Chapter 168: Confrontation (2)

Lian Ze was very happy to see this and laughed. “Young Master Cui, you don’t need to worry. How could my uncle go to Shuangliu County? He is not a relative of the Su family. It’s not so easy for him to go!”

Cui Shao Xi smiled happily. “I’m just being sure, you can’t be too careful! If you make the same mistake twice, then you really are damned! Oh, yes, is your name Ah Ze? Don’t call me Young Master Cui, you can call me cousin too!”

“Yes, Cousin!” Lian Ze called simply, smiling.

Cui Shao Xi laughed.

Lian Li was about to burst with anger, hatred, and jealousy. These few hairy children of the second branch! Really didn’t know what luck they had to be so valued!

Suddenly thinking of the way Cui Shao Xi had looked towards Lian Fang Zhou when he had talked about the proposal, Lian Li was even angrier, sure that Lian Fang Zhou had said something before he had arrived.

It was a pity that Young Master Cui had a fickle temper. Hearing the lies of the little bitch, he didn’t even give him a chance to explain…

He secretly cursed but there was nothing he could do about it.

It could only be considered his bad luck to run into a temperament like Cui Shao Xi.

Lian Fang Zhou looked at him coldly, sneering in her heart. At this time, his heart was still spinning without a clue of what the hell was going on!

“Uncle, please go home! Presumably you are very busy, I won’t keep you!” Lian Fang Zhou said lightly.

Lian Li took a deep breath. Right now, the situation was in Lian Fang Zhou’s favor. He knew it would be useless for him to say. It would be better to wait patiently for an opportunity.

So he stood up calmly and smiled at Cui Shao Xi. “Young Master Cui, since this is so troublesome, let’s leave the matter here!”

“As you say!” Cui Shao Xi replied casually. Seeing that he had suddenly become polite, he was not interested in embarrassing him.

Hearing Cui Shao Xi’s tone, Lian Li’s hope rose again and he felt more confident. It seemed that the matter was not hopeless! Young Master Cui might have a short temper but as long as he was in a good mood, he would have a chance to speak…

“Of course, of course!” Lian Li said with a smile and left.

After surviving one trouble, Lian Fang Zhou rubbed her temples and looked at the second trouble.

“Young Master Cui—”

“Call me cousin, you don’t have to act like an outsider like that!” Cui Shao Xi smiled.

Lian Fang Zhou secretly rolled her eyes, this man was really addicted to saying this today!

But!

“I am not calling you cousin!” Lian Fang Zhou said stiffly, turning her head away slightly.

She so awkward she wouldn’t even scream if someone killed her!

Cui Shao Xi’s thin lips opened lightly and he was about to speak when he suddenly remembered that she did not call Ah Jian cousin either, just ‘Ah Jian, Ah Jian’, so it wasn’t just him. He hurriedly smiled: “Okay, okay, if you don’t want to, that’s fine! But you can’t call me Young Master Cui like a stranger, either! Call me like your cousin and brother-in-law, call me Min Zhi!”

Lian Fang Zhou considered this for a moment and then sighed silently. Well, whatever! Why not give in? This person was just too stubborn and headstrong, there was no reason to fight him over this boring matter.

“Min Zhi,” Lian Fang Zhou finally said with a smile. “Well, its not early anymore and it will be dark soon, you should head back quickly!”

Cui Shao Xi didn’t answer but smiled: “Fang Zhou, guess what good things I brought you?”

Lian Fang Zhou suddenly became alert, shaking her head. When she spoke, her tone became deliberately distanced. “Last time I borrowed so much money from cousin and brother-in-law and I haven’t even spent it all! We don’t lack anything. I appreciate your kindness, but I really can’t accept it!”

“You’ve misunderstood me!” Cui Shao Xi hurried to say, “I really don’t mean anything else! Wait, you’ll know when you see it!”

Cui Shao Xi turned to Cui Yi: “Go and call those two people in!”

Lian Fang Zhou and Lian Ze exchanged glances, confused, as Cui Yi agreed and left.

After a while, two men in their thirties came inside.

The two men wore the same dark green and brown outfit, with Jingchai hair bands and bronze skin. One was more sturdy, with a Chinese character face and thick eyebrows*. The other was taller, with sharp cheekbones and a long face. His eyes were long and narrow and the bridge of his nose was very high.

Neither of them looked very energetic and could even be called haggard, as if they had just gone through some disaster.

Lian Ze had heard Cui Shao Xi say he wanted to send some ‘good stuff’ to his family but in the blink of the eye, his servant had brought in two men. His face suddenly became a little ugly and he couldn’t bear it.

Cui Shao Xi smiled and said to Lian Fang Zhou, “Fang Zhou, do you know what these two people did?”

Lian Fang Zhou raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at him in confusion.

Cui Shao Xi smiled and said: “These two people were originally the deputies of Official Du, the head of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Official Du was exiled to the southwest after committing a crime and both of them were sold. Do you know what he was in charge of? It was the matter of managing farmlands and orchards! I heard that these two were very proficient in these aspects. Haha, you want to grow cotton, so wouldn’t it be easier to have two people to help? I will leave them to you!

As Cui Shao Xi spoke, the two men’s faces became very pale at the same time and their heads dropped, eyes full of pain.

However, even if they were suffering, they dared not show it in the slightest.

This was not the same as ordinary slaves. Those who committed crimes like this and were sold by the government would be slaves for the rest of their lives. There was absolutely no redemption and their descendants were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations or serve as officials within three generations!

Lian Fang Zhou’s eyes lit up involuntarily.

Seeing that she did not refuse, Cui Shao Xi knew that she was moved and smiled, gently folding the two office seals of the slave deeds aside. He told the two, “Qin Feng, Su Zi Ji, come greet your new master!”

Perhaps the two men’s mood had changed drastically. Hearing him, they had no reaction. They lowered their heads numbly and responded with a ‘yes’. Kneeling, they kowtowed to Lian Fang Zhou: “This slave greets Young Miss!”

Cui Shao Xi smiled at Lian Fang Zhou again: “If you don’t like their names, you can change them yourself. Whatever you want, just say it smoothly!”

When they heard this, Qin Feng and Su Zi Ji’s expressions changed slightly. This was the only thing they had left that still belonged to them; the name given by their parents!

“That isn’t necessary!” Lian Fang Zhou hurriedly smiled, saying softly to both of them: “You guys get up first!”

Qin Feng and Su Zi Ji stood up, responding ‘yes’ in a low voice. They took the opportunity to take a quick look at Lian Fang Zhou.

Hearing her gentle voice and peaceful expression, their hearts both relaxed. This master seemed to be kind, maybe god had taken pity on them after all!

TN: *I think this means that his face has a lot of lines. I wasn’t able to find anything about this saying, so I don’t know if she means a specific character.

For anyone who isn’t familiar, slavery in China was different than what modern people associate with slavery, specifically racial slavery like here in the states. From the little I understand, people could chose to sell themselves or their children into slavery and their owners would have a slave contract. Slaves were usually able to buy themselves back later, though this likely depended on their master’s temperament and morality. I also believe that was perfectly legal for masters to beat and kill slaves if they wanted to, so finding a good master was mostly luck. This is a little different than servants, which I believe refers to serving class people born to family servants or hired family servants.