The Lady Butcher and the Delicate Bride - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As soon as the name “Yuan Fenghua” was mentioned, the other four people present were all startled.

The gold-medal constable of Leshan County was a name that made every thief, traitor, and petty criminal lose their soul and courage upon hearing it. Hearing Yuan Fenghua call his name, Widower Zhang instantly broke into a cold sweat, the blood draining completely from his macaque-like face.

In the next instant, a tall woman dressed in the deep blue uniform of a constable entered directly, followed by four other officers. She held a precious sword in her hand, her expression solemn, her hawk-like eyes fixed firmly on Widower Zhang.

“You are Zhang Quan, correct? Take him away.” With a wave of Yuan Fenghua’s hand, two constables stepped forward, flanking Widower Zhang and leading him out the door.

The remaining three—the Mu couple and Matchmaker Wang—stood dumbfounded, not knowing how to handle the situation. Unexpectedly, Chu Yu spoke up to call out to Yuan Fenghua.

The female head bailiff turned around, her phoenix eyes narrowing as her sharp gaze swept over the three people, sending an involuntary shiver down their spines.

“Constable Yuan, in our Great Zhou Dynasty, is the selling of one’s children illegal?”

Hearing this question, Yuan Fenghua put her hands behind her back and said with a stern face: “During the previous dynasty, Emperor Gaozong once promoted the selling of sons and daughters among the common people as a means to provide famine relief; it was truly the height of absurdity. Now, in our Great Zhou, the national strength is flourishing. Our High Ancestor loved the people as his own children and issued multiple edicts prohibiting human trafficking. Since the current Emperor ascended the throne, the prohibition of human trafficking has been codified into law. If any of you discover anyone in the village carrying out such acts, report to the yamen immediately. There will be generous rewards.”

Having spoken, she cast a subtle glance at Mu Dingxiang, who stood behind Chu Yu. Seeing that the others remained silent, she turned and left.

Once the commotion had faded into the distance, Chu Yu looked at the pale-faced group before her and added a sudden, thoughtful remark: “Constable Yuan only said he was a suspect; he hasn’t been convicted yet. I believe that with a character as good as Widower Zhang’s, he should be back very soon.”

These words made the faces of Matchmaker Wang and the couple turn even whiter. To law-abiding citizens, the name Yuan Fenghua was a protective shield, but to those who committed crimes, it was a death warrant. She wouldn’t take someone away without cause; Widower Zhang was likely in real trouble.

Matchmaker Wang’s silver hadn’t reached her hand yet. Having worked in vain for an entire evening and morning with nowhere to vent her anger, she cursed her bad luck and turned to leave. Just as she reached the courtyard, she heard someone catching up from behind. She turned and saw it was the female butcher.

Chu Yu smiled. “Sister Wang, why the rush? After working so hard, you should at least collect some interest before heading back.”

Matchmaker Wang’s plump body paused slightly. A moment later, her face—which had been sagging because of Widower Zhang’s arrest—bloomed into a flower-like smile.

“This old woman is truly getting more muddled with age. I actually forgot that today is a day of great joy for the Mu family. It turns out the one left behind is the truly worthy match!”

Chu Yu admired her instant face-changing technique and proceeded with her plan: “Sister Wang, you are familiar with the Mu family and easy to talk to. I’m just a pig-slaughterer; I’m clumsy with words and don’t know how to handle these arrangements. As an experienced elder, help me speak to them. I won’t let you go empty-handed—whatever Widower Zhang gave you, I will double it.”

Generally, for a successful match, a matchmaker receives between one hundred to five hundred wen, depending on the host’s circumstances. Given Widower Zhang’s situation, he certainly couldn’t afford much; since he had already negotiated terms with Mu Mother, Matchmaker Wang was only there to go through the motions and likely wouldn’t have received more than a hundred wen.

Hearing Chu Yu’s offer, her eyes darted around, and she reached a decision. She leaned in close, held up two fingers, and whispered: “Widower Zhang offered this much.”

Chu Yu naturally knew her meaning. Even doubled, it was only four hundred wen—not a huge amount. Dealing with the Mu couple was mentally and physically exhausting, more tiring than slaughtering ten pigs. Better to spend some money to let Matchmaker Wang handle the arrangements.

“That is not a problem,” Chu Yu said, pulling out her coin purse and handing over two strings of coins. “Here is a deposit. The other half goes to you the moment Dingxiang steps out of this door. Is it a deal?”

How could it not be? It was like a pie falling from the sky. Matchmaker Wang stuffed the two large strings of copper coins into her bosom, her eyes crinkling into lines. “Leave it to this old woman. I could talk a dead horse back to life for you.” Without waiting for Chu Yu’s response, she trotted back into the house with her swaying gait.

“Oh! What did I say? As soon as I arrived at the old Mu house this morning, the magpies were chirping non-stop. I thought it was for Widower Zhang, but it turns out I was wrong! It was for the auspicious aura brought by Butcher Chu. Truly, the flood has hit the Dragon King’s temple—I almost failed to recognize a benefactor!”

The Mu couple was displeased because their “meat” had flown away, but they were surprised to see Matchmaker Wang return, smiling like a trumpet flower.

“Sister Wang, this…”

Matchmaker Wang grabbed both of the Mus and huddled together with them to whisper.

On the other side, Mu Dingxiang, now free, looked at the tall and elegant Chu Yu. Her heart felt swollen, beating slightly faster than usual. Regarding Widower Zhang being taken away by the constable, she didn’t believe it was such a coincidence; it must have been related to Chu Yu. She had heard that Constable Yuan was also a former female soldier; the two likely knew each other. Thinking of this, her gaze toward Chu Yu gained a layer of gratitude.

If Widower Zhang hadn’t been taken away, Chu Yu would have stood little chance. The Mu couple would never have let Mu Dingxiang leave with her, simply because the labor on those six mu of land was indispensable.

Chu Yu looked at the girl’s burning gaze and curled her lip slightly, as if saying: I didn’t lie to you, did I?

Meanwhile, the negotiation between Matchmaker Wang and the Mu couple was not going smoothly.

“Fifteen taels of silver to take Sanya away? That’s not even as good as Widower Zhang. Sanya’s labor in the fields brings in seven or eight taels a year; in ten years, that’s seventy or eighty taels,” Mu Mother said, her heart full of dissatisfaction.

“You know exactly what kind of man Widower Zhang is. It would be impressive if Dingxiang survived a year with him. Don’t let it be a case of ‘saving a little only to lose a lot,'” Chu Yu sneered.

Matchmaker Wang chimed in from the side: “Of those three girls who married him, the shortest-lived was gone in two months. The people who buried them said their bodies were covered in lash marks. Think about it—he talks a good game, but once she’s married, Sanya would be beaten so badly she wouldn’t be able to get out of bed, let alone help you in the fields.”

“That won’t do. There’s no one to farm the land. In that case, let Sanya come back to farm. It’s not far from the end of the village anyway. Don’t you have a horse? Just bring her over on your horse,” Mu Mother said dissatisfiedly.

In truth, her meaning was Old Man Mu’s meaning; the solemn man just wanted to keep some face and didn’t want to personally haggle over his daughter’s bride price. They called it a bride price, but it was nothing more than the price of selling a daughter.

“Brother Mu, it’s not that I want to lecture you, but where in the world does a married daughter come back to her natal home to do farm work? Only your Mu family could think of such a thing. Every person in the village would gossip about it. Even if you don’t think of yourself, think of your two sons. Your eldest is twenty-two; men his age in this village usually have two or three kids. And Jueming is fifteen—has anyone come to propose a match for him? No. It’s all because they’re afraid you’ll grind a daughter-in-law down the same way you grind down your daughters. No one dares send their daughter to your house.”

Matchmaker Wang was truly a professional; her tongue was incredibly sharp, hitting the mark every time.

The Mu couple did everything for their two sons. Hearing that this would affect their sons’ marriage prospects, they looked at each other, appearing somewhat shaken.

Matchmaker Wang immediately struck while the iron was hot: “Your Jueming is so big now, he should be working, shouldn’t he? Which child in the village isn’t in the fields by six or seven? Yet at his age, he hasn’t done a lick of farm work. To put it bluntly, if you marry Sanya to Widower Zhang and she gets beaten to death one day, those few mu of land can’t just go fallow. You can’t pamper a child to this extent; we weren’t born with such noble fates.”

Old Man Mu, who had been silent, finally spoke hoarsely: “How about adding ten more taels? For twenty-five taels, Sanya won’t have to come back to work.”

When Old Man Mu spoke, everyone in the room was stunned. Even Mu Mother felt a bit uneasy, but since her man had spoken, she immediately puffed out her chest and said righteously: “Twenty-five, and Sanya belongs to you. We won’t ask her to come back and work.”

Mu Dingxiang watched her parents haggle over her like she was livestock for a few pieces of silver. A profound sadness filled her heart. For all these years, she had worked like an ox to support this entire family, only to be sold off as a commodity in the end.

Chu Yu stepped sideways to block the trio from Mu Dingxiang’s view. She said to her: “Do you want to leave today?”

Mu Dingxiang nodded, wishing she could leave this place immediately and go as far away as possible.

In truth, if she really had to, Chu Yu wouldn’t mind paying thirty or fifty taels to completely sever all ties between Mu Dingxiang and the Mu family. But given the couple’s nature and the fact they lived in the same village, a clean break was impossible for them; they would use every opportunity to take advantage of all their daughters. Giving too much now was no different than throwing meat to a dog—at least a dog knows gratitude, whereas these two would only become more demanding. The hardest people to deal with in the world were these unreasonable, pestering petty people.

But she wasn’t afraid. Chu Yu had seen plenty of things; even the most troublesome people would cower when she drew her blade. She just didn’t want to make things ugly. For unreasonable people, one must be even more unreasonable and speak with fists—see who dares to disagree. This was Chu Yu’s greatest realization after leaving the army.

In the back, Matchmaker Wang was still haggling with the Mus. Having been paid double, she had to do her best to settle things properly. The Mu couple also refused to budge. Recently, Old Man Mu felt his age catching up to him, and working was becoming increasingly difficult. Giving one tael a month to Eldest was a heavy burden. Now that this was the last daughter, they had to scrape as much as possible.

If they really got twenty-five taels, two years of allowance would be covered, and the farm work would essentially be “extra” silver. In two years, Eldest might have passed his exams; once he was a Juren, the family wouldn’t need to work the fields anyway. Thinking this way, they felt that as long as these two years were taken care of, they wouldn’t have to worry.

“Old Man Mu, aren’t you opening your mouth too wide? I, Matchmaker Wang, have been a matchmaker for many years, running through every village in this area. No family marries off a daughter the way yours does. It’s usually ten or eight taels, but you—you ask for twenty-five the moment you open your mouth. Even my jaw is about to drop off in shock!”

When Matchmaker Wang said this, Old Man Mu couldn’t help but look embarrassed. He also felt the price was high, but what could he do when his eldest’s expenses were so large? It wasn’t easy for any family to raise a “Lord Juren” or a “Zhuangyuan” (Top Scholar).

Mu Mother was thinking exactly what her husband was, and she said it out loud with a smug expression: “When Kongqing becomes the Top Scholar in the future, you as his sister will also share in the blessings. Is it not right to pay a little interest in advance?”

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