HONOR AND BETRAYAL

In the narrow alley, a nicely dressed little girl was deprived of her necklace, bracelet, pearl sachet and all the other valuable ornaments by a maid. Instead, she was made to put on poor clothes.

Song Yixiao, neither crying nor screaming, with her almond eyes wide open, was curious and yet tame, just letting the woman with heavy makeup put her into a carriage.

Her unusual cooperation made the woman frown. After putting her into the carriage, the woman turned around to talk with the maid who was tearing the pearls off the sachet, “Is there anything wrong with your lady? She is eight years old anyway. Why doesn’t she make any noise after hearing that we are selling her? In this case, the price…”

“You don’t know about her. This lady doesn’t like talking, who is not liked by the elder lady and master. Otherwise, how dare I sell her before the new mistress stays in the family for one year?” Upon hearing her talk of the price, the maid hastened to hold the sachet into her chests, explaining hastily, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with her! The previous mistress, aka, her birth mother, is a well-known beauty, or she would not be married to a prince!”

“A prince?!” The woman with heavy makeup shouted in a low voice and interrupted her, “You just said that her birth mother is the wife of a prince?!” She couldn’t help stamping her feet, “Are you insane? I thought this girl was neglected with no mother attending to her. Now you are telling me that her mother is not only alive but also a wife of the eldest son of an official clan? How dare you sell her to a brothel? Even if you dare to sell, I don’t dare to buy her. Give the money back to me! Take the girl wherever you want. Don’t get me into trouble!”

The maid said hastily, “Don’t! It’s not me but the new mistress who wants to sell her. Hence, how can she not take care of the aftermath? Moreover, the girl is only eight years old. After you buy her, shouldn’t you present her in public in a few years? As a saying goes, a girl changes fast in appearance before reaching womanhood. By then, even if her face contour can still be recognized, who dares to relate her to the Song Family, a respectable family here?”

She continued to threaten the woman, “Besides, she has seen your face! She can recognize people at her age. If you don’t take her away, you will be in big trouble once the issue is disclosed. And the new mistress will just be fine, for she is pregnant now.”

“What bad luck for me!” The woman flew into a rage and wanted to grab the money bag, “Give the money back to me! Your new mistress wants to get rid of the first daughter of the family. My buying the girl is a great favor for your new mistress, so she should pay me instead. How dare you ask me for money?!”

The maid would never agree on that. They grappled with each other for a while. In the end, they were afraid to arouse others’ attention, so they decided to meet each other halfway. The maid returned half of the money to the woman, “You’ve taken great advantage! Listen. If this girl doesn’t get famous all over the nation after growing up, it must be because all the men have died!”

“Ask your new mistress to deal with the aftermath well! Otherwise, we will be doomed before she grows up!” The woman fetched the money and got into the carriage while lifting her skirt hem. The moment she went in the carriage, she was shocked!

The tea and pastries in the drawer were taken out and placed on the small table.

The pretty girl sat there, holding her chin and eating the pastries selectively. Upon seeing the woman get into the carriage, she spat the kernels casually and said sneeringly, “You do know how to live a life. Even I can have these pastries only when my mother was still in the Song Family!”

The woman was startled for a while and then pulled a long face. She raised her hand to pat on the girl’s hand when the girl was trying to fetch another pastry, saying with a sinister smile, “Hmm! Now you put on a lady-like look! It’s too late! Your stepmother has sold you to me. No matter how respectable you were, from now on, you are fated to belong to the brothel… Put the things away for me! Now! Hurry up!”

“Or I will tear you apart!”