Hearing what Imani said, Hans's expression, which had just been calm, suddenly turned cold. He turned around in disbelief to look at Lady Bao, jealousy burning in his heart. He never expected that, just for a man she had met only once, Lady Bao would make such a promise.
In this world, women were few and precious. For their wife-lords to leave them a child, husbands would do whatever they could. But even so, it still depended on whether the wife-lord was willing.
Many husbands never got a child of their own for their entire lives. And the children born by wife-lords always took the wife-lord's surname. There was only one exception.
That was if the wife-lord especially liked the husband and personally promised him. Then the child could take the father's surname. But this kind of situation was almost unheard of.
After all, having a child was extremely difficult. Every child was born through a woman's suffering. No woman would allow this exception to happen.
But now, what had he just heard? His wife-lord actually made that promise. Noticing the hurt in Hans's eyes, Lady Bao suddenly felt guilty.
She also realized she had acted too rashly. But the words were already spoken. How could she take them back? That would be slapping her own face.
Just as Lady Bao was caught in a dilemma, Ran, who had remained silent all this time, sighed helplessly and said, "Lady Bao, thank you for your kindness, but I refuse."
As soon as Ran finished speaking, not only Lady Bao but also Hans looked at her in shock. Even the crowd around them stared in disbelief.
No one expected Ran to resist the temptation of marrying into Lady Bao's family. "Is this guy out of his mind? Doesn't he know what an honor it is to marry someone like Lady Bao?"
"Exactly! If I got such a chance, I'd be overjoyed!" "Have to admit, Lady Bao really deserves to be called one of the three beauties of Suzhou City. She's just too gorgeous!"
"Yes yes! Lady Bao isn't just beautiful. She's also the most talented lady in our Suzhou City!" "I don't know. I still think Lady Zoe from the Cheng family in the east of the city is prettier."
"I think Lady Julie from the Chu family is more beautiful." "Forget it. None of them are people we can dream of anyway."
"This guy doesn't know what's good for him!" "Exactly! Lady Bao gave him a personal promise, and he's still not satisfied?"
"Could this be a trick to get more attention? I heard many husbands like using that strategy."
The gossip around her didn't affect Ran at all. She showed a sad expression at just the right time, her eyes full of sorrow. Then she said, "My name is Ran. I wouldn't dare deceive Lady Bao. Actually... actually, I am a broken man."
"What?!" "What?!" Several voices cried out in disbelief. Everyone present looked at her with pity.
Even Hans, who had been full of hostility toward her, now looked at her with sympathy.
The crowd gathered even closer, pointing and whispering about her. Their looks showed surprise, schadenfreude, and some sympathy.
After all, in this world, a disabled man was considered the lowest class of people.
Only when the family was truly struggling to survive would they agree to register their son as disabled.
So no one doubted Ran's words without proof.
Ran pretended to be sad and lowered her head, quietly watching everyone's reactions.
When she saw their reactions matched what she expected, she finally felt relieved.
She had heard about disabled men a few days ago.
At that time, she thought that if needed, she could pretend to be disabled.
This would stop women from choosing her and avoid the government's yearly forced marriage for unmarried men over fifteen.
She did not expect this excuse to be used so quickly.
The most important thing was that no one doubted her.
She had to make everyone believe her.
"I... I didn't expect this!" Although Lady Bao liked Ran's looks, she did not want to marry a disabled man.
Even though disabled men were low status, Lady Bao felt embarrassed since Ran had exposed herself in public.
Lady Bao turned to Hans and said, "Big brother, give her ten taels of silver and let this matter go."
Then she turned and left without looking back.
"Yes!" Hans took out a silver ingot of ten taels and placed it in Ran's hand.
He looked at her with complicated feelings, then quickly followed Lady Bao.
Holding the heavy silver, Ran's sadness vanished.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
She looked at the direction Lady Bao had left and said, "She is a kind woman."
That was true. If it had been other women today, Ran would have been beaten instead of getting silver.
Feeling happy, Ran put the silver into her space without caring about the whispers behind her.
She walked quickly toward the market.
At her usual meat stall, the owner immediately recognized Ran.
In this place where most men were over 1.8 meters tall, Ran was only 1.7 meters and looked very thin.
Plus her delicate face made her unforgettable.
"Yo! Brother Ran, you're a bit late today!"
The meat stall owner was a man in his forties.
Because he had been slaughtering pigs for years, he had a harsh air that made people hesitate to get close.
But after what Ran had been through, this harshness was nothing to her.
She naturally nodded and said, "Yes! I was held up by some matters today. Did you save the pig's offal for me?"
"I saved it for you!" The owner happily bent down and took a wooden bucket from under the table.
"This is the pig's offal you asked me to keep last time. It's all here."
"Thank you!" Ran quickly took it and pulled out coins from her pocket.
"Here are fifty copper coins. Please count."
"Hey! It's just some pig's offal. You don't need to pay fifty coins!"
The owner accepted the coins embarrassedly.
He then grabbed two pig's feet from the stall and put them into the bucket.
"Take these pig's feet as a gift to try."
"Thank you!" Ran did not refuse.
Buying the offal solved a problem for the owner.
Few people here ate offal.
Not only because the pigs here had no fat and smelled bad, but mostly because people didn't know how to prepare it.
If prepared poorly, it was inedible and a waste of money.
Though offal was meat, few wanted to eat it unless necessary.
Carrying a full bucket of pig offal, Ran said goodbye to the shop owner. Then she bought a few heads of napa cabbage and some radishes. She also bought a basket of eggs from an old man's stall, feeling very satisfied as she headed home.
It wasn't that she didn't want to buy other things, but in this world, though people barely starved, resources were very scarce. The weather had already turned cold, and winter was coming soon. Besides radishes and cabbage, no other vegetables were available.
Still, this trip had been quite fruitful.
While walking, Ran suddenly sensed someone following her. She kept her expression calm and quickened her pace toward the city's outskirts without stopping.
Logan and the others still had work inside the city. She was the only one leaving now. It was not yet noon, and the streets were mostly empty.
The few passersby hurried along without paying attention to her. Behind her, four tall men felt braver as they followed closely.
"Boss, we're already outside the city gates. When do we strike?" a young man asked quietly, eyeing Ran's thin figure ahead.
"Don't rush! We just got outside the gates. If we scare her and she runs off, it won't be worth it," the oldest man with a beard said lowly. "Let her walk a bit further. When we reach that small grove, we'll attack. We can't let her get away."
"Right! You always think things through, boss!" The two other men looked at him with admiration.
"This kid's really lucky. Not only did Lady Bao like him, he also got silver from her."
"That's because he has a good-looking face."
"What use is a good face? He's just a weak guy. Even a lady ruler won't let him touch her."
Ran heard the whispers behind her and smiled mockingly. She glanced back and then quickened her steps.
When she walked into the small path in the grove, the four men suddenly quickened their pace and surrounded her from all sides.
"R-r-robbery!"
A tall skinny man held a big machete and blocked Ran's way. He waved the blade as she looked at him.
"Kid! G-give us your s-s-silver! Or else, don't blame us b-brothers for being cruel!"
Though the tall man looked fierce, his stammering made him less threatening.
"Smack!"
The middle-aged man, seeing no fear on Ran's face but a slight smile instead, grew angry. He felt his authority was being challenged.
Also, the opponent was a weak guy he looked down on.
He walked quickly over to the tall man and slapped him hard on the head, shouting, "Shut up! Stop talking!"
"W-why?" The tall man rubbed his sore head, confused.
"No why's!" The middle-aged man sighed deeply, pulled him behind, and glared at Ran. "Kid, we only want your money, not to hurt you!
If you're smart, hand over the silver on you. Otherwise, we won't mind loosening up our fists."
He raised his clenched fist with a fierce glare. The knuckles cracked as he moved it.
"Oh? What if I don't hand it over?"