Chapter 96: Brother Shen, you are truly a gentleman! [Seeking monthly votes]

Zhai Ledao said, "The air of a hermit? That's even more inappropriate."

Shen Tang asked curiously, "Why is it inappropriate?"

She thought the name was nice and meaningful.

Aside from the fact that it doesn't sound like a girl's name, everything else is fine.

Zhai Le hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

In today's world, even some royal families are struggling to survive, such as the Xin royal family, let alone ordinary people.

The woman's relatives are currently unknown. Perhaps they can be contacted soon, and that the family is willing to care for the orphan and provide her with shelter. If the relatives are heartless, it would be like stepping into another abyss. However, it's more likely they won't be found.

After all, in chaotic times, human life is cheaper than grass.

Zhai Le leaned closer to Shen Tang and whispered, making sure the little maid couldn't hear: "No matter what future fortunes the young lady may have while following Brother Shen, she will definitely remain a maid for now. The name 'Lin Xia Zhi Feng' is too grand; I'm afraid she won't be able to bear it and will die young."

Shen Tang chuckled and said, "Xiao Fang is superstitious about this?"

Zhai Ledao said, "It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't."

Shen Tang, however, disagreed with him: "I don't agree with Xiao Fang's view. She managed to survive such a dangerous and certain death situation, which shows that heaven is not abandoning people. As the saying goes, 'When the time is right, everything will turn out well.' Who knows if the road ahead won't be smooth?"

Seeing her insistence, Zhai Le stopped trying to discourage her.

Shen Tang made the decision: "Okay, from now on, he'll be called Lin Feng."

The young girl had calmed down considerably. She bowed deeply, lowered her head and eyes, and said softly, "Lin Feng greets his master."

Shen Tang said, "As for the name, we'll choose one later."

Upon hearing this, both Zhai Le and Lin Feng stared at her in astonishment.

Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong?

Lin Feng clenched her sleeves tightly with her small hands, pursing her lips and remaining silent.

Zhai Le was speechless: "The girl is still too young to be given a courtesy name at the coming-of-age ceremony."

"You're supposed to be crowned at twenty, but you didn't even reach twenty before you had a courtesy name?"

Zhai Ledao said, "This is different."

In this world, men can cultivate both literary talent and martial prowess, and as one of the hallmarks of this, their literary signature and martial tally are engraved with their names to signify their status. It's unclear who first started this idea that acquiring a signature early on helps in refining one's literary and martial talents.

Therefore, for the past two hundred years, regardless of age, as long as one can sense the Qi of Heaven and Earth and successfully guide it into the meridians and open the Dantian, one can receive a given name. Generally, parents or teachers bestow the name, but there are special cases where one chooses it oneself.

Women's characters are different.

If a woman is fifteen and not yet betrothed, her parents would choose her name. If she is already betrothed or married before the age of fifteen, her husband would usually choose her name. Since Brother Shen is certainly not the woman's parent, it would be somewhat inappropriate and against etiquette for him to choose her name.

If Brother Shen is interested in the young lady, then that's a different story.

Zhai Le felt that he seemed to have seen through Brother Shen's intentions.

Yes, they still have sinister intentions!

Whether it was a misperception or not, Shen Tang felt a chill run down her spine.

This intuition didn't last long. The thugs had already moved all the bodies to one place, their eyes constantly darting towards Zhai Le, with a hint of anticipation in their eyes—Zhai Le's digging of the pit would not only save time, but the pit he dug would also be deep, large, and spacious.

Zhai Le, always eager to help, said, "Okay, watch me."

"No rush to dig the hole." Shen Tang stopped him and asked the thug, "Have you searched the body? Don't miss anything useful or valuable. Even a mosquito is meat, don't waste it."

Chen, who was deeply versed in the ways of diligence and thrift, was so poor that he had to sell wine at a stall. Tang said, "Even a small piece of silver cannot be let go."

Zhai Le: "..."

Besides moving and searching the corpses, the thugs also had to move the Lin family's wooden chests. Each chest was incredibly heavy; some were scattered on the ground, while others were piled on the carriage. Some contained gold and silver jewelry, some contained antiques and collectibles, and some were the women's personal "suitcases." Shen Tang examined them one by one with a torch in hand, while Lin Feng twisted his sleeves and followed behind her with his head down.

There were twenty-seven people in total, big and small.

Including those stolen by the bandits, there might be fifty people.

Judging from the contents of the box, the Lin family is likely very wealthy and well-established. If it weren't for Shen Tang and her companion keeping watch, these thugs would have pounced on them and robbed them.

Shen Tang instructed Lin Feng, "You pack these boxes."

Lin Feng suddenly looked up at Shen Tang, hesitating to speak.

Zhai Le spoke up for her: "This... isn't quite appropriate..."

Logically, these should all be spoils of war, but not long ago they belonged to the young lady and her family. Now her family is all dead and she's all alone, and Brother Shen is making her sort out these things...

Inappropriate, inappropriate.

Shen Tang rolled her eyes: "What's wrong with that? Most of these are things used by women. You're letting these stinky men handle them? Have some decency! At least leave them with a clean reputation after death. Besides, we don't even know if we'll find the bodies tomorrow. If we don't, we can still use their clothes to build a cenotaph."

Zhai Le was taken aback, not expecting Shen Tang to have this in mind.

Ignoring Lin Feng's astonished expression, Shen Tang said, "As for your things, keep them yourself; it'll give you something to rely on."

She paused again, then instructed Lin Feng, "As for your mother's things, pick out one or two items to keep as mementos, so you can remember them when you see them in the future... Why are you crying again?"

The red streaks hadn't faded, and now they were covered in glistening mist, as if about to fall but not quite.

She wiped away her tears, expressing her heartfelt gratitude: "Thank you, my lord."

A guilty Shen Tang: "..."

Having taken their money and been thanked several times by the sole survivor, even someone with a thick skin would feel embarrassed. He could only awkwardly pat her head and say unnaturally, "Don't thank me, go ahead."

As soon as Lin Feng turned around, Shen Tang covered her face.

Zhai Le sighed and praised, "Brother Shen is a true gentleman!"

He was judging others by his own petty standards.

Shame, shame.

She covered her face with her hands and mumbled, "Stop talking."

Didn't you see how embarrassed she was, wanting to carve out a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment?

Zhai Le: "???"

It took almost half an hour to pack everything up.

The boxes were repacked and loaded onto the carriage, ready to be transported down the mountain the next day. Shen Tang had the thugs set up a "camp" to make do for the night. Because of this unexpected windfall, Shen Tang was much more generous, allowing the thugs to eat the dry rations prepared by the guards.

If you're going to make people work, you should at least make sure they're fed, right?

As for the still young Lin Feng...

There were many mosquitoes in the woods, so Shen Tang let her into the carriage and specifically instructed her: "No matter what happens later, don't run around in the carriage."

Upon hearing this, Lin Feng looked up at her with concern.

Then he looked past her at the thugs.

Shen Tang understood what she meant.

He explained, "It's not those thugs; they don't have the guts to cause trouble. It's bandits. There's a bandit's den in these mountains, and they must have robbed you before. They've finally found a sucker to take advantage of; they could live off you for three years. Why would they let such a fat duck fly away? They know the terrain well, and they made such a commotion earlier; they couldn't have missed it. They'll definitely launch a sneak attack by midnight at the latest."

After much hesitation, how about choosing "令德" as the character?

He possesses both virtue and integrity, embodying the spirit of a hermit.

(End of this chapter)