Chapter 367 Seventh Brother
Shang Ruyi sat to the side, quietly looking into Yuwen Ye's cold eyes.
She knew all too well that this man did not believe in gods or Buddhas at heart, and now, his brother had suddenly performed such a great feat as if divinely aided.
This inevitably evokes some strange emotions.
"As if divinely inspired..."
After a long silence, Yuwen Ye repeated the four words, then suddenly smiled and said, "Perhaps."
Da Bo didn't want to say anything more about the brothers' affairs, so he said, "Second Young Master, before we left, the Duke and the Eldest Young Master both urged me to set off immediately after seeing you. So, let's leave right away."
Yuwen Ye asked, "Shall we depart immediately?"
Da Bo said, "Yes, the longer you stay outside, the greater the danger you face."
"..."
Yuwen Ye frowned slightly, and Shang Ruyi, who was listening nearby, also became anxious.
Previously, Yuwen Ye and Shen Wuzheng had planned for so long, and finally managed to make the leaders of Wanggang Village kill each other and sow discord among them. Now, they were distributing rice in Yanyue City to take in those who left Wanggang Village. But now, the door that Yuwen Ye mentioned has not been opened yet, and the people have not even arrived, and they are being urged to leave.
If we just leave like this—wouldn't it be like failing at the last step of our arduous journey?
So she said, "But we still have some things to do, so we'll stay for a couple more days."
Da Bo glanced at her, then looked at Yuwen Ye and said, "When I came here, I also heard about the Second Young Master's actions at Wanggang Village. If we can really take Wanggang Village in one fell swoop, it will indeed benefit the Duke's future great cause."
"..."
"But—Second Young Master, Young Madam, what could be more important than your safety?"
"..."
"In my opinion, the Duke's support for Prince Zhao as emperor has caused discontent among many. Liang Shide and Xiao Yuansui blocked your path halfway to try and weaken the Duke's power by targeting the Second Young Master. The Second Young Master and the Young Madam should return to Daxing City as soon as possible, where it is safest."
"..."
"If we stay outside, what if we attract some bad influences? Wouldn't that be—"
Yuwen Ye and Shang Ruyi exchanged a glance.
Da Bo's concerns were not unfounded, but for them, leaving like this would be tantamount to completely abandoning Wanggangzhai, which was absolutely unacceptable to them.
Yuwen Ye said, "I will stay here for one more day. If things are not settled by tomorrow, I will set off to leave."
Seeing his resolute determination, Da Bo had no choice but to say, "Yes."
Just then, a familiar thumping footstep sounded outside again. The three of them turned around and saw Shan Tong'er running in like a little calf, grinning and saying, "Sister Ruyi, Second Brother Yuwen—oh? You have guests?"
Da Bo squinted at Shan Tong'er, his expression grave.
He was a soldier and clearly noticed that this child was different from others, but Shan Tong'er didn't seem to notice much, simply bowing politely with her hands clasped together. Meanwhile, Shang Ruyi asked, "Why did you come here?"
The kind boy said, "I've had dinner and saw some people still queuing outside, so I came over to ask if we'll continue giving rice tonight?"
Shang Ruyi said, "Of course."
She had originally planned to go out to help after dinner, but since Da Bo had arrived, she wanted to hear more about Daxing City, so she stayed here. At this moment, Yuwen Ye suddenly said, "Why don't you take Shan Tong'er out to help? I still have some things to ask Da Bo."
"oh,"
Shang Ruyi glanced at him, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay."
So he stood up, nodded to Da Bo, and led Shan Tong'er out.
Da Bo was quite cautious. He also stood up and bowed to Shang Ruyi, watching her until she left before turning to Yuwen Ye and lowering his voice to say, "Second Young Master, that child just now—"
Yuwen Ye said, "The ninth leader of Wanggang Village."
"Huh?! Such a young child?"
"Don't underestimate him just because he's young; I almost got hurt by him."
"this……"
Da Bo sighed softly and said, "It seems we can't underestimate Wanggang Village."
Yuwen Ye said calmly, "So this time, no matter how dangerous it is, I will stay here and deal with the Wanggang Village matter. Otherwise, once Xiao Yuansui takes command of Wanggang Village and his power grows, and he joins forces with Liang Shide to guard the Eastern Capital, it will be the biggest obstacle to our future eastward advance."
Da Bo said softly, "That makes sense."
However, after saying this, Yuwen Ye's eyes flickered again, and his gaze seemed to soften a bit. He looked up at Da Bo and said, "I have one more thing to ask you."
"Please speak, Second Young Master."
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On the other side, Shang Ruyi led Shan Tong'er all the way to the outside of the temple. By this time, the sun was about to set and the surrounding light had dimmed. The long queue that had been there had now been reduced to only a few people. These people were all thin and pale, clearly from very poor families, which was why they were still waiting to receive rice at this time.
Seeing them like this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but feel a little sad.
At this moment, Mu Xian also led a group of people to the gate in another cart loaded with grain sacks. The people's eyes were filled with anticipation as if they were about to rush onto the cart.
Seeing them excitedly pushing forward, Shan Tong'er immediately jumped over to stop them and shouted, "Line up, line up, don't push, there's enough for everyone!"
Upon hearing this, the people quickly and orderly lined up.
At this moment, Shang Ruyi also walked over, patted Tushe'er's shoulder, who was already covered in sweat, and said softly, "Sit down and rest, I'll do it."
As soon as Tushe'er saw her, he immediately said, "Miss, why are you out again? You're not feeling well, you should rest properly. Leave this to me."
Shang Ruyi laughed and said, "I'm not that weak."
After saying that, he snatched the wooden shovel from her hand. Tushe'er had no choice but to stand aside and watch as she opened the grain sack and filled the rice sacks for the people in front of her. The people who received the rice all thanked her sincerely and left.
Before long, it got dark.
There were still quite a few people in line, so Shang Ruyi asked Mu Xian to light a torch and place it under the tree. Mu Xian stood beside her and said softly, "It's already the second day. Although many people have come to collect rice, not a single person from Wanggang Village has come."
While packing rice for people, Shang Ruyi asked, "Really not a single one?"
Mu Xian said, "My men went outside the city to check. Those people did come, but they only lingered around the city gate for a while and no one came in to collect the rice."
Shang Ruyi thought for a moment and smiled, "Perhaps they still can't trust us."
In fact, even from her own perspective, if she were a member of Wanggang Village, having just experienced the infighting between the two leaders of the village, she would certainly be in a state of extreme anxiety, even if someone offered her something, she would suspect that the other party had ulterior motives.
Once trust in people's hearts is broken, it is very difficult to rebuild.
Or perhaps, as Yuwen Ye said, the people of Wanggangzhai need to open a door.
Mu Xian smiled wryly and said, "I'm afraid that after these fifty carts of grain are distributed, none of them will come. In that case, we will have wasted three days and so much grain."
Shang Ruyi smiled and said, "No matter what, the common people have benefited, so it's not a waste."
Mu blinked and looked at her.
Tushe'er nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, all day I heard people in the city praising our young lady and son-in-law, saying they have the hearts of bodhisattvas, which money can't buy."
The other child nodded vigorously, "Mmm-hmm."
Seeing them like this, Shang Ruyi couldn't help but laugh.
They chatted and laughed as they worked, not feeling too tired. Before they knew it, the queue had thinned out, and soon only a few people remained.
Shang Ruyi filled rice containers for these people one by one. When the last woman received her rice and turned away with gratitude, there was finally no one left.
Tusheer let out a long sigh of relief: "Finally finished!"
Shang Ruyi glanced back at her and smiled, "Go back and wash up quickly, and get some rest."
Tushe'er immediately looked at her: "Miss, aren't you going back?"
Shang Ruyi shook her head, but then turned to look ahead. There were no more people in line, only the deep night and the torches beside her illuminating the small space in front of her. She then said, "I want to wait a little longer."
"Are you still waiting?"
Tushe'er said, "No one else will come, will they?"
Mu Xian, who was standing nearby, also said, "It's so late, the common people should be resting by now. Young Madam, you've been busy all day, you should go back and rest early."
Just as they were all trying to persuade Shang Ruyi, suddenly, a series of heavy footsteps came from the night.
Everyone instinctively fell silent.
Everyone looked ahead and saw a tall, dark figure slowly approaching from a distance in the deep night. As it drew closer, its imposing silhouette was gradually outlined by the firelight, revealing it to be a strong man. When it reached the temple entrance and came into view, everyone instinctively held their breath.
Shang Ruyi, who was standing at the very front, felt a sudden darkness before her eyes.
A feeling of overwhelming pressure washed over me.
She looked up and, by the light of the fire behind her, met a face that resembled a tiger.
Before her stood a burly man dressed in dark blue cloth, his body as imposing as a mountain. His thick beard stretched from his earlobes to his chin, almost obscuring most of his face. Only his piercing tiger eyes could be discerned. When he looked down at Shang Ruyi, she felt as if she were being stared at by a tiger with its head down!
She instinctively held her breath.
The people around also fell silent without realizing it, and it seemed as if even the wind had stopped at the temple entrance.
Just then, Shan Tong'er whispered, "Seventh...Seventh Brother?"
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