Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 23 - 22 Housekeeper Hu Arrests People

Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Housekeeper Hu Arrests People

Chapter 23 -22: Housekeeper Hu Arrests People

Upon arriving at the cloth shop, Xiao’er, knowing the financial situation of her family, asked the shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, do you have any affordable cloth?

Old stocks or dampened ones, perhaps?”

The shopkeeper could tell from their coarse clothing that the group was not well off.

Just that morning, he had found two rolls of fine cotton cloth that had been dampened from storage for several years.

One was a blue roll that was a bit moldy, the other was white and had yellowed.

He brought them out, “These two rolls are damp.

They’re only 60 coins each.

Their original prices were several hundred coins.”

Cotton was quite rare during this era, so cotton cloth was expensive.

Linen and coarse cloth were much cheaper, but the better ones were still over a hundred coins per roll.

Many female protagonists in novels Xiao’er had read from her previous life would buy leftover fabric and make hair decorations.

She saw two bags of leftover fabric in a corner and asked the shopkeeper, “How much for these leftover pieces of cloth?”

“You want them?

Just take them all for ten coins.

There are two more bags inside.” The cloth inside the extra bags was of better quality, mostly silk and satin.

The cloth shop was owned by Hu Mansion in the east city, which was well-known for its charity.

They often offered conveniences to those suffering from financial difficulties.

They never overcharged, and their prices were sometimes even lower than other shops of the same kind.

After placing their purchases in the bullock cart, they bought ten pounds of lard, a pound of pork belly, and a large bone from the butcher.

Before leaving town, Shen Chengyao bought two meat buns for each of the three children.

He bought steamed buns for himself to eat on the way back.

The three children were very considerate.

They each offered a meat bun to Shen Chengyao.

Even if Shen Chengyao declined, they still didn’t eat it.

Instead, they decided to save it for Mrs.

Liu back home.

They all returned home joyfully and shared many laughs, especially when Jinghao mentioned how Xiao’er haggled at the grocery store.

The shopkeeper offered them loads of items even though Xiao’er only bought 20 bowls, complaining about his losses.

They all laughed until their stomachs ached.

When they reached their village, they saw many people gathered around their doorstep from afar.

Shen Chengyao wondered what was going on.

He flicked the whip to speed up the bullocks.

Xiao’er had a guess of what was happening.

She exchanged a glance with Jingrui and Jinghao, their unspoken understanding apparent on their faces.

The bullock cart quickly reached their doorstep.

The villagers consciously made way when they saw Shen Chengyao had returned.

He disembarked from the cart and asked, “What happened?

Why is everyone gathered at my doorstep?”

“Aha, the third son has returned.

What exactly is happening with your family recently?

You were hesitating to split the family for so long, and then you did split, only to sell off a daughter right after.” Mrs.

Mei, a notorious gossip in the village, tried to pry further into the matter.

Shen Chengyao was left baffled, “What do you mean?

Selling a daughter?”

Seeing that their family had no clue only spurred Mrs.

Mei’s desire to discuss the gossip further: “You don’t know?

The housekeeper from the Hu family in the town came to your house to take someone away, claiming that your second sister-in-law had sold her daughter, Shen Bei’er, to the Hu Mansion as a maid.

But your second sister-in-law insists that she sold Xiao’er, not Bei’er.

They are arguing about it inside!”

It was explosive news.

A sister-in-law selling her niece, and the girl’s parents knew nothing about it.

And what’s more, she sold the wrong girl – her own daughter.

If not for her interest in seeing how the conflict would be resolved, Mrs.

Mei would have immediately rushed off to share the news with her girlfriends.

“Nonsense, when did my daughter Xiao’er ever become a maid?” Shen Chengyao was no longer courteous when he heard that his daughter was involved.

“I didn’t make this up.

It was your second sister-in-law who said it herself.” Seeing Shen Chengyao getting angry, Mrs.

Mei quickly stepped back and used someone as a shield, continuing to watch the drama unfold.

Shen Chengyao turned toa friend he had a good relationship with, “Dashi, could you please take the bullock cart to the village chief’s house?

I’ll retrieve the things later.”

Lin Dashi agreed and led the bullock cart away.

Shen Chengyao picked up Xiao’er and, along with his two brothers, made his way through the crowd and into his home.

As soon as she entered, Xiao’er reminded Master Shen, “Grandpa, there are many people outside.”

Only then did Master Shen remember to close the courtyard door to discuss this matter.

He hurriedly asked Shen Chengzu to close the door.

Although the door was closed, the onlookers outside didn’t leave.

Watching other people’s dramas was a common hobby.

At this moment, Shen Bei’er was crying on Mrs.

Li.

Mrs.

Li was also crying and yelling, “I didn’t sell Bei’er.

It’s the Hu Mansion’s housekeeper who deceived me.”

Shen Chengzong was arguing with the housekeeper from Hu Mansion.

Mrs.

Shen was also grumbling, saying that Mrs.

Li had cheated her, claiming the price was twenty taels when it was actually fifty.

Mrs.

Liu was wiping her tears while holding her little sister.

Shen Chengyao came to Mrs.

Liu’s side: “What’s going on?

I heard that Xiao’er is being sold to the Hu Mansion to become a maid?”

Mrs.

Liu wiped off a tear: “Second sister-in-law sold our Xiao’er to the housekeeper of the Hu family.

Who would have known that the name written in the contract was Shen Bei’er?

When the housekeeper came to fetch her, the second sister-in-law refused, saying it was a mistake in the documentation.

It was Shen Xiao’er, not Shen Bei’er, who was sold.”

After listening, Shen Chengyao was furious and clenched his fists: “This is absolutely intolerable!”

Just as he was about to intervene and demand justice, Master Shen shouted: “Everyone, be quiet!”

Everyone stopped at the sound of the shout and looked at Master Shen.

Shen took a deep breath before saying: “Housekeeper Hu, would you be able to give a detailed account of what happened from beginning to end?”

The manager gave an account of the events, of course omitting the part about Shen Jingrui looking for him.

Every year, the Hu family would buy new maids, but most of them were not bought nearby.

Instead, he would go to more remote mountain villages to buy them.

Since the Hu family typically bought pork from Mrs.

Li’s parents’ home, he had mentioned to his father that he was planning to find new maids.

The next day, Mrs.

Li came looking for him, explaining her family was struggling – too many children, too little land, not enough food for every meal.

Her sister-in-law had just given birth to a girl, adding another mouth to feed while there wasn’t much food left.

Therefore, they planned to sell a daughter.

At that time, he thought that Mrs.

Li, a longtime acquaintance, and her daughter wouldn’t deceive him, so he agreed and paid a deposit of ten taels.

But he is meticulous in his affairs and had still asked about Shen Chengzong’s family, finding out that Mrs.

Li’s daughter was Shen Bei’er.

Mrs.

Li only mentioned that they planned to sell a daughter, so he assumed it must be her daughter— assuming Xiao’er was the nickname of her daughter, who was also the right age to be a maid as he required and he wrote the name Shen Bei’er in the document.

When he finished, the manager asked: “Isn’t her daughter named Shen Bei’er?

Shen Xiao’er, is she a niece or a daughter?

When selling someone, isn’t it only the birth parents who can decide?”

“Of course she is a niece!

I call my second aunt as aunt, and I call my real mother as mother.

Whoever sells someone, you just have to ask for her child from that person, especially since we already separated our family properties,” Xiao’er said loudly.

“Indeed, I would absolutely not sell my sons or daughters!” Shen Chengyao hugged Xiao’er even tighter.

“Second sister-in-law, I’ve never done any harm to you, and whenever you said there were too many chores to do and asked for my help, I always obliged without hesitation.

How could you do such a thing?

How could you plan to sell my daughter secretly without asking me?

How can your heart be so black?

I’ve already lost one daughter, how could you bear to let me lose another one?” Mrs.

Liu began crying and squatted on the ground hugging her little sister.

Already lost a daughter?

Xiao’er was puzzled, but there was no time to delve into it now.

Shen Chengyao also remembered this incident, his eyes turned red and he squatted down, calling Mrs.

Liu, but didn’t say anything more.

“Mother agreed to it as well.

She has received ten taels of silver as a deposit and said she would tell you about it.” Mrs.

Li quickly tried to shift the blame.

Upon hearing this, Mrs.

Shen shouted angrily: “You heartless woman!

Did our family bring a calamity upon ourselves by taking you in?

You secretly took thirty taels for yourself and now you want to blame me for it?

You trick me into agreeing to the deal by presenting it as buying a maid from Hu Mansion of the East City, who’d know it’s actually buying a concubine from Hu Mansion of the West City!

Moreover, you deliberately brought up the matter before harvest season when you knew we would be too busy to communicate it properly with Chengzong’s family.

This is a deliberate setup to make me take the fall.

How did our family end up with such a destructive woman like you?”

“Mother, when you got the silver, that wasn’t what you said.

You were pleased!

If you didn’t agree, how could I dare to sell Xiao’er?” Mrs.

Li stubbornly responded, insisting it was Mrs.

Shen’s fault.

She had planned to implicate Mrs.

Shen from the beginning, now that Mrs.

Shen had taken the silver, there was no room for denial.

You heartless, vile woman…

“Enough, stop fighting.

Let’s solve the problem first,” interjected Master Shen.

He was infuriated by their constant bickering, which seemed to occur at all times and places.