Chapter 53: The Lost Blue Sky
Su Luo immediately showed concern, "Brother, is there something wrong with your family?"
The jailer sighed and shook his head, "There is one less honest official in the world."
Su Luo was immediately shocked, "Which honest official is this?"
"Who else in this world can be called this?" The jailer sighed with emotion, "Hai Rui, the Justice Hai."
Su Luo stretched out his hand through the gap in the fence and grabbed the prison boss's clothes in disbelief, "Who?"
"Hai Qingtian!"
Su Luo wanted to cry but had no tears. This shouldn't be right. Didn't the book say that Hai Rui would die in November? How could he die early?
The jailer was a little surprised to see Su Luo's reaction, but then he was relieved, "He died three days ago. The people of Nanjing all wore mourning clothes to see Hai Qingtian off."
Su Luo fell to the ground in shock. The prisoners in other cells were surprisingly silent. The prison boss seemed not to be used to such scenes. His expression became even more sad and he turned away.
Su Luo hurriedly called him and asked in a tearful voice, "Brother, there isn't enough white cloth in Nanjing, right?"
The prison boss thought for a moment and said, "Maybe. With so many people..."
Su Luo hammered the ground repeatedly, "The price of cloth has risen a lot, right?"
The jailer shook his head slowly. "It is said that many cloth merchants in Nanjing City made mourning clothes and mourning belts out of white cloth and placed them on the street for passers-by to take."
Su Luo was stunned for a moment. The jailer whispered, "That is Hai Qingtian, the people's justice. The cries of Nanjing spread to Chuzhou, and the cries of Chuzhou spread to Huaiyuan..." The jailer turned around and walked away slowly. His voice gradually became blurred. Only silence remained in the cell, surprisingly quiet.
Su Luo looked at the inmates on both sides and opposite him. Some of them shook their heads, some sighed silently, and more sat in the corner, expressionless and dazed.
Su Luo was also in a daze. If she hadn't been in a daze, she wouldn't have known what she should do. She sat against the wall, her mind in a mess. She thought that the records in history books were unreliable, that her plan to sell cloth had failed, and that failure was inevitable. Even if she hadn't been arrested, she couldn't sell the cloth. How could she raise the price? They were giving it away for free. Finally, she thought of a question: Why were they giving it away for free?
Su Luo suddenly remembered a sentence he had heard before: businessmen are profit-driven and will make money whenever they can; businessmen have things they do and things they don't do; entrepreneurs must assume social responsibilities, create value, and fulfill their responsibilities.
Su Luo had never taken it seriously. She thought that business was business, and that all businessmen were dishonest. What was the point of saying what you should and shouldn't do? What about social responsibility? Now, she seemed to understand a little.
To her, Hai Rui was nothing more than a historical symbol. Just like Judge Bao, Judge Shi, and Judge Hai, it seemed that every dynasty had one or two very representative judges who were all upright and honest without exception, fighting against evil forces. Su Luo's understanding of them came from various novels, movies, and TV dramas, so in her heart they were just models of honest and good officials, but she never thought about why the people gave them the word "Judge".
Today, the prison boss' words solved Su Luo's doubts. The blue sky is the blue sky of the people. Even if it is surrounded by dark clouds, as long as he is there, the people will always have a blue sky in their hearts. For this blue sky, some businessmen became merchants, and some merchants became entrepreneurs. And she also started her business journey. On this road, what will she become? A businessman? A merchant? Or an entrepreneur?
"What are you thinking about?" A low and soft voice sounded in Su Luo's ears. She didn't look up, but was a little surprised. She was surprised to hear such a gentle voice from Yun Lang's mouth, which reminded her of Zhou Chongwen.
"I'm a little sad." In the past, when Su Luo thought of Hai Rui or his death, she might feel regret, but she would never feel sad. But now, when she heard and saw what so many people did, she couldn't help but be moved and sad.
Yun Lang reached out his hand, pulled Su Luo into his arms, and whispered, "I am a thief , but I also hope that there are good officials like Hai Qingtian in the world." He looked around at the silent cells, "They probably think so too."
Su Luo looked at Yun Lang. There was no trace of his usual smiling face, and he seemed a little serious. It seemed that he was sad in his heart, but this sadness was different from Su Luo's. Maybe he was sad that the people lost a good official, or he was sad that he lost a clear sky.
That night, the entire prison was very quiet. Everyone was careful not to make any noise. Some people even put together the steamed bread from dinner and placed it as an offering under the window. There was no sadness on their faces, but they were all quiet without exception.
Su Luo leaned her head on Yun Lang's shoulder, absorbing his warmth. Her thoughts drifted away in a trance. In this faint atmosphere of sadness, Su Luo suddenly thought of her mother, not Su, but her mother whom she had never understood and even resented. Did she find out that she was missing? She must have found out. Even if the Ming Dynasty Su Luo went to her side, she would definitely find the difference between the two Su Luos. Would she be happy to have a well-behaved daughter instead? If the Ming Dynasty Su Luo did not go to her side, would she think she was dead? Would she be sad? She should be sad, just like Su Luo, who would be sad to hear about Hai Rui's death, not to mention her own relatives.
Relatives...Su Luo turned sideways and buried her head in Yun Lang's chest, listening to his regular heartbeat and forcing herself to think about something else.
The next morning, Su Luo woke up to the familiar sound of knocking on the fence. The inmates in the surrounding cells knocked on the fence in unison, demanding dinner, and were making noises, laughing and cursing as usual, as if what happened last night was just an illusion.
Somehow, this scene made Su Luo sigh, feeling a little sad and more helpless.
Turning around, Su Luo saw a sleeping face. The long eyebrows, long eyes and drooping eyelashes made Yun Lang look like a cartoon. Usually he was always in high spirits or arrogant, which ruined his perfect eyebrow and eye lines. At this moment, he was quiet, without a trace of guard, with his lips pouted casually and willfully, like a little child.
Su Luo couldn't help but chuckle. She remembered that the morning after Yun Lang found her, he was sitting like this, with his eyes closed and muttering that he was in a bad mood when he woke up, and anyone who made him angry would die.
Yun Lang moved, and tightened his hand on Su Luo's shoulder slightly. He muttered something and took her into his arms again. Before Su Luo could react, his lips had already pressed down.
Instantly, screams and whistles filled the entire prison. Su Luo kicked him away and sat up, with black lines on his forehead. Although they didn't really kiss, they also brushed past it. The warmth higher than body temperature and the touch that seemed to be there and not there sparked invisible sparks between their lips, making people feel itchy.
The screams and whistles continued. Su Luo couldn't tell whether she was embarrassed or shy. She stood up and kicked Yun Lang twice without saying a word. Yun Lang fell to the side, then jumped up and yelled, "Who kicked me?"
"Me!" Su Luo's face flushed, her hands on her hips, staring at him, "Go back to your cell!"
Yun Lang blinked and looked at Su Luo for a long time. The corners of his mouth twitched strangely. Although he didn't curl up, his eyes were already curved. He said nothing, turned back to his cell, and when he looked back, the smile in his eyes was completely blooming, with the tip of his tongue against his teeth and grinning. Su Luo's face became even redder, and he grabbed the things around him and threw them at him, such as soil, stones, straw, Li Shizhen...
