Wow! This is an escapee slave!
The spectators nearby immediately felt their gossip instincts ignite.
Catching an escapee slave is quite the spectacle. If the master is furious enough and throws the matter into court, people might witness delicate and beautiful maidservants from wealthy households being beaten. Quite the show indeed!
Watching a master catch a female slave in the Great Tang is akin to watching a side chick being publicly scorned in modern times. Regardless of the pitiable state of the slave or the side chick, spectators would just stand idly by, some even engaging in playful banter.
The crowd would not discern whether the person before them was truly an escapee slave; they simply believed there's no smoke without fire.
Who would dare to reduce a free person to a slave in broad daylight? Under Tang law, the distinction between free and slave was strict; free people were protected. Even parents selling their children would face lashes, not to mention others.
