"May I ask what brings you officers here this time? Could it be because of those roving bandits last night..."
Before he could finish, the constable captain at the head of the group cut him off coldly, his booming voice deliberately loud enough for every villager to hear clearly:
"Roving bandits? What roving bandits? The matter of roving bandits will be decided by our superiors. We have come today under the County Magistrate's orders to handle military conscription!
"All able-bodied men of age in every village must be registered and await conscription!"
"Conscription?!"
Those two words were like cold water splashed into boiling oil, instantly setting the villagers into an uproar!
The faint expectation and reverence on the faces of those who had thought the officials had come to suppress bandits and bring peace were instantly replaced by shock, panic, and disbelief!
"Aren't you here to catch bandits?"
"Why is it conscription?"
"Heavens! In times like these, isn't joining the army just marching to one's death?"
"My family only has one man left..."
"Wasn't this supposed to be bandit suppression?"
An uproar broke out from all sides. The crowd grew restless, panic spreading rapidly and overpowering their fear of the officials.
They had only survived a bandit raid the night before, their souls still unsettled. Yet what awaited them was not protection, but a conscription order that might take away their household's laborers!
The village elder was stunned as well. The smile on his face froze completely. His lips moved, but for a moment he did not know what to say. His eyes held only confusion and unease.
Fang Yuan, hidden among the crowd, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
"They actually came to conscript men!"
Beneath the Old Scholar Tree at the village entrance, the atmosphere abruptly congealed.
Roving bandits now