The concubine, a former cannon fodder, becomes pregnant, and the childless prince spoils her rotten.

Erniu is honest and kind, and he always knows how to behave properly. How could he have kidnapped a pretty girl from outside?

"Erniu brought home a wife from outside, why are you afraid she'll be snatched away? Why are you tied up like this? It breaks my heart to see you like this."

The man who spoke was a notorious scoundrel in the village. At this moment, he looked at Lin Zhizhi with lustful eyes, his thoughts written all over his face.

Erniu ignored him, with the mother and daughter following behind him. He didn't want Lin Shangya to hear anything she shouldn't.

They might then mistakenly believe he's the same as such a scoundrel and refuse to associate with him anymore.

In Erniu's eyes, Lin Shangya was an exceptional person, completely different from the others in the village.

Lin Zhizhi blinked, but seeing no one willing to help her, she stopped making a fuss.

Some people around were watching the spectacle, others found it novel and interesting, and still others were amazed by Lin Zhizhi's appearance, thinking that the woman from the capital was indeed beautiful.

There were also some with ill intentions who thought Lin Zhizhi was Erniu's wife and wanted to do something to him while he was away working.

They didn't even try to help her escape, nor did they show any reluctance.

This village is comparable to a no-man's-land on the outskirts of the capital, a melting pot of all sorts of people, and probably harboring some wicked villains.

Seeing that Lin Zhizhi no longer resisted, Lin Shangya thought she was scared and felt quite pleased with herself.

Even if Lin Zhizhi is very beautiful and the prince likes her, what good is it?

Erniu was still devoted to her and not bewitched by Lin Zhizhi's seductive appearance.

At this moment, Lin Shangya felt that she was better than Lin Zhizhi, and she felt extremely comfortable, with a smile on her face.

But that smile froze completely when he returned to his aunt's house.

"You little slut, you went out again to seduce men? And you're back so late? Don't forget your place. Do you really think I don't know what you were doing in the capital? Do you really think you can rise to the top and become a phoenix?"

Her second aunt happened to bump into Lin Shangya while she was selling tofu. She was trying to go shopping with her former best friend, and behind her was a handsome man dressed in brocade, who looked like a prominent young master from the capital.

How could she not know what Lin Shangya was thinking?

He had been holding his anger in until now, and seeing that she came back so late, he couldn't help but scold her a few more times.

Only after he finished speaking did he notice Erniu bringing in a girl he didn't recognize.

"Aunt Li's words are really rude." Erniu was a little unhappy, but he was not good with words and didn't know how to refute her, so he could only say this one sentence in the end.

Lin Shangya's second aunt was also a little embarrassed. "Erniu, what brings you here today? And why did you bring a woman back? Is something good about to happen?"

She could tell to some extent that Erniu liked Lin Shangya.

Seeing that Erniu had found someone even prettier, she felt a little bitter, but it was still better than that able-bodied man always thinking about the wife she had found for her son.

Their attitude was much warmer than before, and they asked again, "When are you having the banquet? Auntie, come and help."

"Auntie, you've misunderstood. I bought this in town and just wanted to ask if you wanted it."

While they were talking, Lin Shangya went into the house and brought her cousin out. She gave him two pieces of candy and coaxed him to go find Lin Zhizhi to be his wife.

Lin Shangya's second aunt was in a dilemma. She looked Lin Zhizhi up and down. "She looks healthy, but her face is so pale. She looks like she's sick. And she's too beautiful. Erniu, you know what's wrong with my child. It's impossible to keep such a beautiful wife."

Following Cheng Huilan's previous instructions, Erniu stammered, "It's a rare opportunity like this. If we don't buy it now, we won't have another chance."

Her second aunt hesitated for a moment, muttering as she weighed the pros and cons, "I want to find someone reliable and hardworking, like..." Lin Shangya, but she couldn't say this to Erniu.

Erniu clearly has feelings for Lin Shangya. If she tells Erniu her intentions and angers him so much that he elopes with Lin Shangya, then she will truly lose what she has in her grasp.

Cheng Huilan advised from the side, "Sister, if you take her to the government office and register her as a slave, you'll have a contract of indenture, so she can't run away even if she wants to. It won't cost much money, and she can not only serve our nephew, but also you. You won't have to do the laundry and cooking yourself anymore."

"Our family is just an ordinary one, how could we afford to buy slaves? We'd have to feed another mouth to feed."

When this was mentioned, her second aunt's tone became unfriendly. If it weren't for having to feed and care for Lin Yue's entire family these past few days, her money wouldn't have been spent so quickly.

This is all because Lin Shangya will marry into their family in the future; otherwise, why would she keep this family around for so long?

When we ask them to do chores, they either break things or complain of aches and pains, which just makes us angry.

Lin Zhizhi watched as they discussed how to deal with her, her gaze sweeping over the group.

There are too many residents here; if she tries to escape, a group of people will likely come out to chase her.

It's likely that Lin Shangya brought her back because she knew she couldn't run away once she entered the village.

She had made a blatant walk around just now to make sure the villagers recognized her face, so that she wouldn't actually escape back to the city when no one was looking.

Lin Shangya had many schemes, and still harbored resentment over being kicked out of the mansion. She felt that all the suffering she had endured during this time was because of Lin Zhizhi.

She concealed the resentment in her eyes, watching the mentally challenged man beside her stare at Lin Zhizhi with shining eyes.

Just as she had said, he tightly gripped Lin Zhizhi's arm, "Mother, wife, my, wife..."

Lin Shangya was secretly pleased; this fool didn't even know what "wife" meant.

He thought it was like her, always coaxing him, just having another playmate.

Lin Zhizhi remained calm, not finding anything wrong with being fought over.

This made Lin Shangya feel that the humiliation she had suffered in the past few days was completely insignificant to Lin Zhizhi.

He was immediately overcome with emotion and wanted to confront Lin Zhizhi, asking her if she thought that someone would come to rescue her after she had fallen to this state.

Seeing that her son really liked it, Lin Shangya's second aunt asked hesitantly, "How much?"

"Five taels of silver." Erniu held out a hand. "I've spent so much silver, and it's only because we've been neighbors for years that I haven't been charged a toll."

Cheng Huilan taught her all of this; she had a good idea of ​​how much money her sister's family had.

She probably wouldn't agree to more, and less would just be too good for her.

These words, coming from Erniu, were all the more convincing.

Lin Zhizhi shook her head, making "woo woo woo" sounds as if she wanted to say something.

She kept glancing at Cheng Huilan, as if hoping the other would understand her meaning.

Cheng Huilan pinched her hard from behind and warned in a low voice, "If you do anything reckless, I'll really sell you to a slave trader."

Lin Zhizhi gasped in pain.