In danger, he traveled through time to save her, and the black-bellied prince doted on her

Mu Jinan poured out the gold from the bag, laid it out piece by piece, and counted it:

"Fifty ounces of gold."

Li Yuanyang put on a sour face, touched the gold with his fingertips, picked up a piece, and threw it at Qiqige's feet without any respect.

The sound of the gold falling to the ground was crisp and heavy, reminding her that she had been standing naked in the snow for a long time and her body had been seen by dozens of men.

The man's evil eyes appeared in her mind, soaking into her bones and blood, torturing every inch of her skin.

The eyes of those people seemed to drill into her eyes and merge with her moon-like eyes. The innocence was stained with filth and turned into a dark spot, becoming a pitch-black pupil, as if they were not beautiful eyes, but eyes of darkness and despair.

Recently she has been avoiding Gu Wenxuan. She is no longer qualified to get close to such a fair and white young man. Before redeeming herself, she doesn't even have the right to look King Xi in the face.

She just smiled, lowered her eyes, bent down, pinched the golden light with her white and tender fingertips, picked it up, and walked silently.

She raised her arms above her head, knelt down in front of Li Yuanyang, and dropped the heavy gold into his palm like a breeze. The girl lay down with her forehead on the ground.

The cold wind from outside the tent seeped into the soles of her shoes with holes. She tensed her feet, wearing ragged, thin clothes with wrinkled and faded cuffs, which drooped under her precious brocade shirt with a gold-thread wolf pattern and deep pine green cloud pattern.

Like dust kneeling between heaven and earth, being blown away by the wind, without any trace of survival, just like the other "dust" in the world, indistinguishable.

Living in pain, committing suicide and becoming a slave to one's clan, redeeming oneself is a luxury.

She had also thought about dying, but Aye died for her, and the princess knelt down three times in the snow and kowtowed. If she died like this, she would be ashamed of them.

Li Yuanyang didn't look directly at Qiqige, his eyes were as cold as snow:

"not enough."

Mu Jinan knew that he was greedy, but the Qiqige people had been slaves for generations, and they were dead slaves. If the king was displeased, he would let her be buried with him when he died, and her blood would also be used in sacrifices to the gods.

Mu Jinan also heard from Alinchu that Qiqige had many scars on her arms, all from the sacrifices.

She was not sold to him, and there was no talk of redeeming herself. From the beginning to the end, it was Qiqige and Asumeng's obsession.

Mu Jinan said, "I am a maid in Nangong Mansion. I have been in the mansion for ten years. I receive a monthly salary, and my food, clothing and accommodation depend on the mansion. My redemption price is only a hundred silver coins."

"Qiqige has served you, but you have never given her a penny, let alone a reward. Five hundred taels of silver is more than enough to redeem her."

"She's just a slave. You won't lose anything if you let her go."

Li Yuanyang pushed the gold onto the carpet again. Every "click, click, click" sound pierced Qiqige's heart. Qiqige lay on the ground with her head half raised.

The two small hands sank into the gold, like mud floating on the bright moon, but the moonlight was like light, shining on everyone's body equally, unlike gold, silver, and copper coins, which divided the powerful and the common people into different levels.

Inside the tent, the only sound was her picking up the gold, arranging it piece by piece and placing it on the table; but there seemed to be no sound at all.

She had served King Xi for a long time and acted cautiously, and every extraneous sound would turn into a slap and five finger marks on her cheek.

"Snapped."

Without any warning, the sound stretched out and echoed across the grassland.

The girl staggered to the ground, her head pressed against the ground, her cheeks covered in blood, and she didn't dare touch the wound.

Mu Jinan stopped and grabbed the sole of the shoe in Li Yuanyang's hand. She didn't even stare at where he took the sole from: "Li Yuanyang, she didn't do anything wrong, why did you hit her?"

Li Huaijin snatched the silk book from his hand, flipped through it again and again, and then flipped through the dozens of books, letters, and thin papers on his desk for a long time. Every character was clearly visible, but Qiqige's name was not on it.

Li Yuanyang raised his foot to kick Qiqige, but Mu Jinan slapped him in the chest. The young man flew into a rage:

"It's you who led my slave astray, little princess. Are you worried that she might die if she is defeated and flees? Are you making plans for her and helping her escape from slavery?"

"Even if this king dies, she will still be a slave to the next king."

Mu Jinan lowered his body and said, "Li Yuanyang, what do you want in order to let her go?"

Li Yuanyang looked at Li Huaijin, sized him up, turned his head, and traced the wolf pattern embroidered on his clothes with his fingertips:

"I can let her go, but you have to stay."

Li Huaijin rushed over and grabbed his neck: "Are you a ruthless person? Can't you exchange my life-saving grace for a slave?"

"You were tricked by King Chen into going to Mount Li. You were hanging from a thin tree branch by a thin rope. There was a cliff under your feet. I caught you and my knee was badly injured."

Li Yuanyang hated it most when people mentioned his humiliating past. He always pretended to be very carefree in Chang'an, staring:

"So what? Isn't King Chen your uncle? You have to pay for the evil he has done."

Li Huaijin's fingers gradually exerted force, like the rope that had hung him a few years ago, and kept wrapping around Li Yuanyang's neck and tightening it. The thick tree trunk was tightened into a thin branch.

His face was as bright red as a furnace fire, like the raging fire of purgatory, fiercely burning his blood vessels. His eyes were wide open, the whites of his eyes kept shrinking, and his dark pupils were enlarged, like a dead person.

"Cover his mouth."

Alinchu stood behind Li Yuanyang, her fingers like steel needles sewing his mouth tightly. There was no breath of life in his nose or mouth.

"you..."

Li Huaijin held his neck, anger spreading in the boy's eyes: "Let go."

Li Yuanyang nodded. He once again saw the underworld filled with green light and smoke. The King of Hell waved at him and told him, "You have not yet accomplished your mission, so stay alive first."

Li Huaijin loosened his fingers, and Alinchu's hand that was covering Li Yuanyang's nostrils loosened a little, and he took out the silk book from his arms tremblingly.

Mu Jinan snatched it away. There were too many slaves' names on the book, and several red official seals were placed on it, with two or three thin pieces of paper sandwiched in between. She helped Qiqige up.

"Look carefully, it's your name, is it your indenture?"

Qiqige's bruised cheek trembled slightly, and her eyes flashed with tiny lights: "Princess, yes."

Mu Jinan saw that among the densely packed Mongolian names on the silk book, one name was crossed out. Qiqige pointed at her own name, her fingers trembling in the cold wind.

This finger was more difficult than a cicada's revival, and her soul, which had been paralyzed and longed for countless times, was finally redeemed.

Mu Jinan picked up the pen and covered the slave's name with thick ink, fitting it perfectly. While Li Yuanyang was not paying attention, she scribbled on it, but without a bond, it was useless to scribble.

Qiqige took her contract, tore off a corner of the blood-stained signature, and threw it into the fire. Her eyes were blurred and tears as big as beans poured down from her eyes.

Born in the old system, died in the old system, and reborn in the new system.

She knelt in front of Mu Jinan. She was only a teenager and had been working hard for many years. Her palms were calloused from holding wooden barrels when brewing wine. She only dared to hold the girl's white fox fur with her soft fingertips.

The sound was like a broken string. Only she knew that among tens of thousands of slaves, she was the only one who was freed from slavery today.

"Thank you, Princess. I will follow you in life and death."

She kowtowed one after another. Mu Jinan had never thought that she had such great strength, and he could not hold up her sinking body and head.

"Hurry up and get up. If you kowtow again, I will be angry."

The bond in Qiqige's hand was thin and light, but it was like the Yinshan Mountain that had been pressing down on her for many years and she could not climb over it. She had never seen the Yinshan Mountain before. She smiled, but she did not dare to offend King Xi. She put away her smile and kowtowed to Li Yuanyang:

"Thank you, King."

Mu Jinan just understood that the reason why Li Huaijin successfully redeemed her when she first arrived in Chang'an was because he was a member of the royal family and had great power and could compete with the powerful officials of the royal family.

The brothel is located in Pingkangfang, the most prosperous area in Chang'an. Next to it are the residences of the princes and grandchildren of the emperor in Shengyefang. Not far away is the imperial city. How could such an upright, fearless brothel not be protected by powerful officials and other royal family members?

Even the residences of princesses and third-rank officials were not so close to the places of power.

Hu Yulou and Yao Duzhi are just slaves of officials and businessmen, yet they are so unscrupulous that they dare to attack the princess and the general's daughter. I wonder who is behind this?