4: Chapter 4 Xiao Baiyan

Seeing Jiang Yuyan say the IOU should be torn up, the bearded man grew even more arrogant. He countered, "What do you mean 'tear it up once things are settled'? This IOU is right here in my hand; I think you're clearly trying to welsh on the debt! Hurry up and pay, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

Meng Li gave a soft sigh and repeated his previous question: "How much does she still owe you?"

The bearded man's eyes darted around. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Meng Li say indifferently, "Think carefully before you speak. I've already spent thirty taels to buy this maidservant. Although she has some beauty, if she owes too much, I might not necessarily pay it."

"Furthermore, I am not alone."

As soon as those words were uttered, Zhang Shan and Li Shi immediately took several steps forward in understanding, placing their hands on their sword hilts. Their intent to intimidate was self-evident.

The bearded man felt a slight chill in his heart. Suppressing his urge to demand an exorbitant price, he held up five fingers. "Five taels. She still owes me five taels of silver in interest."

Jiang Yuyan immediately wanted to say something, but she was silenced by a look from Meng Li.

Then, Meng Li pulled several pieces of broken silver from his robe, weighed them in his hand, and tossed them to the bearded man.

The bearded man caught them with practiced ease. A quick weigh told him the amount was correct, so he pocketed the silver and held out the IOU to Meng Li.

Meng Li didn't take it. "Tear it up."

The bearded man did as he was told, then shot Jiang Yuyan a smug look with a raised eyebrow. "Now this is what you call settling the matter."

With that, he cupped his fists toward Meng Li. "Farewell."

Once they had left, Meng Li walked into the room.

Jiang Yuyan and her mother followed him.

As soon as they entered, Jiang Yuyan fell to her knees with a thud and said tearfully, "Young Master, this servant truly didn't owe him money. Please believe me!"

Her mother also knelt on the floor and said, "Young Master, what Yu Yan says is true! Back then, she..."

Meng Li raised a hand to interrupt her. "It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that the man was clearly here for extortion, and by the looks of it, he has connections with the local yamen. If we didn't spend some money to send him away, I'm afraid he wouldn't have let the matter drop."

"However..."

My money isn't that easy to take!

He didn't voice those final words.

At the same time, his belief that the mother and daughter were telling the truth wasn't based on trust, but rather on his considerable skill in identifying forged handwriting. Having seen Jiang Yuyan's writing before, he had easily seen that the signature on the bearded man's IOU was a forgery.

He had also tampered with the broken silver he gave the bearded man.

If the man didn't realize it in time, retribution would find him before long.

After a brief pause, Meng Li changed the subject and said to Jiang Yuyan, "It's getting late. Go brew the medicine for your mother."

Jiang Yuyan wiped her tears, gave a respectful bow, and stood up to leave with the medicine they had bought.

Afterward, Meng Li waved his hand at Wang Wu and the other two.

The three understood and turned to return to their own rooms.

For a moment, only Meng Li and Mother Jiang remained in the room.

Meng Li said, "Stop kneeling. Find a place to sit."

As he spoke, he sat down on a stool by the table.

Seeing this, Mother Jiang didn't refuse and took a seat opposite Meng Li. She immediately asked, "Does the Young Master have something to ask me?"

Meng Li nodded. "That's right. Tell me about the background of you and your daughter."

Mother Jiang wasn't surprised by this.

Meng Li had spent money to buy Jiang Yuyan, then spent extra to settle their trouble, and was even going to take them back to his estate. It was only natural for him to inquire about their origins.

She organized her thoughts for a moment and began to recount her history: "I am from Jinling. I once worked at..."

After a while, the story was finished.

Meng Li compared it with the details mentioned in the original story from his memory and found that they mostly matched up.

Jiang Yuyan's mother was named Xiao Baiyan, a native of Jinling. She had been a songstress in a brothel near the Qinhuai River, known by the stage name 'Little White Swallow.' During her prime, she met Jiang Yuyan's biological father, fell in love at first sight, and had an affair that resulted in Jiang Yuyan.

As it turned out, Jiang Yuyan's father already had a wife. Her family was prominent and she had a forceful personality; she would not allow him to take a concubine.

Left with no choice, Xiao Baiyan was forced to wander, giving birth to her daughter and raising her alone.

In this era, it was very difficult for a woman to raise a daughter alone, especially one who had been a brothel songstress.

Over the years, the mother and daughter had lived an incredibly hard life. They had been servants, beggars, and had even spent time in prison.

"Who is Yu Yan's biological father?" Meng Li asked tentatively.

Xiao Baiyan shook her head. "His identity is extraordinary. Please forgive me, for I cannot tell you."

"Why not take Yu Yan to find him?"

Xiao Baiyan lowered her head and remained silent.

Meng Li shook his head at the sight. "I truly don't know whether to call you devoted or foolish."

Xiao Baiyan still didn't speak, but her expression became somewhat strange.

Because Meng Li looked like a youth, appearing to be about the same age as Jiang Yuyan, but his actions possessed a maturity that didn't match his years. She hadn't thought much of it before due to the urgency of the situation. Looking back now, four words immediately sprang to Xiao Baiyan's mind—precocious and worldly!

No, adding that last comment, it should be 'acting like an old man'!

Meng Li noticed her expression and understood the reason after a brief thought, but he didn't care. Instead, he stood up and said, "You should rest. I'm going back to my room."

"Take care, Young Master."

Xiao Baiyan stood up to see him out.

Once the door was closed again, she reflected on Meng Li's behavior and began to ponder privately.

This Young Master Meng is precocious, and his family background seems extraordinary. If Yu Yan could marry him in the future, it would be quite good.

This thought wasn't because Xiao Baiyan wanted to rise in status through her daughter, but because after all these years, she knew deeply how hard life was for an ordinary woman without someone to rely on in this world. She didn't want her daughter to be like her; she hoped the girl's circumstances could change and that she could have a better life.

Currently, the simplest and most effective way to achieve this was for Jiang Yuyan to latch onto Meng Li.

However...

Thinking of her own background and the established fact that Jiang Yuyan had sold herself to Meng Li, Xiao Baiyan suddenly felt a wave of bitterness and helplessness.

In this day and age, any family with some status would look down on them once they knew the mother and daughter's origins.

Xiao Baiyan herself went without saying; she came from the world of 'wind and dust.' Even in her prime, she could only be a concubine, and even that had failed. Afterward, to raise her daughter, she had been with several men, yet none had ended well.

Although Jiang Yuyan had not yet fallen into the life of a courtesan and was still a virgin, having a mother like her made it difficult to maintain a clean reputation.

This was also why Xiao Baiyan was unwilling to seek out the girl's biological father and had kept his identity a secret all this time.

She feared her own identity would be a stain on his reputation.

Meng Li understood this, which was why he had remarked that he didn't know whether to call her devoted or foolish.

Influenced by Xiao Baiyan, even if Jiang Yuyan could successfully consummate a relationship with Meng Li, her status upon entering the household would at most be that of a concubine—to put it nicely, an 'Auntie.' In reality, her status would only be slightly higher than that of an ordinary maidservant.

As it stood, Jiang Yuyan was just a maidservant.

The ceiling for her advancement was visible at a glance.

If she wanted to be someone's wife, she could basically only be married off to a household servant of similar status.

If she were placed in the outside world, most commoners might not even look at her.

Because while the commoners outside might not live as well as they did, they were free people—'Good Citizens' rather than of the 'Mean Class.' Generally, when marrying a wife, they also looked for equivalent status and a clean reputation.

But if Jiang Yuyan were to be married to a household servant, it would be better to be a concubine.

Thinking of this, Xiao Baiyan made up her mind...