"The mountain master and the deputy village master will come over to see you in a while. Please stay calm and answer whatever the mountain master asks you. Don't be smart and lie in front of the mountain master. They can see everything."
The crescent moon on the horizon had not yet disappeared. Li Zheng hurried all the way to Chen Huanan's home early in the morning and told Chen Huanan the news that the mountain owner was coming to visit the mountain.
Hearing Li Zheng's words, Chen Huanan was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Who are the mountain master and deputy village master? What are they doing here?"
Li Zheng listened to Chen Huanan's words and just whispered, "They are the real owners of this village. All the work we pay for food and work belongs to them."
Hearing this, Chen Huan'an was obviously even more confused. "Don't all the money and the corvee belong to the imperial court? They will take it after the imperial court collects it? Is this the truth now?"
Hearing Chen Huanan's words, Nazheng suddenly laughed, "If that were the case, we would probably have starved to death long ago. This place is protected by them, and ordinary government officials would not dare to take anything from us."
Upon hearing Li Zheng's words, Chen Huan'an didn't dare to speak out. He just muttered in his heart, isn't this place a den of thieves?
This is because the imperial court has not spared its hands to deal with such bandits. If it had spared its hands, disaster would be inevitable.
After all, not to mention Master Wang, there is a group of government servants coming from the county, and the people in their village may have no choice but to arrest them.
And they, the people at the foot of the mountain who were protected by the thieves, could only be regarded as the thieves' accomplices and be executed together.
But Chen Huanan soon realized another problem.
It seems that their family has long since ceased to be good citizens. After all, his father committed such a big crime. According to Dayong law, his father's crime will definitely be punished by the family, but they escaped. In this way, people like them have no qualifications even if they want to be good citizens.
Unless they can wait for the emperor's amnesty.
Thinking of this, Chen Huanan's eyes felt disappointed.
He just whispered "I know."
Then Li Zheng was about to leave. When Chen Huan'an's eldest sister-in-law saw this, she just said, "Can the Li Zheng family have breakfast?"
When Li Zheng heard this, he only looked at the other party and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law, but my mother-in-law has already prepared the meal. I have to go home to eat."
Having said that, he didn't stop there much and went to his home higher up.
When Chen Huanan and the Chen family's sister-in-law entered the house, they saw that Yan Ziqing and Chen Hongnian, who were supposed to live down the mountain, were having breakfast at Chen Huanan's home.
The reason why they ate here was because Chen Hongnian basically had the power to blow up the kitchen when it came to cooking, while Chen Huanan had the top ability to make dark dishes. , and then decisively chose to partner up with Chen Huan'an family first.
The Chen family readily agreed to Chen Hongnian's request after seeing that Chen Hongnian was related to them and that Chen Hongnian took the initiative to pay for the food.
Chen Yannian raised his head from the noodle bowl and said to Chen Huanan, "What are you looking for there?"
When Chen Huan'an heard this, he suddenly said, "This Yunhu Village is a den of thieves. If we are trapped in this den of thieves now, we may become accomplices of thieves in the future."
Chen Yannian and Yan Ziqing were not surprised by Chen Huanan's understanding. However, after hearing Chen Huanan's words, the eldest and second brothers of the Chen family immediately asked, "Third brother, what do you mean by this?"
Chen Huanan then told his two brothers exactly what Li Zheng said.
"They said that Yunhu Village belongs to the mountain lord and deputy village lord. They also said that our taxes and corvee are executed by the mountain lord. Who else but Emperor Yong dares to enforce these two rights? Who can enforce these rights? Aren't they just rebel bandits? If so, wouldn't our descendants always become bandits?" After finishing speaking, Chen Huanan analyzed these words again.
His two elder brothers agree with Chen Huanan. They are even more worried about this problem than Chen Huanan. After all, Chen Huanan is probably really infertile, but his two elder brothers are really infertile. People who actually have children.
Therefore, they only said worriedly, "If this is the case, then we cannot stay here for a long time. After all, will the children also become children?"
Is it possible to be a thief? "
However, the elder sister-in-law of the Chen family asked, "If we don't stay here, where can we go? Father-in-law's sins will be punished together. Wherever we go, as long as we are not forgiven, we will not be able to live a normal life." .”
It was obvious that the two sides only had opinions and conflicts about this. After all, the eldest brother of the Chen family was thinking about the future of his children, while the eldest sister-in-law of the Chen family was thinking about more realistic issues at hand.
When they heard that Chen Yanrong was going down the mountain to see Chen Huanan, Chen Changnian and Yan Ziqing also began to have unpredictable thoughts.
After all, although Chen Yanrong didn't say anything about coming to see the two of them, because the two of them were still here, if Chen Yanrong went down the mountain, the two of them would also be exposed to Chen Yanrong.
Chen Yanrong and Chen Yannian were cousins, so if they met, she would definitely recognize them.
Therefore, taking this into account, Chen Changnian had no intention of caring about the affairs of the Chen family.
However, Yan Ziqing suddenly said, "You don't have to be so depressed. This place won't be your place to stay for a long time. You can stay here for now, and then you can choose to leave here after the storm outside has passed." "
Chen Huanan knew in his heart that Chen Changnian would not leave him alone, so he just said with peace of mind, "That makes sense, we don't need to worry too much right now. Let's just use this Yunhu Village as a temporary residence."
After hearing what Chen Huan'an said, everyone stopped talking and fell into silence for a while. On the other hand, Chen Hongnian only said, "Speaking of which, shouldn't we leave here first?"
Chen Huanan said yes.
After leaving here, Chen Changnian also expressed his worries to Yan Ziqing, "Ziqing, their family's affairs are not urgent. What I am really worried about right now is the identity of you and me."
"You and I are showing our true colors at the moment. Chen Yanrong knows you and me. If she sees us, with her suspicious temperament, she will probably have some doubts when she sees us. But if we avoid her, if she deliberately If he came to see you and me, he might have some suspicions if he didn't see us. And if we disguise ourselves now, other people in the village who have seen us will also be suspicious of our appearance. So I'm thinking if we So, how can we gain their trust safely?"
After hearing Chen Changnian's words, Yan Ziqing obviously felt puzzled.
"Then what do you think we should do?" Yan Ziqing asked in a low voice.
Chen Yannian shook his head, "I just don't know how to solve this problem, so I chose to communicate with you."
Yan Ziqing nodded, and then said softly, "Chen Huan'an and you are considered members of the family after all. If we show ourselves to others with false faces, we must avoid being honest. Therefore, instead of going back now, we might as well confess some situations to the Chen family." , on necessary issues, we can continue to lie, as long as we can gain their approval and avoid being corrected in the future, we can carry out corresponding operations."
Hearing Yan Ziqing's words, Chen Yannian only said, "So what you mean is that we do the opposite. Instead of waiting for her to come to us because of suspicion and letting us fall into a passive situation, we should take the initiative to set up a trap for her before she opens her mouth." ?”
Yan Ziqing nodded when he heard this, "That's right."
Here, Yan Ziqing and Chen Yannian had just communicated their thoughts. Chen Yanrong and Yingxun also set off from the mountain and came down the mountain. Before they went, they only told the village chief that they wanted to visit Chen Huanan's family. Therefore, Li Zheng Only Chen Huanan's family was notified, but no one else was notified.
Therefore, when Chen Yanrong came to Chen Huanan's home, Chen Huanan's family had just had breakfast. .
Of course, in order to prevent Chen Huanan from not knowing Chen Yanrong, there was only one person who accompanied him here.
As soon as Li Zheng arrived at Chen's house, Chen Huan'an took the initiative to welcome him out. He only smiled and said, "Li Zheng, are these the mountain master and deputy village master?"
Li Zheng only nodded slightly when he heard this. He pointed at Chen Yanrong and said, "This is the mountain master."
Upon hearing this, Chen Huan'an immediately smiled at Chen Yanrong, "Hello, Mountain Master."
After that, Li Zheng said to Ying Xun, "This is the deputy village leader."
When Chen Huan'an heard this, he naturally said, "Hello, Deputy Village Chief."
Chen Yanrong smiled and said, "Is this my brother from my family?"
Hearing Chen Yanrong's words, Chen Huanan only looked at Chen Yanrong in confusion. After all, he had never entered the capital, and Chen Yanrong had never left the capital before anything happened to the Chen family.
Therefore, strictly speaking, this was the first time the two met, so Chen Huanan looked at Chen Yanrong in confusion and said, "What does the mountain master mean by this?"
Chen Yanrong smiled and explained, "My surname is Chen, and I am a descendant of the great family of Sima Chen. I am the granddaughter of great Sima."
Upon hearing this, Chen Huanan felt a wave of emotion in his heart.
Not long after the death of Da Sima, the eldest member of the Chen family was slaughtered on charges of treason. He didn't expect that there was still such a fish that slipped through the net, but he also knew in his heart that this Although Chen Yanrong is now the mountain owner here, this mountain owner has no future. If they follow each other now, they will have to stay in this mountain forest for the rest of their lives.
But the situation of the second brother-in-law of the Chen family is quite different. When the first brother-in-law rebelled, the second brother-in-law almost escaped without saying a word. In order to appease the second brother-in-law, Emperor Yong only gave rewards to the second brother-in-law's nephews. Therefore, if he is allowed to When choosing between a second bedroom and a large apartment, he would naturally prefer to choose a second bedroom as a stepping stone for their future retreat.
Moreover, he also had some friendship with Chen Yannian. Compared with Chen Yanrong, a relative who suddenly came up to him, he was naturally the one who was more worthy of being close to him since he was a child.
