Su Hele looked at her empty arm, somewhat in disbelief.
She had thought that with her proactive care for the sick and gentle reminders of their past tenderness, He Jin would surely regain his former affection. But instead, she was met with his cold face.
Not only that, but he actually wanted her to learn how to tend to the sick?
She had always been elegant. How could she ever do such a servile thing!
"Hubby, don't you understand me anymore? I'm not bad at tending to the sick. It's just that my methods are more elegant than others'. Do you really want me to learn those vulgar rules and let my elegance be lost among the common people?"
Although Su Hele was extremely dissatisfied in her heart, her face showed a different expression.
The corners of her eyes drooped slightly, her expression was mournful, and even her voice trembled a little, making it hard for anyone to refuse.
He Jin looked at her sorrowful face. He should have felt a bit of pity, but he didn't.
Instead, there was a sense of restlessness, disgust, and annoyance. He didn't even have the mood to argue with her anymore.
"The second - wife's side has been seeking doctors and medicines every day. It's already quite unlucky. Wipe that gloomy look off your face."
After leaving this remark, He Jin turned around and was about to leave. But when he reached the door, he stopped and said coldly:
"If you don't want to tend to the sick, fine. There are plenty of others who do."
After saying that, He Jin didn't stay any longer and strode away.
Su Hele looked in the direction where He Jin disappeared. First, she was very disappointed.
She didn't even have the mood to compose poems. He Jin had finally become a vulgar person.
After complaining for a while, Su Hele then frowned belatedly, and her expression suddenly became uneasy.
What did He Jin's last words mean!
...
After discussing with He Xun, Su Nansheng sent out all the invitations she had prepared earlier. Shao Tan was also on the list.
When He Xun was delivering an invitation to Chen Xuan, he learned that Chen Mingzhu was seriously ill and needed Chen Xuan to accompany her, so she might not be able to attend the banquet.
He Xun immediately realized that it might be his wife's doing:
"It's really an old - fashioned trick. It can only deceive Uncle."
Su Nansheng couldn't help but smile: "Couldn't she really be sick?"
Why was he so sure it was a deception?
However, He Xun was right. This method was a bit old - fashioned.
She had thought that Chen Mingzhu would go after Shao Tan, but unexpectedly, she had hurt herself.
He Xun glanced at her smiling face and then returned his gaze to the document:
"I went to visit her. That girl was so scared. She drove me out after just a few words, not even afraid that I would find out she was faking illness."
Moreover, with the full - throated energy she used to drive him out, she didn't look like a sick person at all.
Su Nansheng shook her head helplessly, but in her heart, she was thinking that she should remind Chen Mingzhu later that even when faking illness, she shouldn't be so nervous, or she would easily be seen through.
Two days before the banquet, the news from Xichuan also came back quickly.
"How is it?"
Su Nansheng looked at He Xun's increasingly solemn face and felt that the situation was more serious than she had expected.
He Xun casually handed the message to her and said coldly:
"We really underestimated that Shao Tan."
Su Nansheng quickly scanned the message and immediately understood what he meant.
It turned out that not only did Shao Tan not implement Chen Xuan's flood - control strategy, but he even privately claimed in the name of Chen Xuan to the officials in Xichuan that the previous defense works in Xichuan had been very good and that a little rain was nothing to worry about.
Moreover, the subordinates he sent to Xichuan to control the flood didn't even do the most basic exploration of the river water level, let alone preventive measures such as building and reinforcing.
They just idled away their days there, waiting to claim the credit after the rain stopped.
At this point, Su Nansheng finally understood why Chen Xuan had been implicated in the previous life.
Chen Xuan would bear the blame for dereliction of duty, while Shao Tan would claim the credit.
Su Nansheng pinched the note, frowning tightly:
"Since Uncle has given the flood - control strategy, why didn't Shao Tan use it?"
This was also something she had never understood before. This disaster could clearly have been avoided.
"If there's no danger, why use it? If it can't show its value, then it has no value. It seems that Shao Tan wants to hoard this flood - control strategy for a more valuable and more ability - demonstrating occasion."
He Xun's voice was low, and his expression was obscure.
A false alarm was nothing compared to turning the tide. No one knew in how dangerous a situation Shao Tan wanted to use that flood - control strategy.
Su Nansheng couldn't help but sneer. So that was it:
"No value? Aren't the lives of so many common people valuable enough for him to give it a try?"
"Those common people are hundreds of miles away from him. What does it matter to him? In his eyes, the lives of those common people are the least valuable, not even as valuable as an official's mu of good farmland."
He Xun directly stated the truth, straightforward and cruel.
Su Nansheng crumpled the note into a ball and said hatefully: "He deserves to die!"
She actually always understood that ordinary people like them were as weak as ants. But when such a bloody truth was presented in front of her, she still couldn't accept it.
Even ants had the right to live.
He Xun held Su Nansheng's hand. It was the first time he had seen her so angry:
"I'm just guessing. Why be so excited?"
Su Nansheng looked into He Xun's slightly puzzled eyes, filled with resentment.
He Xun wouldn't understand that in the previous life, many people really died.
After the flood, the fields were littered with corpses, the good farmland was destroyed, and there was no harvest.
Even with the relief from the court, there were still starving people lying on the ground, all because of Shao Tan's selfish desires.
"He truly deserves to die."
Su Nansheng couldn't explain and just kept scolding.
He Xun smiled slightly, gently pried open Su Nansheng's clenched fist, and kneaded her slightly pale fingertips, whispering:
"Then let's send him to his death."
Doing bad things in Chen Xuan's name, he wasn't wronged to die.
"Then we have to change our plan."
The first thing Su Nansheng thought of was the banquet in two days.
If they wanted to separate Chen Xuan from this incident, the only way was to cut him off from Shao Tan.
So originally, they had planned to expose Shao Tan's plagiarism of Chen Xuan's flood - control strategy and force a rift between the master and the apprentice.
But judging from the current situation, Shao Tan was still hoarding this flood - control strategy and hadn't made it public yet. The plagiarism couldn't be talked about, so the plan naturally had to be changed.
He Xun kneaded Su Nansheng's fingertips, thought for a moment, and said:
"I'll go see Uncle tomorrow. We'll discuss other things after I come back."
By now, no matter how much Chen Xuan liked and trusted Shao Tan, he had to be shown Shao Tan's true face.
Whether Chen Xuan was willing or not, this festering sore had to be removed.
"I'll wait for you to come back."
Under the candlelight, Su Nansheng looked up at He Xun. Her eyes were shining, and his face was reflected in them.
He Xun's heart skipped a beat, and he squeezed Su Nansheng's fingertips hard:
"So obedient."
Hearing this, Su Nansheng glared at him and wanted to pull back her fingers, but He Xun held on tightly:
"Want to run away after using me? Su Nansheng, you're so heartless."