Chapter 727

"I think... with Miss Xun's intelligence, it shouldn't be hard to guess what happened here."

"And if these words were to come out of Miss Xun's mouth, they would be much more credible than if an ordinary commoner said them."

"Therefore, I naturally cannot gamble."

"My subordinates also understood this, so they locked Miss Xun here."

"However..." Duan Yu paused and said, "Miss Xun's status is not ordinary, so I could only have Miss Xun temporarily locked here, waiting for me to deal with it."

"What about the commoners in the city?" Xun Cai frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. "General Duan had his subordinates disguise themselves as Huang Jin bandits and enter Yingyin. Now that Yingyincheng has been breached and the commoners in the city are suffering, does this have nothing to do with General Duan?"

Duan Yu narrowed his eyes.

Then he smiled and shook his head:

"If Miss Xun is using these words to anger me, or to make me feel guilty, then I think Miss Xun might be disappointed."

"This world..."

"I don't feel it's out of place for anyone to say the words 'harming the commoners'."

"But only when these words come from the mouths of the gentry and powerful clans do I find it laughable."

"Miss Xun, I would like to ask: this massive Xun clan, in this Yingyincheng, your Xun clan is the greatest. Over these years, the land you have plundered from the commoners, the tenant farmers who till the land for your Xun clan, and the retainers, slaves, and servants you keep—do they not number in the tens of thousands?"

"Your Xun clan does not labor, only reading the books of the sages. Where did the mountains of money and grain piled up in your treasury come from?"

"Could it be that they grew by themselves?"

"Every coin, every grain—which one was not accumulated by dipping into the blood of the commoners?"

"If we are talking about harming the commoners, was it I, Duan Yu, who forced the commoners of this world to rise up?"

"Or was it you, the gentry and powerful clans who devour people like beasts?"

Xun Cai's gaze shifted from calm to surprise.

Duan Yu shook his head and said, "Of course, I know you cannot understand these things."

Duan Yu didn't say this because he thought Xun Cai wasn't smart enough.

This was the ideology bestowed by the era.

Very few people could break through this concept.

Because in the eyes of these gentry and powerful clans that have been passed down for hundreds, or even thousands of years, the commoners are just weeds by the roadside, mere ants.

Even the vast majority of commoners think of themselves this way.

Commoners are born lowly, like weeds by the roadside; this is the result of hundreds of years of ideological education.

If even the commoners themselves don't realize this problem, how could the gentry and powerful clans, those masters high above, think there is a problem?

If they weren't truly unable to survive, if they had no food to eat, who would rebel?

Even if they could just maintain their livelihood, even if it meant selling their children, as long as they could live, no one would rebel.

However, sometimes even this path to survival is blocked.

This is the ideology that has been deeply rooted for hundreds of years.

It is the ideology used by the ruling class and the gentry to educate the commoners of the world using Confucianism.

So Duan Yu didn't expect Xun Cai to understand.

He said this simply to tell Xun Cai that what he was doing was by no means as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Looking at Xun Cai's eyes, Duan Yu knew she didn't understand the meaning behind his words.

Perhaps it wasn't just Xun Cai who didn't understand.

Even many of his own subordinates didn't know what he was actually trying to do.

"Nian'er is still young; she doesn't understand anything."

Xun Cai did not continue to argue.

Duan Yu did not speak again either.

Two people whose ideological logic belonged to different eras could never reach a consensus on such matters.

Xun Cai looked straight at Duan Yu and said, "Can you... spare Nian'er's life?"

Duan Yu stood up and tucked the helmet he had placed on the ground under his arm.

"Although Liangzhou is cold and bitter, it has its own unique scenery. I will not kill you."

After turning around, Duan Yu looked sideways at Xun Cai. "Of course, it's not because of your status."

"The path I walk dictates that whoever stands in my way must die."

"Since you speak of the commoners, then please go and see the commoners of the world."

Duan Yu took a step and walked toward the outside of the courtyard.

Xun Cai, left behind, had a slight change in her expression.

Go to Liangzhou?

He won't kill her?

Upon reflection, Xun Cai's worried expression relaxed.

Duan Yu was sufficiently frank.

If he really wanted to kill her, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths.

Going to Liangzhou would be fine.

It would also save her from her family forcing her to remarry.

Even... even if it meant living as an ordinary person, being able to raise her daughter slowly was better than remarrying.

Yingyin.

Near the afternoon.

The two armies led by Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song had already arrived outside Yingyincheng.

There were only scattered Huang Jin bandits in the city, and there was no one who could command the overall situation.

Therefore, when the two armies of Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song arrived at Yingyin.

The Huang Jin bandits in the city had already begun to scatter.

Duan Yu led his troops, watching unhurriedly from outside Yingyincheng as Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song led their armies into the city.

"Ziyi, didn't you say you have always admired the Yingchuan Xun clan?"

Cao Cao, riding on his horse, turned his head to look at Duan Yu and said, "This Xun clan is right here in Yingyin. If Ziyi doesn't lead troops in to attack now, it would be a great opportunity to resolve the Xun clan's crisis and recruit the Xun clan, wouldn't it?"

Duan Yu pursed his lips and shook his head.

Some things are destined not to be forced.

Factions, concepts, and class—these things cannot be crossed.

As I said before, if it weren't for the time of great chaos in the world, how could these gentry risk following me?

Besides, there was still one step in this city that hadn't been completed.

"Meng De, if you can't wait, you can lead your troops to charge in and take the opportunity to save the Xun clan," Duan Yu said with a smile.

"Ah?"

Cao Cao was stunned.

"Go ahead," Duan Yu waved his hand. "Accumulate more military merit so that you can be rewarded after the Huang Jin are pacified." ===== CHAPTER 729 =====