Lin Wan: ???
He fainted just like that?
Her future husband seemed a little too frail. If his pulse weren’t still beating, Lin Wan would have suspected he had already died on the spot. It never even crossed her mind that he might have fainted from the embarrassment of being carried in a princess carry by her. On the contrary, she was quite satisfied with their current position.
The slave trader, seeing the man collapse unconscious, hurriedly said,
“Miss, once a slave is sold, there are no returns or exchanges. He’s yours now!”
What he meant was simple enough: whether Gu Zhixing lived or died had nothing to do with him anymore. The ownership contract had already been handed over to Lin Wan. Even if something happened to the man, the responsibility was no longer his. In the slave trader’s eyes, these slaves were nothing more than merchandise. Money paid, goods delivered—the transaction was complete.
Lin Wan nodded to show she understood.
Since she had already bought him, there was naturally no reason to return him. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. As far as she was concerned, she had made a huge profit. As long as she was happy and satisfied, that was enough.
The slave trader didn’t need to worry about her returning him.
In fact, she was more worried that the slave trader might regret the sale and snatch him back.
What she didn’t know was that everyone around her regarded her as a complete fool.
Spending two hundred copper coins on a dying man? Not only would she probably have to spend a fortune hiring a physician and buying medicine, but there was no guarantee he could even be saved. If he died, she’d lose both the money and the man. What couldn’t two hundred copper coins be used for instead?
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Lin Wan happily carried the delicate and helpless future husband she had just bought for two hundred copper coins and headed toward the Lin family home.
Along the way, she attracted countless curious stares and spectators.
Her back remained straight and proud. Although she was carrying a grown man, she walked effortlessly, occasionally smiling and nodding at the people watching the spectacle, clearly in an excellent mood.
After all, she had experienced the miracle of transmigrating into a novel.
And right at the beginning, she had picked up a handsome man.
How could she not be happy?
The villagers watching couldn’t stop whispering among themselves.
“Has the eldest daughter of the Lin family really gone crazy?”
“Who knows? Anyone with a functioning brain wouldn’t buy a dead man and take him home.”
“Sigh… that poor child…”
…
Standing among the crowd was Zhao Qingyuan.
Several women stood in front of him, looking him up and down as if appraising merchandise. Their gazes made him deeply uncomfortable.
His eyes unconsciously followed Lin Wan’s retreating figure.
Before leaving, she hadn’t looked at him even once.
It was as though her eyes could only see that dying man.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, a suffocating feeling rose in Zhao Qingyuan’s chest.
It felt as though he was about to lose something extremely important.
The sensation gave him the impulse to call out and stop her.
But before he could say a word, the slave trader shoved him hard.
Then, like a piece of merchandise, he was pushed toward the women while the trader enthusiastically promoted him.
He was only a slave now.
As long as someone was willing to buy him, he wouldn’t even have the right to refuse.
At this moment, he was no different from fish on a chopping block.
By the time he looked up again, Lin Wan’s figure had already disappeared around the corner.
Before Lin Wan even reached home, news that she had bought a man had already spread throughout the village.
And as rumors often did, the story became more outrageous with every retelling.
The moment she stepped through the gate, she heard angry shouting.
“You damned girl! You actually bought a dead man? Do you have so much money you don’t know how to spend it?”
Lin Wan raised an eyebrow.
A woman in her sixties came charging out of the house. Though advanced in years, she moved surprisingly quickly.
“You little wretch! You’ve really grown bold! How dare you buy a dead man behind my back? Are you tired of living?”
Old Madam Wu glared at her with sharp, upturned eyes, hands planted on her hips. Her aggressive posture made it obvious she wasn’t an easy person to get along with.
The original novel hadn’t devoted much attention to Lin Wan.
But now that she possessed the original owner’s memories, she knew every detail of her life from childhood onward.
Both of her parents had died, leaving behind only a young younger brother.
Their grandparents favored other grandchildren.
Their uncles constantly schemed against them.
Life for the siblings had been extremely difficult.
It was precisely because she had to care for her younger brother that the original Lin Wan’s marriage had been delayed until now.
If she married and left, her young brother would be left alone. Who knew how badly the Lin family would bully him then?
Looking at Old Madam Wu’s harsh and mean-spirited expression, Lin Wan slightly raised an eyebrow and nodded.
“I don’t want to live anymore. Are you going to help me with that?”
The original owner was already dead.
Although the novel hadn’t described the Lin family in great detail, Lin Wan remembered one thing clearly.
When the original owner was eventually driven out of the capital, she had been falsely accused of adultery.
And the people who framed her were none other than Old Madam Wu and the rest of the Lin family.
The Lin family had been bribed by the female protagonist.
For money, they had readily slandered the original owner without caring in the slightest whether she lived or died.
The original owner’s tragic fate owed a great deal to these people.
Old Madam Wu froze.
???
The laws of the Great Li Dynasty were strict.
Murderers paid with their lives.
Old Madam Wu treasured her own life greatly. What she had said earlier was merely a casual insult.
“You little wretch! Are you trying to rebel?”
“Return him immediately!”
“You’re just wasting money!”
“I’ve told you before—you should leave all your money with me for safekeeping. You’re just a little girl. What do you know about managing a household?”
Although Old Madam Wu was surprised by Lin Wan’s response, she had always been domineering in front of her over the years.
In her mind, she was the head of the Lin family.
Naturally, all money should be kept in her hands.
What she hadn’t expected was that this little brat had actually hidden money from her.
Carrying Gu Zhixing, Lin Wan walked into the courtyard.
The small yard was dilapidated and run-down.
The room directly facing the entrance stood wide open.
From where she stood, she could see that everything inside had been turned upside down.
There was no need to guess who had done it.
It was clearly Old Madam Wu’s handiwork.
Old Madam Wu had given birth to three sons and two daughters.
Lin Wan’s father, Lin Dashan, was the second son and also the one she disliked the most.
Shortly after he married, he was driven out and forced to establish a separate household.
Calling it a division of property was generous.
Aside from this crumbling house, he received nothing else.
Fortunately, Lin Dashan was hardworking and capable.
Little by little, the family’s life improved.
They even managed to buy farmland.
But the good times didn’t last long.
When Old Madam Wu saw that Lin Dashan was living comfortably, she constantly came to take advantage of him.
Sometimes she demanded money.
Other times she carried off grain from the family stores.
As a result, the household that had only just begun to prosper was forced back into hardship.
Later, when Lin Wan’s mother became pregnant again, Lin Dashan enlisted in the army to earn military pay and support his family.
But once he left, he never returned.
Eventually, officials from the imperial court delivered compensation money and informed them that Lin Dashan had died on the battlefield.
Raising two young children alone was already difficult enough for Lin Wan’s mother.
Yet the moment the compensation money arrived, Old Madam Wu seized every last coin.
Claiming that she was Lin Dashan’s biological mother and therefore entitled to the money, she took it all.
Not a single copper coin was left behind.
She showed absolutely no concern for the survival of Lin Wan and her family.