To Chen Hansheng's surprise, they did not wait for the Baron's guards, and the other side seemed to not care about Tuqin's family being rescued by Chen Hansheng.
But Chen Hansheng was not in a hurry. He still followed his plan, investigating what needed to be investigated and interviewing what needed to be interviewed. He also took the lead and started to help the people in the town with all the people in the team.
He went to Tuqin's house and moved all the straw mats to the hotel, freeing up a room, and took time out every day to weave straw hats with the three of them. Chen Hansheng was very skillful, and with the flexibility of the low-level warriors, he quickly learned the craft.
At first, the Tuqin family couldn't understand why the mayor would do such a thing with them. But as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, and after two or three days, they were able to knit with Chen Hansheng in a peaceful state of mind.
Chen Hansheng would often mention Irene and analyze the reasons for her death. Unconsciously, Tuqin and the others' sadness gradually subsided, but their hatred increased day by day.
Day after day, Chen Hansheng's companions appeared everywhere in the town, doing the same thing.
——————
Two blocks away from the hotel, Wang Xiaofeng, a soldier from the escort team, pushed open the door of a yard carrying a load of ryegrass.
A young woman came up to help him move the hay. Lina was a woman with dark skin, thin body, and a hint of worry between her brows. But when she saw Wang Xiaofeng, she couldn't help but smile.
A little kid about four years old came running over, circling around him, and yelled, "Uncle is here to help, Mom is happy."
"We haven't finished eating the grass we picked earlier." Lina said.
"Then store it there." Wang Xiaofeng and Shao Lina piled the grass into the pigpen together. Then he picked up the bucket beside him and said, "I'll go get some water."
Lina was a widow. Her husband was conscripted by the baron to transport goods two months ago. He fell to his death in a ravine when the road was slippery due to rain. Without a husband at home and a four-year-old child to take care of, she fell into complete despair.
Just when life was getting worse and worse and she was about to collapse, the man who claimed to be the mayor showed up with these strange people. At first it was the woman named Kalanda, and later it was the young man named Wang Xiaofeng. They helped her with all the housework. She felt that she had been struggling for two months and was about to collapse, and finally someone showed up to support her.
Wang Xiaofeng quickly carried back the water. This amount of water was enough to bend a woman's back, but for him, who was full of fighting spirit, it was a piece of cake.
"Stay for dinner today," Lina said.
"Okay." Wang Xiaofeng smiled and took out a sausage from his pocket. "Fry it as I taught you last time. It will be delicious."
"Yeah." Lina went to cook, but she couldn't hide the happy expression on her face.
——————
In a dilapidated house north of the hotel.
Another member of the guard, Mareno, a former imperial slave, was helping an old man named Dominic chop wood.
The old man had fought in the war and had a lame leg. It was said that he was injured in the war with the Empire in the early years, so his attitude towards Mareno could be described as bad.
"Hey, this axe went astray again. How come the empire can only produce trash like you?"
"Stupid, you actually got the axe stuck. Women are stronger than you. If you want to be lazy, just don't come."
When Mareno first met this old man who hated the Empire, he wanted to give up. But Chen Hansheng told him that as long as the old man was willing to let him in, it meant there was hope. If a person who hated the Empire could be influenced by the Empire, it meant that their way of winning over the townspeople was truly successful.
So Mareno began his arduous attempt.
He helped the old man do more and more things, but the old man never stopped mocking him. One day, when he felt exhausted and wanted to give up, the old man suddenly poured a glass of water in front of him.
"Here, drink." The old man's words were surprisingly concise, and no one knew where he disappeared after he finished speaking.
But as Mareno held the cup, he felt a sense of accomplishment.
———————
In a small courtyard on the west side of the town, Glade walked out with a swagger, followed by two townspeople who expressed their gratitude profusely.
He had not taken a few steps when he ran into Chen Hansheng who was here for inspection.
"How's your stay with this family?"
Glade gestured with his thumb to the respectful townspeople behind him and said, "I am a peak intermediate wizard, what else can I say? See, everyone in that family, young and old, treats me like a god. I healed their old man's joints, healed his son's arm, and repaired their house with magic. They are very grateful for these few things."
Chen Hansheng said: "Then let me ask you, have they ever been oppressed by the Baron? What grudge do they have against the Baron?"
"Uh, this... should be similar to other people, right?" Glade said, scratching his head.
"The old man in their family is blind in one eye. He was herding cattle in the way a few years ago, and the baron used his fighting spirit to beat him blind. The wound on his son's hand was caused by the supervisor beating him last month because he was slow at work."
"You know everything?"
"Of course! You still don't understand the significance of our work. I don't want you to be the savior. The purpose is to let us know their sufferings and let them understand what we want to do. And you? You haven't had a good talk with them at all." Chen Hansheng said seriously.
"You know who I am. They can't read a word. What can they say to me? If I say something, will they understand..." Glade was halfway through his words when he met Chen Hansheng's serious eyes and lowered his head and said, "I know, I know."
—————
Every night, after everyone comes back, it is time for Chen Hansheng to hold a summary meeting, where he will discuss the progress of the work of winning over everyone.
The rooms in the hotel were very small. Whenever there was a general meeting, they would squeeze into the backyard, sitting or standing in a circle. More than fifty people would squeeze into a yard of 40 to 50 square meters to hold a meeting. Although it was crowded, the atmosphere was often very warm.
If it weren't for Glade's silencing array every time, half the town would have been woken up by them.
After everyone finished their report, Chen Hansheng would give various opinions. He was an experienced old man, and the methods he said were all reasonable. Therefore, even if some people had a higher level of cultivation than him, they would still respect him.
That day, Chen Hansheng stood on a haystack, glanced at everyone present and said, "Everyone has done a good job these days. I think everyone has experienced what kind of people those nobles are these days?" Everyone present nodded.
“Those poor people are almost being driven to death.”
"It's not that I'm almost dying, it's that I've almost died."
Even Glade said: "Although I don't bother to deal with the crap of those nobles, I have to say that they are all a bunch of garbage."
Chen Hansheng said, "That's right. Before we came out, the committee had two plans in front of me. One was to completely eliminate the local aristocratic forces, and the other was to cooperate with the aristocratic forces and use them to control the labor force. The first method would definitely require bloodshed. I was a little hesitant at first, but when I got here and saw these terrible things with my own eyes, I realized one thing: we actually have no choice at all!"