Insufficient balance

  Zhao Fubo and Shu Yiner had never been to the Purple Cloud Villa before. What delighted Zhao Fubo was that he now had a companion, and what delighted Shu Yiner was that she also had a companion.

  Zhao Fubo's companion was that little Ma Muer, and at his request, Wei Zhen sent Ma Muer to accompany him for training. The first thing this guy said when he followed Zhao Fubo was...

  "I want to practice shooting!"

  He rarely spoke, apart from nodding and shaking his head, and could basically be considered mute. Zhao Fubo didn't have much of a reaction to this, on the contrary, having a decent sparring partner was enough for him.

  At first sight, Shu Yuner gave Xiao Ma Mu Lu Ke a name with just one sentence.

  "He is a Mamluk and as silent as a wooden statue, so just call him Muk!"

  Shu Yu'er's companion is a complete mute!

  On her lap, a long-haired cat (note: genuine Persian cats were not bred until 1856, so it was just a long-haired cat) lay. Snow-white fur, sea-blue eyes, can only be described with one word - beautiful.

  When Shu Yiner was mesmerized by it and couldn't move her feet on the street, Zhao Fubo gave her the first gift of her life.

  Although Zhao Fubo didn't have much money, he was a good archer. When he entered the Purple Cloud Manor, not only did he have things hanging on his body and spear, but Muk also carried all sorts of game.

  For the snow-white little thing that these few rabbits had exchanged, Shu Yu'er gave it a strange name - Mí Dèng. What made Zhao Fu Bo want to be dazed was that when Shu Yu'er came up with this name, she actually looked at him.

  Looking at Shu Yiner's curved eyes smiling under the veil, and then looking at the pure white comfortable little cat with closed eyes in her arms, Zhao Fubo seemed to understand as he nodded his head.

  "This little cat really does look a bit dazed!"

  Shu Yuner looked at Zhao Fu's dazed expression, her eyes rolled over once, and with a flash of anger in her gaze, she said: "Yes, it's just a silly cat! When will it ever grow up?!"

  He said no more and turned a deaf ear to Zhao Fu-Bo, but instead carried the unconscious girl towards the slave market.

  Zhao Fubo followed behind, carrying a large spear, scratching his head, feeling that something was not quite right in his heart, and turned to ask Mu Ke beside him.

  "Is it worth it? Would even a stupid cat make her hate so much?"

  Mu Ke turned his face, pure blue eyes looking at Zhao Fu Bo, as if he had never met him before, carefully looked at him for a few moments, nodded. Then he raised his head, as if nothing had happened, and followed Su Yiner forward.

  Zhao Fubo looked at Mu Ke's green eyes as if he had realized something, and patted the head of Xiao Hei Tan who was following behind him.

  "Hmm, I see. She's talking about Muk! This kid really lives up to his name, he's a real blockhead. But when it comes to fighting, he's actually quite agile, just like a cat. Haha, what a silly cat!"

  The little episode was soon thrown aside by them, and the Purple Cloud Villa gave them even more surprises.

  Now the place has undergone a completely different change from when Zhao Fubo's father first built it. The tall courtyard walls now have a city wall flavor, and the manor also has a small city appearance.

  The city has inns for travelers coming from the south and going to the north, where a large number of goods from Huangsha City and Ruiyu Village are sold. Merchants from afar bring silk and porcelain from Zhongyuan, while local products such as weapons, glass, etc., or some goods from the Western Regions are transported here.

  In this most active of all the trade centers, there was another special commodity - slaves, not only strong children captured or kidnapped from the Caucasus or other places, but also soldiers and knights captured from those Western Crusaders.

  If it's the latter, they're often ransomed back by their families with a large sum of gold. Of course, there are also poor guys who end up becoming slaves here.

  Apart from knights and soldiers, craftsmen are also very important. The more valuable ones include Venetian glassmakers or armorers. As for the manufacture of weapons, compared to Western swords and scimitars, people here prefer the latter.

  The throngs of people, some from Persia, but mostly Arabs from this region.

  They wore white "Gandoura", squeezing back and forth in the crowded and hot crowd. On the roadside restaurants and tea stalls, groups of elegantly dressed Arab businessmen were enjoying sweet milk tea and fragrant pastries.

  On the main street of Ziyun Village, apart from these, there were big and small carts coming and going, crowding the spacious street to the brim.

  After squeezing through the crowds, they finally arrived at the final destination of this trip - the slave market in Ziyun Manor.

  On the two high platforms, a slave auction was underway. Some female slaves with decent looks were wearing revealing clothes and occasionally twisting their bodies under the whip of the slave owner.

  Plump slave traders with large gemstone rings on their fingers.

  On the erected wooden stage, lift up these women's clothes to show their seductive bodies to the onlookers below. Or force open their mouths like livestock to display their age.

  At the same time, saliva was flying everywhere as they haggled over prices with the people below, while one person in the crowd made Shu Yiner purse her lips, thinking that her choice was completely correct.

  In the crowd, Zhao Xu wore a magnificent white robe and held a money bag in his hand, which contained the reward given to him by San Niang. As for the slave he intended to buy, Shu Yu'er looked at him with a picky gaze.

  "Look at her slender waist, if you were to go to bed with her, you'd understand, such a waist is soft like it can be folded... Ah, no... No, the price you offered is too low, that gentleman over there has already made an offer..."

  At this time, Zhao Fubo followed behind her, and when he saw Zhao Xu, he said something inappropriate again.

  "Big brother, are you going to buy a concubine? I heard that there are many concubines in the western house, why does he still want to buy one?"

  Before he could finish speaking, Shu Yu'er had already lifted her foot and stepped on his foot heavily. The voice coming from the veil was still crisp, but it carried a full ten points of arrogance and unreasonableness.

  "Don't look, don't listen, don't ask, don't say, don't......!"

  A string of refusals prevented Zhao Fubo from completely closing his mouth, and he was not interested in the female slaves in front of him.

  Even if he were to accept the slaves that Shu Yu'er bought for him, shouldn't they be strong warriors? As for personal attendants or maidservants, he wasn't without hands, so what would he need those people for?

  "If we don't look, then let's just forget it. But if we are going to buy something, what kind should we get? The ones here are too expensive, shouldn't we go somewhere else to take a look?"

  On the other side of the female slave market were some robust male slaves. They all had their upper bodies exposed, and some sturdy men had muscles like steel.

  These were soldiers captured in battle with the Crusaders or impoverished knights.

  Just looking at the prices of these guys, Zhao Fubo shut his mouth, he was really afraid that he would spend all of Shu Yu'er's monthly allowance.

  Although her family is also very wealthy, Zhao Fubo still feels that Hua Shuyin's money is not quite at ease.

  But Shu Yuner felt uncomfortable when she heard Zhao Fu Bo trying to save money for her.

  "What's the matter, I'll get you a personal attendant, of course, they must be fierce and clever. You mean like that Muk? He's only slightly better than you, but you're so infatuated..."

  As they spoke to this point, Shu Yiner stopped talking again. This made Zhao Fu Bo not quite understand why the young lady's family liked to speak in half sentences?

  Just then, the slave owner on the platform pulled down the skirt of the female slave, and the people under the stage cheered.

  Listening to these roars, Shu Yu'er's slender eyebrows furrowed, glaring at Zhao Fu Bo as if he was the one who was shouting wildly.

  "Don't...hurry up and go...let's take a look over there, here...there are some people who are really annoying..."

  The three quickly left the most popular area of the slave market and arrived at a place that made them move involuntarily.

  In the sweltering heat, a faint stench wafted through the air. This made the three people originally plan to leave, but what they saw made them take steps forward instead.

  In the iron cages were groups of 5-6 year old children, who from their physical appearance and hair color should all become Mamluks in the future. Others were not locked in iron cages, they were just some elderly, weak, sickly and disabled people.

  Each one shrinking into any shadow that can be found, gasping their last breaths. Some children are already lying in baskets, under the scorching sun, straining their bellies to fight for every breath of life.

  "Here... these are..."

  Shu Yiner looked at the scene in front of her with disbelief, she couldn't imagine that in the prosperous Purple Cloud Villa, there was actually such a terrible place.

  "They were slaves who would be eliminated unless someone bought them, otherwise they would all die soon and be thrown out of the city."

  Mukk who had been following them all along, said a sentence that would not be followed by another for the rest of the day, and then continued to maintain his silence like an ancient stone.

  At this time, Zhao Fubo's face no longer had the usual lazy look, replaced by a rather strange expression that Shu Yiner had never seen on his face before. Moreover, when he spoke, he also used a title that Shu Yiner had never heard before.

  "Yu'er, let's just buy them, however many we can get!"

  As she listened to Zhao Fu's words in the Central Plains dialect, Shu Yu'er suddenly felt that a mist seemed to have risen from Zhao Fu's body, making it impossible for her to see him clearly.

  And at this time, his tone of speech had a commanding flavor that made people have to obey.

  However, Shu Yu'er didn't have a bit of unhappiness in her heart. She casually took out her own purse and handed it to Zhao Fu's hand, and when she replied, there was a hint of joyful tone.

  "En, you're in charge, Yu'er will listen to you!"

  "Here comes the second update for today, come and get your votes and collections!"