Chapter 20

Chapter 20

There was just one question: "But this is Wanping Wasteland—where are we supposed to find people to recruit?"

Du Ze replied, "Soon, a group of refugees will pass through Wanping Wasteland, crossing the Jade River, heading to the capital for refuge. There's fighting in the northern regions, and the people at the foot of Dayan Mountain have been left homeless—especially around the Dayan Plain, where war has already broken out. You can round them up then, Master."

Lu Yunqi recalled that he had indeed heard Great Xia was about to go to war with Great Yan. In a few of his previous lives, his father had even led troops to reinforce the front.

It seemed this life was following the same script—Great Xia versus Great Yan, with the common people displaced and on the move.

Actually, in the previous nine lives, he had been entirely focused on the world quest strategy and had never visited any place beyond the capital.

This time, he might as well take the opportunity to look around and see the beautiful landscapes of ancient China.

Lu Yunqi nodded and said, "Alright, very good. Then I'll go check out where Wanping Plain meets Wanping Wasteland tomorrow. Thirty refugees should be easy enough to round up."

Du Ze added another reminder: "I suggest you bring a few guard NPCs, Master. Among the refugees, there are quite a few troublemakers—just in case you run into danger."

Lu Yunqi said, "Oh, good point. If I recruit those refugees, what if they give away the location of my Wanping Wasteland? What do I do then?"

Du Ze said, "Don't worry, Master. I've already activated a loyalty detection mini-program for you. As long as you recruit NPCs with a loyalty score above seventy percent, they will never betray you. If loyalty falls below fifty, they definitely can't be recruited. I will also monitor the residents' loyalty at all times—if it drops below sixty, I'll give you a heads-up, and you can find a way to quietly get rid of them."

Lu Yunqi gave Du Ze a thumbs up: "Excellent! You're a true professional! I'm really impressed with your work!"

Du Ze smiled and said respectfully, "You're too kind, Master. This is my job. The loyalty mini-program has been set up for you—please try it out."

The next second, an electronic notification came from the system: "Loyalty mini-program has been activated."

Lu Yunqi blinked and saw that all the NPCs now had a white progress bar floating above their heads, showing one hundred percent.

So all the NPCs had one hundred percent loyalty—that really made him feel secure.

Du Ze added, "Master, you can hire four guard NPCs. They carry weapons and know martial arts—more than enough for you while recruiting residents."

Lu Yunqi nodded: "Tomorrow, then! Today I need to prepare a carriage, and I'll set up an Anywhere Door so I can send them over at any time."

Du Ze nodded: "Okay. These are the only plans for now—further planning will require unlocking level three prosperity. Master, go do your thing. I'll go handle the daily tasks."

Lu Yunqi waved a hand: "Alright, alright—go on, get going!"

This was wonderful—with a pro manager, it seemed he didn't have to do anything anymore!

Well, no, not exactly—he still had to go recruit residents tomorrow. Ugh, he guessed he'd go prepare the carriage first!

He'd thought he could go wherever he wanted and do whatever he wanted—he suspected the system was just messing with him.

With a sigh, Lu Yunqi turned and went back to his room, pushing the door open to tell Liu Bao: "Little Six, come along with me, I'm going out."

Preparing a carriage that could carry thirty people—wasn't that overkill?

Lu Yunqi slapped his own head, thinking, I must be an idiot—can't I just make multiple trips?

Liu Bao came running over and asked, "Master, what do you need?"

Lu Yunqi said, "Come with me to the market."

Liu Bao said, "Master, just tell me what you want to buy—you don't need to go yourself."

Lu Yunqi said, "You wouldn't understand. I need it for something. Just do as I say."

Liu Bao replied, "Got it, Master! Please, get on the carriage!"

All the carriages at home were the fancy, ornate kind, looking at a glance like they belonged to an illustrious household—as if afraid no one would know this was the young master of Lord Nine Thousand Years' estate.

What he needed was an ordinary flatbed cart, preferably loaded with rice—that would make recruiting people much easier.

Once they reached the market, Liu Bao asked, "Master, what would you like to buy?"

Lu Yunqi replied, "Go buy me a carriage—a flatbed cart. You know, the kind... regular poor folks use."

Liu Bao was confused: "But... Master, we have over a dozen carriages at home. Any one of them is better than a flatbed cart! Why do you want that..."

Lu Yunqi kicked Liu Bao right in the butt and scolded, "When I tell you to go, you go! What's with all the useless questions?"

Liu Bao stopped asking and hurried off to buy the cart. Before long, he came back pulling a flatbed cart and pointed at it, asking, "Master, what do you think of this one?"

Lu Yunqi nodded: "Fine. Now go buy me a cart of rice—just the ordinary millet common folks eat."

"Huh?" Liu Bao was completely baffled, wondering if the young master had gotten tired of fancy food and suddenly wanted something simple.

But he didn't dare ask again, afraid of another beating, so he turned and headed off with the cart to buy rice.

The rice was bought—ten full sacks, filling half the cart. Lu Yunqi was finally satisfied. He took the reins, climbed onto the cart, and said, "You head back first. I'm going out for a while."

Liu Bao asked, "Master, where are you going? Why not let me tag along? I hear there are refugees causing trouble up north—what if you run into them..."

Lu Yunqi waved him off: "No need. I'll be back at the estate soon. Don't worry about me."

Liu Bao let out an "Oh" and scratched the back of his head, feeling that the young master was acting strangely today.

Lu Yunqi ignored him. He drove the cart to a secluded spot, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then installed an Anywhere Door and drove the cart straight through it.

Arriving at Wanping Wasteland, Lu Yunqi saw Du Ze holding a team meeting with the NPCs.

So realistic—even NPCs have to hold meetings.

When they saw him arrive, they all quickly stood up and bowed to him: "Master."

Du Ze stood up and walked over to him, glancing at his cart before asking, "Master, are you planning to go recruit residents right now? But the refugees haven't reached Wanping Plain yet—they won't be here until tomorrow morning."

Lu Yunqi said, "No worries—I'll have the cart ready in advance and come straight over when the time comes. You all take care of the horse for me, set up a stable or something."

Du Ze nodded: "Very well, Master. Please rest assured."

Lu Yunqi waved at the NPCs: "Alright, I'm heading out."

With that, he turned and stepped through the Anywhere Door—and suddenly found himself inside his own wardrobe. It turned out the door he'd just installed was a single-use Anywhere Door, and the return trip could only bring him back to his own room.

He shrugged it off—he'd have to come back eventually anyway—so he pushed open the wardrobe and stepped out.

The moment he did, he saw Liu Bao and Yun Hua cleaning his room together. Liu Bao was so startled he nearly jumped out of his skin, standing there shaking, unable to speak for a long moment.

Yun Hua, at least, stayed pretty calm. She said, "Huh? Young Master, when did you come back? And why were you hiding in the wardrobe?"

Lu Yunqi cleared his throat and said, "What if I told you... I've been in the wardrobe the whole time? Would you believe it?"

Liu Bao burst into tears: "Young Master, I'm easily scared—please don't scare me!"

He had just clearly seen his young master driving the cart toward West Mountain—and that was West Mountain, which was about as close to death as you could get.

Liu Bao was crying buckets of tears, stepping forward and saying, "Did something happen to you? Did you come back to see us one last time?"

Lu Yunqi: ...

Liu Bao was loyal, but why did Lu Yunqi want to hit him so badly?

Yun Hua stepped forward, mustering up the courage to poke Lu Yunqi, and said, "Sixth Brother, quit crying—he's alive."

Liu Bao looked up and saw Lu Yunqi looking at him like he'd just eaten something sour, saying, "We got to Lord Nine Thousand Years' place at the same time. I hid in the cabinet ahead of time just to scare you."

Liu Bao sighed in relief, wiped his tears, and said, "Young Master, you... you little rascal!"

Lu Yunqi closed the cabinet door, thinking, thank goodness he'd put the Anywhere Door in the cabinet, otherwise Liu Bao would've been scared out of his wits.

Liu Bao stepped forward to help Lu Yunqi sit down, saying, "Please don't pull pranks on me like that again, Young Master. I can't take the scare!"

Lu Yunqi sat down, took the tea Liu Bao had brewed, and asked, "Has anyone come looking for me? How's Prince Cang doing?"

Liu Bao replied, "His Highness Prince Cang hasn't stepped foot outside the mansion all day. But on my way back, I saw three princes' carriages parked outside Tianhuan Tower."

"Oh?" Lu Yunqi's ears perked up at the gossip, and he quickly asked, "Did they get into a fight?"

Liu Bao said, "I didn't go inside, but I heard there's a literary gathering at Tianhuan Tower tonight. Miss Xie said the winner of the poetry contest could go into her room and chat about poetry alone with her for two hours."

Lu Yunqi sneered, thinking to himself, no wonder all those lovesick Murong guys had shown up—they all wanted a night with Miss Xie!

His eyes sparkled as he told Liu Bao, "Liu Bao, go tell His Highness Prince Cang that I'm taking him to watch the fun tonight."

Three princes fighting over one woman—a once-in-a-lifetime sight—he had to see it for himself.

However, the Third Prince was still under house arrest, having just been demoted to a commandery prince by the emperor. If he was sneaking out of his mansion now, would the dog emperor punish him?

At that thought, Lu Yunqi's face lit up with excitement, and he got up to personally fetch Murong Jie.

When he saw Murong Jie again, Lu Yunqi frowned and asked, "Why do you look so pale? Did you go too hard last night and drain yourself dry?"

With that, Lu Yunqi chuckled and said, "Did those servants not take good care of you? What was Liu Bao doing?"

Murong Jie said, "No, I just didn't have an appetite."

Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue: "Can't eat? I'm the one who's pregnant, not you. What's your excuse? Hey, come on, let me take you to Tianhuan Tower to have some fun. They've got great curd desserts there; I'll get you some to try."

Murong Jie hid the cold glint in his eyes, thinking, perfect timing—I was just wondering how to find an excuse to get out tonight.

Tonight, it was time for the Murong family to start paying back with interest.

==========Author's Note:==========

I should be going VIP tomorrow. If I do, I'll post over ten thousand words. We'll see how it goes!

Please send me flowers!