Chapter 179: The Bond of Slavery

Xu Bu stepped forward and bowed deeply. Amidst the veils that seemed to both invite and reject, Qingqing from Yingfeng Tower, who was quite popular at the time, smiled gently and said in a delicate voice, “Yiyi sends her regards to Lord Lin.”
“Please, Miss Yiyi, have a seat…” Lin Dong quickly stood up.
“Thank you, Lord Lin, for offering me a seat,” Qingqing said as she lightly lifted the hem of her dress and sat down slowly across from Lin Dong. Then, she stretched out her snow-white arms, picked up the wine pot on the table, filled a cup for Lin Dong and another for Yingchunhua, and poured one for herself as well. She then raised her cup, stood up, and slightly parted her bright red lips: “Welcome, Lord Lin, to Yingfeng Tower. Yiyi offers this drink to you.”
“I dare not accept; it should be me who offers a drink to Miss Yiyi,” Lin Dong said, flattered, and quickly stood up to drink it all at once.
“Lord Lin truly has a strong tolerance for alcohol!” Yingchunhua praised him, giving Qingqing a subtle wink.
Qingqing immediately filled Lin Dong’s cup again and said softly and modestly, “Lord Lin, please drink slowly. Yiyi won’t disturb you any longer.”
“How can that be…” Lin Dong started to speak but quickly stopped himself.
Ma Chun was clearly a diligent servant. Since his master was too embarrassed to speak up, he stepped in. He grinned and said, “Miss Yiyi has just arrived—why does she want to leave already?”
“Lord Lin, you don’t know…” Yingchunhua waved her handkerchief and said plaintively, “Yiyi can’t handle alcohol well. After drinking this cup, it will take her a long time to recover.”
Lin Dong remained silent and gave Ma Chun a look.
Ma Chun immediately took out a thick stack of silver bills. Amidst Yingchunhua and Qingqing’s gulps, he picked one bill and placed it on the table.
“Oh no, that can’t be done…” Yingchunhua gritted her teeth secretly. Yingfeng Tower hadn’t had any wealthy or foolish patrons in a month or two. It was rare to meet one today, so there was no reason to turn them away. Winking at Qingqing, Yingchunhua stood up happily to accept the silver bill.
“Lord Lin, where are you from?” Qingqing, who usually played the role of a warm and charming woman, was also skilled in appearing pure and proud. She forced herself to look away from the silver bill and turned to look at Lin Dong with respect. “If I’m not mistaken, given Lord Lin’s demeanor, you must be from the capital, right?”
“What capital? I’m just a small wealthy man from Jiangxia County,” Lin Dong said with a laugh.
“How is that possible?” Qingqing was shocked, as if she had heard some earth-shattering news. She couldn’t believe it and said, “With Lord Lin’s elegant demeanor, you certainly seem like someone from the capital. How could you just be a local gentry?”

This flattery clearly pleased Lin Dong greatly. Beaming with joy, he kept explaining that he was merely a wealthy man from a small county town. Meanwhile, Ma Chun seized the opportunity to criticize the big merchants in the capital, while Qingqing added a few compliments, keeping the atmosphere lively.

After finishing a pot of wine, at Yingchunhua’s signal, Qingqing got up to leave again. Lin Dong, clearly not satisfied, kept sending glances at Ma Chun. Seeing Ma Chun about to pull out those heart-pounding silver notes again, Yingchunhua groaned inwardly and quickly got up to explain that they had already wasted too much time—Lord Lin was so magnanimous that he had forgotten the time. After all, no amount of money could ever be earned enough. And people were never satisfied. One thousand taels might suffice for a little music and wine, another thousand taels would require some conversation, and for the third thousand taels, perhaps touching her would be enough. It wasn’t that Yingchunhua didn’t want to earn those third, fourth, or fifth thousand taels—mainly because of Yi Yi’s reputation. If this foolishly wealthy local man really spent thousands of taels to do whatever he wanted, he would likely start doubting Yi Yi’s identity right away.

Although harmony brought prosperity, Yingchunhua wasn’t afraid of trouble at Yingfeng Tower. It was just a local wealthy man—any official from Qiufeng Mansion could scare him away easily. But not now. It was the time to distribute VIP cards, and any scandal involving a fake Yi Yi deceiving people would harm Yingfeng Tower’s reputation. It was precisely the time to win back those regular customers, so no accidents were allowed. It wasn’t worth it for a few thousand taels of silver. So, she had no choice but to reject this rare opportunity presented by this local wealthy man.

Watching Yi Yi walk away gracefully, Lin Dong’s forced look of disappointment seemed somewhat strange. Fortunately, though Yingchunhua had seen countless people, even the strangest expressions weren’t unusual to her.

“Well…” Lin Dong glanced at the table full of food and drink, clearly uninterested, then looked at Yingchunhua, hesitating to speak.

“Lord Lin, if there’s anything you need, just give the order,” Yingchunhua said with a forced smile. “How about I have someone call Xing Er and Yun Yun over?”

Lin Dong stared at the empty room with its cold door and shook his head silently.

Beside him, Ma Chun suddenly asked, “Aunt Ying, if someone wants to redeem Miss Yi Yi, how much silver do you think you should charge?”

“Redeem her?” Yingchunhua was stunned. Ever since Peng Tianan offered one hundred thousand taels, no one had mentioned redeeming Yi Yi again.

“Yes!” Ma Chun emphasized.

Yingchunhua glanced at Lin Dong, who nodded slightly in response.

“This…” Yingchunhua felt a stir in her heart as she began weighing the pros and cons.
“Aunt Ying, just give us a price!” Ma Chun urged from the side.
Yingchunhua pondered for a moment before saying with a troubled expression, “Yiyi is the star of our Yingfeng Tower, and she’s been by my side for over a decade. I’ve always treated her like my own daughter. No matter how much silver it is…”
“One hundred thousand taels!” Lin Dong suddenly said.
Under normal circumstances, Yingchunhua would have scoffed at such a price—given Yiyi’s contribution to the business of Yingfeng Tower’s second floor, the amount could be earned back in two or three years.
But now… Yiyi was just a fake, and Qingqing, though a popular figure at Yingfeng Tower, was worth at most four or five thousand taels. Not to mention selling her for one hundred thousand taels—even ten thousand taels would be a sure profit.
After all, Yiyi was nowhere to be found; she might have run off to the ends of the earth. The slave contract was practically worthless. Even if Yiyi were found, no one would bother checking whether the contract still existed at Yingfeng Tower.
Yingchunhua hesitated, worried that this local tycoon might spread news everywhere about having acquired Yiyi. Although Jiangxia County was in a remote corner of Qiufeng Prefecture, rumors could still reach them eventually. By then, even if Yiyi were found, she couldn’t be kept. Another concern was the tycoon’s status—one hundred thousand taels wasn’t a small sum in Qiufeng City. Without some kind of backing, she wouldn’t believe it.
“One hundred and fifty thousand taels!” Lin Dong snapped through gritted teeth.
“Sir…” Ma Chun seemed frightened and quickly whispered in his ear.
“As long as you keep your mouth shut, how could that wretched woman know?” Lin Dong glared. “As for the money, we can just shift some funds from another business—who would know?”
Yingchunhua felt relieved. So this Lord Lin had a fierce wife at home? That way, there was no need to worry about rumors spreading. With Qingqing’s skills, even if she wasn’t the real Yiyi, she was a hundred times better at seducing men. Coupled with Yiyi’s reputation, it would be enough to dazzle this tycoon, making it impossible for him to tell the difference between Qingqing and Yiyi.
Without further hesitation, Yingchunhua said with a radiant smile, “Lord Lin, it’s not that I’m deliberately making things difficult. To me, Yiyi is like my own daughter. Of course, I want to find her a good husband. But Jiangxia County…”
“What’s wrong with Jiangxia County?” Ma Chun retorted irritably. “It’s better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix. The magistrate of Jiangxia County is my second master. In Jiangxia County, my master is like an emperor. Even the richest merchants in the capital might not have as much status as him.”

Yingchunhua was pleased. She had heard of Lin Qinyang, the county magistrate of Jiangxia County—someone who had never left his position in his life and certainly had no significant backing. If Lord Lin relied only on being the brother of a county magistrate, there was no need to worry about him coming after them in the future.

After probing further to ensure there were no concerns, Yingchunhua thought it over and said, “Lord Lin values my Yi Yi so much… I’m completely at ease, but after all, this is Yi Yi’s lifetime decision. We still need to consider her wishes. How about I discuss it with her?”

“Sure, sure! I’ll wait here for good news from Aunt Ying,” Lin Dong nodded repeatedly.

Yingchunhua immediately stood up and left, excitedly heading out of the room.

By “discussing it with Yi Yi,” she didn’t mean asking Qingqing if she was willing; rather, it was to flatter her and clarify the next steps.

When Qingqing returned with Yingchunhua, her expression toward Lin Dong was already charming.

For a woman from a brothel, being redeemed by a wealthy man—even as a concubine—was undoubtedly a good fate. Moreover, carrying Yi Yi’s name meant that even if she lost favor as she aged, she could still save a considerable amount of money while she was young. So when Yingchunhua approached her, she agreed without hesitation to cooperate fully, without even needing her contract to be used as leverage.

“Congratulations, congratulations, Lord Lin!” Yingchunhua said excitedly, drawing out the words. “Yi Yi has agreed.”

“Great!” Lin Dong slammed the table. “Aunt Ying, wait three to five months. I’ll go back right now to raise the money. It won’t take longer than half a year—I’ll definitely bring enough silver to redeem Yi Yi.”

Yingchunhua was startled. In three to five months, a new top performer would already be in place. If Lord Lin went up to the second floor with the silver, he would see the new performer playing music and singing. At the very least, he would realize Qingqing was far inferior to her. By then, he would surely change his mind.

Qingqing, too, grew anxious and complained playfully, “Aunt Ying, didn’t you promise Yi Yi before that if she really found a good match, you wouldn’t bring up the matter of money?”

“Well…” Yingchunhua stammered, “A bride price can’t be skipped, right?”

“Of course not! A bride price must be substantial,” Lin Dong nodded quickly. “Aunt Ying, wait three to five months. I’ll definitely bring a generous bride price.”

“Sigh…” Yingchunhua sighed. After much hesitation, she said helplessly, “Over the years, Yiyi has earned quite a bit of silver for me. Accepting a large sum from Lord Lin without her knowledge means cutting off our mother-daughter relationship. Lord Lin, it wouldn’t be appropriate to deliver the betrothal gifts to a brothel. Please decide on an amount of silver, and I’ll go arrange for Yiyi to be freed from her bond later.”

Lin Dong was secretly pleased. Of course, it was impossible to obtain Yiyi’s bond for just over two thousand taels of silver, so he nodded at Ma Chun immediately.

Ma Chun promptly took out a thick stack of silver notes and placed them on the table. “There should still be thirty-seven thousand taels left,” Lin Dong said apologetically. “I dare not bring too much silver when traveling. When I bring Yiyi here in a few years, I’ll definitely make up for it to Aunt Ying.”

“There’s no need for so much; just a few taels will suffice,” Yingchunhua said, waving her hands repeatedly. Yet inwardly, she felt relieved. Although thirty-seven thousand taels was far less than one hundred fifty thousand taels, it was safe and risk-free.

As long as Qingqing could trick that foolish rich man out of Qiufeng City, those thirty-seven thousand taels would be safely in their hands. It would still be a huge profit after all the efforts.

After some back-and-forth, Yingchunhua left the room with the silver notes. Lin Dong and the others waited for two hours while eating and chatting. Finally, Yingchunhua reentered, sweating profusely. In her hands were a bond of servitude and a document confirming her release from her bond, both just obtained from the government office.