"Liu Da, read it to us what it says. Don't lie to us." Someone said.

Only then did Liu Da regain some confidence. He straightened his back and said, "If you owed me rent back then, I wouldn't mind cheating you, but this is Lord Ruan's handwriting. I, Liu Da, would cheat the heavens and the earth, but I wouldn't dare use my title of hero to cheat others."

"Alright, everyone, be quiet." The voice that had told Xie Lao San to light the lamps rang out again. Looking in the direction of the voice, a man as resembling a black iron tower appeared. He spoke calmly, "I'm a foreman for the Qinghe people, so I had to learn to read. They taught me a few characters, but I don't know the others. However, I do recognize the character 'Ruan' on this note. I'm sure it's Lord Ruan's handwriting. Liu Da, tell me, what did Lord Ruan say?"

"Okay." Liu Da replied, then cleared his throat and said in a deep voice: "This is what Master Ruan wrote..."

“The people of Cambodia.

I know you're having a hard time.

No one wants to be born into a life of hardship... The Chen Dynasty people are our old enemies, and Qinghe is a new demon... We must unite...

Lord Xinyuetu resisted the Chen Dynasty's army and stopped their brutal acts...

The government only collects taxes, they can't rely on...

We must use our own strength to stop the Qinghe people...

Take action, Khmer people, you are all heroes!"

Many people present couldn't help crying when they heard the words "I know you are living a hard life."

This was the first time in hundreds of years that an official, an official who could be called a hero, told them that they were really suffering.

"Master Ruan knows how hard we've been through..." someone cried out, "Master Ruan knows, he knows everything..."

The people who were originally sobbing heard Han Qi's crying and their crying became louder.

"Han Qi, keep your voice down." Liu Da said in fear, "Don't disturb others."

"Okay, stop crying. Even if you cry until dawn, besides crying for the police to come, can you cry those damn officials to death? Do you think that if you cry for a few more days, that Lin Hai will die on his own?" The man with the black iron tower shouted in a low voice.

Whether it was because of the fear of "officials coming" or the fear of the casserole-sized fists of the man from the Black Iron Tower, the crying of the crowd gradually subsided.

"Lord Ruan told us to stop the Qinghe people," Liu Da continued in his slightly terrified voice. "How can we do this? Tens of thousands of troops couldn't accomplish this, yet Lord Ruan ordered us to do it. Now you understand why I came to discuss this with you."

"Let's put this aside for now. Liu Da, tell me first, how did you get the letter from Lord Ruan. Don't say you know Lord Ruan!" The man with the black iron tower asked a key question.

Sure enough, everyone in the room fell silent, staring at Liu Da in the dim light of the oil lamp.

"How can you doubt me? Do you think I want to go against the people of Qinghe? It wasn't the people of Qinghe who took away my two hundred acres of land." Liu Da's face was pale, but it turned sallow under the light of the oil lamp.

"We know your character, Mr. Liu. When we paid rent to you, you did a lot of things, including taking in and spending money. So I believe anything you do." The speaker was Han Qi.

To be honest, Liu Da was once a landlord, and most people in the nearby villages had rented his land. It was clear what kind of person he was. Even though he was down and out now, he refused to work in the Qinghe mines like others did, and instead sold his belongings one by one, trying to maintain the appearance of a former landlord.

But now that all the things have been sold, including the house, wife and children, Liu Da can no longer hold back his pride and found an excuse to summon this group of people with the letter from Lord Ruan.

"Who is Lord Ruan? How could I possibly know him?" Liu Da said with a sallow face. "To be honest, this note has been everywhere these days. I don't know who wrote it, but it's everywhere in the village, at the intersection, and even at your mine."

Liu Da said sarcastically, "I'm afraid you guys can't even read a single word. Even if you found the slip, you'd probably just use it to wipe your butts."

"Come to think of it, someone actually picked up a piece of paper a few days ago. Although I couldn't understand what was written on it, it is indeed useful for starting fires and wiping butts..." Xie Lao San said in a low voice.

"Look, there's no way I could do this. I don't have that ability, and I think no one else has it except Lord Ruan. Besides, Lord Ruan regards Qinghe as his lifelong enemy, so it's normal for us to cause trouble for the people of Qinghe."

Liu Da said quickly.

"I believe this. Actually, I have some information about Lord Ruan." The man with the black iron tower whispered, "Someone came to see me a few days ago..."

Two cents of rapeseed oil did not last long, but it did not matter. The inner light was enough to illuminate the way forward. Several people conspired in the room all night, and then left Liu Da's house in the dark before the farmers who got up early to go to the fields got up.

Liu Da did not rush to take a nap to relax, but sat in the room without moving until the first ray of sunlight dyed the sky red. Then he picked up a basket with an unprecedented hardworking attitude, explained to the people in the fields that he was going to find some wild vegetables to fill his stomach, and quickly left the village.