Three two, one word decides, not by order of rest

  "You...do you know who I am?"

  The swindler brother forcibly pressed down the anxiety in his heart, he made an effort to stick out his chest and interrogate Yu Guozhen.

  Yu Guozhen couldn't help but laugh, and Yu Guozhen wasn't the only one - even Liu Rushi, that little girl, couldn't hold back a smile.

  But beyond Liu Ruyu's smile, when she looked at Yu Guozhen, there was something deeper in her eyes.

  "What... what do you want to do?" The swindler brother finally couldn't hide his panic and asked in a trembling voice.

  "It's not you asking me, but us asking you." With Yu Guozhen's signal, Gao Erzhu grabbed the swindler's arm and twisted it back, forcing him to kneel down: "I won't speak up, if you do, you'll be asking for trouble. If I speak up and you don't, that will be an even more deadly path!"

  They had already left Suzhou City. Those hoodlums on the shore, although they chased for a long time, finally stopped due to exhaustion and could only shout insults from afar.

  "It's getting late, Miss, and it might not be suitable for you to stay out any longer. Let's head back to the cabin." Yu Guozhen said.

  The swindler big brother was still calm when he heard Gao Er Zhu's threat, but when he heard Yu Guo Zhen's words, his legs involuntarily softened, and a look of horror appeared in his eyes.

  Liu Ruyi glanced at him, her eyes seeming to hold some sympathy and pity, then stepped into the cabin. Yu Guoan and Yu Guoning were also about to follow when Yu Guozhen turned his face back, his eyes coldly staring at them: "You two brothers can stay outside and learn from Erzhu, our Yu family's people, if we don't have some bloodlust, it will drag us down."

  Yu Guoning and Yu Guoan's performance was indeed disappointing to Yu Guozhen. These two brothers were spoiled by their parents at home, and they often looked down on others. If they didn't work hard outside, they might become a burden to Yu Guozhen in the future.

  The two brothers blushed, but obediently stayed outside. Liu Ruo returned to her own cabin, the events that had just occurred still making her heart thump with excitement, but she wasn't afraid, rather thrilled, feeling like she'd never encountered anything so exhilarating before.

  "Today, I'm afraid you'll have to put up with a bit of inconvenience, Miss. We didn't have time to hire a second boat, so it might be a bit crowded on board." Yu Guozhen said warmly to her.

  Just now, Gao Buping had already told him in a low voice about Liu Ruyi's behavior after boarding the ship. Yu Guozhen's good impression of this girl with many twists and turns deepened again, so his words naturally carried a hint of warmth.

  Liu Ruyi fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Yu Guozhen: "I have been fond of reading since childhood and have also read the Historical Records by Sima Qian. In the past, when Chu and Han were competing, King Xiang was strong while Emperor Gaozu was weak, but in the end, Emperor Gaozu could win with weakness because he understood how to give up. When things were critical, he could abandon his wife and children, even ignore his old father, and ask King Xiang for a share of power. King Xiang had a woman's mercy, but ultimately was surrounded by enemies on all sides and could only commit suicide at the banks of the Wujiang River."

  "Hehe, if this young lady were living in the Spring and Autumn or Warring States periods, she would definitely be a skilled debater like Su Qin or Zhang Yi."

  Yu Guozhen's reaction once again made Liu Ruzi slightly surprised, she heard that Yu Guozhen did not comment on her advice, and in her heart, she felt a little ashamed and disappointed, finally unable to help but say: "Young Master Yu, the slave's words are all good advice!"

  "Ah, good words, but it's different for each person. My ancestors were heroes of a generation, I'm not capable of learning from them. Xiang Yu could only advance and not retreat, being rigid makes one easily broken, which is also something I don't take to." Yu Guozhen looked at her with a gentle voice: "Moreover, they were all heroes of their time, the things they did shook heaven and earth, I'm just a young man from the countryside, there are things I do that they can't."

  His words made Liu Ruo Si unsure whether to be happy or disappointed. She looked at Yu Guo Zhen and found that he was somewhat absent-minded, and she let out a faint sigh in her heart.

  Yu Guozhen quickly bid farewell and left. When he returned to the bow of the boat, the leader of the scammers was already soaked from head to toe and paralyzed on the bow.

  "It's out, young master. This guy is called He Yuanli, a traveling performer." Gao Erzhu chuckled with a hint of satisfaction: "Thought he was a tough nut to crack, but after just two mouthfuls of water, he's become like this."

  Yu Guozhen glanced at Yu Guoan and Yu Guoning, who were somewhat evasive beside him. Their appearance could be seen as lacking in determination and courage. If so, the future prospects of these two elder brothers would be very limited.

  "Suzhou Da Xing, I've heard of it, since you're a local rascal from Suzhou, then sink into Suzhou's canal."

  Yu Guozhen lightly decided the fate of that cheating big brother, and he was so frightened after hearing it that he opened his mouth to shout for help, but Gao Erzhu pressed his head back into the water with one hand.

  At this time, it was still afternoon, and there were many boats coming and going on the canal. However, in these uncertain times, people who were willing to get involved in other people's business were scarce. Gao Erzhu had done a good job of concealing things, and he had even wrapped the person up in a layer of felt, so even if someone saw them, they would only think that he was washing the felt. The two boatmen were scared white, but they were also tenants of the Yu family, and they didn't dare say anything more.

  But in a short while, that guy who was hit on the road had already turned into a corpse and was directly thrown into the canal.

  "This... doing this... won't cause trouble?"

  At this time, Yu Guoan and Yu Guoning were both frightened, they looked at Gao Erzhu's gaze with some trepidation. Although they had heard about Guo Zhen and Erzhu killing the water bandits, and even went to see the corpses together, but seeing it with their own eyes was a completely different matter from hearing about it.

  If they knew that Yu Guozhen and Gao Erzhu had also joined forces to kill Zhou Daodeng, the retired Grand Councilor, they would probably be so frightened that they would immediately jump into the water and commit suicide.

  "What's the trouble, unless someone from the capital comes to Luozhou to look for us? But can things be handled by them once they arrive in Luozhou?" Gao Erzhu also looked down on these two young masters. ——Requesting recommendations for next Monday, click to continue rushing up the rankings——

  "Government office, if it's an official investigation?"

  The government sent an official to Wuwei County to ask, and Fifth Uncle wrote on a piece of paper: "This person is a accomplice of the water bandits. What can't be solved?" Yu Guozhen smiled and said: "That's just how the world is. And it's not wrong to say that this person is an accomplice of the water bandits either. The people they've beaten up in Suzhou Prefecture are arrogant and domineering, monopolizing lawsuits and extorting money by cheating. There's nothing bad that the water bandits haven't done!"

  Liu Ru was in the cabin and heard Yu Guozhen's words, deeply agreeing with them. Since she admired true heroes and good men, she naturally couldn't stand those who were weak and irresponsible, like Yu Guozhen, which suited her taste.

  However, she still felt a faint sense of unease in her heart, and this matter was unlikely to be settled so easily.

  As Yu Guozhen said, they were very smooth this time. If the people who blocked their way had caught them, they would have had to take them to see the official and fight a big lawsuit. However, no one caught them, and who would be willing to vouch for that swindling brother? It's well-known that the yamen is open in the south with eight characters: "Those with reason but no money should not enter." The officials' eyes only recognize silver, so fighting a lawsuit means spending money!

  Before long, they arrived at Nanjing City. Yu Guozhen asked Gao Buping to take Guo Ning and Guo An to their family's grocery store in the city, while he and Er Zhu hired a small sedan chair to send Liu Ruzi to her destination.

  Xu Fu told him that he would send Liu Ruyu to a place called "Hui Zhen Guan", which was only one street away from the Qinhuai River, but relatively quieter. The mother of Hui Zhen Guan was surnamed Cai, and her age was similar to Xu Fu's. The two had been brought up by the same mother, so they had a good relationship.

  "That's all, now that the person has been sent over, I'll take my leave." Yu Guozhen handed over the letter Xu Fotou had entrusted to him to Cai Mama and answered a few of her questions before turning to Liu Ruzi: "Miss Liu, please take good care of yourself from now on."

  Liu Ruxi didn't think much of it at first, but as soon as he said that, she suddenly felt flustered in her heart. Originally a straightforward and carefree girl, she now couldn't help but lower her head and fall silent.

  Mrs. Cai was a shrewd observer of human nature, and upon witnessing this scene, she immediately sensed that there was some story between the two. She turned her eyes and smiled: "I've long heard from Buddha's sister that she has an adopted daughter who is not only beautiful but also talented in many ways. I suppose it must be you... Mr. Yu, since you're already here, don't rush to leave. This humble abode of mine is quite peaceful, and today we have a special guest arriving, with the added pleasure of having Liu Ma Zi come to tell stories. Why not stay for a while?"

  Yu Guozhen was originally uninterested, but when he heard the name "Liu Ma Zi", he was stunned for a moment. Although he couldn't claim to be familiar with this period of history, he had still heard some names of eccentric people, such as this storyteller Liu Ma Zi.

  "But what about Liu Jingting?" he asked.

  "Yes, it is indeed Liu Jingting. Have you heard of him, young master?"

  "I heard he's also in Jinling City now..." Yu Guozhen was originally going to leave, but when he heard that Liu Jingting was coming too, he changed his mind.

  Liu Jingting was a master of storytelling. In the eyes of the current scholars, his storytelling skills were not worth mentioning, but Yu Guozhen knew that storytellers would be an important part of his future plans. He couldn't compete with Donglin and Fushe for control over public opinion, so he had to take a different approach and use storytellers and other means to make his plans effective!

  Liu Jingting alone can only play a limited role, but if Liu Jingting brings out dozens or hundreds of disciples, it's another story.

  "Since Liu Jingting is coming, I'll bother Mrs. Cai then." Yu Guozhen smiled and said: "I've long heard that his storytelling is the best in the world, today we meet so coincidentally, of course, we can't miss it."

  When she heard him say that, Liu Ruo Xi felt both happy and melancholic in her heart. She was happy because since he stayed behind, the two of them could spend more time together; but she was also melancholic because he didn't stay behind for her sake, but rather for a storyteller!

  "Since that's the case, please enter the painting boat... If so, Buddha's sister said your song is sung extremely well, after a while you can come out and show off your singing skills, let them see the skills from Suzhou Prefecture!" Cai Mama said to Liu Ruzi.

  Liu Ruyi glanced at Yu Guozhen, seeing that he didn't show any signs of resistance. She lowered her eyelids and softly replied with a "yes".

  Even if the whole audience is full of heroes and talents, I sing softly for one person's ears only.