Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely

Chapter 1366: Chapter 442: Slave Village, Nowhere to Turn, Su Xing’er’s Exquisite Mind (Part 2)

As a slave, naturally there is a master.

However, not all slaves have such good fortune to directly find a master who wants them, so the first master for most slaves is actually the Subordinate Bureau of each city in Cai Qiu.

Before they find a master, their registration books are held by the Subordinate Bureau, which manages them uniformly, including their personal freedom and all hunting and gathering activities, all controlled by the Subordinate Bureau.

Of course, the Subordinate Bureau of each city does not keep these slaves idly; mining, gathering, hunting, and fishing all require these people to do.

The so-called Slave Villages are usually built around major cities, or near large resource gathering sites, managed uniformly by people arranged by the Subordinate Bureau, where all masterless slaves live and work.

There are too many slaves in Cai Qiu!

The dignitaries do not lack slaves; apart from a few with good talent, good looks, or even good luck, most slaves basically work in these Slave Villages from birth until death.

However, being personal property, each city’s Subordinate Bureau does provide certain guarantees to the Slave Villages, at least ensuring safety with no worries, and supplying some materials and even cultivation resources, which is much better than those of lowly status people engaged in menial industries.

The only way to leave the Slave Village is for someone to pay the Subordinate Bureau to buy your registration book, in other words, to be bought.

Du He, Wang Long, and the other two hundred slaves currently at the mansion are only temporarily allocated to the Hong Mansion by the Subordinate Bureau; their registration books are still held by the Bureau. If Hong Yu, the master, does not buy them, the Hong Mansion must pay a rental fee to the Bureau each month.

For Du He and Wang Long, people of slave status, the best path is to find a powerful master family, to loyally serve them, which is far better than living in a Slave Village. With a kind and generous master, they might even have a chance to leave slave status and become a citizen.

“Such strength, with such powerful background, probably few master families in all of Cai Qiu are this strong. Must find a way to become the gentleman’s servant…”

Du He is well aware of the weight of the name Cai Yunzhou, Qinghua City Lord, Cai Qiu Sword Saint, even as a mere ordinary slave. The fact that Hong Yu can spar with Cai Yunzhou and receive such treatment speaks volumes of Hong Yu’s strength and background.

“The master seems not easy to approach, and since returning to the mansion, he’s been in seclusion, with no chance at all, must find a way through the three young gentlemen and the fourth lady; Rou’er happens to serve by the fourth lady’s side, close at hand, maybe there’s a chance!”

Du He quickly had several thoughts flash through his mind, realizing that his sister Du Rou serving as Su Xing’er’s personal maid is an excellent breakthrough point.

“Who’s there, halt!”

While contemplating this, Du He was suddenly startled by Wang Long’s shout, looking up to find a middle-aged man in green clothes, injured all over, rushing directly towards the mansion’s gate.

“Rushing the gate in broad daylight, are you crazy!”

Du He dared not slack off, swiftly drawing his blade to stop the man.

However, he and Wang Long weren’t even needed to block the man; the green-clothed man evidently had no intention of breaking in, directly kneeling about five or six meters away from them with a thud.

“I am Hu Tiejiang, urgently requesting to meet the Hong Prince, I beg you both to relay the message, please, gentlemen…”

Hu Tiejiang looked extremely flustered, kneeling and immediately kowtowing, disregarding his injuries while persistently pleading with Du He and Wang Long to relay the message.

Upon hearing this, Du He and Wang Long’s expressions turned somber.

They were both dispatched as gatekeepers, which spoke volumes of their status among the slaves in the Hong Mansion. Forget entering the inner residence to meet Hong Yu, they had trouble even seeing the steward Zhou Qing.

“Get out of here, where did this wretch come from, you think you can see the Prince?”

Wang Long immediately drove him away verbally. However, just as he finished speaking, more than ten individuals in white robes rapidly ran from one end of the street.

“Law Enforcement people!”

Seeing that team, Du He and Wang Long’s pupils slightly contracted.

The governance in Cai Qiu relies mainly on three departments and one pavilion; the pavilion being the Treasure Pavilion, and the three departments being the Subordinate Bureau, Law Enforcement Department, and Execution Department.

The Law Enforcement Department, as the name suggests, is responsible for penalties across regions, from military status to those without status. These five categories of people, as long as they violate Cai Qiu’s laws, are subject to their capture and punishment.

Even though Du He and Wang Long serve at the Hong Mansion, they were slaves after all, hence their hearts couldn’t help but race at the sight of the Law Enforcement people.

But the subsequent events led to an unexpected pause in their expressions.

The group of white-robed enforcers stopped at the mansion gateway, and the middle-aged leader approached with great humility, cupping his hands towards Du He and Wang Long while bowing apologetically: “I am Zhang Yiping, Captain of the Fifth Team of the Inner City Law Enforcement, pursuing a fugitive here. I apologize for any disturbance to your honorable mansion!”

For over ten breaths, Du He and Wang Long’s expressions remained frozen until Wang Long first recovered, hurriedly returned the courtesy, and replied: “No need to be polite, Captain Zhang; it wasn’t much of a disturbance since no one was alarmed.”

Evidently not expecting Wang Long to be so amenable, Zhang Yiping first showed a hint of surprise, quickly composing himself, then signaled to several nearby individuals with his eyes before smiling and saying: “Thank you both for your understanding. In that case, I’ll lead my team back and report.”