105 Establishing a village

Without awaiting Shen Tang's response, Qi Shen muttered to himself.

"To release them, this is not prudent. These bandits turned to thievery out of desperation, offering them freedom merely allows them to resume their lawless ways. As for the elderly, infirm, and disabled... Even the able-bodied youth see no alternative but to turn to banditry. The outcome for them is foreseeable."

Upon hearing the latter part, Shen Tang felt a pang in her heart.

She remarked, "To follow this path of release is unwise."

Observing her response, Qi Shen smiled again, remarking, "Indeed, it is unwise. I spared Boren, yet he perished because of me. If these bandits were released, the innocent people who would later fall victim to them... the injustice of it all. So, why not sell them? There are many here still young and strong enough to fetch a price. As for the others... they can only be sold at a pittance."

Shen Tang cast a sidelong glance at Chu Yao and firmly rejected the proposal.

"Absolutely not!" she exclaimed.

"These are people, not livestock!"

Qi Shen's remarks grew increasingly outrageous!

Undeterred, Qi Shen added fuel to the fire, coolly suggesting, "Burial?"

"Alive?" Shen Tang exclaimed.

"Or slaughtered before burial," Qi Shen replied.

Seeing Qi Shen's escalating audacity, anger flashed across Shen Tang's face as she stepped closer, looking up to question him sternly.

"Qi Yuanliang! Do you even understand what you're saying?"

With no response from the crowd, and those exposed to the sun dared not utter a word, some of the timid ones already turning pale, their breaths unsteady, as if they might faint at any moment.

"I understand," Qi Shen replied calmly.

"I doubt that!" Shen Tang retorted.

Qi Shen immediately countered, "Since I have proposed my opinion, and Lord opposes it, then what is Lord's solution for dealing with them?"

Shen Tang hesitated. What solution could she possibly offer? Surely she couldn't simply offer these people some money to lead an honest life? The thought of it made her want to shake her head clear of such foolish notions.

The plight of the merchants in Xiaocheng, the old and weak in the Lin family—neither situation had anything to do with these seemingly innocent people. Shen Tang found herself at a loss. These people before her, she couldn't kill them, couldn't release them, couldn't sell them... Shen Tang massaged her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

She couldn't help but lament why she had kept these troubles around after getting drunk. They weren't any good anyway, having killed so many already. Why not just eliminate them all while drunk? The thought startled even herself.

How could she harbor such dreadful thoughts?

How could her moral compass be so skewed?

Shen Tang was horrified by her own terrifying thoughts, growing increasingly anxious. A sharp, intense, impossible-to-ignore pain radiated from the depths of her mind, causing her brows to furrow, her teeth to clench. Unconsciously, her forehead was dotted with fine beads of sweat, her once rosy cheeks now pallid, her lips drained of color, as if she had fallen gravely ill.

Qi Shen was the first to notice her distress.

Reaching out to steady the swaying Shen Tang, his voice carried a subtle urgency.

"Yuli? Yuli? What's wrong?"

"Huff... I'm fine..."

Having endured that stabbing pain, Shen Tang felt her mind ease considerably.

Zhai Le and a few others approached with concern, but Shen Tang waved them off, gesturing to Qi Shen not to worry too much. She said, "It's probably just a hangover. Suddenly got a headache... but it's fine now... As for these people, let's keep them all, and no more talk of burial. After all, they are human lives, not to be discarded lightly. It's not easy to survive to this age. Let them do some useful work... I'll go back to bed."

"Yuanliang, you've known Wulang for a long time. Do you know if he has this ailment?" Chu Yao looked at Shen Tang's retreating figure with concern. This clearly wasn't just a simple hangover headache; it might be some kind of illness.

Qi Shen shook his head. "He's never shown symptoms like this before."

"Shall we settle things here and go to Xiaocheng to find someone to look at her?"

"Yes."

With a pause in his step, Qi Shen turned in another direction.

Shen Tang had claimed she was going back to bed, but in reality, she wasn't sleepy at all. She was just sitting under a tree, lost in thought. When she heard footsteps, she knew it was Qi Shen. Without lifting her head, she asked, "What's the matter, Yuanliang?"

"Apologizing for earlier."

"Apology?"

"While it was intentional to provoke you, I did not expect it to aggravate old afflictions."

Momentarily baffled, Shen Tang forgot to argue that she had no old afflictions. Instead, she asked curiously, "You wanted to provoke me? For what purpose?"

"...?"

Squinting, Shen Tang said, "Once

 again, intuition tells me that you and Wuhui are up to something... Were you trying to provoke me just to make me come up with a solution for dealing with these people? Why?"

"...?"

Suddenly, Shen Tang exclaimed, "Oh, I understand now."

Could it be that, accustomed to nefarious schemes, Qi Shen couldn't bring himself to do a good deed but also feared she might ruthlessly act as she did when drunk? Therefore, deliberately taking the opposite stance, he roused her anger, ensuring her agreement to keep these people?

Qi Shen didn't believe it. "You understand?"

Shen Tang insisted, "Yes, I do!"

Qi Shen shook his head. "Yuli, you still don't understand."

"...Alright, you're right, I don't understand. So, explain it to me, I'm listening! You have to make it clear where I'm mistaken. I don't mind guessing, but I don't want to guess wrong..."

Wouldn't it be embarrassing if she misunderstood?

Listening to the ambiguous, gentle tone of this young man, Qi Shen awkwardly realized one thing—this young Lord was indeed very young, with tender shoulders. But whether it was Shen Tang or him, they had no choice.

Qi Shen carefully considered his response, revealing, "I hope Yuli learns to shoulder responsibilities."

Shen Tang's eyes narrowed pensively. "Don't I already shoulder responsibilities? You dare say that, Mr. Wicked Words, who always leads teammates astray... You just stood by, watching while I took all the beatings... and I can't shoulder them?"

At such a tender age, she had already borne too much.

"...Not that kind of responsibility," Qi Shen coughed awkwardly, skirting around the issue, "I hope that Yuli will bear the lives of these people, or rather, the lives of those suffering in the world, their futures, destinies, as much as possible. I know it's a tall order, but neither you nor I have any other choice..."

Shen Tang stared in astonishment. "...So, basically, you want me to be a nanny?"

Qi Shen? "Nanny?"

Shen Tang clarified, "Like an old caretaker."

Qi Shen? "..."

Seeing Qi Shen's gaze turning increasingly hostile, Shen Tang realized her mistake and, spurred by the instinct for self-preservation, quickly corrected herself, "Lord, no, no, no... you mean you want me to play a role similar to that of a steward?"

Qi Shen nodded slowly. "...Yes."

Comparing a country's populace to villagers, and the ruler to a village chief (steward), it seemed plausible, roughly conveying the same idea.

Shen Tang wiped away a cold sweat. "Goodness gracious, so you're telling me that the script I've got is about leading the villagers to prosperity and establishing Peach Blossom Village?"

As for the part about committing crimes to rob taxes as the founder of Peach Blossom Village, she hadn't remembered that yet. She was simply struck by Qi Shen's unexpectedly soft and kind side.

Shen Tang couldn't help but let her mind wander.

"In that case, shall we give the village a name?"

Surely they couldn't plagiarize Tao Yuanming's idea and call it Peach Blossom Village.