When Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes, she met Qiao Mu’s gaze.

She frowned slightly without meaning to, and Qiao Mu raised an eyebrow before starting to walk.

What Feng Jiu’er wanted to ask was — hadn’t it been Mao Zhongcai who’d taken a liking to her? How had it become Mao Linye instead?

But Qiao Mu said she didn’t know, and Feng Jiu’er didn’t press the matter further.

Gong Xinyue, Qiao Mu, and Feng Jiu’er were invited back to their private room.

Soon, the Madam brought people in, carrying a chest of silver.

The chest was set down on the table with a heavy “thud” — a loud, resounding sound.

“Elder Brother, Second Brother, this is a thousand taels of silver. Please count it.” The Madam waved her hand and sat down beside Qiao Mu.

“Elder Brother, tell me — can’t you move a bit faster? I’m worried my boss is getting impatient waiting.”

“Tell me,” Qiao Mu asked, “the one who took a liking to my little sister is the Town Lord, not the City Lord?”

She didn’t touch the chest of silver at all. Instead, Gong Xinyue stood and pulled the chest over, beginning to count.

“It’s our boss, yes.” The Madam smiled so wide her eyes crinkled. “Let me tell you…”

Before she could finish, she turned back and waved her hand at the men behind her. “You all go outside first!”

The two men nodded and turned to leave, closing the door behind them for the people inside.

“I’ve followed the boss for so many years now — how could I not know his character?”

The Madam leaned close to Qiao Mu, the gauze scarf in her hand brushing against her from time to time.

“Our boss looks cold and indifferent on the surface, but the more he acts like he doesn’t care, the more it means he actually does.”

“If your little sister can truly win our boss’s favor, her hard days will be over.”

“All the boss’s concubines have come from my establishment, so of course they were all pure and untouched maidens. Heh heh…”

The Madam turned her head and glanced at Feng Jiu’er.

“Can you guarantee your little sister is still a pure maiden? Otherwise I’d worry you might not make it far even after taking the money.”

“He’s just the lord of a town — surely he wouldn’t stop us from leaving the city alive?” Qiao Mu frowned and picked up the teapot.

“That’s not something you can say for certain.” The Madam looked at Qiao Mu, pouting slightly, and shook her head.

Qiao Mu had just taken a sip of tea, her gaze sweeping over the Madam, and nearly choked.

Fortunately, she’d been prepared in advance, or she would have fallen prey to this woman’s poison of words.

“How do you mean?” Qiao Mu set down her teacup.

The person had come, but Qiao Mu still had no idea what to do next.

The plan had been Feng Jiu’er’s idea. Qiao Mu hadn’t asked many questions about it at first, but now she realized the problem.

She and Gong Xinyue couldn’t possibly stay by Feng Jiu’er’s side at all times — did that mean Feng Jiu’er would have to face the Mao brothers alone?

For now, Qiao Mu still didn’t know what Feng Jiu’er’s plan was going forward. All she wanted was to stall for as much time as possible.

“We…” The Madam leaned in toward Qiao Mu again. “Our Town Lord is quite formidable. Perhaps…”

“Ahem… he might even be more formidable than the City Lord.”

“As you know, the City Lord is someone who fled here seeking refuge. If it weren’t for our Town Lord, who knows where he’d have ended up fleeing to?”

“Elder Brother.” The Madam patted the back of Qiao Mu’s hand again.

“You can rest easy staying here. This place of ours is absolutely safe — one could say even safer than the imperial palace.”

“If…”

Suddenly, she took hold of Qiao Mu’s hand, gently poking at it, her eyes growing soft and full of feeling.

“If you’d like to stay on, that wouldn’t be impossible either. We could use more hands here.”

“You and Second Brother…”

The moment the Madam’s gaze shifted, Qiao Mu instantly withdrew her hand.

The Madam didn’t seem offended. She withdrew her gaze and looked at Qiao Mu instead.

“You two brothers look quite skilled. If you were willing to stay, we could discuss the pay.”

“How much pay?” Gong Xinyue spoke up, which was rare for her.

Qiao Mu shifted her position and looked toward her.

Seeing an opening, the Madam immediately grew excited.

“Double what everyone else gets — double! How about that? It would certainly be much better than going back to farm the fields, wouldn’t it?”

Gong Xinyue met the Madam’s gaze and frowned slightly.

“Fine. A seven-day trial period. Within those seven days, our little sister does not sell her body!”

The Madam had been overjoyed at Gong Xinyue’s “fine” — but before she could fully feel that joy, the next sentence came, and it was nothing she expected.

That statement truly killed the Madam’s good mood.

“This…” The Madam’s face showed clear embarrassment.

She furrowed her crescent brows, and her gaze shifted back to Qiao Mu.

“Elder Brother, I’m afraid this might be difficult to arrange.”

If it weren’t for this man, she wouldn’t need to explain so much.

The people had already come, the money had already been handed over — on their own turf, who would dare set conditions?

Yet… the Madam looked at Qiao Mu, the desire in her eyes growing thicker.

“Since my Second Brother has said as much, then he must have already reached an agreement with our little sister.”

Qiao Mu tossed out the words flatly, then turned to look at Feng Jiu’er, who stood alone a short distance away, head lowered.

Feeling Qiao Mu’s gaze, Feng Jiu’er timidly raised her eyes to look at her.

“El—Elder Brother, this is my final request. Since I’ve already agreed with Second Brother, after seven days, I won’t cause any more trouble.”

Qiao Mu nodded slightly and turned back to the Madam.

“I’m sorry to trouble you to go speak to him. We know my little sister’s character well — she’s promised, and she will never break her word.”

“Besides, seven days from now is exactly her sixteenth birthday. Let’s just wait a little longer.”

“Oh, and,” Qiao Mu’s gaze fell on the silver on the table, “if you don’t trust us, you may take the silver back for now. We’ll return in seven days.”

Not just Qiao Mu — Feng Jiu’er and Gong Xinyue also felt this request was somewhat unreasonable.

No matter how one looked at it, these people clearly had real power, and moreover, they had already taken the silver — yet now they wanted to hold off on the deal.

At this moment, though the three of them showed no unusual expressions on their faces, inwardly they were all praying.

Praying that the Madam would presume on her employer’s favor and act willfully, giving them a reason to stay — otherwise things would become far more troublesome.

The Madam’s face showed clear difficulty, but in the end she stood up.

“Since that’s how it is, I’ll go put in a good word for you. But whether it will work, I can’t guarantee.”

“That said, if the boss truly agrees, your little sister will have to go serve him right away — he can’t be left waiting for seven whole days.”

“Aside from warming his bed, do you know how to handle everything else?”

“I know, I know how.” Feng Jiu’er looked up at the Madam and nodded obediently.

“Pouring tea, serving water, washing clothes, cooking — I can do all of it.”

“Good. I’ll go speak with him now about the situation.” The Madam nodded firmly. “As for the silver here, there’s no reason to take it back.”

“From this moment on, your little sister belongs to us. Honestly, I’m not worried about you all running off — there’s no escaping this place.”

With a soft “clink,” Qiao Mu drank a cup of tea and set the cup down.

Her deep eyes narrowed, then slowly opened again, meeting the Madam’s gaze.

“Then I’ll trouble you. I’ll consider what you proposed.”

“I hope our cooperation going forward can be a pleasant one!”

—