Chapter 3: Fate with the Gentleman

The refugees were originally a mob, and seeing that they couldn't chew this hard bone of the Wei residence, they went to other territories.

Wei Youcai took Wei Yuan down from the corner tower, sat in the main hall, and began to deal with the aftermath. Little Wei Yuan was covered in blood and was taken down to bathe and change clothes. After cleaning up, Wei Youcai had someone bring him back to the main hall, placed a chair for him to sit on, and watched Wei Youcai deal with the aftermath.

After the great battle, things piled up like a mountain. Dozens of retainers who went into battle were all injured, and several died. There were dozens of refugee corpses on the wall and in the courtyard, and these had to be transported out first. The steward picked a few bold and careful retainers to search for property on the refugee corpses. In a year of great disaster, a little more property was good.

Wei Youcai ordered things one by one, and saw the bald Old Liu carrying a person into the main hall, throwing him on the ground, and saying: "Big brother, I picked up a person among the refugees."

That person was dressed as a scholar, his hands were tied, and his mouth was firmly stuffed with a piece of broken cloth. Besides that, there was nothing else; the scholar's robe just had a little more dust, and at a glance, he hadn't suffered much.

Seeing the scholar, the steward felt familiar, and after looking carefully, he exclaimed: "Master Zhang!"

Wei Youcai looked at the steward, and the steward said: "This is the scholar who gave the young master the name 'Yuan' three years ago."

Wei Youcai slapped his thigh: "So it's Master Zhang Sheng! How did you end up like this?"

He walked quickly to Zhang Sheng, personally untied the rope on Zhang Sheng's hands, and then glared fiercely at the bald Lao Liu.

The bald Lao Liu immediately complained: "It has nothing to do with me! When I picked him up in the refugee camp, he was already like this!"

Zhang Sheng took the broken cloth out of his mouth and smiled bitterly: "It really has nothing to do with this warrior; I still have to thank him for saving me."

"The young master's name was given by the gentleman, so he is not an outsider." Wei Youcai ordered someone to move a chair and let Zhang Sheng sit, then asked: "How did you end up among the refugees, sir?"

Zhang Sheng sighed and said: "It's shameful to say, I was originally teaching in a neighboring county, wanting to earn some travel expenses, but I didn't expect a large group of refugees to suddenly arrive. The garrison in the city fled at the sight of the wind, throwing all the people in the county to the refugees. A refugee leader saw that I was literate and insisted on having me be his military advisor. I refused to obey, so he tied me up and brought me all the way here. He treated me with courtesy along the way, but after a while, that person lost patience and said that he might boil me and eat me like the others."

Wei Youcai asked strangely: "I remember that you should be a master with magic power, sir; how could you be caught by refugees?"

Zhang Sheng stammered and couldn't explain clearly. Wei Youcai saw this and didn't make things difficult for him, looking Zhang Sheng up and down, and suddenly had a smile on his face, which made Zhang Sheng feel somewhat creepy.

Wei Youcai bowed to Zhang Sheng and said: "Three years ago, my son, no, my dog son Wei Yuan, was given a name by you when he was born. Three years later, I met you again; it is truly fate with you, sir!"

"No, there isn't!" Zhang Sheng blurted out, which startled Wei Youcai.

Seeing Wei Youcai's unusual expression, Zhang Sheng hurriedly said: "I mean, the young master has deep fortune and is worthy of this character; I don't have any merit."

Wei Youcai's smile grew wider, and he said: "You have great talent, sir; how great that talent is, I haven't read books, so I don't know, but in the dozens of miles around, no one is more literate than you. Now that the world is in chaos outside, and my dog son has reached the age of enlightenment, why not have you enlighten him, teach him to read and write, and learn some sage principles?"

For some reason, seeing Wei Youcai smiling and speaking in a half-scholarly, half-colloquial way, Zhang Sheng shivered again.

Zhang Sheng hurriedly declined: "You overpraise me, Master Wei; my talent is shallow, and teaching people is purely misleading children. Besides, everything I have learned in my life is Daoist learning, which is far from sage principles."

Zhang Sheng spoke tactfully, which actually meant he didn't want to stay here for long.

Wei Youcai seemed not to have understood the meaning of Zhang Sheng's words at all, and said with a smile: "You can teach as many days as you want, sir; no need to decide now, sit down first!"

Whether intentional or unintentional, two burly retainers sandwiched Zhang Sheng in the middle, and the bald Lao Liu pressed his hand on the hilt of his knife, standing behind him. The bald Lao Liu still had several new wounds on his body, and blood had soaked through the bandages, so he not only had killing intent but also hot, bloody smell.

Wei Youcai returned to his seat and continued to deal with the aftermath. Zhang Sheng then said: "It seems somewhat inconvenient for me to be here; it's better to avoid suspicion."

Wei Youcai waved his hand with a smile: "It doesn't matter, sir is not an outsider, feel free to watch!"

Zhang Sheng found it hard to leave, so he had to sit.

At this time, the steward came in again, looked at Zhang Sheng, and hesitated to speak. Wei Youcai said: "Sir is one of us, it doesn't matter, speak."

The steward said: "Master, there are still many injured refugees outside, most of them are seriously injured and cannot move. I have counted them, there are more than ninety. How should these people be handled?"

At this time, the bald Lao Liu said: "I'll tell you what to do. Dig two large pits, bury the dead first, bury them deep. Then put the living ones by the side of another pit and wait until tomorrow morning to see who is still alive. If they can still be alive by then, then save them."

Zhang Sheng frowned.

Those refugees were at least slashed deeply, and those who could move had long since run away. Leaving these people in the wild for a night at this time, how could they have any life left? The bald burly man's words were just not saving the dying?

Zhang Sheng looked toward Wei Youcai, only to see Wei Youcai squinting his eyes, as if he had already fallen asleep and hadn't heard anything. The steward didn't wait for Wei Youcai to speak and went out of the room, obviously acting according to the bald burly man's words.

Zhang Sheng turned his head and happened to meet the bald burly man's gaze. The bald burly man bared his large mouth and gave him a ferocious grin. Zhang Sheng immediately understood his meaning: if you dare to nag, I'll bury you together.

After the steward went out, Wei Youcai seemed to have taken a nap and slowly opened his eyes, asking: "Where is Old Eight?"

The steward ran in again and said: "Just went to deal with a small matter. Big brother... Master, what are your orders?"

Wei Youcai smiled and said: "I said that Master Zhang is not an outsider, no need to be too particular about the address. Tell me about the grain in the fields again."

The steward didn't think and said: "There are fifty-three mu and five fen of first-class fertile land in the manor, one hundred and thirty-seven mu of second-class land, and sixty mu of third-class land. There are one hundred and seven tenant households renting our land, each renting about two mu and three fen. We sold some old grain at the beginning of the year, and now there are two hundred and thirty shi of various stored grains in the granary."

Wei Youcai said slowly: "This year is definitely a total failure. If we only seek not to starve to death by next spring, how many people can these grains support?"

The steward thought for a while and said somewhat difficultly: "Sixth Master can hunt..."

The bald burly man snorted and said: "There isn't even grass on the mountain, where would there be prey?"

"In that case, it can support about two hundred and forty people, three liang per person per day, no less."

Wei Youcai said slowly: "In that case, besides the people in the residence, even if our own tenants return, only three out of ten can survive."

Only three out of ten tenants can survive, and the rest will either starve to death or go out to flee from famine. If they don't want to starve to death and don't want to flee from famine, then there is only one way left.

Hearing this, Zhang Sheng understood that the Wei residence's stored food couldn't even support their own tenants, so how could they afford the seriously injured refugees outside? For all these years, this was the first time Zhang Sheng had faced such a cruel choice.

During this time, Zhang Sheng watched coldly and had an epiphany: everyone in this room was probably a murderer who didn't blink.

He suddenly remembered the many terrifying fortunes he saw when setting up the Jian Water Light-Merging Formation three years ago, and his heart suddenly jumped.

"Master Zhang!" Wei Youcai suddenly looked at Zhang Sheng, squinting and smiling: "Have you considered whether you are willing to enlighten Yuan'er?"

Looking at Wei Youcai's squinting eyes, Zhang Sheng thought of the two large pits being dug outside the manor. If he dared to say 'no', he would probably be buried in the same pit as the refugees. Zhang Sheng had encountered changes in the past three years, and he couldn't use any of his Dao power, so he was no different from a mortal. Now that the refugees were crossing the border, not even grass was left in a hundred miles, and looking around, only yellow soil remained. Even if Zhang Sheng could escape, he would starve to death in the wilderness. If he died at this time, it could be said that his death was worthless.

Zhang Sheng thought about it and found no way out.

Thinking again that teaching and educating people was also noble, and he was originally going to teach in the neighboring county, Zhang Sheng had to say: "I am naturally willing."

Wei Youcai was overjoyed and immediately pulled Wei Yuan to perform the master-disciple ceremony. Little Wei Yuan was very obedient and knelt before Zhang Sheng and bowed.

Zhang Sheng's face turned green and white, and he wanted to stand up and escape several times, but behind him was the bald Lao Liu and his large sword, so how could he escape? He only hesitated for a moment, and little Wei Yuan had already kowtowed three times.

Zhang Sheng sighed deeply in his heart; since he had accepted this master-disciple ceremony, this fate was settled.

Since he was here, he should be at peace. After the master-disciple ceremony, Zhang Sheng's heart became more stable, and he stepped forward, helped little Wei Yuan up, and examined him carefully.

Zhang Sheng left in a hurry three years ago and hadn't actually seen Wei Yuan; this was the first time he had seen him. He saw little Wei Yuan had sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, and a pair of large eyes that were especially beautiful and full of spiritual energy; Zhang Sheng felt somewhat happy looking at him.

Little Wei Yuan also looked up at Zhang Sheng and suddenly the corners of his mouth slowly rose, revealing a smile. He could feel that Zhang Sheng was the fourth person who had love for him.

And looking at that small face that slowly rippled with joy, Zhang Sheng's heart gradually became soft.

Wei Youcai saw that the master-disciple ceremony was completed and said: "For the next three years, Yuan'er will be entrusted to you, sir."

"Three years?" Zhang Sheng was shocked. He didn't plan to stay this long, only wanting to teach him to recognize characters and then leave.

Wei Youcai squinted his eyes, picked up a teacup, took a sip unhurriedly, and said: "Three years later is the date of the Great Tang Immortal Sect's unified examination. Yuan'er will be six years old then, just the age to sign up for the exam. Three years of enlightenment, time is already very tight."

Zhang Sheng slapped his forehead; he almost forgot about such a big event as the Immortal Sect's unified examination. But three years was truly beyond his plan, so he had to say: "I have other important matters and must go to Southern Qi, so I'm afraid I can't stay for three years."

Wei Youcai smiled but didn't smile, saying: "Now there are refugees everywhere in the neighboring counties, and in the blink of an eye, the refugees will become bandits; the ground won't be stable for two or three years. You haven't walked out of Yongzhou in the past three years, sir, so can you walk out in the next three years?"

Zhang Sheng was stunned and thought carefully.

Since things had reached this point, Zhang Sheng also knew that he couldn't leave for the next three years. He composed his mood and said sternly: "If you want to participate in the Immortal Sect's unified examination, three years is indeed very tight. Since that's the case, please prepare, Master Wei, and we will start class tomorrow morning."

Wei Youcai was overjoyed and immediately ordered the servants to clean up the room and arrange Zhang Sheng's residence and the study for Wei Yuan's class. After everything was arranged, Wei Youcai took a sip of tea, smiled, and said: "Since you are not an outsider, sir, then I will forget about the time you threw a wild chicken into my courtyard."

Zhang Sheng broke out in cold sweat again.

On the second morning, the Wei residence had the sound of reading for the first time.

In the study that was cleaned up overnight, Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan sat opposite each other, and Zhang Sheng's clear and bright voice echoed in the room:

"The general trend of the world is that it will divide after a long time of unity, and it will unite after a long time of division. The Zhou Dynasty's seven... cough cough! I said it wrong, it's this: The Great Tang has been established for a thousand years, and it was first set up in Jin and Qi..."

Outside the window, Wei Youcai, the bald man, and the steward squatted against the wall, pricking up their ears to eavesdrop.

After listening for a while, Wei Youcai slapped his thigh and whispered: "The general trend of the world is that it will divide after a long time of unity, and it will unite after a long time of division! Although I haven't read books, I also feel that this passage makes so much sense! This gentleman is truly talented!"

Three years passed in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, the mountains had green again, the Tong River was surging again, and Zhang Sheng had passed on all the lessons that others needed ten years to learn to Wei Yuan.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 4 =====