Chapter 117 Bookworm, I like this little sister!
"Father! When did you become acquainted with bandits?!"
He Ran was very unhappy, feeling as if the meat in his mouth had flown away!
Her older brother promised that as long as she made a contribution in this bandit suppression, no one in the family would control her anymore!
The bandits have all surrendered voluntarily, so how can she possibly suppress them and earn merit?
General He patted his daughter on the back of the head, "You have no manners, call him Uncle Yao."
He Ran reluctantly hummed twice, "Uncle Yao."
Dingxian County remained silent and asleep, but the dilapidated county government office was brightly lit.
He Ran stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. Inside the room was a group of people, including officials of all ranks.
No one spoke.
She couldn't help but interject, "Stop dawdling! Give us a straight answer: kill or spare?"
All eyes in the room turned to look at them.
General He said, "...You little brat, go back to camp."
He Ran didn't even glance at her father, but instead, her desire to speak was provoked, and she wanted to go in and continue to interrupt.
Jiang Xingyao stood up abruptly, grabbed her sleeve, and headed towards the back office.
"I'll find you a companion."
Who is it?
He Ran looked at her sleeve, which was almost torn out of shape, and grabbed his hand in return.
"If you want to hold hands, then hold hands. Why are you pulling on my sleeve?"
"Miss He!" Jiang Xingyao was so startled that he instinctively struggled.
Her hand seemed glued to his, and he couldn't shake it off.
He Ran smiled and intertwined her fingers with his, "Let me make this clear beforehand, my hands aren't as delicate as other girls' hands, so you can't complain about that."
Jiang Xingyao: "...Indeed."
"Really?" He Ran pulled Jiang Xingyao back.
She squinted at him dangerously, "You bookworm, you've held someone else's hand before?"
In the darkness, Jiang Xingyao's face flushed again, "...Besides my sister, I've only ever held your hand."
"Little sister...it's only natural that little sister is a bit delicate."
He Ran said, "The partner you found for me isn't your sister, is it?"
When Yao Shisan was woken up, he still looked sleepy.
"elder brother?"
Jiang Xingyao pushed He Ran forward, "Keep an eye on her, don't let her cause trouble in the council hall."
"Hmm? Young Master He?"
Yao Shisan had only seen He Ran once, when the Southwest Army entered the city.
He Ran smiled and said, "Just call me He San."
"woman?"
She was speechless. A woman in the army?
He Ran shrugged. "If there were female soldiers, I wouldn't be dressed like this."
The two sat down directly on the stone steps.
The first thing He Ran did was to take her hand and look at her.
Slender and fair, with neatly trimmed fingertips, the pale pink nails also look delicate and lovely.
"So beautiful, and indeed so delicate."
She never cared about these things before, but now she's a little embarrassed to take them out and look at them.
Last time, her father wanted her to see that Liu family young master.
They implied that she was vulgar and asked her how much dowry she could bring.
She beat up that young master Liu and felt relieved, without ever thinking that she had done anything wrong.
Now, in front of her younger sister, the sister didn't say a word, yet she felt ashamed of herself.
"very nice."
Yao Shisan looked at her hands in the moonlight; her hands were calloused from years of martial arts practice.
"You can protect yourself without relying on others."
"That's right, I've been invincible since I was a kid! Even my dad can't beat me now!"
Looking at his younger sister's gentle profile with her eyes lowered, He Ran felt a surge of protectiveness.
"Don't worry, little sister, I'll protect you from now on!"
Yao Shisan looked at her with a chuckle, "Miss He, I seem to be older than you."
He Ran raised an eyebrow. "I've taken a liking to your brother. You're older than me, so you're still my little sister!"
Yao Shisan's eyes widened in surprise.
"You've... you've got your eye on my brother?"
Even Shuang'er finds him nagging, yet Miss He, such a bright and unpretentious girl, actually likes her brother.
He Ran: "Me and the bookworm together are both scholarly and athletic!"
"If Zhou Congxian bullies you again, I'll fight back for you. He's too weak; he's no match for me!"
As she spoke, she moved closer to Yao Shisan, her face full of questions, "How could you willingly have two children with him? Did you know he was going to remarry?"
Yao Shisan glanced at her, then chuckled, "It's me who doesn't want him anymore. Who he marries or doesn't marry is none of my business."
“My family was poor before, so I sold myself into the Duke’s mansion. Later, I gave birth to a daughter. Then, his fiancée repeatedly provoked me, so I faked my death and left with my son and daughter.”
In a single sentence, just a few dozen words.
He took over the first half of her life.
He Ran was stunned for a long time before she could react. "You...you're Zhou Congxian's dead concubine?"
"Were you driven to your death by his fiancée?"
His father praised Zhou Congxian for his clean household, noting that he only had one concubine who had died, and that his previous fiancée had fallen ill and broken off the engagement.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me digest this!"
These few sentences are packed with information.
The concubine was driven to her death by her fiancée, who then broke off the engagement.
After a moment's thought, she posed a profound question.
"Didn't he ever think of helping you?"
Yao Shisan smiled and said, "He has his own plans, so I'm not important to him."
He Ran almost jumped up, "You're still taking his side?!"
This is a completely different person from the Zhou Congxian that her father praised so highly!
Yao Shisan shook his head. "I didn't speak up for him. It's just that I have nothing to do with him anymore. Jiang Niangzi is dead."
"He wronged me, but he also saved me. We're even now."
"For the rest of my life, he will be his Prince Zhou, and I will be my Lady Yao in Ding County."
"Why does it sound like a bandit's surname?" He Ran muttered, then a thought flashed through her mind, "Why don't you change your surname to He!"
"My mother definitely likes you! She dreams of me becoming like you!"
Yao Shisan chuckled, "If I go to the He family, won't my brother really be all alone?"
He Ran raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I'll marry your brother! And have three more children for him. The boys will study with him, and the girls will learn needlework from you."
The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the person coming from behind them.
"Cough cough."
The two turned around and saw Jiang Xingyao standing awkwardly five steps away.
He overheard much of their conversation.
He Ran jumped up, "Bookworm, I like this little sister!"
Jiang Xingyao: "...She's older than you."
"You two siblings always say the same thing. Anyway, she's my sister. If anyone dares to bully her in the future, I'll stab them to death!"
"...General He is still waiting for you up ahead."
Jiang Xingyao reached out and pulled her forward again.
This time, instead of pulling on her sleeve, he grasped her wrist.
Even through the wristband, seeing how promising he was, He Ran's eyes crinkled with a smile.
After waving goodbye to her younger sister, she skipped and jumped with joy as she followed the bookworm out of the county government office.
Compared to He Ran's beaming smile, General He's expression was far from pleasant.
Standing at the entrance of the county government office.
The sound of the horses' hooves of the He family father and daughter gradually faded into the distance.
As Xiao Shu gazed at the pale dawn sky, the faint white breath he exhaled seemed to soften his voice.
"General Yao seems quite impatient. It seems I haven't yet given the order to actively persuade them to surrender."
Yao Zhengliang's eyes swept over the plaque of the Dingxian County Government Office.
"Your Highness moved all the grain. Although it was targeted at Lao He, it also put Yao's son in a difficult position."
"I have said before that as long as Jiang'er's career goes smoothly, I am willing to be Your Highness's henchman."
Xiao Shu suddenly turned around, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Their gazes met, neither giving an inch.
He then smiled and said, "It was my oversight."
The prince's carriage slowly came to a stop in front of him.
"I've been busy all night, so I'll head back now. General Yao, please make your way."
Yao Zhengliang nodded and turned to the side.
The carriage started moving and passed by Yao Zhengliang.
Xiao Shu's smile, which had been frozen on his lips, finally disappeared.
Chief Steward Qing said, "Your Highness, everyone has been counted. There are 17,321 people."
"However, General Wu is now dissatisfied. It was originally agreed that the Linzhou vassal army would win a great victory and be granted amnesty, but now... they have made them come all this way for nothing."
"I'm afraid we won't be able to recover the money for the remaining grain... The estimated loss is over 30,000 taels..."
As he finished speaking, his voice grew softer and softer.
It was originally a win-win plan.
Now, because of Yao Zhengliang's unauthorized actions, His Highness has not only lost the Prince of Han's trust, but also lost more than 30,000 taels of silver.
The most important achievement was claimed by General He.
General He will probably have to participate in the resettlement after the amnesty.
Your Highness must find a way to persuade General He to give up voluntarily.
Indeed, a single misstep can lead to a disastrous outcome.
Xiao Shu's voice was devoid of any warmth, "Yao Zhengliang is still useful, so I will not touch him for the time being."
“Those who are useful, I will naturally be more lenient with.”
"Money is a small matter. What I lack least is money. Make up the difference and give it to Lady Yao."
"yes."
The next day, the entire Ding County knew that the bandits who had plagued the area for many years had been wiped out.
The entrance to the county government office was crowded with people.
"Qin Qingtian is gone, but we've got Jiang Qingtian now! What a blessing for Dingxian!"
"Lord Jiang, whatever good things our family has brought out, you must accept these eggs!"
"Sir, sir, these are my family's geese!"
"And sheep!"
As soon as the county government office opened, Jiang Xingyao was almost overwhelmed by chickens, ducks, and geese.
If it weren't for the two constables supporting him, he would have fallen by now!
"Fellow villagers!"
Jiang Xingyao quickly raised his hand to stop him, "I am the magistrate of Ding County, and what I have done is only my duty!"
"If we should express our gratitude, we should thank the Southwest Army brothers who charged into battle."
"Without them, we wouldn't have been able to break the siege that lasted so long!"
The villagers, who brought their chickens, ducks, and geese, nodded repeatedly after hearing his words.
"Lord Jiang is right, we should also thank the Southwest Army for saving us!"
"Without them, we'd probably all starve to death by the bandits by now!"
"Even if they don't starve to death, they'll probably be killed by bandits!"
"Let's go, folks, we're going to the Southwest Army camp."
The people left in droves again.
There was still a pile of chicken, duck and goose feathers left after they were squeezed out.
Jiang Xingyao breathed a sigh of relief.
"bookworm!"
He looked up and saw a pretty girl in a high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) standing gracefully at the bottom of the steps.
The two guards behind her would occasionally cover their eyes and peek.
"I feel so uncomfortable that the Third Miss has become a woman."
"Don't even mention you, I'm not used to it either..."
He Ran's stiff smile finally crumbled.
He turned back and uttered a single word to the two of them.
"roll."
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