Chapter 63 Rumor 2 I want to plant a plum forest in my backyard
At this time, Dali Temple.
Liu Qinian had already settled Xie Wuhen into the inner chamber, lest he be disturbed by the noise outside. He then offered a few words of comfort, "Focus on completing your mission for the Emperor. Don't worry about anything else. Don't cause any more trouble. I'll drive those people away as soon as possible."
Xie Wuhen's expression remained calm as he clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, sir."
Liu Qinian patted him on the shoulder and turned away.
A moment later, Wu Sheng entered the room and said, "Boss, the young lady is here."
Xie Wuhen paused: "Have you entered the gate?"
Wu Sheng shook his head: "We are being blocked by the group of people outside the gate."
He was about to leave the house.
Wu Sheng held him back and said, "Boss, the young master is fine. He seems to be trying to reason with that group of people."
He was stunned: "Reasonable?"
At this time, outside the Dali Temple.
Su He was surrounded by a group of people and couldn't move forward or backward.
Everyone started talking at once, asking, "Who are you? Why are you speaking for the Xie family?"
Then he asked, "How come a delicate and weak young lady like you got involved with the Xie family?"
Su He demanded sharply, "I am the wife of the Shaoqing Lord, and also the young lady of the Xie family's main branch. Why can't I speak for the Xie family?"
This question was so powerful and resounding that it shook the sky. It formed a sharp contrast with her delicate figure, and frightened everyone into silence.
Even the Dali Temple officials who came to disperse the crowd were stunned for a moment.
Su He walked forward, neither fast nor slow.
With every step she took, the crowd would automatically retreat, leaving her some space.
She finally walked up a slope to the left of the gate, stood tall and looked down at the crowd.
Under the bright summer sun, Su He's face was as radiant as a lotus, and her eyes were firm: "I believe that you are not evil people, and I also believe that there are no evil people in my Xie family..."
A middle-aged man interrupted her loudly: "Is the old lady of the Xie family who stole men a bad person? Is the second master of the Xie family who committed adultery with his sister-in-law a bad person?"
Su He turned his gaze, staring at the man and asked solemnly, "Let's not talk about my Xie family first. Let me ask this big brother first. What contributions have you made to the Liang Kingdom? What contributions has your family made to the Liang Kingdom?"
The man choked and snorted coldly, "We are just ordinary people. We are lucky to have enough food and water. How can we make any contribution?"
The others followed suit loudly.
After the chorus of agreement died down, Su He spoke in a resounding voice, "That's right, you are just ordinary people. You only have to focus on your livelihood and three meals a day. You don't have the time to care about family and national affairs. But remember, you can be ordinary people with enough food and drink, and you can be so bored and gossip because there are people behind you who protect your home and country, and there are people who carry the burden for you. Just like my father-in-law, General Xie Lei of the Cavalry, who died on the battlefield fighting against foreign enemies, and my husband, Junior Minister Xie Wuhen of the Dali Temple, who worked tirelessly to protect the safety of the people. The Xie family has made outstanding contributions for generations, and even the emperor cares about the Xie family with sympathy and care. But you are the ones who are talking about the Xie family and adding insult to injury because of some bullshit. Do you really have no regrets?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Some people lowered their heads and twisted their fingers in thought.
Someone murmured, "What she said seems to make some sense."
Some people were dissatisfied and asked loudly: "Aren't those bullshit things actually true?"
Su He asked back, "What does it matter if it's true? What does it matter if it's not true? This is the Xie family's family affair. Outsiders have no right to interfere. The Xie family has not harmed any innocent people because of this matter. Therefore, there is no need to explain to anyone."
Everyone was silent again.
After a moment, another man spoke up: "You are the young lady of the Xie family, so you should naturally speak for the Xie family."
Su He said calmly, "You're right. I'm a member of the Xie family, so I must speak for them. But may I ask, big brother, what would you do if I spread the word that your mother is immoral and your father is a wicked man?"
The man instantly flew into a rage: "How dare you!"
Su He chuckled: "Don't you also instinctively protect your family?"
The crowd of onlookers also laughed, and the atmosphere seemed to ease.
The man couldn't bring himself to do it, so he picked up a brick and threw it at Su He in anger.
It happened so fast that everyone was stunned, even Su He was stunned, watching the brick flying towards him.
Just as the brick was about to hit her head, a black shadow suddenly flew out from the side and blocked her way at lightning speed.
The brick hit the shadow's outstretched arm hard and then bounced off.
Su He raised her eyes and saw Xie Wuhen's pale and stern face.
She paused: "Husband?"
He asked, "Is my wife okay?"
"I am fine, but was my husband hit?"
He replied, "I'm fine."
Then he turned to look at the man who threw the brick and said, "If you have any complaints, just come to me. How can you be a hero if you lay a hand on a woman?"
The man was frightened when he saw him in his official uniform and immediately lost his composure. "I...I was just acting on impulse."
Just as Xie Wuhen was about to order the officers to drag the man away, Su He grabbed him and whispered, "Husband, please don't be angry. Don't... add fuel to the fire."
She turned to look at the crowd, her eyes filled with radiance, and introduced to everyone: "This is my husband, Xie Wuhen, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple. Didn't you all come here today to see him? Then take a good look at him now." There was even a hint of pride in her tone.
Xie Wuhen stood proudly on the slope, his appearance dignified and imposing. "Yes, I am Xie Wuhen, the eldest son of the Xie family. General Xie Lei is my father, and Madam Xu Nanzhi is my mother. Aren't you all quite interested in the affairs of the Xie family mansion? If you have any questions today, feel free to ask, and I will certainly answer them one by one."
He said the last sentence in a heavy and serious tone, which clearly contained hostility and frightened people. Who would dare to confront him head-on about the Xie family's bloody affairs?
Even the man who had just thrown the brick sneaked away.
Everyone suddenly knelt on the ground in a mass.
They all shouted, "Greetings to the Shaoqing Lord, long live the Shaoqing Lord."
The situation took a sudden and unexpected turn.
Xie Wuhen had a blank expression on his face, as if he was still furious.
Su He breathed a sigh of relief, after all, things were turning for the better.
She looked at him, then looked at the people kneeling on the ground and softened her tone: "Everyone, please stand up."
He added, "Regarding the affairs of the Xie family, I hope everyone will be kind to the general and the ministers, and refrain from spreading malicious information or false accusations."
Everyone stood up.
A woman shouted back, "Please rest assured, Madam Shaoqing, we will never again gossip about the Xie family. We all remember the great general's kindness in protecting our country, and we also remember the Shaoqing's kindness in protecting the people."
Others nodded in agreement.
"Thank you everyone." Su He bowed to everyone.
Then he advised: "It's hot, and everyone has their own work to do, so you should go back quickly."
Everyone nodded "OK" and left in groups of three or four.
The noisy entrance of Dali Temple gradually returned to its former tranquility.
A carriage with the Zhou family emblem on it just passed by the gate of Dali Temple.
Zhou Yuanze, a deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel, lifted the carriage curtain and peeked out. He saw the people leaving in twos and threes, and then saw Xie Wuhen standing at the gate. He couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect he could get away so easily."
Personal bodyguard Wang Shan also looked outside and said disdainfully, "The Xie family scandal is now a hot topic in the city. He can avoid it on the first day, but how can he avoid it on the fifteenth?"
Zhou Yuanze nodded: "That's right, the Queen will not let him off easily." After saying that, he smiled evilly and lowered the curtain with a "whoosh".
The driver cracked his whip and the carriage sped away into a cloud of dust.
Su He also saw the "Zhou" emblem on the carriage from afar.
She just didn't know whether the person sitting in the carriage was Zhou Ping, Zhou Yuanze, or someone else from the Zhou family.
She calmed herself down and secretly clenched her fists.
At this time, Liu Qinian was also standing in front of the window, stroking his beard and smiling with satisfaction: "Wuhen has married a good wife."
Then he ordered the servant beside him: "Let the Shaoqing leave his post early so that he can send his wife back home."
The officer bowed his head and replied "yes".
In the carriage back home.
Xie Wuhen kept holding Su He tightly, as if he was afraid that she would run away.
In the past, when they rode in a carriage, he and she always sat side by side, but this was the first time they were so close.
He said, "I'm sorry to have frightened my wife today."
His tone was gentle, his eyes full of guilt and gratitude.
What she wanted was his guilt and gratitude.
"I am fine, my dear husband, is your arm injured?"
After all, if such a big brick hits you, even if it doesn't hurt your bones, your skin and flesh will definitely not be able to withstand it.
He also calls it "unaided".
But Su He insisted on seeing it, so he rolled up his sleeves to let her see.
Sure enough, a large bruise appeared on his right arm.
Su He took out the ointment from the car and applied it to him carefully.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
He didn't care: "It doesn't hurt."
"If it weren't for my husband, I would have died under that brick."
"Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt my wife."
She paused, looked up at him, and saw his eyes full of determination and sincerity.
She lowered her eyes and stopped looking at him.
He then said, "Perhaps today's incident was deliberately orchestrated by someone with ulterior motives to stir up trouble."
She even suspected the Zhou family, but she was not in a position to say it out loud.
"That's right." He reminded: "My lady, please be careful when you go out in the future, or try to go out less."
Su He smiled and said, "Don't worry, my husband. After what happened today, even if someone wants to collude and stir up trouble again, it will be difficult. Those people are not fools."
He was silent for a long time, with a thousand words in his heart but not knowing how to express them.
After a moment, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, saying "Thank you, my lady".
Thank her for standing with him when he was in the most difficult time, thank her for speaking up for him in public with confidence; thank her for her courage, and thank her for her thoughtfulness.
Su He put away the ointment and replied gently: "Husband, why are you so polite? We are a family."
When she mentioned the word "family", she actually felt guilty.
But even though she felt guilty, she had to hold on to his heart and his trust at this moment.
He hugged her again: "Yes, we are a family."
The three words "family" are so powerful!
The carriage swayed slightly, creating gaps of varying sizes in the curtains.
The sunlight seeps in through the cracks, strands of it, bringing infinite comfort and peace.
May time stop, and may this moment last forever!
Su He leaned in his arms, feeling his heartbeat, his breath, and his gentle caress. She said, "It's a good thing to speak out publicly today. We don't have to hide it anymore."
He hummed softly.
She asked tentatively, "From now on... can Erlang also meet people openly?"
He was silent for a moment, then replied, "I'll listen to my wife."
Then he changed the subject: "I want to plant a plum orchard in the backyard."
She asked, "Why?"
He said, "It will be convenient for my wife to collect flower dew from now on."
She was speechless for a long time.
She thought, even if this man was proud and conceited, as long as she gained his trust, he would become someone very easy to control!
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