"This is Su Zhen, the yamen of the Siwei Mansion. The government will send someone here later. If you have any grievances, you can tell them directly. Remember to speak clearly. Don't dare to speak out of fear. You must do your best to speak out.
Come up with your own needs and strive to get back the rights and interests you deserve!"
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, thank you, sir! You are such a good person!"
"Our grievances and injustices finally have a place to speak out!"
"Yes, I was really frustrated before!"
Seeing that their eyes were filled with tears, their hands were trembling and they were wiping away tears. They all knelt down to express their thanks. Su Zhen hurriedly stepped aside and helped an old man in the front.
"Old man, don't be like this. In short, believe in the law and justice! The court will definitely protect you, and the evildoers will be punished! Pay the price for their crimes, and we will never let them go unpunished!"
"Yes, yes! Folks, get up quickly! Everyone go back and have a rest. Be ready to speak and wait for the officials to come, so that you can get justice."
The villagers thanked him and left one after another. One of the old men patted He Lan on the shoulder and told him to be careful of Huang Yi coming to cause trouble again.
Jingyao moved towards Su Zhen and said, "Su Zhen, you seem to be different from the rumors."
"Do you think I would kill Huang Yi and those people out of impulse?"
"Yes! Yes! I have already checked. When you were still Shaoqing, you almost killed Xu Chong in the court of the Ministry of Justice."
Su Zhen sneered at what she said, "I had no choice but to do anything that time because the Minister of Punishment didn't do anything, so I had to come up with the next trick to force him to stay. As for those...village bullies just now? Seeing how bad they are, maybe they have bad intentions.
It's also black, and my body is so dirty with the blood splattered on it! And I'm not a murderous person. No matter how much they die, they will still be punished by the government."
To put it bluntly, Su Zhen actually didn't want to cause any more trouble and let the Taifu Mansion and Su Tingye take the blame for her. But if the other party takes advantage of it, don't blame her for being ruthless!
He Lan listened to their conversation and said, "The way of a gentleman is that a gentleman means righteousness, and a villain means profit. When you act, you should be strict with yourself, be indifferent to fame and fortune, and cultivate your character at all times. Don't be confused by rumors, don't be obsessed by obsession, don't
Afraid of life and death."
Su Zhen suddenly felt admiration for the man in front of her, "The world should distinguish between right and wrong between gentlemen and villains, but sometimes, hypocrites are often more terrifying than true villains. Villains will bind others with moral restraints, while hypocrites are good at it.
He has a hypocritical face, stirs up troubles, sows dissension, and does everything possible to do evil, but he can still gain popularity and praise."
"Yeah, it's a pity...this world is unfair..."
"Oh, don't talk about gentlemen and villains. I'm so hungry!" Jingyao pursed her lips and rubbed her belly, "Mr. He, do you have anything to eat?"
He Lan was amused by her appearance, and the desolation in her eyes disappeared, "Girl, Xiaosheng still has some flour at home. If you don't mind it, Xiaosheng can make some cookies for you two to express your gratitude."
"Don't dislike it! Don't dislike it!"
Su Zhen sighed, "Brother He, I have just reported my name below. This girl is my friend, her name is Jing'er."
"Okay, then Sir and Miss Jing'er, please invite Xiaosheng into the house. It's just that the house is a little rough..."
"It's okay. We are guests from afar, so we should do as the Romans do."
He Lan took a step back and raised her hand to invite them into the house.
He Lan pushed open the wooden door of the thatched house, and the creaking sound was slightly harsh.
After stepping into the door, they realized that the thatched house looked dilapidated from the outside, as if it could be blown away by the wind. But who knew that inside it was a sparrow that was small but had all the internal organs.
There is a water tank at the entrance, with the wooden cover half-opened. It can be seen that it is filled with clean water, and a gourd made of dried gourd shells floats on the water.
On the left is a simple stove, with a few kitchen utensils hung on the wall, a few vegetables and melons placed on the table, and dry twigs piled in the corner for firewood.
There is a small black wooden table not far from the stove, with two benches facing each other on both sides. It seems to be homemade.
There is a bed on the right side, with straw padded on the bed and a simple layer of washed white sheets on top.
The most valuable thing in this room is probably the shaky bookshelf...the books on it. Xiao Chuhong also uses the bedroom and study room together, but when compared like this, it can be said that they are completely different.
However, Xiao Chuhong was a military general, and all he studied were military books, while He Lan's bookshelf mostly contained books such as the Four Books and the Five Classics.
Su Zhen stepped forward and touched the bookshelf. There was no trace of dust on it, which showed that He Lan really cared about it and how much she cherished it.
"Master Su, Miss Jing'er, please sit down for a while. You will be fine soon."
"Yeah, thank you!"
"Then there's Brother Lao He."
Su Zhen and Jingyao sat at the table, watching He Lan working skillfully in front of the stove, while Jingyao looked around and touched here and there out of boredom.
He Lan skillfully separated the egg yolks and egg whites in front of the stove, then added fine sugar and sesame oil to the white flour, stirred it into a paste, scooped it up with a spoon and put it into the oven for baking.
Su Zhen asked casually, "Brother He, didn't you say that your life was very difficult earlier, but Brother He seems to be doing well?"
Eggs? Sugar? White flour? Oil?
According to the poverty level of the refugees, it is good to have food to eat. How can they afford this?
He Lan replied, "Yes, in the past two years, everyone has been nourished a lot. There was a severe drought earlier and all the crops in the fields died. Those days were really sad. People everywhere made a living by eating weeds and bark.
All of them. As for this cookie, the ingredients are not expensive, and it can be stored for a long time, so you can save more at one time. We mostly eat this on weekdays."
"So, folks, it was quite difficult at the beginning, so how did you get over it?"
"It's all thanks to the good people in Kyoto who often send people to help, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to survive."
"Good person? I heard that Miss Xiyan from Jiyuefang often saves your poor people with the money she earns from selling paintings. Is this true?"
Su Zhen noticed that He Lan's movements were sluggish, then she took the cookie out of the oven, brushed it with oil and sprinkled it with sesame seeds, and then put it in the oven to bake.
"Of course it's true. Miss Xiyan was kind-hearted, but it's a pity that such a good person was killed."
After Su Zhen was silent for a while, she suddenly said, "She is not dead."
He Lan was stunned at first, then smiled happily and said, "Really? Where is Miss Xiyan now?"
"We are just guessing. We came to your village this time to inquire about Miss Xiyan."
"I see, but what Xiaosheng knows about Miss Xiyan is just hearsay."
"Then what else does Brother He know? If you don't mind, can you tell me?" This chapter has been completed!