Chapter 346 His dark eyes suddenly darkened, his gaze flickered, and his voice became a little hoarse.
I was afraid that time would pass too quickly and the two of us would have to face separation just after meeting.
It seemed like the joy in my heart hadn't even come to me yet, and the dream was about to end completely.
Xie Huaian saw the reluctance in her eyes, smiled slightly, and held her in his arms, stroking her neck with his palm, his eyes full of love.
"I can only stay one more day at most, and it will take some time to get back to Beijing."
It was also because of the flood disaster that he traveled thousands of miles and rushed over to see her.
Ruan Mian could fully understand.
But I was also a little curious: "Ahuai, you are so worried that I will be destroyed by the flood. What if, when you return to Wuheng, you find that we really died in the flood, will you..."
However, before Ruan Mian could finish her words, Xie Huaian blocked her mouth.
His dark eyes suddenly darkened, his gaze flickered, and even his voice became a little hoarse.
"I only thought of such a terrible thing once."
"If anything happens to you, I will return to the capital and help His Majesty eliminate the rebels, and then I will... go with you."
Ruan Mian was startled, then smiled: "Are you going to commit suicide for love?"
However, Xie Huaian nodded with great certainty, leaving no room for denial.
Ruan Mian could sense the sincerity in his heart. Although his words sounded vague, the look in his eyes now suggested that he might actually do something like this in the future.
But this topic was too heavy, and she would not let this happen, so she changed the subject and asked about other things.
Ruan Mian had a rough understanding that the situation in Kyoto was very tense.
Although he had not yet obtained direct evidence of Prince Yan's rebellion, and even the evidence against the Five Princesses was difficult to obtain, he could only eliminate their subordinates bit by bit.
But they are like a big tree with many roots and luxuriant branches and leaves. Even if one side is removed, the other side will still grow.
It's not that easy to uproot.
Ruan Mian roughly calculated the time. If the pace of the original book was followed, Kyoto would face the situation of being invaded by Prince Yan.
In the original book, this highlight plot is a major plot of the fall of the imperial court.
As for how the situation would turn around later and whether Prince Yan would sit on the throne, Ruan Mian really had no idea.
She didn't finish reading the whole book.
Thinking of this, she felt a little regretful. She had only used the book as a tool for entertainment. When she saw the rebels' counterattack, she gave up writing in anger.
If I had known I would be brought in, I should have read the whole thing.
It's just too late to say these things now.
Her appearance has shaken the rhythm of the original book, and perhaps the plot of the rebels entering Beijing will be delayed.
But nothing is certain yet. Just in case, Ruan Mian still has to give Xie Huaian some help.
"Ah Huai, did you build the musket blueprint I sent you last time?"
Speaking of this, Xie Huaian hurriedly thanked him: "Well, I didn't expect that my wife also knows the principles of firearms. I have secretly had a lot of the muskets you improved that time made."
"The Prince of Yan and the other rebels are wealthy and powerful, and they must have made ample preparations behind the scenes. Ah Huai, I'm afraid you won't stand a chance of winning against them with just these few muskets."
"To be honest, I have accumulated quite a bit of savings, and my aunt has also secretly made a number of firearms. If we could use all of these on your soldiers, it would definitely greatly increase their strength, making them unstoppable and giving them a greater chance of victory."
“Follow me!”
Before Xie Huaian could ask more questions, Ruan Mian had already taken him to a horse.
No one knew that after the musket was improved, she and her aunt secretly built an arsenal.
My aunt wanted to make a lot of money from this, so she even handed over the shop in Guancheng to others to manage, and she spent a lot of time on making weapons.
Ruan Mian provided the drawings and materials, Ruan Jinxiu was dexterous and could draw inferences from one instance, so his aunt gave them good ideas.
After a while, they forged a batch of new weapons based on the weapons stored in Ruan Mian's space at that time, and made multiple improvements.
In addition to being lighter and more powerful, the musket is
There are also javelins that contain hidden weapons, and various portable fire bombs and explosives.
Although it is simple and cannot be compared with modern weapons, it still has a great chance of winning in a real close combat.
Take the simplest smoke bomb as an example. When the smoke is released, it can also make a huge noise, which is enough to buy time for yourself to escape and can also deter the enemy.
As long as the other party does not have these things, they will be the winner.
If the facts developed according to the plot in the original book, with these weapons, they would at least have a great chance of turning the tables and the casualties could be reduced.
After a while, their horses stopped in front of a hidden hill.
Ruan Mian walked forward and pulled away some weeds, and a staircase leading underground appeared in front of him.
Xie Huaian was surprised. They walked into the basement and were shocked by the transparent and spacious place inside.
Soon, the voice of my aunt came from the cellar: "Mianmian?"
"aunt."
My aunt came over with a smile and said, "Aren't you going to burn those sites? How come you have time to come here now? I was thinking about moving some gold..."
However, before she could finish her words, the aunt saw Xie Huaian walking towards her.
But she didn't recognize him at first glance, and instead wondered why Ruan Mian brought a disaster victim with him.
But when you look closely, the more you look at the victims, the more familiar they seem.
"Ahuai?!"
She couldn't believe that Ruan Mian had never told anyone about Xie Huaian's fake death, not even her aunt.
At that time, I thought it was better to have less trouble than more, and there was no need to tell my aunt.
But now that I’m designing weapons, it’s okay to tell my aunt.
The aunt quickly brought him over, looked him up and down, and asked Ruan Mian in great surprise.
"Could it be that that space still has the effect of shaping? He even came back to life?!"
Ruan Mian smiled and quickly stopped her from saying more and more outrageous things.
"Aunt, things are not what you think. Ah Huai's death was part of our plan."
"Plan?"
"Well, someone secretly attempted to assassinate him, intending to do something bad to him, so we took advantage of the situation and sent Ah Huai back to Kyoto to deal with his affairs. As for what exactly happened, it's a long story, but anyway, it involved a rebellion, so I didn't tell anyone about it."
"Aunt, please don't resent me. It's not..."
"Mianmian! How could I possibly blame you for this? You were understandable, but it's me who feels sorry for Master Xie! And you, every time I think of how loving you and Master were, it's just that things didn't go as we wished. God was blind and separated you from each other so early."
At this point, the aunt did not forget to wipe away her tears. She felt really sorry for Ruan Mian. Now she knew that everything was just an illusion, and the person who died with regret was still alive.
Her aunt was so happy about this that she couldn't contain her joy. How could she blame her for hiding it from her?
Xie Huaian clasped his hands together and saluted his aunt politely and solemnly: "Thank you for your concern, aunt. It's my fault."
The eldest aunt quickly helped him up and said, "I'm glad you're not dead! This is a great joy."
Ruan Mian was also filled with emotion, but they didn't have much time to reminisce at the moment.
She briefly explained the purpose of her visit to her aunt, and then took Xie Huaian into the depths of the cellar. There were several built shelves, all of which were filled with various weapons.
Many of them were familiar to him, but upon closer inspection, they were different from the weapons he had imagined.
After asking, I found out that these weapons had been modified by them to some extent.
His aunt and Ruan Mian introduced these weapons to him one by one.
Considering the difficulty of transportation, Ruan Mian picked out some portable weapons that are more suitable for close combat and self-defense.
"Ah Huai, these are more suitable for confrontation. These portable smoke bombs and thunder charges are powerful and easy to hide."
"You certainly can't carry all of this away by yourself, and given the number we have now, it's obviously not enough for your needs."
"So I plan to have our freight haulers deliver them to Kyoto in batches and connect them with the Zouma Gang. They're all trustworthy people, so you can just find someone to connect with them when the time comes."
The reason why Ruan Mian wanted to go through the horse-drawn caravan was because it provided him with a reasonable reason for transportation, and the Kyoto horse-drawn caravan was so powerful that ordinary people would not dare to take advantage of it to transport the sealed goods.
This can then be transported to Kyoto in a natural way, and then Ah Huai's people can go to pick it up, which will be much safer.
Moreover, if anything happens along the way, those people are people she can trust and can tell her at any time and find a solution.
Xie Huaian was a little surprised. He didn't expect that his wife was involved in this matter.
Even the freight lines are under control. No matter how you look at it, they really need these weapons. If Your Majesty knew about these good things, he would naturally not have to fear the sudden attack of the rebels.
At this moment, there is already a subtle atmosphere of confrontation in Kyoto, and many people in the court have shown signs of dissatisfaction with His Majesty.
Just in case, Xie Huaian took it.
But in order to ensure that Ruan Mian would not be implicated and these things would not be discovered, he thought of a way.
"There's no rush to ship these out of Wuheng for now. Once I return to Beijing and investigate the Zouma Gang, and confirm everything is correct, I'll secretly send someone to Wuheng to work with your cargo handlers, one openly and the other covertly."
Hearing this, Ruan Mian nodded and agreed with his idea. This way, he could have the best of both worlds.
The eldest aunt listened to them with a smile, then raised her eyebrows and joked.
"Ah Huai, we developed these weapons with great difficulty. I originally wanted to sell them to people in need as a means of support."
"Look, our Mianmian is thinking of you wholeheartedly and gave you all of them at once. To be more specific, Ah Huai, you are also doing things for His Majesty. So, you see, these items, at least some compensation is appropriate, right?"
Ruan Mian laughed, knowing that his aunt was teasing him.
"Alright, Auntie. We don't need that little bit of money. Besides, the national treasury is surely not full at this critical moment."
"Especially with the border thousands of miles away, disasters are constantly happening. This time, our Wuheng Yuzhou was hit by floods, and the national treasury had to spend a lot of food and silver for disaster relief. Why should we make things difficult for ourselves..."
"One thing at a time, what's due will still be given."
Xie Huaian interrupted her and suddenly remembered something important.
"Just now, my lady, you mentioned disaster relief. I almost forgot to tell you something. Wuheng Yuzhou is suffering from severe flooding. The court will deploy disaster relief envoys from the surrounding areas to assist the people in the government office."
"It's possible that the people coming to Wu Heng are from the Zhang family."
"Zhang family?"
Ruan Mian and her aunt were both stunned for a moment.
The eldest aunt was even more surprised: "Could it be... the Zhang family we are thinking of? But is it Mianmian's uncle's family?"
Xie Huaian was also unsure: "I left the capital in a hurry and didn't confirm who it was. I only know that His Highness has several backup personnel for disaster relief, and one of them seems to be Zhang."
Looking across the capital, the only Zhang family members who could be transferred here were Ruan Mian's uncle and his family.
Ruan Mian thought about it and vaguely remembered that her uncle's family in the original book had separated from her mother long ago.
When my mother insisted on marrying my father, the Zhang family looked down on the Ruan family from the bottom of their hearts. My uncle Zhang Hesong even felt that his sister's marriage would ruin his reputation.
So on the day the original owner's mother, Zhang, got married, her uncle's family had already severed ties with her.
The reason why the Zhang family did not stop the marriage between the two was actually because of Mr. Zhang's selfish motives.
Originally, the Ruan family came from a merchant family, but they were wealthy, and both Mr. Zhang and his son Zhang Hesong needed some money to manage their careers.
So even though he looked down on the Ruan family, he agreed to let his daughter marry into their family.
Fortunately, Mr. Ruan was a caring person, and the original owner's mother, Zhang, had never been abused after she married him.
After a period of hardship, the topic had to return to the eldest aunt. However, that was a bit off topic, so Ruan Mian returned the focus to the uncle.
Logically speaking, my uncle Zhang Hesong is also a minor official in the court, so he shouldn't be transferred to such a faraway place. And Ah Huai just said that His Majesty was transferred from the nearest town. Could it be...
Xie Huaian seemed to sense what Ruan Mian was thinking, so he told her.
"Not long after your Ruan family was exiled, your Zhang family was also impeached and demoted to a local official in Youyang."
After hearing this, Ruan Mian finally understood.
When the eldest aunt heard this, her face became serious: "Could it be that your uncle's family was impeached because of Ruan's involvement?"
"If that's the case, then aren't they here to cause trouble by being disaster relief envoys?"
Seeing that Ruan Mian was a little confused, the aunt quickly lowered her voice and told her.
"You don't know that your uncle's family is not easy to deal with either."
"Although I left home early, I've heard that it was your aunt who fell in love with your father first. However, your aunt and uncle are cousins and were engaged since childhood, so your uncle found an excuse to teach your father a lesson long ago."
"However, fate plays a trick on you. When your mother was young, she was also influenced by your father's unruly scholarly spirit. Although she was a scholar like other scholars, your father was unique and handsome. That's why your mother chose to marry him regardless of his family background."
"Once your uncle heard this, he was eager to send your mother over. Firstly, he would gain a lot of benefits from your father's merchant family, and secondly, it would make the woman he had been engaged to as a child give up completely."
"Anyway, I think those people in your mother's family are not good people! When you were exiled, they were still serving as officials in Beijing. Did they ever help you with anything?"
According to my aunt, the Zhang family did not show up when they were exiled.
But at that time Ruan Mian had just traveled through time, and the Zhang family was not mentioned in the original book, so she automatically ignored it.
In addition, her parents never mentioned Zhang's family at that time, so Ruan Mian automatically assumed that they did not exist.
Now it seems that they may not have good intentions.
But she is not afraid of anything. If the enemy comes, she will fight him; if the water comes, she will block it with earth. What she wants now is to punish evil and promote good, and to eliminate the treacherous villains!
Seeing her confident look, her aunt was also delighted.
"No matter who becomes the disaster relief envoy, it won't pose any threat to us. Ah Huai, don't worry. Your wife is very capable."
The aunt praised Ruan Mian without hesitation, and as she spoke, she saw Xie Huaian's face full of stars.
She is such a bright light bulb that she feels embarrassed to be standing here.
"Why don't you two stay here and show affection while I go out to keep an eye on things. Don't let those ignorant kids bump into you." Before Ruan Mian could speak, her aunt had already walked out tactfully.
She wanted to say something, but Xie Huaian held her wrist.
In the dim environment, certain emotions surged in his heart, and his narrow eyes were full of love.
The hug just now obviously couldn't fully reveal his love. He held Ruan Mian's chin cherishingly, and their noses touched each other, and the blood in his body seemed to rush forward.
He lowered his voice and spoke sincerely: "My wife, thank you for your hard work."
Thousands of words converged into this one sentence when he opened his mouth.
After saying this, Xie Huaian was still a little annoyed. He could obviously say more, but his mouth seemed to be blocked at this moment, and he could only say stupid things.
Then he changed the subject: "Also, I miss you very much."
"The road ahead is still long, but it will also be bright. Mianmian, I promise you that I will..."
Before he could finish his words, Ruan Mian had already stood on tiptoe, climbed onto his shoulders and kissed him.
The moment their lips touched, Xie Huaian felt his mind go blank and he couldn't remember anything.
He instinctively hugged her tightly, as if he wanted to squeeze all her flesh and blood into his arms.
The longings from the past became concrete at this moment. When my hands touched it, I didn’t dare to let go easily, for fear that all this was just my fantasy.
In the quiet space, the only sound was the two people's passionate kiss.
However, good times are always short-lived, and God seems to not give them the opportunity to be overly intimate.
After a while, the aunt's angry voice came from the door.
"What? Welcoming the disaster relief envoy is the government's responsibility. Lord Lin has so many people under him, do we still need to go and welcome him?"
"Besides, my Mian Mian doesn't hold any official position!! Why should she go to greet those people? They are really putting themselves on too high a pedestal!! Ah Xiu, go back and tell those people that Mian Mian is busy!"
It turned out that Yun Xiu came to find Ruan Mian. At this time, the disaster relief envoy had arrived at the disaster site and went to visit Lord Lin.
He was asked to see Ruan Mian, but he couldn't find her after searching for her for a long time, so he came here to ask his aunt.
However, Yun Xiu was a little worried because he didn't see Ruan Mian.
"Aunt, is Sister Mianmian here? I went to several places just now and didn't see her. I'm a little worried."
The eldest aunt quickly waved her hand and said, "Of course it's here, go ahead and answer it."
After hearing this, Yun Xiu felt relieved to leave.
However, Xie Huaian, who heard the conversation between the two, stroked Ruan Mian's chin reluctantly and said softly.
"My wife has become Wu Heng's backbone now. If I take up your time, I'm afraid that my family will suffer misfortune."
"Go quickly, I'll wait for you here."
Ruan Mian's eyes moved slightly. She didn't expect that the so-called disaster relief envoy would come so suddenly.
And I chose this time of year. If I don’t go, I might end up embarrassing my parents.
Lord Lin is still ill, so it may be difficult to arrange subsequent matters.
Thinking of this, Ruan Mian nodded: "Then I'll be back soon. You wait here for me? The weapons here are just right for your aunt to take you to study."
The two watched each other disappear from their sight, and an indescribable emotion surged in their hearts.
When Ruan Mian arrived at the house where Lord Lin was, he found that his family members had also arrived in the yard.
A middle-aged woman was standing in front of her mother Zhang, wiping her tears, her eyes sparkling with tears and her voice choked with sobs.
"Wu Niang, we haven't seen each other for many years. Although you said you wanted to sever ties with your brother and have no contact for many years, you two share the same blood after all."
"Your brother came here as a disaster relief envoy to help you. He just wants a few rooms of yours to rest up. Why is that not enough? You know, when our family was impeached and demoted, it was all because of your exile!"
Faced with the woman's accusation with her face covered, Zhang's face also looked unhappy.
Although it is true that the two families broke off their relationship, it is also true that they were implicated.
Mr. Ruan knew his wife's difficulties and spoke up kindly.
"I understand you need a few houses to rest. After all, it's not easy to travel such a long distance."
"But you've seen the current situation in our village. Everyone is struggling to survive. We can't just give you as many rooms as you want. What's more, you want our daughter's boudoir. How can we agree to that?!"
"We can arrange a house for you and your family to stay first, and then..."
"Boudoir?" Mr. Ruan had just finished speaking when a young man snorted.
"As far as I know, Ruan Mian has married for the second time and is now a widow. How can she even talk about a boudoir? A true boudoir is the house where my younger sister, a virgin, lives. That's what a boudoir is!"
Mr. Ruan was slightly stunned, and his eyes darkened a little.
He was about to speak when the middle-aged man interrupted him.
"Even if you're unwilling to give up your house today, we've been ordered here, so you must give us a place to stay!"
"Ruan Shen, when your Ruan family was exiled, our entire family was implicated, and I never said a word against you! Now that you are still alive and meeting us, it is a blessing for you!"
"If you still insist on getting rid of the house, don't blame us..."
Before he could finish his words, Ruan Mian walked into the yard and replied indifferently: "Don't blame you for anything."
"Don't blame you for using your power to oppress others and trying to occupy our house?"
As everyone's eyes turned to him, Ruan Mian straightened his appearance and glanced at everyone present with a calm and indifferent expression.
Invisibly, her eyes gave others a sense of oppression.
I guess these people are my uncle and his family.
Indeed, this "uncle"'s eyebrows and eyes are somewhat similar to my mother's.
They came here with their families, under the name of disaster relief envoys, and they wanted to occupy my house as soon as they arrived. How could this be justified?
Thinking of this, Ruan Mian cast his gaze on Zhang Hesong without hesitation, with the corners of his lips slightly raised, and Hua Yun hinted at sarcasm.
"Your Excellency, the disaster relief is the court's pity for us, the people affected by the disaster, and therefore we have entrusted all of you to your care. But I don't know that upon your arrival, you have taken over our few remaining houses. Is this the court's will?"
"And your son and daughter, who came with you, both want their own rooms. Is this also an arrangement by the court?"
Zhang Hesong was stunned. He obviously didn't expect Ruan Mian to be so eloquent and to be able to make him speechless with just a few words!
At this moment, some of the onlookers outside the yard also looked over.
For the sake of his reputation as a disaster relief envoy, Zhang Hesong could not ignore the eyes of others.
However, his wife, Ye, who had just covered her face and made accusations, now spoke in anger.
"What nonsense are you talking about! We are disaster relief envoys, so we are here for the people!"
Ruan Mian frowned: "If you are thinking about the people, why do you occupy so many of our houses?" Ye was choked by this remark again, and she didn't know how to start again.
He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Who wants to occupy so many of your houses? We're just tired from the journey and just want to rest our heads in a house. We should have rested at the government office or the post station, but who let the flood destroy those places?"
"Do you think that with just these few houses of yours, you're still worthy of our attention? We don't even look down on your houses!"
After the words fell, everyone around gasped, and Ye had no idea what was wrong with his words.
It was not until her son pulled her over and forced her to shut up that she realized she had said the wrong thing and was given a cold shoulder and criticized by her husband.
However, this gave Ruan Mian a chance to catch her: "That's right, our barren land naturally cannot accommodate the precious bodies of your family who are seeking disaster relief."
"Since you still don't like our house, then we won't bear to give it up. You can go wherever you like. We can barely protect ourselves now."
Ruan Mian waved his hand and told his family to leave, too lazy to deal with them.
Ye was so angry that she shook off her son's hand and chased after him, calling out to Zhang.
"You really don't care about us? Wu Niang! When your son wrote those nursery rhymes about the country's demise, my son had just become an official! Because of your son's actions, my son has lost his official position as well!"
"Our whole family was demoted to local officials because of this, and our family property in Kyoto was destroyed overnight! This is all your fault! Now you..."
Zhang was still feeling guilty, but when it came to her son Zhang Xingzhi, she suddenly felt angry for no reason.
He retorted bluntly, "Your son? Your son bought his position. Who can you blame if he can't keep it?!"
Ye didn't expect that she would expose her shortcomings like this. Her face turned pale for a moment. Zhang Xingzhi quickly stepped forward and pulled Ye down.
"Mother! They were exiled here and have already become vulgar people. Do you still want to bother with them?"
"If they don't want to give us a house, then don't give it to us. Lord Lin is the prefect, so why should we be afraid of having no place to live?"
Ye finally calmed down and snorted, "Indeed, we are disaster relief envoys, ordered to come here, how come we don't even have a place to stay?"
But even so, the conditions were far worse than they had imagined.
Originally, they had taken a fancy to several houses of Ruan Mian's Ruan family and wanted to move in.
Now that the Ruan family refuses to cede, even if Lord Lin steps in, he can only allocate a house for them from his limited resources for their family to live in.
Zhang Xingzhi and his sister Zhang Ronger had never lived in such a terrible and dilapidated house, and there were more than a dozen disaster victims crowded in it.
Even though they don't live there anymore, it still stinks.
As soon as they entered, they covered their noses in disgust and almost vomited.
"Father! How can you sleep in a place like this? If I had known you were going to suffer here, I would never have come with you."
"That's right! Not only are the conditions tough, but we also have to deal with the Ruan family. I feel sick just thinking about it!"
Zhang Xingzhi and his sister complained a lot, especially Zhang Xingzhi. Although Youyang was not as good as Kyoto, at least there were several Yihongyuans and no shortage of beautiful girls.
In this place now, let alone Yihongyuan, I'm afraid you can't even find a few clean-looking women! When he thought of this, he wanted to go home immediately.
But they didn't understand Zhang Hesong's annoyance.
He didn't want to come either!! But the Fifth Princess sent someone to see him in person and gave him a task. How could he report to the princess if he didn't torture Ruan Mian?
What's more, if I go back home now, the princess will probably be the first one to make fun of me.
Thinking of this, he shouted, "Since you're already here, and this is His Majesty's order, do you still want to disobey?!"
"Husband, please don't be angry. Xingzhi and Rong'er are just new here. How can they, who have been brought up in pampering, adapt to all this in a short time? Let's be more tolerant of them!"
After saying this, he looked at the brother and sister again and said comfortingly, "The hard times are only temporary. Look at Ruan Mian and the others. Although they are exiled here, the furnishings and things in their houses are nothing compared to what ordinary exiles can compare to."
"I originally thought that their family was exiled to Wuheng, and they would definitely die on the way there after all. But now, not only did they not die on the way, but they are actually thriving here!"
“Even better than our conditions.”
Seeing her mention this, Zhang Xingzhi and the others also felt strange.
"Father, Mother, how come Ruan Mian and his family can live so well here?"
"We all know what kind of people they are. They definitely don't have the ability to start a business with their bare hands."
"I'm afraid there's more to the story. Maybe... maybe they've hidden some treasure, which gives them the confidence to live so well! Otherwise, how could they live so well that even the prefect would look upon them with admiration?"
"Didn't we all hear on the road that the Ruan family has made a lot of efforts to control the flood? If they didn't have some treasures on them, how could they have the money to carry out disaster relief and flood control?" Zhang Xingzhi's words made Zhang Hesong realize something.
He never knew why the Fifth Princess traveled thousands of miles to ask him to deal with the Ruan family, and even found ways to torture them and not let him take their heads directly.
Maybe he is just eyeing the treasure behind them!
When I thought about it this way, I suddenly understood.
So, what kind of treasure did the Ruan family hold?!
I'm afraid it will take some time to find out the answer.
On the other side, Ruan Mian had already returned to the house with his parents. Regarding the sudden arrival of his uncle's family, Zhang called the family over and gave them a message.
"Mianmian, Song'er, I severed my relationship with Zhang Hesong a long time ago. Don't let the title of uncle overwhelm you. You all saw it just now. They all resent us."
"I do feel guilty about this, but when I think about what they did, I have nothing to feel guilty about. From now on, they can go their way, and we can just cross ours. There's no need to bother with them any more, and don't get yourself mad."
Originally, Ruan Mian didn't take them seriously, so he didn't care that much.
I was just worried that Zhang would be unhappy about this, so I tried to comfort her.
"Mother, since you've severed ties with them, there's no need to have any further contact with them. If they dare to embarrass you, just tell me!"
Zhang smiled, knowing that her daughter was reliable.
The news of the relief envoy's arrival spread throughout the disaster area.
However, the food and money they brought as disaster relief, when distributed among each person, was barely enough to make ends meet.
Moreover, the imperial court knew that Wu Heng had already started an epidemic, so why were there no medicinal materials in the disaster relief?
Is there some other hidden story behind this?
Ruan Mian planned to ask Ah Huai, maybe he knew something.
However, when she returned to the cellar, only her aunt was there.
"Mianmian, Ah Huai was originally waiting for you, but for some reason he suddenly said he had to leave here as soon as possible, otherwise he wouldn't be able to make it back to Kyoto."
"So he asked me to give this to you."
I saw my aunt handing her a jade pendant tied with a red string.
Ruan Mian was slightly stunned. Although she had prepared herself mentally, she still couldn't help feeling a little reluctant and lost.
She stroked the jade pendant tightly, but didn't see anything special about it.
Her aunt put her arm around her shoulders and comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay. Ah Huai also has important things to do. You will definitely meet again soon." Ruan Mian smiled slightly, put her thoughts aside, and put the jade pendant into the purse she carried with her.
"Well, thanks to my aunt, we will definitely meet as soon as possible."
"Yes! Besides, our business is more important! Look, you still have to provide Ah Huai with some weapons, and the post-disaster reconstruction outside also requires your attention. How can you have time to think about other things!"
"As soon as the epidemic subsides and the victims are resettled, we will reclaim the wasteland and reopen the shops that were forced to close. We will be heroes again when we make a comeback!"
My aunt is full of energy and she won't be defeated by a flood.
Even though their industries in Wuheng were damaged, they still had Guancheng, and the shops in Guancheng were safe.
The monthly dividends are quite a lot, so at worst I can go to Guancheng.
At the same time, Zhang Xingzhi was bored and walked back and forth in Jinsha Village.
Every time he came to a house, he stretched his neck to take a closer look. He had originally thought that there would be nothing in these dilapidated houses, but the reality was beyond his expectation.
Many of the rooms had everything they needed, and there were even many things he had never seen before.
Especially the thing that looked like a bed, which could generate heat when sat on. He had never seen such a thing before.
No wonder they can survive in such a cold place like Wuheng.
Some houses even had dried meat hanging in them. Even after the flood, they still had extra food! And meat at that! It was beyond his imagination.
It seems that this place is much better than I imagined.
The Ruan family, how could they be suffering in exile here? They were clearly living better than them!
Now, using the excuse of flood, he wants to receive disaster relief grain from the court. How shameless!
Zhang Xingzhi cursed angrily while munching on the meat dishes.
Just then, he suddenly saw a pretty girl walking across the intersection.
Although she was dressed in ordinary clothes, her face was fair, like that of a girl from the south of the Yangtze River, without any trace of roughness.
Zhang Xingzhi immediately chased after her and stopped her.
"May I ask your name, young lady? I see you are very beautiful and don't look like someone from this barren land, so I came here to ask you a few questions."
He always liked to flirt with decent women because he liked the shyness and fear and anger they showed after being teased.
But the woman in front of him was beyond his expectations.
The woman remained calm in the face of his words, but just walked around him and went another way.
Seeing this, Zhang Xingzhi stood in front of the woman again and suddenly became more interested.
"Miss, you don't want to tell me? I'm not a bad person. My father is a disaster relief envoy, an official who is here to save you from your difficulties!"
Logically speaking, the woman would definitely be afraid of him revealing his family background.
However, the woman only politely said, "My dear, I have something important to do. Please don't block my way."
This woman was none other than Mei Xi, who had just finished her work and was about to go and see how Wen Xuan was doing.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xingzhi blocked his way.
She also knew that the Zhang family was coming, so she didn't want to cause trouble for the girl. If the person in front of her was not from the Zhang family, she would have slapped him several times!
Now Mei Xi was trying her best to hold back her anger and just wanted to get away from this guy as soon as possible.
But Zhang Xingzhi refused to give in. The more she avoided him, the more rude he became.
In the end, seeing that she ignored him repeatedly, Zhang Xingzhi lost his patience, his eyes tightened, and his whole demeanor became fierce.
"I am the son of a disaster relief envoy. Do you really not take me seriously, young lady? Don't forget! You are now imprisoned. Don't you want to..."
However, before Zhang Xingzhi could finish his words, a dark figure suddenly fell from the sky!
There was only a sudden "click" sound, followed by Zhang Xingzhi's extremely painful voice.
"ah……"
He clutched the broken arm tightly and rolled on the ground in extreme pain.
"Who! Who hurt me?!"
"You're a pervert! Anyone can hurt you!"
Zhang Xingzhi heard the voice and went over. Seeing the face of a young man, he became furious: "You...you guys, don't even think about getting away with it!"
At this moment, Ye, who had come out to look for Zhang Xingzhi, also heard the noise and ran over. Seeing that Zhang Xingzhi's arm was broken, his heart trembled suddenly. He rushed over quickly and wailed.
"Son, son, are you okay?"
After saying that, he stood up suddenly.
Seeing this, Mei Xi immediately protected Yun Xiu behind her.
It turned out that the person who had just stood up for her was Yun Xiu. He didn't care about the twists and turns, he just saw a playboy making things difficult for Sister Meixi, and he took action when it was necessary, without mercy.
At this moment, Ye raised his hand high and slapped him!
Mei Xi took a step forward to pull Yun Xiu away, causing the slap to land hard on her face.
As a burning pain came, Yun Xiu became furious.
However, he was stopped by Mei Xi the next moment.
"Ah Xiu! She is the girl's aunt, let's not bother with her, let's go."
Hearing her say that, he became even more arrogant and blocked their way: "Want to leave?"
“How can such a good thing happen!!”
Ye had a look of disdain on his face, his tone full of contempt and ridicule.
"My son was only willing to talk to you because he saw you were pretty, but I didn't expect you, a woman, to be so ungrateful and now team up with this man to break my son's arm!"
"I want to see if you dare to touch me, the wife of the disaster relief envoy, today!"
After saying that, Ye rushed forward, grabbed Yun Xiu by the collar, and roared angrily.
The hands with sharp nails kept scratching Yun Xiu's body, face and neck.
Mei Xi hurriedly tried to pull her away, but the two of them were concerned about Ruan Mian and didn't want to cause any more trouble, so they avoided her whenever possible.
They didn't know at this moment that the Ruan and Zhang families had been at odds for a long time.
Ruan Mian came over after hearing the noise, and when he saw Yun Xiu being bullied by Ye, his eyes suddenly sank.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, grabbed Ye's hand, and gave her a big slap!
Ruan Mian's strength is not comparable to Ye's.
After this slap, I felt my whole head buzzing, and my mind suddenly went blank!
She looked over in disbelief. She hadn't expected Ruan Mian to be so bold as to slap her, an elder! Ye covered half of her burning face, her expression gradually distorted.
The hand pointed at Ruan Mian, shaking with anger: "You, you...you are so disrespectful and have no respect for your elders!"
"Ruan Mian, I'm the wife of the disaster relief envoy, and also your elder. According to seniority, you should call me aunt! And you dared to slap me?"
Ye had never been bullied by a younger generation, but Ruan Mian's expression remained unchanged as he continued to speak.
On the contrary, that cold face made people feel a little uneasy.
I always feel that she is not someone who is easy to mess with.
Zhang Xingzhi saw that something was wrong and wanted to pull his mother over to comfort her, but Ye shook his hand away regardless and said that she had to settle the score with Ruan Mian today!
Seeing her relentless attitude, Ruan Mian had no place to vent his anger.
However, just as she was about to speak, Ye suddenly saw Mr. Ruan walking towards her not far away.
Her eyebrows moved slightly, and she immediately came up with an idea.
Suddenly her attitude took a 180-degree turn. She covered her face and fell to the ground crying. She grabbed Zhang Xingzhi's arm and slapped him hard to teach him a lesson.
"It's all because of my inadequate parenting! How could you, child, do something that could lead to misunderstandings?!"
"Mother knows you miss the girl named Qin'er, but this girl is not the Qin'er you are looking for. Why don't you admit your mistake?"
Zhang Xingzhi was bewildered after being suddenly taught a lesson, but he finally accepted the eye contact from Ye.
Zhang Xingzhi finally cooperated with her and wailed. Outsiders seemed to be watching how hard she had been beaten.
In fact, it's just a little punch or a scratch.
At this time, Master Ruan came over, not knowing what had happened. Before Ruan Mian could speak, Ye had already started to cry and accuse him.
"Wulang!! I think I didn't discipline my daughter enough, which led to Mianmian and the others misunderstanding me. But I am still Mianmian's elder after all. How could she hurt others?"
Ye suddenly turned into a crying little girl, which surprised everyone around her.
Yun Xiu, in particular, spoke up immediately, "What misunderstanding?! It was clearly your son who deliberately teased Sister Xi, and you were the first to do it, so we..."
"You..." Before Yun Xiu could finish, Ye suddenly started coughing violently, her voice trembling, as if she was wronged.
"Don't talk nonsense, this is all just a misunderstanding. I've lived for so many years and have never been attacked by the younger generation. Wulang, look at my son and me."
Ye raised her head and showed her red cheeks to Mr. Ruan.
He also played the emotional card: "If there is any resentment, it is us who have resentment towards you. If it weren't for your Ruan family's involvement, how could our family be in this situation now?"
"Wu Lang, you and I have known each other since childhood. Moreover, if it weren't for... if it weren't for certain reasons, we wouldn't have reached this point."
"Now I don't ask you for anything, I just beg you to take care of Mianmian. How can a girl be so unreasonable and hit her elders at will? I don't care about what happened today, I just..."
"Ruolan."
Mr. Ruan suddenly interrupted her. This word "Ruolan" seemed to bring Ye back to the time when she was young and fell in love with him.
If he had not come from a merchant family, I would have been willing to marry him long ago.
But he was just a merchant, and compared with Zhang Hesong's official status, the difference was obvious.
But putting these aside, even though he was older, the man in front of him was much more handsome than Zhang Hesong.
It just gave the Zhang family a free advantage.
She tried to get Mr. Ruan to teach Ruan Mian a lesson. Thinking of their friendship in the past, he would definitely pity her. Moreover, as a traditional and rule-abiding man, he would not allow his daughter to offend the elders.
But she never expected that Master Ruan would protect Ruan Mian and the others in front of him, look at Zhang Xingzhi with cold eyes, and speak seriously.
"If sister-in-law can't teach her son well, then go back and teach him well. I know my daughter better than anyone else."
"She wouldn't offend a respected elder for no reason, unless that person was taking advantage of his seniority and was not a clean person!"
When these words were spoken, not only Ruan Mian, but even Yun Xiu and Mei Xi beside them felt warm in their hearts.
At first, they were really worried that Mr. Ruan, who didn't understand the whole story, would vent his anger on Ruan Mian because she hit his elder.
After all, Mr. Ruan has always abided by the rules.
But now, just two sentences exposed Ye's disguise, without even giving Ye a chance to quibble, and he immediately scolded her.
"I don't care if you're the wife of a disaster relief envoy or someone else. If your son bullies any girl in Jinsha Village, we won't let him go!"
These words made Ye freeze in place. At this moment, Ruan Mian also walked forward with a smile, his eyes full of oppression.
When Zhang Xingzhi saw that something was wrong, he pulled Ye away in disgrace without hesitation.
However, Ye's face was still full of resignation: "He, why did Ruan treat me like this? Ah? Where did they get the courage!!"
"After not seeing each other for so many years, the handsome man back then has become so rude and unreasonable. Fortunately, I didn't marry him back then! It really proves the saying that there is no business without dishonesty. There are indeed few good people born into a merchant family!!"
Ye used these words to convince herself, and only then did she feel better.
At the same time, Master Ruan looked at them and took a look: "Are you okay?"
Ruan Mian smiled and took Master Ruan's arm: "Don't worry, father, that's just a shrew, she can't do anything to us."
"It's just that Meng Xi and Yun Xiu must have been wronged."
Mei Xi quickly shook her head. She didn't take Zhang Xingzhi's lewd words seriously at all.
It’s a pity for Yun Xiu.
Such a beautiful face was scratched by Ye, with scratches all over it. Some serious areas even bled, which made Ruan Mian feel distressed.
So she asked Yun Xiu to follow her back to the house. She personally took the medicine box and applied medicine to Yun Xiu.
Before Yun Xiu could react, her face suddenly moved closer to him.
His body stiffened, and after a moment's reaction, he immediately shrank back a little, hesitatingly saying, "Mian...Sister, I can do it myself."
Seeing his uncomfortable expression, Ruan Mian couldn't help but laugh: "Why do we still have to argue about that between you and me?"
In her heart, Yun Xiu was no different from her own brother. After all, she was the one who saved his life.
What's more, these wounds of varying sizes were all over his neck and face, and he was a rough man and couldn't apply medicine properly.
So Ruan Mian ignored everything else, held his shoulders, and applied medicine to his wounds one by one.
The cool medicine covered the wound, causing a slight sting.
But to Yun Xiu, these were just some minor injuries and pains that were not worth mentioning. What almost made his heart stop at this moment was Sister Mianmian's sudden approach.
He could even clearly see Ruan Mian's drooping eyelashes, like butterfly wings, casting a shadow.
Moreover, the faint fragrance emanating from her body seemed to envelop his entire body.
Yun Xiu almost held his breath until Ruan Mian put down the powder. Then he suddenly stood up, avoiding her gaze and even stuttering.
"Thank...thank you Sister Mianmian, I'm...I'm fine now."
As he spoke, his face flushed a little.
Ruan Mian saw it unexpectedly and suddenly realized at this moment that he seemed to have gone a little too far.
She habitually treated Yun Xiu as her little brother, but in fact, Yun Xiu seemed to have grown up now.
With such a tall stature and such broad shoulders, if you count carefully, he is over sixteen years old.
If it were the doomsday background they were in at the time, a boy of sixteen or seventeen could fight zombies alone and become the pillar of a family.
It seems that she should pay more attention to some things in the future.
So she smiled and calmly reminded Yun Xiu to be careful not to touch the water.
However, just as he finished speaking, two familiar voices were faintly heard outside the house, as if they were arguing and cursing at each other.
Yun Xiu also heard it, and he subconsciously looked at Ruan Mian: "Sister Qing'er?"
The voice of one of them was indeed Qing'er's.
Seeing this, the two of them hurried out of the house and headed in the direction of the sound.
As soon as I got there, I saw Qing'er grabbing the collar of a thin woman and cursing at her.
"How rude of you! You're the daughter of a disaster relief envoy, and yet you're stealing here? Do you have any sense of shame?!"
Seeing Ruan Mian and the others coming over, the frail woman quickly called for help: "Sister Mian Mian!! Please save me, I didn't mean it."
Ruan Mian took a look and found that the woman was actually Ye's daughter, Zhang Ronger.
This family is really always bringing up things that are not related to the topic, and they are always causing trouble for them.
Considering that Qing'er is still pregnant, how could he be so angry?
So Ruan Mian stepped forward to stop Ruan Zhiyao, asking her to calm down and let him solve the problem himself.
"What's going on?"
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