I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Sold Off

Mrs. Wei grew more animated as she spoke. “The Zhang family is a lineage of great virtue; they treat their servants with such kindness! If you go, it’s like falling into a nest of blessings! It’s better than staying here… Sigh, I’m only telling you this from the bottom of my heart because I truly want the best for you! Opportunities like this don’t knock twice!”

Li Qiaoqiao felt a chill run through her. The confusion she felt earlier vanished instantly.

So, this is the trap!

What a “wonderful” sister-in-law. On the surface, she offers warmth and rice balls; behind her back, she’s egging her on to sell herself into servitude.

This wasn’t a way out; it was a push into a fire pit. Once a contract of indenture is signed, one becomes a slave to be slaughtered at will, their life and death held in the hands of the master. All that talk of monthly wages and white rice was nothing but a painted pie in the sky. More importantly, if she left, what would happen to Wu Ya? Would he be left here alone to be tormented by Zhang Jinhua?

Mrs. Wei’s abacus was clicking so loudly it could be heard across the courtyard walls! Did she want to scrub Li Qiaoqiao out of her sight to save herself the headache? Or was there… something else?

Despite the storm in her mind, Li Qiaoqiao maintained her composure, even managing a look of conflicted gratitude. “Sister-in-law… you’re so good to me, thinking of these things on my behalf…”

Mrs. Wei’s eyes lit up, thinking she had succeeded. She nodded fervently. “Of course! I am—”

“But,” Li Qiaoqiao’s tone shifted, becoming exceptionally firm. She looked up, her gaze honest and stubborn. “I cannot go!”

“Eh?” The smile on Mrs. Wei’s face froze as if turned to ice. “Why? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“I cannot leave my husband!” Li Qiaoqiao turned slightly, adopting a protective stance toward the direction of their room. “If Tieniu loses me, what will he do? Though Mother loves him, there are things she cannot tend to. He’s simple-minded; he doesn’t know how to say when he’s cold or hungry, and he only smiles when he’s bullied…

If I leave, who will watch him? Who will care for him? Sister-in-law, I appreciate your kindness, but I cannot leave him just so I can enjoy comfort! No matter how hard or bitter it gets, I accept it. I only need to stay by his side!”

Li Qiaoqiao spoke with such raw sincerity that she portrayed the image of a “devoted child-bride protecting her simple husband” to perfection. Internally, she sneered: Staying with Wu Ya is a must, but it certainly isn’t to be a punching bag!

The smile on Mrs. Wei’s face vanished completely, replaced by shock as if she’d been slapped. She never expected this usually weak and easily manipulated girl to refuse so bluntly—and with a reason so impossible to argue against! All her prepared arguments were strangled by that one sentence: “I cannot leave my husband.”

A surge of anger at being defied rushed to her head. She glared at Li Qiaoqiao’s face, then at the rice ball still clutched in the girl’s hand. Mrs. Wei never made a deal that lost money. She gave the rice ball, spoke the sweet words, and yet this wretched girl remained unmoved!

“You… you…” Mrs. Wei’s chest heaved with anger. She pointed a trembling finger at Li Qiaoqiao. She wanted to scream, to tear off the mask, but her remaining logic and her years of maintaining the “kind sister-in-law” persona forced her to endure it.

Finally, she squeezed a sentence through her teeth: “Fine! Fine! You certainly are loyal! My good intentions have been treated like a dog offal! Consider it my meddling!”

She gave Li Qiaoqiao a vicious glare—where was the warmth from moments ago?—leaving only the humiliation of rejection. With a sharp flick of her sleeve, she turned and left.

Silence returned to the kitchen, leaving Li Qiaoqiao alone. She looked down at the rice ball, which still held a lingering warmth, and let out a cold, sharp laugh.

“Heh, a weasel paying a New Year’s visit to a chicken…”

This Mrs. Wei looked soft and harmless, but she was a smiling tiger! From now on, she’d have to keep her guard up a thousand percent.

Li Qiaoqiao hid the rice ball, walked to the kitchen’s back door, and peeked out. Dusk had settled, and the courtyard was silent save for a distant dog barking. The backyard haystack was a dark silhouette.

The time is right!

She slipped out like a nimble cat, moving silently toward the mountain of dry wood and straw. She needed to see if she could twist the straw into a rope; those two halves of the Concentric Lock were waiting to be “sewn” together! It was the only hope for her and Wu Ya to get back.

As she passed the main house, shadows moved against the window paper, and Mrs. Wei’s shrill voice pierced her ears:

“Five tales! A death contract!”

A cold wind whistled through a gap in the backyard wall, making Li Qiaoqiao shrink her neck. This stack was next to the pigsty—damp and moldy. Usually, only Wu Tieniu liked to sneak back here to urinate, so the smell was pungent.

Li Qiaoqiao cursed him under her breath but didn’t dally. She quickly cleared away the rotted stalks on top, picking out the firm, dry pieces from underneath. This was for making a rope; she couldn’t be careless.

Having pulled out a dozen or so stalks, she figured it was enough. Just as she was about to turn, more words from the main house drifted over on the wind.

“…Mother! Why are you still hesitating?”

“The Zhang family—what a prestigious household! Five whole tales of silver! In this whole town and the surrounding villages, you can count on your fingers how many girls would fetch that price!”

Death contract? Five tales?

The hair on Li Qiaoqiao’s arms stood up. She felt pinned to the spot. Clutching the straw, a chill seeped from her fingertips into her very bones. She moved closer instinctively, her ears pricked like a rabbit’s. She recognized the hunched shadow of her mother-in-law, Zhang Jinhua, facing the slender silhouette of Mrs. Wei.

The window was low, with a small crack at the bottom—likely a cat scratch—that allowed her to hear clearly as she leaned in.

“Five tales is no small amount…” Zhang Jinhua’s voice was thick and hesitant. “But if we sell Tieniu’s wife, who will look after the boy? We can’t let the second branch’s wife…”

“Oh, my dear Mother!” Mrs. Wei interrupted, her voice rising with urgency. “You’re being muddled! If we sell that silly wife, we take two tales and immediately find a matchmaker to buy a new one for Tieniu! For two tales at most, we can buy a sturdy, hard-working virgin who could bear him a fat son within three years! Isn’t that a hundred times better than this useless, crazy Li Qiaoqiao?”

There was a moment of silence in the room. Pressed against the wall, Li Qiaoqiao could hear her heart drumming in her chest.

“Mother! Look at our Hai-wa!” Mrs. Wei’s voice dropped, laced with suppressed excitement. “Yesterday, Mr. Zhou from the village school praised him! He said Hai-wa knows the most characters and memorizes poems the fastest! The teacher said to himself that our Hai-wa has the bones of a scholar! The glory of our ancestors depends on him!

But you know, the tuition for next year, the paper, the ink, the lamp oil—it all costs money! Where will our family find it? Those remaining three tales will fill the hole for Hai-wa’s studies. The future honor of the Wu family rests entirely on Hai-wa’s success!”

Ancestral glory… scholar…

Li Qiaoqiao felt the metallic taste of blood in her throat. Mrs. Wei’s abacus was ringing like thunder!

Selling her to buy a more “compliant” breeder for her simpleton son for two taels, while the remaining three taels went entirely to her own precious child? The ruthlessness of this calculation was oily and thick.