I was sold when I opened my eyes! My sick and disabled husband comforts me every night after he wake

The maids outside, not knowing what was going on, poked their heads in. Ling Jiawei quickly went over to shoo them away.

"Are you all busy working? Are you really that idle?"

The maids all turned their heads back, their hands busy with their work, but their ears were perked up, waiting to see the excitement in the main hall.

Ling Jiawei quickly stepped forward and closed the door to the main hall before approaching Cui Shi and Ling Laoda. Just as he was about to reach out to pull them away, Lan Zhi stopped him.

"Big brother..."

Ling Jiawei looked at her with a troubled expression.

"Lan Zhi, I'm so sorry. I'll send them back as soon as possible and I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

Lan Zhi stood up from her chair, slowly walked to Cui Shi and Ling Laoda, and said in a deep voice:

"You want silver? Fine, but you're not worth that much. I'll give you five hundred taels at most. If you want it, sign a contract with me. If not, I'll have you thrown out of the Crown Prince's residence right now. You can talk all you want about me. I'm already in this position; do you think I'm afraid of your threats?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Ling tugged at Madam Cui's sleeve and whispered a reminder.

"Alright, five hundred taels isn't a small amount. Quickly agree, quickly agree."

Cui glared at him unhappily and scolded him in a low voice:

"Look at your pathetic self, you think you can get rid of us with five hundred taels of silver?"

At this point, she looked up at Lan Zhi, her eyes darting around as she arrogantly said:

"One thousand taels, not a penny less."

"mother……"

Ling Jiawei was so angry with them that he didn't know what to do, but Lan Zhi nodded without hesitation.

“Alright, one thousand taels it is. Brother, go and call Tang Jun over, and have him draft a contract.”

"Lan Zhi, don't give them the money, I'll take them away now..."

"The Crown Prince's residence is not short of one thousand taels of silver. Go!"

Ling Jiawei hesitated for a moment, then gave a deep "Hi" and strode out of the main hall.

Lan Zhi approached Cui Shi, knelt down, and looked at her with sharp eyes, reminding her word by word.

"You better remember this: I am now the Crown Princess. If I so much as lift a finger, none of you will live a single day longer in the capital. If you know what's good for you, take the money and leave the capital. Otherwise, if you really anger me, not only will I take back the money, but I can't guarantee your lives either."

Cui gritted her teeth, glared at her, and nodded, saying:

"Hmph, don't try to scare us. But we've had enough of this wretched capital. Give us the money sooner and we'll leave sooner."

Lan Zhi felt it was worth buying a few days of peace and quiet for a thousand taels of silver.

A moment later, Tang Jun hurried over with paper and pen. He had barely laid them out when Zhi'er said directly:

"Cui and Ling accepted one thousand taels of silver from me, and from now on they have nothing to do with me. They are not allowed to mention anything about me to outsiders, not even a single word. If they dare to violate the terms of the contract, maliciously slander the Crown Princess, or use the Crown Princess's name to swindle and deceive, then this contract shall serve as evidence to return the one thousand taels of silver and go to Shuntian Prefecture for trial. This document shall serve as proof."

After Tang Jun wrote it down truthfully, he presented it to Cui Shi and Ling Laoda. Cui Shi hesitated for a moment, but still pressed her red fingerprint on it. Ling Laoda, who was eager to get the silver, couldn't wait to sign and seal the contract.

Ah Qi and Xiang Xiu walked in carrying a thousand taels of silver. They glared at Cui Shi and Ling Laoda with annoyance before placing the silver in front of them.

Upon seeing the two plates of gleaming silver, Cui's eyes widened instantly, while Ling Laoda rubbed his hands together, stuffing the silver into his pocket as if afraid that if he was a moment too late, Lan Zhi would snatch it back.

Zhi'er was disdainful of their behavior, and Ling Jiawei also felt ashamed.

Cui and Ling Laoda left with the silver, while Ling Jiawei kept explaining to Zhi'er.

"They've never seen the world before, don't be angry with them, I'll have a good talk with them later."

Lan Zhi waved her hand dismissively.

“The contract has already been signed, so there’s no need to say more. If they can leave with the money, that’s fine. If they refuse to leave, find someone to escort them out of the city.”

Although they were Ling Jiawei's parents, she could give them money to shut them up for Ling Jiawei's sake, but she didn't want to hear anything about them in the capital, and she didn't even want to mention their names again.

“I know, I will keep an eye on them as they leave the capital.”

After Ling Jiawei left, Lan Zhi looked at Xiang Xiu.

"Did you bring my silver bell?"

While she found them annoying, she was actually quite curious about what her biological parents were like.

Xiangxiu shook her head, somewhat embarrassed.

"No, you stayed in that room before you got married. Four or five of us searched the whole place, but we couldn't find it."

"what?"

Lan Zhi stared at her in astonishment.

"Couldn't find it? Wasn't it on my dressing table? Did you check the gaps?"

"I searched the whole house, leaving no corner untouched, but I just couldn't find it."

"How is that possible? How could something just disappear into thin air?"

After muttering to herself, she quickly went out the door and headed straight for the backyard.

She led Ah Qi, Xiang Fu, and several maids from the manor to search repeatedly, but still couldn't find it.

She frowned immediately and asked in a deep voice:

"Go ask the maid who cleans this room if she saw it?"

Xiangxiu shook her head.

“I asked them, and they said they didn’t see anything either. But on your wedding day, Ling Lanhua came to your room, and Madam Lin also came…”

Linglan flower? Madam Lin?

"I have so much jewelry in my room, but these two little bells are the cheapest. Ling Lanhua probably won't take them. As for Madam Lin, she wouldn't just come into my room and take things!"

"You're right, those little bells are too small, and three days have passed, so they're really hard to find!"

"We have to find it even if it's hard."

That was something that proved her identity; its sudden loss left her feeling as if she had lost her soul.

But the pair of little silver bells vanished without a trace, and she ordered people to search the entire Crown Prince's residence, but they couldn't find them.

That evening, Ling Jiawei returned dejectedly and told her that Ling Lanhua was really missing; she hadn't returned to the inn, nor was she at the Crown Prince's residence.

Her silver bell was gone. How could a perfectly healthy person just disappear like that? Lan Zhi was completely baffled by this.

Since Ling Lanhua couldn't be found, the idea of ​​having Madam Cui and Ling Laoda leave the capital had to be put on hold for the time being. After all, Ling Lanhua was lost in the Crown Prince's residence, and she couldn't just sit idly by.

……

For the past two days, the Emperor has been staying at the Hall of Mental Cultivation and has not attended court for three consecutive days. The Empress was quite puzzled by this, so she ordered someone to go to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to inquire about it.

It turned out that every night, the Yangxin Hall was filled with the sounds of singing and dancing, which shocked and puzzled the Empress.

As far as she knew, the Emperor had not summoned any of his concubines or any woman to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. So who was the person with the Emperor?

She then ordered people to stake out the Hall of Mental Cultivation for three more days, and finally discovered a clue: every night, a handsome young eunuch would sneak into the Hall of Mental Cultivation when no one was looking...

This……

Upon hearing this news, the Empress felt as if she had swallowed countless flies.

With three thousand beauties in the imperial harem, why did the emperor prefer a young eunuch?