The guards immediately seized the elderly couple and opened them up, left and right.But after all, the two of them were older men, and their subordinates still subconsciously held back some strength.B...A small pier on the seaside, twenty or so miles outside the city, bustled with activity as people moved to and fro, bathed in the midday sun.
Some ama divers carry baskets, here selling the sea snails, sea urchins, and fish and shrimp they retrieved from the depths.
No one offered them a high price for these harvests, even though they risked their lives to retrieve them.
A basket of seashells often sells for only twenty cash coins.
But with these twenty coins, a smile appeared on the faces of the female divers.
They live here year-round and go swimming whenever they have free time.
The ocean is vast and generous, with abundant resources.
Occasionally, receiving twenty or thirty articles of clothing like this over time, accumulating them until their marriage, would also result in fifteen or sixteen taels of silver.
These silver pieces were enough for them to furnish themselves with some bedding and clothing, and they stepped across the threshold of their husband's home.
Today, among the women selling seafood, there is a rather peculiar one.
She was completely shrouded in layers, wearing a veil and a large hood. If it weren't for her wet clothes that barely revealed the outline of a woman's figure, one wouldn't be able to tell she was female.
Here are some street vendors who come here every day to chat and socialize.
"Did you see that woman"
Of course I saw, it was a scorching day, covered up tightly, not afraid of getting heat rash.
"You don't know anything! This woman clearly comes from a wealthy family and is well-behaved."
"Impossible, a lady from a wealthy household wouldn't be short on money and come here to argue over these few copper coins with us"
"Don't be foolish, just because a household is large doesn't mean they have money! They probably had some kind of trouble and lost their livelihood."
"Well then, let's go have a look. Maybe she really is a lady from a wealthy family. If so, we can take advantage of the situation and get some benefits."
"Haha, hurry up! You've got me itching to try it."
In a place like this, you can find all sorts of people from every walk of life. There's no such thing as fairness or order here.
Some peddlers are also considered the local big shots here. If they have business, they do it. If not, they use some tricks to take advantage of others.
Seeing them run past the woman with a sunhat, the rest either made way for them, some gloated, some frowned, and some craned their necks to get a good look at the commotion.
"Excuse me, miss, what are you selling"
“Oh, not bad! There's a pair of parrot snails (made up) here! This stuff wouldn't sell well here. You need to take it to the city's market street, and best of all, run into those merchants from the north. If someone takes a liking to them, you could sell them for ten or twenty taels of silver!”
"That's right, that's right! It's such a waste to sell it here."
Three vendors, grinning broadly, sidled up to the woman's stall under her straw hat. They started chatting familiarly and even rummaged through her seafood.
One peddler caught the cone snail and held it before the woman, as if offering it to her.
In fact, if a woman reached out her hand, he would take the opportunity to grab her hand and grope her.
The woman raised her hat, glanced at him briefly without any movement.
But her dark, bright eyes made the peddler's hand tremble, and his heart burned even hotter.
This is definitely a beauty!
He quickly winked at his two companions and said, "Miss, this conch... I'll buy it!"
“I’ll pay ten taels of silver, but I don’t have that much on me right now, only five. How about you come home with us to get the rest!”
Having said that, she was afraid the woman wouldn't believe her, so she reached into her bosom and pulled out a money pouch. Inside were scattered coins, adding up to only five or six taels in total.
The other two peddlers also chimed in, one saying: “Yes, we truly want to buy it, but we just don’t have the silver on hand. Our home is in Baisha Village, just two li away. It wouldn’t be a bother if you came with us.”
Two women from Baitasha Village nearby heard this and were about to speak up.
As a result, they were pulled on the arm by an acquaintance.
Several peddlers often frequent this place, but the woman was a fresh face.
Even if you saved the woman, she wouldn't come back afterwards.
But perhaps the peddlers still have to do business, offending them would definitely not be beneficial.
The woman, either unprepared or truly lacking money, nodded upon hearing this and packed up her stall to leave with the three peddlers.
Everyone thought it was going to be a big fight, but it turned out so simple!
Some people cursed the woman for being too stupid, some sighed, and others felt disappointed...
Three more vendors, helping the woman carry the seafood, walked along a secluded path and soon turned behind a large expanse of rocks.
The waves crashed against the rocks, breaking into a spray of water that flowed down the stones, forming patches of dirty, grayish-white foam.
The sea breeze, laden with saltiness, blew in my face, bringing a suffocating sadness.
Three vendors stopped in their tracks, dropping their sea cargo and grinning at the woman.
The woman raised her hat, revealing her eyes, and asked coldly, "Why haven't you left yet"
"Of course, because we're here!" A peddler rubbed his hands together, grinning lasciviously. "Miss, your parrot conch isn't exactly priceless. Big brother spent ten taels of silver buying it, which is generous enough. Shouldn't you also accompany big brother for some fun"
"What's so amusing Why are you amused" The woman was calm, as if she didn't know how dangerous her situation truly was.
Three vendors all burst into laughter. One of them stepped forward and tried to remove the woman's veil.
"Of course, I'll sleep with Big Brother. Big Brother is delighted."
Unfortunately, before his hand could reach the woman's kerchief, he was kicked hard in the stomach. He staggered back several steps and crashed to the sand with a thud.
The other two vendors were stunned, their faces turning black with anger.
"You little bitch, have no shame, do you"
"Give her a beating, beat the honesty out of her then discipline her."
Two men rolled up their sleeves and were about to step forward, the crying and cowering peddler even more frantically shouted, "Beat her to death! Let's have some fun, sell her to a big ship sailing out to sea!"
"You little bitch, you dare to hit me I'll kill you!"
The woman took two steps back, her expression showing no sign of panic. Instead, she asked, "Haven't you done this kind of thing before"
The two peddlers didn't brag either, replying: "We haven't done it before, only heard of it. But today we'll make our debut with you!"
The woman let out a cold snort, and with a flick of her wrist, drew two daggers from behind her waist.
The blade gleamed with a frosty brilliance, held in one hand, it looked quite imposing.
Two hawkers were suddenly frightened, but they still pretended to be tough.
"Damn girl, you still want to kill people Hmph, with two daggers, you think we're afraid of you"
"Go ahead and try something. My brothers number over a hundred, we'll find your place and you'll never have a peaceful day again!"
Unfortunately, the woman charged directly at him.
The two men tried to dodge the daggers, but in their panic, they were unable to react in time and were struck. They rolled on the ground like gourds, crying out in pain and begging for mercy.
The vendor who had been kicked away originally wanted to rush over and seek revenge.
Seeing this, he wanted to run away, but how could the woman let him go She grabbed his collar and pulled him back, beating him up again.
The three of them huddled together, becoming kindred spirits.
"Ouch, that hurts! Please spare me!"
"Heroine, we were wrong, we really know we were wrong!"
"Please spare us, we won't dare again. Waaaah, it hurts, it hurts!"
But the woman did not stop just because they begged for mercy. She didn't cease until she was tired out. Then, she held her dagger to their throats and searched them, taking all their money bags.
Three purses together would amount to no more than twenty taels.
The woman nodded in satisfaction. With such a broken ship, it's remarkable that three peddlers could even manage to bring back this much silver.'t be easily deceived in the future...Without saying a word of good, she opened another "treasure chest." Only to say that Li Laotai and others boarded a boat and walked on the wide river surface. At...