Chapter 1: Selling a Pig to Buy a Husband

“The pig—the pig ran away!”

Lu Qiniang was gleefully weighing the four taels and five qian of silver she had just received when someone suddenly shouted from behind.

She turned around and saw that the fat pig she had tied up securely had somehow broken free and bolted.

“No worries, I’ll catch it!” Lu Qiniang rolled up her sleeves and dashed off.

She might be plump, but she was nimble!

A pig weighing over two hundred jin ran ahead, and her equally hefty frame chased right after.

The lively and bustling end-of-year market instantly descended into chaos—people tumbling over one another, curses flying in every direction.

No one knew how long she had been chasing, but the pig was exhausted. Meanwhile, Lu Qiniang hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Spotting the right moment, she lunged forward and tackled the fat pig to the ground, pinning it firmly beneath her. Letting out a triumphant laugh, she exclaimed, “Trying to run? You think you can outrun your old lady? The rope—bring the rope!”

But no one handed her the rope. In fact, no one even responded.

She could clearly sense people around her, yet the atmosphere had turned eerily silent.

Lu Qiniang lifted her head and looked around in confusion, only to find that a crowd had gathered in a circle—centered not on her, but on something behind her.

Inside a cage sat a man, his face streaked with blood. His long, ink-black hair hung over his chest and down his back. His hands and feet were shackled in iron chains. With a cold, indifferent gaze, he was watching her—just like everyone else.

Surrounding the iron cage were many officers, but even they seemed stunned by the sheer force with which she had wrestled the pig into submission.

After a long pause, someone chuckled, and soon the crowd erupted into laughter.

“Never seen someone catch a pig before?” Lu Qiniang muttered.

What a bunch of long-haired fools with short-sighted minds.

Behind her, the peddler who had bought her pig came panting and wheezing, carrying a shoulder pole and holding out the rope to her.

Lu Qiniang swiftly tied up the pig, then stood up and clapped her hands. “If the pig runs off again, don’t come crying to me.”

The peddler handed her the shoulder pole and basket, grinning as he pleaded, “Qiniang, how about helping me carry the pig over there? You see, I can’t manage it on my own—I’d have to call someone for help…”

“Alright.” Thinking they’d be doing business long-term, Lu Qiniang agreed without hesitation. Then, to the shock of everyone watching, she forcefully stuffed the hefty pig into the large basket.

“You go sit over there,” she said to the peddler, pointing at another oversized bamboo basket nearby.

The crowd burst into laughter. The peddler chuckled awkwardly, unsure whether she was joking, and too embarrassed to actually sit inside.

“Move along, move along!” the officers, having enjoyed the show enough, began to drive people away. “This man is a serious criminal under imperial custody. No one is allowed near!”

“A serious criminal? Is he more serious than me?” Lu Qiniang muttered.

The lead officer snapped, “Foolish woman! The man locked up here is none other than the former General Who Routed the Invaders—Xiao Yan—a high-profile criminal under direct scrutiny from His Majesty!”

“What?” Lu Qiniang was stunned. She reached toward her waist and muttered, “His Majesty sent the General Who Routed the Invaders to beg for food?”

Imperial orders to beg, huh!

Should she give him a couple of steamed buns?

“If even the General Who Routed the Invaders has to beg, how are ordinary folks like us supposed to survive? But since he’s sitting in there, does he ask for much?” she added.

Her clear-eyed, sincere foolishness sent the entire crowd into a fit of laughter.

“Move along, move along,” the officer laughed so hard tears streamed from his eyes. “Country bumpkin. He disrespected His Majesty and has now been sold off into slavery by imperial decree.”

Sold?

That word made Lu Qiniang shudder. She instinctively took two steps back, her gaze toward Xiao Yan suddenly full of pity.

She squeezed the bit of silver in her hand and murmured to herself, “I can’t afford that.”

“You could afford it—but would you even dare to buy him?” someone scoffed.

“If His Majesty dares to sell, why wouldn’t I dare to buy? Unless—you give me the silver. Then watch me show you whether I dare or not!” Lu Qiniang huffed.

She wasn’t someone to be trifled with. She wouldn’t talk back to the officers, but random passersby? She had no problem with that.

“Can’t even afford five taels of silver?” The lead officer rubbed his frostbitten, red hands. He’d had enough of this. They had stood guard here for over ten days in the dead of winter, and not a single soul had dared to purchase Xiao Yan.

“I can’t afford it, I really can’t,” Lu Qiniang let out a relieved sigh, clutching her silver tightly. “I only have four taels and five qian!”

That silver was scraped together from what little remained at home. She’d gone to the countryside to buy pigs and bring them back to sell—asking around, bargaining hard. If she accidentally bought a sick pig, it would all be for nothing.

After several days of hard work, the sale of the fat pig today earned her a mere half tael profit.

“You’d really buy him if you could afford it?” the officer asked again.

Lu Qiniang lowered her head and mumbled, “I really can’t afford it. It’s not that I don’t want to buy—just that I truly don’t have the money.”

From her expression, she even seemed a little disappointed.

“Hurry up, let’s go,” she turned and urged the pig-seller. “Or I won’t help you anymore!”

“Alright, alright!” The peddler quickly climbed into the basket. Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, Lu Qiniang adjusted the carrying pole and hoisted both man and pig up in one go.

She walked off with an easy gait, though the pole bent under the weight, clearly struggling.

“She’s got quite the strength,” people praised, and even the officers began to comment on it.

Only Xiao Yan in the iron cage remained unmoved, his expression cold as he closed his eyes again.

After delivering the pig, Lu Qiniang walked back with the empty pole, muttering to herself, “It’s not that I’m ungrateful—just that I don’t have enough silver. Some people are rich and wasteful. But me? I’ve got no money. What would I do with a grown man…”

But as she walked, she couldn’t help but picture Xiao Yan’s bloodstained, threadbare clothes in her mind. In the end, she simply couldn’t steel her heart.

“Damn you, heavens,” she muttered, glancing up at the gloomy sky. At some point, snow had begun to fall. “You really don’t want me to get through this New Year, do you?”

She reached into her collar and yanked hard. The red string snapped. When she opened her palm, there lay a small, round silver gourd.

Exactly half a tael in weight.

“I got fifteen taels from him. Giving back five now—still not a loss,” Lu Qiniang consoled herself.

She turned back the way she came.

The officers teased her when they saw her return. “What, managed to scrape together enough silver after all?”

Lu Qiniang clenched her jaw and thrust the silver forward. “Enough!”

Once again, the crowd was stunned.

“What do you want to buy him for?” one of the officers couldn’t help but ask.

“To breed at home,” Lu Qiniang replied bluntly.