My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 286 The man from the Liu family~
"My Lord;"

"I have found out everything."

Shangguanli, the mansion of Tangyi Marquis.

Liu Piao, the head of Guantao, sat lazily in the main seat in the classroom, allowing a handsome man to massage her shoulders from behind, with a look of enjoyment on her face.

In the hall, a middle-aged man was groveling and smiling flatteringly;
The joyful cry of "Found it" only made Liu Piao open her eyes with great effort, and then she squinted her eyes again. While enjoying the prehistoric massage, she did not forget to say "hmm" softly, signaling the old servant to continue.

Then he lay down, and the old servant organized his words with a wry smile, and then laid out everything he had found out in front of Liu Piao.

"Since your wedding in March, Your Majesty has had a meal in the Pepper Room every five days, and has visited the Pepper Room every three days to talk with the Queen for a while before leaving."

"So far, your Majesty has never stayed overnight in the Pepper Chamber, and the Queen has never slept with you either."

"——The Queen brought 31 concubines with her from the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion, but none of them had been registered by the Zongzheng, so none of them had been favored by her."

"There is also a singing girl in the mansion of the Marquis of Pingyang, who is eleven years old. She is the daughter of the mansion's servant Wei Ai and the accountant Zheng Ji. It seems that your majesty likes her."

"The day before yesterday, Pingyang Hou entered the palace to meet the emperor, and then went to the Pepper Room. He told the empress about the matter of Pingyang Hou's concubine Teng after he was three or five years old."

"The spies in the palace said that perhaps it was the slave-born Wei Zifu who won the favor of His Majesty..."

As soon as the old servant finished speaking, Liu Piao, who was already enjoying it immensely, suddenly had an unusual blush on her face.

After a series of strange and thought-provoking whispers, Liu Piao finally slowly opened her eyes, looked at the handsome young man with spring in her eyes, and waved her hand gently;

After the young man left obediently, Liu Piao stared at his back as he left and rubbed her lower lip with her fingertips playfully.

Then, he said sarcastically, "You refuse to accept my precious Ah Jiao, which makes me think that my Han family has produced a living immortal who is not interested in women and rules the world."

"Eleven years old."

"——Is it possible that the emperor is so pleased with this and has the heart to do this?"

"And 'wait three to five years' before taking a concubine - isn't it because you are afraid of being criticized and accused of being fond of young girls and pedophiles?"

"Ah;"

"After all, in the end, isn't he still my Liu's man..."

"Look at this dog who is about to eat shit. Isn't he the same as those guys?"

The merciless and even unreserved complaints made the old servant tremble with fear.

But he didn't dare to answer.

——Who dares to take this?
And those few;

Why not just call him by his temple name or posthumous name, or just say "late emperor" or "father"?
After all, he was an old man in the Marquis's Mansion and an old loyal servant that Liu Piao was used to. Obviously, the old servant was accustomed to Liu Piao's talkative mouth.

He waited silently for Liu Piao to bring the topic back to the present, but Liu Piao seemed to be unsatisfied and continued, "Eleven years old..."

"She's just a little bit bigger than Gillian, but not much bigger..."

"If this really gets out of the palace, aren't you ashamed?"

After hearing these words, the old servant was speechless.

Do you also know that it's embarrassing?
If you knew it was shameful, why did you force the late emperor's daughter, who was only nine years old - and was only nine years old this year, when she was only three or four years old - into the prince's palace?

So you are allowed to embarrass yourself, but you don't want others to pick on you, right?

Again.

After all, he is still an old man in the Marquis' Mansion.

Even though he was secretly complaining, the old servant never forgot his identity and position. He just remained silent and waited patiently for Liu Piao to finish venting.

After listening to a few more shocking words from Liu Piao, which were so shocking that even the whole mansion would be left with no one alive and the egg yolks would be shaken apart, the old servant finally waited for Liu Piao to calm down and turn her attention back to the business.

"Have you found out about Wei Zifu?"

Call ~
It’s finally over…

The old servant seemed relieved, but he did not dare to breathe out loudly - he just exhaled lightly, and then cheered up and told the information he had one by one.

"Wei Ai, a servant in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang, was bought from a farmer's home by Cao Qi, Marquis of Pingyang Jian, and has served in the mansion since she was young;"

"At the age of sixteen, I became a concubine, mostly used to greet and see off guests at the mansion, entertaining ministers and guests."

"During the reign of Emperor Taizong Xiaowen, she gave birth to one son and two daughters, namely: the eldest son Wei Changjun, the eldest daughter Wei Junru, and the second daughter Wei Shaoer - all of them followed their mother's clan and were born to slaves."

"In the third year of Emperor Taizong's reign, he secretly had an affair with Zheng Ji, a clerk in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang, and gave birth to Wei Zifu."

"Later, she gave birth to sons Wei Qing, Wei Bu, and Wei Guang - all of whom were born to Zheng Ji."

···
"Today, Wei Ai is still working as a servant in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang, but she does not serve guests, but mostly sweeps the backyard."

"My eldest son, Wei Changjun, my daughter, Wei Junru, and Wei Shaoer are all slaves in Pingyanghou State."

"The youngest sons are Wei Qing, Wei Bu and Wei Guang. The eldest, Wei Qing, is seven years old and is now serving his biological father, Zheng Ji, at his home."

"——Zheng Ji is married again, with a wife and a son;"

"Wei Qing was born to a slave from Zheng Ji's concubine. He was not liked by Zheng Ji's wife and son, so he became a young slave in Zheng Ji's house."

"As for the youngest, Wei Bu and Wei Guang, they remained in the mansion of Marquis Pingyang, where they became slaves and gave birth to sons, ready to serve as personal guards and servants for the Marquis's son Cao Xiang..."

The above is basically all the information that outsiders can find about this "slave" family headed by Wei Ai, which is parasitic on the Pingyang Marquis family.

As for who was the father of Wei Ai’s first four children?

No one knows—even Wei Ai herself may not know!
After all, Wei Ai was a concubine who entertained guests in the Pingyang Marquis's mansion, and especially entertained retainers and clerks.

To put it bluntly, anyone who has a relationship with the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion and needs the maintenance of the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion - even a small official with a salary of 100 stones - can receive special treatment from the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion.

And Wei Ai was the tool for this "special treatment".

If there were fewer guests, Wei Ai might be able to roughly infer whose bloodline her children might be;
But this thing called a concubine...

How to say it;

It's like a bowl, a plate, or a pair of chopsticks.

As a tool specially used by Pingyang Marquis Mansion to entertain guests, almost all the guests entertained by Wei Ai during that period were guests. For every wave of guests that came to Pingyang Marquis Mansion, there would be at least one person who had to be entertained by Wei Ai.

There was a new wave of customers every few days, and they were all different, and almost all of them were unknown little people;

Even if Wei Ai had a rough idea of ​​the location, she wouldn't be able to find anyone there.

Let's take a step back and say - even if Wei Ai knew who the child's biological father was, what could she do?

Is it possible to really go to someone's house and ask them to accept your bloodline?
Do not make jokes……

As a concubine, Wei Ai's job was to win over, or reward, the minions of Pingyang Marquis' family through her body.

As for being pregnant?
I'm sorry, but you, Wei Ai, are still the "property" of the Pingyang Marquis's Mansion.
The child you give birth to will naturally belong to the Pingyang Marquis Mansion from the day he is born.

It's like you raise a cow, and after a few years, the cow gives birth to a calf.

——Do you care about which bull this calf was born from and which bull’s bloodline it inherited?

will not.

You will only say happily: Well, the cow gave birth to a calf, and I gained a cow for free!

As long as this calf is raised and sold, it will be a fortune! This is the situation of Wei Ai, a concubine, and seven slave-born sons including Wei Zifu and Wei Qing in the Pingyang Marquis's mansion.

Wei Ai was a slave and the private property of Pingyang Prefecture;
The seven children born to Wei Ai - whether the first three whose biological fathers were unknown or the last four born to Zheng Ji - were all Wei Ai's private property and additional assets produced for the Pingyang Marquis' Mansion.

For Wei Ai, what was important was not who the biological fathers of these children were or whether they were willing to accept these children;
Instead, it is about trying to keep these children - these children who were born into slavery - alive as much as possible.

That's right, survive.

It's just 'survival', not 'survival with dignity'.

Very cruel.

This was cruel for Wei Ai's family of eight, including mother and her two children.

But this is also the bloody reality.

From the day she became a slave and sold her body and soul to the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion through a contract, Wei Ai's fate was determined.

——Even this is a blessing!
At least the person who bought Wei Ai was not some old eunuch released from the palace, or some old rich man with perverted hobbies;
At least the beauty that Wei Ai had when she was young could help her find a living space, not too big but enough for her, in the deep and complicated Marquis's mansion.

At least after staying in Pingyang Marquis's mansion for so many years, Wei Ai is still alive;

——Until now, he has not been beaten to death by the Pingyang Marquis Mansion due to some unintentional mistake, and then rolled up in a torn straw mat and thrown into a mass grave.

At least Wei Ai still has children.

Even though he was a slave-born son without any rights or social status, he still gave Wei Ai some hope.

For example, after she grows old, if her ancestors bless her and the master returns her indenture, Wei Ai, who becomes a "human" again, can still have the concept of having children...

"Slave-born..."

"The emperor's vision..."

“Tsk, tsk;”

"Why don't I just pick a few from your house and send them to the palace?"

"You are the emperor, but you are staring at the slave-born son of the queen..."

"——Are you so unsophisticated and so not picky about food?"

"You really don't care about your face anymore..."

Liu Piao was completely indifferent to the tragic fate of Wei Ai's family.

It’s not that Liu Piao was cold-blooded, but that was the times.

Even if you replace it with a kind-hearted person of this era, his attitude towards Wei Ai's family would not be much better than Liu Piao's.

——In the hereafter, human life is more important than heaven;

The world is big, but nothing is bigger than a human life.

But in this era, human life has a price tag.

For example, in the Yashi outside the city of Chang'an, a strong slave cost 60,000 coins, a female slave cost 40,000 to 100,000 coins depending on her appearance and figure, and a child slave cost 20,000 coins.

If some rich and powerful young men were riding their horses in the market and accidentally killed someone, they would just have to pay a compensation of 100,000 or 80,000 yuan and the matter would be settled.

Moreover, this is not a settlement, but personnel compensation carried out in strict accordance with legal procedures based on legal provisions.

If you kill someone, you don't even need to ask for forgiveness!
As long as you are not afraid of having a bad reputation, you can go to the government office with your nose in the air, throw down a hundred thousand coins as compensation for your life, and then leave with a high opinion of yourself!

If you really want to save face and reputation, all you have to do is lower yourself, apologize sincerely, and pay an extra tens of thousands of dollars.

If you really have a conscience, and you suggest that you invite one of the deceased's brothers or sisters to your home to do good deeds, not only will they not blame you as a murderer, they will even be grateful to you and say that you are a great instigator!
In the future, the deceased's parents might even talk about you to others, saying things like "What a great instigator" or "My son died a worthy death"...

All we can say is that the evil feudal society’s oppression of the lower classes was far more than what was stereotyped by later generations.

But for Liu Piao, a member of the royal family who grew up in the deep palace, the only difference between Wei Ai and other slaves was that she was lucky.

And a bit too lucky...

"Even a slave-born child can look down on him~"

"And he has never stayed overnight in the Pepper Room, and he has not even had the pleasure of having a concubine..."

"——Emperor, do you think highly of the Empress's beauty?"

"I'm afraid even the concubines that the queen brought into the palace are inferior."

···
"Too;"

"Marquis Pingyang has been in poverty for many years, and suddenly he is favored by the emperor. Even if he has the intention, where does he get the energy to do it?"

"I, Teng, have sent more than 30 people to the palace, but none of them has won the emperor's favor. Doesn't this just prove that the Pingyang Marquis family is not worthy of becoming the emperor's relatives..."

After another round of merciless, even life-threatening grumbling, Liu Piao finally vented most of the anger in her heart.

Liu Rong laughed for a long time, then said with interest: "Go, pick a few younger ones from the mansion and send them to the palace for the emperor."

"——Just pick the ones that have just been taken into the mansion."

"Who made the Emperor of the Han Dynasty like this..."

"Who made the Emperor of the Han Dynasty like this?"

···
"It's a pity that the younger ones haven't even started learning yet."

"Even if she is sent to the palace, she won't achieve anything."

“——Whatever.”

"Just think of it as a way to relieve the emperor's boredom, so that those people in the Pepper Palace won't make him angry for no reason, but he can't vent his anger..."

Although she said this, Liu Piao felt extremely happy in her heart.

In Liu Piao's opinion, Liu Rong had it all his own fault!
He insisted on marrying the woman of Pingyang Marquis Mansion, and acted as if he was doing it for the good of the country, the people, and the ancestral temple;
What now?

Are you stupid?
They always talk about the ancestral temple and the country, but when it comes to continuing the family line, they realize how "lonely" the Pingyang Marquis Mansion is, right?

If it were the case, would he be willing to marry his daughter Gillian?

Hey!
Who in the world today dares to say that he has women of higher quality and better looks than those in Tangyi Houfu?

If Liu Rong had known better, he wouldn't have fallen to this point, looking at the dozens of Tyrannosaurus in the Pepper Palace and being unable to eat them - he was even so hungry that he targeted the slaves.

Knowing that Liu Rong had more than 30 women in the Pepper Palace but had to live a celibate life, Liu Piao naturally felt gloating.

But this also allowed Liu Piao, who was almost in despair, to see the dawn of hope again.

"The Emperor is still young..."

"When you are older, you will understand why my aunt is so trusted by the late emperor."

"When the emperor figures it out, Cao will also fall out of favor..."

"I will send the emperor a few more people who know how to be kind and considerate..."

···
"Ah……"

"I am Liu's man~"

(End of this chapter)