Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 111 Yang Siyao's Letter (3)

enlightenment?

He always acted like he was so great, but when these bandits wielded their machetes and chopped off his classmates' heads one by one, Linghu Rui finally understood the meaning of classical Chinese.

What status or position.

What benevolence and morality?

Everything else is meaningless in the face of a machete.

With a swift stroke of the blade, a head falls to the ground, and everything once possessed vanishes into thin air.

Seeing that Song Yan seemed about to leave, at that moment something that Linghu Rui had always held onto collapsed in his heart; he wanted to live.

The pride on his face had vanished, and shock gradually turned into fear and pleading. He could no longer maintain his composure, twisting his body with difficulty, seemingly wanting to kneel before Song Yan. However, the blood on the ground had made the road muddy, and he slipped, falling to the ground with a thud in a somewhat comical position. But Linghu Rui had no time or mood to care about that now. Even though it aggravated the wound on his waist, a fawning smile still appeared on his face.
"Brother Song, I was wrong before. I was blinded by greed and that's why I tarnished your reputation..."

His former arrogance and indignation have vanished without a trace.

"But this is just a small matter. Can you just ignore what I said?"

"Don't worry, I will never do such a thing again from now on. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west. You know I am from Xilin Academy, right? You also know how influential Xilin Academy is, right? My father is the dean of Xilin Academy in Songzhou Prefecture. Rest assured, as long as you can save my life, Xilin Academy will become your strong backing. You should also understand that if you have the support of many officials from Xilin Academy, your speed of climbing the ranks will be countless times faster."

"You will no longer have to fight the Japanese pirates to get everything you want."

"By then, the mere Duke Song's mansion will be easily trampled under your feet."

Linghu Rui fawned over him, offering all the promises he could at the moment.

Xilin Academy is definitely a very powerful force. At present, the internal factional struggles in Ningguo are extremely exaggerated. There are aristocratic families, royalists, the White Egret Party, the Xilin Party, local powerful clans, and peasant uprisings. It can be said without exaggeration that it is a complete mess.

Just like at the end of every dynasty.

If it weren't for the fact that the surrounding countries weren't also not very peaceful, Ningguo probably wouldn't have survived until now.

Among these many forces, the Xilin Party is not considered powerful, but the fact that it can even sit at the table is itself a demonstration of its strength.

Compared to the immense power of the Xilin Party, the Song State Duke's Mansion truly seemed insignificant.

Despite this promise, Song Yan remained unmoved, his expression as cold as ever. He grinned and said, "Brother Linghu, I still prefer your previous unruly self."

After speaking, Song Yan looked at Ma Han and said, "Good man, after this matter is resolved, you can come to Ningping to find me. I will help you all find a future."

His gaze swept over Ma Han and the bandits behind him. Although they were somewhat thin now, their skeletal structure revealed that they had once been tall and strong. It would be a real shame not to recruit such people.

“Brother Song invited me, I dare not refuse,” Ma Han said in a deep voice, taking a deep breath.

Having said that, Song Yan ignored everything else, gave Zhang Long and Zhao Hu a wink, and with a shout, the two horses set off again, bypassing the bloodshed on this side and heading away on the other side.

Behind them, they could still hear Linghu Rui's terrified screams:

"Brother Song, save me! I know I was wrong..."

"I also have two concubines, both extremely beautiful, and I'll give them both to you!"

Then, the scream turned into a painful groan. A rusty curved blade pierced Linghu Rui's body from behind, and the blade seemed to have accidentally injured Linghu Rui's spine as well. His whole body collapsed into a pool of blood, unable to even lift his head.

The intense pain contorted his face, and his eyes were filled with nothing but fearful despair.

Mahan raised his scimitar once more.

puff.

This time, the blow landed on the back of the neck.

The light in Linghu Rui's eyes gradually faded.

……

The carriage traveled swiftly and finally returned to Songzhou Prefecture at noon, where it encountered Fang Hai and a group of officials from Songzhou Prefecture. They had clearly come to see Luo Yuheng. They obviously already knew about the news that Luo Yuheng had restored the title of Princess and Song Yan's noble title, and they immediately offered their congratulations. Fang Hai seemed quite elated, and the other officials, both high and low, were also beaming with joy.

In this round of rewards, no prominent figure in Songzhou Prefecture was left out.

Fang Hai was even granted the title of viscount, a rank slightly higher than Song Yan's.

Even Song Yan had to admire the memorial drafted by Fang Hai; it was quite effective.

Of course, this was also a way for Emperor Ninghe to win over the Fang family.

Although the Fang family already possessed the title of Duke, which would be inherited by Fang Hai after Fang De's death, his viscount title could also be passed on to his brothers or other sons, making it an honor for the family to have two titles. Of course, Fang Hai and many officials in Songzhou Prefecture were well aware of the source of this favor, and thus assured Luo Yuheng that he could proceed with the recruitment of soldiers without hesitation, and that all officials in Songzhou would fully cooperate.

With this guarantee, many things became much easier. At Song Yan's suggestion, Luo Yuheng also asked Fang Hai for two salt mountains. Although Ningping was near the sea, the Japanese pirates had not wiped out the sea salt, which was inconvenient. Rock salt was safer. He also asked for a certificate for mining iron ore.

Rock salt is poisonous.

The world has not yet mastered the method to cleanse the salt poisoning, so salt mountains are not valuable and are no different from barren mountains. With a wave of his hand, Fang Hai transferred the two salt mountains to Luo Yuheng's name.

This took up a lot of time, and by the time they got back to Ningping, it was already dark.

Song Yan did not return directly to the Luo family, but instead went to the Duke's Mansion.

Although Yang Siyao has temporarily gained Luo Yuheng's trust by betraying the Yang family and personally stabbing Yang Miaoqing in the back, and is currently living in the Luo family's back residence, she doesn't seem to have any intention of resting immediately, and is wandering around the streets alone.

Yang Siyao was a free person in the Luo family, and Luo Yuheng did not restrict her movements.

As she passed a peddler, she seemed quite interested in the hair ties in the peddler's basket. Just as the transaction was about to take place, a crumpled piece of paper silently slipped into Yang Siyao's palm.

Yang Siyao's expression remained unchanged, and with her usual smile, she paid two copper coins and happily tied the hair tie to her hair.

By the time she returned to the Luo residence, it was completely dark.

The dark night, the empty room, the atmosphere was inexplicably oppressive.

Only the flickering candlelight provided a faint light. Yang Siyao pursed her lips and finally took the crumpled paper out of her sleeve, slowly unfolding it. Familiar words came into view:
"elder sister……"

"I miss you!"

(End of this chapter)