Dou Ming sat in the bumpy carriage, feeling a twinge of regret. She hadn’t expected the carriage to be so crude. Had she known, she should have brought Ji Hong along.

She lifted the carriage curtain. “Yu Er, how long until we reach Dingzhou?”

“Soon, soon!” Yu Er, the driver, turned back with a fawning smile. “We’re taking the back roads. If we took the main road, they’d catch up to us quickly on horseback.”

“Oh.” Dou Ming’s mood sank as she retreated into the carriage.

That evening, they lodged at a farmhouse. The dirty, dilapidated furniture, the hard, musty bedding, and the tea with ash floating on its surface made Dou Ming feel like she couldn’t set foot anywhere.

Lying on the kang bed, she closed her eyes, trying not to think about her surroundings. Her thoughts drifted to her maternal grandmother’s home.

Her eldest aunt would surely lecture her, while her second aunt would defend her. As for her grandmother… she used to dote on Dou Ming, but ever since her grandfather was impeached, her grandmother’s affection seemed to have waned. Was it because the Dou family hadn’t helped? Would her grandmother still cherish her as before when she arrived this time?

Dou Ming’s mind raced as she tossed and turned, eventually falling into a fitful sleep.

Perhaps due to the unfamiliar surroundings, she slept uneasily and suddenly awoke for no apparent reason.

The window was shut tight, with cold moonlight filtering through the roof tiles, casting a bright square on the floor.

She thought she heard voices outside and strained to listen.

“…No, at least fifty taels of silver… Just that peach-red passionflower-patterned embroidered vest she’s wearing could fetch five taels… And those cat’s eye stone earrings…”

Dou Ming’s blood ran cold. She was indeed wearing a peach-red passionflower-patterned embroidered vest and cat’s eye stone earrings!

Instinctively sensing danger, she quietly got up. Her body felt weak, but she didn’t bother with shoes, slipping on a pair of socks before tiptoeing to the door.

The door was in such disrepair that it couldn’t close properly. Standing before it, she could easily see outside through the gaps.

The main room was unlit, its door wide open. Moonlight streamed in, clearly outlining Yu Er’s shadow.

He was talking with two strangers – a man and a woman – in the main room. Due to the lighting, their faces were indistinct. She could barely make out that the man was exceptionally burly, standing like an iron tower, while the woman was plump, her gold earrings glinting in the darkness like the eyes of a predatory beast, sending chills down Dou Ming’s spine.

“If you fancy those things, you can have them,” the woman said, her voice hoarse but with an inexplicable viciousness. “I only want the girl! Fifteen taels of silver, not a coin more!”

“Aunt Mo,” Yu Er bargained in a low, dissatisfied voice, “that’s far too little. She’s a young lady from a wealthy family. I went to great lengths to trick her. Consider the costs of hiring the carriage and bribing people. You should at least let me recoup my expenses. Your offer is too low… Please add a bit more…”

Aunt Mo sneered, “She’s already eleven years old and can remember things. I’m giving you fifteen taels out of consideration for our boss’s relationship with you. If it were someone else, I’d think three taels was too much…”

By this point, Dou Ming understood everything.

The story about her second cousin ruining her eldest cousin’s recommendation letter, the plea for her to beg her grandmother – it was all a lie!

This Yu Er, for whatever reason, was trying to sell her.

Rage burned within her. She wanted to fling open the door and berate Yu Er, but as her hand touched the rough door latch, the pain from a splinter brought her back to her senses.

She had to escape!

Before Yu Er discovered her, she needed to flee quickly!

Once free, whether it was the Dou family or the Wang family, they could crush him with a single finger.

Dou Ming gritted her teeth and looked around.

There was only one window in the room, facing the main courtyard.

She immediately decided to escape through the window.

With trembling limbs, she climbed onto the kang bed, took a deep breath, and carefully removed the window latch. She opened the window, but the outer lattice was nailed shut. No matter how she pushed and pulled, it wouldn’t budge.

It was over!

Dou Ming sat there, her mind blank.

After what seemed like an eternity, she came to her senses.

Didn’t this Aunt Mo just want money? She could promise her money!

With this thought, hope returned, and her strength renewed.

She jumped off the kang bed and flung open the door with a bang.

The three people outside were chatting amiably, their faces wreathed in smiles.

Hearing the noise, they turned, their expressions changing to surprise.

Dou Ming was terrified, but the anger rising from her heart dispelled her fear. “Yu Er, you ungrateful traitor! How dare you trick me and try to sell me? When my grandfather finds out, if he doesn’t have you drawn and quartered, he’ll have you sliced into a thousand pieces! You’ll rot in the magistrate’s jail!” She then shouted, “Aunt Mo, you’re just after money. I promise you five hundred taels of silver, no, a thousand taels! If you send me back, I’ll have my grandfather reward you handsomely. Do you know who my grandfather is? He’s Wang Yousheng, the Provincial Governor of Yunnan. My uncle is Dou Yuanji, Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Hall and Minister of Justice. My father is a Hanlin Academy scholar and Deputy Director of the Imperial Household Department…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk!” Aunt Mo interrupted Dou Ming with a laugh, her plump body shuffling closer. In the moonlight, her beady eyes glinted coldly, devoid of warmth. “Little miss, I didn’t expect someone of such noble birth to be so simple-minded.” She turned to Yu Er with a mirthless grin, her lips thick with bright red rouge. “Yu Er, you’ve done us wrong. You said she was a young lady from a wealthy family, but you didn’t mention she was an acquaintance. You’ve put me in a difficult position!”

Yu Er, who had been smiling earlier, now looked sheepish and hurriedly defended himself, “Aunt Mo, I didn’t intentionally withhold information – we were just focused on negotiating the price earlier, and I hadn’t gotten around to explaining everything…”

“Yu Er, you scoundrel!” Dou Ming couldn’t help but curse. “Where’s Shang’er? Is he in on this too? My second cousin treated him so well, and my second aunt trusted you so much. How could you do something so unconscionable? Aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?”

“Young miss, I had no choice,” Yu Er replied with a careless grin. “If you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck. I’m just a small fry caught between fighting gods!”

As they argued, Aunt Mo stepped back and exchanged a glance with the silent man beside her.

The man, as if he hadn’t noticed, suddenly stepped forward towards Yu Er. Without a word, he pulled out a dagger and plunged it into Yu Er’s chest.

Yu Er didn’t even make a sound.

He stared at the man in disbelief, then slowly turned his gaze to Aunt Mo.

Dou Ming finally reacted.

She let out a piercing scream.

But before the sound could escape her throat, Aunt Mo clamped a hand over her mouth.

Dou Ming struggled desperately.

Aunt Mo’s hand was like an iron vise, rendering her struggles futile.

“Yu Er, if you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck,” she said ominously, echoing his earlier words to Dou Ming. “We’re after money, not trouble. This young lady is too high-profile for us to handle. We’ll have to settle for making you two a pair of ill-fated lovers.”

Yu Er stared at Aunt Mo, his eyes filled with resentment, anger, and despair… But even his gaze couldn’t withstand the burly man’s dagger, and the light in his eyes gradually faded…

Aunt Mo instructed the man, “There’s another one called Shang’er, probably nearby. Have our men find him quickly. We can’t leave any witnesses.” She then pulled out a handkerchief and stuffed it into the now weakly struggling Dou Ming’s mouth before throwing her to the ground. “Move Yu Er to the kang bed. Find someone to rape this girl and leave her next to Yu Er. Make it look like she was raped and killed him.”

“No!” Dou Ming screamed hoarsely, but it came out like a kitten’s mew. For the first time, she felt true terror. Seeing the burly man calmly respond “Yes” and walk out with a light step, she lost all composure. She pulled out the handkerchief and crawled on her knees, grabbing Aunt Mo’s skirt. “Kill me, please just kill me…”

She couldn’t bear the thought of such humiliation before death!

Aunt Mo stepped back, pulling her skirt from Dou Ming’s grasp.

“Miss Dou, this is your fate!” she sighed, her voice full of mock pity that only made the situation more horrifying. “Why did you reveal your identity? If you were just an ordinary young lady from a wealthy family, would you need to resort to such violence? To be honest, I’m taking a big loss here! After dealing with you, we’ll have to lay low for three to five years, unable to do business. We’ll have to live off our savings…”

She rambled on like a common market woman discussing household matters. The burly man returned and reported, “Aunt Mo, that boy was hiding in the haystack. Yu Er had told him to keep watch there. I’ve thrown him into the well at the back.”

“Fool!” Aunt Mo berated him furiously. “What if someone discovers him? Have you ever heard of eloping lovers bringing a servant, only for the master to die in the room and the servant to end up in a well? Hurry and fish out the body!” She added, “It’s almost dawn. Quickly get someone in here to finish the job.”

The burly man chastised like a child didn’t show any resentment, and obediently replied, “I’ll take care of it right away!”

Aunt Mo’s expression softened slightly.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats rang out from outside.

Both of them froze.

A man’s loud, gruff voice called out, “Aunt Mo, do you still have the person? If you do, we can talk. If not, prepare to face the executioner along with your lover, Old Seven Wang!”

It was Duan Gongyi!

It was Duan Gongyi’s voice!

Dou Ming burst into tears, crying out muffled sobs.

She had never been so glad to hear Duan Gongyi’s voice.

She had never been so grateful for Duan Gongyi’s appearance.

Aunt Mo and the burly man’s faces changed dramatically, showing signs of panic and unease.