Yang Ruo Ning drew another horizontal line on the stone slab.
This slab was her tally of days. She had been sold here for 185 days. She didn't know how she had endured these 185 nightmarish days.
185 days ago, she was knocked unconscious by the river. When she woke, she found herself in a dark carriage. The carriage jolted, and the air inside reeked of filth and excrement. She tried to sit up in terror, only to find her hands and feet tightly bound, unable to move.
Her head throbbed as if it had split open, and the world spun before her eyes, filled with countless stars. She thought she must have a concussion.
She lay still for a while, managing to turn her head to survey her surroundings.
She wasn't the only one in the carriage. Beside her sat several people in ragged clothes. Their heads drooped, swaying with the carriage's motion. Judging by their figures, they were all women. "Hey," she called out, nudging the person next to her with her foot, but there was no reaction.
She struggled to sit up. Through the broken gaps in the carriage's wooden walls, Yang Ruo Ning saw that they were traveling through a dense forest. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious. She thought she must have been kidnapped by human traffickers.
Her first instinct, of course, was to escape.
She searched the carriage for a while, but found no sharp objects to cut the ropes binding her. She tried to wake the others, but they seemed to have been drugged into unconsciousness.
Helpless, she began to forcefully ram her body against the carriage, which looked dilapidated and not very sturdy. She shouted, "Hey, let me out!"
No one paid her any mind. Undeterred, she continued to ram her body against the carriage, causing it to shake.
The driver ahead finally cursed impatiently, "Damn it, which slut is awake?"
The carriage stopped. Yang Ruo Ning heard the man jump down from the carriage, cursing, and make his way to the back to unlock the iron chain on the outside.
The carriage door opened, and Yang Ruo Ning saw a fat man with a scar on his face. Impatience was etched on his fleshy face. "Damn it, you trying to die?"
"Water!" Yang Ruo Ning said, "I want water."
"Tsk," the man sneered.
"You... you've got the wrong person. I... if you need money, I have plenty. Just send me back to the capital, and I'll give you as much as you want."
"As much as I want?" The man narrowed his eyes, looking Yang Ruo Ning up and down. "Hmph, there's a limit to lying."
"It's true, I really have a lot of money. You can go to Jiang Xian Ge in the capital and ask. I'm the proprietress there!"
"Hmph, proprietress? Do you really take me for a fool? I've been following you in the capital for days, and you're nothing but a delivery worker."
"You've been following me for days?!" Yang Ruo Ning was surprised. "Why were you following me?!"
"Stop the crap and get back in!" The man, annoyed by Yang Ruo Ning's questions, grabbed her collar and pulled her up.
"Wait! If you've been following me for days, then you should know who I am! If I go missing, Luo Yuan won't let you off!"
"Hmph! General Luo? All the maids from the Luo manor are the same?" The scarred man chuckled disdainfully. "Since it's come to this, I don't mind telling you, so you can give up this idea. You're the fifth maid I've taken from the Luo manor. Every woman starts by crying about how important they are and how Luo Yuan will find them no matter what. But with Luo Yuan's appearance and status, it's no wonder you're all so infatuated with him."
As the man re-tied Yang Ruo Ning's hands with a rope, he said, "You women are truly naive. Do you really think a high official like Luo Yuan would care about lowly servants like you? Those lords are just playing with you. A few sweet words, and you think you can truly become a phoenix on a high branch? Hmph, you've forgotten your place."
The man pulled on the rope, ready to head back. But when he pulled, the person behind him didn't move. He turned back and said, "Don't you understand even when I say this? The person who sold you to me was General Luo!"