Ye Haohuan, this time, did not mount a horse but entered his carriage, having the guards by his side follow.
Before boarding the carriage, Ye Shiqi turned to Housekeeper Ye and said, "We’re going outside the border!"
"Mhmm," the old housekeeper quickly conveyed to those outside the border. His mood at the moment was one of soaring joy!
The guards in tow were trained by the General, each responsible for various tasks!
As Ye Shiqi’s carriage followed, she was accompanied by four maids, who were disguised as young masters.
As the carriages moved, Ye Shiqi noticed Ye Haohuan following and didn’t stop him.
Let him follow if he wishes!
As this group left the inn, a man dressed as a barbarian sprinted off to report to his master.
Their master, at that moment, was playing the role of a groom, leading the matchmaker to receive his bride!
The young barbarian man, having received the information from his subordinate, couldn’t help but speculate about the identities of these people.
Why were there individuals from the Southern part of Nanyue Country, among them two noble beings known as Young Master Gui?
And why were they buying slaves in this location?
What on earth did they intend to do with those slaves?
As he left the inn, feeling watched, he arranged for someone to stay back and observe, ready to report back any incidents.
He also learned that these people were headed outside the border, which made their identities even more intriguing to him.
However, as he was still the groom at the moment, he couldn’t personally investigate and had to send subordinates to follow.
He was determined to discover where that particular fragrance originated from.
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At the market, there were two individuals who looked like guards, hence the purchase of so many slaves.
The few people overseeing the slaves scrutinized these two guards, and seeing they were strangers, started to ask for a high price.
The two guards weren’t fools, of course; they would bargain, and if the price wasn’t right, they wouldn’t buy at all!
When the boss arrived with backup, he saw they still hadn’t agreed on a price with the sellers.
He deliberately said to the two guards, "What are you still doing here? Your master has left, quickly!"
While saying this, he kept winking at the two guards, hoping they weren’t dim-witted and could understand the meaning behind his gestures.
To collaborate with him and swiftly complete the mission, knowing full well these people weren’t pushovers.
The two guards by Ye Haohuan’s side were startled—had the master changed his mind?
"The master has left!"
The two guards had received instructions to arrange accommodation for these people, even to purchase houses for them to reside in, but they hadn’t expected the master to abandon them!
This was, after all, a journey of a thousand miles, not without its dangers!
With their martial arts skills, they weren’t a match for the people before them.
They were filled with ease.
"Ah! You haven’t agreed on a price yet? If you can’t reach an agreement, then just forget it?"
The boss realized these two simpletons truly hadn’t grasped his intent, seemingly the attendants of that dim-witted young master were just as naïve!
No wonder their young master says jump, and they ask how high?
Turns out they’re all marionettes on strings!
Among these people, there are ring leaders. Their original intention was just to drive up the price and get these fat sheep to pay more!
Normally, they wouldn’t sell these slaves out in the open here; they’d send them to work in the minefields!
A few days ago, someone received a letter offering money to sell off a portion of these slaves!
As for these outsiders, who remain unknown, why come here to buy slaves?
Earlier, they saw clearly that these buyers looked like rich men’s sons, and they came from the direction of the Capital City, Southern!
Selling these slaves, there’s a risk involved, but when the orders from above come, they have to jeopardize it all for the sake of money.
"Hey, make a higher bid, and these people are yours!"
Ye Haohuan’s guards hesitated upon hearing the seller ask them to stay, and after a moment’s hesitance, they looked at the slaves and said:
"They’ve been beaten so badly, they’re frail and probably can’t withstand hard labor. Buying them, we’d have to heal them, and they might easily die. We’d be making a losing deal. If it’s more expensive, we can’t afford it!"
Another guard also said, "Make it cheaper, otherwise, we won’t buy!"
The man who spoke earlier glared, "Do you think this is a vegetable market bargaining for cabbages? You want to haggle?"
Being long-term guards by Ye Haohuan’s side, they aren’t worthless, they’re weathered through trials. They wouldn’t easily bow to such fierce attitudes:
"You really are something, either sell or don’t. If not to sell, why bring them to the marketplace?"
"Exactly, you’re treating people like cabbages to be sold, and then you talk about not selling cabbages? Doesn’t everything else have a price? These weaklings are priced so high, they’re like cheap market goods!"
With the guards speaking thus, the few vicious men glared at them together!
The head guard and a few others watched the scene quietly, gauging what kind of people these buyers really were.
If they could trade criminals, these must be people sanctioned by the official family, treating men as beasts in trade, despicable and hateful!
The criminals wore thin clothes, shivering from the cold as the fierce wind blew, with cracked lips, pale faces, the marks on their bodies not just from the whip.
Their feeble appearance resulted from chronic hunger, with bones nearly protruding through their skin!
As they stood there being bought and sold like animals, listening to others haggle, their eyes were filled with terror. They kept their heads down, none daring to glance this way!
Their feet were shackled, leaving no chance to escape.
These ruthless black-clothed men eventually sold the slaves – men, women, young, and old – to the two guards at the price of five silver taels each!
The guards felt that buying these decrepit and feeble people for five taels each was not worth it.
However, they were following Ye Haohuan’s orders, and with these few individuals monitoring them...
Reluctantly spending such a large amount of money, they coughed up several hundred silver taels for the people. Their hearts ached knowing the Young Master’s hard-earned money from one outing was nearly squandered!
They wondered if that Young Master of the Ye family was setting a trap for their own master?
The vicious men, having received several hundred silver taels, handed over the keys to the shackles.
They also handed over the contracts for the slaves!
Standings there, watching them, they didn’t fear the newly freed people running away!
They were thinking, if these people ran away, it would be perfect to catch them and sell them again!
The guards sent by Ye Haohuan never intended to unlock the shackles!
Looking at the lifeless eyes of these people, they feared they would run and waste the several hundred silver taels!
The ruthless onlookers were still watching, and the guards didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of a show!