nucmednet Chapter 234 Buying Zhuangzi
Chapter 234 Buying Zhuangzi
Ru Yue stared quietly at the three or four-year-old child in front of her. His clear eyes were filled with helplessness and fear. The crystal-clear tears seemed ready to burst out at any moment, but he bit his lip stubbornly, forcing them back.
This pretended strong look reminded Ru Yue of herself in her previous life - she was also helpless and alone, and could only rely on her own strength to support herself.
The child stared intently into Ru Yue's eyes, as if desperately seeking a glimmer of the warmth and comfort he longed for. Despite his youth, he was incredibly clever and intelligent. From just a brief observation, he discerned that Ru Yue was the one whose words truly carried the day. So, he pursed his lips and remained silent, neither fawning nor seeking charity.
Ru Yue slowly shifted her gaze away from the child and glanced at the other two people standing in front of her.
He thought to himself: Do I really have to offend the powerful Duke Zheng's Mansion for them? Thinking about it carefully, I'm afraid that's not the case.
Suddenly, the genealogy of the capital's aristocratic families that Fengying had taken from the Shadow Gate not long ago emerged in her mind.
Isn’t the “highly respected” old lady in the Marquis of Wu’an’s Mansion originally from the Duke of Zheng’s Mansion?
Chu Ning'an's return would inevitably bring him into direct confrontation with the old lady of the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion. As a result, maintaining peace with the lineage of Duke Zheng would be extremely difficult.
Add to that the Prince Consort of Yongning County who also came from Duke Zheng's Mansion... Humph, if we can get rid of her, it shouldn't be considered an earth-shattering event, right?
"Okay, I agree to what you said." Ru Yue opened her red lips slightly and responded in a crisp and firm voice.
However, her ready agreement made the woman stunned for a moment, as if she couldn't believe her ears.
After a long while, the woman came back to her senses as if she had just woken up from a dream, and then her originally haggard face immediately bloomed with ecstasy.
She threw herself to the ground in sheer excitement, kowtowed to Ruyue repeatedly, each time hitting the ground with a dull thud. After only three kowtows, when she raised her head again, her forehead was already red and swollen, but she seemed oblivious to the pain, her eyes filled with gratitude towards Ruyue.
Before Ru Yue could even speak, the woman impatiently stood up and ran out like a gust of wind.
Not long after, she returned to the house, panting, carrying a heavy wooden box. Once inside, she didn't even bother to rest for a moment, but quickly placed the box carefully on the ground and quickly opened the lid.
She took out two pieces of contract paper and handed them to Ru Yue, "Miss, this is the contract of sale between me and Daqing."
As the wooden box was slowly opened, a dazzling golden light suddenly poured out from the box.
A closer look revealed two neatly arranged rows of glittering gold ingots within the wooden box, each one gleaming with dazzling light. A rough estimate suggested they must have weighed between three and five hundred taels! Furthermore, atop these ingots lay piles of large, round oriental pearls and a variety of dazzling gemstones, a dazzling display of rare treasures. And at the very top lay some yellowed deeds.
Faced with such a huge amount of wealth and precious items, Ru Yue just glanced at them lightly without showing too much surprise or greed.
She nodded slightly, motioning for An Er to gather everything up. An Er understood, quickly strode over to the wooden box, and with deft movements, examined the gold ingots, jewelry, and deeds. He closed the lid, embracing the contents and retreating to the side. He remained silent throughout, like a well-trained guard.
Ru Yue slowly crouched down, her movements gentle and graceful, as if she was afraid to frighten the tiny person in front of her. Then, she gently reached out and carefully pulled the child to her side.
The child's slightly dirty little face came into her sight, and she couldn't help but frowned slightly, but then she showed a gentle smile.
She took out a clean white handkerchief from her bosom and carefully wiped the stains on the child's face, each stroke so gently, as if she was afraid of hurting him.
After wiping the child's face clean, she gazed into his clear eyes and asked softly, "Tell me, what's your name? Are you willing to follow me in the future?"
The child blinked and answered timidly, "Yuqi, my name is Yuqi, and I am three years old this year." His voice was very low, with a little timidity and uneasiness.
Hearing the child's answer, she smiled slightly, nodded encouragingly, and continued: "Well, Yuqi is a nice name. Sister believes that when you grow up, you will become a great person. But for now, you just need to grow up happily and healthily." As she spoke, she reached out and gently touched Yuqi's little face, letting him feel the warmth and care from a stranger.
However, Yu Qi seemed to have suddenly mustered up the courage, raised her head and looked at her seriously, and said firmly: "Sister, I will grow up soon, and then I will be able to help you with things!"
Hearing this, her heart softened. She touched his little face again and said in an increasingly gentle tone, "Sister doesn't need your help with anything. You just need to grow up happily, study hard, and become a successful person in the future. Remember, you must not let down your mother who fought so hard to give you this glimmer of hope."
She didn't know whether the young child in front of her could truly understand what she said, but she knew that since fate had made him encounter such unfair treatment, he had to bear it himself. She could give him a chance, but she would not drag him forward, so he must grow up strong.
After saying this, she turned around, looked at the woman standing beside her, and asked, "What's your name? I see you must have served Ning Shuang before, so I guess someone has seen you before, right?"
It is better to have less trouble than more. She doesn't want to cause herself unnecessary trouble because of this matter.
"My name is Linglan," Linglan said slowly, a bitter smile on her face. She then added, "Come to think of it, I'm only seventeen years old this year. Can you tell, young lady?"
When these words were spoken, everyone in the room was stunned.
Everyone's eyes fell on Linglan, and they saw that a few strands of silver hair had quietly climbed up on her face, which should have been full of youth. Especially on her temples, there were dots of silver hair, like autumn frost.
No one could tell from her appearance that she was only seventeen years old. Even if someone said she was twenty-seven, it would probably be too young.
This shows how much suffering Linglan has endured in the past three years! Everyone present was deeply moved.
Ru Yue stared at Ling Lan, pondering for a moment before finally speaking. "Okay, I plan to send this child away to a safe and peaceful place where he can study and grow up like a normal child. You and Da Qing will stay by my side and serve me. Are you willing to accept this arrangement?"
Linglan obviously did not expect Ruyue to make such a decision to separate her from her child.
For a moment, she was completely stunned, staring at Ru Yue blankly, her lips trembling slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end no sound came out. She had no idea how to respond at this moment.
At this moment, Yu Qi, who had been silent all the time, suddenly broke the deadlock.
He walked quickly to Ru Yue's side, reached out and took her sleeve, shaking it gently, and said in a childish but firm tone: "Sister, I believe in you. I will definitely listen to your instructions, study hard, and grow up happily. In the future, I will also work hard to become a person of great achievements!"
What a clever kid! It's incredible that he's only three years old!
Ru Yue listened quietly, feeling a surge of sadness in her heart.
"An Si, you will escort Yu Qi back to Mengjia Village tomorrow. As for Nanny Qin and Chu Ning'an, I will write a letter to explain the current situation to them." Ru Yue gave instructions in an orderly manner.
"I will follow the young lady's orders!" An Si responded respectfully with a fist salute.
The next morning, just as the dawn light had begun to shine across the land, Ru Yue and An Er set out on their journey to the capital. They rode non-stop, heading straight for the official yamen in the capital.
When the human trafficker heard that Ru Yue was interested in purchasing Ziyun Villa, he immediately started to wonder: Does this guest know that the villa has always been famous for being haunted?
He wanted to tell the truth, but was worried about losing the deal; but if he kept silent, if he got into trouble in the future, he would probably find it difficult to get out of it.
Just like that, after struggling in my heart for a while, the words came to my lips but were swallowed back again and again.
However, Ru Yue was so smart that she saw through the human trafficker's thoughts at a glance.
She simply stopped beating around the bush and got straight to the point, "Since the manor is rumored to be haunted, I guess its price shouldn't be too high, right?"
"Hehehe, since the young lady already knows about this, then I will naturally not hide anything anymore! Just as the outside world has rumored, yes, it is such a huge manor, and the owner only asked for two thousand taels of silver." The human trafficker seemed to be a relatively honest and easy-going person. Maybe because he saw Ru Yue was still young, he did not deliberately raise the price or add too much false information.
Then he added, "If a manor of this size were located in Pinggu, it would definitely not be acquired for less than five thousand taels of silver!"
However, facing the human trafficker's words, Ru Yue just smiled slightly and responded nonchalantly: "Haha, look at this manor, it's obviously been abandoned for a long time! After I take over, I will have to spend a lot of time and energy to renovate it. Besides, as to whether there are really ghosts haunting this place, no one can say for sure! Maybe I just bought this manor, and then I have to trouble you, Brother Renya, to help sell it again! Do you think what I said makes sense?"
At this point, Ru Yue still had a smile on her face, as if she were chatting casually with the other party. "So, I don't want to bargain too much with you, Brother Renya. How about this? Please go back and negotiate with the owner. The maximum price I will offer for this farm is 1,200 taels of silver. If the owner can agree to this price, then I will buy it immediately without hesitation. But if they insist on a higher price, then I'm afraid I will have to look around and see if there are more suitable options."
The human trafficker was a shrewd and insightful person, so how could he not see what Ru Yue was thinking?
Just thinking about the fact that no one had shown interest in the manor for three years, and finally finding someone willing to take over this hot potato, was a blessing for him. So, he immediately agreed without hesitation.
This matter progressed exceptionally quickly. The Prince of Yongning seemed more eager to get rid of the manor than anyone else. Even when the price was pushed down to such a low level, he nodded in agreement without hesitation.
By that afternoon, everything was settled.
Ru Yue successfully signed the contract and delivered the corresponding silver. At this point, the transaction was completely completed.
The experienced and smooth human trafficker took the initiative to take charge of all the complicated matters related to the transfer of ownership, and said that Ru Yue only needed to come again in the afternoon of the next day to receive the official transfer documents.