Chapter 152 Twists and Turns

At this time, a maid came to report that it was almost time and asked them to go to the banquet hall for dinner. Mrs. Shen was afraid of being impolite in front of the Lin brothers and sisters, so she had her makeup redone before taking Shen Anan to the banquet hall.

They were all family, so there was no separate table. Lin Yurou had already arrived and sat next to Lin Ye quietly without saying a word. She stood up gently when Mrs. Shen and Shen Anan came in.

Shen Wen and Xiao Yuan also automatically stopped talking. Shen Anan walked past Xiao Yuan and was about to sit next to Lin Yurou, but her thumb was suddenly hooked. The man's voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"It's been a while since we last met. Did you miss me?"

“…” Shen Anan glanced at him. It took less than a chicken to lay an egg. How could he be so shameless?

"No," she said expressionlessly. After she walked away, she seemed to hear the man's dissatisfied snort.

Several men were talking and drinking, while Shen Anan and Lin Yurou were whispering to each other.

"Young Master——"

The servant ran in breathlessly and stood at the door with an anxious look on his face.

Shen Changhe put down his chopsticks, stood up and walked out. He said something to the servant at the door. After a moment, he came back with a sullen face and said to Xiao Yuan.

"Something happened in Dongcheng."

Xiao Yuan frowned, Shen Wen put down his wine cup and asked, "What's going on?"

Shen Changhe glanced at the Lin brothers and sisters, his cold face was full of seriousness, "Lin Hengsheng, dead."

Lin Ye suddenly stood up, and after realizing what was happening, he tried to calm down and asked, "How did he die?"

That person was a pest to the Lin family when he was alive, and now that he was dead, Lin Ye could be said to have breathed a sigh of relief, but his death at this critical moment, and looking at Shen Changhe's face, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

"It was said that he committed suicide, and... local officials found out that he had a large amount of money before his death, which was deposited in a bank... in the name of Lord Lin."

"How is that possible?" Lin Ye immediately retorted, "My father hasn't even seen him in these days, how could he be related to him?"

No one spoke for a while.

Lin Hengsheng died, but the money went into Lord Lin's pocket. According to the investigation process of local officials, either they suspected that Lin Hengsheng's death was related to Lord Lin, or Lin Hengsheng did those evil things at the instigation of Lord Lin.

Anyway, the Lin family is absolutely inseparable.

Shen Changhe originally wanted to follow the clues to catch the man named Gu Tan, so he sent people to follow Lin Hengsheng. I never expected such an accident to happen.

Lin Yurou didn't understand, but seeing her eldest brother's reaction, she knew it was related to her family. "Brother, who is Lin Hengsheng, and what is his relationship with our family?"

Lin Ye patted her arm but didn't answer.

"Let's go and take a look." Xiao Yuan stood up and said, and Shen Anan also stood up immediately, "I'll go too."

"It's cold." Xiao Yuan didn't really want to take her with him. Shen Anan walked behind her without her knowing, and at an angle where no one could see, she pinched his waist and turned him half a circle.

Xiao Yuan's expression changed, and he frowned to avoid grinning, "It's warm in the carriage, you can go if you want."

Shen Anan then let go.

Shen Anan went, and Lin Yurou naturally went with her. Mrs. Shen was a little worried, but since Xiao Yuan, Shen Changhe, and Lin Ye were all going, she didn't say anything.

At the gate of the mansion, Shen Wen repeatedly warned, "No matter what happens, don't be impulsive. Discuss with the Fourth Prince before making a decision."

"Don't worry, Dad." Shen Changhe bowed and immediately jumped on the horse.

The three men rode in front on horseback, while Shen Anan and Lin Yurou sat in the carriage and walked behind.

On the way, under Lin Yurou's repeated questioning, Shen Anan told her some of the things.

“No wonder.” Lin Yurou’s face turned pale. “I was wondering why my father suddenly agreed to the marriage with your family. It turns out it was because of this.”

"An An, Chang...your brother suppressed this matter and investigated it secretly. If the court finds out, will it be dangerous?"

She would feel bad if her own scandal caused the already precarious Shen family to be in trouble again.

"Don't worry, Xiao Yuan is here." Shen Anan comforted her, but she knew in her heart that it would be difficult to suppress this matter.

An hour later.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the yamen, and before getting off, Shen Anan heard the harsh noise, Qingan and Qingfeng were guarding the carriage with knives in their hands.

"What's going on?"

"It's the people and their families who were oppressed and killed by Lin Hengsheng." Xiao Yuan's voice came from outside, with a hint of solemnity and coldness.

A hand stretched in, the jade ring on the thumb was shining, and it was gleaming brightly in the sunlight coming in through the swaying curtains of the car.

Shen Anan got off the carriage with his help, and Lin Yurou followed behind. Seeing dozens of people making a fuss in front of the government office, they all frowned.

"So many?" Shen An'an's heart sank.

"This is only a part of it. There are still many orphans and widows, and even families who are no longer alive, who were unable to come to the government office to appeal for justice."

Hearing this, Shen Anan's eyes gradually turned cold. A local tycoon could actually be an accomplice to such an extent. The local officials either did not care or did not dare to do anything because they had received benefits.

"Lin Hengsheng died this morning, and the government sent people to find out where the money went. Before noon, these people got the news. They are really well-informed."

Obviously, someone deliberately fanned the flames and revealed the whereabouts of Lin Hengsheng's money to the people, which is why they gathered together and beat drums to sue the Lin family.

Lin Yurou felt a little cold, "My father would never do such a thing. Someone framed him."

"Don't worry, we are all here." Shen Anan comforted Lin Yurou a few words, and also said to Xiao Yuan, "Lin Hengsheng is just the first to come out of this matter. The real evil is Gu Tan behind it. Big brother has been holding it down just to lure Gu Tan out and get rid of the harm for the people in one fell swoop."

"Now something unexpected has happened. Gu Tan must have discovered something, so he used Lin Hengsheng as a scapegoat and threw dirty water on the Lin family, leaving us unable to take care of ourselves."

"You are right," Xiao Yuan nodded slightly, "He has the guts to do this and involve an official of the imperial court. This shows that Gu Tan is probably not just a local tycoon."

This is exactly what Shen Anan meant.

The people at the door were making a lot of noise, but the local officials stayed indoors. Only two runners drove the people away. It was obvious that they had no intention of conducting a thorough investigation.

Shen Changhe strode up the steps and revealed his identity to the people, "Don't worry, the government office won't take care of this matter, and our military camp will not stand idly by."

The common people had all seen Shen Changhe and knew that a very young general had come to the military camp in East City. Someone asked, "Who has a higher rank, you or the official in the government office?"

Even the government office didn't dare to intervene, and they didn't believe that the military camp would take care of this matter.

Shen Changhe did not answer this question, but just said, "If the government office is unwilling to take care of it, it will be useless for you to stay here day and night. Why don't you trust me once for six days? If there is no news after six days, I will not interfere even if you smash the government office."

"General Shen." The two officers' faces changed. Shen Changhe gave them a cold look and they immediately shut up.

They are all local people and naturally know what the government office is like. If they expect them to come forward, they will never get justice in their lifetime.

A young man shouted, "Then I will believe you once. If you cannot give us justice in six days, I will go to the capital to file a complaint even if I have to be beaten with a stick or rolled on a bed of nails."

After he finished speaking, there was a brief silence, and after a while, the rest of the people echoed him.

"Xiao Yuan, do you think that young man looks familiar?" Shen Anan said.

The young man stood in the crowd, his small body only showing a corner from time to time when the people shouted and moved, almost completely blocked. Shen Anan walked forward a few steps to see more clearly.

Xiao Yuan grabbed her wrist and said, "Let Qingfeng go. There are too many people and too many things to deal with."

To prevent someone with ulterior motives from doing anything and hurting her.

Qingfeng took the order and strode towards the crowd. After searching around, he couldn't find the young man who had just spoken. He immediately became cautious and serious.

"Master, the person is missing."

Just as Xiao Yuan was about to ask someone to check, a nonchalant voice suddenly rang out, "Are you looking for me?"

Shen Anan was startled, and Xiao Yuan immediately hugged her into his arms, his dark eyes were extremely gloomy, and in just a blink of an eye, Qingfeng's knife was on the boy's neck.

The boy's smiling eyes slowly dimmed and turned into alertness, "What do you want to do? You are not good people who plead for the people. What the general said just now was also a lie to us, right?"

Shen Anan and Xiao Yuan looked at each other and ordered Qingfeng to put down the knife, but he kept a safe distance from them.

"It's you." Shen Anan recognized him, "You were refusing to pay for the car rental this morning on the street."

"I'm not refusing to pay," the young man angrily retorted, "it's the driver who raised the price and deliberately cheated me."

Although he is called a teenager, he is quite tall, only half a head shorter than Xiao Yuan. However, he is dark and thin, and looks malnourished.

Shen Anan was too lazy to argue with him about whose fault it was this morning, so she asked, "You were the one who filed the complaint just now, right?"

"It was me." The young man admitted very frankly, "Lin Hengsheng has done many evil things, he deserves to die, and the people who instigated him behind the scenes deserve to die even more, they deserve to be cut into pieces a thousand times."

Fire gradually appeared in the boy's eyes, full of viciousness.

"How do you know that what the government office found out is true, and not a frame-up by Lin Hengsheng?" Lin Yurou couldn't bear to hear him cursing her father like that, so she spoke out.

The young man's face was gloomy. "So, you are here to vindicate that Mr. Lin?"

"Someone come here." He raised his hand and shouted to the people who had already walked away, and Qingfeng quickly covered his mouth.

The young man was speechless, staring at Shen Anan and the others with sinister and resentful eyes.

"Talking is one thing, but what do you mean by calling someone?" Shen Anan frowned.

After everyone had gone far away, Qingfeng let go of the boy. He sneered, "You are the kind of people who confuse right and wrong, and are accomplices to the evil, and you are just a bunch of scoundrels."

"...You know a lot of curse words. You must have been educated, right? How come you are so miserable?"

A family that has the money to send people to school will not be poor, but this young man's clothes are not only covered with patches, but are also a lot shorter. It is obvious that the sleeves were later stitched with cloth, and they barely reach his wrist bones.

The boy's eyes flickered and he tilted his head, "I have never read a book. I learned those words from storytellers to scold those bastards."

Xiao Yuan grabbed Shen Anan's wrist and protected Shen Anan behind him in a very domineering manner. Even when the boy looked at Shen Anan, he would be warned by his eyes.

"What's your name?" Shen Anan asked.

"Why should I tell you?"

"If you don't tell me, I can't leave here today." Shen Anan winked at Qingfeng, and Qingfeng immediately covered his mouth again, as if he was going to suffocate him to death.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you." The young man struggled to turn his head. "My nickname is Gou Zi, my real name is Chen Tian, ​​and I live in a nearby village."

Xiao Yuan tilted his head and gave Qing'an a wink, and Qing'an immediately went to check.

"You are so indignant, do you have a grudge against Lin Hengsheng?"

"He killed my parents and seized my family's fertile land. As long as I live, I will never let him go." The young man's eyes were bloodshot and filled with overwhelming hatred.

"But Lin Hengsheng is already dead." Lin Yurou said.

Chen Tian stared at Lin Yurou with resentment.