Chapter 212: From Now On, He Belongs to Sister
Yes, earlier today, when their lady was shocked by the price of twenty thousand taels of gold at the auction, they had thought she was in deep trouble. Her reaction made it clear—she had never seen such a large sum of money before!
But how could someone like her own a Black Iron Dagger? Luckily, their lady had never taken it out in public. If the people of Feng City saw it—who knows what kind of trouble it would bring?
With a head full of questions, Tao Ming was about to step outside when the innkeeper arrived with hot food and water, along with a set of new clothes for Ming Ye. The innkeeper was as arrogant as ever—perhaps it was simply in the bones of Feng City’s people to be haughty towards outsiders.
After placing everything down, the innkeeper immediately turned to settle the bill with Yu Luo.
“The cotton clothes and shoes—fifty taels. Two buckets of hot water—ten taels. The food—one hundred taels. That’s a total of one hundred sixty taels of silver. Kindly pay now.”
Without hesitation, Yu Luo slammed a stack of silver onto the table. The innkeeper took it without a shred of politeness and turned to leave.
“Wait!”
Seeing the disdainful expression on his face, Yu Luo stopped him in his tracks.
“What now, dear guest? If you have another request, that’ll be an additional one tael of silver for the errand.”
Watching the greedy innkeeper shamelessly extend his hand for a tip, Yu Luo merely smiled and shook her head.
I have no words for this place anymore…
“No, I don’t need anything else. I just have a question—You’re just a service worker, aren’t you? So why the arrogant attitude? Aren’t you afraid you’ll offend the wrong person?”
The innkeeper snorted, withdrawing his outstretched hand. He looked Yu Luo up and down with undisguised contempt, then sneered.
“Hah. With the way you lot are dressed? Of course I act superior! You all look like beggars—why should I be afraid of you? And besides—do you even dare to cause trouble in Feng City?”
Hearing this, Yu Luo couldn’t help but laugh and nod.
“So what you’re saying is—If we dressed better, you’d treat us with more respect?”
“Naturally. Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘A man is judged by his clothes.’ With your shabby outfits, you’re clearly criminals exiled to the wastelands. The fact that you’re even getting this level of service is already generous.”
Yu Luo’s eyes gleamed with amusement as she leaned in slightly.
“Then tell me this—If I kill you right here, dissolve your corpse with corpse-melting water, and erase all traces of you—Do you think Feng City would ever find out?”
The innkeeper’s pupils shrank, and his playful demeanor vanished in an instant. His eyes flickered with wariness as he took a small step back.
“Hah. Just because I was a little rude, you think I’m dumb enough to fall for such a blatant threat? Besides—do you even have corpse-melting water? Only Feng City can make that stuff!”
Yu Luo: …
Oh wow, he’s actually not stupid. Guess it’s not worth dirtying my hands over him.
“You’re right—I wouldn’t bother killing you. I was just curious—Feng City thrives on business, yet your service attitude is so appalling. Why is that?”
“Oh please, let’s not beat around the bush. It’s simple—we judge people by their appearance. If you don’t want to be looked down on next time, dress the part. I guarantee you—if you wear fine clothes, you’ll be treated like royalty from one end of the city to the other.”
With that, the innkeeper sauntered out of the room, leaving the group staring at each other in silence.
“Oh no! I forgot to ask about the black market! I’ll go catch him!”
Realizing he had forgotten Yu Luo’s task, Tao Ming hurriedly ran after the innkeeper.
“Hah. Looks like I was overthinking it—Feng City’s people do fear offending important guests.”
“Young Master, are you planning to run your city the same way? If so, we still have a long way to go.”
Yu Luo had stopped the innkeeper to gather more insight into Feng City’s culture. But she didn’t expect Zhang Hu to be so perceptive, catching onto her thoughts immediately.
“Oh? Then tell me—What do you think needs to be done?”
As they spoke, Yu Luo absentmindedly picked up the new cotton clothes and began helping Ming Ye change into them. Her movements were so natural—just like an older sister dressing her younger brother.
She had completely forgotten that Ming Ye, despite looking small and frail, was actually about to turn thirteen this month.
Ming Ye, too, was caught off guard. He had wanted to speak up—to tell her he could dress himself. But as Yu Luo kept talking to Zhang Hu, not even sparing him a glance, he simply fell silent.
“If Young Master wants to discuss it, we can do so on the way back tomorrow. For now, I think our little brother hasn’t eaten properly in Feng City. You should eat something, then rest—we’ll take care of washing him up.”
Zhang Hu’s words snapped Yu Luo back to reality. She turned to see Ming Ye still looking pale and frail—and immediately felt guilty.
“I’ll skip the food. His change of clothes is here—Make sure he bathes properly, so he doesn’t catch a cold. After he eats, let him sleep early. Tell Tao Ming to keep watch at the door—if it gets too cold, have someone bring extra blankets and a brazier. Pay whatever is needed—I’ll reimburse you tomorrow.”
Finally, Yu Luo’s gaze landed on Ming Ye.
“Behave. Don’t even think about running away again. I spent twenty thousand taels of gold to buy you—if you escape, that’s my loss. But if someone else captures you… Hah. You should know what happens next.”
Having properly intimidated Ming Ye, Yu Luo turned and strode off to her room—not sparing him another glance.
Watching her retreating figure, Ming Ye’s gaze lingered for a long time. When he turned back, a large bowl of steaming white rice had been placed in front of him. Zhang Hu had quietly scooped it for him.
Ming Ye swallowed hard—he was starving.
I was so lucky to meet Sister.
But he still hadn’t had the chance to explain—he didn’t run away last time.
I was taken.
But it didn’t matter.
As long as Sister still wants me.
Twenty thousand taels of gold… it was too much.
But it’s okay.
I belong to Sister now.
For life.
I’ll earn her mountains of gold—so she never feels pain over money again.
“Poor kid—he must’ve been starving. Don’t rush, eat slowly. From now on, with our lady, you’ll never go hungry again.”
Zhang Hu, normally stone-faced, couldn’t help but show a rare trace of sympathy.
