Starting with choosing a wife, creating the most powerful Xia

Although A Leng looked somewhat disgusted, she was still quick and efficient. She soon found a cart, loaded the bandit's body onto it, and pushed it out of the village.

As the cart passed by the villagers, the overwhelming stench of blood constantly assaulted their senses, causing some with weaker constitutions to vomit on the spot.

I still can't believe that the bandits who were just swaggering around the village have all died so quickly.

According to Chu Xuan, these corpses would be dumped in the bandit-infested area of ​​Wuming Mountain to show others what would happen to those who came to Wuming Village to plunder.

A sudden surprise is not much different from a fright.

When Chu Xuan stepped over the blood-soaked ground and stood before the crowd, they were still in shock and hadn't come to their senses.

A few people subconsciously took a few steps back, but most people looked at Chu Xuan with eager eyes.

An elderly man, around seventy years old, stepped forward and bowed tremblingly to Chu Xuan.

"Young Master Chu, thank you very much for your help this time."

This year's profits were already meager; if they were to be taken away by someone else, these people wouldn't need to do anything else and could just stay home and wait to starve to death.

She was naturally filled with gratitude towards Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan looked at the old man, who seemed to be quite prestigious in the village, a so-called clan elder.

He was overjoyed. With the approval of the clan elders, he could finally establish himself in Wuming Village.

He shook his head and smiled, "Old man, there's no need for that. Wuming Mountain is my fiefdom, and you are all my subjects. It's only natural that I have to take on this responsibility."

As he spoke, he suddenly bowed deeply, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

The old man was shocked and hurriedly tried to reach out to help him, but Chu Xuan stopped him.

"Young Master Chu, what are you doing? I cannot accept such a grand gesture."

Chu Xuan shook his head and said.

"This bow is on behalf of the Chu family to apologize to you all. I know that over the years, although Wuming Village is nominally under the jurisdiction of the Chu family, the Chu family has never done anything to you and has just watched you fend for yourselves. This is where the Chu family has made a mistake."

"As a member of the Chu family, I apologize to you all on behalf of my clan."

These words were spoken with heartfelt sincerity. Although he had not been in the nameless village for long, Chu Xuan had truly witnessed the lives of the people there. To put it bluntly, it was not a life fit for human beings.

The reason for this, besides the terrain and environment, is also largely due to the indifference of the Chu family.

Hearing this, everyone was even more moved. In fact, they all harbored resentment towards the Chu family, but they dared not vent it for fear of offending them.

Therefore, when they learned that Chu Xuan had come to take up his post, their first reaction was simply to ignore him and pretend that this lord did not exist.

But now, after being ignored by everyone, Chu Xuan actually repaid evil with kindness. He first eliminated the bandits who were causing trouble in the area for them, and then took the initiative to apologize to them.

A truly upright and honest person is no better than this!

Compared to Chu Xuan, everyone else felt even more ashamed of themselves.

“My lord, why must you do this? With your character and talent, you deserve a better place. You are wasting your potential here.”

The old man's tone of voice also became much more respectful.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan smiled.

"Old man, you are wrong. As the lord of this place today, I should not be thinking about a better place. I only wish to do my best for everyone. I understand that you do not trust the Chu family, but I hope you will give me a chance to atone for my sins."

"There are no places in this world where people are buried, only people who don't know how to use their places. As long as you give me some time, we can show others that the nameless mountain they used to look down on can also be a paradise they can't reach!"

These impassioned words ignited a fire in everyone's hearts.

After bidding farewell to the villagers, Chu Xuan led the two women back to the courtyard, lay down on the armchair, and sighed deeply.

Just then, Ah Leng returned and tossed a cloth bag into Chu Xuan's hand.

"This is what's left, more than forty taels, it's all here."

"Thanks a lot."

Chu Xuan took the cloth bag, stuffed it into his sleeve without checking it, and nodded to her with a smile, only to be met with a glare.

Seeing this, Chen Xuening finally asked her question: "A Leng, what did he ask you to do?"

From the beginning, she felt something was off, as if the two of them had made some kind of deal behind her back.

Ah Leng glanced at her: "Didn't Chu Xuan tell you?"

Only after receiving answers from Chen Xuening and the other woman did he reveal the truth.

Last night before going to bed, Chu Xuan went to her room and handed her the only eighty-odd taels of silver he had on him, with only one purpose.

Send A Leng down the mountain to find a group of people to pose as bandits and rob the village.

That's right, the bandits who came today were all actors hired by Ah Leng.

The purpose was simple: to stage a heroic rescue in front of the villagers. The bloodstains were actually animal blood, which was used to deceive them after being punctured.

After hearing the whole story, Chen Xuening stared wide-eyed at Chu Xuan in disbelief.

The latter noticed her gaze, smiled, and shrugged: "Do you think I'm despicable and shameless?"

"Yes."

Chen Xuening made no attempt to hide her feelings.

In her view, Chu Xuan's actions were undoubtedly deceiving and blaspheming the villagers. Chen Xuening was a scholar by training, and the books she had read in the past could not support her acceptance of such crooked and evil ways.

"Ah."

Chu Xuan simply smiled at this. He had anticipated that the others would react this way after learning the truth, which was why he hadn't revealed it beforehand.

"I admit that today's events did have a bit of a mockery and deception element to them, but the effect was very good, wasn't it?"

“The situation in Wuming Village is special. If I were to use the righteous path to gradually get them to accept me, it would take a lot of time. But what I lack most right now is time. A serious illness requires strong medicine. Only by doing this can I gain a foothold in the village as quickly as possible.”

"As for the part about deception, I'm sure I did it for their own good, and I'll pay it back slowly in the future."

"Crooked ways."

Chen Xuening wavered somewhat, seemingly persuaded, but she remained stubborn for the time being.

Chu Xuan realized that this aloof woman could be so adorable, and shook his head with a smile.

"Special times call for special methods. Who cares if it's a black cat or a white cat? As long as it catches mice, isn't it a good cat?"

After saying that, she stood up and stretched: "I'm going to lie down for a while."

Watching Chu Xuan walk away, Chen Xuening's mind still couldn't calm down; her curiosity about him had reached its peak.

Although she disagreed, Chen Xuening knew that Chu Xuan's approach was indeed very effective.

The saying "Rome wasn't built in a day" holds true, but Chu Xuan took a different approach, leaving a deep impression on the minds of the villagers in a strange way. It was only a matter of time before he gained their approval.

In a sense, he was a genius; even the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy might not have had such imaginative ideas.

But isn't Chu Xuan a marginalized branch of the Chu family?