Chapter 32: Redemption

Inside the low and dim laundry room, several washbasins were lined up, and four maidservants responsible for washing clothes were busy at work.

Wealthy families have many fastidious requirements for clothing; the Liu Family has money but no power, and there are no scholars in the household, so they are even more fastidious.

Clothes are not only changed once a day, but sometimes if they go out once or visit friends and guests, they must change clothes again.

It is not yet past the first lunar month, and the well water drawn is warm at first, but it becomes bone-chillingly cold after only a moment.

No matter how rich the Liu Family is, it is impossible for them to let these laundry maidservants use hot water to wash clothes.

The hands of many laundry maidservants have long been soaked white, and some have even developed chilblains, yet they are still washing clothes without a moment's pause.

They did not even dare to look up when they heard someone walk into the laundry room.

These maidservants are said to be responsible for laundry, but in reality, they do all sorts of miscellaneous chores; naturally, the Liu Family would not keep them for nothing.

Among the many maidservants, they are considered the lowest rank, even lower than the cleaning maidservants.

To rise up, one can only endure slowly; after three or five years, when the masters have a little trust in them, they can then do other things.

"Zhao Yu." Chen Mo recognized his companion from their days of fleeing the famine at a glance; she had not changed much since then, and her figure was still skin and bones.

At most, she had gone from nearly starving to death back then to not starving to death for the time being.

From this, one can see what kind of life she has been living in the Liu Family; it is not even as good as when he was feeding horses before.

Hearing someone call her name, her eyes were filled with numbness; she looked up but clearly did not recognize Chen Mo.

"It's me, your husband Chen Mo; I have come to redeem you." As Chen Mo spoke, he took a waterskin from his Huai; this was the item Zhao Yu had left with him back then.

"Is it you?" She was stunned for a moment, then reacted rapidly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

She had thought about Chen Mo coming to redeem her; after all, it had only been half a year, and she had not yet lost hope.

But she had not thought it would be this fast; in only a short half a year, Chen Mo had actually managed to scrape together the silver, which truly exceeded her expectations.

In reality, ever since she entered the Liu residence, she had sometimes regretted why she had sold herself through a third party instead of selling herself directly.

If sold through a third party, she could be redeemed, but the masters found it hard to trust her, so she could only spend her days washing clothes here.

She had also fantasized that Chen Mo would come to redeem her, letting her change from a Slave to an ordinary commoner.

But the fates of other Slaves would sometimes shake this thought.

Some were sold into the Liu Family by their husbands or brothers, who had also said they would definitely redeem them, but three, five, or even ten years had passed without anyone ever coming.

Some started by sending messages, but gradually the people disappeared without a trace.

Yet she was still unwilling to give up this thought; she believed that Chen Mo, having lived and died with her back then, was definitely not a person who would break his word.

This was the only hope she could grasp; she had to believe this, otherwise she would not have lasted until now.

It was just that she had not thought it could become reality so quickly, that Chen Mo would actually come to redeem her.

She pinched her thigh, and a clear, distinct pain traveled to her mind, which finally allowed her to believe that everything before her was real.

The remaining few laundry maidservants all looked at Zhao Yu with envious and slightly jealous gazes at this moment.

They were all Slaves and maidservants, so why was she able to be redeemed by her husband, while they could only continue to work here day after day?

"Hurry and pack up, come with me." Chen Mo instructed.

"Okay." Zhao Yu nodded in agreement, her heart filled with joy.

No matter what kind of life she leads outside, it is better than being a Slave for others now.

The two did not reminisce too much, and Zhao Yu left in a hurry to pack her things.

They were actually not very close; although the two had lived and died together, the time they spent together added up to less than two months, and they had not even spoken more than a hundred sentences.

However, as for mutual trust, at least now they both held sufficient trust in each other.

Zhao Yu had been able to hand over the money from her sale to Chen Mo almost without reservation back then; it was precisely because of this money that Chen Mo was able to survive and join the army.

And Chen Mo, for the sake of a promise made back then, had tried every possible way to redeem her as soon as possible.

The two were not husband and wife, but the trust between many husbands and wives might not be better than theirs.

Zhao Yu packed very quickly; she had no extra belongings, only two sets of clothes and some money she had carefully saved up.

When they washed clothes, there would sometimes be some loose coins; the maidservants who delivered the clothes would search them once, but sometimes there would be some omissions.

So after such a long time, the money in her hands had not decreased, but even increased, adding up to almost three mace of silver.

These were all carefully saved by her, just so that if she could ever contact Chen Mo, this money could reduce his pressure and make it easier for him to redeem her.

It was just that now it seemed this money might not be needed.

However, after packing everything, she still found an opportunity to quietly stuff the money into Chen Mo's hand.

That Chen Mo could redeem her within half a year truly exceeded her expectations, but she understood even more that this was definitely not an easy task.

If she gave this money to him, he would not have to be constrained if there were places where money was needed later.

As for what to do without money in her hands after she left, she was not very worried about that.

Because she trusted Chen Mo; if he were truly a greedy person, then he would not have come to redeem her.

Chen Mo took the money without saying much, and gently waved his hand to signal Zhao Yu to follow behind him.

Arriving at the front hall, County Lieutenant Li was chatting quite enthusiastically with Liu Wangshi.

"Keep this deed of sale well, so you can take her to change her registration later." Mo Dao handed another deed of sale to Chen Mo, then glanced at the thin and withered Zhao Yu, unable to help but frown slightly.

"And the redemption silver?" Chen Mo asked softly.

Mo Dao shook his head slightly; the Liu Family was nothing but a local landlord, and their foster father wanted to redeem someone.

Even if Liu Wangshi had eaten a tiger's penis, he would not dare to ask them for redemption silver.

"Uncle Li, since the matter here is settled, we will return to the barracks first and not stay here any longer." Mo Dao cupped his hands in salute and asked to leave on the spot.

"Why is my nephew in such a hurry? You must at least stay for a meal." County Lieutenant Li tried to persuade them to stay, but the moment he saw Zhao Yu, he understood everything in his heart.

Zhao Yu was very thin; it could not even be called the thinness of being blown over by the Wind, but rather a withered thinness close to years of toil.

If Chen Mo had not come, it is estimated that in another year or so, Zhao Yu would have been worked to death in the Liu Family.

This was not a big deal; it was just being harsh to Slaves, which almost every family did; this was a small matter.

But that depends on who is being mistreated; if it were an ordinary person, it would naturally be of no consequence, and no one would ask even if they died.

Yet, as luck would have it, the mistreatment fell upon Zhao Yu.

While it is true that Zhao Yu was only barely able to keep his life because of the Liu Family,

Chen Mo would likely no longer be able to sit at the same table and chat happily with Liu Wangshi, even if he did not blame the Liu Family for his own wife being treated this way.

And Mo Dao clearly thought of this, which is why he is now voluntarily asking to leave.

"Then I shall see you off, worthy nephew!" County Lieutenant Li stood up, casting a deep glance at Liu Wangshi as he left.

"Liu Er, get your ass over here!" Liu Wangshi roared.

The steward Liu Er ran all the way to the main hall with his head lowered.

"Didn't I tell you usually? Give those below better food, but you, how did you do it!" Liu Wangshi slammed the table and glared, seemingly venting the anger in his heart.

Liu Er did not speak, but he muttered to himself in his heart that the amount of money spent on the servants' daily food and drink was set by the man himself.

Even if one were to perform magic with the cost of a single steamed bun, it still wouldn't turn into two; though he cursed in his heart, he dared not say a word aloud, only lowering his head honestly to listen to the lecture.

"Go back and double the monthly food budget for the servants, and also prepare a carriage for me, go to Hengyuan Escort Agency to hire a few experts, prepare plenty of silver notes and gold, and also bring me the land deeds for those fifty acres of prime paddy fields we have outside the city."

Liu Wangshi's eyes turned ruthless as he gritted his teeth and gave the order.

He was not sure if General Sun would find out about today's events, or if he would blame him for this matter.

But he could be certain that their Liu Family was now a piece of fat meat that everyone wanted to take a bite of.

If they wanted to avoid being picked clean, they had to give up a piece of meat first.

The Garrison Commander of Xingyuan Prefecture was definitely a high-ranking official; he had never had the opportunity to establish a connection before, but now the opportunity had arrived.

Carrying these things, he would say he was visiting to apologize and seek forgiveness.

As long as he could establish this connection, not only would he no longer have to look at the County Magistrate's face, but his business might even double again.

As for whether it would be shameless to visit and offer gifts to force a connection, if he cared about face, he wouldn't be able to run such a large business.

(End of chapter)