Chapter 253: n.o.body Is A Better Schemer Than The Old Madame
Bai Xiangxiu asked her question out of curiosity. She couldn't help but notice that the smile on the old madame's face was a little sinister. In fact, it bore a lot of resemblance to Long Heng's smile.
The old madame asked, "Have you finished preparing the enslavement paper for Miss Lin?"
"Eh… Yes I have." Bai Xiangxiu couldn't help but feel a little uneasy, knowing that a human being could be bought and sold in this world.
The old madame reached her hand out, "Give it to me!"
"Oh. Understood," Bai Xiangxiu had Xiaos.h.i.+ fetch the enslavement paper and handed it over to the old madame. This was a piece of paper that could decide a person's fate. Bai Xiangxiu couldn't help but wonder what the old madame would decide to do with it. "Mother, are you planning to sell this agreement to Minister Lin?"
We could do this and make Minister Lin owe us a favor. We should set the price a bit high though. However, both Long Heng and the old madame both stared at her. Bai Xiangxiu could tell that mother and son were looking at her oddly.
"You want to return this to Minister Lin? He probably wouldn't dare to take it even if we hand it to him. Having a daughter like that is more like a curse."
"But… It's his daughter after all." Moreover, Minister Lin really treats this particular daughter well.
"It would be better not to have a daughter like this." The old madame looked at the enslavement paper and said, "Sun-mama, look for a brothel-keeper that you are acquainted with and ask her which brothel in the capital needs a new worker. Of course, we're only talking about a second-cla.s.s courtesan."
Courtesans in brothels were segregated by cla.s.s. A first-cla.s.s courtesan was multi-talented and did more than just sleep with the customers. Even the men that wanted to spend time with these courtesans would have to be knowledgeable and have a high status. A second-cla.s.s courtesan was an entirely different story altogether. Their customers were there only for carnal pleasures. There would be all sorts of men visiting them, but men of high status would rarely visit. People only visited them to fulfill their desires and would never show them any pity and love. Who wouldn't do whatever they pleased after spending their hard earned money? Because of that, life for these second-cla.s.s courtesans were quite difficult indeed.
Bai Xiangxiu naturally knew about these things as she'd lived in this world for quite some time already. She couldn't help but tremble at how ruthless the old madame was. It'd be impossible for the female lead to escape from her fate after sending her to such a place. Doing this would be like a slap at the emperor's face too. He'd definitely feel the slap even though he was all the way in the palace. No matter what happened, Miss Lin had still once been his woman. What would the men think when they were sleeping with this second-cla.s.s courtesan? Would they think that they're the emperor too?
Bai Xiangxiu's grinned when she realized this fact, "Mother, you're so evi-… I mean, this is a great idea!"
The old madame was speechless. It's one thing to be happy, but why show it on your face? What would others say when they see you like this? The old madame handed over the paper to Sun-mama. "Sell her for a high price. Five thousand taels at minimum. People there should know her value. They'll never earn a loss with her around. Give the money to the princess consort after you're done for her to fortify her body."
Bai Xiangxiu was a little overwhelmed by the sudden good treatment. "Old Madame, many thanks for your great favor."
Why does this sum of money feel a bit like a hot potato? But it makes me feel so happy at the same time! I'm feeling so conflicted!
Long Heng looked as stern as usual, but the edge of his mouth was slightly raised. As expected, his mother was experienced and wise enough to find a suitable way to handle the matter when they were at loss for what to do.
They didn't talk about much else as the old madame had just returned home. Each family member went back to their own room to rest after they had a sumptuous meal. Bai Xiangxiu even took special care of Lin Qianzi by having the servants to clean her up and cure her illnesses. After all, Lin Qianzi wouldn't be able to fetch a high price if she was all sickly and dirty. So this is why people say that evilness spreads like a disease.
Xiao Lin was going to sleep with Bai Xiangxiu and Long Heng tonight. The old madame wanted them to spend some time together as they'd not seen each other for a long time. Bai Xiangxiu had truly missed her son a lot. She sat in front of the cradle and kept staring at him while smiling gently. She didn't even make a single sound, seemingly extremely afraid of waking her son up.
Long Heng took a bath and applied some medicine to his body. He didn't take his injuries too seriously as they were just flesh wounds with no injuries to his bone. Moreover, scabs had already formed. He'd originally planned to spend a warm evening with Bai Xiangxiu. Because of that, he couldn't help but frown a little when he saw Bai Xiangxiu cuddling their son's cradle.
Xiao Lin suddenly woke up, as if he'd sensed Long Heng's presence. He looked at Bai Xiangxiu and suddenly grinned. After that, he s.h.i.+fted his little head around as if looking for something. Bai Xiangxiu had no idea what he was searching for and thought that he wanted milk. Long Lin immediately broke into tears when he failed to find what he was looking for. He refused to drink any milk when the wet nurse came in to feed him.
"What's wrong? Why is he crying so much?" This never happened before. Xiao Lin didn't cry very often.
The wet nurse laughed. "The young prince is probably misses his grandmother. He's actually very dependent on his grandmother and likely cried when he didn't see her after waking up."
So it's because he misses his grandmother. I guess this is not unusual since the old madame has been the one taking care of his. Bai Xiangxiu was a little jealous, but didn't pay it too much heed since it wouldn't be a bad thing for them to be close to each other. So, she turned to Long Heng and asked, "What should we do?"
"We should get someone to take Xiao Lin to mother. It wouldn't be a good thing if he continues to cry like this." It'd be great to send him over. I can then continue hugging my little princess consort.
Bai Xiangxiu never even once considered the motive behind Long Heng's words as her mind was filled with nothing but worry. And so, she carefully wrapped Xiao Lin up snuggly and handed him over to a servant who would bring Xiao Lin to the old madame's quarters. The old madame probably misses her grandchild very much at this very moment too!
Long Heng hugged Bai Xiangxiu when everyone else had left the room. "You've truly given birth to mother's precious grandson." However, Long Heng was thinking something else inside. Your son really knows how to pick his target. Mother will probably be much more lenient towards you since you're his mother.
"Yeah. But it disappoints me a little that he doesn't recognize me."
"Not a problem. We can just make one more child that will stick to you at all times." Long Heng picked Bai Xiangxiu up and headed for the bed. She immediately put up a struggle and yelled at Long Heng while blus.h.i.+ng furiously, "Stop fooling around! You're still injured!"
"You asked for it."
"When did I ever?"
"Little la.s.s. You will not escape from me tonight." Right after that, the new princess consort let out a wail so loud that one could see silhouettes of startled birds in the night sky seek shelter in deeper darkness.
Lin Qianzi was now in an extremely dark place as well. She was extremely frightened and couldn't even move, though her acupoints had been released. It was no longer possible for her to return to the palace now that the emperor had learned of everything. She began to think about Su Yun, who she'd not seen in a few days. Lin Qianzi couldn't help but wonder if Su Yun would come to save her. It was Su Yun who'd given her the idea of seducing the emperor to use him to achieve her revenge, after all. But she had now lost another child because of said revenge. She'd lost everything that she once had.
She didn't want to serve Long Heng, nor did she want to serve Bai Xiangxiu. Even though she clearly knew that it was not Bai Xiangxiu's fault that her son died, she just couldn't help but be consumed by hatred. After putting in some thought, she realized that it was probably just jealousy. She was jealous that Bai Xiangxiu was so dearly loved by Long Heng. She'd been with countless men, yet how many truly loved her?
