When Li Ye opened the curtain, he first saw the Junior Priestess riding a horse next to the carriage. He poked his head out to look back and saw Song Jiao talking happily with Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang at the back of the long line of refugees. It made him frown slightly.
After the battle of Qingshui Villa, Song Jiao didn"t get along with them for a long time, but she seemed to be very close to them after meeting them. Li Ye knew about Song Jiao"s temperament. Although she always ogled at him and gave him the glad eye in front of him, she was, in fact, very proud and arrogant and she was even unwilling to admit Nangong Diyi"s success.
"Why would Song Jiao treat Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang differently? Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang won"t tell others about the reincarnation thing casually. And they didn"t reach their cultivation realm because of hard work, so Song Jiao has no reason to admire them."
"The world knows nothing about the White Deer Sect and has no idea where these masters come from."
"Among the current disciples of the White Deer Sect, Song Jiao admires n.o.body but Li Xian who is the most outstanding."
Li Ye couldn"t figure it out, so he put this thought aside for the time being. Sitting upright, he began to close his eyes to rest, but he couldn"t help thinking about certain things.
"It"s said that, apart from Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism, the White Deer Sect is the most magical sect in a thousand years. Its disciples are all capable ministers who can govern the country and heroes in troubled times. Especially during times of chaos, its disciples will conform to the trend, go out into the world, make achievements, and carry forward the reputation of their own sect."
"But now, all discerning people know the world is going to be in chaos, Li Ye has seen Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and Militarism, but he has not seen or even heard of any of the disciples of the White Deer Sect, except Song Jiao who came to his side for some reason."
"This is not normal, and it doesn"t conform to the White Deer Sect"s way of doing things."
On the way, Li Ye met a lot of Jianghu cultivators who rushed to Qing Prefecture. Consciously or unconsciously, they all grouped together and walked behind his convoy.
Li Ye"s group was too long. Not counting the thousands of refugees Cui Keli kept taking in along the way, just the eight hundred elite cavalries who served as Li Ye"s guards were enough to attract people"s attention.
Of late, under Song Jiao"s arrangement, the Black Office spread news of the battle"s situation at Qingshui Villa. Now, seeing Li Ye"s convoy, discerning people would guess this was the new commissioner"s convoy. At present, the Jianghu cultivators in Pinglu all knew the Penglai Taoist sect had become a thing of the past and was not worth mentioning and that the Black Office of the commissioner was the leader in Jianghu, so when they had the chance to meet them, whether they could make a connection or not, they had to follow behind.
If the commissioner could see them, that was a chance to gain a high position or great wealth. It was worth the effort to even just get familiar with the Black Office. Even if these were extravagant hopes, the opportunity to walk with the commissioner and the Black Office would be an honor to boast about later on.
Hence, the group behind Li Ye got longer and longer.
An interesting thing happened in the end.
Because the line was so eye-catching and too many refugees were following them, other refugees kept joining them along the way. Within two days, hundreds had joined. It was a mess because of the influx of people. Cui Keli stopped reading in the carriage and went out among the refugees to talk with them and maintain order. What Li Ye noticed most was Cui Keli carrying an unknown child and running everywhere to help people who fell or who lagged behind—there was not enough food for this many people, so the refugees were hungry and had little energy.
When Cui Keli went among the refugees, Li Ye was deep in thought and he no longer rode the big horse. He ordered the eight hundred guards to help support the refugees, and at the same time, he went among the refugees to chat with them. When he saw a child who didn"t have the strength to walk, he would pick him up. When he saw a shambling old man, he would support him.
Emotions were contagious, and behavior had a group effect. Su Emei, Wei Xiaozhuang and the others soon got along with the refugees. Later on, no one needed to be helped and people didn"t have to carry a person on the back, so they were more about talking and chatting together.
The dreary and sorrowful atmosphere of the refugees now became active and warm. There was a great deal of laughter, and now and then someone made everyone laugh. With his extraordinary medical skills, Wei Xiaozhuang took the initiative to treat patients. All the men of the Black Office ran errands for Wei Xiaozhuang. They got his prescription and went to the nearby markets, towns and counties to buy medicine. Some of them rode on horses and some flew directly. It gradually became a wonder.
The Junior Priestess followed Li Ye, carrying a child in each arm. She was determined to follow Li Ye closely everywhere, and she was popular with the children because of her temperament and looks. So she had a group of kids following her too.
The Junior Priestess had no particular reaction, but she had softened a great deal more. She no longer had the murderous look when she faced Li Ye. During breaks and meals, she would bring the children to the table one by one and serve them food personally. Even though she never spoke, more and more children followed her.
The Jianghu cultivators who followed behind the team were shocked when they knew His Highness Prince An was among the refugees to carrying children and helping the elderly.
Some cultivators who were quick on the uptake hurried up to help. They carried the elderly on their backs and the sick on their shoulders, talking happily with them; the cultivators who missed the chance and couldn"t squeeze in, simply changed their minds. They looked around for refugees and brought them in to join the group.
Whether they were really moved or just wanted to show themselves before of Li Ye and the Black Office, the troop expanded to a huge number of over 2000 people before arriving at Qing Prefecture.
Pedestrians along the way gave way to them looking ignorant, not knowing what happened. They had never seen armored soldiers carrying children in their arms and the elderly on their backs as they hurried along. "Aren"t those high-ranking Va.s.sal State Army all arrogant villains?"
w.a.n.g Hanshan, a member of the group, came up with an idea as he saw this scene. He immediately took the initiative to organize his men to publicize along the way that this was the commissioner"s team and his elite cavalry and that the commissioner was also carrying the children and took the refugees to Qing Prefecture to house them...
The distance from Lai Prefecture to Qing Prefecture was not very far, but because of the large number of people, the speed slowed down and it took many days. And along the way, the benevolence and kindness of the new commissioner of Pinglu imperceptibly spread.
When it spread to Qing Prefecture, the Jianghu cultivators, who arrived first to take part in the Kung Fu Championship, went out of Qing Prefecture in succession to meet the refugees after some anonymous person gave out a call.
Finally, when the troop approached Qing Prefecture, the officials of Qing Prefecture and the men of the Cui family, w.a.n.g family and Zhou family, who had received the order earlier, left the city to meet them. When they saw the stream of people coming on the official road, their eyes were wide with disbelief.
Zhou Wuya, the head of the Zhou family, Cui Shulin, the head of the Cui family, and Li Zhen, Li Ye"s trusted follower, stood together at the head of the line of welcoming officials and squires.
Li Ye first went to Qing Prefecture and then he went to Lai Prefecture. The Black Office followed and the eight hundred guards rode horses at high speed. The civil officials of Prince An"s Manor were also busy. Li Zhen came to Qing Prefecture to meet Cui Shulin and lobby Zhou Wuya.
The Cui family were the first to turn to Li Ye. The Zhou family were fence-sitters. In fact, the gentry were a literary family. They lacked interest in Penglai Taoist sect and didn"t want to get involved in too many Jianghu things, and they were not so resistant to the commissioner. They were not the w.a.n.g family or the Chen family of the Pinglu Army who fought against the commissioner for the leadership, so they"ve never had a life-or-death struggle with the commissioner. As long as the commissioner didn"t harm the place, they were actually very willing to cooperate.
Because of this, after Li Zhen"s lobbying, the Zhou family accepted the invitation and used this as an excuse to avoid going to Penglai, but the Zhou family didn"t necessarily have a good impression of Li Ye. After all, they hadn"t even met.
However, Zhou Wuya and the people around him looked at each other and felt incredulous as they witnessed the scene in front of them.
They had seen many different commissioners, but they had never seen a commissioner like Li Ye who got along with the refugees, carrying their children and letting the guards help the elderly.
It wasn"t difficult for the commissioner to show compa.s.sion and concern towards the common people, but it was a different concept to get along with the refugees without distinction. In addition, refugees were dirty and always smelled bad because they didn"t bathe, and they might also have diseases. As a cla.s.s two official, even though the commissioner had no concept of cla.s.s and ident.i.ty, it was still unimaginable for him to be in such close proximity to the refugees.
Moreover, he was the Grand Prince.
Zhou Wuya sighed, "When I heard about the commissioner"s deeds in Qi Prefecture, I took him for a decisive man. Later, when I learned that he sneaked into Lai Prefecture alone, I admired his courage. These two days I heard about the battle of the Qingshui Villa and knew that the Penglai Taoist sect was expelled by him, so I knew he was both intelligent and courageous and not easy to deal with. But, I could never imagine that His Highness Prince An would be so approachable. Such a person is too complicated for me to figure out."
Cui Shulin smiled and said, "The commissioner is ambitious, or he would not have brought down Wei Baoheng and Liu Xingshen. Observed what he did in Pinglu, so you would know he had planned all his movements in advance. Raided Qi Prefecture to catch people off guard. Subdued one prefecture by quick and decisive means so that he got a firm foothold and deterred the other four prefectures."
"He sneaked into Lai Prefecture to foil Penglai"s plan and show his unfathomable force and strength. After the battle of Qingshui Villa, which of the Pinglu forces would still dare to defy him? The expulsion of the former commissioner was supposed to be because he didn"t understand and sympathize with the soldiers and caused dissatisfaction with the Pinglu Army. But in the final a.n.a.lysis, it was because he was weak and easily cowed. If he were His Highness Prince An, will the Pinglu Army dare to expel him? Anyone who dares to show up will die."
Cui Shulin"s remarks were impolite, but he praised Li Ye highly.
Zhou Wuya glanced at him. They were both the heads of the gentry"s families and had good relations. But now he said sourly, "Don"t think I don"t know what"s on your mind, old chap. You"re already smiling in your heart, aren"t you? The commissioner is your grandson! And though there is nothing improper in your praise of him, aren"t you flattering yourself too?"