Chapter 43 Chapter 43

“No…no…”

Xie Xunzhi pinched the corner of his clothes with his fingers and shook his head gently, his voice softening. "Did anyone tell anyone about you going to the Wang family? It was me... who asked Wang Xiaopang to go."

"I told you, as soon as I stepped through the door with my left foot, someone hit me with rotten eggs. I had no choice but to sell you out to protect myself." Hezhou crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows provocatively.

He stared at Xie Xunzhi, and the anger in his heart had subsided a lot. After a whole morning, he probably figured out one thing: maybe Xie Xunzhi just had his own stupid ideas.

Damn! I really feel like a wimp.

"How can you hawk it? I did it!" Xie Xunzhi sighed: "Are you hurt?"

"No..." Hezhou turned his face away: "Why didn't I see you care about me so much the day before yesterday."

Xie Xunzhi gently pulled him back: "Brother He, you know, if I... I'm still sorry, I swear next time, no matter what happens, I will tell you first!"

Hezhou raised the corner of his mouth slightly, tilted his head and squinted at him: "Really?"

His heart gradually softened. It was rare to see Xie Xunzhi so submissive, and he couldn't help but quietly comfort himself. Even though he didn't tell him any plans, he still boldly took everyone's lives.

But! It was for his own good anyway, Xie Xunzhi himself didn't even think about living.

Hezhou's face turned black when he thought of this. In fact, compared to other things, what he could not accept the most was that Xie Xunzhi made the bet himself.

"Humph! Who knows you? You don't say anything... Who knows what you think of me?"

Xie Xunzhi frowned slightly, wondering what Hezhou was thinking. "Brother He is not only my savior, but also an irreplaceable confidant. Brother He... I swear this oath! If I have any intention of harming you before or after this, I will be struck by lightning... Ugh!"

Hezhou reached out and took a pastry and stuffed it into his mouth. "You keep swearing. If I really believed this... forget it, I'll just make one. You and I will make a promise and swear to always put your life first."

He stretched out his hand and looked at Xie Xunzhi. In fact, Hezhou believed this, and it was a comfort to him at all costs.

Besides, the oath just now seemed wrong no matter how I looked at it. If the original owner traveled back in time, the scene of Xie Xunzhi risking his life for him would make me sick just thinking about it.

Xie Xunzhi bit off the cake, gently wiped the crumbs from his mouth, and naturally hooked his little finger: "I swear to God that I will tell Hezhou the first time if anything happens."

His eyelashes fluttered nervously, and then he looked at Hezhou firmly: "I swear that no matter what, I will always put my life first."

Hezhou smiled and touched his fingers together, stamped the seal, and pinched his face: "That's right. Let me think about whether I should ask you to read it every morning when you wake up."

"Ah!" Xie Xunzhi was stunned and shocked: "Do I have to recite it every morning?"

"It depends on your performance." He breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't quarreled for a long time and they were reconciled. "Here you go."

Hezhou handed a thick stack of envelopes to Xie Xunzhi and shook them: "This is what Wang Xiaopang wrote to Madam Wang. Don't blame yourself too much for what happened to him."

Xie Xunzhi took the envelope and opened it without saying a word, but his expression became worse and worse. Every word was like a knife, stabbing into his heart and making him feel suffocated.

He looked at the woman in the yard: "That's Li Erniu's woman. The neighbors said that Li Erniu didn't come home often before, but she still cried a lot."

"Well, I don't know about other places, but life here is so bad. Everyone has almost no room for error... How's Zhao An doing?"

"Zhao An said this is a major issue. They'll allocate more funds after receiving the Chen family's stolen money. They told us to recruit people. They're very busy. They also asked us to keep an eye out for...any refugees recently?"

Xie Xunzhi sealed the envelope and gave it to him. After thinking carefully for a while, he added, "When I told him that you wanted to farm, he meant that you could farm as much as you wanted and bring down the Chen family as soon as possible."

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Open your mouth, let me see."

Hezhou lifted his chin like a gangster. Although Xie Xunzhi was puzzled, he still opened his mouth: "What's wrong?"

"I have to take a closer look. Did I drug you? How could I have misled you by allocating some public funds for official business?"

He pinched his chin, maliciously inserted half a finger, twisted it left and right, and then pulled the tip of his tongue: "What does the book say? Those who are poisoned by the Gu will have red spots on the tip of their tongue... Ouch!"

Xie Xunzhi bit down hard, and a circle of teeth marks instantly appeared on Hezhou's hand. Fortunately, there were no sharp teeth and no bleeding place.

"You're not afraid of biting your tongue."

"My tongue is in there." Xie Xunzhi gently wiped his saliva. "Brother He, please post the notice. It contains information about the Chen family and the land rent and taxes. I need to discuss this with Madam Wang for next year, and the official list of candidates for the exam needs to be finalized the day after tomorrow."

"You're already ordering me around right after we've made peace?" He Zhou pretended to wave his hand, "Forget it, let's not make peace yet. I haven't even eaten yet."

He strode into the yard. If he left now and Mrs. Wang came out and saw Xie Xunzhi, she might really throw the brown sugar cake at him.

Xie Xunzhi brought the meal to the corridor outside and let Hezhou take a bite. Halfway through the meal, the woman came over holding Xiaonan.

Xiaonan stared at the dishes on the table with his big eyes, and Hezhou served him two bowls of rice.

The woman quickly pushed it aside: "No, no! I'm not hungry."

"Mom...I'm hungry..."

"You damned child." The woman grabbed his ear and said, "I was scared to death just now. You know what I'm doing? You're not allowed to eat other people's food!"

Xiaonan nodded fearfully, lying on the table, looking at the rice and swallowing exaggeratedly.

Hezhou stuffed the chopsticks into Xiaonan's hands: "Eat! It's okay, I'm not someone else."

Xiaonan laughed instantly and started eating with his chopsticks. The woman couldn't stop him and could only pat his arm angrily.

"You can eat too! Here." Hezhou handed her a pair of chopsticks, but when she saw she didn't want them, he said, "Eat, there's still a lot of time. You can't take it away until Old Song finishes examining the body."

Unable to refuse, the woman took the chopsticks with an embarrassed smile: "Sir, didn't Elder Song just say that the examination is complete? We can take the body back after the record is written?"

He stopped eating with his chopsticks: "What? Old Song is coming out?"

A thousand thoughts flashed through Hezhou's mind at this moment, finally settling on Old Song's sharp boning knife and the fragile Madam Wang. He cursed inwardly and stood up suddenly: "When did this happen?"

"It wasn't long after you met with Master Xie that you came out."

He ran out the door. Xie Xunzhi, who was sitting inside, hadn't figured out what was happening when Hezhou made a shushing gesture and called him back.

Hezhou stuck to the wall, listening intently to the noise inside. There was no sound at all, only dead silence, so he kicked his foot in.

Damn! Old Song is too unreliable. He has seen so many families of the deceased, why would he leave the family members alone in the coroner's room?

If someone doesn't think straight, the Wang family will be the only one who is ignorant of the situation.

The door was not locked, and he almost fell down when he kicked it so hard. Inside was Mrs. Wang holding Wang Xiaopang, kneeling on the ground, with her hair hanging down and a brown sugar cake in Wang Xiaopang's mouth.

Mrs. Wang's face was pale, and she held Wang Xiaopang motionlessly. If it weren't for the two lines of tears, one would have doubted whether she was still alive.

"grown ups……"

She looked up, her eyes instantly turning red: "Sir, can you please let Master Xie go out?"

Hezhou waved and closed the door: "Sorry..."

Mrs. Wang took a comb and combed Wang Xiaopang's hair bit by bit: "There's nothing to apologize for. Xinsheng said he wanted to go. You can't blame others. It's my selfishness... I'm petty. Please don't blame Master Xie."

"Comb your hair once, and you won't have to worry about your journey to the underworld... Comb your hair twice..."

Hezhou found a place to sit down, and Wang Xiaopang just lay in his arms with his eyes closed. If it weren't for the big hole in his chest and his pale face, one would really think he was still alive.

"Sir...how do you judge Chen Wenjiu?"

"It was a servant who did it. He took it out himself. Don't be impulsive... take it step by step."

Madam Wang looked up at him, her eyes hollow. "Sir? If your loved one died, but the murderer was not harmed at all, would you be willing to accept that?"

There was a silence around. If one asked Hezhou whether he was willing to accept this, he could only say one rational word now, only when Xie Xunzhi was still safe.

If she were in Mrs. Wang's position, she would have buried Xie Xunzhi properly and would have waited for the rest of the time to perish together with the Chen family.

Hezhou's voice rolled, "We have to look forward. The Chen family has been fined, their land has been lost, and they have even divorced the wife of the most powerful man. As long as we chip away at them bit by bit, we will eventually make him suffer a fate worse than death."

He looked at Mrs. Wang tentatively. It was selfish to advise people to move forward. Anyone who could say this could not empathize with others.

Mrs. Wang laughed sarcastically, "Your Excellency, there's no need to look at me here. I understand all these principles. You've been alone here for so long. If you wanted to die, you would have bled dry by the time you got here. Go see Master Xie first."

"He... he's fine... a grown man..."

"You should go and have a look, my lord. After all, the lovers who just reconciled are in an unstable mood."

"My love!" Hezhou's fury instantly flared up, he suddenly jumped up, pointed at himself and asked in disbelief: "Me and Xie Xunzhi?"

Madam Wang raised her eyes calmly. "Didn't the Lord say that when he was investigating the case himself? He came here with Madam. Madam, you are from the capital and you like places with mountains and rivers? Just now, when Mr. Song left, I saw through the crack in the door that you two were kissing each other."

"No... no..." He Zhou scratched his head, confused for a moment and didn't know how to explain: "How is it possible, two grown men! No... I mean..."

"Sir, can Xinsheng and I be alone for a while?"

Hezhou retreated silently. Xie Xunzhi was guarding the door and instinctively shrank back. Only when he saw it was him did he move forward.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing that he seemed to have lost his soul, Xie Xunzhi stretched out his hand and waved it in front of his eyes, but was grabbed tightly and couldn't help but groan in pain.

"I like you?"

"?"