The little maid had heard from trainers that there were some officials or ladies from the wealthy families who, once sold into the hands of official matchmakers,
would be treated like animals, regardless of their gender. This kind of transaction was also protected by law.
Sold into a wealthy family to serve as slaves or laborers was one thing; being sold into a filthy place was another, neither women nor men could escape the misery.
The little maid feared this, and if she were to be sold again, she wouldn’t be so lucky. She didn’t know how tragic her fate would be, but she didn’t want it!
Mrs. Lai’s hand hurt from the continuous slapping, yet she persisted, but the person driving the ox cart ahead of them spoke out to stop her.
"Enough, enough, what’s the point of hitting a little maid? Aren’t you tired from all this today? You said you were dizzy earlier, and now you’re energetic?"
Hongji’s father was both agitated and guilty. In fact, Mrs. Lai was hitting the little maid, but he had also wished he could sell the little maid and get rid of this witness.
But things were already as they were; silencing the little maid , the people on the other side would still take over, so their actions were unnecessary.
Hongji’s father cared about his reputation but also cherished his life.
"Hmph, when you get back, you better not utter a single word out of place!"
Mrs. Lai, stopped from hitting the little maid, was tired from hitting so much, and her palms hurt too, but she felt that it did not alleviate the anger in her heart!
Thinking of sharing her husband with someone else after today, she felt heartache!
At her age, being an old couple meant not having much marital affection left, as many were matched by relatives, where love was scarce and kinship prevailed.
Regardless of age, no longer able to please the man by her side, she didn’t want a younger, beautiful woman to make her old partner happy.
Mrs. Lai stopped her hand, that anger in her heart was understanding her husband’s thoughts—he wanted a son of his own blood, their first son...
This was their marital secret. At the time, they thought they could deceive everyone, and the first son had become their pillar; not producing another son after that, they kept the secret to themselves.
Mrs. Lai, thinking of this, could only blame her own barren womb. Over the years, the treatment she gave Mrs. Li was just the daughter-in-law becoming the mother-in-law, using on Mrs. Li what her own mother-in-law had once done to her.
Though the son was nominally hers, both husband and wife favored their daughter and showed little affection for their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, a reason only they knew.
At that moment, Mrs. Lai couldn’t help but wonder if the daughter they had swapped out was living a life of luxury and opulence.
For some unknown reason, relatives from that side had stopped communicating with them, leaving them clueless about how to find the daughter they had exchanged in the past.
Mrs. Lai, thinking this, glared fiercely at her husband driving the ox cart; all the troubles were because of her husband’s wandering heart.
After marrying her husband, she hadn’t understood why a skilled man like him hadn’t married by age 20 and was lukewarm even after bringing her home and indifferent during their honeymoon.
She had thought that, like many others, theirs was a marriage arranged without feelings, which would grow gradually.
However, one day during an argument, she was shocked by the gossip her counterpart revealed.
Before marrying her, when matchmakers visited, her husband had not agreed; some were puzzled, but others who were in the know said he and a cousin were childhood sweethearts.
At the time, she didn’t believe it. When visiting this relative’s family with her husband, she secretly asked the village gossip.
She discovered that indeed, her husband had a childhood sweetheart cousin who, at the age of 11 because her older brother needed a dowry for marriage and her younger brother was sick with no money for treatment,
just as a merchant caravan was passing through on the village road, decided to camp there due to the late hour and entered the village to buy grain.
Her father, in his desperation, stumbled upon an opportunity and asked if selling his daughter to them as a maid would be harsh and if it would fetch a high price.
He spoke to a housekeeper who sized up the father and asked him to bring out the maid he intended to sell.
Seeing the pretty little girl in patched clothes, yet still showing some traces of beauty,
he remembered the command from the mansion to buy a maid from outside, who must be clean and pure, and at that moment, he just wanted to help the father out.
Mrs. Lai knew her husband’s cousin had been sold, and since several years had passed and she was now part of this family, of course she protected her own rights.
When she was pregnant and less mobile, she found out her husband was secretly planning a long trip with the ox cart.
Mrs. Lai, guided by a woman’s intuition and disregarding her cumbersome body, secretly followed, taking all her hidden savings with her.