Chapter 43 Farewell
Early the next morning, Ruan Xing got up, half-closed her eyes and opened her arms to enjoy the service of the maid. The maid wiped her face with a soft silk handkerchief dipped in water, rinsed her mouth with willow salt, combed her hair, and put on her clothes and shoes.
When she sat down dazed and started to eat breakfast, she found that the maids had put her in a goose yellow dress. When she moved in from Qi Ye Tang, she also brought her personal belongings with her.
It must be because she only has a few sets of clothes, and today she has to go to see the city lord off, and wearing that pitch-black outfit makes her look like she is attending a funeral.
That's why the maid found it and gave it to her to wear. Ruan Xing didn't care what she wore. Anyway, at her age and with her looks, no matter what she wore, other people who didn't know the truth would only think that she was pretty and cute, and had no imposing manner.
Humph, only those who have learned a lesson can understand how terrible she is!
Ruan Xing thought with a little pride, and seeing the managers below fidgeting, she waved her hand and said compassionately, "Okay, let's go."
The others breathed a sigh of relief and followed her out of the headquarters. Ruan Xing asked the butler next to her, "Are you all ready?"
"Yes, Boss. You and Deputy Boss Hu will lead the farewell this time. Steward Zhang, Steward Lu, Steward Meng, Steward Chen, and Steward Wang will accompany you. Steward Wang said he will wait for you at the city gate first. The farewell gifts have also been arranged and have been moved to the car."
Steward Wang is the only steward appointed by Ruan Xing himself. He is Master Wang Dongxing. I haven’t seen him for several days. I wonder what he is doing.
"Okay." Ruan Xing nodded. The butler sent them to the door and helped Ruan Xing into the carriage.
"This old slave respectfully sends the leader off."
The group set off in a mighty procession. The several carriages together formed a long queue as long as a centipede. It looked more like a long journey than a farewell.
Hu San didn't need to drive this time. The lower-level gang members acted as grooms. Hu San and Ruan Xing sat in the car together. Hu San seemed to have been carefully dressed up by the servants. He was no longer wearing shorts with his chest exposed. He was wearing a light yellow robe with his sleeves tucked into a wrist binder. His hair was neatly combed and tied into a bun.
It’s a pity that I can’t appreciate his chest muscles.
Seeing Ruan Xing looking at him, Hu San asked, "Miss, what's wrong?"
"It's okay. Wait for the housekeeper to clean up the house in the next two days and then take some time to pick up my sister. Keep a low profile and try not to let anyone know." Ruan Xing retracted his gaze and casually instructed.
"Yes, I understand."
It was not until they reached the city gate that Ruan Xing understood where Wang Dongxing had been.
Yesterday, when she followed Ruan's father's funeral procession in and out of the city gate, she had never seen such a large pavilion at the gate.
"Hi, boss! How is it? I came here before dawn this morning to finish the work, and I can't lose face." Wang Dongxing's face was rosy, his spirits were high, and he looked very high-spirited. After paying his respects, he immediately came up to Ruan Xing to ask for credit.
"This thing is not reimbursable." Ruan Xing rolled his eyes at him and said coldly.
Wang Dongxing chuckled, "How can I ask you to reimburse me? I'll use my own account."
He pulled Ruan Xing into the pavilion. The whole pavilion was three meters wide and five meters long. The top of the pavilion was slanted down and extended half a meter, blocking the hot sun outside. There was a cool feeling as soon as you entered. There was an octagonal table and round stools inside, as well as silver pots and wine glasses for wine.
It is indeed comfortable to sit in this pavilion and watch other officials or wealthy people in the city outside who can only hold umbrellas and wipe their sweat.
"A bit arrogant." Ruan Xing commented, "But I like it."
When Master Liu saw this, he also came over to enjoy the shade. He came on behalf of the Patrol Security Division to bid farewell to the city lord. He smiled and said, "You guys really know how to enjoy yourself."
"If we don't know how to enjoy it, you won't be able to enjoy it, right?" Wang Dongxing said with a smile.
"Please sit down. Is your brother-in-law still not awake?" Ruan Xing asked. She had previously told Master Liu to notify her when the assistant clerk woke up. There has been no news in the past few days. She was sure that she had released the assistant clerk's soul, so how could he not wake up?
Upon hearing this, Master Liu stopped smiling and his face was filled with worry. "He woke up once, but he didn't say much before falling asleep again. The doctor said that he had suffered from physical weakness in his early years and is now suffering from a deficiency of Qi and blood. This injury may have triggered his hidden illness. I'm afraid that even if he wakes up... he won't have much time left."
Ruan Xing was silent. There was nothing she could do. She didn't really know medical skills and couldn't bring the dead back to life. The clerk looked only in his forties. At this age, it was indeed a little too early.
"Then you must cheer up for your sister and nephew. Your brother-in-law has protected you from the wind and rain and provided you with food, drink and entertainment in the past. Now it's time for you to return the favor." Wang Dongxing patted Master Liu on the shoulder and comforted him.
Master Liu nodded gloomily.
After everyone waited for a while, the city lord's carriage slowly drove over. In addition to the city lord's carriage, there were seven or eight carriages loaded with things behind it, as well as nearly a hundred guards and servants.
The carriage stopped and the servant opened the door. The city lord was sitting there with a little girl in his arms. He put the girl down, got out of the carriage, and bowed to the people who came to see him off.
"Thank you all for your farewell. I will be leaving this position before my term is up. I am unworthy of this position!"
Everyone hurriedly returned the gift, exchanged a few words with the city lord, and presented farewell gifts.
Ruan Xing was looking into the distance in the pavilion. The city lord turned around and their eyes met. Zhang Chenghui, who was standing outside the pavilion, quickly invited the city lord over.
Ruan Xing poured two glasses of wine and pushed them in front of the city lord, "Lord City Lord, please."
The city lord drank the cup generously and said with a smile: "Little Boss Ruan, after today's farewell, I'm afraid we will never meet again. Goodbye."
"Wait a moment." Ruan Xing pulled the city lord's wide sleeves and looked up at him. "The city lord must have forgotten to say something."
"Oh? I am so confused that I don't know what I have forgotten." The city lord raised his eyebrows.
"My Lord City Lord, it only took you three days to submit your memorial, and it will take you a day and a half to get to Huaining City. You are not the one who has served for the entire term, so how come the successor was decided so quickly?"
She had read many TV dramas and novels about political intrigues. Usually, when an unexpected event occurred and a temporary replacement was needed for a position, it would take two or three days for various forces in the court to haggle over the candidate. It did seem questionable that the new city lord could be decided so quickly.
Moreover, in the simulation, the new city lord took office half a month later, and he started to make drastic reforms right after taking office. This is also very strange. Doesn't he need to be familiar with the various forces in the city?
Unless he had already been secretly familiar with it.
The city lord couldn't help but laugh. "Little Boss Ruan is really smart. It seems that I can't hide it from you. But this matter has nothing to do with you in the final analysis. At most, you will suffer a little setback. It can be regarded as my small revenge for your threat to me. Why bother?"
"It has nothing to do with me, but it has something to do with the weaving workshop, right?" Ruan Xing said calmly. The city lord's eyes were filled with a trace of suspicion, "Young Boss Ruan is so well-informed, it seems that I have to investigate carefully whether there are any traitors in the mansion."
"Where I got the news from has nothing to do with you, City Lord. I just heard a little rumor. It all depends on whether you are willing to tell me one or two of them."
The city lord thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's okay to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Xing gave a look, and Wang Dongxing, Master Liu and a few others immediately retreated and surrounded the pavilion three meters away to prevent outsiders from entering.
The city lord continued, "I have not been drinking tea and sleeping every day in Jiangning City for the past few years. I have been secretly investigating the silk weaving case. This is a palace case, so I will not tell you the details. You know that Jiangning City is good at raising silk and weaving. Sixty percent of the silk and brocade tribute in the palace came from Jiangning City. I started from here, but I didn't expect that I would be tricked by the red-headed Taoist as soon as I arrived. I thought he was deliberately obstructing my investigation, so I lost my direction. I didn't expect that the red-headed Taoist had no connection with Jiangning Weaving. I only found some minor clues. It happened that you sent Nannan back to me, so I reported to His Majesty to replace him."
"Since the red-headed Taoist has nothing to do with this case, then you should also have nothing to do with it. Little Gang Leader Ruan, don't worry. The new city lord will definitely not kill innocent people indiscriminately."
The new city lord did not do anything to her, but simply reduced the gang's control over Jiangning City.
Ruan Xing chuckled, "Such a big thing, the city lord actually felt comfortable telling me so easily?"
"Isn't this what you have to ask?" The city lord said helplessly, "Besides, it may not be a good thing for you to know. If the new city lord misunderstands you because of this, it has nothing to do with me."
"Yes, it seems that I have been tricked by you, Lord City Lord." Ruan Xing joked, "In that case, I wish you a safe journey."
Again? Why again? He didn't seem to have the upper hand in front of Boss Ruan, did he? The city lord was a little puzzled, but he was leaving anyway, so he didn't want to think about it anymore. It was more important to go back to find the national teacher to save Nannan.
The city lord got on the carriage and prepared to set off. Ruan Xing walked out of the pavilion, and Wang Dongxing immediately signaled his men to start dismantling the pavilion.
Ruan Xing sighed, "It's such a waste to just sit here for a while."
Wang Dongxing didn't take it seriously, "But it's a good show."
"You've only been showing off for a few days. I think you haven't done enough work. Mr. Liu, when will the Xun'an Division return the property to you? Then, all will be handed over to Wang Dongxing for management."
A smile appeared on Young Master Liu's lips. "Yes, don't worry, Boss Ruan. We will send it back in the next two days."
"Tsk, maybe I love working so much, don't underestimate me! The shops in my family are not enough for me to take care of." Wang Dongxing shook his head.
Ruan Xing shook her head and waved her hand to signal the managers to go home. She also took Hu San back to the headquarters and told Hu San to remember to practice hard when he returned. Then the manager came forward to report.
"Boss, Deputy Boss Hong is back."
"Hmm? That's good." Ruan Xing's eyes lit up. "Where are the things he brought back?"
"It is being checked and deposited into the warehouse."
Ruan Xing said urgently, "Don't put it in the warehouse. It won't be fresh if it's kept for too long. Send it to my yard immediately after checking it. Also, send it together with the medicinal furnace and cauldron we used last time, as well as twenty pieces of yellow paper and five brushes."
"Yes, then do you still want to see Deputy Gang Leader Hong? He is waiting for you in the study."
"See you. After this meeting, the things I want must appear in my room on time."
"I understand." The housekeeper hurriedly trotted to do it, and Ruan Xing strode to the study.
"My subordinate greets the boss." Hong Xi bowed. He seemed to have not washed up since he came back and looked exhausted.
"Xiaohong, you've worked hard. Come and sit down." Ruan Xing said with a smile, "How is the matter going?"
Although the housekeeper had already gone to check the things brought back, she still wanted to hear it with her own ears.
Hong Xi said, "I have already wiped out all the monkeys in Qianling Mountain and brought back 48 kilograms of heart blood, 372 kilograms of ordinary blood, 42 intact monkey skins, and 107 damaged monkey skins. The weather was hot, so to prevent the blood from stinking after being left for too long, I rushed back overnight to deliver the things to you."
"Good, well done!" Ruan Xing patted Hong Xi's shoulder happily and took out two bottles of her newly made liquid medicine. "This is a reward for you."
Hong Xi's pupils constricted, and his whole body trembled, "This... is the liquid medicine needed for practicing?"
"Exactly."
"Thank you for the reward, boss!" Hong Xi quickly knelt on one knee, full of excitement.
He is nearly forty years old. Given the Red-Headed Taoist's stinginess, he might not be able to reach the realm of perfect internal strength in his lifetime. Unexpectedly, just for killing a few monkeys, Ruan Xing rewarded him with two bottles of medicine. If he works hard under her, maybe he can not only reach the threshold of the acquired realm himself, but his children can also practice internal strength techniques early.
Why are you so excited? There's no need. Ruan Xing gave Hu more than 30 bottles of liquid medicine. If the hungry managers knew about this, they would be envious.
"I will never treat unfairly those who work loyally for me, Xiaohong. If you can find clues to the Luoqi Pill as soon as possible, I can give you more." Ruan Xing made the promise with a smile.
"Yes! I understand!" Hong Xi restrained his expression and continued, "There is one more thing. There are 52 households in the village at the foot of Qianling Mountain. They are disturbed by the monkeys in Qianling Mountain. After we went to eliminate the monkeys this time, those villagers asked me to join the Red Head Gang and live in Jiangning City. Many of them are strong and young men. I took the initiative to move their household registration to Xiaohe Village outside Jiangning City and brought them back for resettlement. There are a total of 279 people, including 91 young and strong people, 137 old and weak women and children, and 51 children under the age of 14. Please forgive me, gang leader!"
It just so happened that Ruan Xing had just killed a wave of enemies and needed some fresh blood. I guess Hong Xi thought so too, so he brought these people back.
Ruan Xing nodded and said, "Okay, we will recruit all the young and strong ones into the gang. You can train them and assign them to Wang Dongxing. He is short of people, so their families can be arranged according to your method. Once they are stable in the gang, you can ask Wang Dongxing to give them some resettlement money so that they can bring their families into the city."
Moreover, in the simulation, those people will form gangs and infiltrate the city in a few years. They should be good at joining gangs. Invisibly, she has changed the fate of those people.
After Hong Xi finished his report, Ruan Xing asked him to take the medicine back and wash up and rest.
She had returned to her room with starry eyes, looking at the large area of materials for making medicine and drawing talismans in front of her, and sighed with satisfaction.
Although it smells a bit bad, it is her capital for the future. With these medicines and talismans, she will have the confidence to face the arrival of the new city lord, whether she is arming herself or the gang.
Thanks to book friend 20230729716-Ea for the monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)
