Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 407 - 406: Anomaly

"Specializing in helping the nobility find good concubines or fill a room?" Zhu Yu was a bit surprised to hear this answer, as she had never heard of such a profession before.

She had heard of human traffickers who specialize in finding concubines and lowly concubines for wealthy families. Those people were very bad, roaming around villages and towns, searching for girls who were not only decent-looking but also from poor families. They would try every means to persuade the parents to sell the children to them, take them back to train them, teach them manners, and then sell them to wealthy families as maidservants.

Such girls, while called maidservants, actually many were chosen by those families to serve by the side of their sons or grandsons, as they were young and naive, easy to control. Whenever the young master felt delighted, he might turn the little maidservant into a concubine.

Anyway, a girl bought from a human trafficker, with her deed held in the hands of the master, if she was lucky, gained the young master’s favor and faced a more forgiving young mistress, and if she got pregnant, she might be elevated to a concubine, but still a lowly one of slave origin, whom the master could kill or sell at will if displeased.

And this practice of being bought into the household as maidservants was the most common.

But specializing in finding good concubines, or even fill a room, without caring about the woman’s origin as long as she was good-looking, was indeed rare.

After all, good concubines were of good origin, once they entered the household, they couldn’t be disposed of at will, couldn’t be beaten or sold casually. Such a difficult-to-control role was generally not allowed by the family head mother of a household.

If the woman herself came from a decent background, perhaps a concubine’s daughter of another wealthy family, it might be easily accepted, considering the possibility of forming a marital bond for mutual assistance.

But if the girl was of humble or even poor origin, wealthy families naturally wouldn’t be thrilled, yet for some poor families, it was a rare blessing.

A girl with a decent background mostly wouldn’t want to lower herself to become a concubine, but for families so poor they worry about the next meal, if their daughter could become a good concubine, living without fear and enjoying a life of comfort, it would be falling into a pile of happiness, a joy and blessing they could only dream of.

It was precisely this completely unequal benefit situation that made Zhu Yu feel quite surprised when she first heard about it.

"Anyway, that’s what Jiang Hong said. As for whether it’s true or not, none of us have been to Lianxiang City yet, so who can be sure?" Yan Daoxin seemed eager, as if itching to set off immediately and take a look.

Lu Qing glared at him: "You haven’t clarified a thing, yet you’re so impatient. Could it be that hearing about this... stirred your desires?"

"Ah, phooey!" Yan Daoxin lifted his leg, pretending to kick Lu Qing, "Nonsense, I’ll write a letter back and have Master use the ruler to smack your mouth hard!

I wasn’t impatient, just some things haven’t been said yet!

Jiang Hong said that initially, many people thought this matter was rather absurd, as it involved their own daughters, and they didn’t dare take the risk, fearing the human traffickers would deceive them, so no one paid attention to that Little Mountain Building.

Later, a family so poor they could barely afford meals, whose daughter was also emaciated and skeletal, was noticed by the matron of Little Mountain Building. She said the girl’s bone structure was good, and with some nurturing, she would be a beauty. She asked the parents if they were willing to let her take the child into Little Mountain Building to be raised, promising that once nurtured, she would be matched to a good family as a concubine. By then, not only could the girl live a life free of material worries, but the family would also receive a handsome bridal gift.

The family was so poor they couldn’t even scrape together enough for a pot, so they didn’t care much, considering that keeping the child at home would eventually lead to starvation. It was better to let someone take her away; at least it was a livelihood.

The skinny little girl was taken away and spent a year in Little Mountain Building. The next time she was seen, she was out with the matron to buy fabric for clothing. People couldn’t believe she was the same person, as it was said she had become fair and tender, incredibly beautiful.

Soon after, a wealthy family offered a large sum to take this girl as a concubine. The matron of Little Mountain Building brought the girl back to her parents to deliver the bridal gift, and her parents were so shocked their eyes nearly popped out. If her mother hadn’t found a birthmark on her, they wouldn’t have recognized their own daughter.

Then it was that girl who was grandly taken from Little Mountain Building into a wealthy family’s residence.

From then on, Little Mountain Building was no longer the place few visited; its threshold was almost worn down by visitors.

It’s said the entire Lianxiang City was flocking to Little Mountain Building, eager to send their daughters to be reviewed by the matron, hoping they would be chosen to stay and be nurtured.

"If it’s true, wouldn’t it be considered a good thing? Since it’s a good thing, why did Jiang Hong specifically tell you about it?" Zhu Yu found it odd.

Yan Daoxin mysteriously replied, "He told me that at first, he only slightly heard about this matter while delivering goods in Lianxiang City and didn’t pay much attention. But as time went on, after hearing more, he gradually felt something was off.

The initial girls noticed by Little Mountain Building, taken back for nurturing, all turned out extraordinarily beautiful and radiant. After the training and service there, there was no hint of the modest demeanor they once had. It was said even if sent to the palace, their beauty wouldn’t be inferior.

These girls were also splendidly married off to wealthy families, not as concubines or fill-ins, but one was even brought directly into the household as a concubine’s daughter’s wife.

When they got married, it was with gongs and drums, known all over the city.

But after the weddings, no one ever saw them again.

Later, the girls chosen by Little Mountain Building, even once residing inside, hardly ever appeared until a good family was found for them to marry. The old matron from Little Mountain Building would deliver a substantial bridal gift to that family, often with a procession as long as a street carrying chests.

So, the families, receiving this wealth that they might never encounter again in their lives, didn’t pry too much into their daughters’ whereabouts, just assuming they were enjoying fortune in a wealthy home."

Zhu Yu, hearing this, could somewhat sense something was off, but couldn’t quite pinpoint the issue: "Then what made Jiang Hong feel it was unusual later? Did something go wrong at Little Mountain Building?"