The Stepmother is Unkind

Butterfly Valley, Fuzu—

Two men dragged a man with a black cloth bag on his head into the spacious hall, and reported to the middle-aged man on the top and the young man on the left: "Patriarch, young patriarch, someone brought it here."

The man on the ground tied his hands behind his back, lay on the ground and struggled, and his mouth was slurred, "Mmmm..."

The patriarch Fan Shao looked at him coldly and ordered, "Pick it off."

One of the men lifted the person on the ground and rudely pulled down the black cloth bag, revealing Yanxia's bruised face.

There was a cloth stuffed in Yanxia's mouth, and he couldn't make a sound. He only saw the father and son of the Fan family in front of him. He shook his head with a frightened "uuuuu", and wanted to hide back, but was restrained by two people.

One of them pulled the cloth out of his mouth.

As soon as Yanxia's mouth was free, he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Patriarch, young patriarch, spare your life, spare your life, I don't know anything..."

Patriarch Fan slowly turned the jade wrench on his thumb with a grim expression, "Did you betray the Yuzu?"

Yanxia shook his head quickly, his voice trembling because he was too panicked, "Patriarch, I, we will never dare to betray the patriarch. We did everything according to the instructions of the young patriarch. You believe me, you believe me!"

"Then what are you running for?"

Yanxia shivered, shrugged his shoulders and said with a guilty conscience: "Brother Jun and the others were taken away by the guards of the prefect, I only escaped when I went out to pee, I-I'm afraid..."

When Yin Mingyu was in the bamboo building, he did leave some traces. Not everyone can keep their mouths shut, and it is not these ordinary Yanzu villagers who are really useful, so Xie Qin sent soldiers as soon as they came back. Go and guard the Yanzu villages.

Those soldiers were borrowed from Qi Jiedushi, and the Yan people were not allowed to move around at will, and others could not approach it easily, lest her arrangements would be flawed because they were not comprehensive enough.

After the people of the Yi people seized Yanxia, ​​they found that the Yanzu village could no longer be approached, and they pretended to be hunters to inquire.

Those soldiers said at the time that the people in the Yan tribe had committed a crime, and badly called them to leave quickly, so the people of the Fu tribe had to bring back Yanxia alone.

At this time, the father and son of the Fan family looked at each other, and the patriarch Fan Shao asked, "What happened? Why did the guards of the prefect suddenly look for him?"

"I really don't know..." Yanxia also denied it. Seeing the fierce faces of the Fan family and his son, he quickly changed his mouth and said, "I think, I will think about it carefully!"

He really pretended to think carefully, but his mind went blank, and after a while, he remembered what he was trying to memorize in the eyes of the Fan family's father and son's increasingly impatient eyes, showing obvious joy, "I remembered! I remembered! "

The patriarch Fan Shao urged: "Don't tell me soon!"

Yanxia swallowed a mouthful of saliva and began to stumble, and the more he spoke, the smoother he said: "It started well that day, but at night a group of people suddenly came to Nanmeng and forced their way into the village, insisting on searching for a girl from house to house. We don't want to. When the trouble was big, let them search, who knew that these people didn’t find anyone in the village, and they didn’t stop, and ran to the place where we locked people, and after we drove them away, the guards of the governor came not long after!”

He said with great certainty, "I suspect that it was they who attracted the guards of the Prefect!"

Patriarch Fan frowned.

The patriarch Fan Shao was impatient, he believed most of the words when he heard this, and immediately slapped the table and scolded: "These bad shits!"

Patriarch Fan still suspects that there is something strange about this matter, and does not fully believe what Yanxia said, but if it is not the betrayal of the Yan clan, it makes sense to say so.

Patriarch Fan Shao saw that his father was still thinking, and immediately said: "Let's find some Nanmeng people to come over and ask, isn't this clear?"

The patriarch Fan felt that it was reasonable, so he ordered someone to call the patriarch of the Nanmeng clan.

It wasn't long before the subordinates followed the order and went out, when they remembered the angry roar of the barbarian Patriarch Hu: "Fan! You return my beauty!"

When the father and son of the Fan family in the main room heard his voice, they all frowned in disgust.

Yanxia, ​​who was hanging his head, flashed his eyes and struggled to breathe.

After a while, the patriarch Hu walked in angrily, followed by the clan elders, patriarchs and others of the third master Hu Jin and Nanmeng.

It turned out that not long ago, the clan elder and the clan chief who learned that the clan was detained in the state city came to ask the dependent Hu clan chief for help.

Hu Patriarch was reminded by the third master that he had already learned what was going on behind the Chu clan. When he saw that the beauty that was supposed to be sent was gone, he rushed forward, and regardless of the third master's dissuasion, he went directly to the Chu clan to question.

When Patriarch Fan saw them, he said coldly, "Patriarch Hu, what kind of beauty do you want from me?"

Patriarch Hu blew his beard and stared, "I was going to take a concubine, but it wasn't that you did that kind of deed behind your back, will the beauty disappear?"

Patriarch Fan's expression became even colder, and he threatened: "What is Patriarch Hu talking about, what is he doing? It's best to speak carefully."

"Patriarch..." Hu Jin, the third head of the family, came forward and wanted to stop it.

However, Patriarch Hu ignored it and said directly: "Do you think you can hide from me about the kidnapping of the governor's family? The surname is Fan, you pay my beauty!"

The third master's face was extremely ugly, and he clenched his fists.

The Nanmeng clan elder and the patriarch did not expect that there was such a thing behind them, and their faces turned pale for a while.

Yanxia was the one who secretly glanced at Nanmeng with a guilty conscience.

Patriarch Fan's eyes flashed murderous for a moment, he pressed it down, glanced at Patriarch Hu and the people behind him, and said, "We are grasshoppers on a rope. Do you think that if the matter is completely exposed, can you escape?"

It's okay if he didn't say it, but when he said that, Patriarch Hu was even more angry, "We were good at being a snake in the Lingnan area. If you weren't insatiable, how could these things happen?"

The patriarch Fan sneered, passed him directly, and questioned the elder and the patriarch of the Nanmeng clan: "Did you bring the Xie family to the Yan clan?"

Of course the two of them couldn't admit that the clan elder didn't have a trace of immortality at this time, and said humbly: "Patriarch Fan, we are just looking for a dignitary in Yanjun, who colluded with Nanke, who we want to dedicate to Patriarch Hu. Nanke sneaked away, we naturally want to go to the Yan Clan to have people."

The patriarch Nanmeng bowed his head in obedience, and only showed a trace of pain when he heard the patriarch say "offer".

When the patriarch Fan heard the words, he looked at Yanxia with questioning eyes, "Is there such a thing?"

Yanxia's lips trembled and retorted: "That's when the women of their clan came to look for Brother Jun first, and then Brother Jun went to propose a marriage! They must have been too flamboyant and attracted people from the prefect."

The clan elder could not let him put such a charge on his head, and immediately accused him in reverse: "That Yanjun came with a carriage, we were surprised at first, your Yan clan is poor, where did you get the carriage, now It seems that it is the carriage of the Xie family."

"You must have revealed your tracks!"

Yanxia retorted: "Well, that's because you can't see people first. Brother Jun only used the carriage, but the carriage has dozens of people like you to attract people's attention! It must be you!"

The clan elder blushed with anger, "You are talking nonsense!"

"It's you!"

"Okay!" Clan Fan shouted, his chest heaving, "A bunch of idiots!"

At this point, only the Xie family knows who brought it up, but it must have something to do with their two clans, and it has nothing to do with the lustful thing like Patriarch Hu.

As soon as the patriarch Fan thought that because of this private matter, his affairs were ruined, it is estimated that the governor Xie also guessed them, and his anger came from his heart. He ignored the majesty of the patriarch and kicked his anger at Yanxia .

Yanxia fell to the ground and cried out in pain. When his second foot and third foot came down, the rope in his hand loosened, and he hugged his head and shouted: "Don't hit me! Don't hit me! I still have something to do. To explain!"

Patriarch Fan stopped slowly and asked indifferently, "Oh? What can keep you from being beaten?"

Yanxia tightly protected her head, endured the pain and said, "I-I didn't escape by urinating, it was the lady of the prefect who let me out..."

Everyone present was shocked, and Patriarch Fan even taught this inexplicable sentence and asked, "What's going on?"

Yanxia shrank her neck and said: "She, she said, she is a person who can discuss everything, she is not as old-fashioned as Inspector Xie and doesn't know how to change things, as long as Inspector Xie spends his term safely, she can ignore the kidnapping, but , but she was frightened and needed, needed sincerity..."

This is the money you want...

Asking for money is not a problem for them. If it wasn't for Sechin's failure to enter, they would not have threatened his family.

Patriarch Fan calmed down a little and asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?! Where are you going?"

Yanxia came here voluntarily, and when he finally came to this point, he was relieved, and he said with tears in his nose, "I dare not, I am afraid that the patriarch will blame..."

The patriarch Fan Shao couldn't bear his temper when he was young, and asked anxiously, "How much does she want?"

Yanxia whimpered, raised his hand tremblingly, and slowly stretched out five fingers.

Fan family father and son: "...50,000 taels?!"

The other party opened his mouth like a lion, and he didn't know the Fan family and his son, and everyone present was shocked.

As soon as Yanxia heard "50,000 taels", his crying couldn't help but stop for a while. This was a number he couldn't imagine.

And 50,000 taels is not a small amount. It is impossible for the Fan family and their son to be willing to spend so much money, and the main room is quiet.

But at this moment, Patriarch Hu shouted in a daze: "My beauty is gone, you have to give me back, right?"

The patriarch Fan was extremely annoyed with him, but his brows soon eased, and he said, "If you don't have it, go for it.

As for Yanxia, ​​Patriarch Fan looked at him coldly, "Throw it into the pit to work."

There is a shortage of manpower. For those who offend their two races, they will never kill them, but will only drain the last bit of value.

The third master Hu Jin only said at this time: "The news that the state city only sent, that Mrs. Prefect seems to have an unusual relationship with Qi Jiedu, in case..."

"I don't believe that the Qi Jiedu envoy will really get involved. When the big event is done, they can be taught that they can't go out to Lingnan."

At this time, they didn't know that the kid from the Xie family had successfully got through with Mrs. Qi Jiedu's envoy, and was going to the envoy's mansion every day.

The elder and the patriarch of the Nanmeng clan did not dare to delay, so they rushed to the state city overnight.

Xie Qin wrote a secret book and two letters, instructing people to quickly send them to the capital and Yangzhou.

They are now committed to using Qi Jiedushi to exert pressure and wrestle between the two sides to temporarily reach a balance and delay time.

Yin Mingyu did this easily, and he could earn some money from Xie Qin. She doesn't care about other things, which are the responsibilities that Xie Qin and Chu He need to bear as officials.

Qi Jiedu's envoy's mansion was guarded by heavy troops, and it was even safer than the prefecture's office. Yin Mingyu sent Xie Ce to Qi Jiedu's envoy's mansion, leaving behind Jin'er, Tong Nanny and other entourages to protect him, so he said goodbye to Xie Ce and went to her. I went shopping in the bustling market in the northeastern part of the city that I had been thinking about before.

The ostentation of her trip is no longer a secret in the entire state city, so as soon as she enters that area, someone recognizes her very quickly.

She was dressed in men's clothes and had a folding fan in her hand. There were almost no women in Lingnan dressed like this, which attracted many passers-by's attention.

This is still Nan Conan Duo sister wearing a veil, otherwise it is estimated that the eyes of men and women passing by will not be pulled out.

Yin Mingyu is not afraid of people's attention, but is afraid that people will not know that she is the prefect's wife.

She heard that the largest restaurant in the east of the city, the dishes are not inferior to other places, and there are local characteristics, so she took a group of people to stroll here.

The restaurant is indeed magnificent, and as soon as you step in, there is a sense of confusion. This is not Lingnan, but a building only in the rich and prosperous areas of Jiangnan.

Yin Mingyu shook the folding fan, surveyed the entire space leisurely, and paused for a while on the table in the middle of the lobby.

The shopkeeper of the restaurant heard that she was coming, and hurried out to greet her, "Mrs. Governor is here, the shop is full of brilliance, please go to the private room."

Yin Mingyu didn't refuse, stepped up to the second floor, and entered the best private room.

The shopkeeper pushed open the window and introduced to her: "Mrs. Governor, there will be a performance later, you can watch it by sitting here."

Yin Mingyu looked at it and saw that he had a broad vision. He smiled and said, "You have a heart."

The shopkeeper personally asked her what to order.

Yin Mingyu directly asked him to serve some signature dishes, and then taught him to go down.

After a while, music sounded in the lobby on the first floor, and they looked at it together.

There were several musicians playing music on the edge of the stage, and a few women in the middle danced slowly to the sound of the music, but looking at the expressions of the spectators around, they seemed to be looking forward to it.

Not long after, a dancer who raised her hand and covered her face with a sleeve veil stepped on the music point and walked out slowly, and the spectators immediately became agitated and excited.

Yin Mingyu and others became curious and looked more intently.

On the stage, the dancer still covered her face, slowly twisting her slender waist, as enchanting as a water snake, and the spectators below became more and more obsessed, urging her to put down her veil.

And the dancer was deliberately intriguing, she covered her face and danced for a while, and then she slowly pulled down her arms, revealing a charming face.

Nan Ke stepped back in shock, hit the table, and knocked over the teacup.

Yin Mingyu looked at her, saw her tears welling up, paused, and asked, "Is it also your clan?"

Nan Ke bit his lip and nodded painfully.

That's right, I actually caught a woolen thorn...

However, Yin Mingyu swept over the other dancers on the stage. In fact, it wasn't that he caught a woolly scorpion, but Nanmeng's sheep were exceptionally outstanding.

Nan Ke didn't dare to look anymore, sobbing.

Nan Duo wiped her tears in a panic and coaxed her: "don't cry, don't cry..."

Yin Mingyu looked at the women in the audience and said lightly, "I can protect you alone, or your sisters, but not your family; I can protect you for a while, but not for the rest of your life."

Nan Ke held the table to stand firm, tears blurred his eyes, and he choked.

"Crying is the most useless."

"Since you are the daughter of the patriarch, you are responsible and able to protect your clan, no one else." Yin Mingyu did not promise anything, and said casually, "I can't stay in Lingnan forever, can I seize the opportunity to change your clan? The fate of yourselves is yours..."

Yin Mingyu can hand over a ladder, and Nan Ke must be someone who is willing to climb up, otherwise why bother to act like this? Honestly be a vase beauty.

But if Nan Ke really does it... Although it is impossible to protect every woman, there will be latecomers who yearn for it.

Yin Mingyu gently shook the folding fan, she was just a vulgar person who just wanted to have fun.

Nan Ke gradually stopped crying, and clenched his fingers on the table. The pain in his fingertips did not make her flinch, but reminded her more and more that today's opportunities are hard to come by.

She is not afraid of death...

As soon as the dance was over, the shopkeeper personally brought in the wine and food, and after the attentive introduction, he wisely retired.

The Qi tribe dared to take them hostage while they were not exposed in the state city, but they would not be stupid enough to harm them with great fanfare. This was a complete declaration of war against Da Ye.

Therefore, Yin Mingyu divided a small table and taught them to eat and drink together. When they were full, they left the restaurant with a group of people, went to pick up Xie Ce, and then returned to the prefecture.

At this time, the elder and the patriarch of the Nanmeng clan took a few Nanmeng clansmen and knelt in front of the prefectural government to plead for injustice, begging Lord Inspector Shi to release their innocent people in Nanmeng, as well as the daughter of their patriarch.

Around for the crowd of people, pointing.

Because of the faces of the people in South Vietnam, when the people talked at length, they didn't even know the truth, so they called them "poor" and subconsciously favored them.

And others repeat what they say, one person said that that day he saw the guards of Lord Inspector tyrannically tied back many Nanmeng clansmen, and some people believed it and passed it on to the next person.

Therefore, when Xie Qin, the governor, came out to solve the problem, many people already felt sympathy for the people of the Nanmeng people.

Xie Qin's appearance is also very good, and Chu He beside him is also suave. There are some people who are not determined, both men and women, who can't help but shake again-

"Lord Inspector, he doesn't look like someone who robbed civilians."

It seems that the face can determine the good and evil of a person, how ridiculous.

It was also the first time for the elder Nanmeng clan to see the new governor. Hearing the change in the direction of the discussion behind him, he bowed down tremblingly and asked, "Lord governor, I don't know what guilt the Caomin clan committed. I beg you to clarify."

Behind him, the patriarch and the rest of the clan kowtowed heavily, shouted for the clan, and asked him to release the daughter of the clan.

They even kowtowed their heads, and the shape was extremely pitiful.

Chu He already knew what Nanmeng and the others had done, and he was quite contemptuous, with ridicule in his eyes.

But really, it is extremely difficult to judge what the people of Nanmeng have done.

The people couldn't help sympathizing with the Nanmeng people, and there were many discussions.

Being an official is not popular among the people, and it is difficult to move an inch.

Chu He's expression gradually became serious and cautious.

Behind Xie Qin and Chu He, officials such as Liu Sima watched from the sidelines.

Xie Qin was quite calm and said: "As a parental official, this official should protect the people in the area under his jurisdiction. The matter is no big or small, and the case accepted by this official is someone bullying a weak girl. According to the laws of Daye, naturally We must find out the truth first, and then deal with it.”

"Now you mean 'injustice', but you want to sue this official?"

His voice was not high, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he made a loud noise, and the people present involuntarily became quiet.

Daye has a lot of laws and regulations inherited from the previous dynasty. One of the people's lawsuits needs to be sued by leapfrogging. Xie Qin is the governor, so he has to sue Qi Jiedu.

The law also stipulates that the superior officer of the accused official must be accepted, but at the same time, the complainant must be punished with the rod.

The elders of the Nanmeng clan were only instructed to use this to damage the voice of Inspector Xie, and never thought of suing.

They are used to having fun, especially the old people of the clan, who don't want to be punished by a rod in their later years, and if they are not good, they will lose their lives, and they will no longer be able to enjoy wealth.

And their hesitation was instantly at a disadvantage.

Xie Qin was not complacent and remained calm, but Chu He sneered at the expressions of the people in Nanmeng.

While the stalemate was stalemate, there were shouts one after another from behind the onlookers—

"Mrs. Prefect is back!"

Immediately, the people slowly gave way, and two carriages slowly drove over under the protection of the guards.

Seeing this, Chu He leaned into Xie Qin's ear and said with a smile, "My younger brother and sister are in this prefecture, and they are more beautiful than you, Xie Jingming..."

There was a slight smile in Xie Qin's eyes, and there was a hint of pride in it.

Chu He shook his head amusingly, but he couldn't help but relax because of Yin Mingyu's arrival.

Yin Mingyu had already seen the old Nanmeng clan and others through the carriage window. She had followed to Nanmeng and had been hiding behind everyone, but she could not help but tell people to pay attention, so she said to Yin'er, "You stay on the carriage first. "

Yin'er understood and stayed in the carriage obediently.

Yin Mingyu led Xie Ce and stepped out of the carriage arrogantly.

The old Nanmeng clan's eyes were dim, and they didn't notice her that day, and they recognized Nan Ke who came down from the next carriage at a glance.

But Nan Duo, because she lost a lot of weight, no one recognized it except the Nan Patriarch.

When the patriarch Nan saw his eldest daughter, his lips trembled, but he was afraid of seeing his daughter's blame, so he lowered his head quickly.

Yin Mingyu walked to Xie Qin's side, and after a little question, he learned from Chu He that the Nanmeng people actually implied that they were robbing civilian girls.

She pointed to Nan Ke directly in front of the people, and said, "I only know that I saved a poor woman who was about to be forced to death, why would you force me to say it?"

The clan elder didn't expect Nan Ke to be able to walk around at will, but he was already prepared, so he sighed in the same tone of treating an ignorant junior: "Nan Ke, don't be self-willed, the barbarian patriarch is indeed a few years older than you, but this one If the marriage is true, you are arrogant, how can you escape from the marriage?"

When the surrounding people heard it, it was actually a marriage with the barbarian patriarch, and they ran away from the marriage? The barbarians are a big family, and if they marry, they will rise to the sky in one step!

In an instant, the discussion started as if the pot was fried.

Nan Ke was furious, "How dare you talk about marriage?"

The clan elder seemed to cherish it very much, and shiveringly took out an object from his arms, and said to Xie Qin: "Lord Inspector has a clear lesson, this is the marriage contract between our clan and the barbarian clan chief."

Marriage book? !

Nan Ke couldn't believe it for a moment, "Impossible!"

Yin Mingyu and Xie Qin were also a little surprised. No matter how big the official was, they couldn't take care of housework. They looked at each other and listened to what he said later.

The elder of the clan sighed at Nan Ke, his eyes were tolerant, and continued: "Our clan attaches great importance to this marriage, Nan Ke is young and ignorant, and escaped the marriage overnight. It's a bit extreme, but I never said bullying a weak girl, and I also ask the governor to learn from it."

Nan Ke couldn't believe it, so he rushed to grab the marriage certificate.

The clan elder was no longer old and powerless at this time, and immediately avoided her snatch.

The Nanmeng clan behind him stepped forward to block her, preventing her from any possibility of destroying the marriage certificate.

Nan Ke couldn't believe this at all, and said "impossible" over and over again.

At this time, Yin Mingyu said slowly, "Nan Ke, how can you be so rude about such a trivial matter?"

What she wants to do, she has to face more difficulties, and she cannot be easily beaten.

Nan Ke gradually calmed down, shook his arm fiercely, and shouted, "Let go!"

The two clansmen let go of her tentatively.

Nan Ke's icy gaze swept over the clan elders and others, staying away from them and standing close to Yin Mingyu.

Yin Mingyu's smile remained unchanged, and he approached Xie Qin a little and said, "Lang Jun, but you want to disrupt the situation?"

Xie Qin nodded.

"Expedient measures, unrestrained by means?"

Xie Qin paused for a while, knowing that she might want to do something unusual, but she still said "um".

Yin Mingyu raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, "I believe that the marriage certificate is true, there is indeed a misunderstanding..."

Nan Ke was shocked, but then he covered his expression and lowered his eyes in trust.

The clan elders and others did not expect it to be so smooth, and for a while they did not know how to react.

And Yin Mingyu didn't sell off, he turned to Nan Ke and said, "Nan Ke, I have a fate with you. Seeing that you like it very much, would you like to worship me as your righteous grandmother?"

Righteous grandmother? !

Chu He's folding fan fell to the ground in half.

The old marriage certificate of the Nanmeng clan also fell to the ground.

As for the people watching, if they said that they were shocked when they heard that Nanmeng had a marriage contract with the barbarians, then when they heard the words of Mrs. Governor, their jaws dropped, no exception.

What is a grandmother?

Only Xie Qin and Xie Ce were very calm.

Xie Ce also asked innocently, "Mother, do I have a niece again?"

Nothing to do with him.

Yin Mingyu patted his head and raised an eyebrow at Nan Ke, "Would you like to?"

Nan Ke put away his shock, knelt firmly on the ground, and shouted, "Meet the righteous grandmother."

Yin Mingyu nodded kindly, turned to the Nanmeng clan and the common people, and said, "Nammeng and the barbarians get married, this is a great event that promotes the stability of our South Vietnam, and the Governor and I are both happy to see it happen. , you might as well prepare for a few months and let Nan Kefeng marry from the prefecture."

Not knowing how to react, the people looked at each other.

Yin Mingyu looked at the people of Nanmeng again, and said, "I will trouble the patriarch to inform the barbarians and prepare the dowry, and Nanmeng will patiently prepare the dowry, and I, the prefect's wife, will also add makeup to Nanke. Red makeup!"

And Yin'er didn't get off the carriage, so Jin'er took on the important task of agreeing with his wife, applauded loudly, and cheered loudly: "Okay! Madam Prefect is great!"

The people clapped sparsely, and gradually the applause and cheers became louder and louder. Although it was absurd, Mrs. Governor Shi... was really grand...

Nanmeng crowd: "..."

What dowry? They have no plans for this at all!

However, when they are forced to this situation, the people's emotions are high, and they can't refute at all, otherwise wouldn't they be slapping themselves in the mouth?

It's just... how to explain to Patriarch Hu?

Yin Mingyu smiled and approached Xie Qin, his lips moved slightly: "A nominal righteous granddaughter, Lang Jun, have you seen the situation I opened up for you?"

No one wants to take advantage of her.

Thanks to the Yangzhou people, otherwise she would not be able to think of such a loss.

Xie Qin: "...Thank you madam."