Do you think I'm stupid?!
Facing the masked woman's gnashing questions, Zhu Ping'an naturally replied tactfully, "The female knight is naturally both wise and brave."
"Since you know that I am both wise and brave, how dare you say it's a misunderstanding?!" The masked woman stared at Zhu Ping'an with burning eyes.
"I didn't deny raising grain prices, but I raised grain prices for the benefit of the people in Jingnan. Now most of Jiangnan has been hit by floods, and there is a serious shortage of grain, and the court is temporarily unable to provide relief..."
Zhu Pingan explained.
Duang!
A white light flashed by, and the masked woman stabbed Zhu Ping'an with a dagger in her backhand at lightning speed... ... With a "Duang" sound, the dagger stuck into the pillar behind Zhu Ping'an's face.
the least bit!
The dagger was only a millimeter away from Zhu Ping'an's face, and Zhu Ping'an could even feel the coolness of the dagger.
When the chubby maid Hua'er saw this scene, her eyes rolled back in shock and she almost fainted. If she hadn't tried to take one last look at her son-in-law while her eyes were blurry and she saw that the dagger was not stuck in his head, Hua'er would have fainted.
Zhu Ping'an was very calm. Apart from blinking his eyes slightly, his expression did not change at all.
The reason why Zhu Ping'an was calm was because he was sure that the masked woman would not kill him at this time. During the time he was held hostage by the masked woman, Zhu Ping'an had a general understanding of the masked woman's character through conversation and observation. The masked woman was a relatively confident, or conceited person, and she was very curious. Even if she wanted to kill him, she would listen to his "sophistry", and then she would expose his "sophistry" one by one and expose his "ugly" face before she would kill him.
Killing people and destroying their hearts! This is the way she pursues.
Therefore, even if she thought she was quibbling, as long as her quibbling had not ended and as long as she had not exposed her quibbling, she was safe.
"Hehe... You black-hearted official, you have no shame at all when you say this. You colluded with grain merchants, accepted a bribe of 100,000 taels from them, and raised the grain price more than six times! And you even shamelessly say that it is for the good of the people?! How did you develop such shamelessness?!" The masked woman sneered, looked at Zhu Ping'an with gritted teeth, her words full of sarcasm.
"I am indeed doing this for the people." Zhu Ping'an said seriously.
"Bah! Taizhou Prefecture and several nearby counties either beheaded or jailed profiteers in order to control grain prices. They are doing it for the people! You are colluding with officials and businessmen, bringing disaster to the country and the people!"
The masked woman couldn't help but spit and sneered at Zhu Ping'an, despising him to the extreme.
Cuckoo... ... Cuckoo... ...
Zhu Ping'an was just about to give the masked woman some scientific advice when he suddenly heard the sound of a cuckoo bird singing outside.
Why is there a cuckoo calling at night? !
Zhu Pingan was stunned for a moment, and then he was shocked. Cuckoo?! It's late autumn now!? How can there be a cuckoo?!
I think I've encountered this before?!
In an instant, the scene of the palace examination flooded into Zhu Ping'an's mind... ... His whole body was trembling, and Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but look up at the masked woman.
The masked woman heard the cuckoo's singing outside, so she took Zhu Ping'an hostage and came to the window. She gently pushed the window open, leaving a small gap, put her finger on her lips, and made a few "zha zha zha" sounds of a magpie.
After hearing the magpie's singing, the cuckoo's singing outside became quiet.
"Why are there birds singing?" Liu Mu noticed the sound of magpies coming from the main house and felt a little surprised.
"Let the birds sing, but don't disturb the young master's good times." Liu Dadao and the others said disapprovingly.
"That's right." Liu Mu thought of the embarrassing incident that had just happened and nodded, agreeing with it.
Inside the house, the masked woman heard the cuckoo bird call from her companions, asking about their safety, and then she went to the window to reply with the magpie bird call, which represented peace and success. She did not notice Zhu Ping'an's expression. After she replied to her companions, she noticed Zhu Ping'an's shocked and unbelievable expression and eyes. She immediately rolled her eyes at Zhu Ping'an and sneered, "It's just imitating a bird call, what's the big deal?!"
"It's you?!" Zhu Ping'an looked at the masked woman with burning eyes.
"Hehehe, you little official are quite scheming. Are you trying to steal my identity?!" The masked woman chuckled disdainfully.
"Long time no see..." Zhu Ping'an looked at the masked woman with burning eyes and spoke lightly.
"Who said I haven't seen you for a long time?" the masked woman said disdainfully.
"Long time no see... Ruonan." Zhu Ping'an looked at the masked woman with burning eyes and called out her name.
Long time no see... Ruonan...
When she heard the name Ruonan, the masked woman widened her eyes in astonishment, and the disdainful smile on her face froze in an instant. Although her mouth could not be seen because of the mask, a big O was visible on the face mask.
"How did you recognize me! My voice has changed..." the masked woman said softly.
"I wasn't sure just now, but now I'm sure." Zhu Ping'an pulled the corner of his mouth and a smile appeared on his face.
"You cheated me?!" The masked woman gritted her teeth angrily, but she giggled the next second, "You are more cunning than before."
After saying this, the masked woman took off her veil, revealing bright eyes, white teeth, a pretty face, and a vixen-like oval face, which was extremely recognizable. If it wasn't the enchanting woman Ruo Man, then who else could it be
Hua'er, the chubby little maid tied to the bed, was stunned. How did the son-in-law know this bad woman? !
Since they knew each other, why did this evil woman want to kill my uncle and take his head? !
Could it be?!
Hua'er couldn't help but widen her eyes. She had a gossipy nature since she was a child, and she instantly thought of the legendary story of Chen Shimei and Qin Xianglian. She imagined in her mind a dramatic and heart-wrenching ethical love story about Zhu Ping'an and the masked woman: "The son-in-law seduced her and then abandoned her, the masked woman turned from love to hatred, and traveled thousands of miles to seek revenge on the unfaithful son-in-law."
But soon, Huaer denied this masterpiece herself. The brother-in-law, the young lady and she grew up together. The brother-in-law and the young lady were childhood sweethearts, a perfect match made in heaven. How could there be such a bad woman
This bad woman said it herself, she wanted to kill her brother-in-law because he raised the price of grain.
But, she already knew my brother-in-law, so why did she want to kill him? She had no mercy at all. This evil woman is so evil!
"Hehehe... Even my voice has changed, and I'm wearing a veil, how did you recognize me?!" The evil woman Ruonan asked Zhu Ping'an with a smile, but her hands did not relax at all. The dagger was always pressed against Zhu Ping'an's neck, and she had no intention of letting Zhu Ping'an go.
"If I say that when I parted with you, I was distracted and missed you day and night, your figure, voice, and every frown and smile were all deeply engraved in my mind and I could not forget it for a long time. So even if your voice changed and you were wearing a veil, I could still recognize you. Do you believe it?!" Zhu Ping'an looked at the demon girl Ruonan without blinking and said affectionately, just like the Monkey King in A Chinese Odyssey.
The demon woman Ruonan was in a trance for a moment, then she giggled and slapped Zhu Ping'an's face with the dagger in her hand, "Hahahaha... You bad guy, your ability to lie with open eyes is even better than before. Then why didn't you recognize me at first? It's true that scholars' words are deceiving!"