Chapter 43: The Slave Market (Part 1)

  When Yang Shuang woke up, he indeed felt a bit strange. He vaguely felt that he might not have fallen asleep naturally, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what had happened at the time. Later, when he thought about it again, he realized that he hadn't closed his eyes all night, so even if he had accidentally fallen asleep, it would be a very normal thing. However, he felt that there was something strange on his lips, as if there was still a lingering fragrance of a woman's scent. He licked his lips many times, but the fragrance persisted and wouldn't dissipate.

  He vaguely felt that before he fainted, there was still a shadow of Natalie. Did Natalie steal a kiss from him? But it wasn't very certain. He looked around and saw nothing but silence, without any other human figure. Suddenly remembering the artillery officers drinking outside, he could no longer hear any sound. Dazed, he walked out and happened to bump into Yang Jirui who was searching for him everywhere.

  "Second Uncle, what's wrong? You look like something's happened," Yang Suofeng said, rubbing her eyes in a daze.

  "Monty and the others have been sent to the slave market. If you want to rescue them, you must go now." Yang Ji said anxiously.

  Yang Shuang's mind was still murky and unclear as he asked, "Why?"

  Yang Jirui called the shopkeeper to bring two hot towels, and he vigorously wiped Yang Shuangfeng's face with them. Yang Shuangfeng finally came to his senses a bit. Yang Jirui said: "It's already afternoon now, which is the busiest time for the slave market. Monty and the others have physical disabilities, so they might be sold at a low price, which would make things troublesome later on. Su Yun and the other women just went out to visit the slave market too, let's hurry up and go as well."

  Yang Xun and Feng Qing woke up in a hurry, and the two of them hastily called a horse-drawn carriage at the door and rushed to the slave market located northwest of Baoying Prefecture. Who would have thought that all the carriages coming and going on the main street were carrying people? After waiting for a long time, they finally got an empty one, but it was a family-owned carriage ordered to pick up its own master. Yang Xun didn't care about anything, gave the coachman a gold coin, and the coachman immediately abandoned his master and took the two of them to the slave market. Half an hour later, they arrived at their destination.

  However, when Yang Su got off the carriage, he was shocked to see that the slave market was crowded with people, like a flower market during the Spring Festival. A bluestone road stretched from the middle to the distance, and on both sides were large and small slave shops, with people coming in and out, rubbing shoulders and bumping into each other, somewhat like a modern wholesale market, except that the goods being bought and sold were living people. However, there were no slaves to be seen on the street.

  Yang Shuangfeng patted the dust off his body and said in a low voice, "Damn it, I didn't know if I didn't look. One glance is enough to scare me - slave trading is also thriving?"

  Yang Ji Rui nodded slightly, expressionless, and said lightly: "This season is not the most prosperous time yet. It's said that when the year-end approaches, the daily slave trading volume here can reach over 3 million gold coins. If there are exceptionally beautiful women being publicly auctioned, the trading volume may surge even higher. It's said that the highest record ever reached was 11 million gold coins, but that was a long time ago. At that time, a woman who was on the Jiangshan Absolute Beauty List was auctioned off, setting a staggering price of 9,999,000 gold coins..."

  Yang Shuang's eyes widened in shock, and he exclaimed in disbelief: "My god, a woman can sell for so much money? I'm dizzy, this amount of money is enough to equip two central army divisions."

  Yang Ji Rui sighed and said: "It's really true, they say beautiful women are like jade, but that's something built up with money!"

  Yang Xun sighed for a moment, looking around, and saw only a sea of people, couldn't help but say: "The business here is so good, where did all these slaves come from to buy and sell?"

  Yang Jirui said solemnly, "The source of slaves is very complicated. In the past, most slaves were prisoners of war, and a small number were farmers who lost their land. These two types are legitimate captives. However, in recent years, the source of slaves has become more complex. Apart from prisoners of war and farmers who have lost their land, some people are simply kidnapped by slave traders, but after being sold several times, they become legal. Some people also become captives due to political reasons, and of course, there are also some criminal offenders. According to my understanding, in recent years, the political situation in various countries on the Yilan continent has not been very stable. It is often the case that a royal court minister or a powerful figure becomes a slave by accident. At first, everyone thought it was fresh and rushed to buy them, but now they are no longer surprised..."

  Yang Shuangfen silently shook her head and didn't say anything.

  Yang Ji Rui continued solemnly: "Especially in recent years, with the rise of the Minis war, the power struggle there has become increasingly complex, creating a large number of displaced people without homes. In order to fill their stomachs, they often hastily sign slave contracts under the temptation of a few kilograms of rice or something similar, and from then on become slaves, including their wives and children..."

  As soon as Yang Songfen thought of the slaves in Menes, he thought of Yu Huanjuan, and his heart was filled with emotion. It's really a pity that such a good person has become a thief!

  Yang Ji Rui hadn't finished speaking when suddenly, a loud voice shouted: "Everyone come and take a look! Freshly baked military slaves! Lively and powerful warriors of the battlefield! Half price, only five gold coins each! Everyone come and take a look, it's a bargain for neighbors! Even if you don't buy, come and take a look..." This voice rang out right next to the two people's ears, like thunder.

  Yang Shuangfeng suddenly turned around and rushed in, his speed was so fast that Yang Jirui almost had no time to react. Yang Shuangfeng rushed into the store and shouted at the boss: "No need to call, I'll buy it all!"

  The shop owner was a short and stout middle-aged man with eyes narrowed to a line. Upon hearing Yang Su's words, he was overjoyed and hastily stretched out his hand, saying: "Great, there are 378 people in total, each one costs 50 gold coins, half price for half the goods, and I'll only charge you 9,000 gold coins in total. One hand gives money, the other hand gives goods."

  Yang Shuangfeng took out his purse, untied the string and said hastily: "Alright, no problem."

  Yang Jirui inserted from behind, calmly pressed down the hand that was taking out money, and said in a low voice: "Boss, where did the military slaves here come from? Are they artillery officers of the 19th Division of the Central Army of the Tangchuan Empire?"

  The shop owner stared at Yang Su's purse, eager for him to hand over the glittering gold coins in his hands immediately, and said hastily: "Two of you, no matter where the military slaves come from, they are all the same, what is the necessity of knowing where they come from? I guarantee that they are all physically strong, healthy and have a lot of energy to work..."

  Yang Shuangfeng patted his own head, regretfully cried out and realized he had been too hasty, almost making a mistake. At this time, his heart gradually calmed down, and he said expectantly: "Sorry, boss, the slaves we want to buy are artillery officers from the 19th Division of the Central Army, they all lack their right hands..."

  The boss was greatly disappointed and sat back in his own chair, annoyed. He said with a mixture of surprise and disdain: "You two, are you out of your minds? You don't want to buy healthy and strong military slaves, but instead you want to buy those who are disabled and crippled. Isn't that a waste of money? Sorry, I don't have any defective slaves here, go somewhere else if you want to. Honestly, it's like you've got water in your brains."

  Yang Jirui's face changed, and he was about to erupt, but was stopped by Yang Songfen. Yang Songfen wasn't angry, only smiling slightly, saying: "Boss, how about this? I know you have a lot of information, you must be able to find out where those disabled slaves with missing right arms are. Why don't we make a deal? I'll buy the batch of slaves you have now, and at the same time, I'm willing to pay 100 gold coins per person for that batch of disabled slaves... if you can find them."

  Indeed, money can make a ghost grind, the boss immediately became spirited and hastily stood up, his eyes shining brightly, stuttering: "Really? If you really have the intention, first pay a deposit of 1,000 gold coins."

  Yang Shuang said faintly, "What I'm saying is true, take a look at this, it's a deposit of 15,000 gold coins. Remember, they are artillery officers from the 19th Division of the Central Army, each one without a right hand, a total of 236 people. However, if you can't find them, I'll have to cancel this deal."

  The boss quickly took over the gold coins, didn't even count them, just roughly weighed them and immediately put them in his own drawer, for fear that Yang Su would regret it. Then he hastily called six or seven apprentices to go around other upper floors to inquire. With the gold coins in hand, the boss suddenly became very friendly, as if a beggar had met a wealthy godfather, smiling at Yang Su and saying: "Please rest assured, this matter will absolutely not have any unexpected consequences. With my old Guo's reputation, those disabled military slaves will definitely be handed over to you safely. Please come in and sit down."

  Yang Shuangfeng didn't sit down, but leaned against the counter and said casually: "Old Man Guo, where did that batch of healthy military slaves come from?"

  Mr. Guo looked around nervously, lowered his voice and whispered: "Two gentlemen, since the business has been done, I won't hide it from you. Those people are actually not military slaves, but the guards of the Feng family in the imperial palace of Irina. After General Bai took over the power of Irina, these guards were either captured or killed, leaving only a few survivors. General Bai originally wanted to kill them all to eliminate future troubles, but some of his subordinates thought it was a waste to kill them and instead sold them as slaves in the market...

  Yang Jirui's eyebrows twitched slightly as he asked curiously, "Are they Palace Warriors?"

  The boss looked around again and said in a very low voice: "Alright, they are indeed genuine Paladins, but we dare not say so. You also know that the Empire has laws that stipulate that even if Paladins make a huge mistake, they can only be executed and cannot be sold as slaves. So what I'm selling to you is absolutely not Paladins, they're just ordinary soldiers from Irina... Do you two understand?"

  Yang Shuang nodded and said: "I understand. Don't worry, I will keep this matter confidential, only the three of us know about it."

  The boss was overjoyed, unexpectedly getting a big business deal, which was unprecedented. He said with a smile: "It's just a pity that Irina's women are too popular, I offered a high price, but couldn't get the goods, otherwise, I would have given two Comfort Beauty girls to you as a gift... Ah, this is good, I have a painting here, which is very popular recently, I'll give it to you."

  He took out a beautifully framed portrait of a lady and unfolded it in front of the two, Yang Shuangfen only took one glance and let out an uncontrollable "ah" cry, her eyes wide with wonder, face flushed, ears red, her gaze fixed on the painting, unable to move away. Yang Jirui, however, showed no reaction, but was also looking at it with great interest, though not long after, he started to furrow his brow, as if he had discovered something.

  The boss lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Old man, you are indeed a connoisseur. I suppose you have already seen who the person in the painting is. This is an unprecedented palace painting, very valuable."

  Yang Jirui finally withdrew his gaze with great difficulty, swallowed hard and said stiffly: "Is it really Feng Lianwu?"