Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

When the sixth incense stick burned out, the time was up.

Yelü Yuanjia raised his hand, and his deputy blew his whistle. The snow leopard withdrew from Pei Yaojun's attack.

It retreated to the edge of the cage and licked the blood off its paws.

Pei Yaojun struggled to turn over, half-kneeling on the ground, supporting himself with his hands, panting heavily.

Even though his vision was starting to darken, he still looked sharply at Yelü Yuanjia.

"Yelü Yuanjia, do you still stand by your word? I've taken the six incense sticks' worth of punishment; you must spare all of us!"

Yelü Yuanjia laughed and said, "I, the Crown Prince, keep my word."

Pei Yaojun's eyelashes, covered in fine snow, trembled. He had gotten the answer he wanted, and his body, which had been holding on, could no longer hold on, and he collapsed to the ground.

The vanguard soldiers all wanted to rush over, but were forced back by the Northern Di soldiers.

Yelü Yuanjia got up to leave, and his deputy stood behind him, glancing back at the bloodied man lying on the verge of death in the center of the training ground.

"Your Highness, what should be done with him?"

Yelü Yuanjia stroked the hilt of his scimitar. "Killing him would be too easy. He's more useful to us if he's alive."

"Your Highness means..."

"I, the Crown Prince, played a part in Xiao Chenlin's ascension to the throne. He promised to compensate me with five cities south of Tiema Pass, but what we want is far more than just five cities!"

The previous games were a way for him to vent his anger by torturing others for his own amusement.

Now that he has calmed down, he realizes that Pei Yaojun can be used as a pawn, a pawn he can manipulate in his palm to stir up the winds and waves of the Great Wei.

He was a member of the Duke of Yu's mansion, which has now been imprisoned by Xiao Chenlin.

This situation destined him to be mortal enemies with Xiao Chenlin.

In a conflict between two nations, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.

Pei Yaojun is bound by far too many strings that can be used. If he were released, pulling any one of them would cause the Great Wei court to tremble.

Yelü Yuanjia twirled his scimitar, sheathed it, and a triumphant smile curved his lips.

……

The official brokerage firm was located in the west of the city, with blue bricks and gray tiles, and a plaque above the door that read "Officially Run Brokerage Firm".

When Liu Wenying stepped across the threshold, there was a chaotic scene inside. Dozens of disheveled men and women were crowded in the hall, some crying, some cursing, and some sitting blankly with empty eyes.

Emperor Xiao Chenlin, upon assuming the throne, swept away many of the Second Prince's faction members. Not only was the Yu Guogong Mansion raided, but even the official brokerage firms became overcrowded.

She was wearing a slightly worn ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) today, with only a silver hairpin in her hair and no bracelet on her wrist; she looked like an ordinary woman.

The broker, a tall, thin man in his forties, was working on an abacus. Seeing her enter, he didn't even look up: "Redeem someone? Redeem whom?"

Liu Wenying gave her names: "Xiaozhu, Zizhu, Ling'er, and Granny Tian, ​​all of whom were servants from the former Duke Yu's mansion."

The broker then looked her up and down, and sneered.

"Those from the Duke of Yu's mansion are all top-class servants. Are you sure you can afford to redeem them?"

"I used to work in the mansion, and I have some affection for them."

Liu Wenying softened her tone, "Please do me a favor and name your price."

The man with the tooth extended five fingers.

"Fifty taels?" Liu Wenying probed.

Five hundred taels.

The broker tapped the abacus.

"One hundred taels per person, four hundred taels for four people, plus one hundred taels for a bribe, five hundred taels not a penny less."

Liu Wenying tightened her grip on her sleeve.

She only brought three hundred taels of silver notes with her today, thinking that the court was not peaceful and many noble families had fallen, so the status of servants should drop. She did not expect that the broker would dare to ask for an exorbitant price.

"Sir, isn't this price a bit too high?"

The broker sneered, "High? Although the Duke of Yu's mansion has fallen, these servants are all well-trained. They can be sold to other mansions and still be worth the same price."

"If you do not redeem them, I will sell them off in five days. Those who are not bought will be sent to the borderlands to do hard labor according to the law."

Liu Wenying's face turned slightly pale.

She bit her lip and whispered, "I... I'll raise the money, but could you please give me a few more days?"

The broker waved his hand, as if shooing away flies: "Five days. If you can't come up with the money in five days, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Four days later, Liu Wenying came again.

This time she wore a coarse cloth dress with patches on the cuffs, her hair was loosely tied up, and she didn't even wear that plain silver hairpin.

Her lower abdomen was already slightly protruding, and she looked very strained as she walked, supporting her waist with one hand.

Seeing her pitiful appearance, the broker frowned even more deeply. "Have you raised enough money?"

Liu Wenying took out an old cloth bag from her bosom, opened it layer by layer, and inside were four hundred taels of silver notes, as well as some loose silver.

She pushed the cloth bundle in front of the broker, "Sir, this is all my possessions. My husband died early, my in-laws don't accept me, and now I'm pregnant. I have nowhere to go. I only want to redeem my old sisters so we can take care of each other. Please have mercy and give me less."

Her eyes reddened as she spoke, and her fingers unconsciously stroked her lower abdomen, looking like she had nowhere else to turn.

The broker stared at the bag of silver, then at her swollen belly. After a long while, he waved his hand impatiently: "Fine, fine. I feel sorry for you. Take her away."

Liu Wenying was extremely grateful and pressed her handprint to receive the contracts from the four people.

Not long after, the door of the brokerage firm opened, and Xiao Zhu was the first to rush out.

The moment she saw Liu Wenying, tears streamed down her face. "Sister Liu!"

Zizhu, Ling'er, and Granny Tian followed closely behind.

The four men had been imprisoned for days, and they were all emaciated, their clothes were dirty, and their hair was a mess.

Standing in the blinding sunlight, they were all a little uncomfortable, squinting as if they were in another world.

"Wenying, you've suffered so much. You're barely able to take care of yourself, yet you still come to save us." Granny Tian said, tears streaming down her face, as she grasped Liu Wenying's hand.

Zizhu wiped away her tears, her voice trembling, "That day, the soldiers suddenly surrounded the mansion, saying that the Duke was having an affair with a eunuch. The eldest and second masters tried to negotiate for many days, but in the end... in the end, they couldn't hold out."

"When we were arrested, we saw that the Duke, the eldest master, and the second master were also in shackles..."

Ling'er kept wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

Liu Wenying comforted them, "Don't cry, it's good that you can get out now."

Xiaozhu cried so hard she could barely breathe, "Sister Liu, my parents are still inside! They're servants in the manor too, can you please save them?"

Liu Wenying patted her back gently and said softly, "I will find a way, but it might arouse suspicion if I take out too much money at once."

Liu Wenying had also inquired about the whereabouts of Ah Cai and Ah Jin.

They were men, and also servants of several male masters in the Duke's mansion. They were currently imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail, and she was powerless to help them for the time being.

Xiaozhu understood after hearing this, and gradually stopped crying, but she could not hide her despair.

"The Duke's mansion has fallen, and Sister Liu's personal funds are gone too. What... what are we going to do now..."

Ling'er also lowered her head and wiped away her tears.

Granny Tian, ​​however, held their hands and said in a hoarse voice, "As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn."

"Since Wenying saved us, we will follow her from now on. There will always be a way to survive."

Liu Wenying wanted to say something, but after looking around and seeing people coming and going at the entrance of the brokerage firm, she whispered, "Come with me."

…………