age chief remained silent for a long time.The old woman was puzzled, she walked forward and patted the village head's arm, but unexpectedly, the village head sat down on his buttocks with a cry of sur..."Well, well! People say rich people are the most heartless, and today I see that's true!"

A burly man stepped forward, looking as if he was eager to defend the weak.

The woman with the basket was also yelling, "That's right! It's really cruel! That poor young girl is so pitiful; she wants to sell herself just to bury her father."

"You said you would help, how come you're backing out at the last minute Isn't this forcing the young girl to death!"

The market was always full of idlers.

Especially at this time, housewives, matrons, and laborers from various households, hearing the commotion here, all gathered around.

In a few moments, they had surrounded the place on three layers inside and three layers outside.

Now, Lu Cong wants to drag Jia Xu out, it's even more impossible.

Lu Zong instinctively felt something was wrong, his brow furrowing slightly.

Jia Xu, however, had a scholar's air about him and still patiently explained to the others, "You misunderstand. We were passing through when this girl suddenly grabbed my robe and begged me to buy her so she could bury her father."

I told her to take the silver and, after burying her father, continue her search for relatives. I said she needn't serve me as a slave. But she refused…

He was speaking the truth, but the woman with the basket on her arm narrowed her eyes and started talking nonsense.

"Goodness gracious, how can you be such a villain You bought the young woman but don't want her to follow What kind of person are you then A man who doesn't keep his word! How can you possibly live with yourself after this"

She's a young woman, she became your person, and yet you don't want her! She can't marry anyone else now! This slave girl is no longer a slave, but not pure either. How will she live her life from now on

"You said you weren't trying to kill her, so what were you doing"

Then the young woman in white wept, softly and sadly, making one's heart ache with a strange bitterness.

She pleaded softly, "Sob, sir, my father has passed away. I am all alone and have no idea what to do. If you buy me and help bury my father, I will belong to you!"

"Please don't despise my ugliness, and take me in! I am willing to work as a cow or a horse to repay your great kindness!"

"Oh, woe is me! If the young master does not want me, I can only... only follow my father!"

She finished speaking and, with a thud of her head against the ground, she wept even more piteously.

At this time, the old man with white beard spoke, sounding like a sincere counsel to Jia Xu, “Master Jia, saving one life is better than building seven pagodas. This old man sees that you are also from a wealthy family, and your household should not lack a servant girl. It's better to give her a place to stay.”

"Even if the young master temporarily takes her away, it would be fine to put her down again when a suitable place is found."

The onlookers behind were not afraid of trouble at all.

Seeing this kneeling woman, delicate and beautiful, sweating profusely with anxiety, Jia Xufu, handsome and wealthy, joined in the clamoring.

"That's right, how many bowls of rice can a woman eat Even when she receives food from home, she still has to do it all herself!"

"Yes, you don't want to keep her, just give her to me! I don't have a wife right now!"

"No, no! I don't have a wife either. Just give it to me! It would be so nice to have someone to keep me warm at night!"

The more people spoke, the worse it got. The woman shrank her shoulders in fear and cried even louder.

Jia Xu's sweat dripped down his forehead, plopping sound by sound.

Such a situation is much harder than writing an article.

He had read many books since childhood, perhaps not a thousand but certainly eight hundred. But none of them told him how to handle such a situation!

Lu Zong's complexion was ashen. Though he didn't know what the trick was, he vaguely guessed they had fallen into a trap and were now being grilled over it!

If we ignore this woman, it's like forcing her to die!

If they were to take this woman with them, it would be evident that she was trouble again. She was unknown, and perhaps even greater calamities awaited them in the future!

He had a moment of anger and irritability, wanting to summon his followers to deal with all the evil people who had plotted against him.

But reason told him he couldn't.

After much deliberation, he looked at the three Li brothers and whispered, "Brother Li, what should we do"

Jiaren had always been watching over his younger brothers, and they had also whispered a few words to each other in low voices.

At this moment, when Lu Cong sought help, he stepped forward and bowed to the crowd, saying: "Fellow elders and countrymen, this is our first time visiting this blessed land. We just strolled through the market when my friend was suddenly pulled by his robe."

"My friend, as you know, is a kindhearted person. Hearing that this young woman was in trouble, he wanted to lend her some money to help out. Isn't that a beautiful story"

Everyone nodded, there was no argument.

These days, everyone focuses on cleaning up their own doorstep. There aren't many people willing to open their wallets and help others.

Jia Ren shifted the topic, saying, "But this young lady, after receiving help, didn't rush to bury her father, nor did she worry about his corpse rotting. Instead, she insisted on following me, her friend, which is rather strange."

He then looked at the old men, men and women and asked, “We didn’t speak loudly here, and you suddenly appeared, coming up to say that we abandoned the dying, constantly pressuring us to take this girl.”

May I ask a question Are you acquainted with this young lady, otherwise how could you be so blind to right and wrong

"Nonsense!" the woman retorted, "We were just passing by and didn't like what we saw. Speaking up a few times doesn't make us bad people, does it"

"What do you mean Who knows you guys You act like we're plotting against you!" The man replied with a gruff voice, full of disdain.

The old man sighed and shook his head, looking disappointed. "The world is going downhill these days. Good people can't get ahead anymore! It's impossible to speak honestly!"

The onlookers, witnessing this, were again swayed and cried out.

"If you're not willing to save people, fine. But don't blame others."

"That's right, we folks from the countryside are all good people, but we don't play those games!"

Jia Ren, unfazed by their arguments, continued, "Well, since you villagers are willing to vouch for these men, then we shall temporarily believe that they have nothing to do with this young woman.

"But this friend of mine, his family are officials. Not just anyone can be taken as a servant. Since this girl is so determined to follow us, we can at least ask her a few questions, right"

Everyone looked at each other, but no one spoke.

Jiārén wasn't really going to wait for their permission. He turned his head and asked the woman, "You said that you and your father fell into hardship, your wealth was stolen by bandits, and your father died from illness after being angry for many days, right"

The girl nodded, still wanting to speak, but Jiarren had already taken over the conversation.

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate!

"Then tell me, your father's feet were so dirty when he was outside, it shows he suffered before he died.

"

“But your dress is made of fine jade silk, and your hands and face are spotless. It's clear you're well-cared for and not at all like someone in distress.”

The woman hung her head halfway, her eyes darted around, and her hands unconsciously pulled at her sleeves as she said, "My father loves me dearly. Even when we fell on hard times, he refused to let me suffer..."

"Alright, even if your father loves you dearly. Yun Ai's dress sold at the pawnshop could fetch five taels of silver, enough to buy a coffin. Why would you sell yourself to bury your father" Jia Ren pressed on relentlessly.

The woman became increasingly flustered and whispered, "I only have this one set of clothes. If I were to be arrested, I wouldn't have anything else to change into."gratulated Tao Hongying on her private dish being a huge success.These days, for a farmer's wife to avoid being beaten and still be able to make her own decisions at home is already quite difficult.Ta...