Bruce put his hand on the oak doorknob and pulled it out hard, and little Lori Anne quickly followed with her skirt, and she grabbed a rolling pin and held it in her arms when she went out.

"Let the lord come out."

"It's too much, is this going to starve us to death?"

"What about my children and wife?"

The serfs raised their pitchforks in their hands and shouted incoherently in anger, but who was Bruce, a village official who had been trained at the grassroots level, and he had already analyzed the problem from the mess of information when he walked to the villagers.

"I am your lord, Bruce. Locke, what are your requirements? Bruce walked towards the serfs in the sun, his head held high and his upper body straight, with a righteous and awe-inspiring look.

"Well, it's the lord."

"Is it a new lord?"

"It's a Locke."

The serfs didn't expect Bruce to come out alone, their dirty faces showed surprise, and they looked at each other and didn't know what to say, the nobles were hateful, but there was no serf who would not show cowardice in the face of the nobles.

"Why, don't you know that you have a new lord?" Bruce smiled confidently, he and the serfs were separated by a low stone wall, although these serfs were holding pitchforks and other farm tools, they looked imposing, but none of them stepped over the stone low wall, which showed that they were still extremely in awe of the nobles.

"You're from the Locke family?" At this time, a middle-aged man with a black beard and a felt hat mustered up the courage to stand up and say to Bruce.

"Yes, I am, who are you?" Bruce nodded to the middle-aged man.

"My name is Dylan, sir." Dylan, a middle-aged serf, hurriedly took off his hat and replied to Bruce that the name of the Locke family represented authority and fame in this area.

"Well, Dylan, why did you get together in front of my house?" Bruce nodded, and said in a relaxed tone as much as possible, he didn't point out the fact that the other party had gathered to make trouble, but he didn't want to characterize the incident.

"We've heard that a new lord has arrived, and he wants to collect the taxes we owe."

"Yes, we've heard that not only will we have to collect the taxes owed, but we will have to increase them."

"We don't even have a grain of oats in our house."

The serfs were agitated at this time, they shouted loudly, and the scene became a little chaotic.

"Quiet, quiet." Bruce frowned, he had made rumors when he first arrived here, it seemed that there were indeed people who didn't want to be this lord.

At the sound of Bruce, the serfs fell silent again, and they looked at the young master of the Locke family in front of them.

"I just came here, and I haven't heard about raising taxes, nor have I said anything about collecting debts, I don't know where you heard this news, but I, as your lord, tell you very solemnly, these are all rumors." Bruce categorically clarified these rumors, knowing that the slightest hesitation at this time would cause the serfs to misunderstand him even more, which was by no means what he hoped for.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Great, since the lord said so, it should be true."

"If we didn't have to pay taxes, we'd have had a much better winter."

The ragged serfs said one after another, and a smile appeared on their faces, but at that moment Todd's panting voice came from behind, and he rushed over with several of his men.

"My lord, when I heard that these mobs were besieging your house, I immediately brought someone to help." Todd made Bruce frown as soon as he spoke, he, the sheriff, would not know that such a big thing was happening in the territory? Bruce thought disdainfully in his heart, this kind of acting skills is not even at the level of an aunt in the neighborhood committee of the Heavenly Empire.

"Mob, what mob? I'm just having a good conversation with my people, but what are you doing here, Todd? Bruce smiled with a harmless gentle smile on his face, stood outside his house with one hand on his waist, and said to Todd and the others.

"Lords? Well, Lord Lord, you may be mistaken, I have long received word from the whistleblowers that these mobs are openly disobedient to the collection of taxes, and you may not have figured out the situation when you first got here. Todd took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his neck with the biscuit bandana on his head, and he reminded Bruce.

"Taxes? Todd, you're a sheriff, how do you manage your taxes? Bruce sneered and looked at the fat sheriff in front of him.

"My lord, this village used to be one of your father's direct domains, and these mobs were in arrears of taxes in various ways, and now your brother Lord James has issued an order to collect the taxes of the unpaid territory, and we must carry it out." Todd had a smile on his face, and although he was respectful, he moved out Bruce's brother to press him.

"That's right!" Bruce pursed his lips when he heard this, his face became serious, and the serfs became nervous after listening to Todd's words, James is the new patriarch of the current Locke family, inheriting the title of baron, and he is also the feudal lord of Bruce, and the rank is higher than Bruce in legal terms.

"That's right, so Lord Lord, we should cooperate with Lord James as soon as possible to collect the taxes." Todd thought that Bruce had been tamed, and he suppressed a smile in his heart and said to Bruce as seriously as possible.

"Do you agree with Todd?" However, Bruce did not directly answer Todd's words, but asked in front of the many serfs.

"Woo, we~~." The serfs were suddenly stunned by Bruce's question, their opinions were completely unimportant in the eyes of the nobles, and they had no right to speak at all.

"Why, why don't you dare to say it, if you don't dare to say it, how can I know what you want?" Bruce said loudly to the serfs, but the serfs were still hesitant.

"My lord, don't ask these mobs, they are all cheap bones, they only need to use fists and sticks to understand you." Todd turned his head and signaled to his men, and the three brutal bodyguards immediately picked up their sticks and stepped forward, although the serfs were numerous, but in the face of the sheriff and his bodyguards, these serfs retreated in fear.

"Ping-pong, ping-pong~~."

"Ah~~."

The bodyguards rushed forward with wooden sticks in their hands and beat the serfs on their heads and faces, which immediately caused a wail in the crowd.

"Hey, Master Bruce, stop them." At this time, little Lori Anne, who was holding a rolling pin, came to Bruce's side, and she watched the bodyguards beat the serfs viciously, and said with some reluctance.

However, Bruce just watched from the sidelines, until the bodyguards dispersed the serfs by force, the heads of the rats who were beaten with sticks ran away, and the weeping and wailing serfs left, Bruce did not have any intention of interfering, which made Anne very puzzled, because in the two days of getting along, Anne felt that Bruce would not stand idly by.

"Your lord, you have just arrived here and don't know much about these mobs, but it doesn't matter, your brother Lord James has already greeted me, and I will definitely do my best to help you rule." Todd looked at the scattered serfs proudly, he glanced at Bruce who was watching coldly, and couldn't help but be very happy in his heart, it seemed that as rumored, this young master of the Locke family was a timid and cowardly fellow, and Lord James was too worried.

"Now that they have left my house, I will patrol the territory at noon today to fulfill my lordship duties." Bruce ignored Todd, and after he dropped a word to Todd, he turned around and walked into his house, and little Lorianne hurriedly followed, but turned to look at Todd and the others suspiciously.

"Lord Todd, will this new lord be obedient?" At this point, one of the bodyguards spat and asked Todd.

"Don't worry, behind us is Lord James, even if it's a lord, you have to obey the orders of the feudal king, don't you?" Todd put the turban back on, and he smiled contemptuously, although the territory was nominally owned by the Locke family, but the de facto ruler was Todd.