She withdrew the fluffy ball from Pei Zhaolin's hand expressionlessly and said, "Handle it cleanly."
The man curled up on the ground covered his head tightly with both hands.
He let the whip lash on the back of his hands, and the blood trickled down along his ragged hempen robe.
Under his messy and unkempt hair, there was a pair of fierce eyes like a vicious wolf.
He, Gao Yunzhi, swore that he would repay the humiliation he suffered today ten - fold or even a hundred - fold in the future!
Gao Yunzhi gritted his teeth tightly, not letting out a single groan of pain, only waiting for the day when he could trample those who bullied him under his feet.
"Stop."
The moment the sedan - chair curtain was lifted, Gao Yunzhi's pupils shrank sharply.
It was a woman, standing on the carriage with a frown.
She was wearing a blue front - buttoned gauze dress with a plain belt around her waist, which made her waist look even more slender.
Her clothes were not luxurious, but there was a faint air of nobility about her.
Gao Yunzhi's thought of attaching himself to her was almost instantly decided.
When those white brocade boots walked in front of Gao Yunzhi, he trembled all over and knelt down in front of Cui Jintang.
"Please..."
He heard his own pleading voice, broken and fragile: "Buy my worthless life. I'm willing to be a servant for the girl for the rest of my life."
Hearing Gao Yunzhi's voice, Cui Jintang frowned slightly.
Then, she glanced over and said coldly, "How much silver?"
The three human traffickers just now seemed to see a fat sheep to be slaughtered when they saw her and couldn't stop sizing her up and down.
The human trafficker hunched his back, and a flattering smile suddenly appeared in his turbid eyes.
"Has this girl thought it through? This one is a person who tried to kill his master and escape!"
A sticky and hoarse threat rolled out of his throat. He stepped forward quickly and grabbed Gao Yunzhi's hair with his rough big hand, forcing him to raise his head.
Showing his yellow - toothed mouth, he stretched out five fingers towards Cui Jintang.
The other two human traffickers glanced at each other and stepped forward with obsequious smiles.
"For just five hundred taels of silver, the girl can take his indenture!"
Cui Jintang sneered, "Five hundred taels? With five hundred taels, I could buy a house."
The expressions of the three human traffickers changed. One of them quickly put on a smile.
"Girl, although this boy has a past, look at his build. He must be good at doing rough and heavy work. Five hundred taels is already very reasonable!"
Reasonable?
They must have thought that since she was alone, even if they asked for an exorbitant price, she had no other choice.
She shook her head, smiled faintly, took off the money - bag hanging from her waist, and threw it at the three of them without even looking.
The three of them were overjoyed that Cui Jintang was so easy - going.
But the obsequious smile on the yellow - toothed man's face was disgusting: "The girl is generous! This lowly slave belongs to the girl from today on!"
Cui Jintang looked down at Gao Yunzhi, who was silent, and asked, "Can you walk?"
Gao Yunzhi struggled to get up with his bloody hands.
He gasped softly, and a flash of triumph flashed in his eyes as he looked at Cui Jintang: "Yes!"
"One hundred taels?!"
The human trafficker took out the silver note and immediately threw Cui Jintang's money - bag hard into the muddy water.
"You bitch! How dare you play tricks on me?! Do you think my tooth - market is a vegetable stall in Caishikou? If you don't make up the rest of the silver today, no one can leave!"
The human trafficker hunched his back and ran forward quickly. He raised the whip in his hand high and was about to lash at Cui Jintang's departing back!
Seeing this, Gao Yunzhi didn't know where he got the strength. He suddenly rushed forward and hugged the human trafficker's leg tightly.
Seeing that the barbed whip was about to hit Cui Jintang, she quickly dodged to the side.
Almost at the same time, the sound of clashing weapons rang in her ears!
The human trafficker was hit hard by Gao Yunzhi and rolled into the mud pit in a complete mess.
He was furious and pointed at Cui Jintang viciously with his bony fingers: "I'll send someone later to chop you two into pieces and feed you to the wild dogs!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a man slowly got off the carriage behind Cui Jintang.
With a smile in his eyes, he was holding a cloak embroidered with fine black fox fur on his wrist.
When he got closer, Pei Zhaolin put the cloak on Cui Jintang and said with concern, "It's getting colder. Don't catch a cold."
Cui Jintang snatched the drawstring from his hand and said in a low voice, "I'll do it myself."
The ends of the drawstring of this cloak were two fluffy balls, which felt extremely soft when pinched.
Pei Zhaolin paused for a moment, then his expression returned to normal, showing no sign of displeasure.
"Okay then."
Saying that, he slowly turned around.
The smile in his eyes faded little by little, and his jet - black eyes were now filled with calm.
Pei Zhaolin lowered his eyes and turned his wrist. His voice was unhurried and even a bit nonchalant: "What did you just say?"
The human trafficker felt a chill all over his body when Pei Zhaolin's seemingly gentle and calm gaze swept over him.
Most of his arrogance disappeared instantly.
He swallowed hard and cursed boldly with a stiff neck.
"Pah! Don't try to scare me. Even if the Emperor himself came today, I'd tie that seductive woman to a brothel and let the pimps take turns on her every day - "
"Bang!"
A sharp palm wind hit.
Before the human trafficker could react, he flew out like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily on the muddy ground, splashing a cloud of filth.
He opened his mouth to shout, but only spat out a mouthful of blood foam.
Gurgling, two yellow teeth rolled out of his mouth along with the blood.
The other two were so frightened that their faces turned ashen. Their legs went weak, and they knelt down on the ground with a thud.
They kowtowed and begged for mercy again and again: "My lord, please spare our lives! We were blind and offended the noble ones. Please be kind and let us go!"
Pei Zhaolin walked closer slowly. The sole of his shoe crushed the finger that the human trafficker stretched out, and the sound of the bone cracking was clearly audible.
"I don't know if the Emperor will come."
He bent down to pick up the dropped silver note and gently stroked the words "One Hundred Taels" with his fingertips.
Pei Zhaolin smiled slightly: "But today, you probably won't see the sun tomorrow."
The human trafficker stared at him in horror with wide - open eyes and shouted like a madman: "No, don't - "
"Wait."
The long sword that Pei Zhaolin had raised high stopped.
He put down the sword, turned around, and smiled at Cui Jintang in an extremely gentle and harmless way: "Tangtang, do you have something else to ask?"
In an instant, he changed from the ruthless executioner who wanted someone's life just now to an innocent and harmless young master.
Gao Yunzhi carefully concealed his shock and shrank his neck, following not too far behind Cui Jintang.
Cui Jintang tilted her head slightly and looked at the human traffickers who were scared out of their wits by the suddenly appearing black - clothed guards.
She glanced at the timid Gao Yunzhi and then at them.
She said, "Since ten years ago, the magistrate of Qinghe has ordered that it is not allowed to force slaves for sale."
"Who is your boss?"
Hearing this, the human traffickers trembled like chaff.
One of them stammered, "G - girl, we are just odd - jobbers. How would we know who the boss is?"
Cui Jintang didn't bother to waste any more words.
She withdrew the fluffy ball from Pei Zhaolin's hand expressionlessly and said, "Handle it cleanly."