Three days later, the official slave auction in the capital.
The originally graceful and elegant Mrs. Yu's back was already much more hunched now. The heavy shackles made her walk more slowly. Along with Mrs. Zhao, she supported old Ancestor, Mrs. Song, whose hair had changed from the original gray to all white in one month. The eldest daughter of the second branch who had been abandoned by her husband family, Xiao Lin Ru followed behind the three of them. The four of them trudged among the ranks of official slaves.
Although their heads weren't raised, they could still feel the gazes of the dignitaries in the auction house falling on them. Thinking how she used to be the one sitting there, Mrs. Yu felt so embarrassed that she couldn't even raise her head. .
"This auction of official slaves has officially started. First of all, the female family members of the criminal Liu Family." At the official slave auction, the small official in charge of this auction sang loudly: "There are three official slaves from the criminal Liu Family. The starting price is 500 liang!"
The first to be auctioned were General Liu Wei's female family members. Because General Liu Wei was involved in the conspiracy of General Han in the past, he was charged with serious crimes. Liu Family had been punished to the extent of nine clans.
How can anyone dare to have anything to do with Liu Family now? That was why none of the three remaining Liu Family's female family members's previous connections came out to redeem them. In the end, they were bought back by an unknown small businessman.
The official slave auction was going on in an orderly manner. You Jin was sitting in the seat arranged by the auction. Searching the group of official slaves intently, she asked in a hushed voice to Leader Guard Xiao who was standing beside her: "Leader Guard, do you see them?"
She had never met anyone from Xiao Family. Now she could only rely on Leader Guard Xiao to identify them.
Guard Chief Xiao half-squinted his eyes and searched for the familiar figures in the group of official slaves who were only a few meters away from him. A moment later, he pinpointed them and replied in a whispered excited voice: "I found them. Standing on the left side. It's the woman in the green dress and the three people beside her."
Following the gaze of Leader Guard Xiao, she saw two middle-aged women supporting an old woman with white hair. The one Leader Guard mentioned int he green dress was Xiao Family's Eldest Miss. The four of them were all unkempt with red wounds on the backs of their hands outside their sleeves. They must have suffered a lot in prison. You Jin retrieved her gaze and nodded slightly: "I see."
The official slave auction progressed very quickly. Soon it was the turn of the female family members of Xiao Family.
"The criminals are four female family members of Xiao Family. The starting price is 500 liang!" The little official gave the price.
"Five hundred liang!" As soon as the little official finished speaking, someone started bidding. You Jin followed the voice and saw that it was a young married woman with a ponytail. She looked elegant and quiet.
You Jin was a little puzzled and turned to Leader Guard Xiao: "That is?"
Was it someone who was on good terms with Xiao Family? But her gaze didn't look like it!
Leader Guard Xiao also spotted the woman. Although she was a bit unfamiliar, he recognized her and urged: "Miss, quickly bid! I will explained the entangleent to you later." Xiao Family and that person's feud can't be clearly explained in a few words. The most urgent thing now was to redeem the masters of Xiao Family. If Eldest Miss buys them back, he believed that this was the best way out for the masters. What will happen if they fall into the hands of others? It was hard to say.
Mrs. Yu also noticed the first bidder. That person noticed her looking at her and shot back a smug look, as if saying that you actually had the day to fall into her hands.
Just when Bai Ya-er thought that she could avenge the grudge from back then, another bidder stepped in: "Six hundred liang!"
People on both sides immediately looked at the bidder and discovered that it was a girl wearing a blue veiled hat and a brocade jacket skirt of the same color. One couldn't see her face clearly.
Bai Ya-er didn't expect the fallen Xiao Family to have someone willing to be their Cheng Yao Jin. Fury grasped her heart and she glared fiercely at the girl in blue who was sitting directly opposite the auction site. She signaled her servants to bid: "Six hundred and fifty liang!"
Unexpectedly, the girl who didn't show her face turned out to be rich and powerful and directly raised the price to 1,000 liang. This made Bai Ya-er grind her teeth in fury: "What is the origin of that person? She doesn't want those official slaves and has to snatch from me!"
Although she was mad, she still didn't want to give up. If it wasn't for Xiao Family's obstruction, how could she be kicked out of the family by Grandfather? How could the talented husband be turned away by Grandfather? As soon as she thought of Husband returning home drunk and then blamed her for being unable to let him learn under Grandfather, Bai Ya-er held this grudge toward Xiao Family. She needed to vent her resentment.
"One thousand one hundred liang!"
The little official was a little startled. He thought Xiao Family was just a businessman's family with a fifth-rank civil official. Never thought that there was a good friend who was willing to bid for their female relatives and it would reach over a thousand liang! One must know that the other female relatives of the criminal minister's family were almost all bought at a one-off price.
While this bidding was still ongoing. This time, the extremely wealthy You Jin continued to raise the price again. She signaled to Leader Guard Xiao to bid: "1,500 liang!"
It was already three times the starting price.
The female family members of Xiao Family quietly raised their eyes and looked over and found the girl was wearing a veil hat and her face couldn't be seen. Though they were a bit puzzled, they were also relieved. Seeing the person next to the girl and recognizing him, there was a flash of strangeness.
"Two thousand liang!" Bai Ya-er felt that her silver teeth were about to shatter and squeezed out the highest price she could accept from the gap between her teeth.
Although Bai Ya-er can only accept the price of two thousand liang, the rich and powerful Miss Su came to the auction with nearly twenty thousand liang silver in her pocket. It was only a fraction of the silver on her. What's so great about it? Hearing Bai Ya-er latching on and persisted on bidding, You Jin accepted her challenge without hesitation and continued to bid: "Two thousand five hundred liang."
Bai Ya-er hated Xiao Family as well as the Cheng Yao Jin, who popped up out of nowhere. She gave up the bidding after a heavy 'humph'. Although Bai Ya-er was infuriated, she was someone who was kicked out of family and married an eighth-rank civil servant. Although her mother prepared a fairly generous dowry for her, it couldn't stand this kind of handling. She hadn't reached the point of being blinded by hate.
The little official waited for quite a while. Seeing that she wouldn't bid any more, he slammed the hammer and settled the deal at a price of 2,500 liang.
Then someone untied the shackles tightly locked on the four members of Xiao Family. You Jin and Qiu Fen quickly supported the faltering Mrs. Yu and Mrs. Zhao. Xiao Lin Ru was still in good spirits. She supported old Ancestor at once and thanked You Jin with her eyes.
"This isn't a place to talk. Let's get out here first." You Jin looked at Leader Guard Xiao, who had paid the money and then brought back the four-member official slave contract of Xiao Family, and motioned everyone to leave first.
Leader Guard Xiao nodded. Because of the difference between men and women, he stood two steps away from the group. He led them out of the official slave auction. They got into Su Family's carriage and went back to Sujiacha shop. In the shop, Manager Wu's family had already prepared clean clothes to change into and hot water and waited for You Jin to bring people back.
On the other side, Bai Ya-er watched everyone in Xiao Family followed behind the girl who hadn't shown her face from the beginning to the end. She winked at the female attendant next to her: "Find someone to follow them. I want to see who the hell snatched people from me."
Some meddlesome people who knew about the grievances between Xiao and Bai's family came to make Bai Ya-er to seek enjoyment: "Mrs. Xu is truly kind. Due to Xiao Family, you were kicked out of the family by old Master Bai. Today, you help Xiao Family when they are in trouble. You really don't hold grudges!"
Uttering these words full of disdain and ridicule towards Bai Ya-er, they had complacent expressions.
Bai Ya-er's beautiful eyes squinted at that person. A sneering smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She ignored her and left with the maid beside her.
Feeling her face was dropped in front of her companions, that married woman glared fiercely at Bai Ya-er's departing back. In a voice that wasn't too loud but enough for Bai Ya-er to hear clearly: "It's just a corrupt literati family style who made a privately set her own marriage with a low-level civil servant's illegitimate son and then got kicked out of Bai Family. She still thinks she's up high Bai Family's Eldest Miss!"
Her voice was slightly shrill. Not only Bai Ya-er who was about to leave heard it, but also the people within ten steps nearby. When those people heard the woman's words, their indistinct eyes fell on Bai Ya-er. All of those meaningful gazes made Bai Ya-er feel ashamed and hated Xiao Family even more in her heart. If their family didn't make such a big fuss, how could she lose face like this today?
"Every injustice has its perpetrator, every debt has its debtor. Don't think I would let you go after Cheng Yao Jin's interference!" Sitting in the carriage, Bai Ya-er's jade face was slightly flushed. Don't know whether it was from anger or embarrassment. Recalling the scene at the auction, she wished she could skin that gossipy woman and those lowly people from Xiao Family alive. Kneeling behind Bai Ya-er, the little maid who carefully kneaded her shoulders was frightened by her unknown side and trembled for no reason. Then the expected slap directly swung over: "Useless thing that doesn't know light or heavy!"
The little maid remained kneeling in the same place with her hands trembling slightly. It was obviously not the first time she was beaten. Still, she didn't dare to say anything.
***
The injustice perpetrator and debt owner Xiao Family's group had already boarded Su Family's carriage and returned to the courtyard behind Sujiacha's shop on Zhuque Main Street to temporarily settle down. Naturally, they didn't know that after they left, such a wonderful drama played out in the auction house.
"Let's take the nobles to take a bath and change clothes first!" The carriage returned to the backyard of Sujiacha. You Jin, who had already taken off her veil hat, ordered Qiu Fen to take the people to wash up and change clothes. Then she turned to Mrs. Yu who was beside her, " I know Madam has something to ask. We have plenty of time now. You madams have suffered a lot recently. Why don't we wait until after the bath, changing clothes, and dinner before we can talk in detail?"
Mrs. Yu nodded slightly. Although she didn't know this unfamiliar little girl, she had some doubts. She could see that the little girl had no malice toward her: "Then we'll trouble Miss."
"Madam, you are too polite."
When the members of Xiao Family went to bathe and change clothes, the kitchen was busy preparing meals. Once the female family members of Xiao Family washed up and came out in clean and comfortable new clothes, the steaming yam and shredded chicken congee and a few light dishes were served.
"Thinking how you madams haven't eaten well these days, I'm afraid that if you eat too much oil all of a sudden, you won't be able to digest it and harm your body instead." You Jin took the shredded chicken congee handed over by Qiu Fen and first passed it with both hands to the front of the oldest, Mrs. Song: "This congee is soft. Old Madam, how about trying it?"
Mrs. Song picked up the white porcelain bowl with a smile and tasted it a little. It was indeed soft and delicious. Smiling, she put down the spoon and nodded with satisfaction: "Good child, you are thoughtful."
"Old Madam overpraise me." You Jin generously replied. Although Mrs. Yu and the others were puzzled in their hearts, they didn't say much. Xiao Family's women's first meal after being rescued passed quietly.
Half an hour later, Qiu Fen and Manager Wu quickly removed all the leftovers from the table and quickly prepared a pot of sweet-scented osmanthus oolong for everyone to get rid of the grease. Then they left the space for Eldest Miss and everyone in Xiao Family to discuss.