Chapter 131 Fang Ruyu leaves the team
But it was not until today that we found out that it was Zhou Heng who really sent people to hunt them down that night.
First, he wiped out the Fang family, and then rebelled in the name of revenge for the Fang family, making the Fang family the fuse of the war in the Zhou Dynasty. If Old Master Fang knew about this, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit three liters of blood!
Xu Qingying exchanged glances with Huang Cui'e. Huang Cui'e was more perceptive this time and knew there must be something fishy going on, so she didn't ask any more questions.
This was the Fang family's affair, and Xu Qingying didn't want to interfere. Besides, she didn't even want to give a glance to someone like Fang Ruyu who was seeking death.
Good words cannot persuade a damned ghost.
But the other members of the Fang family were nice to her, and Xu Qingying didn't want to appear too cold. "Master Fang... what... should I do?"
Grandpa Fang was furious. "What can I do? Should I try to get her back? There are mountains all over the place, and I don't know which direction she's going. If she wants to go, she can go. I'll just pretend I never gave birth to this unfilial daughter!"
Mrs. Fang was also in tears. "Son, why are you so confused? Don't you even want your parents anymore?"
Fang Ningmo became even more angry.
She knew that Fang Ruyu had a strong sense of self-esteem and was very concerned about her reputation. After Xu Qingying mentioned that the bandits' sneak attack might be related to Zhou Heng, Fang Ruyu became sensitive and suspicious, and she also held a grudge against Xu Qingying. She always felt that Xu Qingying was deliberately targeting her and their Fang family, so she was trying hard to prove that this matter had nothing to do with Zhou Heng.
However, after reading the notice yesterday, the Fang family finally understood the whole story.
Everything happened just as Xu Qingying expected.
Given my sister's stubborn nature, she might actually go to Qiongzhou to find Zhou Heng!
Fang Ningmo himself didn't want to admit that Fang Ruyu's move was truly stupid! This was tantamount to sending someone to his death from a thousand miles away, and it also implicated the entire family!
If Zhou Heng found out that the Fang family members were not dead, would he kill them all immediately?
At this moment, Fang Ningmo hated Fang Ruyu very much.
I hate her ignorance, her naivety, and even more, her irresponsibility.
In this situation, Xu Qingying is about to attack the city, and no one can leave. Moreover, it is so dangerous outside. Who would be willing to take the risk to find Fang Ruyu for her?
Fang Ningmo's heart was broken. Although she hated Fang Ruyu, she was also worried about her safety. She felt as if the sky had fallen.
Xu Qingying had no other choice. She couldn't send anyone to look for someone who had left the team without permission, so she could only comfort the Fang family with a few words and let Fang Ningmo help the Fang family go back.
As soon as the Fang family left, Miao, Huang Cui'e, Zhao and others came over. Huang Cui'e was the first to say, "Sixth girl..."
Zhao immediately reminded him, "Call me Zhenying, Zhenying!"
Huang Cui'e immediately changed her tone, "Zhenying, what's going on? Aren't the Fang family members alive and well? Why is Prince Ming insisting that the entire Fang family is dead? If that's the case, why aren't any of the Fang family members in a hurry to go to Qiongzhou to explain to Prince Ming? Fang Ruyu is Prince Ming's princess consort. If she went there herself and explained to Prince Ming, wouldn't everything be clear? Why are the Fang family so angry?"
Xu Qingying sighed. She couldn't hide this matter, so she had to confess everything: "Do you remember the night we were staying in the village and were suddenly attacked by bandits?"
"Of course I've forgotten. Many of our troops died, and your grandmother even blinded one with a bamboo stick. That's when Yinzhang went, too."
"Yes, I will never forget that."
Xu Huiming immediately said, "But what was wrong with that? I've always found it a little strange. We were deep in the mountains at the time. How could that bandit have traveled so far just to rob us? Besides, we didn't have much food left. If he had come here beforehand, he would have known the consequences of robbing us."
Xu Qingying nodded. She found that Xu Huiming was indeed a scholar, and his mind was much more flexible than that of ordinary people.
"Because the bandits that night were led here by someone. Da Zhuang and I were chasing Yin Zhang when we discovered a group of soldiers hiding in the mountains. We captured one of them and forced him to confess that the group was most likely connected to Prince Ming. They were specifically out to kill the Fang family, but we were also in the exile group at the time, so we were the ones who suffered."
Xu Huiming immediately understood the key point. "So that night you asked us to hurry on our journey because someone was chasing us?"
Xu Qingying nodded. "I wasn't sure who had done it, and I couldn't just say it was Prince Ming's men. If I did, it would be very difficult for the Fang family to survive in the exile group. So I could only lie and say another wave of refugees came to rob us."
Miao covered her chest with her hands. She always knew that her daughter was capable, but she didn't know that her daughter had concealed so many things in private. She felt distressed and angry at the same time.
Xu Huiming then analyzed the situation for the group, "In other words, the Fang family didn't know about Prince Ming's rebellion until they saw the notice yesterday. This explains everything. Prince Ming first sent his men to exterminate the Fang family, then framed Uncle Zhu for the crime, and finally rebelled under the pretext of revenge for his fiancée. Prince Ming is truly ruthless. His intentions to rebel were obvious, yet he went so far as to murder his fiancée and teacher just to justify his actions."
Xu Huiming's face turned pale, and he couldn't help but feel scared. "Is this someone from the royal family? He's really cruel."
These words frightened everyone.
Thinking about it now, that night was really dangerous. They were just one step away from death. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to escape.
Huang Cui'e was shocked when she first encountered this kind of royal secret letter. "Oh my God, how could these people be so vicious that they even killed their own wives and father-in-law? Thinking about it this way, the Fang family is really too wronged."
Lian shook her head, but had a different idea. "No matter how wronged the Fang family is, can it be worse than us? The King of Ming and Qing wants to kill not only the Fang family, but also those of us who are in the same profession!"
These words instantly wiped out any sympathy Huang Cui'e had for the Fang family. "Yeah, how could the Fang family do this? They've implicated so many of us just because of Fang Ruyu's marriage!"
Xu Dekai said, "Fortunately, we've all claimed to be farmers and are among the refugees. Sixth girl... no, Zhenying, we're safe now, right?"
"It's hard to say. Who knows what Zhou Heng is thinking? That's why I emphasize again and again that it's best for everyone to keep their mouths shut and not mention our identity as exiled prisoners. We are now in the same boat with the Fang family. If the Fang family's identity is exposed, there's no guarantee that Zhou Heng won't kill us all to silence us."
These words made everyone's faces turn pale. Huang Cui'e cursed the Fang family several times in her heart, and she only hated her own miserable life for having to deal with such a thing.
Ever since Xu Qingying crippled his hand, Xu Deyuan has been silent and taciturn, his figure almost transparent and low-key. Now, he spoke for the first time in a million years: "Just explain the pros and cons to everyone and drive the Fang family away. I think most people will side with us."
At this moment, some people nodded, some looked reluctant, and some remained silent.
Miao was the first to disagree: "Second Uncle, you can't say that. When Liu Jieshi first took our food, it was the Fang family who gave us the food. If it weren't for the Fang family, we would have starved to death a few days before our exile. We should always repay the kindness we receive."
Xu Deyuan felt uncomfortable all over when he heard Liu Jieshi's name, not to mention that Miao had made great progress by now speaking in a dignified manner, which made Xu Deyuan even more unhappy.
But Xu Qingying was standing behind Miao, so no matter how unhappy Xu Deyuan was, he didn't dare to say anything.
The fourth family also agreed with Miao's opinion.
Lian and Huang Cui'e couldn't make up their minds.
"Alright, the Fang family has done us a favor. If it weren't for their kindness, Captain Zhao wouldn't have partnered with us in the soap business in the first place. We've received a favor from the Fang family, so we naturally can't drive them away at this time. Furthermore, none of them have much fighting power. Leaving the team would mean death. Let's not talk about this matter again."
Xu Qingying made the final decision, and no matter how many ideas others had, they had to keep silent.
Miao asked again, "What about the eldest daughter of the Fang family? Is she just going to leave like this?"
"Maybe he left because he felt embarrassed and didn't want to implicate us?"
"Is it possible that he really went to find Prince Ming?"
Lian gave Xu Lezhi a meaningful look and said, "If the Fang family doesn't speak up about this matter, we won't interfere."
"Second Aunt is right. After all, this isn't our Xu family's business. If the Fang family needs any help, we'll naturally help if we can, and we won't give up if we can't." Xu Qingying sighed tiredly, "There's still a tough battle to fight tomorrow, so everyone should get ready."
After the meeting, Lian pulled Xu Lezhi aside and pressed him, "Xu Lezhi, tell me the truth. What did Miss Fang say to you before she left?"
Xu Lezhi was very unhappy. "Mom, what do you mean? Don't you believe what I just said?"
She pointed at Xu Yinxi and said, "Why do you believe everything my elder sister says, but you don't believe anything I say? Mother, how can you be so partial? I'm your daughter too!"
Facing Xu Lezhi's accusations, Xu Yinxi remained silent.
"Hmph, you're talking about being concerned about Grandmother's health. Do you believe that? When you, Xu Lezhi, were in Bianjing City, how many times did you go to pay your respects to your grandmother throughout the year?" Lian poked Xu Lezhi's forehead. "If you're going to lie, at least tell it properly. Do you think Xu Qingying is stupid and can't tell you're lying? She's just giving us a little face and doesn't want to pursue the matter of the eldest daughter of the Fang family."
Xu Lezhi felt annoyed whenever Lian mentioned Xu Qingying's name, but she also knew that Xu Qingying was no longer the same as before. The entire team now followed her lead. She didn't want to make things difficult for herself, so she tugged at Lian's sleeve and said coquettishly, "Mom, things really aren't what you think. Fang Ruyu told me before she left, and I really tried to persuade her, but unfortunately, it didn't work. I was afraid that the Fang family would vent their anger on me, so I didn't dare to tell the truth."
Lian stared at her, half believing and half doubting, "It's best that you didn't instigate Miss Fang to leave the group and go to Qiongzhou. Let me tell you, Xu Lezhi, there are bandits everywhere out there right now. She's a young woman with no food or money, and there's a good chance she won't return. If anything were to happen to her, you'd be Miss Fang's murderer!"
Xu Lezhi's face paled, and his eyes dodged for a moment, but then he immediately patted his chest and assured, "No, no, absolutely not. Miss Fang and I are like sisters, how could I do such a thing?"
She was just hinting to Fang Ruyu that she could go and talk it out in person. The decision was made by Fang Ruyu herself, so Xu Lezhi couldn't be blamed, right?
Xu Lezhi quickly changed the subject: "There are more important things than this right now. Mother, we should think of a way to drive the Fang family away! Since Prince Ming wants to kill them, he will not give up. Sooner or later, the Fang family will be found by Prince Ming's people. We will also be implicated by the Fang family! Dad is right, we can tell this to the rest of the team, and we can join hands to put pressure on the Fang family, so that the Fang family will leave!"
Xu Yinxi immediately scolded him, "Lezhi, you and Fang Ruyu are like sisters. How could you chase her and her family away behind their backs? Besides, Sixth Sister said that the matter of chasing away the Fang family should never be mentioned again!"
"Do we have to obey everything she says? Didn't Xu Qingying make any mistakes? Are her words an imperial decree?" Xu Lezhi looked dissatisfied. "Why does she want everyone and the Fang family to bear this fatal disaster together? What right does she have to make this decision for everyone?"
"Enough!" Lian looked at Xu Lezhi with a cold face and frowned. She felt a little cold in her heart. Xu Lezhi and Fang Ruyu stuck together all day long. Just one foot they were like sisters, but the next foot they proposed to unite everyone to drive out the Fang family. The ruthless look of turning against each other was exactly the same as Xu Deyuan!
Lian was truly heartbroken towards Xu Lezhi.
No matter how she persuaded, taught, or explained the pros and cons, Xu Lezhi remained unmoved, and even nearly implicated the entire second branch of the Xu family several times.
The logic doesn't make sense.
In order to protect their second branch, Lian decided to be ruthless and use some means to discipline Xu Lezhi.
"Don't ever mention this again! If I find out you're doing something behind my back, don't blame me for being rude! I have three daughters, and if you're useless, there's nothing I can do. Since you won't listen to me, then just pretend I'm not your mother!"
"Mom!" Xu Lezhi held back his tears, but he was even more angry with Xu Qingying in his heart.
It’s all Xu Qingying’s fault. Ever since my mother followed Xu Qingying, she has completely changed. Not only does she speak for Xu Qingying in everything, but she no longer loves and cares for her.
Xu Qingying must have used some despicable means to alienate her and the Lian family!
Lian turned away. Xu Yin looked at her departing mother, then at Xu Lezhi who was crying, and felt a little helpless for a moment.
She wanted to comfort Xu Lezhi, but Xu Lezhi took his anger out on her, crying and making a fuss, "Go, go, go, you go too, just go away. Anyway, you all like Xu Qingying and don't like me, and I don't need you to like me! You like Xu Qingying so much, and you keep talking about Xu Qingying. Why don't you just go find Xu Qingying and make her your real sister! You're Xu Yinxi's sister, I can't even reach her!"
After saying that, Xu Lezhi ran away crying.
Xu Yinxi also felt very aggrieved. How could the person who did something wrong have a worse temper than her?
Early the next morning, Lian and Miao organized people to enter the city.
Xu Qingying repeated what she needed to say, and then added some supplies, such as shovels, pots, kitchen knives, etc. She also asked the person who bought the pot to come back early, and then watched Miao and Lian lead their people into the city.
Sure enough, this time the city gate was open, and the soldier guarding the city ordered everyone else to retreat a mile away, allowing only the twenty or so women selected by Xu Qingying to enter the city.
Xu Qingying was also busy, organizing people to collect firewood.
More than 5,000 people at the city gate watched helplessly as more than 20 people entered the city. They also heard that Xu Zhenying was going to buy food for everyone. At first, no one believed it. Now the price of food has skyrocketed, more than five or six times higher than usual. How could they be willing to buy food?
What's more, there are more than 5,000 of them, and buying food for one day would cost at least several hundred taels of silver. How could Xu Zhenying come up with so much money?
But when Lian and his group entered the city, everyone realized that... they really needed to buy food!
Since the morning, people kept lingering around Xu Qingying. At first, those people didn't dare to get close, but later when they saw that Xu Zhenying didn't scold them to leave, they became bolder.
One little girl simply ran over and asked, "Brother, are you really going to buy us food?"
The little girl was so hungry that she looked like skin and bones, and her face was dirty. She was wearing only a single piece of clothing with a piece of clothing that belonged to no one, half dragged on the ground. At this moment, she was looking at her with hope.
Xu Qingying nodded, "Yes, they went to buy food. We not only have food, but also pots. From now on, we won't ask them for anything and can cook our own porridge!"
The little girl cheered and jumped for joy.
Not long after, someone else came and asked, "Master Xu, do we really have food today? Does everyone have food?"
Feng Er answered for her: "It's absolutely true. Everyone has it."
Seeing that more people were asking questions, Feng'er simply gathered everyone with Xu Yinxi and the others. "Don't worry, my master said that every household and every person will have a bowl of porridge today. You all saw that the people who bought food have entered the city. Could it be that the master would lie to you? Don't worry, when they come out, we will set up a pot to cook porridge so that everyone can have a bite of hot porridge!"
These words moved thousands of people in the square to tears and applauded continuously.
Feng Er said to Xu Yinxi again, "This won't work. There are too many people. We have to think of a way, otherwise there will be a fight when we distribute the porridge."
Xu Yinxi also said: "You are absolutely right. Why don't we ask Zhenying?"
Feng'er held Xu Yinxi, "Young Master, you still have to think about the big things. There's no need to bother her with such a small matter. We have been with you for so long, do you think you have to worry about such a small matter?"
Xu Yinxi was also eager to try. "Why don't we assign numbers to them and divide them into teams? Oh, and we have to prevent duplicates from coming to collect them."
Feng Er added, "We need to find a few strong men to maintain order. I saw it was a mess when they distributed porridge last time, and many people were about to fight. We can't let that happen, otherwise the young master will spend so much money and get nothing in return."
"As it should be." Xu Yinxi touched Feng'er's arm affectionately. The two of them often worked closely together, so their relationship quickly warmed up. Seeing that no one was around, Xu Yinxi began to whisper to Feng'er, "I heard Zhenying said she wanted to attack the city. What do you think she will do? Do we have to fight?"
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