Refugees are but a disorganized rabble; seeing they could not gnaw through the hardened bone of Wei Mansion, they moved toward other territories.
Wei Youcai, accompanied by Wei Yuan, descended from the corner tower and took his seat in the main hall to begin managing the aftermath. Little Weiyuan was covered in blood, and was taken away to bathe and change clothes. After cleaning up, Wei Youcai had him brought back to the main hall and seated in a chair on the side, watching Wei Youcai handle the aftermath.
After the great battle, numerous matters piled up like a mountain. Dozens of house servants, each with injuries, fought in the battle, and several had died. There were dozens of refugees' corpses on the wall and in the courtyard, all of which needed to be removed first. The steward selected a few bold and meticulous servants to search the bodies of the refugees for any valuables. In a year of disaster, every little bit of wealth was good.
Wei Youcai issued instructions one by one and saw Baldy Lao Liu come into the main hall, dragging someone and throwing them to the ground, saying, "Big brother, I picked up a person among the refugees."
The man was dressed in a scholar robe, his hands tied, and his mouth securely stuffed with a torn cloth. Apart from that, there was nothing unusual; his scholar robe was just dustier, clearly not having suffered much hardship.
Upon seeing the scholar, the steward felt he looked familiar. After a closer look, he exclaimed, "Mr. Zhang!"
Wei Youcai then turned to the steward, who said, "This is the learned gentleman who chose the character 'Yuan' for the young master three years ago."
Wei Youcai slapped his thigh, "It turns out to be Mr. Zhang Sheng! How did you end up like this?"
He quickly approached Mr. Zhang, untied the ropes binding his hands himself, and then glared fiercely at Baldy Lao Liu.
Baldy Lao Liu immediately protested, "It's not my fault! He was already like this when I found him in the refugee camp!"
Zhang Sheng removed the torn cloth from his mouth and said with a wry smile, "Indeed, it has nothing to do with this strong man. I even have to thank him for rescuing me."
"Since sir gave Yuan'er his name, he is not an outsider," said Wei Youcai, ordering a chair to be brought over for Mr. Zhang to sit on before asking, "How did sir end up among the refugees?"
Zhang Sheng sighed, "It is embarrassing to say. I was teaching in Lin County, hoping to earn some travel expenses. Unexpectedly, a large group of refugees came. The city's defenders fled, leaving all the people of the county to the refugees. One of the refugee leaders saw that I could read and write and wanted me to be his strategist. I refused, so he tied me up and brought me here. Along the way, he treated me quite well, but after a while, once his patience wore thin, I might have been treated just like the others and cooked for food."
Wei Youcai was astonished, "I remember Mr. Zhang is supposed to be a man of great mana, how did you get caught by the refugees?"
Zhang Sheng hemmed and hawed, unable to explain clearly. Wei Youcai did not press him further, looked Mr. Zhang up and down, and suddenly his face broke into a smile, which unsettled Mr. Zhang quite a bit.
Wei Youcai gave a respectful bow to Mr. Zhang, saying, "Three years ago, sir honored my son, no, my unworthy son Wei Yuan, by bestowing a name upon him. Three years later, we meet again; truly, we are fated with sir!"
"No, not at all!" blurted out Mr. Zhang, surprising Wei Youcai.
Seeing the change in Wei Youcai's expression, Mr. Zhang quickly clarified, "I mean, the young master has deep fortune and fully deserves his name. I cannot take any credit for it."
Wei Youcai's smile grew even warmer, "Mr. Zhang is a man of great talents. How great, I wouldn't know, as I'm uneducated, but there's no one within dozens of miles who knows more characters than Mr. Zhang. With the world outside in turmoil and the young master at the age to start his education, perhaps Mr. Zhang could enlighten him by teaching him to read and write, to learn the principles of the sages, how about that?"
For some reason, seeing Wei Youcai's beaming smile and his semi-literate speech, Mr. Zhang shuddered.
Mr. Zhang promptly declined, "Mr. Wei overestimates me. My knowledge is shallow, and teaching others would surely lead them astray. Besides, all my learning is in Daoism, which is quite far from the sages' teachings."
Mr. Zhang's words were diplomatic, but his intention was to avoid staying there any longer.
Wei Youcai seemed to completely miss the subtext in Mr. Zhang's words, smilingly saying, "Whatever number of days Mr. Zhang wishes to teach is fine. No need to rush a decision now, please, sit!"
Whether intentionally or not, two burly house servants sat Mr. Zhang down between them, while Baldy Lao Liu stood behind him with his hand on the hilt of his sword. Baldy Lao Liu had several fresh wounds, and blood had soaked through his bandages, emitting not only an aura of hostility but also the stench of blood.
Wei Youcai returned to his seat and continued overseeing the aftermath. Mr. Zhang then said, "I seem to be in the way here; it might be best if I excuse myself."
Wei Youcai waved his hand with a smile, saying, "Not at all, sir is not an outsider. Please feel free to watch!"
Mr. Zhang found he couldn't leave and had no choice but to sit there.
At that moment, the steward hurried in again, glanced at Mr. Zhang, and hesitated to speak. Wei Youcai said, "Sir is one of us, don't worry. Speak up."
The steward said, "Master, there are many injured refugees outside, most of them severely wounded and unable to move. I've counted, and there are more than ninety. How should we handle these people?"
Baldy Lao Liu scoffed, "Lao Ba, all these people were just trying to take our lives moments ago, and you still ask? After all these years, you haven't gotten rid of your timid and soft-hearted ways. Fine, I'll tell you what to do. Dig two large pits; first, bury the dead. Bury them deep. Then lay the living by the side of the other pit, and come morning, see if anyone's still alive. If they are, then give them some help."
Mr. Zhang frowned.
The lightly wounded refugees were those who had been deeply slashed and had fled early. Left in the wilderness overnight, who would still be alive? The words of the bald man were nothing less than a death sentence.
Mr. Zhang looked to Wei Youcai, only to see him with his eyes half-closed as if he had dozed off, hearing nothing. The steward, without waiting for Wei Youcai to speak, left the room, clearly following the bald man's orders.
As Mr. Zhang turned around, he met the gaze of the bald man, who bared his teeth in a ferocious grin. Mr. Zhang immediately understood the message: Keep babbling, and you'll be buried with them.
Once the steward was out, Wei Youcai pretended to have just woken from a nap, slowly opened his eyes, and asked, "Where's Lao Ba?"
The steward hurried back in, "I just took care of a minor issue. Big brother... master, do you have any orders?"
Wei Youcai smiled, "I've said Mr. Zhang is not an outsider, so there's no need to be so formal. Please, go over the matter of the farmland and grain stores with me again."
The steward didn't even have to think before he blurted out, "Currently, on the estate, we have fifty-three mu and five fen of first-rate arable land, one hundred and thirty-seven mu of second-rate land, and sixty mu of third-rate land. We have a total of one hundred and seven tenant households, each renting roughly two mu and three fen of land. At the beginning of the year, we sold some old grain, and now we still have two hundred and thirty dan of various grains in the storage."
Wei Youcai slowly said, "This year is definitely a total crop failure. If we only seek to survive until next spring without starvation, how many people can these grains feed?"
The steward thought for a moment, and with some difficulty, he said, "Sixth Master can hunt..."
The bald man snorted and said, "The mountains are bare; there's not even grass left, where would the game come from?"
"In that case, roughly two hundred and forty people could survive, giving each person three taels a day, no less."
Wei Youcai slowly said, "That means, aside from those in the mansion, if our own tenant households come back, only about thirty percent can survive."
If only thirty percent of the tenants could survive, the rest would either die of starvation or flee the famine, becoming refugees. Not wanting to starve to death or flee the famine, there was only one other choice left.
Hearing this, Zhang Sheng also understood that Wei Mansion could not even sustain its own tenant households, let alone take on those seriously injured refugees outside. In all these years, Zhang Sheng was facing such a cruel choice for the first time.
In this brief moment, Zhang Sheng, who stood by watching coldly, also had an epiphany: everyone in this room was likely capable of killing without blinking an eye.
Suddenly, he remembered the Luck he had seen three years ago when constructing the Gui Water Light Array, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Mr. Zhang!" Wei Youcai suddenly looked at Zhang Sheng, squinting and smiling as he asked, "Has the master considered it? Would you be willing to enlighten Yuan'er?"
Looking at Wei Youcai's smiling eyes, Zhang Sheng thought of the two large pits being dug outside the estate. If he dared to say no, he'd probably end up buried in a pit with the refugees. Having experienced upheavals in the past three years, Zhang Sheng couldn't use any of his Dao Power, no different from a mortal. Now that the refugees were passing through, the grass within a hundred li had been stripped bare, leaving only yellow earth as far as the eye could see. Even if Zhang Sheng managed to escape, he would starve to death in the wilderness. If he were to die now, it would be a worthless death.
After much deliberation, Zhang Sheng found he had no way out.
Then thinking that teaching and educating is noble and he was originally going to teach in Lin County, Zhang Sheng had no choice but to say, "Of course, I am willing."
Wei Youcai was overjoyed and immediately pulled Little Weiyuan over to perform the ceremony of acknowledging a teacher. Little Weiyuan was very obedient and knelt down in front of Zhang Sheng to bow.
Zhang Sheng's face alternated between pale and flushed, several times he wanted to stand up and flee, but Baldy and his big saber were right behind him; there was no escape. He hesitated for only a moment, and Little Weiyuan had already finished kowtowing three times.
Zhang Sheng let out a long sigh in his heart. Now that he had accepted this rite of acknowledging a teacher, the bond was firmly established.
Since he had come, he decided to settle in. After the ceremony was completed, Zhang Sheng felt more at ease. He stepped forward, lifted Little Weiyuan up, and took a good look at him.
Zhang Sheng had left in a hurry three years ago and actually never saw Weiyuan before. Now, seeing him for the first time, he noticed that Little Weiyuan had eyebrows like swords and stars for eyes, especially beautiful large eyes full of Spiritual Energy. Zhang Sheng couldn't help but feel a surge of joy as he looked at him.
Little Weiyuan also looked up at Zhang Sheng; slowly, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. He could feel that Zhang Sheng was the fourth person to show fondness for him.
As Zhang Sheng looked at the little face that slowly rippled with joy, his heart gradually softened.
Seeing that the ceremony was completed, Wei Youcai said, "For the next three years, Yuan'er is entrusted to the master."
"Three years?" Zhang Sheng was startled. He hadn't planned to stay so long; he just wanted to teach him enough to recognize words and then leave.
Wei Youcai sipped from his teacup with a half-smile, then said, "Three years from now is the date of the Great Tang Immortal Sect's unified examination. Yuan'er will be six years old then, just the right age to register for the examination. Three years of enlightenment is already very tight on time."
Zhang Sheng slapped his forehead. He had almost forgotten such a big event like the Immortal Sect's recruitment exam. However, three years was indeed beyond his plans, so he said, "I have important matters that require my presence in Southern Qi, I'm afraid I cannot stay for three years."
Wei Youcai, with a mocking smile, said, "Right now, refugees are everywhere in the nearby counties, and in a blink, refugees will turn into bandits. The land won't be stable for another two or three years. If the master couldn't leave Yong State for the past three years, do you think you can leave in the next three?"
Zhang Sheng paused and thought carefully.
With the conversation having reached this point, Zhang Sheng knew he was bound for the next three years. He composed himself and said earnestly, "If one wishes to participate in the Immortal Sect's unified examination, three years is indeed very tight. Since that's the case, please prepare, Mr. Wei, for classes to start first thing tomorrow morning."
Wei Youcai was overjoyed and promptly instructed the servants to prepare Zhang Sheng's living quarters and the study room where Weiyuan would take lessons. Once everything was arranged, Wei Youcai picked up his tea cup, lightly sipped it, and smilingly said, "Since the master is no longer an outsider, I'll forget about the wild chicken you threw into my yard back then."
Zhang Sheng broke out in a cold sweat once again.
At dawn the next day, Wei Mansion heard the sound of reading aloud for the first time.
In the study room, hastily arranged the night before, Zhang Sheng and Weiyuan sat facing each other. Zhang Sheng's clear and resonant voice echoed inside the room:
"The general trend of the world is that states are long divided, must unite; and long united, must divide. The end of Zhou... cough, cough! I misspoke, it's this: Great Tang has been founded for a thousand years, first establishing Jin Qi..."
Outside the room, under the window, Wei Youcai, the bald man, and the steward crouched against the wall, pricking up their ears to eavesdrop.
After listening for a while, Wei Youcai slapped his thigh and said in a low voice, "The general trend of the world is that states are long divided, must unite; and long united, must divide! Even though I've never been educated, I find this very reasonable! This teacher is indeed talented!"
Three years flew by in the blink of an eye.
Soon the mountains were green again, Tong River was surging once more, and Zhang Sheng had imparted all the subjects that would take others ten years to learn to Weiyuan.