After watching his father go away, Zhou Jun came back to his senses and saw a Hu merchant next to him get on his horse and use a rope behind the horse like a tether to lead an animal, leading a family of three slaves he had just bought.
Looking back at the ugly maid who was stooped and weak, Zhou Jun asked himself that he really couldn't do such an act of riding a horse to drive away slaves.
He simply dismounted, holding the horse's rein with one hand and the ugly maid's rope with the other, and walked forward slowly.
In this way, Zhou Jun led a horse and a maid, walking through the streets and markets, slowly walking towards home.
Walking to Chongde Square, the ugly maid fell to the ground because of fatigue and hunger, her steps were unsteady.
Zhou Jun turned around and stretched out his hand to help the ugly maid.
Unexpectedly, the latter simply chose to ignore it. He gritted his teeth and pressed his back against the street wall, trying his best to stand up again.
The ugly maid, who had not taken a few steps forward while holding on to the wall and had not eaten a grain of rice for a whole day, saw the vendor selling Hu cakes on the street. She stopped and swallowed, but quickly turned her head away.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun spent three big bucks to buy a bag of Hu cakes, found a square stone on the street, and sat down directly regardless of the dust and mud.
He first took out a Hu cake and bit it in his mouth, then Zhou Jun handed the remaining Hu cake to the ugly maid aside.
The ugly maid was stunned for a long time when she saw the biscuits being handed to her. Finally, she couldn't resist the temptation of food, so she grabbed it, turned her back, and started to eat hungrily.
Just like that, a master and a maid were eating Hu cakes at the corner of the street without any regard for appearance, attracting the attention and comments of the busy people around.
Zhou Jun didn't feel uncomfortable at all with this attention.
He slowly finished the biscuits in his hand, and just sat aside, watching the ugly maid quietly, waiting for her to finish the rest of the bag.
Seeing the ugly maid licking the last bit of cake skin clean, Zhou Jun stood up and said, "It's time to go."
The ugly maid looked at Zhou Jun, her eyes still cold, stood up and followed him to the end of the street.
In the evening, Zhou Jun finally returned home.
Luo Sanniang, who had been waiting in the middle hall for a long time, saw Zhou Jun's figure and hurried out the door, asking: "Why did it take so long to go to the tooth market?"
Before Zhou Jun could answer, Luo Sanniang was startled when she saw clearly the appearance of the ugly maid behind the horse. She closed her eyes and recited Buddha's name, and then asked, "Who is this?"
Zhou Jun took the dry cloth handed by the servant, wiped his face randomly, and replied: "I bought it."
"Why did you choose to look like this? Seriously..." The words of blame came to her lips. Luo Sanniang, who doted on Zhou Jun, finally sighed, turned to the maid beside her and said, "Take this maid down to freshen up.
Put on another set of clean clothes."
After saying this, Luo Sanniang realized that Zhou Dinghai had not come back.
Facing his mother's question, Zhou Jun replied: "My father said he wanted to have some wine in the evening and would not come back for dinner."
The thoughtful Luo Sanniang heard the twists and turns in this and asked Zhou Jun: "Your father is in the city, but something bad happened to him?"
Zhou Jun hesitated for a while and finally nodded.
Luo Sanniang didn't ask Zhou Jun any more questions, but just asked her servants to divide out a portion of the evening meal and prepare it on the steamer first.
At dinner time, Luo Sanniang and Zhou Jun were the only two people on the dining table, eating their dinner.
Zhou Jun asked while eating, "Where's the eldest brother? Why don't you see him?"
Luo Sanniang: "Ze'er asked for leave from the private school for so many days and went back early this morning."
Zhou Jun nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Luo Sanniang put down her chopsticks and looked around: "I never thought it would be so deserted here when your father is not at home."
Zhou Jun asked Luo Sanniang: "Are you worried that he is alone outside? Why don't I go out to look for him now?"
Luo Sanniang shook her head: "He just wants to be alone, and it would be a bad idea to disturb him now... Let's not talk about this anymore. What happened to the maid you brought back this afternoon?"
Zhou Jun: "She is a big cannibal. She was bought from Sha Shiqing. I heard that she was originally a prisoner of the Turks, but was later captured and brought to Chang'an."
Luo Sanniang sighed: "She is a poor person even though she is thousands of miles away from home. But look at that servant girl who looks terrible and is mute. Why did you buy her?"
Zhou Jun: "Do you still remember what happened that day at the Chang'an County Yamen? I have the ability to observe words and colors. Although the maidservant was ugly and physically disabled, under my temptation, I found that she
Some basic arithmetic skills.”
"I need a helper by my side. If it is as I expected, then she will be useful to me in the future."
Luo Sanniang: "My son said she is useful, so she must have some skills. But the slaves in the hands of the Shajun family are mixed, and there have been bad things in the past where slaves hurt their masters. Your newly bought maidservant
, I'm worried that she doesn't know etiquette... I will definitely instruct my servants to teach her some rules later."
Speaking of this, Luo Sanniang remembered something: "By the way, you just bought that new maid, you don't know the name yet?"
Zhou Jun said while recalling: "I remember her name on the slave deed. It seems to be in Turkic language. What is her name...?"
Luo Sanniang laughed and said: "In Chang'an City, have you heard that the maidservants of that family have Turkic names?"
Zhou Jun thought about it and was speechless for a moment.
Luo Sanniang: "Since you bought it, just give her a Tang name."
Zhou Jun was stunned. He suddenly recalled Chou Maid's full moon-like amber eyes in his mind, and blurted out: "If you look at the makeup under water, and the eyebrows are painted with a new moon, why not... just ask her to paint the moon."
Luo Sanniang: "Hua Yue, Hua Yue, this name is really unique."
After saying that, Luo Sanniang turned to the servant standing by and said, "Go and see if the new maid has packed up. Let her come here."
After a cup of tea, the big food maid named Hua Yue was placed in front of Luo Sanniang with her arms on the left and right by two servant women.
Seeing this posture, Luo Sanniang asked funnyly: "What's going on?"
An older servant girl rolled up her sleeves, pointed at the freshly dug blood stains on her sleeves, and complained: "I dare you to let me know that this servant girl has a rough temper by nature. If anyone touches her, she will bite her teeth."
Nails come together!"
"She refused to listen to her good advice, so the rest of us had no choice but to tie her up with a rope and help her change clothes and wash herself."
Luo Sanniang turned her head and looked at Zhou Jun beside her, with a smile on her face, as if she was saying, let's see what kind of maid you bought.
Zhou Jun stood up with a wry smile and walked to Hua Yue.
The big food maid lowered her head and couldn't see her face. But after washing off the mud and dirt on her body and changing her clothes, she looked much fresher, and her original rickety figure was not so conspicuous.
However, the festering red spots and scars on her skin, covering most of her body, were still shocking and unbearable to look at.
Zhou Jun looked at it carefully for a few times and suddenly let out a sigh.
Maybe it was his imagination, but the festering red spots on Hua Yue's body seemed to have faded a bit.
Stretching out his hand, Zhou Jun wanted to touch the red spot.
The maid on the side had quick eyes and quick hands and shouted quickly: "Mr. Sir, be careful!"
At this moment, Hua Yue opened her mouth with lightning speed and bit Zhou Jun's finger vigorously.
Fortunately, Zhou Jun fought back quickly and managed to avoid Hua Yue's teeth.
This bite, had it not been for the servant's warning and Zhou Jun's agility, might have left a row of tooth marks on the latter's fingers.
Seeing this scene, Luo Sanniang was furious and shouted to the servants: "Pull this servant out and give her thirty whippings! Let her remember!"
Zhou Jun was stunned for a moment, then turned around to ask for mercy: "Auntie..."
Luo Sanniang raised her eyebrows and said, "Jun'er, don't say anything! What are you doing here standing still? Why don't you drag this servant out? After the beating, you can read Tang Lü to her!"
This chapter has been completed!