Queen's Development

Chapter 1
It was early spring and February, but the small city of Wanzhou in the north was still very cold.

Baijiaying, a small village in the western suburbs of Wanzhou, is shrouded in foggy twilight. The roads in the village are empty, and the dead leaves on the poplar trees on both sides are rustling by the wind.

From the west end of the village came a girl in a green dress and a green skirt.

The girl was about eleven or twelve years old. Although the dress on her body was washed white, she had picturesque eyebrows, fair and tender skin, and a slender figure. She was Bai Yuzhi, the daughter of the Bai Futang family who lived by the big pond in the village.

The laundry basket in Bai Yuzhi's hand was filled with freshly washed wet clothes, and she walked with difficulty step by step.

When she got outside her gate, she couldn't lift it anymore, so she put the laundry basket on the ground outside her gate, and rubbed her hands that were already red with cold.

Bai Yuzhi was about to reach out to push the door, when she suddenly heard voices coming from the yard, as if they were talking about "silver" and "young girl".

Thinking of her father and mother whose hearts were far away thousands of miles away, Bai Yuzhi hurriedly put her ears on the crack of the door, trying her best to listen to the movement inside.

The gate of Bai's house was ajar, and the voice inside could be heard clearly, it was the loud voice of Yuzhi's mother-in-law Bai: "...Mother Yan, since you came to my house directly to ask, you must have met my daughter, How my family's Yuzhi is doing, you don't know? It's not that I said the price too hard, but my family's Yuzhi is worth the price!"

Hearing this, Yuzhi's back straightened instantly, her heart was pounding, and she quickly pricked up her ears to listen to the conversation inside.

In the main room, Mrs. Bai took a sip of the tea on the square table, and then said: "Have you heard of Zhendongguan, the bustard in Xinghualou, Dongguan, Wanzhou City? Zhendongguan personally entrusted Mrs. Yazifu from Dongguan to come to my house." , Tete asked the price of my jade garden, they offered 30 taels of silver! What price did your mother Yan offer? 15 taels of silver! Send the beggar away!"

Ren Yazi Yan's mother glanced at Mrs. Bai sitting across from her, and then at Bai Futang sitting on the threshold with a smoking pouch. She knew that it was Mrs. Bai who was in charge of the Bai family, not the stuffy Bai Futang.

She smiled slightly, and said in a calm manner: "Sister-in-law Fu offered 30 taels of silver, and I offered 15 taels of silver, but she wants to send your own daughter to Xinghualou to suffer, but I want you The relatives and daughters were sent to Xingping County Prince’s Mansion in Qingzhou to enjoy the blessings! Although Xinghualou gave you 30 taels of silver, it was a fireworks cave where thousands of people rode and tens of thousands of people crushed; "

Bai Yuzhi's father, Bai Futang, coughed, knocked the pipe pot on the brick floor inside the door, and said in a muffled voice, "If you want me to say, Xingping County Prince's Mansion is better!"

Seeing that Mrs. Bai was still a little hesitant, Mother Yan began to eloquently draw a big cake for Mrs. Bai of Baifutang: "After entering Xinghualou, your daughter receives 25 or [-] guests every day, and can she live to be [-] years old? Xingping Palace, if you are blessed in the future, the house will be taken over by the masters, and a son and a half daughter will be half masters, wouldn’t you be blessed? Wouldn’t you and Big Brother Bai be honored?”

Sister-in-law Bai thought about the 30 taels of silver offered by the bustard of Xinghualou, and then thought of the 15 taels of silver offered by Mama Yan, with a look of hesitation on her face.

Yan's mother glanced at Mrs. Bai, knowing that a woman like Mrs. Bai only has her son in her heart, and her daughter is not a fart. It is useless to say anything else, but it is definitely useful for her son's benefit.

She smiled and looked at Mrs. Bai: "Sister-in-law Bai, isn't your son a scholar? With the help of a girl in Xingping County's palace, your son can be regarded as a man in the court. Get a wife, marry a lady from a great family..."

When Aunt Bai heard this, she couldn't help but feel a little moved—the reason why she wanted to sell her daughter was because her son had just entered school, and she should send a bundle of repairs to his husband, buy books, pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and make two bodies for her son. The Confucian robe on the face... The son needs money everywhere, but the family doesn't have a tael of silver, so the only idea is to sell his daughter!

Bai Yuzhi was trembling with anger, and was about to push the door to go in, but after thinking about it, she realized that according to her parents who love face very much, if she broke in right now, they would be furious, and they might have sold themselves to this rummy on the spot...

She gritted her teeth and thought about it, and decided to hide aside first, and then figure out a solution after the tooth is gone.

Bai Yuzhi picked up the laundry basket and quietly walked behind the stack of straw on the west side of her courtyard wall.

She put the laundry basket aside, dragged some straw from the stack and spread it on the floor, and sat down on it.

Thinking of her parents who were bargaining with Ren Yazi inside the courtyard wall, Bai Yuzhi's heart felt like a needle prick, she shrank and felt so uncomfortable that she was almost out of breath.

Ever since she could remember, her parents have always been partial to her brother. Although she was dissatisfied, she endured it all the time. Unexpectedly, her parents wanted to sell her to help her brother study, and even planned to sell her to the fireworks cave...

Yuzhi felt a little itchy on her face, reached out her hand to touch it, and found that it was full of tears.

Seeing that Bai Futang and Sister-in-law Bai were still hesitating, Mama Yan stopped talking, offered her farewell with a smile, and led the donkey out of the gate of Bai's house.

After riding the donkey, Mother Yan looked at Bai Futang and Sister-in-law Bai who came out to see her off, and said with a half-smile, "Brother Bai, Sister-in-law Bai, you should think about it. If your son becomes an official and a butcher in the future, people will ask Sister, but she said that being a whore in Xinghualou, will she have any face then?"

Seeing Bai Futang and Mrs. Bai's sudden change of color, Yan's mother smiled and patted the donkey vigorously, and "dedede" rode away on the donkey.

Hearing that Mama Yan had left, Yuzhi wiped away her tears with her sleeves, and sat there with her head down, silently thinking about countermeasures.

It seems that the parents are determined to sell her, and the only conscientious brother in the family is Bai Yuhuai. Why not go to the Dushan Academy in the north of the city to find the brother who is studying there, and beg him to come back and persuade the parents...

At this moment, the voices of Bai Futang and Mrs. Bai came from the gate, which startled Bai Yuzhi - she thought her parents had gone back to the house!
Sister-in-law Bai watched Yan's mother running away on a donkey, and then said: "The majestic Xing'an County Prince's Mansion in Qingzhou City is willing to spend 15 taels of silver for a stunning maid. It's really tricky!"

Bai Futang was silent for a while, and said in a low voice: "Why don't we let Mama Yan be the middleman and sell it to Xingping County Prince's Mansion, otherwise our Baijiaying is so close to the city, and Yuzhi entered the Xinghua Building and was seen by the villagers. Wouldn't it be shameful!"

Aunt Bai said resentfully: "But Xinghualou paid 30 taels of silver, and Mama Yan only gave 15 taels of silver!"

Bai Futang looked at his wife, and bravely said: "Then go find Mama Yan and ask her to add more money!"

He was weak and incompetent for most of his life. Even if he sold his daughter, he didn't dare to come forward to bargain, so he could only push his wife forward.

Mrs. Bai thought for a while and said, "Let me think about it again..."

While she was talking, she suddenly saw a wet water mark on the dry loess road under her feet. The water mark seemed to have reached her door first, and then turned to the west.

Mrs. Bai was very clever, and immediately thought of her daughter Bai Yuzhi who was going to wash clothes by the West River, and said to herself, "Huh? It's getting dark, why hasn't Yuzhi come back?"

While she was talking, she put her fingers to her lips, signaling her husband not to speak, then took her husband Bai Futang's hand and tiptoed towards the west wall.

Yuzhi was wiping her tears with her head down, but when she looked up, she saw her mother's face with raised eyebrows, and she was so frightened that her little face turned pale.

Sister-in-law Bai didn't speak, she just stretched out her hand to touch Bai Yuzhi's ear, and dragged her towards the gate.

Bai Yuzhi felt that her ear was about to be torn off by Mrs. Bai, it was so hot, she struggled with all her strength, like a small animal, aimed at Mrs. Bai's arm and bit it.

Mrs. Bai didn't expect her daughter to dare to resist, she was furious, raised her free left hand, aimed at Bai Yuzhi's small face, and slapped it.

With the sound of a crisp slap, Bai Yuzhi's right cheek was on fire, and she still refused to let go, biting Sister Bai's arm hard - so the mother who planned to sell her into the fireworks cave for the sake of her brother was still her own mother?
Sister-in-law Bai grabbed her daughter's bun and called her husband, Bai Futang, who was standing there in a daze, in a rage, "Bai Futang, what are you doing standing there? Why don't you come and kill this inhuman little bastard!"

Bai Yuzhi's face was already on fire from Mrs. Bai's beating, her ears were also on fire, and her scalp was extremely painful. She was weeping silently, resisting with all her strength, pushing, biting, and pinching.

Bai Futang has been standing aside stupidly, watching his wife beat his daughter.

After all, hollyhock was young, only 12 years old, and it was no match for the very strong Mrs. Bai. In the end, she was dragged back home by Mrs. Bai and locked in the West Room where the firewood was kept.

(End of this chapter)