Wife, Don't Be Like This!

Chapter 110 - Yang Siyao's Letter

Civilize them?

On a normal day, just shouting about it made him feel very great. But when those mountain bandits were really brandishing their choppers and had chopped off the heads of his fellow students one by one, only then did Linghu Rui understand what 'zhi hu zhe ye' meant.

What status meant.

What benevolence and morality meant.

All of it was completely meaningless in front of a chopper.

The hand rises, the chopper falls, a head hits the ground. Everything you once possessed vanishes like smoke and scatters like clouds.

Seeing that Song Yan seemed to be about to leave, at this moment, something that Linghu Rui had always insisted on in his heart collapsed. He wanted to live.

The pride on his face had long since vanished. His astonishment gradually turned into fear, into pleading.

He could no longer maintain his original dignity. He twisted his body with difficulty, as if wanting to kneel to Song Yan. But the ground was too muddy from all the blood. His foot slipped, and with a thud, Linghu Rui's body fell down, landing on the road in a somewhat ridiculous posture.

But now, Linghu Rui had absolutely no mood or time to care about these things. Even though it pulled at the wound on his waist, a fawning smile still appeared on his face:

"Brother Song, it was my fault before. My heart was blinded by lard, which is why I went and slandered your name..."

His previous arrogance, his previous righteous indignation, were all gone without a trace.

"But this is just a small matter. Can't you just treat my words as a fart and let them go?"

"Rest assured, from now on, I will never do this kind of thing again. If you tell me to go east, I will absolutely not go west. You know I'm from Xilin Academy, right? And you know how great the influence of Xilin Academy is, right? My father is the dean of the Xilin Academy in Song Prefecture.

Rest assured, as long as you can save my life, Xilin Academy will become your powerful backer. You should also be able to understand that if you have the support of the many officials who come from Xilin Academy, the speed at which you want to climb will be countless times faster."

"At that time, you won't have to risk your life fighting Wokou to get everything you want."

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

Linghu Rui said this, shamelessly fawning. These were all the promises he could make at present.

Xilin Academy was absolutely a rather large force. Right now, the factional strife within the Ning Kingdom was extremely exaggerated. Aristocratic families, the royalist faction, the White Egret party, the Xilin party, large local clans, peasant uprisings—it could be unceremoniously said that it was a complete mess.

Just like at the end of every dynasty.

If not for the surrounding countries also not being particularly peaceful, the Ning Kingdom probably wouldn't have lasted until now.

Among these many forces, the Xilin party was not considered the strongest, but to be able to have a seat at the table was in itself a display of strength.

Compared to a massive force like the Xilin party, a single Duke Song's mansion really didn't seem to count for much.

But for such a promise, Song Yan was not the least bit moved. His expression was as indifferent as ever.

He grinned: "Brother Linghu, I still prefer your previous arrogant and untamable look."

As his voice fell, Song Yan looked at that Ma Han:

"This fine hero, after this matter is resolved, you can come find me in Ningping. I will arrange a future for all of you."

His gaze swept over Ma Han and the mountain bandits behind him. Although they were a bit thin now, from their frames, one could see they were once tall and sturdy. It would be a real pity not to recruit such men.

"Since Brother Song invites, I dare not disobey," Ma Han said in a deep voice, taking a deep breath.

Having spoken, Song Yan no longer paid attention to the others. He shot a look at Zhang Long and Zhao Hu. With a "Giddy-up!", the two horses once again set off, bypassing the bloody scene here and going far away from the other side.

From behind, he could still hear Linghu Rui's terrified screams:

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

"I have two more little concubines. Both are extremely beautiful. They're all yours!"

Then, the screams turned into muffled groans of pain.

A rusty curved saber stabbed into Linghu Rui's body from behind. The blade seemed to have accidentally damaged his spine. His entire body collapsed into the pool of blood, unable to even lift his head.

The intense pain twisted his face into a knot. In his eyes, there was only the despair of fear.

Ma Han's curved saber was raised once again.

Puchi.

This time, it chopped into the back of his neck.

The light in Linghu Rui's eyes gradually faded.

……

The carriage traveled quickly all the way, finally returning to Song Prefecture at noon. There, they ran into Fang Hai with a group of officials from the Song Prefecture government.

They were clearly looking for Luo Yuheng. Obviously, they already knew the news of Luo Yuheng being restored as a Grand Princess and Song Yan being ennobled.

They came up and offered a round of congratulations. It could be seen that Fang Hai was quite high-spirited. Even the other major and minor officials had faces full of joy.

In this round of rewards, not a single prominent figure in Song Prefecture had been left out.

Fang Hai himself was even ennobled as a Viscount, a title slightly higher than Song Yan's.

Even Song Yan couldn't help but admire the memorial that Fang Hai had drafted. The effect was quite good.

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

Although the Fang family already had a Duke's title, which Fang Hai would inherit after Fang De passed away, this Viscount title of his could also be transferred to his brothers or other sons.

A double title in one family, that was also a great honor. Of course, Fang Hai and the various officials of Song Prefecture knew even more clearly where this favor came from.

Thus, they assured Luo Yuheng that she could proceed with the matter of recruiting soldiers, and all the officials of Songzhou would fully cooperate.

With this guarantee, many things became much more convenient. At Song Yan's suggestion, Luo Yuheng also asked for two salt mountains from Fang Hai.

Although Ningping was by the sea, since the Wokou had not been completely cleared out, sea salt was very inconvenient. Rock salt was a little safer. And also, a certificate to mine iron ore.

Rock salt is poisonous.

This world had not yet mastered the method of removing the toxins from rock salt, so salt mountains were not valuable, no different from a barren mountain. Fang Hai waved his hand, and the two salt mountains came under Luo Yuheng's name.

Thus, much more time was spent. By the time they returned to Ningping, the sky was already dark.

Song Yan did not return directly to the Luo family, but turned and went to the Duke's mansion.

Although Yang Siyao had betrayed the Yang family and personally stabbed Yang Miaoqing, she had temporarily gained Luo Yuheng's trust and was currently living in the back residence of the Luo family. It's just that it seemed she had no intention of resting immediately. She was strolling alone on the street.

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

As she passed a peddler, she seemed to be quite interested in the hair ties in the peddler's basket. Just as she was making the transaction, a paper ball was quietly slipped into Yang Siyao's palm.

Yang Siyao's expression was as usual. With just her usual smile, she paid two copper coins and then gleefully tied the hair tie in her hair.

By the time she returned to the Luo Mansion, the sky was already completely dark.

In the dark night, in the empty room, the atmosphere was inexplicably oppressive.

Only the flickering candlelight could provide a little bit of light. Pursing her lips, Yang Siyao finally took out the paper ball from her sleeve, slowly opened it, and a familiar handwriting came into view:

—Elder Sister... Dıscover more novels at Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

—I miss you!