Ye Xingchen also knew that once his elder sister had made a decision, there was no changing it. He could only say in a deep voice, "Thank you, elder sister."
Zhao Shuning smiled. Turning to Wen Xi, she said, "Lord Wen, do you know why that Kong Ye was sent to your border town for punishment back then?"
Wen Xi replied, "Most of the people sent to me for punishment either failed to follow the rules or were simply at the end of their ropes. They wanted to go through the border town to Chaozhou for the auction and find a stable family. As for Kong Ye's background, I really have no idea. Moreover, if you hadn't reminded me, I would never have associated the elegant young man in the image with that hunched and disheveled man."
Zhao Shuning understood. "Lord Wen, you said earlier that the people sent to you had neither spiritual power nor mental strength. What about Kong Ye?"
"Of course he was an ordinary person. If he had spiritual and mental powers, my small border town would surely not be able to hold him back."
Zhao Shuning became even more puzzled. She could only urge Wen Xi to arrange a messenger to lead the way for her.
When it was time to part, Zhao Shuning first saw Ye Xingchen off, and then took the letter from Wen Xi.
As Wen Xi had said, the person living in Chaozhou was his cousin. She had found a wealthy family earlier and followed her husband to Chaozhou to do business. Later, as their business grew, they settled in Chaozhou and never came back.
Zhao Shuning thanked Wen Xi for his kindness. She didn't really want to take the letter at first, but couldn't resist Wen Xi's repeated requests, so she had to accept it.
Wen Xi said that after arriving in Chaozhou, she should find the Wei Mansion and give the letter to Wen Xiaoxiao in the mansion. She would take care of her.
After thanking Wen Xi, Zhao Shuning took the letter and set off with the messenger.
To be honest, Zhao Shuning had a really poor sense of direction. In the past, she had the Phoenix with her. That narcissistic Phoenix was top - notch at finding directions. Generally, no one could match it. As long as the Phoenix was around, she didn't have to worry about where she was going.
However, because of the matter between Xie An and Lin Lang, Zhao Shuning was worried and left the Phoenix behind. All she had with her now was the Speech - Understanding Beast.
But as for Xiaoyu, it had hardly ever left the Eastern Marsh Wilderness. It was really too unfamiliar with the Sea Spirit Kingdom. Its ability to find the way was far inferior to that of the Phoenix. It was no use counting on Xiaoyu.
Therefore, Zhao Shuning could only follow the messenger on the journey.
After a long and tiring journey, they finally arrived in Chaozhou.
The messenger originally planned to take Zhao Shuning to the Wei Mansion, but later there was a traffic jam outside the city gate. They couldn't get into the city for a while, so Zhao Shuning told the messenger to go back first.
She had already reached Chaozhou, the place she wanted to come to. It didn't really matter if she didn't go to the Wei Mansion. Her intention was never to seek protection from the Wei Mansion.
After the messenger left, Zhao Shuning was very nimble. After a few dodges, she successfully entered the city.
The auction of people required a lot of manpower. It was easy to find out where it was held just by asking around.
After asking for directions, Zhao Shuning followed the crowd towards the auction site. There was going to be an auction today, and she just happened to catch it.
At that time, the sun was high in the sky. The auction house in Chaozhou was bustling with noise. People came and went in an endless stream. Fifty people were brought up in the previous batch, but only six were selected. The rest were all locked back into the cages.
Zhao Shuning had just arrived. Because of her small and light build, she easily squeezed to the front. Unfortunately, there were no men in this batch. They were all women.
For some reason, Zhao Shuning always felt that the people in Chaozhou were very excited about this batch of women to be auctioned. Suppressing the doubt in her heart, Zhao Shuning thought that since she was here, she might as well first observe the rules of the auction house before making a decision. So she just quietly waited below.
Before long, all the women came on stage. There were twenty in total. Most of them were extremely thin, with sallow complexions. It was obvious at a glance that they were from poor families and must have suffered a great deal.
Zhao Shuning continued to watch. When she saw the last woman, she suddenly froze. This woman was wearing a light - yellow dress. Her manner and bearing suggested that she was a woman from a wealthy family. Why would she appear in this place?
Just as this doubt emerged in Zhao Shuning's mind, the crowd outside erupted. "Make way, make way! The seller is coming!"
Hearing this, before long, a man in red rushed into the venue. When some people saw him, they showed expressions of disdain. Others saw him and showed sly smiles, quickly stepping forward to greet him.
"Master Wei, why are you coming to this auction house on such a happy day?"
"Yeah. In our opinion, now that you have a beautiful bride, shouldn't you go home and cherish her? Why are you rushing here? Are you regretting it?"
Zhao Shuning took a closer look and felt that the man looked familiar. After thinking for a while, she remembered him. Earlier, outside the city gate, there was a wedding that caused a traffic jam, preventing the carriage from entering the city of Chaozhou. It seemed that this was the very man.
At that time, Zhao Shuning thought to herself, this man was in his thirties. Why did he make such a big fuss about getting married? He blocked the city gate! So when she left, she couldn't help but take a few more glances.
The man ignored the others. Wearing the red clothes, he stepped onto the stage. When the woman in the light - yellow dress on the stage saw him, she raised her watery eyes, as if she had found a straw to clutch at. She said, "Husband, are you here to pick me up?"
Unexpectedly, the man showed a look of displeasure. He directly asked, "Let me ask you, when we were engaged, the freshwater pearls your elder brother gave you, did you hide them again? Do you know that because Xuanxuan didn't see that betrothal gift today, she made a scene with me outside the city?"
Hearing this, all the hope on the woman's face disappeared without a trace.
"I'm asking you a question. Are you deaf or dumb?"
Just as the man was about to raise his hand, he was scolded by the owner of the auction house on the stage. "Master Wei, as a merchant, we all respect you as a master. But you should know that once the goods are in our hands, they no longer belong to you. If you dare to do anything, and we can't sell them at a good price, you won't get the corresponding auction ransom either."
Being scolded like this, the man immediately became much more timid. He could only curse and say, "Then I'll just wait for you to sell this woman and give me the ransom so that I can buy new jewelry for Xuanxuan. Wen Xiaoxiao, don't be ungrateful. If you tell me where the freshwater pearls are now, I'll be merciful and buy you back and send you back to the border town."
Hearing this, perhaps unable to suppress the anger in her heart, the woman shouted angrily, "Wei Qian, are you still a human being? Those freshwater pearls were the wedding gifts my cousin gave us. They were mine. How could you use my things to please that vixen Li Xuan? For her sake, you abandoned your wife and child. Back then, when you had nothing, it was me who accompanied you into Chaozhou. If it weren't for me, how could you have what you have today?"
"Don't tell me these sob stories. I'm just asking you, where are the freshwater pearls?"
"Sold! I sold them as soon as we entered Chaozhou! If I hadn't, where would you have gotten your first sum of money to do business!"
Zhao Shuning felt that the name Wen Xiaoxiao sounded very familiar. It was only when the man mentioned the border town that she suddenly remembered.