The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 4

Chapter 4: I’ll Buy Her

Lin Shuang had overestimated the shamelessness of Lin Mancang and Ma Guihua.

The next day, she was sent up the mountain to gather firewood before she had even eaten breakfast. When she returned at noon, she found several strangers sitting in her house.

The woman in the lead was dressed in silk and satin, around forty or fifty years old. Her skin was slack, and her demeanor was frivolous. When she saw Lin Shuang enter, her eyes brazenly sized her up.

After a thorough inspection, the woman’s initially critical expression melted into a smile, her eyes crinkling into a line. She seemed quite satisfied.

Having lived two lives, how could Lin Shuang not know who these people were?

There were two major brothels in Qingping County. It was either the one in the east or the one in the west.

She had thought that after being humiliated by the Qin family yesterday, her uncle and aunt would at least lie low for a while to keep up appearances. She never expected them to throw all caution to the wind and simply sell her.

Lin Shuang’s heart sank. She had asked Jiang Huaizhen to sell the bracelet the night before last, but she hadn’t seen her last night. She didn’t know if the bracelet had been sold or if something else had delayed her.

Her only hope now was Jiang Huaizhen. If she couldn’t help, then she would have just escaped the wolf’s den only to enter the tiger’s lair. Her fate would be even more miserable than in her last life.

At this thought, she dropped the firewood with a heavy thud and turned to leave again.

Seeing this, Ma Guihua shouted, “You just got back, where are you going now?”

At this point, Lin Shuang could no longer feign a pleasant expression. “To the latrine, is that not allowed?”

Ma Guihua sneered at her. “Allowed, of course it’s allowed.”

Having been publicly embarrassed by her niece yesterday, she was already filled with hatred. She had been so angry she couldn’t sleep, and she remembered that someone in her parents’ village had sold their daughter to that kind of place for silver last month, and wasn’t that family living just fine?

If one could sell their own daughter, how much easier would it be to sell one who wasn’t even their own?

She had immediately brought it up with Lin Mancang. The blockhead had been unwilling at first, afraid of the villagers’ gossip.

Furious, she had twisted his ear and scolded him, “First the broken engagement, then the falsified birth characters, and on top of that, the fact that she jinxed her parents to death—all of this spread everywhere in just one night. Do you still expect her to marry into a decent family? We can still get a few taels of silver for her now. When she gets older, she won’t be worth anything. People will only talk about this for a while. In a year or two, who will even remember? If you want to keep her at home until she’s an old maid, won’t our own children be affected?”

After much persuasion, Lin Mancang had agreed.

So, she had woken up before dawn, gone back to her parents’ village, and found the family who had sold their daughter to ask for their help in making a connection.

That family had been scorned by many for what they did, so they were eager for someone else to join them and share the blame. They had readily agreed to help.

The people in the city received the news and arrived in the village by noon.

Ma Guihua was eagerly anticipating the silver she would soon receive. Let’s see how that little slut will defend herself with her sharp tongue like she did yesterday.

With this thought, she watched coldly as Lin Shuang walked out. She then gave her younger son, Lin Guo, a look, signaling him to follow and make sure the girl didn’t run away. Lin Guo slowly trailed behind, watching Lin Shuang enter the latrine.

The several pimps who had come with the madam also stood guard not too far away, afraid she would slip away under their noses.

Thirteen-year-old Lin Guo stood guard outside for a while. Seeing no movement from the latrine, he called out, “Lin Shuang—”

There was no answer.

His heart leaped, and he quickly got up and ran toward the latrine.

Meanwhile, from the direction of the village entrance, a tall figure was running swiftly toward the Lin residence.

“It’s that girl from the Jiang family—the executioner’s daughter.”

Hearing the commotion, people from the houses along the road couldn’t help but poke their heads out.

“There’s a small path to the city from the West Mountain Valley. She rarely takes the main road. Why is she running this way today?”

“She’s in such a hurry, her shoes are falling apart. It must be something urgent.”

“Tsk, what decent family would want to get involved with her…”

“A carriage passed by half an hour ago. Could it be related to this?”

“The Lin couple doesn’t have any rich relatives. I think that carriage’s arrival is suspicious.”

At this, the surrounding villagers grew restless. “Let’s go, let’s go see—”

Yesterday, Jiang Huaizhen had gone to several pawnshops to inquire about the price of the bracelet, but the offers were too low, so she hadn’t sold it. This morning, she had finally gotten a good price, pawning it for eight taels of silver. She had planned to give the money to Lin Shuang after finishing her execution duties in the afternoon.

But on her way back, she heard from villagers returning from the market that a carriage from a brothel had entered Whitewater Village. She instinctively knew it was the Lin couple up to no good. She had no choice but to run for her life back to the village, determined to stop them before they left.

When she finally reached the vicinity of the Lin residence, she saw a carriage parked at the entrance, and her heart leaped into her throat.

Inside the house, Lin Mancang was squatting in a corner, silent. Ma Guihua was speaking to the middle-aged woman before her. “Madam, you’ve seen her. Our girl is not bad-looking at all. Isn’t five taels of silver a bit too little?”

The madam examined her own fingers and said unhurriedly, “She has some looks, but did you see the way she looked just now? She’s not one to be easily disciplined. When I take her back, I’ll have to spend a lot of effort to train her, and that costs money.”

Ma Guihua smiled fawningly. “Our girl is smart, she learns things quickly. Just yesterday, someone came to propose marriage and offered ten taels of silver. You can’t offer so much less, can you?”

“If someone offered ten taels, why didn’t you marry her off to that family?”

“It’s because of the girl’s background. But you people in the brothel don’t care about background, only looks, right?” Ma Guihua said sheepishly. “She’s pretty, you should at least add a few more taels.”

A pimp beside her rolled his eyes and stroked the sparse stubble on his chin. “We’ve already asked around. This girl of yours jinxed her parents to death. And she’s got a sharp tongue, even managed to get someone to inform that family so they’d break the engagement. A girl like that, no family would want her even if you gave her away for free. You should be burning incense to be getting five taels for her.”

Haggling was a game of strategy, and the madam, having been in this business for so many years, was well-versed in it.

Ma Guihua was no pushover either. “Eight taels. If you’re interested, you can take her away. If not, we’ll just keep her at home as an old maid.”

There were two brothels in the city. If the one in the east wouldn’t pay, she could just go to the trouble of asking the one in the west. This damn girl was stubborn, but she had inherited her mother’s looks and was quite pretty. Ma Guihua was confident about that.

How could the madam not know what she was thinking? She curled her lip and was about to speak when a voice came from outside. “Eight taels, I’ll take her.”

Hearing this, everyone in the room was stunned and turned to look at the entrance.

The newcomer was dressed in a long black ramie robe with a blue jacket over it. The red ribbon on her head hadn’t been untied yet and was stuck to her face with sweat.

Perhaps from running in a hurry, her shoe had split open, revealing most of her foot.

Her fair face was flushed from the exertion, giving her a disheveled yet heroic look.

Seeing such beauty, a flash of astonishment crossed the madam’s eyes.

A young master like this, if brought to our establishment, would surely attract the pursuit of those gentlemen with a taste for men.

The pimp beside her had been with her for years and knew what she was thinking. He quickly bowed and whispered in her ear.

The list for the autumn executions had been released a few days ago, and executions had been carried out daily at the market square as a warning. The people in the brothel, with nothing better to do, would often go to watch the spectacle. He had recognized Jiang Huaizhen the moment she appeared.

However, she always dressed as a man at the execution grounds, and they had never heard of a female executioner, so they hadn’t been suspicious.

Hearing the pimp’s words, the madam’s eyes filled with regret.

Ma Guihua recognized the newcomer and cursed, “Go away, go away! Your whole body reeks of baleful energy. Don’t dirty my doorstep.”

Jiang Huaizhen stood at the entrance and said coldly, “Aren’t you selling your niece? Eight taels of silver, I’ll buy her. Where is she?”

Hearing the words “selling your niece,” Ma Guihua’s face fell. Doing it was one thing, but saying it out loud made everyone lose face.

Lin Mancang, who was squatting nearby, buried his head in his hands, his dark, square face hidden in his knees, perfectly embodying the image of a coward.

The group of villagers who had come to watch also heard Jiang Huaizhen’s words and began to whisper among themselves.

“So it’s the old executioner Jiang Gui’s son. Anyone who works for the yamen is a big shot, not to mention a beheader. That’s truly impressive.” The madam had already processed the pimp’s words. She stood up, swaying her hips as she walked to the door. She reached out to touch Jiang Huaizhen’s shoulder but was blocked by the great saber in her hand.

“However,” the madam giggled, her eyes lingering on Jiang Huaizhen’s pretty face for a moment before she reluctantly turned to the two pimps behind her, “everything has to be first come, first served. Go and see where she is. She’s been in the latrine for so long, don’t let her run away.”

With that, she turned to the maid behind her. “Count out eight taels of silver for her.”

Just as she finished speaking, a boy’s figure squeezed through the crowd at the entrance. “You’re selling me, but have you gotten my consent?”

A closer look revealed it was Lin Shuang, wearing Lin Guo’s clothes.

She had originally tricked Lin Guo into the latrine, knocked him out unexpectedly, and changed into his clothes to escape. But upon hearing Jiang Huaizhen’s voice, she had turned back.

Seeing her in this state, Ma Guihua’s forehead throbbed. A moment of carelessness, and this little girl had almost escaped. If she had really run away, how would she have cleaned up the mess?

“You damn girl, what did you do to Guo’er?”

Lin Shuang looked at her. “You can sell me, so can’t I do something to your son?”

“You little slut! If anything happens to Guo’er, I’ll have your life!”

The villagers shook their heads and sighed. “Her own son is the apple of her eye, but her brother-in-law’s daughter is like grass. If Lin’s second brother knew in the underworld that his brother and sister-in-law were selling his niece to a brothel, he would probably not be able to rest in peace.”

“Their behavior is too ugly. Yesterday they were changing her birth characters to send her off in a chongxi marriage. When that failed, they turned around and did this. Tsk, tsk, tsk…”

Hearing this, Lin Mancang’s face turned beet red with shame. He stood up and pushed at the crowd. “This is a private family matter. Everyone should go home.”

“What family matter? You’re selling your daughter to a brothel, and our whole village is disgraced! Pah, pah, pah.”

“The village chief is here—the village chief is here—”

The villagers automatically cleared a path, and the village chief squeezed in, frowning.

Seeing this, the madam grew impatient and snapped at Ma Guihua, “Are you selling her or not? I didn’t sleep all night, was woken up by your people this morning, and now this commotion. Are you trying to make a fool of our Welcome Spring Pavilion?”

Ma Guihua’s face instantly turned pale. Brothels had a bad reputation, but they were backed by powerful people. If this deal fell through and they sent people to make trouble for them later, what would they do?

She gritted her teeth and said through clenched jaws, “We’re selling! Eight taels, as agreed. Take the silver and take her away—”

Before she could finish, a loud dong came from the side, startling everyone.

The three-finger-thick door panel had been split down the middle by a single stroke and fell to the ground with a deafening clang.

In the rising dust, Jiang Huaizhen stood there. The red cloth on the hilt of her ghost-head saber was still stained with blood, a shocking sight.

Seeing this, the village chief quickly asked, “What’s going on now?”

Jiang Huaizhen said, “Eight taels of silver. I’m buying her.”

With that, she took out the silver from her robes and threw it at Lin Mancang’s feet. She then walked to Lin Shuang’s side, grabbed her wrist, and led her through the crowd.

Everyone was dumbfounded, looking at each other in disbelief.

Lin Shuang felt the cold palm on her wrist and saw the sole of Jiang Huaizhen’s shoe that was about to fall off. Her heart instantly erupted like lava, burning hot.

She quickened her pace to keep up.

But after just a few steps, Jiang Huaizhen stopped again. Lin Shuang, unable to stop in time, bumped into her back.

Jiang Huaizhen’s eyes swept over her forehead, and her grip on her hand tightened. She turned to the village chief and said, “Uncle Village Chief, please make a trip to the yamen when you have time and register her household under my family. Next year’s poll tax for her will be paid by my Jiang family.”

In these times, with refugees pouring into Qingping County, it was common for people to join other households, so registering was not difficult.

After saying this, Jiang Huaizhen pulled lightly on her wrist and led Lin Shuang toward the West Mountain Valley.