The wicked female is extremely fierce, but she's pampered by her seven beast husbands.

Chapter 270 City Lord's Courtyard
Ling Chengen glanced at him, his eyes indifferent, showing no intention of making a move.

Chongzhen stood to the side, curling her lip and inwardly cursing, "They really have no shame at all!"

Yu Heng, seeing Ling Chengen's death stare, felt no discomfort whatsoever. He chuckled and patted her head, saying, "Why are you looking at me like that? Fine, don't kiss me then."

After saying that, he leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Finish it when you get back."

Ling Chengen was speechless at his behavior of constantly seeking excitement, and calmly warned, "I advise you to be serious."

Yu Heng: "The place with saltpeter is not far from the Stone Forest, north of the current territory of the Stone Forest, within the current territory of the Snow Wolf Tribe. I discovered it by chance when I went to Su Kang to investigate some clues last time."

He raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, "Isn't this a very useful clue?"

“I remember your tribe fought the Snow Wolf tribe at the beginning of this year, and they lost.”

"The strength of Shilin is now vastly different from what it used to be, but its territory is still quite limited, and it should continue to expand its territory."

Ling Chengen pressed his right hand against the brick wall, gazing at the distant mountains and forests, where the peaks rose one after another and the terrain was steep.

Actually, she wanted to slow things down a bit more, and expanding her territory should be done step by step.

How can you attack another tribe that is tens of kilometers away when you haven't even incorporated all the small tribes around you?

But for her now, the saltpeter mine is indeed like a piece of fat meat hanging in front of her.

"When you have time, take me to see it."

"Let me think about taking over the Snow Wolf tribe some more."

She hadn't paid attention to the Snow Wolf Tribe for a while.

Since Su Kang was deposed, the orcs of the Snow Wolf Tribe have hardly dared to continue south. It is said that when the autumn hunt began, the people they sent into the Luolu Mountains were hunted down by some of the more ferocious wandering orcs, and the small hunting teams suffered extremely heavy losses.

The current leader of the Snow Wolf tribe has little ambition. After several setbacks, he no longer dares to easily start a war, and his strategy for managing the tribe is extremely conservative.

After Su Kang disappeared, the severe xenophobia and oppression of other wolf beastmen were alleviated, but the long-standing internal strife and the division into various factions with many conflicts remained. The current chieftain did not intervene to mediate, which led to many wolf beastmen taking this opportunity to leave the Snow Wolf Tribe.

Therefore, the population of the Snow Wolf Tribe has decreased sharply, and there are now many more wandering orcs in the Luolu Mountains and some forests to the west.

If these people do not find other tribes to join them this winter, they will likely become a very unstable factor threatening the safety of surrounding small tribes.

Chongzhen tilted his head and said, "Now is indeed not a good time to start a war. It would be better to wait for the hunting party to return from the south. By then, we will have a strong army and abundant food reserves..."

Ling Chengen shook his head and said, "No, if we wait until then, we'll have more than just abundant resources."

Other tribes also have ample resources. If the other side strongly resists the annexation strategy and insists on fighting against them, or even unites with neighboring tribes... then a protracted war will ensue.

Fighting a protracted war was not part of Ling Chengen's plan at all.

Since the population has only grown to its current size with great difficulty, those tribes that have submitted have not even experienced a stable and prosperous life, so how can they be so devoted to serving their tribe?
Therefore, there are only two opportunities to fight.

Either take advantage of the fact that the hunting teams from various tribes have not yet returned, or... wait until the end of the cold season. At that time, when the various tribes are short of resources, there is no need to make a big fuss. Just offer them supplies, and you can subdue them without a fight.

Even if some tribes refuse to cooperate, they still hold an absolute advantage.

Food is their source of confidence.

"Indeed."

After listening to her analysis, Chongzhen quickly realized that she was right.

If we're going to fight, we can't wait until both sides are fully prepared. We must strike unexpectedly and catch them off guard.

Ling Chengen glanced at Chongzhen, who was deep in thought, and gently shook his head.

Chongzhen is well-suited for political affairs, but not so good at leading troops in battle.

Yuheng is also not suitable to lead a team. Although he is powerful, he is arrogant and too cold to outsiders. He is not good at winning people's hearts. Instead, he prefers to exploit other people's weaknesses. His individual combat ability is excellent, but he is definitely not a good general.

After careful consideration, Su Weihua and Chang Tianchen are actually more suitable for leading troops in battle.

Chang Tianchen was powerful and ruthless, and also arrogant. He treated his subordinates very badly, but for some reason, the snake clan members had almost blind awe and respect for him, and could be said to obey his every command.

On her way back from the North, she deliberately observed how Chang Tianchen interacted with the Snake Mountain warriors, and while chatting with some of them, she heard a lot of gossip.

She then realized that some things cannot be judged by appearances alone.

Before being expelled from Snake Mountain, Chang Tianchen treated his subordinates very well, and had a group of loyal warriors under his command.

Even after he lost control and killed a female member of the tribe, this group of people initially tried their best to protect him.

However, Chang Tianchen's involvement in the Snake Mountain Tribe was still too short. In addition, he had problems due to the awakening of his superpowers, and sometimes he was completely irrational, making his career prospects worrying. Furthermore, his temperament changed drastically, becoming violent and bloodthirsty.

Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, those people ultimately gave up continuing to follow and instead obeyed the decision of the elderly elders of Snake Mountain.

However, because these people had betrayed him first, after Chang Tianchen regained his senses and returned to Snake Mountain, he treated these former subordinates who had abandoned him extremely badly, but he did not kill them directly.

The warriors were extremely surprised by this result, and since Snake Mountain was leaderless, they were eager for him to become the leader of Snake Mountain.

Even when they finally discovered that reality didn't match their expectations—that Chang Tianchen had manipulated the entire Snake Mountain for the sake of a female—these people didn't despair. In fact, they felt he had gained some humanity, and so Snake Mountain actually continued to function smoothly.

The benefits of Chang Tianchen's return are quite obvious.

The once disorganized Snake Mountain has regained its cohesion.

Therefore, the previously scattered Snake Mountain's combat power skyrocketed.

This was fully demonstrated during the campaign to wipe out the rat tribe on the Mulan Plain.

Chang Tianchen possessed the ability to lead and command teams from the early stages. Even though his temperament has changed, some things are ingrained in his bones and will not be easily lost.

However, this person is not very stable, and Ling Chengen is not sure if he can completely control him.

Even though Chang Tianchen seems eager to become her partner, she doesn't naively believe that such a relationship can truly sustain all her interests.

In comparison, Su Weihua's leadership skills are not as outstanding, but in fact, her abilities in all aspects are very balanced, with only one weakness at present.

Insufficient strength.

His special ability hasn't reached the tenth level yet, but leading low-level warrior groups in battle is no problem at all. However, he might not be able to control high-level warriors.

Because high-ranking warriors have the pride of high-ranking warriors, they will not so easily listen to someone weaker than themselves.

Ling Chengen walked along the streets of Beast City, her eyes lowered in quiet contemplation, while Yu Heng and Chong Zhen walked behind her, chatting idly.

Yuheng hadn't been back to Beast City since it was halfway through its construction, so seeing this magnificent city after entering it was still quite awe-inspiring.

Although he had seen the blueprints, the blueprints and the actual product were vastly different.

Seeing him looking around, Chongzhen smiled and said, "Isn't it magnificent? The street and building layout is also perfect."

"You came from the Southern Plains, so you must have seen several beast cities there. How do they compare to those in the Southern Plains?"

Yu Heng's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she glanced at him: "This is beyond my expectations."

"It has a completely different style from the beast city in Nanyuan."

Each of the beast cities in Nanyuan has its own unique characteristics.

Like the Valley of Aomori, it is a natural beast city built in a primeval wet forest. There are giant trees and vines everywhere, and you can hardly see any bricks or tiles. It is full of natural atmosphere and looks full of vitality.

Huangyan Beast City is a city built in an arid region. It relies on the natural giant yellow rock as a barrier and has ant nest-like caves dug into the yellow rock, forming a beast city where almost no greenery can be seen.

Trident Whitewater City is a city built on water.

Wind Dock is a city built on a floating mountain.

There are other beast cities, each with its own unique regional characteristics.

But the city before us is completely different from those beast cities built to suit local conditions.

It stands abruptly on this boundless plain.

Built without relying on any mountains, rocks, or plants, it stands like a monument on the northern plains, a miraculous city created by the orcs themselves.

"Where will we live after we move in?" Yuheng's emotions were fluctuating more than usual, and he was very curious about where his family would live for the next period of time.

Seeing that Ling Chengen was clearly not paying attention to where he was going, Chongzhen walked ahead and led the way: "I'll take you there to see. I put a lot of thought into the City Lord's Mansion before I started construction."

"The area is very large."

The location of the city lord's mansion is also very good. It is located next to the central avenue of the city, close to the initially planned administrative and commercial districts. Since several family members are the backbone of the tribe, they will inevitably have to work in the administrative district in the future. The commercial district is not far away, making it convenient to go out for a stroll and buy things.

This location is quiet amidst the hustle and bustle, and only the city lord can reside here.

Chongzhen pushed open the heavy door and reached out to touch the golden rivets on it: "This is from the house design drawings that Enen gave me. Since she only drew a shape and roughly described the colors, I made some small designs myself."

Ling Chengen had already come to his senses. After stepping onto the steps, he looked at the vermilion-painted gate and asked, "Where did you get the red paint? I didn't tell you how to make these, did I?"

"I'm not stupid, and there are so many people here. If we brainstorm together, we're bound to gain something."

"It's just red paint, just pinch it!"

Seeing this, Ling Chengen didn't ask any more questions. Chongzhen was a thoughtful person with a strong sense of self-reliance. There was really no need to dig into everything. As long as the result was good, that was enough.

Chongzhen stood on the steps, pointed at the two stone lions at the entrance, and said proudly, "These two stone lions, aren't they wonderful?"

Yuheng walked down the steps and reached out to touch the stone lion; it was very smooth.

He was a little curious and couldn't help but ask, "Why would you think of putting two stone lions at the entrance?"

Chongzhen said, "I heard that the royal family in Nanyuan is made of lions, right? I don't know if it's true, but putting two stone lions to guard the gate is the same as having the royal family of Nanyuan guard our gate, isn't it?"

Yu Heng: "..."

He looked at Chongzhen speechlessly and shook his head helplessly.

Who told him that the beast form of the Nanyuan royal family looks like this?
The royal family of Nanyuan is not an ordinary lion-beastman; otherwise, they would have been defeated by those covetous Nanyuan nobles long ago.

"go in."

Yuheng didn't want to explain to him. If there was a chance to go to Nanyuan in the future, let Chongzhen see for himself. He would then know how incongruous these stone lions he had made were. At this time, it was better not to dampen his overflowing confidence.

The city lord's mansion covers a large area and is divided into many courtyards.

Considering that several family members are high-level warriors with exceptionally strong perception abilities, the courtyards were designed with various features, such as bamboo groves, gardens, or fish ponds between the two courtyards, to prevent each other from spying on each other to some extent.

But it certainly wouldn't work on Yuheng and Ling Chengen; if those two wanted to spy on someone else's courtyard, there was absolutely no way to stop them.

We can only hope they will be more self-disciplined and stop spying on the neighbors' yards for no reason.

"Which courtyard would you like to live in, my lady? These courtyards haven't been named yet. How about you name them all when they're ready?"

Ling Chengen had no objection to where she lived. The courtyard was well-built and basically followed her design drawings, so there was nothing to complain about. It was just that no one had moved in yet, so it seemed a bit deserted and lifeless.

However, once the hunting team returns, they will move in directly, and then the yard will be more lively.

After struggling in the beast world for almost a year, she finally had a real family home, and no longer had to worry about the house leaking during the rainy season or being drafty during the cold season...

It's really not easy.

Standing in the large courtyard, she looked up at the transplanted saplings around her and said softly, "Time really flies."

Above is a deep blue sky, with clouds drifting by, making one unconsciously relax and feel at ease and free.

Yuheng casually scattered some grass seeds on the bare ground. As he walked slowly by, the grass seeds quickly took root and sprouted, then grew into tiny stems and leaves, and one after another, small flowers bloomed, instantly making the courtyard full of life.

Yuheng walked around, looked at the clean and empty fishpond, and said with a smile, "Who did you design this fishpond for? It couldn't be for those two brothers surnamed Shi, could it? Don't you mind having too many men in your house?"

Chongzhen looked bewildered and said, "It's in the blueprints that my wife gave me. I just built it according to the blueprints."

"What, does my wife like those two fish?"

Chongzhen's expression was subtle, and the way she looked at the back of Ling Chengen's head changed instantly.