The Rebirth of a Daughter: My Lord, I Will Never Be a Concubine

"I wonder how much silver the master needs to get this kind of medicinal material."

Master Wuchan said, "Sir, this has nothing to do with silver. Nowadays, there are very few people selling Kongqing in Lingcheng. If you want to get Kongqing, there is only one place that can buy it."

Nalan Yanyu asked, "Where?"

Master Wuchan replied, "Ghost Market."

After the emperor ascended the throne, he issued an edict ordering the rectification of folk customs and practices, and naturally gambling and begging were severely suppressed. At this time, the ghost market began to develop with an unstoppable force, gathering a large number of beggars and gamblers from the mausoleum city, who traded antiques and items of unknown origin.

The method of transaction was gambling. Many people were beaten to death for betting on body parts in transactions. The imperial court also sent people to suppress it, but they all failed. Over time, the ghost market became a lawless place in Lingcheng.

The opening hours of the ghost market are quite special. It usually opens at midnight and closes at rooster crow. In the half hour when it is open, you will see a bustling underground street with red lanterns hanging on both sides. There is a lingering atmosphere of horror, and pedestrians dressed in black come and go, some in groups, some alone.

One of the short men in black hugged another man in black beside him, his tone not without worry: "Miss, the Ghost Market is a place outside the court's law. Even the Dali Temple can't do anything if something happens. What are we going to do here?"

Su Yanhua remained calm, looking ahead and asking, "Do you still remember the assassination at the foot of Wuhua Mountain?"

Cui'er was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, her face pale and powerless: "Miss, do you suspect that the ghost market wants to kill us?"

"It's not suspicion, it's certainty." Su Yanhua paused as she spoke. Her tone was deep and unfathomable, "The black-clad killers in the Ghost Market all have a blooming red spider lily tattooed on their hands. Although the ink is light black, it's not hard to see."

Cui'er recalled that when she reached out to grab Su Yanhua in the carriage, she caught a glimpse of a beautiful flower carved on the black-clothed man's hand, which made people tremble all over.

"Miss, you are not here to find the murderer, are you?"

The Ghost Market is a dark and dangerous place. Everyone there is an abandoned person by the court. You don’t even know if you can survive if you go in there, so how can you catch the murderer?

"No, to be more precise, I want to know the mastermind behind this evil."

Ever since she woke up from the assassination, she has been guessing who killed her. At present, she is at odds with Xu's mother and daughter and Wang Wanning, but Prime Minister Wang was scolded and demoted by the emperor for selling illegal salt, and Wang Wanning is too busy to take care of herself to be her. Secondly, in her previous life, when she and Su Ruoxi were out for a walk, they encountered bandits. Two men in black fell from the sky and headed towards Su Ruoxi. When she was scared, she grabbed the man in black's hand and begged him to save her, but the result was not satisfactory. They only rescued Su Ruoxi, leaving her alone to resist.

It was then that she saw the pattern on the man in black's hand and realized that Su Ruoxi had an inseparable connection with the Ghost Market. But guesses were still guesses. What made her certain was that when she returned to the Su Mansion and saw Su Ruoxi, she looked panicked and incredulous, as if she had seen a ghost. This expression confirmed her guess.

She came to the ghost market just to know who controlled the ghost market and what was her relationship with Su Ruoxi. Before she came to the ghost market, she had been to Jishitang. Although the owner of Jishitang was young, he knew a lot about Lingcheng.

From him, she learned that transactions in the ghost market are generally divided into three types. The first type is antique versus antique, which is the most common type of gambling. Various treasures of Lingcheng are used as trading. The two parties do not ask the origin of the antiques, but only seek authenticity. If the antiques are not authentic, then they will be subject to the rules of the ghost market.

The second type is the precious medicinal materials of Dayan and some popular things in Lingcheng, such as Kongqing, Lushan Yunwu, and Yanzhizui, which is worth one gram and one tael of gold in the palace. They are all resold in the ghost market and sold at a high price to the wealthy merchants and noble ladies in Lingcheng.

The third type is selling information and fixing murders. Generally, there are more people selling information. These information are not gossips about famous families, but the court's vision. The final fixing of murder, as the name suggests, is to find a buyer and fix the price of a black-clad killer. The black-clad killer has a very low failure rate, so this kind of killing is often priced at a sky-high price.

There is only one buyer in the black market, and that is the person in charge of the black market. If she wants to dig out information, she can only choose the third option.

There is a secret guard on every floor of the black market. The bottom floor is also the most crowded and noisy place. The higher you go, the weirder and quieter the environment becomes, and the more secret guards there are.

When Su Yanhua entered the third floor, the two secret guards in front immediately stopped her.

"Who is coming?"

The black market does not do useless business, so every visitor must reveal his or her identity. Only those with higher status and more money can enter. Of course, the ghost market also keeps the identities of visitors quite confidential.

Su Yanhua took off the badge from her side and showed it to the two of them.

In the dark environment, the secret guards evacuated in an orderly manner and signaled Su Yanhua that she could go in.

To avoid accidents, Su Yanhua asked Cui'er to wait outside and she went in alone.

The room inside was pitch black, she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, and the only sound in the silence was her footsteps. Suddenly, a candle was lit, and the entire appearance of the room was revealed.

There was only one desk, and a man was sitting in front of it. He had a straight figure, and his face was covered by black clothes, which was half dark and half bright, reflecting a strange atmosphere.

Su Yanhua felt a sharp gaze directed at her. She steadied herself and took the initiative: "Are you the Lord of Ghost Market?"

The man replied, "You can see the Lord of the Ghost Market." He looked away and said, "Tell me, who do you want to kill?"

Su Yanhua lowered her eyes. It seemed that the owner of the ghost market did not often circulate in the ghost market.

She raised her eyes and said, "Su Yanhua, the daughter of the Su family."

The man was stunned. He looked at her again with a scrutinizing gaze, his tone somewhat unfathomable: "Hasn't Su Yanhua been murdered by someone who paid a deposit?"

This sentence surprised Su Yanhua. Su Ruoxi had seen this man before when she came to the ghost market to hire a killer, but it was obvious that this man didn't know Su Ruoxi at all. Could it be that her suspicion was wrong, and the person who wanted to kill her was not Su Ruoxi at all?

"It was my young lady Su Ruoxi who came a few days ago, but Su Yanhua returned to the Su Mansion intact. My young lady trusted the Ghost Market and paid a large amount of gold, but what did you do? My young lady also asked me to ask the Ghost Market for an explanation."

"Impossible! That woman was holding the Ghost Lord's badge, and the secret guards they sent out were all carefully trained assassins. How could Su Yanhua possibly escape?" The man paused, his eyes narrowed in alarm. "And that woman never paid a large amount of gold. You're not Su Ruoxi's maid at all. Who are you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Su Yanhua felt a gust of strong wind coming towards her. She dodged it with a sway of her body, then she took the long stick beside her and chopped it fiercely. The man was caught off guard and felt a pain in his shoulder. He raised his sword and stabbed at her. She looked at the sword with a cold expression, her hands expressionless, but she turned to the side and dodged it easily.

The man didn't expect her to dodge so easily. While he was stunned, the woman's long stick attacked his face again. He dodged in a hurry, but when he regained his composure, he could no longer see the woman. He looked at the flickering candlelight and shouted, "Catch up with that woman."

Su Yanhua pulled Cui'er and ran, but after running for a while, Cui'er was exhausted. In order to avoid being caught, Su Yanhua asked Cui'er to run separately. The winding and tortuous construction features of the ghost market made it easy for Su Yanhua to hide.

She hid under the cover of night, her back bent and her waist hunched, while the secret guard behind her shouted, "Stop!"