Chapter 145
Han Chaosheng laughed out loud when he received the award document.
The Han family was also rehabilitated, and along with the other exiled laborers from the former Yichun Military Colony's southern district, their previous crimes were pardoned. In other words, the Han family was no longer criminals.
Han Jinan was speechless. He had not expected that Xing Changfeng and Yao Chunnuan would lead them down such a path of no return!
"Second brother, are you unhappy? Are you unhappy because you can no longer be Daliang's dog?"
Han Jinan's breath was caught in his throat. "It's the people of Daliang!"
Han Chaosheng waved his hand. "Are you sure the people of Daliang are still civilians? You've traveled a lot in the past six months. You must have seen many places where the people of Daliang live worse than dogs."
Han Jinan couldn't refute this.
"I never thought that you would be unhappy because you can't be Daliang's dog. On the contrary, I am very happy, very happy!" As he said this, Han Chaosheng laughed loudly a few times.
"Why?"
"You asked me why, and I also want to ask you why? They are all dogs. Since it is okay for Daliang to be the dog, why can't Xing Changfeng and Yao Chunnuan be the dogs? In comparison, the latter are better for us." Han Chaosheng felt that his second brother had some problems with his brain.
"But Xing Zhangfeng, Yao Chunnuan and the others are, after all, committing acts of treason."
Han Chaosheng sneered, "Before you say that, you should think about who the ancestors of Daliang got the throne from! The ancestors of Daliang overthrew the previous dynasty, which was also a heinous act. Now Xing Changfeng, Yao Chunnuan and others are just following the path that the ancestors of Daliang took."
Han Jinan fell silent again.
"I really don't understand why you still miss the days when you were a commoner in Daliang. You have such a good life now, but you insist on living the life of a prisoner doing hard labor. Are you a lowly person?"
Han Jinan was extremely embarrassed by his scolding.
"I don't care what you think, but for our Han family, after clearing the name, the next step is to build a career. If you don't want to fight, don't hinder the brothers who want to fight and make a breakthrough."
Han Chaosheng warned him. Although his reward couldn't be announced due to his current identity as a hidden assassin, the City Lord and Yao Gongcao had both mentioned it, and they were all keeping it in mind. He waited for the day they emerged from the darkness.
******
As soon as the reward list came out, Qi Xiuyuan didn't dare to go home.
But he could not escape the fifteenth day, and he had to go home eventually.
After much hesitation, when he returned to the Qi Mansion, he couldn't help but ask the housekeeper about the situation of his old man.
The butler shook his head and told him that after the old man heard the news about the reward list, he went straight back to his room and lay down, and he hasn't gotten up yet.
Qi Xiuyuan was shocked when he heard that he had been lying there for so long.
His old man was cautious by nature, which led to his slowness in action and missed out on the talented Yao Chunnuan. He often regretted it when she was with him before, and now that he knew she had become a Gongcao, he was even more disappointed.
Knock, knock, knock! Qi Xiuyuan knocked on the door. "Dad?"
He knocked twice, but no one answered. Qi Xiuyuan guessed that he didn't want to pay attention to him, and was about to leave when his father spoke.
"Smelly boy, come in!"
When he came in, he thought his father was lying straight on the bed, looking sad, but he found out that he was eating fruit.
"Back from the City Lord's Mansion?"
"Yeah."
Qi Xiuyuan glanced at his father's expression and asked, "Dad, are you happy?"
"You little brat, why are you bringing up such a big issue?" Old Master Qi was really heartbroken about missing out on such a talented person as Yao Chunnuan, a powerful figure who had become a county Gongcao at such a young age. And it was foreseeable that this Gongcao position might not necessarily be her final destination.
Qi Xiuyuan touched his nose and stopped talking.
Mr. Qi said, "Tell me about what happened at the City Lord's Mansion today."
Qi Xiuyuan pulled a chair over and sat down, then took a fruit to eat. "What did you say?" What was there to say? He believed that his father had already known everything he said clearly from the servants.
"Get lost! You just need to build good relations with the Yao family. I don't expect anything else from you. I've already asked your eldest brother to work on the position of the three village elders."
Qi Xiuyuan shouted, "No, old man, didn't you look down on the position of the village elder before?"
"What do you know?" The situation was different at this time, and Xing Changfeng's generosity made them feel like they were injected with chicken blood.
"As the saying goes, wealth and honor are achieved through risk." They already have wealth, but they lack honor.
"Dad, are you so optimistic about Xing Changfeng?"
"Yeah." These days, the City Lord's Mansion was busy tidying up New Yichun, and these old guys were not idle either. They all gathered together to weigh Xing Changfeng.
After two days of arguing, he didn't care what the other families got. He only knew that the chance for their Qi family had come.
They had always come from merchant families, and while they were known as aristocratic families, who knew who they were? If Xing Changfeng and the others hadn't rebelled, they would probably have remained like this. But now that their opportunity had arrived and a change of fortune was imminent, when would they act now?
People say that businessmen are bold, and that’s true.
********
On this day, the atmosphere in the Yichun Military Settlement was filled with enthusiasm due to the City Lord's Mansion's comprehensive rewards for all members of the settlement. Except for one person, and that person was none other than Xing Xingyue.
Jiang Ming hugged his crying daughter and asked helplessly, "Little Ancestor, what's wrong with you?" She was fine just now, why did her face suddenly become gloomy? And everyone was happy today, why couldn't she be like everyone else?
Xing Xingyue turned her head away unhappily. Of course she was happy to be the sister of the city lord. But when she thought about that woman Yao Chunnuan, who had become the Gongcao of Xinyichun, she felt unhappy. Not to mention, that woman Yao Chunnuan had found a handsome young man with a strong figure, and they were just living together without getting married. The last time she saw him, that woman had a rosy face, and it was obvious that her life was more comfortable than hers! How could she, the wife of a traitor, live better than her?
Xing Xingyue couldn't help but feel jealous and complained, "Why is Big Brother so foolish that he actually let a woman like Yao Chunnuan take on the position of Gongcao?" Gongcao, what an important position! If that woman Yao Chunnuan got it, she would really hold great power.
Jiang Ming was speechless. He knew she was being jealous again. He felt that her behavior was unnecessary. She lived her life, and they lived their lives. They weren't bothering you at all.
After marrying Xing Xingyue, he often sighed that he had never seen such a stupid woman. Even if you can't make friends with the strong, you should not offend them. Shouldn't this be possible?
To be frank, your brother's ability to become the city lord is also due to other people's contribution. He was promoted based on his merits. Others like Chief Steward Wu and Chief Clerk Yu have no objection to it, but you have a big objection to it. That's a problem.
"Your brother must have his reasons for doing this. Okay, you are weak, so just focus on serving your husband and don't worry about these things." As he said this, Jiang Ming touched her face.
She really has no self-awareness. The City Lord only has a tiny bit of affection for her, his sister, and she still wants to interfere in the affairs of his City Lord's Mansion? Forget it, forget it. I knew she was stupid a long time ago. Marrying a stupid woman like Xing Xingyue is easy to fool, but it's very difficult.
At this time, there was a sound of my mother-in-law outside the door. She seemed to be delivering something. She put down the one for them, picked up the other and left.
Xing Xingyue got angry when she saw her pick up another thing. She knew it must be sent to the Yao family. "Mom, you're going to the Yao family again!"
"I'll go take a look."
She didn't like the atmosphere at her daughter's house. She thought the atmosphere at Yao's house was good, so she would often go there. Even if Yao Chunnuan was busy and couldn't see her, it would be nice to see her little girl and chat with Yao's mother.
After Xing's mother left, Xing Xingyue became angry again.
Jiang Ming gritted his teeth and decided to sacrifice his dignity. His stupid wife had suffered two attacks today. If he didn't come up with a big one, more people would suffer in the next few days.
*******
The day after the rewards were distributed, Yao Chunnuan came on duty. As soon as he stepped into the City Lord's Mansion, he stopped and asked, "What's going on with you guys?"
Yu Chen, Xu Chong and the others were followed by a large man. Why does this configuration look a bit like her?
Yu Chen glanced at Axia behind her with resentment, "It's because your Axia is too greedy." Axia has made many great achievements recently, and they are jealous of her. It feels so safe to have someone like her protecting you.
Yao Chunnuan was speechless, "So each of you got a big guy to protect yourself?" It would probably not be easy to find a few such big guys among these 50,000 or 60,000 troops.
"Yeah." No matter how good these big guys are at martial arts, they should be pretty good at taking beatings and carrying knives, after all, they are so big.
She could imagine that in the future, when people from their City Lord's Mansion went out to negotiate, as soon as they stepped forward, a large burly guy would appear. It was exciting just to think about it.
These days, Chief Wu was responsible for counting the hundreds of thousands of people, fields, and remaining grain in Xinyichun. Yu Chen was also responsible for recruiting the over ten thousand soldiers previously sent by Prefect Lei. After a busy few days, they finally managed to sort out all the affairs of the new territory. After being promoted, the members of the shogunate were all sent to the local areas.
The next most important public welfare issue they have to deal with in Xinyichun is the autumn harvest.
On the military front, they entered a state of emergency preparedness. The city lord, along with his generals, established a separate military council within the city's mansion, where they spent their days poring over maps and playing simulated sand tables, rehearsing every battle against the imperial army's rebellion-fighting forces. But the city lord's focus was primarily on the cities of Daliang, bordering New Yichun. He made no secret of his ambitions; after they rebelled, who would be willing to be polite to him?
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