"Gao Yiye!"
At Li Daoxuan's call, Gao Yiye immediately lifted her head toward the heavens. Whenever she looked up like that, he could clearly see her tiny face—delicate features, a soft blush, a naturally beautiful girl… only unfortunate that she was less than a centimeter tall.
Ahem.
He was letting his imagination run off again.
Li Daoxuan steadied himself and said, "Send Gao Chuwu to Chengcheng County. Tell him to find San Sier and ask him to recruit a few skilled craftsmen for Gaoxia Village."
Gao Yiye answered promptly and summoned Gao Chuwu.
A few quick instructions later, Gao Chuwu and the three young men who had accompanied him to the county before packed their stomachs full, took dry rations, and set off along the road to Chengcheng.
Li Daoxuan then picked up his LEGO bricks. For now, they would serve well enough as a temporary wall for the village. No need for intricate design—he simply snapped pieces together into a long multicolored strip, then gently lowered it into the miniature world, encircling Gaoxia Village.
Down below, the villagers were still busily gathering firewood when the ground suddenly rumbled beneath them, wind thundering like drums.
They looked up—only to see gigantic, multicolored monoliths descending from the sky. One by one they landed in a ring around the village, forming a towering wall two zhang high. They looked nothing like stone—more like strange, colorful blocks that knives might actually scratch.
"What in the world…?"
"Gaoxia Village suddenly looks like Gaoxia City!"
"What kind of wall is that?"
"It looks like a rainbow fell down!"
While everyone gawked and murmured, Gao Yiye climbed the blocky "stairs" up the LEGO battlement. Standing atop the massive gate, she raised her voice:
"These walls are a gift from the Heavenly Lord!
In the coming days, bandits may grow bold. The Heavenly Lord commands us to build a wooden gate to close the entrance, and set up rotating guards. If thieves come, we take up weapons, wear our iron armor, and protect ourselves!"
The villagers all bowed deeply. "We obey the Heavenly Lord's will!"
Li Daoxuan watched quietly as they quickly divided tasks: chopping trees, trimming trunks, binding them with grass rope to form a crude but serviceable gate. Meanwhile, the village head organized guard shifts. Two men took the high post atop the gate, clutching bows seized from the bandits. They actually looked like real sentries.
Good. With this, the village at least possessed the bare minimum to defend itself.
As long as they didn't act stupidly, they could hold the gate until he arrived.
Now he could only hope that Gao Chuwu's trip to the county would bear fruit.
Meanwhile, in Chengcheng County…
Outside the county yamen, San Sier—freshly bathed, dressed in proper scholar's robes—bowed politely to the gate guards.
"My good sirs, I—"
The guard cut him off flatly. "County Magistrate said if you show up, we're not to let you in."
San Sier smiled serenely. "I'm not here to see the Magistrate."
The guard blinked. "Then… what are you here for?"
"Just to ask whether anything significant has happened lately." San Sier's tone flowed smoothly, ending with his habitual flourish.
"After all, when I served as adviser here, I treated you well. Passing me a little news is simply called—repaying past kindness."
The guard thought for a while. True, the man's habit of ending sentences with dramatic four-character idioms was annoying, but he had been decent. Fine—one small leak wouldn't hurt.
Lowering his voice, he whispered:
"Three days ago, the Magistrate sent several teams to collect grain taxes from the nearby villages. Adviser San, you remember he threw you out for objecting?"
San Sier nodded gravely. "That memory is, indeed, carved into my bones."
The guard continued, "Teams went to Gaoxia Village, Wang Village, Zheng Village… but the team sent to Gaoxia didn't bring back a single grain."
San Sier thought:
With the Heavenly Lord watching that place, you're lucky the collectors came back alive.
The guard said, "Zheng Village gave a little—not enough. But the group sent to Wang Village brought back the most. Beat the villagers, burned an empty house to scare them, and then at night stormed into people's homes, confiscating their seed grain as tax."
San Sier's heart dropped.
"Seed grain? You… you robbed their seed grain?" His voice rose. "Heavens preserve us! Does no one here know the proverb—'You may starve your parents, but you never eat the seed grain'? Taking that is absolute—madness and misrule!"
The guard shrugged. "Who cares if they starve? The Court is pressing hard. If the taxes don't get delivered, the Magistrate suffers. And if he suffers, all of us suffer."
San Sier paled. "It's over. Wang Village will revolt."
The guard snorted. "A bunch of peasants? They wouldn't dare."
San Sier didn't bother arguing. He spun around and sprinted home. Bursting inside, he shouted:
"Pack! Quickly! We're leaving the county! This is called—fleeing before the storm!"
His wife, a plump middle-aged woman, stared at him. "Flee? Why?"
San Sier rattled words so fast he barely had time to add idioms:
"Three years of drought—people are starving! Yet the Magistrate robs them of seed grain! A disaster is coming. If we don't run now, we'll go down with him. Hurry!"
Madam San frowned. "What's there to fear? Even if a few villagers revolt, they'll just become bandits in the hills. They won't storm the county!"
"You don't understand!" San Sier hissed. "Wang Village isn't ordinary. There's a man there from Baishui County—Wang Er of Baishui. A famed strongman! With one staff he can fend off dozens. Revered in every village for miles. If he raises the banner of rebellion…"
San Sier shuddered.
"Forget an uprising—the entire county will shake. I'm no longer employed by the yamen. I don't need to be a hero. We're leaving. Now."