I won't be a prince's concubine; I'll cook delicious food and raise two villainous cu

This was Ya'er's first time traveling far from home, and also the first time she had seen so many people. She felt overwhelmed by the sights and was filled with wonder.

"Sister! What is that thing?"

"Sister, how come their houses are built so tall?"

"Sister, what are they eating?"

"Sister! We can take a boat ride on the river, shall we?"

"elder sister……"

Ya'er was as excited as a bird just released from its cage, chattering incessantly around Shen Yu, her little mouth never stopping.

Looking at Li Erlang again, he seemed much more composed.

Although he couldn't help but look left and right, taking in everything on the street, and harboring curiosity in his heart, he remained silent and simply observed.

Shen Yu led the two to the entrance of a small alley, then suddenly stopped.

"I forgot something important before leaving the house."

As she spoke, she reached out and smeared her hand on the plaster on the wall twice, and then, under the puzzled gazes of the brother and sister, she raised her hand and smeared it on their faces.

Only after smearing their incredibly delicate faces until they looked as dirty as a beggar on the street did Shen Yu finally withdraw her hand, satisfied.

"What are you doing?!"

When Li Erlang realized what was happening, his face turned red with anger. He hurriedly raised his sleeve and vigorously wiped his face, wishing he could wipe away all the dirt and grime.

Shen Yu quickly grabbed his hand and explained, "Erlang, don't worry! You and your sister are so beautiful, if you were targeted by kidnappers, how could I possibly deal with those bad guys by myself?"

Li Erlang abruptly stopped wiping his face, his expression stiffening. "Didn't you say before that human traffickers look down on us too?"

Shen Yu looked at him and said helplessly, "Erlang, you've always been intelligent and vigilant, how come you believed everything I said?"

"You don't know, some wealthy families prefer pretty children and buy them to be servants. Although they don't have to do heavy or rough work, they have to accompany their young masters to study and sleep."

"It sounds good, but once you become a slave, you lose your freedom forever. Your master can beat or kill you whenever he wants. Many servants are tortured to death at a young age."

Even if some are lucky enough to meet a good master when they grow up and have a better life, most of them still end up in a tragic situation.

"If it is a girl, she will most likely be taken in as a concubine or given to a servant as a concubine if she stays in the master's house; if she accompanies her own daughter as part of her dowry, she will only become a concubine, or marry a steward or servant, and become a nanny when she gets old."

"Even if they are lucky enough to live to old age, they might be allowed to return home to retire, but how much affection can the children have after being separated from their parents from a young age? In the end, they will most likely die alone and miserable."

"Boys are slightly better off; they can become pageboys and learn a few characters, but so what?"

"Even when they grow up, they will still be slaves, and their descendants will also be bound by slave status, with no hope of ever rising above it."

"I never want you to end up like this! So, you must stay close to me, understand?"

Shen Yu's words did contain an element of scare tactics, but what she said was also the reality of the situation at present.

After listening, Li Erlang remained silent for a long time and then said nothing more.

Although Ya'er only vaguely understood what Shen Yu was saying, she was terrified by Shen Yu's tone. She tightly gripped the hems of Shen Yu and Li Erlang's clothes, afraid that if she let go, she would be kidnapped by bad guys.

The three of them went back to the streets.

Feeling uncomfortable under the curious stares of passersby, Li Erlang half-covered his face and said to Shen Yu with a look of disgust, "If you want to cover your face, you could just put some moles on it or draw some birthmarks or scars on it. Why do you have to make your face so dirty?"

Shen Yu was taken aback upon hearing this, thinking to herself: That's right, why didn't I think of this method?

She immediately laughed heartily: "Oh dear, Erlang is so thoughtful! Next time I'll listen to you and give you some moles!"

Li Erlang looked at her, his lips twitching: ...

There will be a next time!?

Does she intend to go to town every day?

They should really smear a big clown face on her too; who knows, if the kidnappers see she's pretty, they might want to kidnap her and sell her!

The three of them asked around before finally finding the market where the stalls were set up.

They arrived too late; there were almost no empty stalls left in the market.

Seeing that Shen Yu seemed to be selling goods rather than buying them, the other vendors were even less willing to give them any space.

Finally, Shen Yu had no choice but to swallow her pride and find a tiny patch of open space in a corner of the market to stop.

She led Li Erlang and Ya'er to squat on the ground, first putting the basket on the ground, and then taking the basket from Li Erlang's hand.

The vendors on both sides glanced at the contents of the basket and, upon discovering that it was full of mushrooms, immediately showed expressions of disgust.

"Young lady, you dare to sell this stuff? Aren't you afraid people will die from it?"

The speaker was an old woman squatting to Shen Yu's left, with a brood of chicks in front of her; she was selling chicks.

Shen Yu looked puzzled: "Auntie, why can't these mushrooms be sold? As long as they're non-poisonous, eating them won't cause any problems. Don't any of you eat mushrooms?"

The old woman looked at the three of them; the two children had dirty faces and were dressed very simply, so she concluded that the family must be poor.

In addition, Shen Yu spoke softly and had a decent appearance, which made the old woman feel more favorably toward her, so she was willing to say a few more words to her: "We'll eat, but it has to be mushrooms we recognize! Like the shiitake mushrooms in your basket, and the wood ear and oyster mushrooms from the mountains, we'll eat all of those!"

"But these rare things in your basket, nobody recognizes them, so how could anyone dare to eat them?"

Shen Yu then realized that mushrooms were actually quite rare in this dynasty.

The mushrooms in her basket are all rare and precious, not only highly nutritious but also incredibly delicious!

These mushrooms are already rare and very difficult to collect, but it's surprising that the people here don't even recognize them, let alone have tasted them.

To Shen Yu's right was an old man selling vegetables. He stroked his beard and earnestly advised, "Little girl, listen to my advice, you should hurry home!"

"The Li family, the richest family in town, suffered from mushroom poisoning a few years ago. The whole family vomited and had diarrhea, and two servants even died. Ever since then, the Li family has been extremely averse to mushrooms."

"If the Li family sees you selling so openly here, you're likely to get into trouble!"

Shen Yu's heart skipped a beat, and she thought to herself: Is that so?

She really had no idea.

Even if the Li family doesn't eat or buy mushrooms, does that mean they can't allow other families in town to eat them?

Just then, Li Erlang tugged at Shen Yu's sleeve and gestured with his eyes towards the front, indicating that there were three people patrolling the stalls.

Shen Yu glanced at Li Erlang with some surprise, not expecting that he could see the unusual nature of these three people.

Ordinary people mostly wore coarse cloth clothes, and those with worse financial situations could only wear hemp clothes.

These three people, though dressed in cloth, wore fine satin in a bright indigo color, attracting the attention of all the vendors in the market as soon as they appeared.

"Grandpa! Come and see my fruits and vegetables, they're so fresh!"

"Grandpa, my vegetables are freshly picked, they're still very tender!"

"Sir, would you like to buy a chicken? This chicken is plump and big!"

"Grandpa, look at our newly harvested Wuchang rice!"

"Sir, please try some tofu I made myself..."

In no time, shouts and calls of vendors echoed from one end of the street to the other, creating a lively atmosphere.

Shen Yu also shouted at the top of her lungs, "Come and take a look! My wild mushrooms are non-toxic, harmless, and nutritious. Eating them can greatly improve your health!"

Her voice was clear and gentle, quite different from the rough voices of the surrounding vendors.

What's more, she's selling mushrooms that other people wouldn't dare touch!

In an instant, all eyes in the market turned to her.