“Fine, then… two, two taels,” Madam Wang felt it was truly painful.
“Please write a document and sign your name, to make it convenient for me to register with the Pleasure House Bureau.”
“I can’t write!”
“Then shall I accompany you to the Pleasure House Bureau tomorrow?”
What else could she do? She couldn’t refuse. Madam Wang agreed wholeheartedly, but was already planning something else. Today, she was caught off guard and forced to hand over the deed of sale, receiving only two taels of silver. But if she dared to come tomorrow, someone would “welcome” her.
Madam Wang watched Yi Yu’s departing back, smiling triumphantly. So what if she took the deed of sale? If she didn’t go to the Pleasure House Bureau to change her status, she would still be a lowly person.
Finally gaining her freedom, Yi Yu closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The next step was to find her mother and sisters.
Yu Yi only knew that they were sold as servants because they were too old or too young to enter the courtesans’ house. At the time, the case of Loyal Marquis Yu Bin was handled by the Ministry of Punishment, and Yu Yi was taken directly from the prison to the courtesans’ house. She thought the Ministry might have records of who bought the female relatives of the convicted, but as a commoner, Yu Yi couldn’t enter the ministry’s gates. To find them, she asked Bo Shi to help her search.
Yu Yi first found the household where her mother Yu Song resided. After explaining her identity to the gatekeeper and waiting a short while, Yu Song came out.
From a distance, though Yu Song’s clothing was simple, the fabric was fine and clean, about 80-90% intact. Her hair was meticulously combed, with a silver hairpin in her bun. Yu Yi’s vision blurred, and she called out softly, “Mother.”
Yu Song, though told by the gatekeeper that a woman claiming to be her daughter had come, didn’t quite believe it. Upon seeing her eldest daughter after more than half a year, Yu Song ran, tears filling her eyes by the time she reached her: “Yi’er, how… how…”
Yu Yi’s voice also choked up, “Mother, your daughter has redeemed herself, and today I’m here to redeem your freedom.”
