"Brother Yi, Teacher."
"Xiao Qi."
As he walked into the courtyard where Su Yu lived, the little girl greeted him shyly. Ning Yi patted her head, and she smiled. "Grandpa is inside."
In the incident a few days ago, Xiao Qi was lucky enough to escape in the chaos, but her face had been lightly slashed by a knife. At this moment, there was a small scar on her face. For an ordinary woman, this might be equivalent to disfigurement, but she was still young. It would depend on whether she could gradually remove the scar as she grew older. Ning Yi chatted with her for a while. When he walked into the small courtyard inside, Su Yu was talking to a few children of the Su family in the pavilion. When he saw Ning Yi coming over, he let the children and Xiao Qi go away to play.
At the beginning of April, the news of the Liangshan bandits breaking out prisoners in Jiangning spread far and wide, shocking the entire Green Forest. Relatively speaking, the role that the Su family had played in this incident was only a small ripple in the waves. After that, the official separation of the third branch of the Su family could only be regarded as a small aftershock of this ripple. It was difficult to attract everyone's attention.
From the perspective of the world, this was the case. In fact, if it was only within the area of Jiangning, there were still many people who really paid attention to this matter. The large and small cloth shops led by the Xue and Wu families, the Puyang family and other merchants who had once paid attention to the Wu Family, and some of the families in the Hangzhou area who had received favors from Ning Yi, after the Su family experienced this incident, they either came out to visit or silently paid attention. Most of them expressed their standpoint. Among them, there were those who believed that no matter what, Ning Yi was a son-in-law who should not make things difficult for his own family. There were also those who expressed their support for Ning Yi no matter what. There were all kinds of such things, but in the end, the Su family was completely separated.
Su Yu played a leading role in this, and Ning Yi almost participated in the whole process. This time, the separation of the Su family was different from the previous times that people had clamored for. From the attitudes of both sides, once separated, although the first branch would still maintain the name of the Su family, in fact, it would completely break with the second and third branches. The old man almost decisively separated several properties. Because he already knew that Ning Yi was planning to go north, he prepared to give the first branch almost all the properties north of the Yangtze River. The Su family did not have many properties there. It seemed that he was favoring one and discriminating against the other, but in fact, it was equivalent to letting Su Tan'er and Ning Yi start from scratch again. But from then on, the first branch had no obligation to help the second and third branches at any time. They wanted to let Ning Yi and completely break away from the second and third branches.
Ning Yi and Su Tan'er did not care too much about how much of the family property they could get. At this time, the other members of the Su family finally felt the horror of this. Even though they had always criticized Su Tan'er and Ning Yi, after the series of unforeseen events, those with the slightest bit of thinking ability had already understood the importance of this couple. Once they were gone, the second and third branches could only maintain the status quo. Perhaps they might not even have the ability to maintain the status quo.
When they realized this, the other elders of the Su family first objected. They still wanted to tie Ning Yi and Su Tan'er to the Su family. No matter how the Su family fought among themselves, as long as they were there, it would not be too bad. Then some of the side branches of the second and third branches also began to speak up. They began to say that even if they were separated, they were still one family. Only the core members of the second and third branches, such as Su Zhongkan and Su Yunfang, who had survived this chaos, could only purse their lips and watch. Ning Yi and Su Tan'er did not take them seriously at all. They even regarded them as a burden. Their attitude of leaving them far behind even if they had to give them more than half of the family property hurt their self-esteem.
Throughout the whole process, Ning Yi only came to visit on behalf of Su Tan'er every day and did not say much. But everyone had seen how he confronted the people of Liangshan in the square that day, so no one dared to say anything in front of him. In the past few days, they had quickly finished discussing the early matters. The follow-up matters would probably still last for a month or two. But since Ning Yi and Su Tan'er did not care about the things in their hands, they did not need to care too much about it.
"I heard that Liheng will go to the capital after the matter is settled."
This time, the Su family underwent a great change. More than half of the Su family were killed or injured. After the incident, they began to deal with the separation of the family. In a few days, the old man seemed to have aged more than ten years. His hair was white. It seemed that although he was old, he was still hale and hearty. At this time, he poured a cup of tea for Ning Yi and gestured for him to sit next to him.
"It has not been decided yet. There are many things to do. Besides … Tan'er is still recuperating. I guess I will go to the capital first. "
Ning Yi thought for a moment and said so. If the family separated, Tan'er's business had to be transferred to the north. Perhaps the best step was to go to the capital first, visit Qin Siyuan, and officially enter the Office of Secret Investigations. Su Yu nodded. "I also think it is a good thing for you to go to the capital first. But you don't have to worry too much about Tan'er. She can do it herself … But this is a matter between you and your wife. I can't say too much." “
Su Yu sighed, stood up, looked around, and looked at the children of the Su family who were playing over there.
"Originally, with my character, I hoped that the Su family could be intact and always be good. But this time, I also saw something clearly. Liheng, you are a man who will do great things. I will not let them tie you down anymore. The disciples of Zhong Kan and Yun Fang's families are useless. If they want to be defeated, then let them be. Although we are going to separate now, in name, we are still a family. You will come back once every year for the ancestral worship. In the future, you and Tan'er will have great achievements. If they don't go overboard, I only hope that you can take care of them a little so that they don't have to live on the streets. "
Ning Yi nodded. Su Yu pointed at those children playing around and smiled: "They didn't die from a great calamity. If one or two of them can become talented, I can die in peace. In addition, I will not care about you and Tan'er anymore. As long as you live well, you and the children, whether their surnames are Su or Ning, you can decide for yourselves. But I hope that you and Tan'er can have a child with the surname Su. That is enough. "
The two then chatted for a while in the pavilion. They talked about trivial things. Su Yu talked about his dealings with Ning Yi's ancestors. He talked about his business days when he was young and the various things that happened after he took charge of the Su family. There were several killings in the business world. The hearts of people were treacherous. It was almost as difficult as it was for Ning Yi to break the imperial business. Later, after his wife died, he tried to lead the Su family to the right path and gain some status in society. In this life, he did everything for the Su family. He blocked the storms and saved up such a large family fortune. He also let the Su family spread out and gain a foothold in the big city of Jiangning. He also set up an academy and a charity hall in an attempt to let the Su family rise to a higher level. But in the end, all of this was for naught. He must have a deep regret in his heart.
"I can probably stay with this family for a few more years. I only hope that after a few years, they can really grow up. That would be good …"
Before leaving, Ning Yi saw the white-haired old man sitting in the pavilion, murmuring these words. This was an area that he could not set foot in for the time being. It was close to the summer solstice. The flowers in the courtyard had fallen and were swirling in the warm wind. Ning Yi looked at Xiao Qi and the others playing. Xiao Qi came over and asked, "Brother Yi, Teacher, are you leaving?" She was Su Yunfang's biological daughter. Although she had always admired Ning Yi, in this family, at least at this time, she could not say too much. Even when Ning Yi was injured, she could not visit him. Ning Yi gently touched the scar on her face that had just faded. He smiled and said, "Take good care of Grandpa."
Xiao Qi nodded her head vigorously.
Walking out of the courtyard, Juan 'er was waiting for him outside. The two of them walked towards the small courtyard where they originally lived. After passing through a few roads, the courtyard was still the same. Not many things had been moved away. There was a wind chime under the eaves, as if waiting for the return of its owner.
This was the courtyard that Su Tan 'er had lived in since she was young. Perhaps it also carried her memories, happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy since she was young. When she was about to get married, she made the decision to run away from the marriage here. Later, it was also here that she chatted with Ning Yi every night. In order to consummate the marriage with Ning Yi, she burned down the small building opposite. The original plan to rebuild it was temporarily put on hold because of the trip to Hangzhou. Now, it was only the foundation. Su Tan 'er fell ill here. Ning Yi set up the plan of the imperial merchants here. They placed the Kongming lantern here, and Tan' er gave birth here. Ning Yi gradually felt that this was actually not a bad place to stay here temporarily. It should have been a place filled with the past and longing for the future. In the future, it would probably only be a memory.
"I'm going to kill Xi Junyu. Maybe it will be very soon."
Ning Yi looked at the things in the courtyard and said. Juan 'er looked at him next to him and did not respond. It was not until Ning Yi looked at her inquiringly that she said, "Ah?" She did not know why Ning Yi looked at her like that.
"I just want to ask, although I told you that sentence in the past when I was joking, but … Juan 'er, did you really like him before? If it is true …"
"Of, of course not." Juan 'er's face suddenly turned red, and then her cheeks puffed up. "How could I like him? That kind of person is arrogant and narcissistic. I will not like him. Young master, you don't know, we have known him since he was not the shopkeeper. He has bad habits and a bad temper. He always has a long face and often goes to brothels …"
Juan 'er blabbered on for a while before realizing that she had said too much. She blushed and lowered her head. Ning Yi burst out laughing. After a while, Juan 'er looked up and asked curiously, "Young master, do you mean … if I really like that Xi Junyu, you won't kill him?"
"How is that possible?" Ning Yi patted her on the shoulder. "I will enlighten you more."
That day, in addition to talking with Su Yu about the separation of the family, Juan 'er also brought some people to move some things here. Ning Yi's injury had basically begun to recover. He sat in the sedan chair and just walked out of the side door of the Su family, a small stone flew into the curtain of the sedan chair and hit Ning Yi's head. The stone was not big. When Ning Yi lifted the curtain and looked at it with his hand covering his forehead, Yuan Jin 'er on the other side of the road was a little stunned. She probably did not expect that she would throw it so accurately. Then she looked left and right and walked away as if nothing had happened.
The people carrying the sedan chair wanted to go over and catch her, but Ning Yi waved his hand and said, "Forget it."
That day when he returned home, his old injury had not yet healed, and there was a new one on his head.
*****
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