Mu Yingying's words were like a divine decree that effectively roused the spirit of the person within the cage. Drowned in despair for so long that life seemed worthless, the awakening cleared the emptiness from his eyes, leaving only anger, ambition, and determination.

    Mu Yingying watched him with a slight smile, pleased. He hadn't lost all hope, and with constant encouragement and awakening, he could be of great use!

    Rustle~

    The sound of movement against straw bedding resonated as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows, approaching the bars. Revealed from the darkness was a fourteen-year-old boy, his body marred by scars of beatings, but what stood out the most was his face.

    The right side of his face bore burn scars, disfiguring him terribly. Su Su, standing beside her mistress, involuntarily covered her mouth in shock at the sight.

    No wonder…Aunt Fang would warn of a possible shock!

    However, Mu Yingying remained unfazed. She simply observed the scars with curiosity, piecing together a possible backstory in her mind. Her eyes softened with empathy.

    Such severe wounds indicated immense suffering and torment. Even if they had now healed into mere scars, they likely remained as deep wounds in his heart.

    The boy was surprised to find that his interlocutor was just a small child, not even reaching his waist. And despite seeing his disfigured face, she showed no fear. But in a blink, he reverted to his usual cold demeanor.

    His expressionless face stared at the little girl as he asked hoarsely, "Do you still want me?"

    Mu Yingying remained silent, giving him time to continue, knowing he had more to say. But the boy, seeing that the girl didn’t respond, was agitated. Gathering all the strength he had, he repeated,

    "Do you still want me?"

    "…Because I want to go with you!"

    He looked up directly at her with determination. He, who had been lost in hopelessness, had found his purpose again!

    He still had many things to do!

    He couldn't give up on fate just yet!

    He had things to settle!

    And this person was the one who called him back to his senses and gave him an opportunity!

    He needed that chance to reclaim what should have been rightfully his!

    He…needed her!

    Mu Yingying secretly smiled. She could feel his resolve and ambition.

    This was what she had been waiting for.

    "Good," she said with a smile, drawing closer to the cage until only the bars separated them.

    "I will give you a chance but remember one thing."

    "From now on, you are mine!"

    Their eyes locked for a long while as if communicating silently through their gazes. Each sought sincerity in the other's eyes. Her eyes sparkled like the night sky, assuring the authenticity of her intentions.

    But as he looked deeper, he noticed faint traces of pain, intelligence, and anxiety in this child’s eyes, uncharacteristic for her age.

    While he observed her, she did the same. His once empty eyes now brimmed with resolve, and his sincerity truly came from his heart. Beyond that, she sensed the scars of his past hidden deep within.

    She chose people, not just for their skills or goodness, but for their loyalty!

    Those she employed and considered hers must be loyal and sincere!

    For skills could be developed later, but loyalty must be inherent since it couldn’t be cultivated later.

    After their silence was exchanged, each dwelt in their thoughts, the boy knelt. Although his knees touched the ground, his back maintained an upright posture as if embodying a great wall, while he solemnly vowed,

    "From now on, my life belongs to you..."

    Despite his raspy voice, his words carried a weight and power uncommon in ordinary people. This was the moment that would forever alter the course of his life...

    After touring the entire slave house, Mu Yingying decided to purchase thirty slaves in total: ten females and twenty males, all young, ranging from seven to fifteen years old.

    She chose them for the sincerity in their eyes and their youth, which promised potential for future training.

    No matter their backgrounds, she did not care. Before selecting each of them, she had already informed them about the opportunity she would provide. In exchange, from now on, they would all belong to her!

    If she decided to use someone, she must not be suspicious. If suspicious, she would not employ them!

    The amount of money spent on purchasing these slaves was significant, but that was not a problem at all. She had used a portion of the dividend money from her mother's business to create a pawn for future use.

    After Mu Yingying completed the slave transaction with Aunt Fang, Su Su received the slave contracts from Aunt Fang. Once five more large carriages, which Mu Yingying had rented and could seat six to seven people each, arrived, they quickly prepared to leave.

    However, as they were waiting for everyone to board the carriages, they suddenly heard Aunt Fang scolding loudly from behind,

    "Useless, always sick! Never healed no matter how many treatments! Not only unsellable but also a waste of my money! Throw this cursed thing outside! I don't want to see her face again!"

    Aunt Fang yelled furiously, glaring at the person on the stretcher with fierce eyes, and ordered her men to dump the emaciated figure by the roadside.

    Mu Yingying watched the figure on the stretcher for a while. It was definitely a young girl, but she seemed severely ill, her flesh clinging to her bones and her skin pale as if she were a corpse. Her deep-set eyes made her unpleasant to look at. At a glance, no one would think she was still breathing.

    This girl must have been a slave in Aunt Fang's slave house, but due to her severe illness, preventing her from working, no one was interested in buying her. This infuriated Aunt Fang, who ordered her men to throw the girl away.

    Given her condition, she probably wouldn't survive the night...

    Mu Yingying turned and asked one of the slave girls standing not far from her, out of curiosity, "Who is that person?"

    A fifteen-year-old girl approached and answered respectfully, "That girl is Fei Ren, my lady. It's said that she was once a royal slave bought by a wealthy noble to serve in his household. Later, she broke the rules of the household and was punished with twenty lashes before being sold here to a lower-class slave house, my lady."

    Royal slave?

    Mu Yingying fell silent for a moment. Royal slaves were descendants of nobles or people from the upper class who had been convicted and turned into royal slaves. However, it was quite rare for a royal slave to fall as low as this girl.

    She glanced at the figure on the stretcher again, pondering something in her mind. If this person was a royal slave, she must have belonged to a noble or high-ranking family before. Due to some offense, she became a royal slave.

    There must be someone pulling the strings behind the scenes for her to fall from a royal slave to a lowly slave in such a pitiful state.

    Even though she came to this conclusion, she didn't know why she felt a premonition urging her to save the girl in front of her.

    What benefit would she gain from saving this girl?

    Well...considered it a charitable act then.

    Unable to resist her premonition, Mu Yingying decided to save the girl. She turned to Su Su beside her and ordered her to negotiate with Aunt Fang once more.

    "Your mistress wants to buy this slave?"

    Aunt Fang, who was still irate, raised her eyebrows and asked loudly. Su Su nodded in confirmation, and Aunt Fang immediately smiled broadly. Someone brought money to her face, why would she decline?

    Soon, they agreed on a price, and after Su Su received the slave contract, they had Fei Ren placed on a carriage to rest. Then, the convoy of seven carriages left the eastern district and headed towards the western district of Qingyun City.

    The western district of Qingyun City was relatively peaceful, and inhabited by ordinary people. Days before, Mu Yingying had forged a letter, pretending to be her eldest brother again, to send to Uncle Wang, the loyal head manager of her mother's businesses, who was the only one of her mother's people still in Qingyun City.

    She remembered well that in her previous life, after Bai Lijun seized her mother's dowry and expelled all her mother's people, Uncle Wang and her mother's former employees quietly gathered evidence of Bai Lijun's embezzlement and presented it to her eldest brother when he turned sixteen.

    Moreover, Uncle Wang had secretly taken some dividends from her mother's businesses before being expelled by Bai Lijun and started a new business that flourished greatly. It was meant to provide financial support for her and her siblings, but unfortunately, they were killed due to a sinister plot before they could do anything...

    The seven carriages were driven into a secluded alley and stopped in front of a two-story wooden house. After everyone disembarked, Mu Yingying and Su Su led them into the house. From the outside, the two-story wooden house seemed unremarkable, but beyond its back door lay a hidden mansion!

    Designed to be concealed from outside view, the front was shielded by the two-story wooden house, while the sides and back were surrounded by several dilapidated houses, making the existence of this mansion unknown to outsiders.

    When opening the back door of the two-story wooden house, revealed a stone-paved path leading to the mansion's walls, about twenty steps away. Inside the mansion, a large courtyard could accommodate about fifty people.

    Beyond this courtyard were four buildings, constructed separately but not far from each other, connected by walkways. Three of these buildings had ten rooms each and a large hall, designated by Mu Yingying as living quarters for her thirty people. The remaining building, left vacant, was intended as an educational facility for teaching essential skills and was the largest, serving as the mansion's main building.

    As Mu Yingying and her people entered the main building's large hall, they found a group of people waiting with medicine boxes. Only a smiling, kind-faced elderly man in his fifties that was not carrying a medicine box but holding a cane instead.

    "The young miss has arrived..."

    The elderly man approached the little figure with a smile, his hoarse voice filled with respect and warmth. Mu Yingying removed the hat concealing her face and walked over to support the old man, her youthful face showing gentleness. "I've made Uncle Wang wait too long. Allow me to assist you."

    "Thank you very much, Miss. But this old man is still quite strong. Just this distance, this old man can even run."

    Uncle Wang replied with a laugh, lifting his cane slightly to demonstrate his strength. He used the cane because his left leg had been weakened by an accident years ago, but other than that, he was as fit as a middle-aged man in his forties.

    "Indeed! Our Uncle Wang is still strong and vigorous," Mu Yingying playfully remarked, and they both burst into laughter, instantly brightening the atmosphere in the room with the child's hearty laughter.

    The thirty slaves that had been purchased all sneakily observed their young mistress who had given them a chance to escape from hell, their curiosity piqued.

    So, their mistress was still very young...

    While most of them were looking around excitedly, one person remained as cold and unmoved as ever - the young man with the burn scar on his right cheek. His sharp eyes quietly surveyed the surroundings before glancing at the young mistress to whom he had pledged his loyalty, then lowered his head again.

    After Mu Yingying and Uncle Wang had chatted and joked for a while, Uncle Wang turned to look at the thirty people Mu Yingying had brought. "Are these the slaves that the young master had asked you to purchase?"

    "Yes," she replied with a smile, not elaborating further, but she noticed the fleeting skeptical look in Uncle Wang's eyes.

    Uncle Wang gave the group a cursory look and muttered softly, "They're still very young."

    "From now on, I'll have to entrust Uncle Wang with their care. Have the doctor check on each of them, please."

    Mu Yingying said, and Uncle Wang quickly agreed, turning to instruct the doctors who had been specifically invited for this purpose, as per the young master's instructions in the letter.

    As the doctors were examining the th-**irty individuals, Uncle Wang suddenly turned to Mu Yingying with doubting eyes, harboring many questions he had kept for a long time before deciding to voice them. "Young Miss…I don’t want to be meddlesome, but don't you think you should explain what's going on to this old man?"

    Mu Yingying wasn't surprised by his question. She knew Uncle Wang was astute enough to notice the many inconsistencies in her actions of forging letters in her brother's name over the past few months. Therefore, in her correspondence, besides issuing orders, she had occasionally hinted at future events.

    She had planted seeds of doubt and credibility in Uncle Wang's mind over the past two months, all for this very day, when she would have a frank conversation with him.

    She believed that Uncle Wang, being as clever as he was, after he saw the recent evidence, he would believe what she was about to reveal!

    If she hadn’t planted those seeds of doubt earlier, she wouldn't have been confident that Uncle Wang would believe her, as it would seem too incredible.

    But given Uncle Wang's proven loyalty in her previous life and now, she decided to reveal the truth about herself to him, so she could openly execute her plans with Uncle Wang by her side in the future.

    If Uncle Wang were to manage affairs for her, it would likely smooth the path for her future plans.

    Mu Yingying maintained her smile, but her playful eyes turned serious, changing the atmosphere around her instantly, even Uncle Wang couldn't help but be slightly startled.

    "Let's find a quiet place to talk, Uncle Wang..."