On the second day, near evening, while the sky had not yet turned completely dark, bright yellow lanterns were already hung high at every stall in Mengcheng’s market.
The entire Mengcheng was enveloped in warmth, crowded with people. The sounds of children playing and vendors hawking their wares continued incessantly—noisy and chaotic, yet inexplicably giving one a feeling of liveliness and warmth.
Xiao Rongyan planned to depart for Nanyan’s capital tomorrow morning, so today he came to enjoy the bustle of this night market.
Perhaps because Xiao Rongyan’s entourage had been too grand on his first day and his spending was too generous, many observant merchants recognized him and pushed forward with their goods.
When Xiao Rongyan came that day, he had been attracted by a white horse and missed the slave market. Today, he came specifically to take a look there.
When he reached the slave market under the protection of his sword-bearing guards, the market’s largest slave trader was pulling a disheveled young girl to stand on high ground, calling out: “Don’t look at this little girl’s disheveled appearance, but look at the fabric she’s wearing… she’s definitely from a wealthy Jin family! She’s surely delicate and tender. Buy her back and train her well—you’ll have endless pleasures in the future!”
Just as the slave trader’s booming voice fell, a man watching the excitement squeezed through the crowd and shouted: “Wearing such thick clothes, how do we know if she’s delicate and tender? Strip her so we can see… touch her, so we know if she’s delicate and tender!”
Some women watching the excitement at the slave market frowned and left with a flick of their sleeves.
The young lady, being pulled by the slave trader, trembled all over, hugging herself tightly, her face deathly pale. If they stripped her clothes in public and let people touch her, she would have no face to live on. She immediately struggled without cease: “Let me go! A scholar can be killed but not humiliated! I absolutely cannot suffer such humiliation!”
The young lady spoke with a crying tone, knowing the phrase “a scholar can be killed but not humiliated,” and spoke in the official dialect of Jin—she was indeed from a wealthy family.
The more fiercely the young lady on the platform struggled and the more miserably she cried, the more excited the spectators below became.
“Touching won’t do! But we can certainly let you gentlemen have a good look!”
With that, the slave trader began to tear at the girl’s clothing.
But before the slave trader could tear open the girl’s clothes, his hand jerked back as if stung by something. He stared wide-eyed as if he’d seen a ghost, looking left and right. In his momentary inattention, the crying young lady actually broke free from his grasp and nearly crashed head-first into a pillar, fortunately caught in time by the slave trader’s two thugs.
The slave trader looked down at his red and swollen hand. What the hell?!
“Hey! Are you going to let us see or not?!” A man below jeered.
“Will this gentleman buy if he sees?” the slave trader asked with a grin.
The questioned man crossed his arms, his ears reddening as he shrank back into the crowd. He just wanted to take advantage—if he had the spare money to buy a slave, wouldn’t he have long since gone to the brothels for pleasure?
The young lady caught by the slave trader’s thugs was still crying, begging the slave trader to give her a quick death!
The wealthy gentlemen who had originally been interested in this young lady with her soft Jin official dialect lost interest upon seeing that she wanted to die; otherwise, if they bought her back and she committed suicide, wouldn’t that be throwing money into water?
Xiao Rongyan stood at a distance, his gaze falling on the wooden platform. He noticed a small stone not far from the slave trader’s feet, then looked past the trader toward the cage behind him.
In the darkness of the cage sat a ragged youth cross-legged in the corner. The youth appeared young—about fifteen or sixteen—yet he sat like a green pine, naturally possessing the bearing of a noble young master.
Perhaps sensing someone watching him, the youth raised his eyes…
Xiao Rongyan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Those eyes looked somewhat familiar—deep, quiet, and profound. Since he could use a stone to strike the slave trader’s hand, he had some martial skills. How then was he captured?!
Or perhaps… he was sold due to family poverty?
The youth sat calmly and steadily in the cage, not avoiding Xiao Rongyan’s gaze at all. Where was the appearance of a child from a poor family? Moreover, at fifteen or sixteen, he was prime working age, not a three or four-year-old child who could only eat and drink without being useful.
After thinking, Xiao Rongyan turned to instruct Wang Jiuzhou beside him.
Wang Jiuzhou nodded, went around the crowd in front to find the slave trader from behind, pointing to the cross-legged youth in the cage and saying he wanted to buy him.
The slave trader continuously smiled obsequiously: “Your eye is truly excellent! That one is a Jin soldier I rescued on the road—robust, he can do anything when brought back! It’s just a bit expensive!”
Wang Jiuzhou smiled as he pulled out a money pouch from his sleeve and tossed it to the slave trader: “This much… to buy this Jin soldier and that Jin girl from just now! Is it enough?!”
The slave trader opened it and was so delighted his eyes narrowed to slits, his attitude even more fawning than before: “Enough, enough, enough! Enough! More than enough! Like this… taking so much silver from you makes me feel bad! You can pick two more to take away…”
The slave trader seemed ready to enthusiastically introduce all his slaves to Wang Jiuzhou, but Wang Jiuzhou smiled and said: “No need, just these two! Our master is waiting—I dare not delay or act on my authority!”
Only then did the slave trader nod repeatedly, having people bring out the girl from before and the youth from the cage for Wang Jiuzhou to take away.
Before leaving, the youth looked toward the slave trader and bowed deeply to the ground, thanking the slave trader for saving his life. Regardless of the slave trader’s motives, in the bone-chilling waters of the Jing River, if not for this slave trader’s rescue… he would have long since frozen to death.
The slave trader was probably seeing for the first time someone who still bowed in gratitude after being sold. He was stunned for a moment, and before he could recover, he saw the youth walk away with that steward.
Wang Jiuzhou brought the two people he’d bought back to the large residence Xiao Rongyan had rented.
He had water brought for the two to bathe and change clothes, while Wang Jiuzhou himself sat leisurely in a chair drinking tea, guessing his master’s intention in buying this man and woman.
Soon, the bathed and changed young man emerged in fresh clothes. Even Wang Jiuzhou, who had seen countless people, was startled.
The young man wore a straight robe, his figure tall and slender, his features extraordinarily handsome, especially those eyes, sharp with a hidden edge. His bearing was not that of an ordinary family’s youth, truly a dragon and phoenix among people.
How could such a person end up in a slave trader’s hands?
Amid his confusion, Wang Jiuzhou felt even more that his master had keen insight—even disheveled and huddled in that cage, their master had known this youth was extraordinary.
Perhaps due to the youth’s noble bearing, Wang Jiuzhou, accustomed to being a servant, spoke very politely to the youth, requesting he accompany him to meet his master.