On the Seven Towers

To Chen Hansheng's surprise, they did not wait for the baron's guards, who seemed to be indifferent to the fact that Tuqin's family was rescued by Chen Hansheng.

However, Chen Hansheng was not in a hurry. He still followed his plan, investigating what should be investigated and interviewing what should be interviewed. He also took the lead and began 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 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 soon learned this craft.

At first, the Tuqin family could not understand why the mayor did such a thing with them. But as the old saying goes, habit becomes nature. After two or three days, they were able to weave with Chen Hansheng in a peaceful state of mind.

Chen Hansheng would often mention Irene and analyze the reasons for her death. Unknowingly, Tuqin's sadness slowly subsided, but hatred increased day by day.

Day after day, Chen Hansheng's companions also appeared in various parts of the town, doing the same thing.

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Two streets away from the hotel, Wang Xiaofeng, a soldier of the escort team, carried a load of ryegrass and pushed the door into a yard.

A young woman hurriedly came up to help him move the grass. The young woman Lina had dark skin, a thin figure, and a trace of worry between her eyebrows. But when she saw Wang Xiaofeng, she couldn't help but smile.

A child of about four years old came running over and circled around him, shouting: "Uncle is here to help, Mom is happy."

"The grass we picked up before hasn't been eaten yet." Lina said.

"Then store it." Wang Xiaofeng and Lina piled the grass into the pigpen together. Then he picked up the bucket next to him and said, "I'll go get some water first."

Lina was a widow. Her husband was conscripted by the baron to transport goods two months ago. It rained and the road was slippery and he fell to death in the ravine. Without a man 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 go on, 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 do all the housework she could. She felt that she had been struggling for two months and was about to collapse when someone finally showed up to support her.

Wang Xiaofeng quickly brought back water. This amount of water could bend her back for a woman, but it was a piece of cake for him who was full of fighting spirit.

"Stay for dinner today." Lina said.

"Okay." Wang Xiaofeng smiled. He took out a sausage from his pocket. "Fry it as I taught you last time, it's delicious."

"Yeah." Lina went to cook, but she couldn't hide the happy expression on her face.

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In a dilapidated house north of the hotel.

Another guard, Mareno, who was originally a slave of the Empire, 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 is crooked again. How can the Empire produce so many 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."

Mareno wanted to give up when he first met such an old man who hated the Empire. But Chen Hansheng told him that as long as the old man was willing to let him in, it meant there was a chance. 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. When he felt exhausted and wanted to give up one day, the old man suddenly poured a glass of water in front of him.

"Here, drink." The old man's words were surprisingly concise, and he disappeared after he finished speaking.

But Mareno was holding the cup, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

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In a small courtyard on the west side of the town, Glade swaggered out, followed by two townspeople who were grateful.

He didn't walk a few steps before he ran into Chen Hansheng who came to inspect.

"How is your stay in this family?"

Glade gestured to the respectful townspeople behind him with his thumb and said, "I am a mid-level peak magician, what else can I say. See, that family, from old to young, treats me as a god. I healed their old man's joints, healed his son's arms, 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..., it should be similar to other people, right?" Glade scratched his head and said.

"The old man in their family is blind in one eye. He was blinded by the baron's fighting spirit when he was herding cattle in the way a few years ago. The wound on his son's hand was caused by the supervisor who beat him last month because he was slow in work."

"You know all this?"

"Of course! You still don't understand the significance of our work. I'm not asking you to be a savior. Instead, I want us to 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 my identity. They can't read a word. What can they say to me? Can they understand what I say..." Glade said halfway, met Chen Hansheng's serious eyes, and lowered his head and said, "I know, I know."

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Every night, after everyone came back, it was Chen Hansheng's summary meeting time. He would discuss the progress of the work of winning over with everyone.

The hotel room was very small. Whenever there was a general meeting, they would squeeze in the backyard, sitting or standing, and surrounded by more than 50 people in a yard of 40 to 50 square meters. Although crowded, the atmosphere was often very warm.

If it weren't for Glade's silent magic circle every time, half of the town would be woken up by them.

After everyone finished reporting, Chen Hansheng would give various opinions. He was an experienced old man, and the methods he said were quite reasonable. Therefore, even if some people had a higher level of cultivation than him, they still obeyed him.

That day, Chen Hansheng stood on a haystack, glanced at the people present and said, "Everyone has done a good job these days. What kind of people are those nobles? You have experienced it these days, right?" Everyone present nodded.

"Those poor people are almost being forced to death."

"Not almost being forced to death, but already a lot of them have been forced to death."

Even Glade said, "Although I don't bother to deal with the nobles' shit, 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 is to completely eliminate the local noble forces, and the other is to cooperate with the noble forces and use them to control the labor force. The first way will definitely require bloodshed. I was still a little hesitant in my heart, but when I came here and saw these bad things with my own eyes, I realized one thing, we actually have no choice at all!"