Chapter 524: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 524: Dust Settles (5)
Seeing Hong Shi turn pale with fear, Liu Qingqing paused for a moment and casually remarked, "Besides the gold bracelets, your family doesn't have anything else valuable? That's hard to believe. Even a five or six-year-old boy sold to the palace as a servant could fetch one or two dozen taels. Pretty young girls are even more valuable. With the right connections, you could exchange them for a large brick-and-tile house and even acquire several acres of good farmland!"
This statement seemed to awaken Hong Shi. Her cloudy old eyes suddenly lit up: That's right, why hadn't she thought of the two little bastards born to that surname Wu?
Liu Qingqing clearly saw the greed in her eyes and a hint of mocking contempt flickered across her lips!
...
The next day, Mo Yan received a message from the secret guards informing her that Hong Shi had entered the city early in the morning and was searching for "reliable" human traffickers. Sensing the timing was right, that night she went to Mo Fang's house, the patriarch of the Mo clan, with a chicken, a wild rabbit, and a piece of meat.
Although Mo Fang was the patriarch of the Mo clan, his family was large, with two elderly people still alive, making their lives even harder compared to other Mo families. If it weren't for occasionally earning some money by working for the Mo family, they probably wouldn't have enough to eat.
Mo Yan brought so much meat, and the elderly and children of Mo Fang's family were overjoyed. However, Mo Fang frowned, clearly understanding that such food wasn't easy to come by.
Following Mo Yan's hint, Mo Fang sent his family to the cool shade of the ancient poplar trees. Then, he closed the door and talked for a long time inside the house. During the conversation, there were moments of firm refusal from Mo Fang, followed by silence.
The contents of this conversation were known only to them, and no one else.
Hong Shi, using all her cunning, spent several days in the city until she finally found a "reliable" human trafficker. This time, she was smart, knowing that bringing the trafficker directly into her home would not only invite ridicule and condemnation but might also jeopardize her daughter's marriage.
Therefore, she deceitfully brought San Ni'er and Shi Tou to the city and arrived at the trafficker's residence. She planned to simply say that the two children had been abducted by the trafficker. Who would know that she had sold them herself?
Hong Shi was confident that nothing could go wrong. But just as she happily accepted the sixty taels of silver handed to her by the trafficker, the poorly secured door was kicked open. Standing there with an expression of rage was Tie Tou, followed by the solemn-faced Mo Fang and other members of the Mo clan.
...
Back when they were still in Mo Village, there was a family rule that had been passed down for centuries. The general meaning of this rule was that no member of the Mo clan should sell their descendants unless absolutely necessary. Violators would be dealt with according to clan rules.
Why such a rule existed was now impossible to ascertain. Over the centuries, due to hardships or other reasons, villagers occasionally sold their children for silver, and the clan elders turned a blind eye. Eventually, this rule had become virtually non-existent, offering no restraint to the clan members.
After all, Mo Village was not wealthy. During years of disaster and famine, who would care about clan rules? Selling a child could ensure the survival of a whole family, so why not?
This time, Mo Yan's memory provided her with this family rule, which proved to be immensely helpful. She sought out clan patriarch Mo Fang specifically to revive this rule and stipulate that anyone selling their child would not only face clan sanctions but also that the sold child could establish a separate household, free from interference in future matters, both big and small.
This condition was something Mo Fang couldn't refuse, not because of the meat or the reasons Mo Yan presented, but because he simply couldn't reject the terms she proposed.
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