The day before Ruan Yuan entered Hangzhou, the heads of the pirates who had been killed by the army in the naval battle, including the pirates who attacked Ruan Yuan, were all cut off and sent to Hangzhou in advance. At the same time, more than a hundred pirates were also escorted into Hangzhou.

Hang, preparing to show off to the public in the market. According to the practice at the time, these people not only "rebelled", but also many assassinated the governor. Just beheading them and displaying them on the street was already leniency. Although Ruan Yuan advocated leniency for pirates, he was not

Those who were active accomplices and those who were forced to join the gang were convicted respectively. However, these people either refused to surrender or wanted to take their own lives. Even if they were given leniency, they had to show their heads in public, so Ruan Yuan did not do anything about this matter.

any objection.

At this time, within the Ruan family, all pirates had been wiped out, and the news of Ruan Yuan's victory and return had spread.

"Have you heard? Many adults came from Taizhou today. They said that the pirates have all been killed. The officers and soldiers have taken many heads and are showing them to the public at Tongjiang Bridge. There are also many pirates who have been escorted back by them.

Now. Tell me, is the master going home soon?"

"I know about the master. Mrs. Xie said that the master will return tomorrow. Today he asked us to clean the courtyard and wait for the master to come back. But, when the master comes back, he will only stay for a day or two, and then... we will

gone."

"Then do you want to go to the capital? I heard that you can go back to Yangzhou if you want."

At this time, Su Jiumei had finished cleaning up at the Ruan family. She was just waiting for Ruan Yuan to return and was ready to say goodbye to him and then return to Linhai Village to raise silkworms and weave to make a living. But that day, she heard several maids at home talk about pirates, but she also

I was so mixed with joy and sorrow that I was speechless for a moment.

If Ruan Yuan returns tomorrow, then she can finally make a living on her own. But until now, the news of Sun Wu has not come. Ruan Yuan told her that day that life and death are unpredictable in a naval battle, but if Sun Wu does not

It is entirely possible to die or be escorted back. For a moment, Su Jiumei felt both excitement and fear in her heart.

"Well...how about I go and have a look. If Fifth Brother is just captured, even if he is a heinous person, I...I beg you, sir, just spare his life. You have so much power, so you can be merciful."

"My lord... He won't embarrass Fifth Brother, an accomplice? But..." After thinking about it, it was better to take a look than to worry all the time, so at the beginning of the afternoon, she quietly went out and prepared to go to Tongjiang Bridge alone.

See what happens.

The servants of the Ruan family all knew that Su Jiumei was about to leave the Ruan family. Before leaving, Ruan Yuan also told Jiang Er and Lian'er, asking them to take more care of Su Jiumei without restricting her actions. So she left the Ruan family alone, but she also

No one paid attention. Tongjiang Bridge was not far from Fuyuan. After walking for a long time, Su Jiumei arrived at the market. In the market, the first head had just risen, and the soldiers who came were raising the head of the first person.

The two heads seemed to want to say something else.

"Everyone, take a look. This pirate is the leader of the thieves, and the most rebellious among the thieves!" Su Jiumei looked at the first head, and it seemed that she had seen it before. She recalled the scene in Linhai Village when she returned from abroad that day.

At home, she saw pirates burning, killing and looting in the village, so she had to hide in the grass behind the house. At that time, she watched her father being stabbed with a knife, and Sun Wu was also grabbed by the arm by several pirates.

, was going to be kidnapped. Naturally, she was in unbearable pain at the time, but she also knew that she would die if she ran out, so she had no choice but to endure the pain and lie there motionless. Fortunately, after the pirates plundered, they did not search for survivors again, so they even

She left, but even so, she remembered clearly the appearance of the man who killed her father, and it was exactly the same as his head!

This head was naturally that of Cai Lin. On that day, Cai Lin led his men to plunder Linhai Village. Seeing that they had enough people and property, he no longer cared about whether there were other strangers in the hidden places in the village, and went back directly.

Su Jiumei stayed in the grass for half an hour, listening to the sound of footsteps in the village, and then escaped. Looking back at this moment, she also had mixed feelings. The enemy who killed her father was finally killed by the army today. Thinking about it this way, Ruan Yuan also

You have avenged yourself.

At this time, the soldiers naturally did not see anything strange in the people in the audience, but continued to hold up the heads and said: "Everyone, look, this is the man who sneaked into Taizhou Post House when our army was killing Cai Ni.

To assassinate Mr. Ruan! However, this evil thief was so audacious that he was like a moth to the flame. When Mr. Ruan saw the thief, he went crazy and shot him immediately. The thief was killed with one shot! He looked like a thief.

The head is hanging here now, for all the fellow villagers to see and think about what will happen to the evil thief who assassinated Mr. Ruan!" After saying that, the soldier also handed the head to the government officials behind, and several government officials hung it up in the assembly hall.

before the city.

It didn't matter, but Su Jiumei also stepped forward and saw that the head of the person had been turned halfway, exposing the ears and nose. In an instant, her face was so shocked that there was no color left!

"Fifth brother!"

She did not cry out at this time, but many people in the crowd could clearly see that a lonely woman fell down when she saw the head rising!

The soldier didn't pay much attention to Su Jiumei's fainting. After all, a lonely woman was always afraid of blood. He had seen many ordinary people who fainted in fear when they saw the heads of criminals, so he continued to count the heads of other pirates.

It wasn't until an hour later that Su Jiumei woke up in the refreshment shop on the side.

"Girl, you're finally awake." Following the gentle voice of an old woman, Su Jiumei realized that this was just a small shop, with an old couple sitting in the shop. They seemed to be kind-hearted people, looking at

He had a kind look on his face. The old woman still had a bowl in her hand, with only half a bowl of water left in it. It seemed that she had just fainted and was carried to this refreshment shop by two people. She looked at the situation outside and the distance.

The middle of Tongjiangqiao Market is dozens of steps away.

"Girl, are you afraid of this... this beheading? Well, although they are all heinous thieves, but you are a girl, why bother..." The old shopkeeper seemed to have mistaken Su Jiumei.

Occasionally passing by the market, she was curious to see the people displaying their heads, so he comforted her softly. Looking at the sunset outside, she also said to Su Jiumei: "Girl, if you are afraid, first tell us where you live.

, I’ll ask my wife to accompany you back. At worst, let’s walk a few more steps and don’t look at those heads. If you’re hungry, I still have some new cakes here, so you can just take some back.”

"Yes, girl, look at your face. Isn't there something wrong with how pale your face is? Girl, did you have any hidden disease in the past, and you suddenly developed it after looking at the head outside? Otherwise, we can help you ask a doctor to come over and take a look.

What do you think? If your family doesn't care, the disease will be serious and difficult to cure." The old woman was also willing to take the initiative to help her.

"Many...thank you both very much, I...I can walk back, I..." Su Jiumei did not want to trouble the old shopkeeper and his wife, so she thanked them in a hurry and left. She did not look at the stocks on the market anymore.

At first glance, the head she saw had been engraved in her heart like a brand.

That person was none other than Sun Wu, and Su Jiumei would recognize Sun Wu's face anytime and anywhere.

Naturally, no one on the street would pay attention to a lonely and weak woman. However, Su Jiumei returned to the Fuyuan in a short while. However, even in the Fuyuan, no one noticed that at this time, there was already something in her eyes.

There was no expression at all, only endless confusion and despair.

As night gradually fell, Su Jiumei returned to her room, but she had no intention of lighting a candle. She just let her empty eyes stare at a package in the room. There was the silver that Ruan Yuan left for her.

"Dad, Fifth Brother, Master Ruan, I... what should I do?"

Cai Lin died, and the revenge for killing his father was finally avenged. But at the same time, Sun Wu was also dead and could never survive again.

And the person who killed Sun Wu was actually Ruan Yuan!

It had been seven years since she was rescued by Ruan Yuan. Although she and Ruan Yuan didn't talk much, she had paid close attention to observing him on weekdays and knew that Ruan Yuan was the most honest person. Even if he occasionally whitewashed it, he would never tell anything that he had never said.

What he has done is his own fault. Just like this, even though Ruan Yuan is busy with official duties and studies and rarely speaks to her, she still believes that Ruan Yuan is a rare gentleman in the world. Sometimes, she even has some objections to Ruan Yuan's words.

I have a sense of dependence and think that whatever he says will be whatever it is.

It's just that the Ruan family is not a Linhai village after all. Su Jiumei always vaguely realizes that there are many differences between her words and deeds and the people in this family. Although she has also helped the Ruan family's daughters and taught the people of Yangzhou how to raise silkworms, deep down in her heart

Although they live together, there are always some barriers to this family of poetry and etiquette. The daughters of the Ruan family, from Kong Luhua to Lian'er, are not bad to themselves, but even so, each one only takes care of themselves, but the daughters treat each other.

They are as close as sisters, with endless friendship, but no one in this family can give me so much warmth.

Fortunately, Ruan Yuan and Kong Luhua both understood their intentions and did not even make things difficult for themselves. On the contrary, Ruan Yuan left enough money for herself. She also knew that as long as she lived diligently and frugally in the future, she could make a living by relying on the silkworm method.

With Ruan Yuan's money, she would not have to worry about poverty in her life. Therefore, Su Jiumei had always been grateful to Ruan Yuan in her heart. She felt that if she could not thank Ruan Yuan one more time before leaving, she would be ashamed of others.

.So, even though the Ruan family no longer restricted her contact, she secretly made up her mind to tell Ruan Yuan her final gratitude.

However, after hearing that Ruan Yuan had killed a pirate with his own hands, and seeing with her own eyes that the man was Sun Wu, all of this suddenly shattered like a mirror in a mirror.
Chapter completed!