In fact, the owner of the house did not want to take out the handwritten letter of "Khmer Hero" at this time. After all, he was the only one who could read among the group of people, and there was not much point in taking it out. But now the light of the oil lamp was so attractive to him that he had to take out the most precious thing to share.

Hearing that this impoverished little landlord actually had Ruan Shihao's handwriting, the others were stunned.

Who is the Khmer hero?

As a Khmer citizen, perhaps you will not believe the heroic deeds promoted by the official propaganda. You will not believe that an official of the kingdom can remain brave and unyielding when faced with the axe of the enemy, because you have been deceived many times. A few days ago, yamen runners came to your house, emptied your rice jar, and took away your last half foot of foot. The reason was that the kingdom won a great victory in Chongzuo and needed supplies to reward those "combat heroes."

But if everyone on the streets says so, the storytellers under the overpasses and in the teahouses say so, and even literate gentlemen have mentioned that this "Khmer hero" was extremely unpopular after his return and was even ostracized and suppressed by the two prime ministers, then you will definitely believe it.

Jiang Ping's intelligence station actually just sent the news out, and with a slight push, the Cambodian society, which was in desperate need of a hero to save it, amplified the news dramatically. The people even spontaneously produced countless versions of the story. For example, the most popular ones recently are "Lord Nguyen's Battle of the Evil Lin Hai" and "Escape from Danger - The Adventures of Lord Nguyen Meng Yang".

Jiang Ping even went so far as to collect several of the most widely circulated versions among the people, and then respectfully sent them to Qinghe on horseback, asking Lin Hai to judge whether it was necessary to ban them.

It was a pity that Lin Hai had something to do that day and was not in the office, and Wang Zuo also felt that this was not confidential material, so he just put it on Lin Hai's desk and left.

The subsequent developments completely exceeded Lin Hai and Wang Zuo's expectations. When Lin Hai returned from inspecting the industrial zone, half of the people in Qinghe County knew the contents of the two stories.

Actually, the contents of these two stories are similar, and they are inseparable from the folk's consistent packaging of heroes and denigration of villains.

Simply put, in these two stories, Ruan Shihao stands eight feet tall, with a square face, thick eyebrows, and large, piercing eyes. He walks with the gait of a dragon and a tiger, looking down on ghosts and gods. He is courteous to the elderly, kind to children, devoted to his compatriots, and extremely loyal to his country... Well, there is probably no one in the world more upright and honest than Ruan Shihao.

As for Lin Hai, in the storybooks, he was short and stocky, with a drooping belly and a small head perched on a thick neck. He had a sly, sly look, and a tendency to look at people out of the corner of his eye—whether it was innate or acquired. Legend has it that Lin Hai loved to bully men and women and run rampant in the village. So much so that if he realized he hadn't done anything bad that day before bed, he would force himself out of bed to cause trouble, like stealing someone's chamber pot... He was also adept at wielding a mace, staining it with the blood of countless innocents.

Of course, the people of Qinghe all knew what was going on. Although they didn't know Ruan Shihao, they could not take the enemy's propaganda seriously. Besides, who didn't know what the Earl of Qinghe looked like?

Lin Hai, who learned the news on the street, just smiled indifferently, and even asked Ling Yang to use Qinghe's hydraulic movable type printing press to print as many booklets as possible, and then bring them back to Cambodia for distribution. He even said that it would be even better if more new versions could be made.

Then Lin Hai returned to the big office and used the excuse of listening to a confidential report from the Intelligence Department. No matter how Wang Zuo shouted that he had nothing to report, he drove away everyone else and dragged Wang Zuo into the office, not even allowing Shi Zhener to enter.

Later, after a long period of recuperation, Wang Zuo instructed Jiang Ping: "You can talk more about the principal's proficiency with the mace. At least this one thing is true."

So, in short, no matter how the Khmer authorities refuted the rumors, Nguyen Thi Hao was indeed a "Khmer hero" among the people. As the Khmer authorities intensified their efforts to refute the rumors, the public became more convinced of the "Khmer hero" claim. Besides, wasn't this title originally awarded by the Khmer king?

"Since Liu Da has Lord Ruan's handwritten letter, he naturally wants to take a look at it." Another voice sounded in the darkness: "Go, Xie Lao San, go and light the lamp. Don't be reluctant to use your lamp oil."

Hearing no movement around him, the voice continued, "Being able to see Lord Ruan's handwritten letter is a blessing we have earned in eight lifetimes. What is your lamp oil worth? If this is accomplished, will we still be short of food and clothing?"

Upon hearing this, there were noises nearby. Liu Da dug out a broken oil lamp from somewhere, and after a few people fiddled with it in the dark, they finally managed to light the lamp.

Just as everyone was waiting to see Ruan Shihao's handwriting, Liu Da slapped his thigh and said, "Quick, there's water in the water tank. Hurry up and get some mud to block the cracks in the door and the wall. These days, no one in the whole village can afford to turn on a lamp. If someone finds out there's a light in the house, it will probably be bad news."

Seeing that he was right, everyone started to splash water and mud in a hurry. Fortunately, the Liu family had everything except mud. Everyone worked hard for a long time, and even went outside to check that there was no light coming through the house. Only then did they look at Liu Da with expectant eyes.

Liu Da carefully washed his hands with the last water in the water tank, and wiped his body again and again before he rummaged through the straw mat where he slept. After a while, Liu Da came up with a palm-sized piece of paper and handed it to everyone.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!