Chapter 37 Chapter Seventeen

And thus came the catastrophic day. There were no signs of catastrophic days, and everything was as quiet and peaceful as ever.The early winter sun hangs in the blue sky early in the morning, illuminating the Shimintu Street in Tongrenli and the mansions and houses on both sides of the street.Under the warm sunshine, the cars and chartered cars of various mansions and consulates ran back and forth on the street, and the sound of horns and car bells could be heard far away.A gust of wind rose at noon and obscured the light for several hours.In the evening, the red sun is about to come out again, floating in the western sky impressively, burning the sky with brilliant sunsets.The wives and children of the Hao mansion went to the dining room in the second courtyard to have dinner as usual, and they were inadvertently immersed in the red light of the sunset. Seeing the light from the western sky, she casually said to Nan Rulin, "It's so innocent, let's sit in the garden after dinner."Nan Rulin agreed, and then sat with Ruifang in the garden for a while.

Ruifang was a little weird that day, but when she recalled it later, Nan Rulin still remembered that Ruifang was not as affectionate to her as usual, she looked at her indifferently, but smiled, a bit fake.Nan Rulin originally thought that Ruifang called her to the garden because she wanted to talk to her about Yuan Jizhi——What Captain Wang knew, Ruifang must have known it, and it would be pointless for her to hide it from Ruifang.I already thought that if Ruifang asked, she would tell Ruifang.But Ruifang didn't ask, and just talked about irrelevant gossip. At that time, Nan Rulin regretted talking too much to the young master, and she didn't dare to take the initiative to bring up the topic, for fear that it would be difficult for Ruifang to take it seriously.Ruifang told her that she and Captain Wang are going to grow up together, and they will rely on Captain Wang for the rest of their lives.She also promised Ruifang that she would never tell anything about Ruifang and Captain Wang.But she went back on her word and told the young master for some reason, and she was sorry for Ruifang.

After sitting for a while, she felt cold, Nan Rulin said to Ruifang, it's strange, let's go back?Ruifang didn't object, the two got up and walked into the courtyard. In front of the moon gate, the young master and Captain Wang were greeted.They seemed to have come out of Captain Wang's house, both of them were in plain clothes.The eldest young master was wearing Nan Rulin's very familiar royal blue dark floral satin jacket, with a small black satin waistcoat over the jacket, and Captain Wang was wearing a neat short jacket. This was the last time Nan Rulin saw the young master, but Nan Rulin didn't know it at that time, and neither did the young master.Nan Rulin and the Eldest Young Master walked across, seeing Rui Fang and Captain Wang in front of them, she lowered her head and thought about it, and didn't even say hello to the Eldest Young Master.Instead, Ruifang greeted them all.

The young master greeted Ruifang, but fixed his eyes on Nan Rulin and said, "Nan Shiniang, I...I want to talk to you." Nan Rulin stopped under the moon gate, turned her head and glanced at the young master: "Say it." The young master hesitated for a moment, but said nothing, he waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I'll talk to you tomorrow!" Back in the room, Nan Rulin thought: What does the young master want to tell her?Didn't it mean Yuan Jizhi?The eldest young master said that he was going to meet Yuan Jizhi, but he was afraid that if the meeting passed, he would tell her about Yuan Jizhi and let her decide whether to run or not.Nan Rulin didn't expect that the young master just went to meet Yuan Jizhi and lost his life.

While lying in the room reading a book, I heard a faint gunshot outside.I can't remember whether it was three or four, but it did.The sound is not very loud, like a small firecracker like a bean sprout stalk.Nan Rulin didn't care, and really thought it was a child from a rich family who was setting off the firecrackers.It wasn't until she entered the yard a few times ago that there was a commotion, saying that something had happened, that she suddenly had an ominous premonition. Following the crowd of family members rushing out to the living room in the front yard, and seeing the bloody young master, Nan Rulin suddenly realized that the disaster had already happened.This is a day she will always remember.

Half of the young master's handsome face was covered with blood, and his chest was also wet. The royal blue satin jacket was soaked in blood, dark and blue, and there were two bullet holes in it.Captain Wang, who went out with the young master, also had blood on his front and back. I don't know if it was stained when he came back with the young master on his back, or if he was injured himself.Captain Wang cried in front of the young master, saying that he was sorry for the young master and did not protect the young master well. According to Captain Wang, the Eldest Young Master asked him to accompany him to see Yuan Jizhi in Jingyuan. For some reason, he asked Eldest Young Master, but Eldest Young Master didn't say anything.The meeting place with Yuan Jizhi was in the woods behind the "New Republic".Halfway on the way, the young master said without beginning and end: "If Yuan Jizhi dares to attack, you will beat him up!" Unexpectedly, Yuan Jizhi had already made preparations, and when he met the young master, he didn't say a word , pulled out the gun, killed the young master, and wounded him...

Nan Rulin was terrified when she heard it, as if she had also been shot, her body went limp for a moment, and she wanted to collapse... A hand stretched out from the black ground embraced Nan Rulin. It is Ruifang, the ninth wife. Ruifang quietly leaned into Nan Rulin's ear and said, "It's nothing to do with us, let's go." Nan Rulin's mind was no longer clear, and her mind was buzzing.Ruifang didn't hear her words at all.But Ruifang leaned over and hugged her, she knew it.She leaned on Ruifang, still staring blankly at the dead young master in front of her. The body of the young master swayed among the crying faces and figures of many family members, as if floating.Nan Rulin always felt that the eldest young master would come back to life, so she finished talking with her.The young master told her that he would have something to talk to her tomorrow!

Tears came down unknowingly, falling straight down the cheeks, and finally couldn't help crying. Nan Rulin thought, the young master's death today had something to do with her, and she was the one who harmed the young master.Captain Wang was afraid that he and Ruifang would be involved, so he didn't tell the whole story.But she was not afraid, even if Captain Wang told everything at this moment, she would not blame Captain Wang.She will die by herself, and she will never get anyone involved. There is also hatred for Yuan Jizhi.Yuan Jizhi didn't consider others in everything he did. It was like this in the past, and it's still like this today. He really doesn't have any sense of responsibility.The young master intended to help her and Yuan Jizhi, but Yuan Jizhi actually killed the young master, which is really unreasonable.

Later, the police commander and the police chief of the provincial capital came and arranged to arrest Yuan Jizhi overnight, and Nan Rulin was dragged back to her room by Ruifang... Still not in the mood to sleep in the room, as soon as Ruifang left, she lay down on the bed and cried, for the young master and herself.She believed that Yuan Jizhi would not be able to escape in all likelihood, and both she and Yuan Jizhi had to fight for the young master.She deserved it, and Yuan Jizhi deserved it even more. While weeping, the Seventh Young Master opened the door and came in. He appeared in front of Nan Rulin like a ghost, and said to Nan Rulin with blood-red eyes: "You...you still have the face to cry. It's not you, I...my elder brother How could it have come to this point!" Nan Rulin raised her teary face and said, "I... I really didn't know that this would happen, I really didn't know..." Seventh Young Master said bitterly: "I know——I knew it a long time ago Yuan Jizhi is not a thing! This man is a little fox who only eats women's soft food, but you want to be nice to him, and...you even hurt my elder brother."

Nan Rulin said: "Then why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you force me to go to the theater with him?" Seventh Young Master was speechless.Nan Rulin wiped away the tears on her face, and said, "Seventh Young Master, don't be afraid, I won't involve you. Just go and tell Hao Keshi, and say that I harmed Eldest Young Master, let me tell Eldest Young Master It's good to die." The Seventh Young Master was stunned for a long time before saying: "I... I won't go! You... your affairs, I... I don't care if I say so." Nan Rulin smiled sadly: "If you don't care, there are still people who care, I am I can't escape. Once this bastard Yuan Jizhi is caught, I... I will... just..."

The seventh young master didn't mention Yuan Jizhi any more, and only cried bitterly—as if the eldest young master was right in front of him: "Brother, it's your own fault too! You said it yourself, our house is like a dangerous building that is about to collapse. Knowing what to do Tiao, you...why are you coming back! You...you encouraged me to go out back then, why did you come back..." Nan Rulin also shed tears and thought, really, why did the young master come back?Why do you persuade him to go, but he doesn't go?If he had left early, how could he have come out like this today! Today is the young master, tomorrow it will be her and Yuan Jizhi's turn.Her suspicion of Yuan Jizhi was really good at the beginning, Yuan Jizhi really lied to her, made her have a daydream with fear, and she had to pay such a heavy price for it... However, things turned strange, Yuan Jizhi was not caught, and Captain Wang also escaped within a few days. Rumors circulated in Hao's mansion that Captain Wang and Yuan Jizhi conspired to murder the young master, and Hao Baochuan from Jingyuan was behind the scenes.Hao Baochuan asked Yuan Jizhi to bribe Captain Wang in order to mess up Old General Hao's position in front of him, causing this bloody murder. Hao Baochuan didn't admit it, and talked to the interviewer in the "Dajiang Times", saying that whether he fought against General Hao or was dissatisfied with the young master's appointment as assistant, he would not behave like this.Hao Baochuan believes that the young master may have died in some kind of shady secret transaction - such as selling opium, smuggling salt and so on. General Hao, on the other hand, issued a telegram with strong words in Baisha Port regarding the death of the young master.It was determined that the eldest young master died of some kind of insidious political assassination, and he obviously had a Jingyuan background, Hao Baochuan could not escape the guilt.Old General Hao asked Hao Baochuan to hand over the two criminals, Yuan Jizhi and Captain Wang, and said: If they don't hand them over within ten days, they will be arrested by force, and the Tongrenli Neutral Zone will be cancelled, and Jingyuan will be sealed off. Hao Baochuan was very annoyed, in a fit of rage he instigated Liu Anjie's new second division to formally change flags three days later, and with the new second division as the lead, he led 100,000 heavy troops across the south of the Yangtze River in three routes, approaching Baisha port and the provincial capital. Lu Dingbang, who was in the northern corner of Pian'an, saw Hao Baochuan's heavy troops going south, took advantage of the opportunity, and staged a "righteous war". A war that had been brewing for a long time finally broke out in full swing.