"Good things don't work, but bad things really work …"
Not long after the chaotic noises came, it was confirmed that there was a problem in the east gate. The people on the street all looked in that direction, including some disaster victims. They didn't know what was going on, so they panicked and guessed what had happened there. Lu Agui looked around.
"Princess, young prince, get in the carriage and get ready to go back. The gate may be closed … I'm going to have a look. Liheng, the carriage will pass by the Su mansion. You should also go back. Once something like this happens, there will always be some panic. "
Ning Yi nodded. Lu Agui rushed to the gate, while he, Zhou Pei, and Zhou Junwu got in the carriage and went back. Ning Yi sat next to the coachman's seat. Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu also opened the curtain to see the situation outside. The situation in the city had been a little tense these days. At this time, the disaster victims had become a little chaotic. There were quarrels, curses, and children crying on the road. The soldiers and government runners maintained order. It seemed chaotic, but there was no real trouble for a while.
So on the way home, the Su mansion had become vigilant. The gate began to close tightly, and some people climbed on the wall with ladders to see what was going on. In fact, everyone was a little confused. Juan'er was waiting for him near the main gate at this time. Later, they learned that Chan'er was waiting at the side gate — Su Tan'er and the three maids had returned home. When there was a disturbance outside, they asked them to come and wait. If Ning Yi didn't come back after a while, they would probably organize servants to go out and look for him.
Then they heard voices on the street outside, "The gate is closed —" The voices spread one after another and gradually gathered into a wave of panic and confusion. The sun seemed to become a little pale in the sky …
At noon on the 13th of July, the four gates of Jiangning City were closed in a burst of chaos.
The reason was that the middle of the month had arrived. Although the middle of the seventh month was the real center of the month, the gates of hell would open on the first day of the seventh month. After that, there were still various reasons to hold a memorial service. The streets of Jiangning City were filled with various ingots and candles. Outside the city, there were many refugees whose loved ones had died. No wonder Su Tan'er and Lu Agui said that the city gates would be closed before the fifteenth.
However, at this time, there were also refugees who could see this point. Those who could enter Jiangning City were naturally living a better life, but those who did not have various documents and identification were not allowed to enter the city. Once the city gates were closed, perhaps their lives would be even more difficult. So on the thirteenth day, someone at the east gate incited the refugees to rush in. Seeing that the chaos was getting bigger and bigger, the officials guarding there quickly chose to close the gate. After all, this was a decision that had been made before.
After the east gate closed, the other three gates followed suit.
The blind panic in the city did not continue, and order was still maintained. However, on this night, Jiangning seemed a little quiet. People quietly burned paper money in their yards and on the streets. Occasionally, carriages and pedestrians passed by, but it seemed cold and bleak. People who were close to the city walls could hear all kinds of sounds coming from outside the city gates.
By the next morning, except for no more people coming in and out of the city gates, everything seemed to begin to return to normal. The Su family's mansion was peaceful. As usual, people got up, washed, ate, read, practiced calligraphy, and chatted. In the morning, when he entered the room to tidy up Ning Yi's bedding and clean the room, Xiaochan also asked about Miss Nie. Ning Yi casually said a few words, but he did not talk much about it. At the moment, this matter had become less important.
There were more people in the Su mansion, and fewer people went out. The atmosphere became more lively. Children ran around everywhere, and familiar and unfamiliar faces walked around and chatted. It was the same on the third and fourth day, but people gradually adapted to the fact that the city gates were closed. After the Zhongyuan Festival, the business of the brothels became more lively. There were all kinds of rich nightlife. People who went out often called friends in groups and spent a lot of money. They enjoyed life more happily than usual.
On the other hand, the price of rice in the city had risen to an outrageous level. The government sold grain in limited quantities every day, and the large families stored grain and sold it through black market channels. There were many wealthy merchants in Jiangning. As long as there wasn't a huge mess, the government couldn't really be too strict with them. They could only use appropriate methods to make these wealthy merchants pay some price and help maintain the order of the city.
The city gates were closed. There were always shocks in the days before and after. Su Tan'er seemed to become busier. It also coincided with the Zhongyuan Festival, so there were many trivial matters. She still slept late at night. One night, she fell asleep again. Ning Yi went over to blow out the light, but she woke up again. She looked at Ning Yi and sniffed, then smiled. "I'm going to sleep soon..." This time, she did not wait for long. After a while, she really extinguished the light and went to bed.
On the night of the 17th of July, the two chatted in the corridor on the second floor. Su Tan'er ate the pastries Ning Yi gave her. "Well, there should be nothing for the next two days. Go out and distribute porridge and food to help the victims. Liheng, are you coming?"
"Is it the kind of thing where you put food and let the victims line up and give it to them one by one?"
"Yes, prepare porridge and steamed buns. They line up. A small bowl of porridge and a steamed bun is enough for a meal. The children also get a portion. A few years ago, the city was also closed. I went to distribute it and put the things in their hands. They were very happy to hear their thanks. There were quite a lot of people at that time, but it is still the first few days. There shouldn't be many, but it is also a good thing. "Su Tan'er took small bites of the pastries.
"Oh, you are not patriotic, but in fact, you are quite sentimental..."
"I am a woman. I can only care about the kindness of helping a person. There are so many people in a country. Who knows who will be there?" Su Tan'er looked up and smiled. She answered casually, "But Husband, are you going tomorrow?"
"Yes, I will go."
"Okay."
The city gate had only been closed for four days. Everything had not settled down yet. He had not gotten used to many things, and it was not time for him to start many things. Ning Yi went to see Nie Yunzhu. There was still nothing going on there. However, it was not appropriate for him to go with her to Elder Qin's house to refuse the matter of his adopted daughter. Kang Xian must be busy. Ning Yi only went out once, so he naturally could not meet him. Although Lu Agui said that Elder Kang wanted to argue with him, it was not possible for him to do so now.
There were only so many things on his schedule. Maybe after a few days of stability, those children would have had enough fun, and Ning Yi would ask them to come to the yard to give a lecture or something. To him and Su Tan'er, it would be a simple thing to do to go out and do some good deeds tomorrow. At this time, not many people knew that on the next day, such a thing would happen. They were not prepared, but it seemed that the conspiracy that had been hidden for a long time suddenly appeared...
*****
The city gate had been closed for four days, and the tension in the city had not increased much. Naturally, there were not many people who had no food to eat. However, hearing that the Su family was going to give charity today, many disaster victims and beggars still gathered in the small square near the Su family.
At this time, the form of disaster relief was similar to what Ning Yi had seen on TV. It was nothing more than a few lines, a big spoonful of porridge, and a small steamed bun. Although it was just the beginning of the difficult time, many disaster victims had already looked pale and distressed. Some were silent, and some were very grateful. Some people were talking about it, saying that it was the second daughter of the Su family, and that it was the son-in-law of the Su family... For businessmen, this kind of charity would definitely gain some reputation, which was very normal.
Of course, Su Tan'er knew the purpose of gaining reputation. Of course, she was also happy to do some good things, which was probably the good side of her character. But for Ning Yi, it was a bit complicated. If it was bad, he had seen the deepest darkness, the most unfair things, and the most twisted human nature, but if it was good, he had also seen many fairer public opinions and atmosphere, so it was meaningless for him to gain a sense of superiority in this kind of action. He just regarded it as something that needed to be done.
The small square was noisy. When the food was distributed halfway, Su Tan'er leaned over there and said, "Father is here too."
"Hmm?" Ning Yi turned his head and looked. A carriage separated the crowded crowd from one side of the square. It was Su Boyong, who had gone out in the morning. At this time, he was on his way home. The carriage stopped at the row of tables and chairs where the porridge was distributed. Su Boyong came over to greet Ning Yi and Su Tan'er.
Although the two were father and daughter, the relationship between Su Boyong and Su Tan'er was not as warm as that of a normal father and daughter. Su Tan'er never acted like a spoiled child beside her father like a daughter from a normal family, and Su Boyong always seemed to be at a loss when it came to Su Tan'er. He did not know whether he should show his kind side, the strict side, or the professional side of a businessman.
After greeting and joking with Ning Yi for a while, Su Boyong looked at Su Tan'er and gave her a simple reminder, "You don't look too good these days. Rest if you can, and don't overwork yourself." Su Tan'er nodded and said, "I know."
Then, Su Boyong went to a long table not far away and personally distributed the steamed buns. Ning Yi and Su Tan'er stayed here, one distributing porridge and the other distributing steamed buns. There was no need to say much about the relationship between Su Tan'er and her father. The two chatted here and there. At a certain moment, the corner of Ning Yi's eyes moved, and he noticed something. It was a small disturbance in one of the lines.
It was the small line in front of Su Boyong. Someone squeezed over, seemingly wanting to cut the line, and caused a very normal disturbance. The servants of the Su family who were maintaining order didn't react in time, and the person had already closed the distance. Su Boyong raised his head, holding a steamed bun in his hand. Ning Yi noticed that in less than a second, two figures collided. Su Tan'er also looked over there.
Blood sprayed out. The person had a knife in his hand, and he stabbed Su Boyong. Su Boyong staggered back, and when he turned around, the person stabbed him in the back again, and then turned to run.
"Ah —" The crowd screamed, and the chaos spread. Ning Yi flipped the table and ran over, and Su Tan'er almost at the same time. She didn't scream, and her face and eyes were almost expressionless. Ning Yi rushed to the side to prevent the chaotic crowd from spreading. Su Tan'er threw herself to her father's side, and she looked in the direction of the running criminal. She simply and briefly said to the surrounding servants, "Catch him." Then she just lowered her head and pressed on her father's wound, and no longer paid attention to the other side. In fact, there were already quite a few servants surrounding them.
Ning Yi paid attention to the surroundings. After making sure that even if there was a second criminal, it would be impossible for him to rush over, then he turned back to help Su Tan'er press on her wound. At this time, Su Tan'er's eyes were already filled with tears, and she tightly pursed her lips without saying a word. She was probably a little confused for a moment. Therefore, Ning Yi ordered the surrounding servants, "Find the nearest doctor! Bring those clean cloths over! Hurry, hurry, hurry, do what you can... "
The two knife wounds were relatively deep. Although they weren't immediately fatal, the consequences were unpredictable. Su Boyong was conscious, and at this time, he grabbed Su Tan'er's hand and said something. Ning Yi frowned and looked around, looking for clues that he might have seen.
It might be premeditated, it might not be, but among the three branches of the Su family, the first branch was the weakest. Although it was said that Su Tan'er was the most powerful successor of the third generation, and in the future, she might be in charge of the Su family, but at this time, she was still in the testing stage. The first branch of the Su family was always controlled by Su Boyong, and he was the backbone.
With these two knives, it was hard to predict what the Su family would be like tomorrow...
*****
Thank you, classmate Xiao Fu, and everyone's support, we have nine leaders ^ _ ^
In addition, I recommend Floating and Sinking's masterpiece, "The Best Young Master": Tang Sheng, a second-generation official whose family has fallen, reincarnated back to the age of 17 to make up for his regrets and rebuild the glory of his family! How to be a low-key second-generation official? The most important thing is to let his father, a first-generation official, have a stable career and rise rapidly.
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