The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"How dare you scheme against me!"

"No, no, no, it wasn't me, it was Du Mingcai, he designed it all."

"Really?" Du Mingxian asked, while pushing the knife forward again.

A slight stinging sensation made the thug's scalp tighten, and he even felt a dampness on his neck. The fear of death made him quickly confess.

“It was Du Mingcheng who told me. Du Mingcai was just following along. They said you were still a virgin and asked me to sell you to the Feng family in the county.”

"The Feng family is rich, but the young master of the Feng family likes beautiful women and has a special hobby. Girls who enter the Feng family's courtyard will be carried out and thrown into a mass grave within a few days."

Du Mingxian nodded slightly. "Special hobby, huh? You only like beautiful women? You don't like men? Or young men?"

"No, I've never heard of it."

Du Mingxian suddenly took out a dark pill and placed it in front of the thug, while simultaneously removing the knife from her hand. "Take this pill."

"What kind of medicine is this?" the thug asked cautiously.

Du Mingxian gave him a cold glare, which startled the thug. He hurriedly grabbed the medicine, closed his eyes, and threw it into his mouth. He didn't even taste it before swallowing it whole.

"This pill will take effect periodically. Without a special antidote, you will die silently, and even the coroner will not be able to determine the cause of your death."

"Don't even think about going to the doctor later, because they'll just tell you you're not poisoned. You can try it if you don't believe me."

The thug didn't dare to risk his health, and besides, he couldn't beat the person in front of him. What if something happened?

Who would have thought that a peasant woman could be so cruel?

"Carry Du Mingcai up and go ahead to wait for me."

The thugs wanted to escape, but dared not. They could only resign themselves to their fate and carry Du Mingcai forward.

A cold glint flashed in Du Mingxian's eyes. She turned and went back into the village. Instead of going into the Du family home, she waited outside. How could she let that old man get away with hitting her today?

She waited outside for a while, glanced at the time, and then heard someone coming towards the back outhouse. Without guessing, she knew it was Old Lady Du.

While most people defecate in the morning or afternoon, Old Lady Du's was rather unusual; she usually defecated at noon. In the past, when she cooked for the Du family, she had to keep track of the time and cook the meal precisely when Old Lady Du finished defecating.

Sometimes, if the timing isn't right, the meal will be on the table, and we'll have to wait for Grandma Du to serve it. If she's not there, Grandpa Du will order everyone to eat. When Grandma Du comes back after everyone has finished eating, she'll get a scolding.

Grandma Du was in a hurry to defecate, so she went straight into the outhouse. Du Mingxian looked at the shaky and flimsy outhouse, gave it a hard push, and the outhouse collapsed.

Grandma Du, who had just squatted down, immediately screamed in surprise.

Before Old Lady Du could see, Du Mingxian had already grabbed a stick and, amidst the chaos, struck Old Lady Du's ankle.

Old Mrs. Du cried out in pain, and then she fell into the outhouse.

Du Mingxian was delighted with this unexpected surprise. After only one glance, she turned and left to see if the thug had behaved himself.

To her surprise, the thug didn't leave. Instead, he waited obediently by the roadside. When he saw her approach, he smiled obsequiously and said, "Big sister."

Du Mingxian looked at the thug in his twenties with disdain, "Carry him and walk."

When the two arrived in town, Du Mingxian paid to hire a horse-drawn carriage, as the oxcart was too slow and would waste time.

The thugs couldn't understand what Du Mingxian was doing, and didn't dare to ask any questions. They could only follow quietly. Du Mingxian herself, to avoid trouble, simply covered her face.

On the way to the county, Du Mingxian glanced at the time and it was a little past three o'clock. Fortunately, there was still enough time.

Upon entering the county, Du Mingxian was somewhat dumbfounded, as she wasn't very familiar with the county's layout. She turned to the hoodlum and asked, "Where is Nanfeng Pavilion?"

The hoodlum shuddered at the mention of Nanfeng Pavilion. "It's just ahead."

"Lead the way, we'll go through the back door."

The more the hoodlum walked, the more regretful he became, and the more distressed he felt. This woman was truly ruthless. When they reached the back door of the Nanfeng Pavilion, the hoodlum could no longer hold on. He threw Du Mingcai to the ground, knelt down, and wept bitterly in repentance.

"I was blind and ignorant. Please forgive me, my lord. I don't want to go to the Nanfeng Pavilion."

Du Mingxian had never really thought of selling thugs along with the criminals, but when she heard about this, her eyes suddenly lit up; it seemed like a good idea.

She stepped forward and kicked one of the thugs. "Alright, go knock on the door."

The scoundrel was unwilling to give up and hurriedly went up to knock on the door.

Soon an old man opened the door, saw their appearance, and asked, "Selling people?"

"Yes."

The old man glanced at Du Mingcai lying on the ground and realized he was a child. "Wait here," he said, then closed the door and hurried inside to report.

The thug was so nervous that cold sweat poured out of his body. He hesitated to speak to Du Mingxian, not daring to utter a single word, and his legs were trembling.

Soon, the door was opened again, and this time the man who came out looked to be around thirty years old. He first glanced at the thug, then at Du Mingcai on the ground, and even took two steps forward to take a closer look.

Du Mingxian wasn't afraid that he wouldn't like her.

Although the Du family members were not good people, they were all decent-looking; none of them were particularly ugly.

The man pointed at Du Mingcai on the ground, "Five taels."

Du Mingxian shook her head, "That won't do. Such a young child, if you raise him carefully and nurture him properly, it's not impossible for him to become a top courtesan. Five taels is too little, and besides, he's not bad-looking."

“You said he’s still a child, and we’ll need to spend a lot of money to nurture him later.”

"Ten taels, no bargaining."

The man shook his head and turned to leave. Du Mingxian didn't stop him, but instead said to one of the thugs, "Carry him up and let's go to the prefectural city."

The scoundrel was startled and dared not object. He hurriedly stepped forward, eager to get to work.

The man had already stepped one foot over the threshold, but seeing that Du Mingxian really didn't intend to sell, he thought for a moment and turned around, "Wait, eight taels."

Before Du Mingxian could even haggle, the man said, "This price is acceptable. He was brought in unconscious, so it's clear he didn't come willingly. I don't know if he's an idiot or not. This is already the highest price I can offer."

After a moment's thought, Du Mingxian nodded, "Alright." Then she pointed to a thug on the side, "Including this, it's all included, ten taels in total."

The man waved his hand dismissively, "We don't accept just anyone here. This person is too old. Even if we tried to train them, we wouldn't be able to train them properly. No thanks."

"He's still young, he can't take on customers, but he can do odd jobs."

"Not good, not good."

Du Mingxian said regretfully, "Then it'll be eight taels."

The man took out eight taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Du Mingxian. "What is your relationship with this person?"

"younger brother."

"Sending your younger brother here? He's definitely not an ordinary person."

Du Mingxian could easily hear the sarcasm in his words. "Your brother is no ordinary person. He conspired with others to sell me to the Feng family. Selling a brother like that to you, giving him a chance to live, is only because I am kind-hearted."

It's definitely not for the money.