Chapter 563: A Good Deed

Chapter 563: A Good Deed

"I won't sell them. If something goes wrong again, you'll blame me and make Madam Lu resent me. I suffered a great loss over the matter with Erya last time."

Madam Lu understood her meaning and gritted her teeth, saying, "Fine, I'll handle it. Go and beg your mother quickly."

"No rush, let's wait until you've sold them."

Madam Lu was speechless.

Madam Lu, cornered by Fang Jinxiu, was desperate to save the women and had no other options.

She came up with a plan. She had someone call all the concubines and maidservants, asking each of them to serve her tea. She then deliberately knocked over their cups, using their poor service as an excuse to sell them.

Though these women were of low status, they weren't fools.

The act was too clumsy; anyone could see it was just a pretext to get rid of them.

With Lu Shen in prison, whether he would return alive was uncertain. Being sold might not be such a bad thing after all.

One of the quick-witted ones, when Madam Lu dispatched someone to fetch a slave trader, said to Madam Lu, "Old Madam, we understand that you are selling us due to Master Lu’s imprisonment. We are willing to leave."

Madam Lu was taken aback, then sighed, "You understand well. Since we're already speaking openly, I won’t keep it from you."

She gestured to a servant, who promptly went out to stand guard.

She then confided in them, "It’s not that I wish to sell you. It’s Fang Jinxiu who wants to sell you. She is petty and has never tolerated you. In the past, Shen’er protected you, so she couldn’t act. Now that Shen’er can no longer protect you, she is seizing this chance to dispose of all of you. Do you see?"

"We understand, yet we beg you, please don't sell us. I’ve saved some money; I’ll give it all to you, to buy my own freedom and redeem myself."

Madam Lu glanced at the speaker, "Is your background clean?"

"Yes, I come from a respectable family. I was sold due to my family’s poverty back then. Please check my indenture."

Madam Lu had the servants fetch their indentures. Only one had a questionable background and could not easily be freed from slavery, and must be returned to the brothel. The others came from respectable families, and with their indentures, they could register with the authorities to gain their freedom.

"Sigh! I will consider this as doing good for my descendants."

She agreed, and the women were elated.

Madam Lu explained the situation to them, saying that one of them couldn't be freed because her family had committed a crime and she had been enslaved, but the others could be released.

The woman knew that her fate was sealed and could only sigh.

"I can return your indentures to you later, but you need to act along with the slave trader to make Fang Jinxiu think you're being sold, so she doesn't cause trouble for me, understand?"

"Thank you, Madam. We will definitely cooperate."

"Alright, but you have to give me your money."

Everyone was silent.

"Yes."

A few of them went back to pack their things, crying. When Fang Jinxiu heard they were to be sold, she felt relieved.

"Is the slave trader here?"

"Yes, Madam. The slave trader is here."

Fang Jinxiu sneered. "Good. That’s better."

Several women went back to pack their things. However, one person remained standing—that was Fang Erya.

She was special. She didn’t have an indenture since Lu Shen had already given her a release document earlier.

She chose to stay.

Madam Lu actually felt a bit guilty toward her.

If she hadn’t forced her to have an abortion in confusion, she might have had another grandchild.

"Sighing," Madam Lu let out a long sigh and said, "You've had a tough life, but your sister is too ruthless. You can no longer stay in the Lu family. You should leave with them. Go far away and never return."

Fang Erya said, "I want to see Lu Shen."

"He’s... not well. Why do you want to see him?"

"I won’t leave until I see him. I’m a free person now; you have no right to sell me."

Madam Lu was speechless.

Touched, she wiped away tears and said, "It's rare that my good-for-nothing son can find someone who truly cares for him. Fine, I agree to let you see him. But you still need to leave and go with them. I’ll visit you at your brother's place later."

"Good, I'll give you three days. If you don’t come to see me, I’ll come looking for you."

Madam Lu felt threatened and was too angry to speak.

"Alright, alright. I promise. Go pack your things now."

Fang Erya packed her things and left with the other girls, escorted by the slave trader, making it look like she was being sold.

Fang Erya had always looked down on these girls and didn’t give it much thought.

To be honest, Madam Lu wasn’t exactly a good person in her eyes, and she hadn’t expected Madam Lu to do something decent for once.

The next day, Fang Jinxiu went to the Zheng family to request an audience with Madam Zheng.

The gatekeeper agreed and promised to relay her request.

However, after waiting for a long time, no one came out to see her.

When she inquired again, the gatekeeper said Madam Zheng was taking a nap and the servants didn’t dare disturb her, asking Fang Jinxiu to wait a little longer.

Fang Jinxiu looked at the sky and realized she had come at an inopportune time.

Madam Zheng indeed had a habit of taking afternoon naps.

While waiting, she found a teahouse to have some tea.

Although the message of her visit didn’t reach Madam Zheng’s ears, it reached Lady Luo.

Lady Luo intercepted the messenger and secretly informed Second Young Madam Ye.

Second Young Madam Ye had a deadly feud with Fang Jinxiu over the loss of her son, so there was no way she would let Fang Jinxiu have her way.

Immediately, she sent a message to Zheng Hongqi and Zheng Hongxu.

Zheng Hongxu and Zheng Hongqi soon gathered to discuss the matter.

"She must be here for Lu Shen's case. We can't let her see Mother; otherwise, Mother might act foolishly on her behalf.

"But Mother is a person; how can we possibly stop her? You can't keep secrets forever. Once you handle Lu Shen, who knows how she'll use Jin Xiu to harass you in the future."

Zheng Hongxu lowered his head, frowning.

Zheng Hongqi thought for a moment and then said, "Maybe we should be honest with her, tell her about the stakes involved in this matter."

Zheng Hongxu said, "What if she remains obsessed with helping?"

Zheng Hongqi gave a bitter smile, "If she causes trouble in the inner quarters, if she protects Jin Xiu, gives her more money, and shows favoritism, we can endure it. But if she tries to interfere with the cases in the main hall, what hope can we have left for her? As her sons, we’ve done all we can for her."

They seemed determined to try but were also afraid of making a mistake, unable to bear the consequences of such an error.

Just then, Cui Yongnian approached them and said, "I think it’s worth a try."

Both of them turned to look at him.

Cui Yongnian said, "Aunt may show favoritism in the personal matters of the inner quarters, but I believe she still has principles when it comes to political matters."