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

But going out also became a problem. If she went out, the two people would definitely be alert and discover her immediately... For a moment, she couldn't think of any other good ideas, so she could only sit and wait in the space.

She would sneak out when the people were at their most tired.

Finally, she got her chance. As soon as she left the space, the people there noticed her. She quickly returned to the space, and the two people came over to check again. Finding no one there, they became even more vigilant.

Du Mingxian cursed in the space. She couldn't go out, nor could she hide in the space forever. Dawn would be the time she and the old woman had agreed to do business.

Getting anxious won't help.

She watched until dawn, and when she noticed a maid coming, the two women had already quietly concealed themselves and were no longer visible.

She was speechless.

Watching the maids bustling in and out, it was clear that they were spoiling this young lady rotten.

She waited and waited but no opportunity came, so she could only continue to wait.

Finally... around noon, when it was the hottest time of the day, there were fewer maids moving around in the courtyard. Du Mingxian seized the opportunity to slip out of the space and immediately ran outside at her fastest speed.

As soon as she climbed over the courtyard wall, she felt a strong gust of wind behind her. She immediately flashed into her spatial dimension and saw two people rushing towards her. They were the two men in black from the previous night.

They all covered their faces, were agile, and highly vigilant.

This is too difficult to deal with.

After the two came out and searched around, they didn't see anyone, so they could only go back with doubts, thinking that they had encountered a master who was more skilled than them.

After everyone left, Du Mingxian changed her clothes in her spatial dimension, dressed up, and took the strawberries and grapes she had prepared beforehand. She then went around to the front to meet up with the old woman.

The old woman came out early last time, thinking the other party would come in from outside the city. Today she deliberately came out a little later, but... she still waited in vain.

She was starting to doubt her life, wondering if the other person would ever come, when she saw Du Mingxian slowly walking towards her from a distance, carrying that familiar basket.

"Oh my, my dear sister, you've finally arrived! I've been waiting for you for ages."

Du Mingxian yawned. "That's because you came out too early, but we have new stock today."

The old woman's eyes lit up. "Take a look."

Du Mingxian opened the basket, inside was a bowl of strawberries and a bunch of grapes. "See these grapes? Try some first."

She handed the two grapes she had prepared to the old woman.

After the old woman put it in her mouth, her eyes lit up with an alarming gleam. "How much is this? Still three taels?"

"No, no, no, this will cost six ounces."

"Hey girl, are you trying to rip me off? Why are you raising prices so drastically? You're asking for this much right off the bat."

"No, there really are this many, because these are even rarer than strawberries."

Du Mingxian didn't explain how rare it was, and simply said, "If you think it's expensive, then don't buy this, just take the strawberries. I won't force you to buy it."

The old woman gritted her teeth and said, "I'll buy them all."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll cheat you?"

"Didn't you say everything was good?"

"Of course, would I lie to you? Besides, this isn't a one-off deal."

After the old woman bought the things, Du Mingxian took the money and was about to go home to sleep when the old woman stopped her, saying, "Wait for me a moment. I'll take the things inside first and then come out to find you."

"What's up?"

"A little, wait for me."

Du Mingxian waited, and soon the old woman came out and enthusiastically pulled Du Mingxian toward the teahouse. At the teahouse, they ordered a pot of tea and two plates of snacks.

“Young lady, my young lady is very picky. With the fruit you sold me, I can finally have some say in the yard. I don’t have to do any work; all I have to do is buy the fruit.”

"That's simple? You're amazing."

"It's all thanks to you, sister, so I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you and find out how long you can keep delivering fruit so I can be mentally prepared."

"Well... everything has its growing season, but it's not impossible to eat it all year round, it's just that different kinds of fruit are different."

The old woman grabbed Du Mingxian's hand as if she had seen a savior. "Sister, you must have been sent by God to save me. You must send me anything good in the future!"

"Well... I originally planned to stop after this month."

"No way! As long as you sell, you'll make money. Do you have a grudge against money?"

Du Mingxian looked at the old woman and then sighed, "In order to do this business with you, I can't even hear the gossip in our village anymore. My greatest pleasure in life is eating and listening to gossip."

"Now that one thing is missing, how can I be happy to do business with you?"

To calm her down, the old woman quickly said, "Don't worry, don't worry, what's the big deal? I'll tell you some gossip, there's plenty of gossip out there."

"Really? Then tell me about it. I have a particular interest in gossip, and I like to hear about people I know. If you tell me about someone I don't know, I'm not that interested."

"Chengcheng, let me tell you about our young lady."

Du Mingxian covered her mouth in shock, then deliberately lowered her voice, "Does your young lady have any gossip she can tell me?"

"There are many more, but you mustn't tell anyone about these gossips I'm telling you, or it will damage our young lady's reputation."

"Don't worry, don't worry. Although I know your young lady, I am just a commoner. How could I dare to go against the future Crown Princess? I've heard that the Crown Princess is very powerful. Even the daughters of officials have to be three points inferior to her."

The old woman had a proud expression on her face. "Of course! Our young lady is amazing. You might not believe it, but I feel that sometimes even our master has to listen to her every word."

"Oh? Really? Your master really spoils your young lady."

"That's right. Our young lady has lived away from home since she was little, and the master always felt that he owed her something, so he has been trying to make up for it in the past few years since he came back."

"Then your young lady's daily expenses must be very high."

"Of course! Our young lady uses several ounces of bird's nest for rinsing her mouth, and that's just for rinsing."

Du Mingxian was utterly shocked. This time, her shock wasn't feigned; it was genuine. "For rinsing your mouth?"

"Yes, everything our young lady uses is of the best quality, no one can compare."

Du Mingxian said nothing more, only offering compliments.

"Let me tell you, our young lady is very generous. When she's in a good mood, we servants can receive a lot of tips. People in other courtyards envy us."

"As a woman myself, I must say your young lady has such a good life." She feigned surprise and asked, "Isn't your master a scholar? Does a scholar earn a lot of money?"

The old woman shook her head. "It's alright. The master's disciples do send over some things from time to time, but they don't send money."

"What about the expenses of your household..."

“Our lady paid for it. I didn’t know that, did I? Our lady is a virtuous woman. Although she is Miss’s stepmother, she is very good to Miss. Everything in Miss’s courtyard is paid for by our lady.”

"However, the madam will give the money directly and will not make the purchases for the young lady."

Du Mingxian rolled her eyes speechlessly, "Your wife is really magnanimous."

"Everyone says so, that my wife is very generous."

"Are the other illegitimate sons and daughters in your household also treated very well?"

The old woman frowned. "Generally speaking, they are all illegitimate children. How can they be as precious as our young lady, the legitimate daughter?"

Shit.

After chatting with the old woman for a few moments, Du Mingxian quickly wrote a note after leaving, instructing Qiu Shu to thoroughly investigate Madam Tian's family background. Then, she sent a pigeon with the things to fly away.

She didn't plan to venture into the Tian family's territory anymore; the experts there were too formidable. However, she intended to send a letter to the Crown Prince explaining the situation and see if he had any suggestions.

She wrote the letter that very evening and sent it out through official channels as quickly as possible the next day.

For the next few days, Du Mingxian didn't dare to go to the Tian residence again. Instead, she took Dong Shi and Dong Chengbao and wandered around the city, inquiring about the whereabouts of the heir apparent, Prince Ming, and others from time to time.

Half a month has passed since she arrived in the prefectural city. Dong Shi now feels a deep sense of powerlessness regarding her previous hatred. She is just an ordinary person and is too insignificant. Finding the murderer is too difficult, too difficult.

Du Mingxian clearly sensed that Dong was not in a good state, so she sat down and had a deep talk with her that day. Dong recounted her helplessness and finally expressed her feelings.

“Madam cares a lot about my affairs, but we are just ordinary people and can’t do that much. If doing these things would be dangerous for Madam, I would rather give up. I believe Hongguo will understand me.”

"Things haven't reached the final stage yet, so there's still no way to know for sure. Don't worry."

“I knew that Madam went out that night and didn’t come back.”

Du Mingxian was somewhat embarrassed. The Tian family's secret guards were too powerful. What could she do? She was simply outmatched and could only wait it out.

"There are some things I can't explain to you right now, but I will keep Hongguo in mind and will do my best to avenge her."

"Thank you, miss."

After kneeling on the ground and kowtowing, Madam Dong took out two pieces of paper from her bosom, on which were written contracts of indenture, and pressed her fingerprints on them.

Du Mingxian took the document and saw that both Madam Dong and Dong Chengbao were there. She looked at Madam Dong.

“I’ve thought it over carefully. If I, the Dong family, have no one else, and I sell myself into slavery, even if Madam is willing to support Chengbao, it will only make his status more awkward. It would be better if we, grandfather and grandson, both sold ourselves into slavery.”

"Madam is kind-hearted. I believe that as long as we do our job well, Madam will definitely treat Chengbao well."

Du Mingxian asked her solemnly, "Have you thought this through? You didn't sell yourself into slavery during the most difficult times, so you don't have to be a slave now."

“I’ve thought it through. The fact that Madam is willing to go to great lengths for Hongguo’s sake proves that Madam is kind-hearted. Only if I sell myself into slavery will Hongtao do things properly for Madam.”

Knowing she was a sensible person, Du Mingxian stopped asking questions. "Before I take your indenture, I want to tell you that the people around me can be a little stupid, but they cannot be disloyal."

"Yes."

"Alright, I'll accept it. As long as you have no ulterior motives, I'll help you train Chengbao properly."

"Thank you, Madam." Madam Dong was very happy. If Madam said she would nurture him, then she would definitely nurture him well.

Du Mingxian reached out and helped her up. "We're still in the prefectural city, so let's call her Auntie."

"In public, I am a lady; in private, I am a lady, and I am an old servant."

Du Mingxian dressed her in casual clothes.

Two more days passed before Qiu Shu returned, bringing shocking news: Madam Tian's family had been involved in illegal activities.

"The Lu family handled this matter very discreetly. If I hadn't happened to be there that day and followed that lead, I would have missed it."

Du Mingxian's hands were trembling. "Did you...did you tell the adults about this?"

"I went back overnight to tell the master, and the master told me to come to the madam's place. The master did not tell me what to do."

Du Mingxian forced herself to calm down. The Lu family's public businesses were not profitable; behind the scenes, they were involved in human trafficking, which was legal in ancient times.

The only thing that was unacceptable was that the Lu family sold all the servants they had bought to the Tavas.

The Tapa people live to the north of Da Shun. Due to their poor location and harsh living environment, they live a wild and untamed life, sometimes even cannibalizing each other. When they are extremely hungry, they may even eat human flesh.

In my past life, before I died, I would always receive news that the north was unstable, which must be the work of the Ghava people.

The Dharma is tall, strong, and quite violent.

News came back saying that the people in the north were suffering terribly.

What is the Lu family planning to do by sending so many people to the temple? And why are they all women?

woman.

Reproduction, food.

Du Mingxian felt her heart being clenched tightly. If she were to calculate carefully, and she died more than 20 years later, then the women of Da Shun who were sold off would be having a lot of children there.

These children, once nurtured, become a formidable force.

She reached up and tapped her head, realizing she was overthinking things and shouldn't keep thinking like that.

It wasn't that Da Shun was unwilling to trade with other countries. He allowed trade with friendly neighboring countries, but prohibited it from doing so with unfriendly ones. For example, Dharma was the first country to prohibit trade with them.

The Tharvas don't pay for things; sometimes they just rob people.

They took back the goods to use, and the people to eat.

Because of this, Da Shun is extremely wary of the Dharma.

Moreover, the border between the Dharva and Da Shun is not within the territory of the Ming King, yet the person who cooperated with the Dharva appeared in the territory of the Ming King. Is this a coincidence?

The Crown Prince's wife, the Tian family, Madam Tian, ​​and the Lu family may seem unrelated at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they are all connected.

"You've worked hard these past two days. Find a place to rest first. You don't need to do anything else for now. Go back to your master's side."

Qiu Shu hesitated for a moment, "But when I came here, the master instructed me to stay by the lady's side and protect her safety."

Du Mingxian was speechless. Did Ling Silang really treat her like a child? "Alright, you stay here for now. I might have to go back for a couple of days."

"Yes."

"Go down now, I'll let you know when I get back."

"Yes."

Qiu Shu left, but Du Mingxian's mind just wouldn't stop racing. The Da Fan people who colluded with the Second Prince were despicable, but at least they were human; they just used some underhanded tricks.

But the Dharani is different; it can be called... Yama, or it's not even human.

She paced back and forth in the room, but couldn't come up with a good solution.