Episode 1: Dan-oh is forced to become Joo-hee

The ocean is boundless, and in the dark corners of the reefs, a group of pearl divers live quietly. During the Tang Dynasty, the Cui family of Yangzhou set up a pearl farm in Hepu, supplying South China pearls every year.

Although pearls are priceless, the lives of pearl slaves are dark and gloomy. The workers who supervise the pearl divers are violent and ruthless. Those who are too weak to go into the water will be enslaved for life, while women will be imprisoned in the delivery shed.

Duanwu is one of the pearl slaves. Although it is hard work to go to the sea to collect pearls, it is indeed the freest time. Duanwu has been an orphan since childhood and is not afraid of man-eating sharks in the sea. Instead, it is the shamelessness and cruelty of the people who come ashore that Duanwu cannot forgive. However, she has been imprisoned here since childhood and can only live cautiously.

On this day, there was a man in Hepu who had been coveting the beautiful Duanwu for a long time. He took the opportunity to force Duanwu, but Duanwu was not a soft persimmon that could be bullied. She carried a dagger with her to pry open clam shells. The blade was extremely sharp. With the dagger, the other party dared not have any more dreams.

Manager Cui in the palace wanted to buy five-inch pearls, so he spread the word that whoever could pick up the big pearl would be rewarded. Picking the big pearls requires going to Duanwang Pond, where there are many sharks and whales, and it is very dangerous. However, when Duanwu heard that there would be a big reward, he also promised to sell himself indentures. Duanwu signed up without hesitation.

The girl who was on good terms with Duanwu was reluctant to go into the water when she saw the azure blue sea in the depths. In order to leave the pearl diving ground as soon as possible, Duanwu tied a sandbag around his waist without hesitation and jumped in.

There was another ship on the sea. This ship was extremely gorgeous. On it sat buyers from the Western Regions. They had gold and silver there, and they would spend lavishly on anything they liked. On the deck was a merchant who did not follow the rules and sold inferior goods as good ones. After being discovered, he was punished by having his eyes gouged out and his tongue cut out.

Just as the man was begging for mercy, Zhang Jinran stood up and accused the other party of cruel means. According to the laws of the Tang Dynasty, counterfeit goods only need to be punished with fifty strokes of the cane.

Business is business, especially on the deck, where the laws of the Tang Dynasty are meaningless. Zhang Jinran proposed to exchange his ancestral pearls for the other party’s punishment. When the Western Region merchants saw the pearls in Zhang Jinran’s box, they laughed contemptuously. The pearls that were regarded as treasured for generations were only less than two inches. Little did they know that the pearls they had seen were much larger than this.

Zhang Jinran didn’t believe it at all. The Western Region merchant Yan Zijing proposed to take Zhang Jinran to see the world. If they encountered a bigger pearl than this one, he would give this pearl to them for free. Zhang Jinran readily agreed.

His men pulled Zhang Jinran’s clothes, worried that the Western Region merchants might really find more precious clam pearls, but Zhang Jinran didn’t care about losing some money. He came here with a mission. In recent years, maritime taxes have been reducing, but the quality of tribute pearls is not as good as before. He wants to visit incognito and try to find out the truth.

After many hardships, Duanwu finally found a huge pearl, but was intercepted by his companions. Fortunately, Duanwu was a good swimmer and finally escaped and brought the huge pearl out of the seabed. It was not easy to get the pearl, but the nanny here exchanged Duanwu’s pearl and finally released it to another pearl diver.

Duanwu cried loudly and begged for a thorough investigation. The pearls she collected were indeed swapped. The old nanny knew she was in the wrong, so she applied to let Duanwu be a pearl girl. A pearl girl is a pearl seller. The old nanny privately reminded Duanwu that he would have to stop breathing if he wanted to leave here, and Zhuji was the only way for Duanwu to be reborn.

Manager Cui asked them who could sell the huge pearl for 500,000 coins and would be rewarded handsomely. Duanwu couldn’t wait to sign up. She hoped that Manager Cui could give her two documents of slave release. Manager Cui didn’t want to be bargained with and directly proposed that he would agree to Duanwu’s request as long as the pearl was sold for 7 million.