Only then did Xu Bao'er understand that the old man had been striking up a conversation with her to find a potential buyer.
Five hundred taels was no small sum, but the youth was breathing weakly, looking as if he was on his last legs.
If she haggled any further, he would probably breathe his last.
"Alright, I'll buy them."
It wasn't her money anyway. She'd buy them first and figure out the rest later.
"Open the gate."
Seeing how readily Xu Bao'er agreed, the old man immediately took the five hundred taels in silver notes from her and happily ordered someone to open the cage for her.
"These two are yours now."
"Men, come put chains on them."
Xu Bao'er hadn't brought any attendants, and the old man feared she wouldn't be able to subdue these two slaves. So he called for men to bring chains, wanting to shackle their hands and feet.
"That won't be necessary. Just like this is fine."
Xu Bao'er wasn't buying them to take them back as slaves. With Zhou Jin's temperament, he would never let her bring people into the manor, especially not two men.
One look at these two and it was clear they were extraordinary. The system hadn't given any more prompts, which meant she had made the right purchase.
Seeing Xu Bao'er's refusal, the old man said no more. He handed the two men's deeds of sale to Xu Bao'er.
"Alright, let's go."
The tall man scooped up the youth who had already fainted, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and walked behind Xu Bao'er.
"What's your name?"
Xu Bao'er looked at the tall man. His face was covered in bruises, but his features were quite regular.
"This one is Da Wu."
"Why would you do something like this?"
"My elderly mother at home is gravely ill. This is a fast way to get money."
Truly a pitiful person, Xu Bao'er lamented. No wonder that even though he seemed to be striking fatal blows earlier, he was actually giving the youth a chance to live.
Xu Bao'er arrived at the government office, preparing to cancel Da Wu and the other's slave status and restore their identities as free men.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"My household is not short on people."
"Your martial arts are quite good. It's a waste of your talent to be a slave."
Upon hearing Xu Bao'er's words, Da Wu's eyes reddened.
Being sold into slavery meant that one's children and grandchildren would all be slaves, never to break free for generations.
Many of the previous Ge Nu who were bought were abused to death.
Da Wu never expected that the wealthy young master before him would actually let him go and even restore his freedom.
At this thought, Da Wu set the youth on his shoulder aside and knelt to kowtow to Xu Bao'er.
"Thank you, benefactor. In the future, if you ever need me, Da Wu, I will go through fire and water and not shirk from ten thousand deaths."
"There's no need for this. Please rise."
Restoring Da Wu's identity went smoothly. But for the unconscious youth, it was not.
He actually had no identity; he was an unregistered person.
"Young Master, I think he's a fugitive from a foreign land."
"He was probably captured by chance and ended up as food."
Xu Bao'er recalled the youth's cat-like eyes; indeed, he didn't look like someone from the Da Zhou Dynasty.
"If he's an unregistered person, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for him to survive outside."
"Anyone could just capture him and make him a slave."
The Da Zhou Dynasty did not protect escaped foreigners. As long as an unregistered person had no master, anyone could capture them as a slave without breaking the law.
"Then I'll take him in for the time being."
"The Young Master is kind-hearted."
Xu Bao'er looked at Da Wu. His heart wasn't bad. If not for the pressures of life, he wouldn't have become such a cruel person.
Xu Bao'er dropped the injured youth off at a medical clinic. After paying the silver, she asked the clinic staff to take good care of him.
"Duanwang Fei, this is terrible!"
As soon as Xu Bao'er returned to her room, Cuihua rushed over.
"Just now, the Empress sent someone to say that you, Duanwang Fei, are to attend the flower-viewing banquet tomorrow."
Xu Bao'er was a little puzzled. In the past, she was never invited to banquets organized by the women of the imperial family.
In the eyes of the legitimate daughters and principal consorts, a concubine's daughter like her who had schemed to switch places in marriage deserved a thousand deaths and was utterly unworthy of associating with them.
The Empress, needless to say, was the first to advocate for Xu Bao'er's execution to serve as a warning to others when the marriage swap incident came to light.
Later, after Xu Bao'er married Duan Wang, the Emperor, to compensate Xu Yu'er, allowed a daughter of the Xu family to become the Crown Princess, which nearly angered the Empress to death.
Her niece, the Lu Clan's Daughter, was originally supposed to be the Crown Princess but now had to condescend to be a side consort.
How could the Empress not hate her?
If not for the fact that Duan Wang was not to be trifled with—one had to consider the master before beating his dog—Xu Bao'er would have died hundreds of times over by now.
"I know."
Although it was a treacherous banquet, Xu Bao'er was quite curious about the imperial palace.
Why were all the princes of the Da Zhou Dynasty unable to have children?
It was very strange.
The Empress's invitation to Xu Bao'er was entirely Xu Yu'er's doing.
Xu Yu'er knew the Empress despised their Xu family and was using all sorts of underhanded tricks against her.
They were both daughters of the Xu family, so why should she be the one to suffer?
If she was having a bad time, Xu Bao'er shouldn't expect to have it easy either.
So, when meeting the Empress, Xu Yu'er pretended to say casually, "I didn't expect Duanwang Fei and Duan Wang's relationship to have improved so much. They are now as harmonious as lutes and zithers."
"They've consummated their marriage?" The Empress's expression suddenly turned ugly.
Everyone in the imperial palace was well aware that Duan Wang and the Duanwang Fei had not consummated their marriage.
Which household didn't have spies? It was a given that the Duanwang Fei was not favored.
Duan Wang had finally managed to turn his fortunes around, rising from a forgotten prince to his current position through military merit. Yet, because of the Duanwang Fei, he had once again become the laughingstock of the entire palace.
Duan Wang wanted to kill Xu Bao'er more than anyone.
Duan Wang's birth was not good. His mother was the empress of the previous dynasty's emperor. After the current Emperor conquered the previous dynasty, he seized Duan Wang's mother.
Duan Wang's mother was exceptionally beautiful, but because of her status, her consort rank was not high. However, the Emperor doted on her immensely.
For a time, her favor surpassed all others in the six palaces.
But one day, she actually tried to assassinate the Emperor. She failed and was thrown into the Cold Palace. Not long after, she hanged herself there.
Having such a mother was a lifelong stain on Duan Wang; he was even less noble than a prince born to a palace maid.
But who would have thought that Duan Wang would turn his life around through warfare, gaining an extremely high reputation among the common people.
Originally, as long as Duan Wang didn't consummate his marriage with the Duanwang Fei and had no heir, it wasn't a big deal.
After all, the Emperor had said that heirs were the most important matter for the imperial family. Whoever could break this curse would have a chance to inherit the throne.
A prince with illustrious military achievements but no heir could not threaten the Crown Prince's position.
But if he had one, that might not be the case.
"Yes, they've consummated it."
Xu Yu'er's words stirred up a thousand waves in the Empress's heart.
"Then I really must meet the Duanwang Fei another day."
Zhou Jin also learned that the Empress was summoning Xu Bao'er. He rather hoped he could use the Empress's hand to get rid of this Xu Bao'er.
Decades of lying low, yet his plans were disrupted by the Xu family.
For Zhou Jin, it didn't matter which woman he married.
What mattered was that the woman would not obstruct his grand ambition.
Zhou Jin was not fond of women, because no woman could be more beautiful than his own mother.
For some reason, Zhou Jin suddenly thought of the Zhang San he had seen that day.
If it were her, she could perhaps rival his mother.
Zhou Jin removed his clothes and entered the pool. Scars covered his entire body, forming a stark contrast with his handsome, flawless face.
If Xu Bao'er wasn't still useful for preventing the Empress from openly planting spies around him, she would have died a hundred times over already.
To think that Xu Bao'er would dare to drug him. For such audacity, she deserved to suffer a little.
Since the Empress wanted to make a move, he might as well go with the flow and give her a push.