Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Red Mandarin Duck

Inside the simple thatched hut, under the dim oil lamp, two women gnawed on meat buns, one spoke, the other listened.

All the beauty in Yin Le’s life stopped at seventeen, the year she was abducted by bandits.

She was lucky to be saved by a benefactor and escape the bandit nest.

But she was also unfortunate; the relatives who doted on her for the first seventeen years turned their backs on her, one by one.

The sudden return of a woman who had disappeared for days inevitably prompted gossip among the neighbors.

But no matter how outsiders speculated, they would never know about her abduction by the bandits.

Because her benefactor truly kept her word, the government knew nothing about the woman who escaped from the bandit nest.

The only ones who knew were the Yin Family.

The day their daughter went missing, they tried to remain calm and return home, no one in the neighborhood knew the truth.

When Yin Le staggered to her doorstep, neighbors asked if she had visited relatives.

At that moment, Yin Le was filled with gratitude, feeling that once she stepped through the door, everything would be fine.

Her parents and siblings would weave countless reasons for her, and soon the matter would pass, allowing her to resume a normal life.

However, upon entering the house, the first thing her mother and sister-in-law did was examine her body.

No one cared how she came back; her father and brother endlessly questioned her about what she experienced in the bandit nest.

That period was more terrifying to Yin Le than being with the bandit leader.

She locked herself in her room, but the questions outside never ceased.

Later, when a broker came, she overheard her parents vaguely hinting to the broker that their daughter was no longer a virgin, hoping the broker would help cover it up, and she knew she no longer had a home.

The broker found a wealthy businessman in his fifties, bedridden, awaiting a new concubine to bring him joy.

Her parents were grateful, even feeling their daughter wasn’t worthy of the man, fearing rejection, they prepared a lavish dowry.

Yin Le was in great distress, not wanting to be a concubine, let alone marry an old man near death.

She fought desperately to end the nightmare and return to her warm, normal life.

Not to become a ’shame’ that couldn’t be spoken of with pride!

Yin Le packed a few clothes and left.

With renewed hope, she wished to find a job, support herself, and never return home again.

But on the first day, due to inexperience, she was deceived by a broker claiming to be an agent and sold to a brothel in the county.

Her pretty face endured burns from a red-hot firewood stick she used herself to avoid serving clients.

The burn was severe; Mrs. Pan of the brothel, in fury, gave her a few extra lashes.

Yin Le didn’t find her more terrifying than the bandit leader and in madness, fiercely fought back, leaving deep scratch marks on Mrs. Pan.

As she was bought with money, Mrs. Pan didn’t kill her but threw her into the lead actress’s room as a foot washing maid.

“Heaven loves to mock people. Every time I think I can’t go on, it suddenly shows mercy and sends a good person to my side.”

Yin Le laughed at herself, continuing to recount her brief career as a foot washing maid.

The untreated burns on her face worsened, and her body was infected, developing a high fever.

She was drowsy all day, believing she would die that night.

But after sleeping for a day, she opened her eyes to see the tall red lanterns hanging at the brothel gate.

One day, upon waking again, she discovered someone had removed the rotting flesh from her face, washed it with good wine, and applied a cooling ointment.

It was Miss Shaoyao, the top performer she served, who Mrs. Pan described as having a strange temper and being abnormal, but wasn’t actually like that.

That was just a façade she wore to protect herself; privately, Miss Shaoyao was a very good person.

The maids who served her were never beaten or punished without reason.

Occasionally, when there were leftover dishes from customers, she would secretly reward the maids who served her.

Under Shaoyao’s secret care, the burn on Yin Le’s face healed, although the ugly scar never disappeared.

Yin Le didn’t regret it; she was content with having protected her body.

Once, Miss Shaoyao jokingly said, “If I had half your ruthlessness, Yue Niang, things might have been different.”

Yin Le bitterly smiled, “Miss, I was just lucky to meet you. Without you, Yue Niang would already lie in a mass grave.”

Indeed, she was ruthless; Shaoyao wasn’t wrong about that.

A fire set to the brothel’s kitchen allowed Yin Le to escape.

Initially, she wanted to escape with Shaoyao, but Shaoyao, unused to heavy labor, lacked the strength to climb over the tall wall.

Shao Yao was carefree, instantly offering herself as a stepping stone to help her over the wall.

“It’s good to have one escape,” Shaoyao laughed. “With me staying behind to cover for you, you can run farther.”

“Go quickly, hide first, leave the city at dawn, run as far as you can, and never come back!”

“Wait, take this!”

From inside the high wall, she tossed out a Red Mandarin Duck Bellyband, which Yin Le caught; it was the one she had complimented as beautiful.

Shaoyao’s most cherished item, treasured at the bottom of her chest, she didn’t forget to bring it when planning to escape.

But at this moment, she sacrificed it to her.

“Hold on, I’ll find a way to come back and rescue you!” Yin Le secured the bellyband, running while shouting back at the tall courtyard wall.

The noise of the fire-fighting drowned her voice, and to this day, Yin Le doesn’t know if Shaoyao ever heard her words.

Most likely, she didn’t hear.

Otherwise, she would still be alive.

Qin Yao, having filled her stomach, put down her cup and frowned, “Shaoyao died?”

Yin Le nodded painfully, “After escaping, I secretly returned once, stealing ten taels of Silver from my father, then came to this remote village. After settling down, I asked someone to inquire and learned that soon after I left, Shaoyao died.”

“She accidentally conceived a guest’s child, the abortive medicine almost took her life, and she bled incessantly. Mrs. Pan, unwilling to spend money, got a barefoot doctor, who said she wouldn’t live long, so Mrs. Pan placed her in a coffin.”

“I heard Shaoyao shouting inside: Mother, I’m still alive, I haven’t died! Mother, please treat me; once healed, I can still earn more Silver for you….”

And then, there was no more sound.

The oil lamp on the table flickered, an ember burst, momentarily darkening the room before it slowly lit up again.

In the orange-yellow light, Yin Le was already sobbing, tears streaming.

Qin Yao got up and approached her, raising her sleeve, “Wipe your face first, then show me that bellyband.”

Song Zhang specifically mentioned the importance of Yue Niang, which meant she had something that made Beauty Pan uneasy.

After hearing Yin Le’s account, Qin Yao thought that the Red Mandarin Duck Bellyband was the most suspicious.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep