HUS Chapter 63: The Rose Atop the Spire
HUS Chapter 63: The Rose Atop the Spire
January 4
Leopard Head had already been waiting outside the drawbridge and welcomed Shopkeeper Qian into the fortress.
When Yang Can heard about this person's profession, he only thought he was a cruel and ruthless slave trader.
Later, upon hearing his name, he thought he was a corpulent, greedy merchant.
It wasn't until he saw Qian Yuan in person that Yang Can was greatly astonished because this man looked truly beyond his expectations.
Qian Yuan was extraordinarily tall, even half a head taller than the already large Leopard Head.
His facial features were clearly defined, with deep-set eyes and no beard below his jaw.
What caught the eye was that one side of his face bore an indigo tattoo with extremely strange patterns.
He wore a striped silk long robe but was barefoot.
This appearance was really rather neither Eastern nor Western.
When Qian Yuan saw that this Estate Head was so young, he was also slightly stunned.
At this time, his pair of "perfume bottles" followed over.
The two perfume bottles nestled to Shopkeeper Qian's left and right, clinging like birds to a person.
Qian Yuan laughed heartily, spreading his arms wide, and a pair of snake-shaped earrings below his ears swayed.
He embraced the pair of "living perfume bottles" and smiled at Yang Can, "Estate Head Yang, I've long admired your great name."
"Achoo!"
When the pair of "living perfume bottles" arrived, a wave of strange fragrance wafted over.
Xiao Qingmei only felt her nose itch and couldn't help but turn her head to cover her mouth and sneeze!
Yang Can invited Shopkeeper Qian to sit and smiled, "Yang has just taken over Feng'an Fortress. As for servants and subordinates, I need many. I hope Shopkeeper Qian won't disappoint Yang on this trip."
Seeing Yang Can so direct, Qian Yuan couldn't help but laugh heartily. He liked straightforward people.
Shopkeeper Qian patted his chest and said boldly, "Estate Head can rest assured. When it comes to buying and selling slaves, there's no one in all of Longshang who can compare to Qian."
Qian Yuan immediately began enthusiastically introducing his business to Yang Can.
"Just now entering this fortress, Qian took a look. Estate Head, for your inner and outer residences, you need kitchen maids, servant women, maids, young servants, embroiderers, attendants, doorkeepers...
The servants needed daily, at minimum, you need at least fifty people. Are you buying all of them from Qian?"
Yang Can nodded, "Correct!"
Upon hearing this, Qian Yuan's eyes immediately revealed a trace of joy.
He had brought over one hundred fifty slaves this time. If things went smoothly, he could sell off one-third in one go.
This arduous journey hadn't been in vain.
Qian Yuan immediately clapped his hands and said excitedly, "Bring our goods in for the Estate Head to inspect."
A "living perfume bottle" immediately walked out gracefully, his gait and posture making Yang Can's teeth ache.
In just a moment, that pretty youth brought in a batch of slaves.
These slaves all had small tattoo symbols on one corner of their foreheads.
That was the exclusive mark of slaves.
Even if you wore a hat or let your hair fall to conceal it, when you entered various checkpoints, cities, or inns, people would make you remove your hat or lift your hair for inspection.
Once they discovered you had a slave mark, you couldn't escape, unless you were traveling with your master.
All powerful families had slaves. Even middle-wealth households had one or two slaves to serve them.
This was an era when slavery was still legal. It was a system maintained by all of society.
Although Yang Can sat there watching, the main people selecting were Leopard Head and Xiao Qingmei.
Leopard Head was responsible for selecting outer residence servants, doorkeepers, gardeners, young servants, etc., checking whether they were healthy and whether their speech was quick.
Xiao Qingmei was responsible for selecting inner residence maids and servant women.
Among them, those who knew needlework or cooking would be given priority consideration.
The estate currently only had Zhu Weipeng as a cook and Chef Zhu was for preparing special meals for the Estate Head... and her.
Batch after batch of slaves were brought up. After screening, those selected remained, and those not selected were taken away.
Gradually, the personnel needed for the front and rear residences were almost assembled.
Shopkeeper Qian stroked his smooth chin and suddenly smiled craftily.
"Estate Head, with such a large fortress, you now have maids, old women, kitchen maids, and embroiderers all equipped. Would you like to select a few dancing girls and singing girls? They can accompany you with music and entertainment in your leisure time for pleasure."
The two "living perfume bottles" beside him weren't purely decorative. Just as Shopkeeper Qian began his sales pitch, they sensibly went to bring people.
Yang Can declined politely, "Yang has just assumed the position of Feng'an Estate Head and also serves as Steward of the eldest branch. My official duties are busy. Where would I have time..."
Before he finished speaking, his eyes lit up.
After all, although this place was near the Western Regions, he rarely saw people of European descent.
Especially... such a beautiful European person.
Qian Yuan's voice suddenly became magnetic, as if trying to hypnotize him.
"Her name is Rena'baier. She's a girl captured from a Persian caravan."
"Estate Head, have you heard of 'Medusa'? That's a Western female demon."
"Legend has it that whoever that female demon gazes upon turns to stone."
"Look at her glass-like eyes. Don't you feel petrified?"
"Imagine, under the tranquil moonlight, she dances for you alone, twisting like a snake."
"In the candlelight, she looks at you tenderly with those mesmerizing Medusa eyes."
"She lies in your arms, honeyed-wax skin, fiery red hair..."
"People from her region like to speak with rolled r's, faster than a bee's wings fluttering..."
Rena'baier stood there rigidly, glaring hatefully at these people buying and selling her.
Although she really couldn't stand straight, because her curves were in a perfect S-shape.
Her hair was red.
Actually in this era, there existed a hair color discrimination chain in the European regions.
Black hair was regarded as a symbol of nobility and civilization, blonde hair was second, and at the bottom was red hair.
Therefore, this girl had always used plant dyes like black beans to dye her hair the most noble black color. However, the hair dye products of this era had effects that lasted far too short a time.
So she had been captured not long before her long hair reverted to its original color.
Rena'baier's expression was somewhat haggard, but in her blue eyes, there was undisguisable fury.
Shopkeeper Qian's expression suddenly became serious, and his voice suddenly rose.
"Such a beautiful woman, not one thousand bolts of silk, not five hundred bolts of silk, today only three hundred bolts of silk. Is three hundred bolts of silk expensive? Not at all! An ordinary female slave costs seven bolts, a needlewoman costs ten bolts!"
"A beauty like Medusa, you can use her during the day and at night, for only three hundred bolts of silk. Only three hundred bolts! Such a beauty, you can use her for at least ten years, right? That's only thirty bolts per year. Three hundred bolts of silk, you won't suffer losses or be cheated. Just nod your head and she's yours!"
Shopkeeper Qian's eye for business was extremely sharp.
Earlier when selecting female servants, he had discovered that the one making decisions was that pretty housekeeper Qingmei.
Very obviously, there should be an unspoken story between this pretty housekeeper and her male master.
Earlier, several female slaves clearly had decent qualifications but weren't selected by her and the only common point among those female slaves was that they were relatively beautiful.
This female housekeeper obviously didn't want any outstandingly beautiful women appearing around her male master. However, this Rena'baier, he really wanted to get rid of her quickly.
Because this little wildcat was too troublesome.
In Xiazhou, a customer had taken a fancy to her and just wanted to check her teeth, but she lunged at him and nearly bit off his nose.
That cost him a large sum of money.
He could only starve this woman for a few meals but couldn't beat her, because what made her valuable was precisely her skin and flesh.
That was merchandise, and he was a merchant who cherished his goods.
Later, this stinking bitch started playing at suicide.
She still had unhealed scars on her wrists now, cut with porcelain shards a few days ago.
Being a slave trader was so difficult. His transportation costs, custody costs, food and lodging costs...
Encountering this troublesome one, there were also unexpected losses.
The gentlemen in the city didn't need a toy to bind up, play with once, and throw away, but rather a docile female slave but this little wildcat was wild and hard to tame, preventing him from getting rid of her.
At present, he could only try to fool this inexperienced country bumpkin.
Three hundred bolts of silk, actually this price wasn't low either.
In this era, ordinary slaves only needed three to five bolts of silk. However, beautiful female slaves could sell for two hundred bolts of silk.
In Tang dynasty slave trading documents discovered in the Dunhuang region, there were records of beautiful female slaves being sold for two hundred bolts of silk.
This Shopkeeper Qian was asking for three hundred bolts of silk yet still claiming it was a fire sale. However, Yang Can didn't need his persuasion. He was already tempted.
Foreign languages had to be learned. I also want to learn foreign languages. Learning one more is good. However, Yang Can still wanted to maintain some restraint. This would also be good for bargaining, wouldn't it?
But just as he smiled reservedly, Qingmei spoke.
Ever since seeing this wasp-waisted, full-hipped big rabbit of a woman, Qingmei's heart had sounded the alarm.
She immediately interjected, "Our master is busy. Where would he have the leisure to listen to songs and watch dances? Moreover, can this foreign woman even speak Chinese?"
Shopkeeper Qian smiled and said, "Miss, rest assured. She has traveled back and forth to the Western Regions with her family since childhood. Persian, Sogdian, Tocharian, Khotanese, and Chinese, she speaks them all fluently."
Huh? This girl knew more than one foreign language?
Yang Can was even more tempted.
Qingmei said with a stern pretty face, "That still won't do. Look at her fierce appearance. She hasn't been properly trained yet, has she? If by accident she bites our master, what then? Wouldn't that be paying money to suffer?"
Yang Can glanced at Qingmei. What happened to only refusing "ugly or defective ones"?
The melon before your eyes, would you say she's crooked or cracked?
Having fought wars all my life, can't I enjoy myself a little?
Actually, even if this woman were ugly as sin, Yang Can would still buy her.
Only because Shopkeeper Qian had said "this woman was captured from a Persian caravan."
Since he was no longer lying flat and could no longer lie flat, his future path was destined to be difficult.
Since his place of fortune was Tianshui, would he only choose to scrape food from the earth?
This place was an important hub and necessary passage on the Silk Road!
Commerce was an important element in his plans for the future.
Especially since among the Eight Great Clans of Longshang, the Suo family was most skilled in trade.
That resource could be greatly utilized.
In that case, a woman who had traveled between East and West with caravans since childhood,
She would be like a tulip atop a spire, a red rose in a castle, with tremendous utility value.
Yang Can coughed and indicated, "Qingmei, this Rena, I think we can keep her."
Qingmei secretly resented this. I knew it...
"Master, I'm afraid there isn't enough silk in the storehouse..."
Qian Yuan smiled and said, "Silk, spices, jewels, gold and silver, tea, porcelain, all are acceptable."
Due to political division in Longshang, currency credit was insufficient.
So besides many in-demand materials that could serve as general equivalents, this also included slave transactions.
Qingmei was still struggling. She always felt that compared to this hot and sexy foreign woman, she was too immature.
Once this woman entered the fortress, Steward Yang probably wouldn't even glance at her again.
"Dancing girls should come in pairs. You only have one here. If people saw this, they'd think our household couldn't afford to keep dancing girls and would think our master was poor..."
Shopkeeper Qian was overjoyed. Another hot potato also had hope of being sold!
He immediately clapped his hands, "Come, bring up the Mirror Demon!"
[NEXT CHAPTER]