"So, He Jinxing doesn't agree to help us with the Western Front and wants to do it ourselves... It's Wang Ren's relationship, right?
"I didn't say I would do it myself, but they wanted 70%."
"That's almost it. In addition, the news has come back from Huangshan. The wood doesn't matter, but there are ten houses and nine empty houses along the way. There are too many refugees. When it comes back, Uncle Chen, you have to go and see it. This is because of ancestors
The Prime Minister will give us some people, and tomorrow, Uncle Chen, you and I will go to the Prime Minister's house to pay a visit."
"Yes... Zu Shiyuan has become the prime minister?"
"There are still a few days, but if there is no accident, I heard that the right minister will be correct..."
The wind blew through the large teahouse wing, and some chaotic sounds from the outside square came in through the window, drowning the conversations in the wing among the hustle and bustle. There were actually several people on one side of the room, headed by a man in his twenties.
The young master between the ages of five and thirty is not ostentatiously dressed, but one can tell at a glance that his clothes are luxurious, his temperament is calm, and his voice is simple and neat.
While several people were talking, there were also three young men, two women, sitting at the window on the other side. They looked a little more informal. The two women were young and beautiful, but they were dressed too brightly. They were obviously from brothels.
We have an impression of the young man sitting among them. His name is Lou Shuheng. His smile is a little frivolous at this time, he is pointing and saying something to the crowd in the square outside.
It is already early August, and it is just a few days before Holy Duke Fangla proclaims himself emperor. Various festive atmospheres in the city have already been heightened. On the other hand, some special cells have begun to be cleared of people. By the way, some new buildings have to be added to the court hall.
For several days, some people have been performing a beheading scene at this square in the east of Hangzhou every day at noon.
These people who were killed were different from the ordinary people who were killed hastily. In Hangzhou in the past, most of them had various identities, either officials, noble families, or great Confucians. Since a new dynasty was to be established, Fang La also
Realizing that he did not have enough pragmatic civil servants and truly famous supporters, after the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, although most of these people were killed, a group of them remained.
From July to August, some people have been persuaded to surrender, and many others are still stiff-necked. It is said that in the recent period, there has been lobbying every day in those cells, but everyone also has a
If the time limit is expired and it doesn't make sense, just pull out of this square and chop off the head without thinking too much.
When the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, there was a lot of bloodshed in the city. Lou Shuheng was originally afraid of seeing blood and hid at home. But not anymore recently. He missed it at that time and became very interested in it these days.
Come and see the beheadings. Although Hangzhou is now a fallen city, because most of the people killed are big households, where there are friends, there are enemies. Especially under Fang La's propaganda that "all laws are equal, there is no superiority", officials are killed every day,
Even when a wealthy family was killed, many people came to watch and applaud. When rows of heads fell off and blood flowed freely, he felt very good with the girl Hu Tian and Hu Di in the wing of the teahouse.
Of course, there are some differences today.
Because the elder brother of the family invited several stewards to come over for a chat and occupied half of his room.
The eldest son of the Lou family, Lou Shuwang, came a little unexpectedly today, and Lou Shuheng couldn't figure out what his brother was thinking. The relationship between the three siblings was good when they were young. But since Lou Shuwang took over the family business before he was a student,
, Lou Shuheng's feelings for his brothers became a little lighter. One was destined to do business and take care of the family business, and the other could be an official. There was always a sense of separation. Of course, although Lou Shuwang was always away many times a year
At home, in the eyes of Lou Shuheng and Lou Shuwan, this brother still has a very powerful image. In their minds, he may be second only to their father, Lou Jinlin.
Due to the presence of his brother, Lou Shuheng felt somewhat suspicious and restrained. Feeling that the man next to him was pretending to be relaxed, the two beautiful women seemed a little nervous. Over there at the round table, Lou Shuwang did his best.
After giving the instructions, he gently waved his hand and asked the people in charge to go out. He stood up, walked to the window here, found a chair and sat down: "Shu Heng."
"Brother!" Lou Shuheng hugged the two women and smiled brightly, a bit pretentious. Lou Shuwang also smiled: "I have been back for so long, but unfortunately I have been too busy and rarely get together a few times...
...Not bad." He looked out the window, and then looked at the two women beside Lou Shuheng.
Lou Shuheng smiled and said: "Haha, eldest brother must know them too, Guan Xin'er and Chen Tong, as you know, one is from Zhucui Tower and the other is from Huaping Pavilion. The two have always been tit-for-tat and never give in to the other. You
Look, they are all docile now. Right..." He hugged the two women hard. These two were originally the top brass in the brothel, but now they just laughed in agreement. Lou Shuheng lowered his voice.
The voice said: "But brother, don't tell me, there is a different kind of excitement when two people are together, brother..."
Before he could finish his words, Lou Shuwang spoke gently and interrupted him: "Don't talk about this, you have also seen the recent situation. The new dynasty has just been built, and there are many wastes waiting to be done. There is a box full of money in the house.
When the box comes in, all the stewards are sent out. You can... you can do this, that, whatever. As long as the family is well, you can do anything. You know, little brother, even my sister is in charge of things recently.
, are you planning to continue like this?"
"Uh, brother, anyway, you and your father..."
"It's not that it can't be done, you have to be moderate, you know." Lou Shuwang smiled.
"I know, but..." Lou Shuheng had a playful smile and moved his hands irregularly. Guan Xin'er next to him smiled and leaned towards Lou Shuheng, resting his head on his side.
On the shoulder, he whispered: "I hate it."
Lou Shuwang picked up the tea cup in his hand and looked at it. It seemed that there was no water. Lou Shuheng said: "A Tong, help me brother..." Before he could finish his words, a sudden shout sounded in the side room: "
Get out of here!" Before Lou Shuheng could react, the teacup and tea burst onto Guan Xin'er's face. The next moment, Guan Xin'er's lower abdomen was kicked by Lou Shuwang who suddenly stood up.
Everyone screamed and flew out. The woman named Chen Tong stood up with wide eyes. Lou Shuwang had already picked up the chair next to him. He hit her on the head. Chen Tong stretched out his hand to block it, and then the chair was thrown together.
Falling out. There was a banging sound on the floor of the house.
Lou Shuwang stood there with a gloomy expression: "Do you understand?"
The woman's cries and screams continued. Lou Shuheng was completely frightened. Although his brother had been running around in recent years, he was not a violent person. Because he had read books, he was basically still
Gentle and elegant. I have never seen him look like this before. At this time, I just subconsciously answered: "What, what..."
"In Hangzhou now, you have everything and nothing." Lou Shuwang said, pointing to the square outside, then turned and walked towards the door. As he walked, he said, "You come to see this now, is it?"
I haven’t seen it. More than twenty days ago, you were in this room. Someone was guarding you. You could kill anyone outside. It was very beautiful. More than twenty days ago, if you stood outside and watched, those who were disemboweled and buried alive...
…I’ve seen it…”
He paused and said, "Brother, do you know? Hangzhou is still the same now. If it were before, I wouldn't dare to hit people upstairs or fight with them. Now I can do anything. I know you robbed a few
When women go back, it doesn't matter if a few of them die. As men, you can have fun, but you have to exercise restraint... We used to do business, and if we lost, our family would be hungry at most. If we lose now, we will be just like them, little brother
You know? There are only two steps now, one step forward, we are like this now. That is heaven, one step back... phew, we will fall."
He opened the door, and there were guards guarding the door. Lou Shuwang twitched the opponent's knife, but then put it in. When he turned around, he pulled out a dagger in his hand and walked straight towards Guan Xin'er on the ground.
Past: "You don't understand, I'll let you see it clearly."
Lou Shuheng was almost stunned: "Brother! You, you, you... what are you doing..."
Begging for mercy and screams resounded in the room. Lou Shuwang grabbed the woman and stabbed her hard, then again, stabbing her eight times in a row before letting go of the woman. The room was filled with blood.
Lou Shuwang's hands, body, and even half of his face were already covered in blood. He turned sideways and blinked: "Do you understand? If you don't understand, it doesn't matter. It's like this..."
As he spoke, he walked towards Chen Tong who had climbed to the corner on the other side. The woman had just been hit by a chair. Although she reached out to block it, blood was still drawn from her head. She couldn't get up at this time.
Crying and begging desperately for mercy, Lou Shuheng shouted from the window: "I know! Brother, I know!"
Lou Shuwang had already squatted down. He paused and stretched out his hands. Chen Tong screamed, thinking he would die. The next moment, Lou Shuwang gently hugged him.
The man whispered: "It's okay, it's okay, don't cry... I'm sorry, I scared you."
After a while, Lou Shuwang stood up from the ground, threw away the dagger, and looked at his brother: "That's how it is now. If you make a move, you may die, and no one will care about you. If you are afraid, you can only move forward.
Let others not kill us...Don't do this again. Think about it and start helping the family in a few days...I'll go wash it."
After he finished speaking, he left the room and asked the guards to collect the body. He went downstairs to change clothes and washed his hands, head and face. During the whole process, his hands were shaking a little, but he finally finished everything and went back to the room.
The younger brother was still sitting on the chair by the window, but his eyes could finally move. He walked over and sat down on the chair on the other side. The two brothers did not speak. However, his presence still comforted Lou Shuheng and they passed for a while.
, Lou Shuheng finally returned to his natural state. In the past few days, he had seen dead people after all, but this time he was a little shocked.
There was still a little time before noon, but more and more people gathered in the square. Lou Shuheng's eyes wandered aimlessly among the crowd, and at a certain moment, he suddenly saw a figure. His mind was still in control.
Xin'er's death was shocking, but this figure made him unable to ignore it. He looked at it a few times, then looked at it a few more times, and frowned. After a while, he looked at his brother, and then stood up in front of the window.
Lou Shuwang followed his eyes and looked over. There were people there: "What's wrong?"
"That, that..." Lou Shuheng frowned, "That one looks like Ning Liheng... No, it is indeed him. How could it be possible? Over there... he is almost gone. He and his maid Xiaochan."
Regarding Ning Yi, Lou Shuwang only met Ning Yi and Su Tan'er once when they first arrived in Hangzhou, and then left Hangzhou to run business. He hurried back when Hangzhou was besieged. After the city was destroyed, he knew that his family had taken refuge.
Fang La was deliberately captured by the rebels, during which he saw many dead people. But looking back on their original meeting, since Ning Yi was his adopted son-in-law, he naturally never even looked at him seriously. When he came back this time, he also vaguely heard people mention it.
After a sentence or two, the Su family had an unpleasant quarrel with their own family, but there were too many serious things to do, so they naturally forgot about it. At this time, I looked at my younger brother, but he seemed to be a little worried about it.
The small conflicts at the beginning could be regarded as nothing at this point. Lou Shuwang didn't care about the Su family. He sat there and watched. His younger brother then talked incoherently about some things that Ning Liheng had escaped from.
There were rumors that there was something about the war in Huzhou, so he poured a cup of tea and handed it over.
"You're sure it's him... Then don't think too much. There are so many people, you can't find them even if you go down now, but as long as you are in Hangzhou, you can always find people. Ning Liheng... There are several people here that you are looking for
There may be benefits to people. I know Lou Jingzhi, the son of Prime Minister Lou. He has recently become interested in our business. You are a person who knows how to play. Get to know him in the past few days and go find him... There is a man named Xing Zheng
He has a lot of connections. We have two businesses to go through him. You can send him something and ask him to inquire about it for you. Also...are you sure that is Ning Liheng?"
"I'm sure...and there is a maid named Xiaochan beside him, who was also following him just now..."
"Then there's nothing else. You have to know that with your intelligence, you can do anything in Hangzhou now. If you want to do it, just do it yourself. I won't interfere..." After he finished speaking, he thought again
After thinking for a moment, "Oh, do you like that Su Tan'er?"
Lou Shuheng was stunned: "Then, that bitch..."
He didn't finish his words, and seemed to be unable to find many adjectives. When the city of Hangzhou was destroyed, he thought that the other party had run away, but now he suddenly found that he was still there. Lou Shuheng couldn't think of what to do for a while. Lou Shuwang looked at it
He, after a long while, nodded: "I know..."
*********************
There were already many people in the square outside. Noisy sounds came over, and Ning Yi walked through a relatively long passage.
It was said that he was captured, but the restrictions imposed on him by the Ba Dao camp were not many. He could go out and walk around. Of course, someone would have to follow him if he was farther away, but he did not come here to watch the beheading.
Soon after, he met an acquaintance, the head of the Qian family, an old man who was originally thought to have escaped with the boat when the city was destroyed—Qian Xiwen. (To be continued)