novelAbuy #606 - This village head is called Henderson.
#606 - This village head is called Henderson.
"Again, again." Wildly pouring alcohol into his mouth, Adrian tugged at Bryson's sleeve, "You're drunk after only a few cups?"
Bryson sat at the long table, dealing with the knight with helpless caution: "Sir Knight, you're the one who's drunk."
"Nonsense, let me see, let me see if you're drunk or not?" Adrian leaned half his body on Bryson's shoulder, making it hard for him to breathe.
Ansel, on the other hand, had been impatiently looking out the window. He thought it would just be a quick meal, but he didn't expect it to take two hours.
Seeing Adrian finally pass out in Bryson's arms, Ansel finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He called a manservant to carry away the overly enthusiastic knight, who hadn't seen a stranger in a long time, and walked to the window of the restaurant to get some air.
The sun scorched the earth, and the scorching air steamed up the scent of marigolds under the window.
Ansel looked into the distance, but saw a group of cold trees, like an iron-made gray city wall.
The forest was in the cold winter, but the manor was in the hot summer.
This manor is located between the forest and the low mountains, covering a vast area.
It is surrounded by a rough wooden fence, and occasionally you can see ivy fences that are tilted due to disrepair.
The land inside the fence is divided into several pieces by shrubs with deep red berries, about three-quarters of which are farmland, and the rest are pastures.
A narrow irrigation ditch meanders past the farmland, ending at a small pool, floating with thick green duckweed.
Through a stone-paved path, shaded by several old elm trees, is the knight's main house where Ansel is located, which is built of gray-brown stone and covered with thick sloping wooden planks as a roof.
Under the eaves, Ansel saw several dry wolf skins and dried meat with a strong fishy smell.
Through the gaps in the wolf skins and dried meat, under the towering mountain walls are low wooden huts and thatched cottages, which are very close, cramped and messy.
From Ansel's perspective, most of the thatch on the roofs was yellow, and some even exposed the wooden beams.
At noon, this mountain col was quiet, with chickens and ducks walking around.
I have to say, the mountain people are poor, but even the simplest knight's residence is better than the messy wooden houses and thatched cottages behind the warehouse.
Looking at the quiet village, Ansel suddenly felt something was wrong. It was already afternoon, shouldn't the villagers be out working?
"Bryson, take care of the knight first, then come outside to meet me immediately." As if thinking of something, Ansel suddenly impatiently left these words and ran out the door.
Pushing open the wooden door, the dazzling sunlight forced Ansel to shield his eyes with his hand.
But he didn't slow down, but ran, bypassing the main house and running to the back of the warehouse.
He turned the corner and suddenly stopped, standing pale-faced next to the stable.
Behind the main house's stable, on a scorching knight's training field, hundreds of male and female villagers stood in eight rows under the scorching sun.
The sun hit straight from above, many people's faces were flushed, and their clothes were soaked, as if they had been fished out of the water, and complaints continued.
Several weak mountain people swayed, and would have fallen several times if the people next to them hadn't supported them.
The cries of babies rose and fell in the back of the line, and women fanned frantically with pieces of cloth, but to no avail.
"Yo, you're here so early." A weary voice sounded, "I thought you were going to be late."
Ansel turned his head and saw Henderson, the manor head under Adrian, speaking.
He was chewing on a piece of dry grass, hiding under the only shade of a tree next to the open space with the other armed farmers, and was now looking at Ansel with a smile.
"What's going on?" Suppressing his anger, Ansel turned his head and glared at the manor head.
"Master Monk, they are here to listen to your sermon, they are all waiting."
"When did they start waiting?" Ansel asked, his voice higher than he realized.
"From the moment you entered the house to eat." The manor head replied lazily, the dry grass swaying up and down with his mouth.
"Who told them to stand?"
The manor head deliberately amplified his voice: "Didn't you order it? I'm just doing what I was told, aren't they happy?"
Listening to the cries of babies in his ears, Ansel's eyelids twitched.
"Ansel!" Bryson's voice came from behind.
Ansel turned around and saw him rushing over, his face full of anxiety.
"Calm down, calm down." Bryson whispered, "Don't quarrel with the manor head, he is Adrian Knight's uncle, save some face for the knight."
Ansel's eyes swept over these standing villagers. Although it was the first time he had seen them, their eyes already carried a hint of resentment.
Bad start. He brushed the hair on both sides of his head back, and whispered, "Tell the knight about this when he wakes up."
Bryson nodded hastily.
Ansel took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the small platform at the edge of the open space, but the soles of his feet felt the heat of the ground.
Before he even reached the stage, he could hear the mountain people whispering below, casting hateful and malicious glances.
"As expected of the Monk Master, he has a big air."
"Don't talk, be careful he uses the devil's wind to blow your head off."
"Oh, I'm so scared."
From their perspective, this monk asked them to come and listen to the sermon in advance, but he got drunk and was late, forcing them to bask in the sun for nothing.
If it were the people of Pingyuan County, they might have swallowed their anger, but the mountain people's violent temper would not allow them to keep their mouths shut.
"Fellow believers." After speaking loudly, Ansel suppressed the whispers under the stage, "The weather is too hot. I didn't expect you to wait here so early. This is my mistake. I apologize to you."
After saying that, he bent down and bowed deeply to the standing crowd.
The villagers were silent, without any response, but many people looked surprised.
A farmer wearing a broken straw hat muttered: "The monk apologized to us, this is the first time."
"Hypocritical, false!" However, someone still said in a low voice.
Ansel straightened up, glanced around and continued: "Originally, I was going to preach to you about our Qianhe Valley Monastery, but the weather is too hot. If you can't stand it, go home first. I will visit you door to door later. If you are still interested, you can stay and listen."
Before he finished speaking, he heard the idle armed farmers under the shade of the trees shout: "Let's go!"
After saying that, they stood up neatly and ran towards the village.
The crowd immediately rioted, women supporting the elderly, and young people swinging their arms. They were gone in three to five minutes.
The only two remaining were one with a leg disability and the other with bad eyes. They couldn't leave in time and could only walk slowly towards the village.
Ansel was not annoyed, but strode to the two men.
Seeing Ansel coming, although they were in a hurry to leave, but the Monk Master had come, they had to bite the bullet and stand still, and pray that Ansel would end the conversation quickly.
"Since there are only two of you, you don't have to stand and listen." Ansel looked at them with a smile, "Shall we chat under the shade of the trees over there?"
…………
The sun was setting, and the red light of the setting sun fell into the smoke.
To everyone's surprise, Ansel, who had made a scene at noon, did not continue to communicate with the villagers, but honestly stayed in the rural chapel, and did not go out all afternoon.
In an old wooden house with dust flying at the entrance of the village, the manor head Henderson sat in a chair, lazily drinking beer.
Seeing an idle man with a thin beard walk into the house, he asked, "What did the cripple and the blind man say? What did they talk about?"
The idle man scratched his head: "They didn't say anything, just some household things, asked where they lived, how old they were, how much rent they paid each year, and also asked who was poor and who was rich in our village."
"What about the perpetual lease?" Henderson asked coldly.
"They mentioned it, but not much." Another person said, "We told them in advance that the villagers are afraid of being implicated if the Liah people and the church counterattack in the future, so they won't listen to them."
Henderson sneered when he heard this, and shook his head: "Still want us to sign a perpetual lease contract? Dream on!"
"I'm just afraid that the village sheriff will ask, what should we do?" Someone asked worriedly.
"Village sheriff? What right does he have?" Henderson sneered even louder, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that the villagers don't want to, look, who wants to pay attention to him, right?"
Henderson had already told the villagers in advance after learning the news.
What "the people in the neighboring parish signed it, and as a result, all the fields became the church's." "If you sign the agreement, the Liah will slaughter us when they fight back."
The villagers have been worried during this time, and the sun exposure has aggravated this emotion.
The mountain people have a narrow circle and are inherently xenophobic. Compared to the unfamiliar Ansel, they don't trust him at all.
"But this is not a solution. What if he calls in the army to monitor us and promote it?" Another armed farmer raised his hand and asked.
Henderson sneered: "The army doesn't have this time? Besides, he is so young and has a bright future. I have plenty of time and means to spend with him. Their Baihuhu area has heavy tasks. If they spend so long, they will be annoyed."
Speaking of this, the manor head smiled triumphantly: "If the army really comes, I will just pretend to admit defeat and sign the perpetual lease. When they leave, I will collect the contracts to me.
When the traveling monks come, show them the contracts. When they leave, we will put them away again. Even if they find out, there is no evidence. Can he call the army every time?
The mountain people are on our side, and there are so many manors in Southern Mangde County. Can the autocrat manage every corner? He couldn't manage it before, can he manage it now? That's enough!"
Taking a sip of cold beer, Henderson leaned back in his chair, his eyes slightly narrowed: "Remember to remind me to contact Bryson. I think this priest is soft-eared. If we get rid of the young one and replace him with the old one, this thing will be done, right?"