The General Under the Skirt - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
“Brother, this little whore owes us money, let her go.”
Shen Roujia shrank behind the man, clinging to his clothes, and said hastily, “No… no, I was sold here, they… they imprisoned me, I finally managed to escape.”
“If they catch me, they’ll kill me, please… please save me.”
“You little whore, what are you talking about?! You’re part of our family now, you’re here to bear children! I didn’t buy you to freeload!”
The fat woman’s words made the situation clear. But she didn’t seem to care about hiding the truth. It didn’t matter if they were discovered. Buying wives wasn’t unusual in this village, who would interfere?
The man hadn’t spoken, but Shen Roujia placed all her hope in this stranger. She tugged at his sleeve, pleading, “I-I don’t want to go back with her, kind sir, please save me…”
He didn’t answer, but looked at the fat woman and said simply, “How much did you spend on her? I’ll give it to you on her behalf.”
His voice was cold, but to Shen Roujia it was a lifeline.
The fat woman’s expression changed when she heard this. It seemed that she hadn’t expected this man to intervene and save this woman. She said in a slightly sharp voice, “I bought her to bear children! What do you mean by that? Don’t tell me you’re going to save her!”
The man said impatiently, “Just tell me whether you are willing or not.”
When the fat woman saw that the man intended to rescue Shen Roujia, she became suspicious. Her thick eyebrows knitted together, her eyes fixed on him.
“This is the person I bought! Who the hell are you…”
Before she could finish, a chilling aura emanated from the man. His striking features and imposing presence were not those of a simple villager. At that moment, his eyes swept over her coldly. She felt a little frightened and hesitated, unconsciously swallowing the vulgar words.
“Did I ask you to talk so much nonsense? If you want money, I’ll give it to you and take her away. If you don’t want money, I’ll take her directly.”
Huo Zhao had been on the battlefield for years, his imposing aura undeniable. When he looked at someone with that serious expression, even high-ranking officials in the capital would be intimidated. Let alone this rough village woman.
The fat woman was a little afraid of this man. Although she was a little nervous, she still pretended to be calm and said sharply, “Are you… are you breaking the law?! This is robbery!”
Shen Roujia faintly heard the man sneer.
“Now you care about the law?”
He pulled out a few taels of silver and threw them at the woman’s feet. He turned to Shen Roujia and said, “Let’s go.”
Shen Roujia clung to his sleeve and followed closely behind him.
The woman quickly picked up the silver, her eyes widening as she exclaimed,
“Silver?!”
Silver! Not copper coins, silver!
She had only paid four hundred copper coins for Shen Roujia!
She had only seen silver a few times in her youth, maybe three or four taels. It wasn’t something commoners like them possessed. A few taels of silver was a fortune.
The woman clutched the silver, looked around carefully, then tucked it into her undergarments.
“You! You can’t leave! I didn’t agree to sell her to you!”
The man raised an eyebrow and said, “Then give me back the silver.”
The fat woman stepped back and said hastily, “How can you take back what you have given away?”
Then she added, “These two taels of silver are nothing. If you want to take this woman away, you must pay ten taels!”
When the man didn’t respond, she assumed he couldn’t afford it and sneered.
“You can’t afford it, can you? My Zhao family only wants this woman to bear children. I’ll give her to you, but she must stay with us until she’s pregnant with a Zhao child. Then you can take her back and just send the child to us after it’s born.”
She looked meaningfully between Shen Roujia and the man.
“Then, you can do whatever you want with her.”
She had never seen so much money as ten taels of silver in her life. She didn’t believe that he could take out that much money. Someone with that kind of money wouldn’t be in this small village.
As expected, the man didn’t answer.
Shen Roujia was startled by the fat woman’s suggestion, and panicked.
“No… I can’t, I won’t do that if…”
The man chuckled, but there was no humor in his eyes. His dark gaze was chilling.
Ignoring the fat woman’s words, he walked straight ahead with Shen Roujia, ignoring her words.
“You! Did you hear what I said?”
The man had already passed her. She hadn’t expected him to ignore her so blatantly.
“Stop! You… stop right there!”
The woman chased after them.
“How dare you ignore me! You son of a…”
Just as she was about to reach him, he stopped abruptly and grabbed her arm.
Shen Roujia didn’t feel how much force the man used, but the fat woman’s face twisted in pain as he grabbed her. The man tilted his head slightly and said, “If you speak like that again, I’ll break your neck.”
Shen Roujia barely saw him move. It was as if his arm had merely twitched, and the woman collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain, unable to speak.
It looked as if her arm had been broken. Shen Roujia didn’t look at her anymore, and hurriedly followed the man’s pace. He walked a little fast, and Shen Roujia had to jog to catch up.
This man was a good man, and he had saved her.
Until now, she had been in a daze. Her whole body seemed to hurt, and she seemed to be numb and couldn’t feel anything. But she could clearly feel her heart beating.
She was saved.
After almost half a year in the abyss, she had escaped.
The fat woman was still crying behind her. Shen Roujia was barefoot and staggered behind him. She secretly raised her eyes and looked at the man’s back.
He was very tall, broad-shouldered, his back straight, his skin tanned, unlike the pale complexion of the noblemen in the capital. There were beads of sweat on his neck, glistening in the soft April sun.
She only reached his shoulder. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to make sure he was real. But she felt it would be too forward, so she just tightened her grip on his sleeve.
She was afraid he would abandon her.
After walking for what seemed both a short time and an eternity, the man stopped.
Shen Roujia stopped as well, still clutching his sleeve. She heard his deep, cold voice again and he said, “Can you still walk?”
His words were slightly muffled, but she forced herself to concentrate. She nodded and said quickly.
“Yes, I can.”
Then she looked up at the man who had saved her.
It was the first time she had seen his face clearly. The sun was bright behind him, but she could still make out his features.
His face was strong and defined. His eyes were deep set, his eyebrows thick, his expression stern, even fierce when he wasn’t speaking. He had thin lips and a high bridge of the nose. On closer inspection, she noticed a faint brown mole on his nose. It added a touch of elegance to his otherwise harsh features.
She had seen countless handsome men in her life, but this man still made her pause. It wasn’t that he was incredibly handsome, but rather that every aspect of him seemed to resonate with her. Perhaps it was because he had saved her life, perhaps it was because she was still in a daze, perhaps it was for some other reason, but Shen Roujia was drawn to him.
He hesitated, then said, “Then can you stop pulling my sleeves? You’re tearing my clothes.”
Startled, Shen Roujia looked down and saw that she had pulled his collar crooked. She let go quickly and said, “I’m sorry, I…”
“It’s alright. Just follow behind me,” he replied.
Shen Roujia nodded quickly, clutching her fingers. She lowered her head, not daring to look at him, her shoulders hunched, looking timid.
The man chuckled and said, “Why are you so shy? Like a little cat.”
Having finished speaking, he turned and walked forward, slowing his pace so that the little girl behind him could keep up.
Shen Roujia was exhausted. The sun was bright and she felt dizzy, her legs unsteady.
She looked at the man walking in front of her, close enough to touch. She wanted to reach out, to say something, but she couldn’t make a sound. Her arm wouldn’t move, and a wave of dizziness washed over her.
Her legs gave way and she fainted.
Huo Zhao caught her.
The little girl was so light that he could lift her with one hand. She was pale and thin, and it was clear that she had suffered greatly.
Huo Zhao glanced at her, but after a moment, he looked straight ahead. Then, he carefully and precisely caught Shen Roujia’s fallen clothes with two fingers and pulled her up without touching her body.
Her skin was very white, so the scars on it were particularly noticeable.
She lay in his arms, her hand clutching the corner of his clothes, seemingly unaware of how it had gotten there. When he caught her, he checked her pulse. It was incredibly weak; no wonder she had fainted.
Shen Roujia had a dream.
She was back on the dark, airless ship. Living a hopeless, degrading existence, scavenging for food, enduring endless insults and beatings, like a slave, like an animal.
Qingrong was still there. One afternoon, she brought her a bowl of porridge, smiling brightly.
“Xiao Jia, I brought this for you, eat quickly before it gets cold.”
Steam rose from the porridge, the aroma of cooked red beans filling the air.
“Eat quickly, I brought it especially for you, it’s still warm.”
“It’s clean.”
In her dream, she took the bowl and thanked Qingrong happily. She loved red bean porridge.
The soft, sweet porridge didn’t belong in this place. She raised the bowl to her lips. Just as she was about to eat, the porridge turned dark and wriggling maggots appeared, emitting a disgusting stench.
She woke with a start, her arm twitching instinctively.
But the scene before her was different.