She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

“But… I have nothing now, how can I take revenge?” Meng Zhuo said dejectedly.

Shen Man thought for a moment and said, "If you trust me, you might as well stay in Xiaoyao Village for now, and I'll find you some things to do. As for finding evidence to take revenge, we can talk about that when the time is right."

Shen Man felt that as the scale of silkworm farming in Xiaoyao Village grew larger and larger, the number of people needed also increased, and relying solely on the villagers would definitely not be enough.

With enough manpower, we can open weaving workshops and run caravans to trade on our own, which would definitely earn us much more money than we do now.

Of course, there was another crucial reason: she wanted to help Meng Zhuo uncover the truth and give General Meng justice.

People like General Meng, who have dedicated most of their lives to protecting the country, should not receive such treatment.

Meng Zhuo raised his head, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes: "You're really willing to help me?"

For some reason, when Meng Zhuo faced Shen Man, his concern was not whether she had the ability to help him, but whether she was willing to help him.

Shen Man nodded: "However, those rabble under your command like Sun Ergou must be dismissed. I will only take you and your former subordinates... Approximately how many of you are left?"

Meng Zhuo hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed. "I and my men have a total of seventy or eighty people. Some of them are women and children, who are my men's family members."

"Oh, and you, do you have a wife and children?"

“No, I swore an oath at my father’s and brother’s graves that I would never marry or have children until I avenged them,” Meng Zhuo said.

“Alright. Take your men back first. Whether they want to stay and follow you or not, make sure they are settled. Come back to me in ten days. I will arrange accommodations and jobs for you,” Shen Man said. “From now on, you must abide by the village rules and not cause trouble.”

Meng Zhuo was moved to tears and nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“However, you also need to change your name. You can’t call yourself Meng Zhuo anymore, otherwise it will be easy for someone with ulterior motives to find out,” Shen Man reminded him.

“Alright, I’ll change it to Wang Zhuo. Wang is my mother’s surname. Only my subordinates know the name Meng Zhuo. Everyone else in the stronghold calls me the chief and doesn’t know this name.”

"It's settled then, let's go."

A moment later, Shen Man reappeared before everyone with Meng Zhuo. Facing everyone's curious gazes, she said to the village head, "Grandpa Village Head, please release them. As for the reason, I will explain it to you in detail later."

After hearing Shen Man's words, the village headman, though still doubtful, ordered his men to untie the people who were tied up.

Although Meng Zhuo had sprained his ankle, it didn't prevent him from riding. After bowing to Shen Man and the village head, he left with his men.

Of course, Sun Ergou is not among these people.

After dismissing the villagers, the village head followed Shen Man into the courtyard and asked impatiently, "Man'er, why did you release them?"

“Grandpa Village Head, they are all pitiful people who have nowhere else to turn, not heinous villains,” Shen Man explained.

“But they are bandits after all,” the village head said worriedly.

"Has Grandpa Village Head ever heard of the Meng Family Army?" Shen Man asked softly.

“Of course I know. Our border used to be guarded by the Meng family army. Later, the Meng family army was wiped out by the Qi Rong people, and that's why the imperial court sent the Marquis of Qingyang. General Meng made countless military achievements in his life, but unfortunately, he died a tragic death. Man'er, what is their relationship with the Meng family army? Could it be…”

"Grandpa Village Head, the bandit leader is none other than General Meng's second son, Meng Zhuo. Most of those bandits are from the Meng family army."

"What? The mighty Meng family army has actually turned into bandits?" The village head was clearly incredulous.

"It must be that someone in the court was afraid of the prestige of the Meng family army and deliberately plotted to kill General Meng and his men. Meng Zhuo said that he sent out several groups of people to report to the government, but none of them returned."

They had no choice but to hide in the mountains and become bandits. And over the years, they only robbed people of their money and never took anyone's life," Shen Man said leisurely.

After listening to Shen Man's words, the village head pondered for a moment and finally nodded: "In that case, we should indeed let them go. But I don't know if they will come to our village to rob again in the future. If they dare to commit crimes again, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Don't worry, Grandpa Village Head, I've decided to find them some things to do so they can turn over a new leaf," Shen Man said with a smile.

"Man'er, do you mean to leave them in Xiaoyao Village?" The village head frowned, his face full of disapproval.

“Grandpa Village Head, if you don’t want them to live in our village, I can buy a few plots of wasteland near my jujube grove, and they can live there from now on. Our village is raising more and more silkworms, so we can open our own weaving workshop and sell cloth.”

In addition, I want to build another caravan so we can go out and trade ourselves. This will require more and more manpower.

Instead of searching outside for people, it's better to give them a chance to earn money. If they have something to do, they won't go out robbing anymore, which is a good thing for the surrounding people.

“That’s a good idea. You don’t need to pay for those lands; consider it a gift from our village for them to live on. But if they dare to cause trouble in the neighborhood in the future, I won’t let them off the hook,” the village head said, still somewhat worried.

"I'll keep an eye on them, don't worry, Grandpa Village Head."

After hearing this, the village head exclaimed, "You're such a kind girl!"

Shen Man smiled slightly and said, "I just feel that they are all pitiful people, and if I can help them, I will. However, I hope that you, Grandpa Village Head, can keep their identities a secret. After all, the Meng family army no longer exists in the current Chiyan Kingdom."

"Okay, I understand," the village head replied, then walked away with his hands behind his back.

The next day, no one knows how the village head explained it to everyone, but the villagers all knew that the bandits were going to settle down at the foot of the mountain opposite the village, and no one objected.

The village head and several older villagers invited Shen Man to go with them to her jujube grove to check on the wasteland.

There was a lot of wasteland there, totaling twenty or thirty acres, enough for them to build a small village.

"It's separated from our village by a river, not too close, not too far. We can look out for each other without disturbing each other, which is quite good," said the village head.

"Hmm, Man'er, I heard you're planning to set up a caravan in our village, is that true? If I weren't getting old, I'd love to go out and see the world again!"

On the way back, Master Sun said to Shen Man.

"Second Uncle, of course it's true. If you want to go out, you can take a carriage."

"That thing won't do, it's too bumpy. If there were a boat that could take you directly from the river to the outside, that would be much more comfortable!"