Yuan Yao continued to sit in front of the main altar of the Azure Dragon Crossing Shrine for the second day. Unlike the previous day, the patriarchs of the He and Du families accompanied him.
Like yesterday, Yuan Yao saw more people appear and try to see their future lord. All of the common folk were stopped by Wen Deng and his guards, now bolstered by Guo Jin and his men.
Suddenly a commotion occurred among the peasants. Three or four men wearing finely tailored linen garments pushed through the crowd of peasants to form a way by shoving them, and loudly ordering them.
Wen Deng, seeing this, gave an order to his guard. "Seize these troublemakers at once!"
The guards moved at the drop of a hat, while the new recruits who had followed Guo Jin faltered behind.
They need more training. Yuan Yao thought. No one could train a soldier within a day—not even the student of famed Ji Ling.
The guards rushed forward, tackling the troublemakers to the ground before swiftly binding their hands with rope.
The culprits were brought in front of Wen Deng. "Who gave YOU the authority to handle people?" he shouted.
One of the culprits puffed his chest and spoke proudly, "Our lord, the Han family patriarch, is coming here. All these riffraffs should scram off and prostrate to our lord. It's their blessing that they even get to witness his visage."
"Ack, ptui!" Wen Deng spat, "What lord? Does he sit upon the Dragon Throne?"
"For Chengpu he is more important than the Emperor. If our lord wishes, the whole of Chengpu will starve." The bound man spat back.
So, it should be the Han family. Yuan Yao thought. Even though they have the same name as the current empire, and the name that will represent all future citizens of this land, they were nonetheless cruel to the extreme. If a mere servant was like this, how big would the master's ego be? Yuan Yao wondered.
Soon after, an ox-driven carriage came to the front of the shrine. The carriage was made of intricately carved fine ebony wood. Even the oxen driving the carriages were lavishly decorated.
As soon as the door of the carriage opened, the servants rushed to the front of the door and placed a small stool meant to be stepped on by the personage who was stepping out.
Servants placed more stools so that their master would never step on the ground. At last the distinguished person came out of the carriage and stepped onto the stool.
He was a late middle-aged man wearing a tall guanjin scholar's cap. He wore a deep purple silk shenyi embroidered with subtle cloud patterns. Its extravagantly wide sleeves draped elegantly around him. The jade pendants hung from his waist sash chimed pleasantly every time he took a step.
"Greetings to our future lord." He said as soon as he reached the main altar. "We are fortunate that our new lord is young enough to benefit from the guidance of experienced men." He looked around. " Therefore, I ask the attending elders not to withhold their wisdom to the young, inexperienced lord."
The man continued his speech, "I will give my advice first." then turned to Yuan Yao. "This humble one asks that the lord exercise caution when granting his trust. A lord should think of what a man's previous deeds are before he offers his patronage."
To this, Yuan Yao lightly smiled. "Whoever your excellency is, I'll remember your words. And I shall also remind Your excellency, whoever you may be, that I have not acted rashly thus far. As such, whoever your excellency is doesn't need to worry much, although your worry is appreciated by this young lord."
The man smiled back without batting an eye. " As long as the lord understands. As for my name—you'll know it soon even if you don't want to." He turned his back. "Since I have seen the new lord I'll excuse myself." He walked to his carriage on the stools, and departed.
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"He is the Han family patriarch, Han Qing." He Shun spoke after he left.
"The name matters less than the attitude." Yuan Yao mused.
"It could be said that what the Yuan family is to Youzhou, the Han family is to Changpu." Shrine keeper Shen Ku said.
There might also be a Yuan family Elder supporting the Han family. Yuan Yao thought.
The next few hours were peaceful, Yuan Yao chatted heartily with the people present in the shrine.
As noon passed a group of people, maybe two to three hundred strong, approached the shrine.
Wen Deng and his guards stopped them at the entrance of the shrine then questioned them about their background, purpose, and other relevant questions.
"Brave Warrior, please let us through." A long faced man pleaded with a guard. "We've only come to plead with the lord. We won't tarry long if he rejects it."
"From which part of Changpu are you from?" The soldier questioned him.
"Zhuangshi, our village was burned down by bandits, soon after the river flooded and destroyed what was left." The long faced man pleaded again.
"If you are not from Changpu, then it is not proper to meet our lord; go meet your own lord." The soldier retorted.
"Please, brother Zhuangshi, I plead with you to let me talk to your lord once."
Wen Deng walked towards them, "You choose a man to represent you, he gets half a mark, ban ke, of time."
The long faced man stepped up. "Esteemed Junye, This lowly one is Xu Zhen. I used to manage village records. May this lowly one present his plea before the lord?"
Wen Deng surveyed the refugees. "As long as they don't complain and accept you as their representative."
"Don't worry Lord Junye, they'll not bother you."
"Then come with me." Wen Deng brought the man towards Yuan Yao. "Stop here." Wen Deng commanded, "Don't take another step."
Xu Zhen nodded, then he bent down on his knees and pleaded. "O great benevolent lord, this lowly one's village was flooded, and then raided by the bandits. I plead with the lord to give us some unused land so that we may rebuild our lives."
Yuan Yao had closely watched the commotion and now studied the man. His long face was narrow and his cheeks were hollowed out. It indicated that they were actually fleeing and not just putting up a front. He wore a blue scholar's robe that was made from hemp. At his neck and sleeves his clean undyed linen shirt peeked through. He wore straw sandals like any other peasant, and at his waist a cloth belt was tied which housed many bamboo cases.
"What is in those bamboo cases?" Yuan Yao asked.
"It has all the household entries of my village, Heiian, my lord." Xu Zhen answered.
"Were you responsible for your village's records?"
"Yes, my lord."
"How long ago was your village destroyed? How long have you been on the road?"
"My lord, our village was destroyed in the winter. We've been on the road ever since."
Few men could keep hundreds together on the road through winter. Yuan Yao silently revised his estimate of the refugee leader.
"I've heard what needed to be heard. Food will be distributed on the shrine grounds today and tomorrow. You can stay here and partake in it. Return tomorrow and you shall have my answer."
Yuan Yao dismissed Xu Zhen, then called Wen Deng and secretly commanded, "Investigate the villagers thoroughly and verify whether the words of Xu Zhen are true. Conduct the inquiry discreetly without using any coercive tools."