Time was noon, and one could faintly hear the sounds of gongs and drums from the city outside. The courtyard featured a pond, rockery, and the lingering snow of winter, clearly indicating a wealthy household, yet also exuding a sense of simplicity and elegance. A large table was set in the main hall, with a hollowed-out center holding blazing charcoal, ensuring that diners at the table remained warm even with the doors open.

However, at this moment, the faces of everyone at the table were pale.

The soldiers and plainclothes staff from the secretariat had arrived only moments after the commotion outside began. In most situations, this would have been a standard political maneuver for controlling offenders. But then, Ning Yi's sudden appearance, at this time, in this place, was as incomprehensible as the descriptions in urban ghost stories.

In the present-day Southwest, his status was too high, and Li Rulai's was too low. In terms of rank, even if Li Rulai intended to revolt, Ning Yi wouldn't need to personally confront him. And in terms of location, it was inappropriate for someone of his stature to enter Li Rulai's private residence using methods usually reserved for dealing with criminals, under any circumstances.

This strange anomaly indicated that whatever was happening would be significant.

The moment Li Rulai saw the figure in a dark coat walk in, he instinctively reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He even forgot to bow his head. Li Dong took a small step back, standing at attention, while the others displayed a mix of confusion, their bodies mostly frozen in place.

Ning Yi glanced at everyone, his gaze quickly shifting to the courtyard outside and the dishes on the table. His expression seemed calm as he pulled out a chair, sat down, and looked at the courtyard, nodding. "Sit."

No one dared to sit. Everyone hesitated for a moment, and then, the hall was filled with silence. People looked at each other, and in the silence, no one dared to sit.

Ning Yi glanced at everyone again. He placed his hands on the table, smiling slightly. "The courtyard is well-designed, showing careful thought. But I can still hear the sounds of gongs and drums. The space isn't large enough, so it lacks the grandeur of a Jiangnan garden. You bought this land when you first arrived in Chengdu, General Li?"

Li Rulai opened his mouth, then lowered his head. "Yes, yes..."

"A bit of a downgrade for you. When will the new garden be finished?"

"...According to the schedule, next, next March."

"Mm."

Ning Yi nodded, reaching for a set of chopsticks and a bowl from the side. They belonged to one of the officers and still had some remnants of food in them. Seeing him pick up the chopsticks as if to use them, Li Dong frowned. "Ning...Ning...this..."

"What about this?"

"This...it's been used...you..."

"Back in Xiaocang River, resources were so scarce that we'd pass food that you'd eaten to me and food that I'd eaten to him. What difference does it make today? You're an old veteran of Xiaocang River. Now that you have status and position in the eyes of others, don't become so delicate."

He picked up the chopsticks and casually grabbed some food, seemingly marveling at the deliciousness of the dishes. After nodding slightly, he finally looked up at Li Dong, his gaze serious for a moment.

"You're here in the city on business, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Told you to sit, and you don't sit. Are you full?"

"...Yes...yes."

"If you haven't eaten enough, sit down and eat. If you're full, go and do your business. Those who lead troops shouldn't be so fussy. I came here today because I have some important matters to discuss with General Li Rulai. I won't keep you."

"...Yes."

Li Dong and the others hesitated slightly, then saluted and left for the courtyard outside.

Ning Yi moved his chair closer to the round table and ate a few more dishes. After Li Dong and the others disappeared from the courtyard, he waved his hand, and the security and secretariat staff also left the room one after another. At least within visual range, only he and Li Rulai remained. Li Rulai stood there with his head lowered, took a deep breath, and moved slightly. Ning Yi looked up, his tone even calmer this time.

"Stand."

After he said this, he put down his chopsticks, his tone as if he were addressing a dead man.

And then, the courtyard was silent again for a moment.

When he spoke again, it was with: "Years ago, when the Jurchen army was defeated at Wangyuan Bridge and sent someone to try to recruit you, you retorted, asking if I handled things this way, wouldn't I be afraid of everyone pushing me when the wall falls… Isn't that right?”

Ning Yi’s gaze was fixed on Li Rulai, with a hint of weariness, and a hint of disappointed pity. Li Rulai’s body trembled slightly: "That...that was...different circumstances..."

"You generals in the Wu Dynasty, many of you who managed to rise to the top are like this. You're like that, Liu Guangshi was like that too. You understand the ways of the world, you understand what's called the common sense of the world, but you can't fight a war. What's the use of a troop leader who can't fight a war? After joining the Huaxia Army, I didn't promote you, you felt resentful in your heart, indulged in eating, drinking, and playing, making friends. Now you've made so many friends, so many heroes. Have you learned to fight a war?"

"I..."

"...For you...and your little brothers, I had already made a set of arrangements long ago. You were courting death according to plan, and I was doing things according to plan. After a couple of years, everyone's affairs would be over. But recently I thought about some things. During the Spring Festival, I should have gone back to Zhang Village, but I detoured to your place. I just wanted to ask a question. You send women to the officers in the army. According to your worldly wisdom, according to feudal rules, how many times should you die?"

"..."

"...Since you understand the rules so well, you should know that in any dynasty, it means death for your whole family. So today, I came here like this. It's not in accordance with the rules, but whether you calculate it according to my rules or according to your worldly ways, there shouldn't be much difference. I believe you can accept it calmly."

Li Rulai raised his head slightly, the last trace of blood on his face disappeared, and beads of sweat oozed out. Ning Yi sighed.

"The cook is good. Sit down, have your last meal."

The wind blew into the hall, and Li Rulai's figure swayed. He was in his fifties, tall, well-maintained, and his hair was still black, but at this moment, he seemed to be turning transparent, disappearing from the picture. Ning Yi, who was nearly forty, exuded a pressure far greater than his age. He picked up a teacup, looked at it, and then put it down again. Suddenly, he slammed his palm on the wooden table, and the entire table seemed to shake even the floor. He roared in anger.

"Sit—"

Li Rulai pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. He placed his hands on the round table. "I, I..."

His voice trembled, wanting to say something, but finally couldn't. Ning Yi sat for a while, and for some reason, even he, who was preparing to kill the whole family, seemed a little tired. After a long time, as Li Rulai's expression changed several times, he said: "What are you thinking about?"

"I...I was thinking...I'm just guessing, guessing...Chairman...if you really wanted to kill me...kill my whole family, wouldn't you...wouldn't you come in person..."

...

"...Before coming over, I happened to think about some issues."

After a moment, the voice in the hall sounded again.

"After you surrendered, the decision to leave you idle involved my personal likes and dislikes, but overall, is it really unfair to you? Just like Lu Qiaoshan, whom you keep comparing yourself to, he was a defeated general. After being captured, he underwent a thorough transformation and can now be put to great use. But after Wangyuan Bridge, the decision was made to treat you as a typical example, buying bones with gold, but no proper arrangements were made for you. Perhaps this is a mistake we need to review in our work."

"Of course, this is a small aspect...On a larger scale, worldly wisdom and the conventions of this world do exist. In our study classes in the Huaxia Army, we always say that there are ways and means to doing things. In terms of ways, we must trace back to the source and ask about our initial intentions. In terms of means, we must be pragmatic. The existing rules of the world cannot be ignored just because your goal is great. We talk about this again and again, of course, because many people cannot separate the way from the means when doing things. And then I suddenly thought of your problem..."

"General Li, you have been immersed in worldly wisdom for so many years. It was excusable that you didn't understand the Huaxia Army when you surrendered. In your imagination, the so-called conquest of the world is nothing more than uniting a group of soldiers and rascals like you, eating hot pot and singing songs together at this kind of table, and then promising what kind of fame and fortune you will have when you win the world. This kind of thing, from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, and Li Shimin, is human nature, and it is also the norm of founding a country..."

"At that time, you couldn't think of too many things, but what I'm curious about is, General Li, you've been racking your brains to make so many friends in the Huaxia Army, and in the process of eating, drinking, and corrupting them, do you understand...somewhat, the purpose that the Huaxia Army shouts every day, the things we plan to do?"

Ning Yi's hand lightly drew on the table.

"We want to break the Confucian cycle, we want to open up the minds of the people, we want to engage in scientific inquiry, we advocate for the four classes of people, upwards we want to break the cycle of order and chaos, downwards we want to break the rule of the local gentry, hoping that the people can stand up more or less after reading books, we want to make a change that hasn't happened in thousands of years...A few years ago, these things were very distant to you. Your worldly wisdom told you that these things couldn't be achieved. You even had your own solid views on why they couldn't be achieved. Even your views were relatively complete. But today, a few years later, General Li, we are on the same boat. Even if you still don't quite agree, you should already understand where this boat is going."

He paused slightly.

"Generally, there are two choices in the face of such a problem. First, you get off the boat and die yourself. Second, use your worldly experience to think about how to change these worldly problems, where there are reefs, where there are problems, on this voyage. I'm wondering if I can get some surprises from it. You can't say that I haven't given you Li Rulai a chance."

He quietly looked at the other party for a moment.

"You can't lead troops anymore. I'll give you a village. You know that we're doing land reform recently, which is actually taking power from the local gentry. I'll give you the 101st experimental village. You can do whatever you want, cooperate with the work team, or go it alone. As long as you don't violate the law or discipline, in a few years, the people in your village have to become rich, they have to listen to the Huaxia Army, they have to understand the truth, the children have to have books to read, the widowed, orphaned, and lonely have to be cared for. If you do well, I'll give you more things. You will have a place in the future political consultations, and there will be an evaluation of you in the history books."

Ning Yi pushed away the table and stood up.

"Thinking about these things in your case was an accident. Even if it wasn't today, I would carefully consider today's problems in the future, but at that time, your whole family would already be dead. So coming over today is your good luck...Of course, it's up to you whether you take this path or not. Someone will come in later. Explain the past clearly, just consider it buying your life and starting over. After that, we'll see what happens."

He left the hall and walked outside. Just as he was about to reach the courtyard gate, he heard Li Rulai's voice from behind.

"Yes! Chairman!"

That voice was faint, and it even carried some excitement. It was unknown whether it was the excitement of surviving a disaster or the surge of emotion from being able to do something.

The security personnel lowered the sniper rifles aimed at Li Rulai, and the secretariat staff also withdrew one after another. When they were about to reach the outer gate, they came over to report to Ning Yi: "Regiment Commander Li is still waiting outside." Ning Yi nodded, instructing them to call him over.

The two rode together in a carriage for a while, and Ning Yi mentioned one thing: "When we were fighting in Xiaocang River, I talked about an emperor who would skin officials who embezzled five taels of silver and plant grass on their skin. You all applauded. Would you still applaud now?"

Li Dong thought for a while: "Yes."

"Good." Ning Yi looked at him for a moment, nodding. "Go back and make a self-criticism. Be careful when making friends in the future."

After Li Dong saluted and left, the carriage continued on its way, heading towards the road back to Zhang Village. After a while, a few more cars pulled up. These were also carriages going to Zhang Village to celebrate the Little New Year. Sitting inside were Juan'er and Li Shishi, who, knowing that Li Shishi was alone in Chengdu, had been instructed by Su Tan'er to invite her to stay temporarily in Zhang Village and spend the New Year together.

"So mysterious..."

After learning the whole story, Ning Yi laughed and cursed, but he didn't seem particularly happy.

Shishi then asked Ning Yi about the arrangements for Li Rulai.

In the past, Ning Yi had planned for this matter long ago, and even had Shishi participate in the preliminary preparations for the publicity. However, Li Rulai's sending women to the army had a truly negative impact. She reported it to Ning Yi. This time, when Ning Yi returned, he reportedly went directly to Li Rulai's house, so she had already prepared for Li Rulai to have his home confiscated.

When she heard Ning Yi talk about this disposal, Shishi stared with wide eyes. For a time, she was quite surprised.

******

Jin Province, time was afternoon.

After giving Yuan Xiaoqiu a holiday and finishing his official duties, it was already getting dark when he left the Qing Palace.

The carriage passed through the snow-covered city. The hustle and bustle of the morning was still continuing at this time, but many people were already starting to go home one after another. The Little New Year is the time to worship the Kitchen God, and many people still have to return home in the evening to perform a ceremony. Slightly lifting the curtain, Lou Shuwan could see the lights lit in some of the shops, the clamorous voices of the people, and the occasional smell of food.

She went to a mansion on the side of the city.

She hadn't been to this courtyard for a long time.

The person who opened the door for her was a middle-aged woman in plain clothes, with mediocre looks. Probably because they didn't meet often, she looked somewhat frightened when she saw Lou Shuwan at this time. Lou Shuwan said a few words to her, and then had her entourage hand over some cloth and food. She walked towards the courtyard.

In the two-courtyard residence, the outer courtyard was a symbolic living room, and the inner courtyard was where people lived. In the inner courtyard, you could see a few chickens and ducks, and there was also the smell of manure. In front of the bedroom door in the front of the courtyard, a middle-aged man with saliva drooling from the corners of his mouth, looking like a moron, was wrapped in a thick quilt, leaning against the door, staring blankly at the sky.

This was her second brother, Lou Shuheng.

His mind and body had been ruined in the past three years.

For a long time, Lou Shuwan had been raising him like livestock, feeding him and providing him with drink, and finding women for him, hoping that this last remaining relative in the world could leave a descendant for the Lou family with his worthless life. However, Lou Shuheng did not take on such a responsibility. During Tian Hu's incident, he, who was already weak, was tortured and frightened.

Since the Jurchen's last southward invasion, the situation in Jin Province was precarious. Lou Shuwan once tightened her belt and starved herself until her whole body was swollen. She no longer had the time to care about her brother, who had become a waste in her home. During that time, Lou Shuheng also experienced many times of hunger and suffered various displacements. He was so frightened that he broke his head during a transfer. Since then, he lingered on, and even when Lou Shuwan had given up on him, he still survived in a daze.

After that, the situation in Jin Province gradually eased. Whenever Lou Shuwan saw her demented brother, she was annoyed. She simply turned a blind eye and found a reliable rural woman, gave her a sum of money, and asked her to take care of her brother. Whether it was as an employer or as a husband, she didn't care. After that, she only came to visit occasionally when she had free time.

Perhaps because the other party was taking good care of him, Lou Shuheng's body did not collapse again. Most of the time, perhaps because he was weak, he liked to sit under the eaves and watch the sun. Even in winter, this habit continued. And it must be admitted that the demented brother looked more pleasing than his previously manic self.

After looking at the other party for a moment, Lou Shuwan sat down beside him, poured a bowl of warm water, and fed it to him spoonful by spoonful.

Lou Shuheng babbled, seeming to show a hint of a smile.

Seeing that smile, Lou Shuwan's eyes warmed.

For many, many years, she had not seen her brother show such a smile. It was like the smile of her childhood. Since adulthood, she had only seen madness in his smiles.

"...It would have been great if you had become like this sooner. If you had smiled like this sooner...maybe Su Tan'er would have fallen in love with you..."

"...Do you still remember Su Tan'er? Her man...Alas, you said how insightful I was back then. You and Big Brother are not as good as me. We are a family. How insightful I am...We are a family, Big Brother, Father..."

"...You're not up to it, you're not up to it...You said you should have left a child, and I would have helped you raise him. Today is the 24th, the Kitchen God is going to heaven, and there is no man in the house. I can't even worship the Kitchen God. I'm alone...You're not up to it..."

She looked at Lou Shuheng, mumbling and rambling, her eyes slightly red, but she was someone who had experienced too much, so even when she talked about these things, she didn't shed tears. Lou Shuheng also babbled and looked at her, like a child. He had become the happiest person in the family, and she was always unhappy.

Outside, the city was white with snow, and festive lights shone on the ground and onto the sky. People were in a festive mood. And she was always unhappy.

"...It's all your fault...It's all your fault...You've turned into a fool, and you're the most irresponsible one...You forgot that you still have a sister..."

"Ha...ha..."

Lou Shuheng blew bubbles, and saliva burst open, like a fleeting life, reflected in countless laughs, fireworks, and in eyes filled with sadness and regret...