She was starving. Her last meal was at the Ministry of Justice, a simple stir-fried cabbage and brown rice dish with no oil. It was hard to eat, but it was very filling.

On the third day, Wei Ya'er was so hungry that she couldn't stand up. Although she disliked the bed, she still endured the nausea and lay on it. Since Wen Qing left that day, the door had never been opened again. Wen Qing didn't come, and neither did anyone else.

Wei Ya'er was very worried. She was worried that Wen Qing would also run away like the others, and she was even more worried that the Wei family had forgotten that she was still in the dungeon.

Will she starve to death?

The darkness terrified her more than hunger, and the small, dim lamp had run out of oil.

The dark dungeon was like hell. Although it was deathly silent all around, Wei Ya'er could hear countless sounds: a woman's pleas, a boy's cries, and even Wei Wubing's laughter.

She saw the older sister from Porcelain Street again. This time, the girl didn't cry and beg her; instead, she looked at her and smiled.

After waking up from the nightmare, Wei Ya'er dared not close her eyes again.

She kept her eyes wide open until they became sore that she had to close them.

But as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Wei Wubing again.

Wei Wubing was also smiling at her, and that smile was just as eerie as the girl's.

She wanted to say that she wasn't killed by him, but Wei Wubing didn't give her the chance and grabbed her by the neck.

Wei Ya'er woke up from her suffocation, realizing that her hand had been pressed against her chest without her noticing.

Once she regained consciousness, Wei Ya'er finally stopped shouting and cursing; she had no strength or energy left.

On the fourth day, just when Wei Ya'er thought she was about to starve to death, the door finally opened.

Wen Qing held a lantern in her hand, her voice icy: "The people from the Liang Prince's Mansion have arrived, but the Master does not agree to let them take you away."

Wei Ya'er was stunned: "Why?"

Wen Qing sneered: "Why are there so many questions? You killed the young master, so of course you have to be punished. The master won't let you off easy. Your life is over!"

Wei Ya'er was struck dumb, but she knew that what Wen Qing said was true, and that her father would do such a thing.

"Wen Qing, your indenture... Before we came to the capital, your family gave me all of your indentures."

Wenqing knew, of course, that their lives were as worthless as grass. The difference between them and stray dogs on the street was that they had contracts of servitude, while the dogs did not.

“I know,” Wen Qing said calmly.

"Do you...do you want your indenture back?" Wei Ya'er asked weakly.

"I want to, can you give it to me? What are your conditions?" Wen Qing was very perceptive.

"Help me get out of here," Wei Ya'er said.

Wen Qing thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but I need to get the indenture first, otherwise what if you deny it later?"

Wei Ya'er cursed the bitch in her heart, but at this moment, this bitch was the only one she could use.

She could only suppress her anger, just like that golden hairpin, she had to make this bitch taste the sweetness.

"Okay, I'll give you a contract of servitude first. After it's done, I'll give you a pair of gold ingots."

Wen Qing finally perked up: "Two pairs of gold ingots, I know you have a lot of gold ingots."

"Okay, deal!" Wei Ya'er would agree to give her two pairs of gold ingots, or even two more. As long as she leaves this place, she has a way to turn the situation around and then she can tear that bitch Wen Qing to pieces!

Two pairs of gold ingots, consider them as offerings for this wretched person to burn as paper money.

Just like last time, Wei Ya'er wrote a note to Granny Guan.

Master Wei is currently handling Wei Wubing's funeral arrangements. Although he desperately wants to kill Wei Ya'er, she has the title of county princess. All he can do now is lock her up in the dungeon and let her fend for herself. If she can't hold on and dies, then everyone will be happy.

Wei Ya'er didn't want to die. She knew that as long as she was alive and as long as she still had the title of county princess, Master Wei wouldn't touch her things. Her gold, silver, valuables, and these indentures used to be managed by Granny Guan and Meng Qing, with two keys. After Meng Qing died, both keys were in Granny Guan's hands.

Fortunately, Granny Guan broke her leg and was not taken to the Ministry of Justice.

When Granny Guan saw Wenqing again and learned that he wanted to take out the indenture, she was taken aback and asked, "What does the county magistrate want?"

These days she couldn't get out of bed, and all her information about the outside world came from two little girls who were seven or eight years old. Those two little girls knew very little. Granny Guan only knew that Wei Ya'er was under house arrest. As for where she was under house arrest, the two little girls didn't know. She assumed it was somewhere in the mansion and never thought about the dungeon.

Wen Qing said, "The county princess is imprisoned in the dungeon. People from the Liang Prince's Mansion came to pick her up, but the master disagreed. He said that even if the county princess is to die, she can only die in the Wei family."

Granny Guan's expression changed drastically. She looked at Wen Qing, as if she had thought of something, sighed, and told the two maids to find Wen Qing's indenture and give it to her.

After Wenqing left, Granny Guan had the two maids take a box from the small storeroom. She wrapped the box up and pondered how to send it out of the mansion.

The Wei family was holding a funeral, and the lights were still on at night, but the gatekeeper at the side gate was in good spirits.

This side gate is rarely used, so he is usually quite free. Several lazy people in the mansion often hide here to play cards, and he also likes to play a few rounds.

He was on a winning streak today, winning a tael of silver. He was about to go to the kitchen to get himself a nice meal when he saw something on the ground. He looked down and saw that it was a bead the size of a longan!