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Chapter 406 Abnormality
"Specializing in finding concubines and wives for high-ranking officials and nobles?" Zhu Yu was somewhat surprised to hear this answer; this was truly the first time she had ever heard of such a profession.

Zhu Yu had heard of those slave traders who specialized in finding concubines and mistresses for wealthy families. They were wicked and would wander around villages and towns. If they encountered a pretty girl from a poor family, they would try to persuade the parents to sell the child to them. They would take her back, train her, teach her manners, and then resell her to wealthy families as maids.

These girls, though called maids, were often chosen by families to serve their sons or grandsons while they were young, innocent, and easy to manipulate. Whenever the young master was in a good mood, he would turn the maid into a concubine.

Anyway, the women bought from slave traders have their indentures held by their masters. If they're lucky, they might catch the eye of the young master and meet a magnanimous young mistress. If they get pregnant, they might be promoted to concubines, but they'd still be lowly concubines of slave status. If the master is unhappy one day, he can kill them or sell them off at will.

This practice of buying maids and servants into the household is also the most common.

However, it is truly rare to find someone who specializes in finding good concubines or even second wives, and who doesn't care about the woman's background as long as she is pretty.

After all, concubines are of good status. Once they are brought into the household, they cannot be disposed of at will, beaten or scolded, or sold off. Such a difficult character to manage would not be allowed to exist by the matriarch of most families.

If the woman herself came from a good family, perhaps as the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy household, things might be a little easier, since they might both be hoping to form a marriage alliance and help each other.

If the other party is from an ordinary or even poor family, it is naturally not something to be happy about for wealthy families, but it is a rare blessing for some poor families.

Women from decent backgrounds are generally unwilling to become concubines. However, for families that are poor and don't know when they will have their next meal, if their daughter could become a concubine, she wouldn't have to live in fear or danger, and could live a life of luxury. It would be like falling into a pile of blessings, a joyous and fortunate thing that they couldn't ask for.

It was precisely because of this completely unequal distribution of benefits that Zhu Yu was so surprised when he first heard about it.

"Anyway, that's what Jiang Hong said. As for whether it's true or not, we haven't even been to Lianxiang City yet, so who can say for sure?" Yan Daoxin said, eager to try it out and wishing he could set off immediately to see for himself.

Lu Qing glared at him: "You haven't explained anything clearly, yet you're so impatient. Could it be that you've been tempted by these claims?"

"Pah!" Yan Daoxin raised his leg as if to kick Lu Qing. "Nonsense! I'll write to Master and have him beat your mouth with a ruler!"
I'm just in a hurry; there are some things I haven't had a chance to say yet!

Jiang Hong said that at first, many people thought the matter was a bit absurd. After all, it was their own daughter, and they didn't dare to take such a risk, fearing that she would be cheated by a slave trader. So no one paid any attention to that small mountain building.

Later, there was a family so poor they couldn't even afford to eat. Their daughter was pale and thin, almost like a skeleton. But the old woman at Xiaoshanlou took a liking to her, saying she had good bone structure and could become a beauty with proper care. She asked the family's parents if they would be willing to let her take their child into Xiaoshanlou to be raised. Once she was well-cared for, she would be betrothed to a good family as a concubine. Not only would the girl live a life free from worries about food and clothing, but the family would also receive a generous dowry.

The family was so poor they couldn't even afford to eat, and they didn't care about anything else. They figured the child would starve to death sooner or later if they kept her at home, so they might as well have someone take her away; at least it would be a way to survive. As a result, the skinny little girl was taken away and raised in the small house for a year. When she was seen again, she was with the old woman outside cutting cloth and making clothes. People outside couldn't believe that it was the same person who had been taken in before. They heard that she had grown up to be fair-skinned and incredibly beautiful.

Not long after, a wealthy family offered a large sum of money to take the woman as a concubine. The old woman from Xiaoshanlou took the woman back to her parents' home to deliver the betrothal gifts. Her parents were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out. If it weren't for her mother finding a birthmark on her body, they wouldn't have recognized their own daughter.

Then, the woman was carried in grand style from the small mountain house into the mansion of a wealthy family.

From then on, Xiaoshanlou was no longer the same as before, when no one would pay attention to him when he came to visit; his threshold was almost worn down by people.

I've heard that everyone in Lianxiang City is clamoring for that little mountain pavilion, racking their brains to bring their daughters there for the old nanny to take a look at, hoping she'll find one she likes and be willing to keep her there.

"If it's true, wouldn't that be a good thing? If it's a good thing, why would Jiang Hong specifically tell you?" Zhu Yu found it a bit strange.

Yan Daoxin said mysteriously, "He told me that at first he only heard about this when he went to Lianxiang City to deliver goods, and he didn't pay much attention to it. But as time went on, he heard about it more and more, and gradually felt that something was wrong."

The girls who were initially chosen by Xiaoshanlou and taken back to be raised were all very beautiful and radiant. After being trained and served there, they had no trace of the demureness of girls from humble families. It is said that even if they were sent to the palace, their beauty would not be inferior.

These women were all married off to wealthy families in great style, becoming either concubines or second wives, and one of them was even married into the family as the principal wife of a concubine's son.

When they were married off, it was a grand affair with drums and gongs, known throughout the city.

But after they got married, no one ever saw them again.

Later, the women chosen by Xiaoshanlou would almost never show their faces again after moving in. They would only be betrothed to a good family when the old nanny of Xiaoshanlou would send a very generous dowry to that family with great fanfare, often carried in a box in a procession that stretched for a whole street.

Therefore, those families who received such wealth, which they might never see again in their entire lives, rarely questioned their daughters' whereabouts, assuming they were going to live a life of luxury with the wealthy.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu could roughly sense that something was amiss, but couldn't quite put her finger on it: "So what made Jiang Hong feel something was off? Did something go wrong at that small mountain building?"

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