Chapter 1: Selling Myself to a Death Row Inmate

“Stop crying, at least you’re not sold to a brothel. If that were the case, I’d truly be in a hellish situation.”

“Aunt Wei said that if I go, it’s just to give her death row inmate son an heir. It doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl, as long as I have one, I’ll be a Wei family daughter-in-law, and I’ll have a place to live.”

“I won’t be home. You need to take care of San Ya, don’t let her be sold off like the others.”

“My older sisters, if I get the chance, I’ll try to help them find something better.”

Jiang Yue looked at her aunt, crying as though she had lost both her parents. Jiang Yue, the one being sold, wasn’t crying at all, but her aunt cried uncontrollably.

Her life had been hard. Her father died, and her mother remarried, leaving her, a six or seven-year-old girl, to support the family.

Her aunt felt sorry for her and took her into her home.

Her uncle was a hopeless man, always drinking and playing, and about three years ago, he became obsessed with gambling.

He lost all the family’s land in gambling.

He had sold her two older cousins, one two years older and one a year older, and now he had set his sights on her.

Jiang Yue knew that when she grew up, she would eventually be married off.

Her uncle would take all her dowry and not provide her with any wedding gifts.

Now, she had been sold to the Wei family, two mountains away, for ten taels of silver by her greedy uncle.

The Wei family’s eldest son had committed a crime and was sentenced to death.

Wei Daniang sold her land, her tofu mill, everything she had, to find a woman for her son, hoping to leave a descendant for the Wei family.

Her uncle had taken the money, and now the Wei family was coming to take her away.

Jiang Yue’s aunt, Qin, was crying uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop it, not even with her five-year-old daughter, San Ya, in her arms. She didn’t know if she could protect her in the future.

She felt helpless—she had given birth to three daughters but no sons.

Her husband had always complained, and she had endured his beatings and scolding.

But now, her husband had made the unforgivable mistake of selling his deceased brother’s only daughter, and worse, selling her to a death row inmate as a wife to bear children.

Qin hugged San Ya and cried, saying, “If you ever have the chance to return, this will always be your home.”

Jiang Yue understood in her heart that returning to this home might not be so easy.

And she didn’t want to return.

Was she supposed to be sold again by her uncle?

She said nothing, turned, and followed the people outside.

Wei Daniang didn’t come. Her son was about to be executed, so she had no time to fetch a new bride.

To be honest, Jiang Yue wasn’t really a bride.

She was just being bought to bear children.

San Ya cried and shouted, “Jiang Yue , don’t go.”

Jiang Yue didn’t look back.

The people sent by the Wei family to fetch her were easy to talk to. Two strong men and an old woman, probably because they were afraid she might run away, they had arranged it this way.

The old woman’s surname was Sun, and she was a neighbor of the Wei family.

According to the Wei family’s rules, Jiang Yue, as their daughter-in-law, was supposed to call her “Aunt Sun.”

Aunt Sun looked at Jiang Yue, who was obedient, quiet, and truly beautiful, and kindly spoke a few words.

It turned out that Wei Dalang, the eldest son of the Wei family, was a scholar. Not only did he excel in reading, but he was also handsome and skilled in archery, often hunting in the mountains.

Thus, the Wei family lived a prosperous life in the village of Zhuangyuan.

Wei Daniang, her nominal mother-in-law, had a good temper, was friendly with the neighbors, and got along well with the villagers. She was a kind and approachable woman.

Jiang Yue thought that maybe the Wei family wasn’t as bad as she had imagined.

However, she didn’t dare fully trust Aunt Sun’s words. She kept a careful eye on everything along the way and didn’t ask many questions.

The donkey cart moved slowly, but it was much faster than walking.

Jiang Yue didn’t mind walking. When she was six or seven, she went to her aunt’s house, where she had to work every day, walking long distances up mountain paths to gather firewood and cut pig grass. She was quite strong.