Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Ah, ah, ah, ah!” Qing Lian screamed a few times as if she was being molested, but she felt worse than if she was being molested.
At the same time, she was rubbing her skin so hard and wishing she could rub it off.
Thinking about her experience in the Great Xia palace this very day, she felt her whole life was a tragedy.
She initially wanted to see what would happen and what kind of havoc would be wrought in the palace, but after the event happened, she wished that she had never been there.
At this moment, she wondered whether she would die from the odor.
Fortunately, she managed to escape from the palace due to the chaos. However, she discovered to her dismay that the stench on her body couldn’t be washed away at all. The stench was there all the time and made her scratch herself like crazy.
“Haha! I never expect Xia Bailong’s life to end this way. Fancy being killed by the stench. This way of dying is sensational… The only emperor of Great Xia to go down this way in history.”
The voice of a delighted man was suddenly heard from far away but was coming closer.
Her ears pricked up while her face turned ghastly after she heard this voice.
“Sword!” Qing Lian used one hand to put on another layer of clothes and raised the other, causing a bolt of white light to penetrate the roof and fall into her hand.
It was a meter long sword with a dense scale-like pattern on its body and a red ribbon hanging from the hilt.
She sent a bolt of white light through the building the very next second and shouted in midair, “Su Qing, you bastard! I want to take your life!”
Su Qing was shocked by this thrust of the sword and hastily dodged it. Everything in the surrounding area in front of him was cut into two parts.
An old man next to him blocked her and shouted angrily, “What do you want?”
Qing Lian’s clothes were drenched by water droplets from her body and her hair was wet, making her look like a beauty that was coming out of a bath.
Although Qing Lian wasn’t very beautiful, her bright eyes were full of spirit and her disposition was outstanding. Even though she was angry, she still looked attractive.
However, the old man and Su Qing smelled the odor emitting from her body and turned nauseous.
“Don’t stop me! I want to kill this bastard, Su Qing! Why didn’t you tell me?” Qing Lian clenched her teeth, pulled out her sword, and started slashing.
“You can’t blame me—who would have thought that you would still stay there?” Su Qing turned to run. He wasn’t afraid of Qing Lian, but the smell was really bad.
Even the old man retreated three steps subconsciously.
Qing Lian was even angrier after seeing the reactions of the two men. Clenching her teeth, she chased after Su Qing in a frenzy.
Half a day later, Su Qing mentioned something and Qing Lian started wailing bitterly in the courtyard, “Ren Baqian, I will never let you off!”
…
Of course, Ren Baqian didn’t know he was being condemned by someone.
At this moment, he was looking kindly at Zhang Junzheng and asked, “How is it? Is the name list ready?”
“Sir Ren, it’s done.” Zhang Junzheng was calm and beaming slightly because he had straightened out his thoughts. He used both hands to reverently hand over a stack of papers filled with writings.
In fact, he had accepted the reality that since they were going to settle in Dayao, it wasn’t a bad idea for the Zhang family to cling to Ren Baqian. Since the Zhang family had lost to the other party in terms of their specialities, the other party deserved some credit and the Zhang family was also not short-changed.
In addition, Ren Baqian’s victory in all three rounds of the competition had shocked the Zhang family and had caused endless arguments among many of them.
In particular, it was inconceivable to many veteran craftsmen in the family, and at the same time, they wanted to know how skilled Ren Baqian really was.
For these veteran craftsmen, nothing could attract their attention more than technology, especially technology that was superior to the best they possessed. They were even more eager to see what kind of a person he was.
Even Zhang Junzheng had to address the craftsman with the highest status as uncle due to his higher position in the family.
Because of this, he relented and handed in the name list. As for the proportion of the Zhang family that was represented by the names given, this was only known by a few members of the Zhang family.
Ren Baqian accepted the papers and took a look. He saw that the pages were densely filled with small characters, which added up to quite a lot.
“How many people are there?” Ren Baqian raised his head to ask.
“Sir Ren, there are more than 5,900 people in the Zhang family, and their names are listed on the papers.” Zhang Junzheng cupped his hands while replying.
“How many are craftsmen?”
“There are more than 3,400 craftsmen and 2,000 other professionals. Not only that, many elders in the family have disciples that aren’t related to them by blood. Although their names aren’t on the list, they can still serve Dayao if opportunities are available. The number of disciples isn’t lower than that of the craftsmen,” Zhang Junzheng answered.
Ren Baqian lowered his head to look at the thick stack of papers. 3,400 craftsmen plus those disciples were at least seven or eight thousand people. To an impoverished country like Dayao, seven or eight thousand craftsmen was an immense resource.
If he could get seven or eight thousand more craftsmen, many projects could be easily finished.
“Sir, we are a big household, so it will not be an easy matter to leave the Yun Nation,” Zhang Junzheng added.
Ren Baqian nodded in agreement. With so many people, many of which were famous craftsmen, it wasn’t easy for all of them to leave in a rush. However, this didn’t matter because there would be no Yun Nation in the future.
Due to the lack of talent in Dayao, the lack of foresight, and the habit of raiding without occupying, the Yun Nation didn’t realize that the aboriginals intended to swallow them up this time instead of just plundering them.
“Do you have any more requests?” Ren Baqian asked.
“I hope you can ensure the future of the Zhang family,” Zhang Junzheng said solemnly. This was the most important condition.
“Rest assured.” Ren Baqian continued, “As long as your Zhang family does a good job, I can guarantee them a place here.”
“In that case, thank you very much, Sir.” Zhang Junzheng cupped his hands to show his appreciation.
“There is no hurry for members of the Zhang family to move out. Those living in conquered cities can come here first. I will give you a token, and with this token, they can move around unimpeded. General Zi from the Protectorate of the Northeast will arrange for guards to escort them. As for the rest, they can stay where they are and wait for my orders,” Ren Baqian said.
“It’s inevitable that there will be casualties due to the fighting and confusion.”
“I will settle this problem, so be at ease.”
After sending off Zhang Junzheng, Ren Baqian called for Zuo Leng and gave him that stack of paper. His task was to duplicate the name list and then arrange for people to go there and investigate.
With the Jing Tribe people around, it was much easier to conduct investigations in the Yun Nation.
After that, Ren Baqian met the empress and proposed for Zi Donglai to send more prisoners of war to dig in the mines and build the roads.
Ren Baqian had mentioned this matter before, but the battle at the frontline was urgent, so Zi Donglai didn’t have time to consider it.
Now that Zi Donglai had conquered close to ten cities in the Yun Nation, it was time to raise this topic again.
The saying “get rich by building the road first” was always true.
In addition, the Yun Nation had many materials that Dayao lacked. This included, but wasn’t limited to various metals such as aluminium and iron.
Ren Baqian also proposed the mobilization of militias from various cities to the Yun Nation in order to bring back the various looted materials to replenish Dayao.
After their discussion, the empress consulted with the court officials at a meeting the next day and then issued an order to Zi Donglai.
Subsequently, the aboriginals began to change the way they conducted the offensives. Previously, the priority was to kill, but now, some were kept alive. Although they often couldn’t control it and only left a few alive, the signal was sent.
At the same time, messages were delivered to various cities in Dayao. Afterward, militias equipped with weapons marched out of the cities and gathered in the Northeast region.
During this period, he also received the incredible news that the emperor of Great Xia, “Xia Baichong,” had suffocated to death after inhaling the odor…
This news was delivered by Su Qing, and Ren Baqian had a strange expression on his face after reading the secret letter.
Next, he sent this secret letter to the empress. The empress was stunned after reading it, which gave Ren Baqian the chance to observe such a rarely seen expression from the empress.
A moment later, the empress looked pensive before turning to Ren Baqian and saying, “From now on, your reputation will spread all over the world.”
