On the small road outside Shuihan County, a group of people seemed to be saying goodbye.
Among the group of people outside, standing at the front was a thin and haggard middle-aged woman leading a teenage daughter. Behind her stood a young couple holding a little baby. These people They are Hou Ruming's family members. It is not difficult to see from their looks that several of them once had a very good life, but such good days finally disappeared when Hou Ruming was imprisoned. The sorrow and depression of these days made Mrs. Hou look tired. She was tired, but she still managed to gather her energy and bowed to the girl in the red dress and bowed: "Miss Yu saved my whole family from fire and water, so that my family doesn't have to endure humiliation, she is so kind and virtuous, she has no teeth. Unforgettable. My family is willing to serve as slaves for Miss Yu to repay our kindness."
Yu Ruyi looked coldly and pointed at He Dongjun: "If you want to thank me, thank him. After all, he came up with this method."
Before that day, after handling the final affairs related to Wang Wei, He Nan still approached his senior brother and offered his own countermeasures.
In fact, this countermeasure is also very simple. Previously, He Nan had been falling into the misunderstanding that "they will be sent to the military camp and used as prostitutes". Coupled with the "reverence for power" that his senior brother constantly emphasized, he was thinking in the wrong direction. Traveling further and further from China.
But in fact, the sentencing of Hou Ruming's family is in the hands of Zhou Lun, or He Nan. For example, whether to convict them as "military prostitutes" or "civilian prostitutes", Zhou Lun, as the leader of a county, has this little power. There are still some.
After listening to He Nan's statement, Zhou Yan immediately realized what his junior brother meant - if the family members of officials were classified as prostitutes, they would be sent to local brothels, but as long as someone ransoms them - Preserve their reputations so that they don't have to suffer the humiliation of losing their virginity.
And this wronged person, no, a good person, who paid to redeem their lives - is naturally Miss Yu, who is beautiful and kind-hearted.
"I said... you don't have a crush on other people's girls, right?" When He Nan proposed this suggestion to Yu Ruyi, Yu Ruyi rolled his eyes.
"Do you think I look like that kind of person?" He Nan spoke righteously, but his words sounded inconsistent.
"Hey..." Xiaoyu curled his lips and jumped down from the chair: "But don't expect me to spend money to redeem them and let them go after they come out. It just so happens that I will go home in a while, so I can take them with me. Take them to my house to be a domestic servant."
"Well, that's settled then." He Nan nodded lightly. Whether he, senior brother, or Xiao Yu, although they all wanted to save the mother and daughter, they were not good people. Since Xiao Yu redeemed them, they would naturally do things for Xiao Yu in return. Clear debt.
Things returned to the present, and under Yu Ruyi's guidance, Madam Hou noticed that the man who led people to break through the door of her house was also standing here, which made her not know how to face He Nan for a moment. Although it was said that this person saved her family by making suggestions, after all, he was responsible for her husband's imprisonment, and it was all because of this person that her family fell to this point... She was not unreasonable, but her emotions made it difficult for her to accept.
After hesitating for a long time, just when Mrs. Hou finally made up her mind to say thank you, He Nan interrupted her: "There is no need to say thank you. I also know that you have difficulty recognizing me as the so-called 'culprit' - but this is the law, So I can only feel sorry for what happened to your family."
He Nan's expression could not be said to be straight-faced, but it was also very serious: "Hou Ruming embezzled huge amounts of money and disturbed people's livelihood. He deserved the ending he got today, and I didn't save your family out of selfish motives. Once Hou Ruming confessed, He has a good attitude, and his confession saved me a lot of trouble; secondly, I don’t want to involve innocent people in this matter. Although my senior brother and I cannot save the world by ourselves, we can still save one person. one."
Speaking of this, He Nan's face also softened a little: "Hou Ruming did not die, but was exiled to another place. If he can survive his sentence during his lifetime... you still have hope to reunite as a family."
He Nan lied - judging from Hou Ruming's crimes, no amount of credit could make up for his fault. After all, a lot of the court's disaster relief money and food were in his hands at that time, causing more people to suffer from natural disasters, so he rushed No matter what, he would have to die to apologize.
But sometimes white lies can give people hope and lead them to yearn for beauty and light.
He Nan is an extremely skilled liar. Lying is like an innate talent for him. Even in front of his mentor Li Zhanchun, he can keep his face straight and his heart not beat. But this may be his first time. Once told a warm, white lie.
Not for his own benefit, just to rekindle the dream called "hope" for this family that has hit rock bottom.
When people live, don’t they just have hope?
"There's no need to say anything unnecessary." He Nan clearly saw Mrs. Hou's body trembling slightly and tears filling the corners of her eyes, so he immediately stopped the other party's overflowing emotions - he could no longer choose nice things to say, because he The primary identity now is still the warden of Shuihan County, not the other party's relatives and friends: "I hope you can remember the lessons of this incident so that your descendants will not have to make the same mistakes again."
After the family had collected themselves and got on the carriage, He Nan turned his head to Yu Ruyi: "Xiao Yu, it's all thanks to you this time... thank you."
Yu Ruyi shook his head, with a serious expression: "You don't have to thank me, I should be the one thanking you... I have seen a lot of things with you along the way, and I have learned a lot from you. This is a small favor. It takes a little effort.”
The ones who have to say goodbye are not Hou Ruming's family and He Nan, but Xiaoyu and He Nan - and Brother Yan. The two of them have been out for a long time, and it's time to go back and return to Li Mastiff Chun. In fact, the two of them should have left long ago, but they stayed for so long in order to help He Nan gain a foothold in Shuihan County.
"Damn it, you kid really values sex over friends, why don't you thank me!" Yan Chunlai slapped He Nan on the head from behind, "Old Wei and I did all the physical work, let's go After that, I was the only one left to ride in front of the horse and behind the horse!"
He Nan turned around and gave Brother Yan a heavy hug, which caught Yan Chunlai, a rough guy, off guard. His eyes suddenly turned red and hot, but he still said: "Hey, I told you not to come. Hug Hug Hug this way!"
"Uh...Brother Yan, I have to confess something to you..." He Nan let go of Yan Chunlai, looking weird and hesitating.
"I know... Master Li didn't instigate you to come to me at all, right?" Yan Chunlai smiled and didn't take it seriously: "You have too many evil intentions."
"Master Li has told me more or less what happened to you, and I can probably guess the rest." Yan Chunlai patted his foster brother on the shoulder and sighed in a low voice: "You There is still a long, long way to go, and I don’t know when we brothers will meet again.”
Why would He Nan rather make that shocking plan for Qi Dan in the letter to buy time for himself than return to the capital to face him directly? It's not that he doesn't want to go back, but that he can't go back.
"Second brother, you don't have to be so pessimistic... maybe next summer solstice, you and I can drink together again." He Nan seemed to mean something.
"Next summer solstice..." Yu Ruyi suddenly murmured in a low voice. She also thought of something and nodded towards the two men, with a smile on her lips: "Yes, we will see you again."
Although Yan Chunlai heard He Nan talk about paying homage to the Jinghong Sect, He Nan didn't explain the specific details so clearly, so he didn't know what Anan and Xiaoyu were laughing at, but with his personality he definitely Just don’t ask.
He always acted first with his body before his brain. Seeing the two men laughing nervously, he felt deeply confused and walked to the side of the carriage to make final preparations for departure.
"It's getting late, and it will be too late if we don't leave." He Nan turned around and said.
"You're not going to leave me alone?" Yu Ruyi raised her eyebrows, why did this sound so much like an eviction order?
He Nan smiled softly. He knew that Xiao Yu could no longer fool around with him, but he still joked: "Can I keep it?"
"If you don't try...how will you know..." Yu Ruyi lowered her head and responded in a low voice, her voice as low as a mosquito's hum. It was like talking to myself, but also like telling him.
Should not be retained.
Although He Nan enjoyed spending time with everyone, he knew that everyone had something to do, especially since he was still in the whirlpool, and he could not selfishly drag Xiao Yu into the water.
"You... take care of yourself." He Nan said such nonsense after holding it in for a long time. It's just that Xiaoyu has always been bad at talking, but He Nan, who only relies on one mouth to eat, has such a day. It's really weird.
"The same to you."
After another long silence, He Nan slowly moved to Yu Ruyi's side. He wanted to reach out and pat Xiao Yu on the shoulder, but his arm hung in the air and stopped again.
Yu Ruyi looked up at He Nan, who had a complicated expression, and raised a provocative smile at the corner of his mouth: "Huh?"
After letting out a gentle breath, He Nan made up his mind and took two steps forward. He hugged Xiaoyu at lightning speed and said, "Take care."
This time it was Xiaoyu's turn to be stunned. She suddenly got out of He Nan's arms and slipped onto the carriage in three or two steps.
It wasn't until Yan Chunlai and her husband-in-law from the Hou family raised their whips and drove away that Xiaoyu poked his head out of the compartment window, his face flushed: "You must take care of yourself too."
Watching Brother Yan drive Xiao Yu away, many memories emerged in He Nan's mind - most of them happened since the "Jiang Chen Case" that changed his destiny.
Joy, anger, sadness, fear... I seem to have experienced more along the way than in the past eighteen years. Fortunately, I have them accompanying me along the way, and I am able to overcome one after another extremely difficult troubles for myself, but This time is too short.
He had to walk the next road by himself. He Nan raised his head and looked at the empty surroundings. There was already no one - Xiaoyu and Brother Yan would not say anything else. After all, they were still the master's people, and it was out of the question to help him. Because of love, there is always a time to say goodbye; the same goes for Senior Brother Zhou Xun, and he even has an extra layer of shackles of official status than the first two; not to mention the gang of bandits in Xiaoshan, although they have a large number of people, But there are limits to what can be done.
After all, only Lao Wei can be said to be a true "fellow traveler" with him, but he alone is not enough.
His own plan, his master's wishes, and all the transactions...these three strands of will intricately converged into a mountain in He Nan's heart, and there were even inevitable conflicts between them.
He Nan usually didn't think about these things, but all the pressure spread out of his heart along with the sadness of parting.
"If I had known, I would have just ignored anyone and ran away." He Nan muttered in a low voice. That's what he said, but He Nan himself knew very well that it was the desire to win in his bones that allowed him to obtain such an identity - an existence that was originally insignificant, but was the most important link in the game between the two giants.
So he will never give up, he will just complain.
He Nan returned to the county government and it was already time to retire. Today's Shuihan County is different from the past. Under Zhou Xi's vigorous rectification, many officials have shown their enthusiasm for work. In the past, there was only Zhou Liu or a few The situation of people enduring hardships no longer existed, but instead presented a lively atmosphere - those who didn't know thought it was the New Year's Day in the Yamen today.
"Ananda is back?" Zhou Li looked at his junior brother with a kind look, "I have worked hard for you recently. I will give you a day off tomorrow to recharge your batteries."
An unnatural smile appeared on He Nan's lips, and he could already guess what his senior brother was going to say next.
"I will hand over a big case to you the day after tomorrow."
