The atmosphere in the room suddenly froze into ice.

This should have been a blushing and heart-pounding scene, but when it was said by the person in front of me, there was no longer any ambiguity, only the embarrassment and danger of being seen through.

He Yan quickly regained his senses and looked at him. The "fear and nervousness" that was unique to the young man Cheng Lisu disappeared completely. He smiled as usual and said, "You can call me whatever you want, as long as the governor is happy."

"The daughter of the city gate captain He Sui actually came to join the army." He stared at He Yan's eyes with a half-smile, "Miss He is very courageous."

This person... He Yan's mind moved. Since he even knew He Sui's name, it was obvious that he was secretly investigating him, not because he was exposed in Sun Mansion. It would take more than a month to get here from Shuojing even if he rode a horse and whipped a pigeon to send a letter. Xiao Jue had already started to suspect her? Why?

The young man smiled and said, "I didn't expect the governor to pay so much attention to me. I am really ashamed."

There was no panic on He Yan's face. Even if it was an accident, it was only a flash. Even now, if someone opened her clothes and revealed her identity, an ordinary woman would probably be embarrassed and angry. But this woman, on the other hand, looked like she didn't care at all. She was more carefree than men. Perhaps that was why no one noticed her female body after traveling from the capital to Liangzhou and staying in Liangzhou Guard for so long.

When Xiao Jue received the secret letter from Shuo Jing, he was in disbelief. The city gate captain did have a child named He Yan, but it was a daughter, not a son. He also had a son named He Yunsheng. Half a year ago, He Yan's daughter was killed by thieves in a boat on the Chunlai River and sank into the river. Her body has not been found since then. According to the time, it was the day when He Yan joined the army.

But a woman who joined the army could stay undetected for a day or two and remain safe for more than half a year. Either the people around her were blind, or she was just pretending too well. Xiao Jue was not blind. Thinking carefully about the moments he had spent with He Yan, he felt that this person was really good at hiding himself.

She was born with a delicate and frail figure, but people would not associate her with a woman, because it was impossible for a normal woman to be so casual, not to mention that her skills were among the best in Liangzhou Guards.

"What are you doing in Liangzhouwei?"

He Yan's mind raced as he answered, "I got into trouble in Shuojing and would have died if I was caught. I had no other choice but to join the army."

"What is it?"

This person still doesn't believe her, even though everything has been checked out. He Yan sighed: "A young man from a wealthy family coveted my beauty and took me to a ship to marry me. Unfortunately, an assassin came and killed him. I couldn't explain myself if I stayed on the ship alone. Who knows, others might think that I was in cahoots with the assassin. I had no choice but to join the army."

This was half true and half false, and He Yan said it very sincerely. Xiao Jue looked at her playfully: "Coveting your beauty?"

He Yan: “…”

What does this mean? Do you look down on her? He Yan looked at herself in the mirror. Miss He's face was definitely pretty and charming.

"After all, not everyone has the same high standards as the governor." She said with a wry smile.

Xiao Jue nodded: "I see."

He Yan's words were half true and half false. He knew that Xiao Jue was hard to fool. He had never thought that he would believe it so easily. He did not expect that he would not continue the conversation.

"Why are you going out so late at night?" He glanced at He Yan, the bloody smell was hard to conceal, and the mattress on the bed was also stained with a light red color.

It turned out that this man knew that he was injured. Even so, he had no mercy and questioned her. Now he didn't even move his hand around her neck. In Xiao Jue's eyes, there was probably no difference between men and women.

"I killed Yuan Baozhen's guards," she said.

After a while, Xiao Jue raised his eyebrows: "Why?"

"During the days when the governor was away from home, Yuan Baozhen kept coming to see me. I always felt that he was suspicious of me. Later, I overheard their conversation." After a pause, He Yan continued, "It seems that they were following the orders of a man named Xu Xiang to take your life. The night banquet was also prepared by them."

"Are you talking about Prime Minister Xu?" Xiao Jue raised his eyes and looked at her, with strange emotions emerging in his autumn-water eyes.

He Yan shrugged, "Yeah, you can think about whether you have ever offended someone named Xu Xiang. I was woken up by the cold tonight. When I woke up, you were not at home and the window was open. When I closed the window, I found someone passing by. That person deliberately led me to the abandoned side yard of the Sun Mansion. It was Yuan Baozhen's guard."

"He wanted to use me to entangle you, probably as a hostage." He Yan shook his head: "But I'm not the real Cheng Lisu, I don't think the governor will surrender for me, what if the governor simply shoots me to death in order to prevent future troubles? After thinking about it, I couldn't fall into his hands, so I fought him hard and finally killed him." He Yan motioned for him to look at himself, "It became like this now."

Even though she said it lightly, she was injured after all. Her face looked bad and her strength was beginning to drain away.

"You are very capable to be able to kill Yuan Baozhen's guards and still be alive."

"I think so too," He Yan said with a forced smile, "Then Commander, am I qualified to join the Nine Banners Camp now?"

She made no secret of her desire to join the Nine Flags Camp.

"Do you think you can enter the Nine Flags Camp?" Xiao Jue asked back.

"Of course, and I helped you get rid of a major threat, Governor, you should reward me."

Xiao Jue laughed instead of getting angry, loosened his grip on He Yan, lowered his eyes to look at her, and said mockingly, "I will send you back to Shuojing tomorrow, which will be my reward to you."

"No!" He Yan sat up straight. The movement pulled the wound and she hissed in pain. She said, "I can't go back to Shuojing! If I go back to Shuojing, the Fan family will not let me go. Governor, can you bear to let a good person be wrongly imprisoned?"

"Have the heart to do it."

He Yan: "...You can't do this!"

"You are not qualified to negotiate with me."

He Yan had said so much that she felt dizzy and was afraid that she would not be able to continue. She did not even treat the wounds on her body. She said, "You will regret this."

"Why do I regret it?"

"Since you are going to send me back to Shuojing, there is no need to hide my identity. Everyone knows that a woman has come to Liangzhou Guards, and they will all guess what is going on." He Yan smiled slightly, "I can only tell them that I have a special relationship with you, the governor."

Xiao Jue heard this and asked casually, "Why is it unusual?"

"It's unusual because... I know there's a red mole one inch above the governor's waist."

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent, with only the sound of thunder outside the window and the drizzle of rain hitting the stone floor.

Xiao Jue slowly turned his head to look at her, his eyes becoming increasingly angry.

The young man looked like a scoundrel, with a smile on his face. He said with a pale face, "When you were bathing earlier... I have good eyesight and saw it at a glance. It's because our governor is so charming. Even the red mole on his waist is so perfect that it's hard to forget."

How could there be such a woman in the world? Xiao Jue couldn't believe it, but after He Yan finished speaking, she seemed to be unable to hold on, her head tilted, and she passed out.

Xiao Jue: “…”

Fei Nu's voice rang out from outside the door: "Young Master."

Xiao Jue said, "Come in." He casually pulled the mattress from the bed and threw it on He Yan, covering her.

Fei Nu came in, but did not look at He Yan. He just said, "We found the body of Yuan Baozhen's guard in the side yard of Sun Mansion. He died from his own plum blossom dart."

Xiao Jue said, "I see." So, He Yan did not lie about this matter.

The bloody smell in the room was too strong to be ignored. Fei Nu hesitated for a moment before asking, "Master, is He Yan injured?"

When Fei Nu learned that He Yan was a woman, he was also very surprised. Apart from her figure and appearance, He Yan really didn't resemble a woman at all. However, it was this woman who killed Yuan Baozhen's personal bodyguard, who was extremely skilled, and the most powerful thing was that he was good at using poison.

"He's seriously injured."

"Young Master, what are you going to do with her now?" Fei Nu asked.

Xiao Jue paused for a moment and said, "Go out and find a female doctor now."

Fei Nu was slightly surprised. Xiao Jue meant to save He Yan.

"Young Master, have you confirmed that she is not Xu Xiang's woman?"

"It doesn't look like that." Xiao Jue said, "Xu Jingfu despises women. He will never let women participate in any important matters. The secret letter sent by Shuo Jing said that the He family had no dealings with Xu Jingfu. However," he hesitated for a moment, "it's better to be cautious."

Fei Nu nodded, "I will go find the doctor now."

After Fei Nu left, Xiao Jue turned sideways and looked at He Yan on the bed.

Just because she doesn't look like Xu Jingfu's man doesn't mean she is without doubt. A 16-year-old girl, born in the family of a city gate captain, even if she has practiced martial arts since she was a child, can't be so outstanding and invincible in the Liangzhou Guards. How can an ordinary person have such a mind to mingle in the military camp? You know, there are men who can't endure hardships, but she didn't complain. If she joined the army just because of Fan Cheng, it would be a bit forced.

What's more, she was still dreaming of joining the Nine Flags Camp.

The rain kept falling heavily, and the girl's face turned pale. When she returned, she was covered with wounds, especially the knife wound on her back, which was very deep and long. However, she never cried out in pain from beginning to end. Even when she fainted from exhaustion, the corners of her lips were curled up, and she looked like a rogue boy.

There are still such women in the world. They are powerful, yet evil, cunning, and shameless.

Xiao Jue closed the window, turned around and left.

…

When He Yan woke up, it was already daybreak.

She slept on the same bed as usual, but her clothes were changed. He Yan sat up and subconsciously lifted her underwear, only to see a white cloth wrapped around her waist. The wound from the fight with Ding Yi last night had been bandaged.

Recalling carefully, she remembered what happened last night. She remembered that she and Xiao Jue had a sharp confrontation, and Xiao Jue used the red mole on Xiao Jue's waist to take advantage of him. Xiao Jue was very angry, and then she didn't know what happened, she must have fainted. But now... She touched her head, her bun was still there, and her clothes were men's clothes. The fact that she was a woman had not been known to others.

Xiao Jue, is this to keep it a secret for her for the time being?

He Yan heaved a sigh of relief and looked around, but there was no sign of Fei Nu and Xiao Jue.

Could it be that these two people knew that she was a woman and simply abandoned her in the Sun Mansion?

He Yan wanted to get out of bed, and when he moved, a long-necked bottle rolled out from his arms. He opened the stopper and found some black pills inside. There was also a note beside the bed, which read: Wake up and take medicine.

The handwriting was sharp and vigorous, very beautiful, He Yan recognized it as Xiao Jue's handwriting at a glance. When he was in Xianchang Hall, Xiao Jue was outstanding in everything, even the articles he wrote were hung at the door of the hall for people to see. He Yan was deeply impressed by the handwriting, and she secretly copied a few copies and wanted to imitate it, but gave up because she couldn't write like Xiao Jue.

Young Master Xiao left a note asking her to take medicine, so the situation should be relatively peaceful and nothing should happen for the time being.

He Yan was thinking about it, and suddenly she remembered something and looked herself up and down. If she wanted to protect her identity as a woman from being exposed, she naturally couldn't use the servants of the Sun Mansion. Then who changed these clothes for her? And who bandaged her? It certainly couldn't be Xiao Jue, so it must be Fei Nu?

Although she had served in the army for many years and didn't care as much about her skin as other girls, she still felt a little uncomfortable when she thought about it.

It's as if someone has taken advantage of me.

But it was useless to think about it now, as the other person was well-intentioned. She got out of bed, put on her shoes, opened the door and wanted to go out and take a look.

As soon as he went out, He Yan felt something was wrong.

Because of the assassin incident at the Sun family's night banquet, the servants of the Sun Mansion were not allowed to approach the house where He Yan and his family lived on weekdays. However, there were still maids sweeping the house from a distance, but today there was not a single one. Looking from a distance, it seemed as if the entire Sun Mansion was empty.

Even if Xiao Jue wanted to abandon her, what was going on with the entire Sun Mansion being empty? Could something have happened? He Yan was confused. After thinking for a while, she decided to go out. When she passed the room she lived in, turned around the garden, and came to the main courtyard, she saw many soldiers in red armor surrounding the main hall, and the maids and servants squatted in several rows. Sun Xiangfu and his son were surrounded in the middle, and Yuan Baozhen stood on one side, confronting Xiao Jue.

She just woke up from a nap, how come she got into a fight? He Yan was lost in thought, and met Xiao Jue's gaze. His cold eyes reminded He Yan of what happened last night, and for a moment she felt awkward. After thinking for a while, she gritted her teeth and called out in Cheng Lisu's unique happy tone, "Uncle!"

The tense atmosphere was interrupted by his "Uncle". Everyone looked at her.

Yuan Baozhen's eyes flashed: "Master Cheng, can you see it?"

He Yan then remembered that she didn't tie a strip of cloth around her, but it didn't matter now. Ding Yi was dead, and Xiao Jue had exposed her identity as a woman. It seemed that Xiao Jue had finally found the person who assassinated him, and now was the time to settle the accounts. She, a small figure, whether she was blind or an ordinary person, could no longer shake the overall situation.

He Yan scratched his head and answered blankly, "Really? It seems so. I can indeed see it. I am indeed a blessed person who is blessed by God."

This lie was too perfunctory, but naturally no one dared to question her at the moment.

Yuan Baozhen vaguely realized something and asked, "Master Cheng, have you ever seen my guards?"

"No." He Yan said, "Could it be that Yuan Yushi's guards are missing?"

She smiled, making it hard to fathom her thoughts. Yuan Baozhen felt uneasy. Ding Yi went out last night and did not come back until this morning. Something must have happened. He and Ding Yi had argued before. Ding Yi wanted to kidnap Cheng Lisu to get Xiao Jue, but Yuan Baozhen felt that now was not a good time. They parted unhappily, but after all, the person Ding Yi really obeyed was He Rufei, so he could do nothing about it. If he sneaked out last night, it must be for Cheng Lisu.

Now Cheng Lisu was standing here perfectly fine, even his eyes were normal, but Ding Yi disappeared. Yuan Baozhen felt a sinking feeling in his heart, and thought that something was not right. Xiao Jue had people surround Sun's house early in the morning, which made people even more uneasy.

The way this person does things is really irrational and cannot be predicted.

Without hearing Yuan Baozhen's answer, He Yan was not in a hurry. He moved to stand beside Xiao Jue, first smiled at Xiao Jue in a flattering way, and then whispered to Fei Nu beside him: "Brother Fei Nu, what is going on here?"

Fei Nu looked at He Yan's usual smiling face, and had a higher opinion of He Yan's calmness and composure. After such a big incident last night, her identity had clearly been exposed, but she was still able to continue the show as if nothing had happened, which was admirable.

Before Fei Nu could answer, Sun Xiangfu on the other end of the line had already spoken. His face was extremely ugly, but he still forced a smile: "Governor, what is your intention? But is there anything that our Sun Mansion has not done well enough to annoy the governor?"

Sun Ling stood beside Sun Xiangfu, staring at Xiao Jue with hatred in his eyes. He didn't say anything, but he looked very upset.

"Not bad," Yuan Baozhen stroked his beard and said thoughtfully, "Commander-in-chief, where did you get these soldiers? His Majesty has now strictly prohibited the private stationing of troops. If you are really dissatisfied with Sun Zhixian, you cannot vent your anger in this way."

He Yan raised his eyebrows. These words were heartbreaking. He accused Xiao Jue of two crimes in one breath. One was privately stationing troops, and the other was a personal vendetta. What a sharp mouth he had.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jue curled his lips and said, "Yuan Yushi, you are worrying too much. These are the soldiers I borrowed from Xialing County. I cannot bear the crime of privately stationing troops. I wonder if Yuan Yushi can bear the crime of slandering an official appointed by the court?"

Soldiers from Xialing County? Yuan Baozhen froze. How could this be possible? The red-clothed soldier in the lead clasped his fists and said, "I am here on the orders of Shi, the governor of Xialing County, to assist the governor Yu Shi in investigating the case of the magistrate of Liangzhou murdering his official family."

Murdering an official's family? Upon hearing this, Sun Xiangfu subconsciously cried out for justice, "The governor is innocent! The assassin in the mansion has nothing to do with me! I don't know what happened, you, you can't just accuse people! And the young master can see now, you can't just arrest a good man just because you are angry! I am innocent, I am innocent!"

He screamed miserably, his heart was torn apart, but Xiao Jue just sneered when he heard it: "Who said that the official's wife refers to Cheng Lisu?"

Isn't it Cheng Lisu? Everyone, including He Yan, was stunned.

At this moment, a woman's clear voice came from outside the courtyard: "I am the one who was murdered!"

But two more people came in outside the yard, one of them was Xiao Jue's bodyguard Chi Wu, and the other was a little girl in a warm-colored skirt with a pair of buns, bright eyes and white teeth, and she was lovely and cute. Who else could it be but Song Taotao.

Under Chiwu's protection, Song Taotao walked to Xiao Jue and scolded Sun Xiangfu and Sun Ling, "I am the legitimate daughter of the Vice Commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How dare you arrest me in the street? If I hadn't met Mr. Xiao and Mr. Cheng on the way, I don't know what would have happened to me. The people in Wanhua Pavilion have been arrested by Mr. Xiao's men. There are witnesses and evidence. Let's see how you can deny it this time. When I return to Shuojing, I will tell my father about this. You can all wait for your heads to be chopped off!"

This little girl looked sweet, but she spoke with great power. She must have hated Sun Ling. If it weren't for Sun Ling, she wouldn't have ended up in Wanhua Pavilion, suffered so much, and almost had her fingers pinched and broken. In other words, if He Yan hadn't accidentally seen her and rescued her that night, this little girl would have been ruined by Sun Ling.

Sun Xiangfu and his son looked pale.

If it was Xiao Jue and Cheng Lisu who were involved in the murder of officials' families, they could still fight back, because all the assassins were dead and there was no evidence to prove that they were involved. But who knew that Xiao Jue would go astray and find such a little girl. Who could have thought that the girl brought by Sun Ling was actually the daughter of a Beijing official?

But what evil things did Sun Ling do in these years? The girls who were taken to the Sun Mansion came from all over the world, including daughters of wealthy families or officials. But once they arrived in Liangzhou, it was like a needle into the sea, with no way out. This place has been controlled by Sun Xiangfu and his son for so many years, and it has long been dark. Whether you are a daughter of a poor family or a daughter of a wealthy family, once you arrive here, there is no difference.

He Yan stared at Xiao Jue's back and couldn't help but applaud him in his heart.

The second son of Xiao Jue has been missing for the past few days. It turns out that he is going to stir up trouble with this matter. She thought that he took Song Taotao away to protect her, but now it seems that it is not entirely true. After all, if Xiao Jue took Song Taotao with him and kept her in the Sun Mansion, even if Sun Ling recognized her, he would not dare to do anything. He sent Song Taotao away to prevent the father and son of the Sun family from suspecting anything. Now, the appearance of Song Taotao has become the most important straw for convicting Sun Xiangfu.

"This... this is all a misunderstanding, Governor, please listen to my explanation..." Sun Xiangfu kicked Sun Ling, who knelt down. Sun Xiangfu scolded him, "Unfilial son, you have caused such a big mess, what are you going to do now? Apologize to the Governor yourself!"

"Sun Zhixian knelt down to the wrong person," Xiao Jue said nonchalantly, "I am not the supervisor of Yu Shi." He looked at Yuan Baozhen and said slowly, "Yuan Yu Shi has been in Liangzhou for many days and doesn't even know the lawsuit here. If people find out and accuse you of dereliction of duty, then even your teacher won't be able to save you."

Yuan Baozhen was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He looked at Xiao Jue. The young governor had a smile on his lips and a leisurely look in his eyes, which contained overwhelming malice.

He was not coming for himself, but for Sun Xiangfu. But this was actually worse, because his teacher Xu Jingfu did not want the current situation at all. What does it mean to steal chickens but lose a handful of rice? This is not just a handful of rice, but his entire granary was emptied.

Ding Yi is missing. How can he deal with the aggressive Xiao Jue alone?

Song Taotao looked at the Sun family with a fierce look. He Yan seemed to be thinking about something. Song Taotao's words might be able to punish Sun Ling, but not necessarily Sun Xiangfu. If someone from above could protect him, Sun Xiangfu would not be completely hopeless.

Will Xiao Jue leave a leeway for others when he takes action? He Yan doesn't think so.

"Governor, please listen to our explanation. I am truly wronged!" Sun Xiangfu and Sun Ling cried out to the sky.

As it concerned himself, Yuan Baozhen found it difficult to speak: "Governor, perhaps there really is some misunderstanding."

Xiao Jue stared at him with a half-smile, and after a while, he nodded and said, "Go to the side yard."

Go to the side yard? What are you going to do in the side yard?

Upon hearing this, Sun Xiangfu and his son's faces suddenly changed and they almost fainted.

The red-armored soldiers escorted Sun Xiangfu and his son, along with the rest of the people, to the side yard. It rained last night, and the dust on the ground in the yard was washed clean by the rain. The scene was originally quiet and peaceful, but it overflowed with desolate misery.

He Yan turned his head to look at the room next door. The door was closed. Thinking of the Buddha statues on and under the table there last night, he felt a chill.

But why did Xiao Jue bring them here?

Yuan Baozhen was also puzzled: "The governor wants to..."

"Dig three feet deep and show us Yuan Dashi what's underground." Although he was smiling, his expression was indifferent and his tone was very calm. He ordered the soldiers: "Dig."

The soldiers received the order and searched everywhere in Sun's mansion for hoes and sickles, and started digging the ground.

Seeing this, Sun Xiangfu and his son seemed unable to hold on any longer. Their legs went limp and they collapsed to the ground, their faces ashen.

Song Taotao asked He Yan in a low voice: "What's underground?"

The Buddha statues filled the room, the talismans pasted on the door, the overgrown weeds and trees in the deserted yard, He Yan's expression became serious, and she probably guessed it. She didn't say anything, because she really didn't know how to start.

After a while, someone said, "Commander-in-chief, we have found something here!"

It was a female corpse wrapped in a cool mat. She was very small, and looked even smaller than Song Taotao. The clothes she was wearing had rotted away, revealing her white bones. It was unknown how delicate and lovely she must have looked at first.

"Go on." Xiao Jue said.

Not long after, someone else said, "There's a body here!"

It was also a female corpse with long hair, which showed that she had died not long ago. Her features and features could be vaguely seen, and she must have had a charming demeanor when alive.

The third, the fourth, the fifth...

In the end, no one spoke, only the sound of digging silently. The air was deathly silent. It was hard to imagine that the ground in this side yard could hold so many corpses. The whole yard was filled with dead bodies covered with white cloth. There was no place to put them, so they had to be piled up.

Countless beautiful women's bones were buried underground in the desolate side courtyard. There might be a gentle and shy flower girl, or a charming married woman. Here, no matter rich or poor, noble or low, they were all turned into mud and piled up into such a disfigured mountain of corpses.

These were girls that Sun Ling had captured, taken possession of, and then bullied and killed. They had suffered great misfortunes in their lives, and could not rest in peace even after death. The evil-minded man piled up countless Buddha statues and talismans to suppress and curse them.

The eternal lamp flickers forever, but for these girls, it is like an eternal night with no light.

He Yan took a deep breath.

The evil done by Sun Xiangfu and his sons cannot be covered by heaven or earth. God is angry and people have abandoned them, and they deserve to be exterminated after death.

——Digression——

I have been in Xiaoxiang for seven years, and I have never actively asked for monthly tickets. Today, a reader sent me a private message saying that monthly tickets are still very important. Although I don’t know what monthly tickets are and what they are used for, I will still promote them! If you have extra monthly tickets, you can vote for the female general star. If you don’t have any, forget it. We are not a Buddhist canvassing for votes, and we are happy to serialize ∠(？」∠)＿