After the death of the host: the tyrant cried red eyes

Gu Wenyan did not look at the silver immediately, but raised his eyes to look at Shen Bingning, his tone gentle and sincere: "Copying Buddhist scriptures should be done by oneself, and placed in front of the Buddha, to show piety and efficacy. Miss, if you ask me to write for you, doesn't that lose the original purpose of copying the scriptures?"

Shen Bingning confessed: "This Buddhist scripture was not written by me, so it is not pious. It doesn't matter who copied it. Besides, I can't finish it on time, so I asked for your help."

Gu Wenyan was touched by Shen Bingning's frankness, and a gentle smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "Miss, what you said makes sense. In this case, please write a few words first so that I can imitate your handwriting."

Upon hearing this, Shen Bingning picked up a pen and quickly wrote the four characters "gentle and elegant" on the paper, and said with a smile: "Your temperament is just like these four characters, just consider it a small gift from me to you."

Gu Wenyan looked at the four words on the paper that looked a little immature but full of sincerity, and couldn't help but joked: "The girl's handwriting is unique. It's really difficult to imitate it."

Shen Bingning misunderstood his meaning and thought he was going to refuse, so she quickly took out another ingot of silver and said, "Then let me add another ingot of silver. No matter what, please make sure you finish it within three days, and I will come to pick it up then."

Gu Wenyan only accepted one ingot of silver and gently pushed the other ingot back to her. "Ten taels of silver for eighty thousand words is already a sufficient reward."

Shen Bingning only had thirty taels of silver in her hand, and she didn't want to be too extravagant and wasteful, so she took back the extra silver and looked at the poem "Appreciating Peonies" again, "Sir, do you know this poem too?"

Gu Wenyan carefully picked up the piece of rice paper with "Appreciating Peonies" written on it, his eyes sparkling with admiration, "This poem was written by Concubine Shen, especially the last two lines, which vividly depict the grace of the king of peony flowers. I admire it very much."

Shen Bingning was slightly embarrassed after hearing this, and quickly explained: "As far as I know, this poem was not originally written by Concubine Shen, but by a great poet named Liu."

Gu Wenyan nodded in agreement: "Miss, what you said is very true. It is indeed more appropriate for such a masterpiece to come from the hands of the great poet Shen."

Shen Bingning was speechless for a moment. This sudden coincidence surprised her, so she had to end the conversation briefly: "Then I'll leave the copying of the Buddhist scriptures to you. I'll take my leave first."

Leaving the letter writing booth, Qing'er said worriedly, "Miss, what if he takes the money and runs away?"

Shen Bingning shook her head slightly, her expression firm: "He won't."

"Why are you so sure?"

“If he really was a person who was greedy for money, he would have gladly accepted the extra money I gave him just now.

Moreover, his eyes were firm, and he was obviously a man of principle and conviction, who would not do anything treacherous.”

Shen Bingning believes that such people will become great in the future once they have the opportunity to display their talents.

"But……"

Qing'er also wanted to remind people that asking someone to copy Buddhist scriptures on one's behalf is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. Once the matter is exposed, the consequences will be disastrous.

Shen Bingning interrupted Qing'er and said, "Only heaven, earth, you and I know about this matter. As long as we keep our mouths shut, naturally no one will know."

Although she said this, Qing'er still couldn't completely let it go and felt uneasy.

Seeing this, Shen Bingning patted Qing'er's hand and said with a smile: "Don't worry, we still have two silver pieces. Let's go to the market and enjoy this rare free time."

Shen Bingning had only seen ancient markets in those glamorous TV dramas. She thought that the prosperity and bustle depicted in the dramas were somewhat artistically exaggerated. Now that she was in these bustling streets in person, she found that the lively scenes were almost the same as those on the screen, and even had a bit more of the fireworks flavor of real life.

On the street corner, there were several children of varying ages, the youngest no more than four or five years old, and the oldest no more than a teenager. Their hands were tied tightly together with rough hemp ropes. They lowered their heads and leaned helplessly against the mottled wall, as if they were seedlings abandoned in a corner of the world.

Two burly men stood aside with cold eyes, like two stone statues guarding something inviolable.

Shen Bingning asked Qing'er, her personal maid, softly, "Who are they? Why is this happening?"

Qing'er's voice was trembling unnoticeably. She knew that the young lady was kind-hearted and could not bear to see this scene. "Young lady, these are all slaves who have lost their freedom for various reasons."

When the word "slave" was mentioned, Qing'er's eyes dimmed. She thought of the fact that although her young lady was of noble birth, she also had an unknown and sad past, and she felt mixed emotions.

Shen Bingning's gaze fell gently on the youngest of the group of children. There seemed to be a trace of innocence in that child's eyes that had not been erased by life.

“What kind of people become slaves?”

She whispered to herself that the palace life in the past few days had given her a preliminary understanding of this era. Although both slaves and servants had lost their freedom, there was a world of difference between the two.

Servant like Qing'er still has a long life ahead of them. When she turns 25, she can leave the palace and regain her freedom. But slaves are bound by shackles for their entire lives, with no chance of turning over a new leaf.

Qing'er was puzzled as to why the young lady was ignorant of such common sense, but she still patiently explained: "Young lady, many slaves were reduced to slavery because of their family's crimes, and some were sold to others by their parents who were forced to make a living, using their lifelong freedom in exchange for food and clothing for their family."

"I see."

Shen Bingning sighed softly. She didn't know what kind of situation the original owner of this body was in.

Retracting her sympathetic gaze, Shen Bingning pulled Qing'er and slowly left the depressing street corner. Although she was full of sympathy for the children's experiences, she also understood that she was currently powerless to help.

Their backs lengthened in the setting sun, but without knowing when, pairs of greedy eyes had quietly stared at the seemingly weak master and servant.

Tired of shopping, Shen Bingning took the newly bought sugar painting in her hand and licked it gently. The sweet taste spread on the tip of her tongue. She suggested: "Let's go back to Yu Mansion in the east of the city to rest first, and continue shopping tomorrow."

However, when they stepped into a narrow alley, the sight of several men with fierce faces and evil eyes at the entrance of the alley froze their relaxation in an instant.

Shen Bingning's heart was filled with alarm, and she immediately pulled Qing'er to turn back, but when she turned around, she found that the way behind her was also blocked by several people with equally ferocious faces.

Qing'er's face turned pale, and her voice was filled with panic that was difficult to conceal: "Miss, what should we do?"

Being attacked from both sides, Shen Bingning quickly glanced around and found that there was only a bamboo pole leaning against the wall on the left. She grabbed the bamboo pole without hesitation and threw it hard at the two people behind her. Taking advantage of this gap, she pulled Qing'er tightly and rushed towards the only exit.