Chapter Ninety: A Good Friend Stands by His Word

Among the slaves sold in the brokerage yards, the least valuable were the old and the young, and the next least valuable were women.

Even so, the old, the children, and the women often could not be sold at all.

In the Great Yan Empire, brokerage yards were semi-official institutions, somewhat different from the guilds formed by ordinary merchants. The slaves sold here all carried legal deeds of bondage, which protected the buyer’s rights in the eyes of the law. For that reason, the prices were artificially high.

If they were healthy young men, or people with a trade like those six blacksmiths, then a higher price was no obstacle to sale; indeed, demand often outstripped supply.

As for the old and the young, there was no need to speak of them. Unless a great household had some special use for them, they were nothing but money-losing burdens to any buyer.

And as for women, in today’s Great Yan, there was no shortage of girls willing to sell themselves into slavery.

Among common folk, countless were those who could not afford the taxes and were willing to enter the households of the wealthy and powerful.

The marriage escort levy and the bride tax, in particular, had driven untold numbers of girls from poor families to sell themselves into bondage.

The women Zhao Hengyi had once rescued from the dungeon at Cliffside Mountain were half girls sold by their own families to the dark brokerage yards, all in exchange for sparing one person’s tax burden and giving the girl a chance at survival.

After all, in the eyes of ordinary people, any family that could afford servants surely did not lack food.

Even here in Jiangling City, as long as one was willing to provide a bowl of rice and spare a family the tax burden, there was no need to pay money at all; one could recruit endless women willing to sign deeds of bondage and serve as slaves or maids.

Under such circumstances, buying women from the brokerage yard was plainly a rather foolish thing to do.

After all, the asking prices here were far too high.

And yet the blacksmith named Wu Ren, who knelt on the ground and begged bitterly, still did not change his plea even after the brokerage overseer lashed him twice with a whip, so Zhao Hengyi agreed to buy his wife and daughter together.

In truth, so long as Wu Ren asked it, Zhao Hengyi would not refuse.

With a modern mind, he could not ignore the tragedy of a family torn apart before his eyes, let alone the fact that these blacksmiths were being bought for important work and would all become his trusted men in the future.

“Master Zhao is truly a kind-hearted man. This fool has been fortunate indeed!”

The brokerage overseer was extremely warm toward Zhao Hengyi. Seeing that Zhao was willing to buy the blacksmith’s wife and daughter, he naturally had to flatter him a little.

When the gate of another courtyard was opened, Zhao Hengyi was stunned by the sight before him.

The small yard contained not a single house. Only a few thatched sheds had been put up along the walls, and the courtyard was crammed full of people seated or lying down everywhere, all of them women and girls.

There had to be more than a hundred in that one yard alone.

At the sight of the gate opening and the overseer standing outside with a young man who was clearly the buyer, the women and girls became agitated at once, scrambling to their feet and surging toward the entrance.

Crack, crack, crack!

The whip in the brokerage overseer’s hand cracked through the air, sending several sharp blooms of sound that immediately frightened the women back.

“Which of you is family to the blacksmith Wu Ren? He was brought here last night. Come up to the gate.”

Though the overseer did not say why he was looking for Wu Ren’s family, the other women could guess well enough that they were to be bought by the young man beside him. At once, voices pleading for mercy rose in a clamor.

“Overseer Fang, how much are these women and children each?”

Zhao Hengyi was nearly filled with rage, yet on his face he had no choice but to wear a crafty smile. “If the price is right, I might as well take a few more!”

Those words were like a match tossed into a barrel of oil, and the whole courtyard nearly went mad.

To remain here in the brokerage yard and still go unsold—at best, they would be sent into the government-run brothels.

But even the brothels could not take in so many women.

As for where the rest would go, no one knew, though it surely would not be anywhere good.

Overseer Fang, terrified, hurriedly ordered the gate locked tight, fearing those women might rush out and make the situation impossible to control.

“Good heavens, Master Zhao, how can you say such things in front of them!”

Sweat pouring from his brow, Overseer Fang would have lost his temper on the spot if not for the two taels of silver Zhao Hengyi had just pressed into his hand. “With Shopkeeper Liu here, whatever Master Zhao fancies, I’ll price it for you as though it were weak and sickly!”

Even with the brokerage yard’s inflated prices, a woman with no special skill would only fetch three to five taels of silver. If it was merely to sell Zhao Hengyi a favor, pricing them as weak and sickly was no great matter.

“Overseer Fang truly is a friend worth having! On the road here, Shopkeeper Liu told me that in the whole brokerage yard, you’re the most loyal and the most worth dealing with!”

The two taels of silver in hand, and with a few words of praise besides, Overseer Fang instantly grew hot-blooded. Thumping his chest, he told Zhao Hengyi to pick as he pleased. However many he chose, he, Fang, would take the lot upon himself!

“Truly loyal to the heavens and the earth! I’m fixed on making your acquaintance, Overseer Fang!”

Zhao Hengyi put on the face of a wandering brother-in-arms and exchanged a smile with him, as though the two were of one heart and mind. “Overseer Fang, I’ll take every woman in this courtyard!”

“No problem... wait!”

The Fang overseer, who had moments ago been as spirited as a crowing rooster, was instantly stunned, his whole body going numb. “Master Zhao, what did you say?”

“I said I’ll take them all. If there are any other women elsewhere who’ve piled up unsold, I’ll buy them as well.”

Zhao Hengyi wore a radiant smile. “Overseer Fang, you value loyalty. I, Zhao Hengyi, am no worse! Since these women are hard to sell, I’ll settle the whole matter for you in one go.”

The wide-eyed Fang overseer swallowed hard, only now realizing that the two taels in his palm felt scalding hot.

“No, no—Master Zhao is indeed a loyal and righteous friend, and this humble one has learned something today! But Master Zhao, what would you want with so many women? In our brokerage yard alone, there are two or three hundred waiting to be sold!”

Not only Fang overseer, even Shopkeeper Liu beside him was stunned by Zhao Hengyi. But then he thought of the cloth shop run by Song San, steward to Count Dangyang, and immediately understood. He simply stood aside, smiling as he watched the spectacle.

“Two or three hundred? So many?”

Zhao Hengyi was surprised as well. Seeing Fang overseer nod repeatedly, he said, “All the better. I’ll take the whole lot!”

Fang overseer could see that Zhao Hengyi was not joking. Yet had he not just been boasting casually that no matter how many women Zhao bought, they would all be sold at the low price of the weak and sickly? How was he to put it now—he had only been joking, all right?

“That won’t do!”

Zhao Hengyi was solemn and righteous. “A man’s word must be trusted! I’ve already taken you, Overseer Fang, as a friend. Could it be that you look down on me and mean to mock me?

“If Overseer Fang thinks the number is too large and the accounts would be troublesome... still, I think this weather is so hot, and it rained all night just now. With so many women packed together, it would be hard to guard against outbreaks of illness. Wouldn’t you say?”