Serena looked up and murmured, "What should I do?"
Blake looked at Serena, "What do you think is the best way to handle this?"
Serena pondered for a moment, then said, “First I will write an IOU, and then I will give him a fief, which will be close to me so that I can observe his behavior.”
Blake looked at Serena with satisfaction. "Very good, Serena. But I think it might be better if the fiefdom were in a remote place. As for monitoring him, you can send someone you trust to go with him."
Serena nodded thoughtfully. She already had a candidate in mind, but the location of the fiefdom was still a problem.
The following day, under Black's supervision, a ceremony was held to bestow rewards. The Paz family, renowned for their meritorious service, saw their fiefdom further expanded. The two newly acquired lands, formerly belonging to the Ars family, were divided in two: half went to Sind, and the other half, including Ars Castle, was granted to Alsace. All wealth, except for money, belonged to Sind, while the population and livestock were divided equally.
Another piece of land, originally belonging to House Tractor, was divided into three parts. The largest piece, including House Tractor's castle and the surrounding land, was given to Nyrent. The land closer to Donic was given to Philby, whose original fief was near House Tractor, so it was considered an expansion of his own fief. And the village of River Valley, located in the no-man's-land on the border, was given to Yunzhe. Along with this land, there were seventy gold coins and an IOU for nine hundred and thirty gold coins.
Yun Zhe gladly accepted the reward. As someone suspected of being a spy, receiving such a generous reward was indeed something to be grateful for. Although they hadn't yet determined where Yun Zhe came from as a spy, they were certain he was one. Yun Zhe feigned ignorance, but inwardly found it quite amusing. However, the joy of having his own fiefdom so quickly after transmigrating overshadowed the displeasure caused by their coldness.
Of course, things weren't perfect. One of Yun Zhe's captains, Caroline, declined Yun Zhe's invitation, explaining that his home was nearby and he didn't want to go anywhere else. He wanted to restore his village first before making any plans. Yun Zhe readily agreed. Gao was determined to follow Yun Zhe, but not all of his soldiers shared the same sentiment. In the end, only thirty men were willing to go with Yun Zhe to his fiefdom. These were all unemployed vagrants from Pas City, without families, and naturally, they drifted along with the tide.
There was also an unexpected bonus: a ranger named Lorraine planned to accompany Yun Zhe. Yun Zhe knew he was merely sent by Serena to spy on him. A mix of emotions welled up within him, all negative feelings.
Yun Zhe wrote a letter to Ellie, citing the long journey as the reason, and then hurriedly set off with his men.
Along the way, Yunzhe had many wonderful ideas about this village.
For example, the village was shaded by green trees, the houses were scattered in a pleasing manner, and the people, though poor, remained optimistic. Children ran around freely, and the bars were lively all night long. He had a nice house, and even had enough gold and silver coins to collect as taxes every day.
So when he saw this valley village, the huge drop in elevation startled him so much that he almost fell off his horse.
The village is called River Valley Village because it's near a tributary of the Delaware River. The village is built just above where the tributary forks. There are hardly any decent, or even intact, houses in the village. They are scattered sparsely along the riverbank. Crops lie flat on the ground. A stench fills the air, and crows fly about. The people stand numbly at their doorways, watching the group of people arrive on horseback.
Yun Zhe rode his horse along the path in the center of the houses, looking at the ragged people on both sides. Their eyes held fear, confusion, or numbness. They were completely devoid of spirit. Yun Zhe then looked at the houses; there were no taverns, no shops, but there was a blacksmith's shop. The blacksmith had a limp, and it was hard to imagine how he managed to forge iron.
Yun Zhe stopped in the square in the center of the village and gestured for Gao to read the documents. At that moment, an elderly man, dressed reasonably well, walked over, supported by a young man.
"Ahem, ahem, I'm Tang, the village chief here. I wanted to ask..."
"This is your new lord, Lord Knight Yunzhe," Gao said solemnly.
Yun Zhe nodded. The old man was at least fifty years old and seemed very weak. His face was contorted in pain; it was unclear whether he was suffering physically or from the new lord.
"Ah, ah, Lord Natra..."
"Lord Tra betrayed the Donic family and has been beheaded," Gao said loudly, seemingly worried that the old man might not hear him.
The old man looked at Gao, who had spoken, in shock, then at Yun Zhe, and then tremblingly reached for the parchment scroll in Gao's hand.
Gao glanced at Yun Zhe and handed it to the old man.
The old man slowly opened it, brought it close to his eyes to examine it carefully, and his nose rubbed against the parchment several times.
After a long while, the old man finished reading and sighed. He handed the parchment back to Gao. Then he began to kneel down with great difficulty.
Seeing this, Yun Zhe quickly helped him up.
"Old man, there's no need to kneel. I hope you can tell me about the situation in the village."
The old man glanced at Yun Zhe, who was wearing a hood, and sighed softly.
"Sir, whatever you want to know, I will tell you everything in detail."
Yun Zhe glanced around at the people who had gathered around the village and didn't see many young and strong men.
"Sir, please find us a place to settle down first. Let's sit down and have a good chat in the rest area."
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