Chapter 71

Making an issue out of Yuan Laoer's brothers? Chen Wuji asked, taking a bite of a goose leg.

Chen Bushi nodded.

Chen Wuji glanced at the clansmen sitting around, lowered his voice, and said to Chen Bushi, "I can't directly say the reason, but it's unnecessary."

Chen Bushi gave Chen Wuji an uncertain look, then pulled out two taels of silver and handed it over, saying, "Take this money; when you have time, tell me the reason—I'm quite curious."

"It's rather involved." Chen Wuji shook his head, pushing the silver back, "You've surely already spent this money; what's there to make up for?"

"I haven't spent it; this is just what they returned. That little brat hid it deep—my friend, when mentioning this, also wore a tight-lipped expression." Chen Bushi laughed and scolded.

"This has me genuinely curious—I've racked my brain and still can't figure out how you, someone who spends all day hunting in the mountains, came to know those people who even make the county office fall silent."

Chen Wuji smiled, "You already pretty much know the answer; as for how we met, it was purely coincidental."

"That's also your talent." Chen Bushi gave an approving glance at Chen Wuji, "I can see it—among our two generations, you're the only one with any promise."

Chen Wuji chuckled somewhat, "Just because of this, you're lifting me up so high—it's a bit excessive; are you hoping I'll fall flat on my face sooner?"

Chen Bushi glared, "You dog, you can't spit out ivory from that mouth."

Chen Wuji laughed carefree, gulping down the half bowl of wine that Chen Wuwei had secretly hidden for him.

Ah, that's satisfying!

Chen Bushi shoved the silver into Chen Wuji's hand, then solemnly addressed the crowd: "Wuji has arrived, and all our people are here; let me tell you something."

"Sharpen your knives later; if anything happens tonight, I want your courage bolstered—even if you're timid, don't shrink back and hide."

"Which of you brothers dares to do that? Don't blame me for calling out the family elder to strike your branch from the genealogy. I don't expect you to actually slash down a few with your knives, but you must have the guts to charge forward with a blade in hand!"

By the fire now, including Chen Wuji, there were only eleven people.

These are all the able-bodied young men of the Chen clan of Xishan Village, spanning two generations of uncles and nephews.

"Third Uncle, are there really refugee bandits raiding our village?" Chen Qun, the youngest among Chen Wuji's clansmen, asked softly; he was only thirteen this year, though already married.

Chen Bushi nodded, "It's quite possible."

"When I left the city today, I heard a piece of news. These refugees aren't just refugees; mountain bandits from the north of Shenxian Ling have mixed in, seemingly plotting an uprising. The group Chen Wuji encountered today is very likely one of them."

Chen Wuji raised his eyebrows sharply, "No wonder—I said those bastards, after killing someone, were so united, hounding me like a pack of dogs, chasing me endlessly; if the provincial troops hadn't shown up in time, I'd hardly have shaken them off."

"You were actually a bit impulsive today." Chen Bushi said in a low voice.

"The Zhao clan are all dead, and now they're coming after me; I just wanted to take the opportunity to slash a couple to vent my anger, but who knew they'd keep chasing me without end." Chen Wuji said, "I know I was impulsive, but if I ever meet them again, I'll still do the same."

Chen Bushi grunted, "Although I think you were impulsive, if it were me, I'd do the same."

Having said that, he redirected the topic back to what we were just discussing: "Behind our village lies an abandoned ancient path; if these people fail in their uprising or want to leave a retreat beforehand, our village will certainly be one of them."

"You just need to keep this in mind; I won't tell the other villagers. Our Chen clan is weak and isolated, our words carry no weight in the village, and I can't be bothered to waste breath on it."

"But after this, some things will definitely change; the Chen clan won't be what it once was. If you have doubts, hold onto them for now—if something happens, I'll inform you; if not, things will stay as they were."

Chen Wuji roughly guessed what Chen Bushi was saying.

In short, if the refugee bandits attack the village, the Chen clan will seize the opportunity to rise.

If not, we'll just continue as before.

Just as Chen Bushi was curious earlier about which high official Chen Wuji had hooked up with, he is also intensely curious about the true origins of the Chen clan, a curiosity that gnaws at him.

This family must have some hidden foundations.

Leaving other things aside, just looking at the knife each household possesses reveals something.

The court's standard simple knife, compared to this, is practically useless.

What does that mean?

Chen Wuwei muttered softly, "Third Uncle, we should actually be rallying the villagers together; there's no reason for our own family to rush ahead and take the lead for them."

"Is half your ear stuffed with donkey hair? I told you to charge—when did I ever say our family must take the lead?" Chen Bushi snapped.

"When the time comes, just follow my orders; you don't need to think about anything else. And by the way, when that happens, you few youngsters following your elder brother Wuji—some of you can already be considered old executioners."

Chen Wuji: ……

Some people are also old Yin-Yang masters.

"Brother Wuji, how many did you kill today?" Chen Qun asked curiously.

Every time he hears that name, Chen Wuji can't help but feel a bit theatrical.

I really wish he were the Chen Qun from the Three Kingdoms.

"Including Yuan Jintang, that makes about sixteen." Chen Wuji said frankly.

The scene fell silent instantly.

Around the fire where a crowd sat, suddenly only the crackling of the flames remained; Chen Wuji's clansmen stared straight ahead in unison, their breathing seeming to stop.

Even the usually swift-and-decisive Chen Bushi and Chen Luozi wore looks as if they'd seen a ghost.

"I swear on Yuan Jintang's mother—I thought there were only two or three, but sixteen, sixteen… You little brat, you're a natural-born killer; on your first knife swing you actually killed sixteen. If I weren't your Ninth Uncle, I'd want to kneel and kowtow to you." Chen Luozi muttered.

After a brief shock, Chen Bushi quickly recovered his composure and, in an elder's tone, praised: "Not bad, not bad—how much silver did those heads fetch from the county office?"

"Twenty taels of silver, forty mu of land." Chen Wuji omitted the concubine, knife, and clothing—not because he didn't want to say, but because it wasn't necessary to go into such detail; just hit the important points.

Upon hearing that, Chen Bushi cried out in anguish, "A loss, a huge loss! At least forty-five taels of silver—these county office bastards are so black-hearted nowadays, they only gave you twenty taels."

"The court has clear regulations: for each rebel head a commoner cuts, they award five taels of silver; for ten or more heads, they grant land, slaves, and a residence. These county office scoundrels have halved the silver, taken away the land, and taken away the slaves."

"We do have slaves." Chen Wuji said, "Actually, it's about right—fifteen rebel heads, they counted as twenty, giving us an extra ten mu of land."

"You're an idiot, kid—our village has no spare land to give you; they surely just drew a random plot on the mountain for you—what use is that?" Chen Bushi shook his head.