My lord, spare his life!

"My lord, I've come!"

Guan Zong's voice stopped abruptly the moment he saw the person who had arrived.

Huang Ming, the leader, suddenly brightened up and took a few quick steps forward, only to be stopped by Zhang Yang's raised cane. Huang Ming glanced down at the cane, then looked at Guan Zong: "Brother, what is the meaning of this?"

Guan Zong remained silent at first, then subtly glanced at Huang Ming, the leader, and the soldiers behind her, forcing a cheerful and friendly expression onto his face. He pressed down on Zhang Yang's cane with one hand, frantically winking and gesturing to her, while pulling Huang Ming over with the other.

"Haha, let me introduce you to my lord, this is my sworn sister."

Zhang Yang was taken aback: "Your sworn sister?"

No, Guan Zong really does have a sworn sister?

She looked at Huang Ming, the leader, with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Huang Ming also looked at her with friendly, curious eyes. Their eyes met, and Huang Ming teased, "Brother, your lord is so young? Uncle is really... still going strong for his age..."

Zhang Yang: "...???"

She didn't understand the logic behind Huang Ming's words, but Guan Zong understood instantly.

In this sworn sister's mind, the person who could lead the Eastern Army must naturally be the old man's children. Guan Zong served Zhang Yang as his master, and Zhang Yang must be one of his half-sisters. Hence the sarcastic remark about the old man being vigorous despite his advanced age.

Guan Zong rolled his eyes in disgust.

The old man's head, chopped off by Guan Si, had long been fed to wolves and tigers. If he had been reincarnated earlier, he would be starting school by now. However, it was also clear from the other party's words that the Eastern Bandits had tacitly concealed the truth after splitting up.

At least, the mountain counties that cooperated with the Eastern Bandits were unaware of the true situation, let alone that the old man had been dead for many years.

Guan Zong said vaguely, "Ambition knows no age. Although my lord is young, he is someone I can truly admire."

He did not explain Zhang Yang's true identity.

It's best to leave this misunderstanding for now.

The leader, Huang Ming, clasped his hands in greeting and said, "May I ask your honorable surname, Your Excellency?"

Zhang Yang said, "Zhang."

Huang Ming: "Prefect Zhang".

She hesitated for a moment, remembering the question she had just asked.

He had just asked Magistrate Zhang if he was part of the Eastern Frontier army coming to meet them, but the other party said no. Guan Zong, though rough on the outside, was shrewd on the inside, and immediately guessed what was causing the other party's hesitation: "I just arrived and saw that you and the lord seemed to have a disagreement. Has some misunderstanding occurred?"

Huang Ming had no doubts and explained the reason.

"The lord is the lord; this matter is naturally none of her concern."

Guan Zong deliberately played word games.

Huang Ming wasn't particularly wary, and since the detail itself wasn't a major flaw, she didn't investigate further. She was now wondering about something else: "...With my sworn brother in charge, shouldn't the Eastern Fan army be able to rest easy? What kind of formidable enemy could possibly have prompted the Eastern Fan army to send seven letters requesting reinforcements in ten days? Seeing my sworn brother's relaxed expression and unfurled brow, the situation must not be too dire, right?"

Guan Zong sighed deeply.

"Alas, this is a long story."

Huang Ming hurriedly raised his hand and patted his breastplate, making a metallic clanging sound: "Don't worry, sworn brother, I also have over a thousand elite troops under my command. We can join forces and ensure that the scoundrel never returns!"

Guan Zong forced out a strange smile.

The leader was named Huang, whose given name was Yuan and courtesy name was Bafeng.

Seeing that Zhang Yang fell silent and frowned upon hearing her name, Lü Yuan asked worriedly, "Lord Zhang, is there something different about your name?"

Could it be that you share the same name as their enemy?

Zhang Yang shook his head: "I'm thinking about the origin of your name."

She realized that her knowledge base was still insufficient.

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as it's not taboo, it's fine.

She was quite frank, and when she talked about it, she smiled and said, "My name was given to me by my sworn brother. My family name is Yelü, but because of the extermination of my family, I had to hide my identity, so I took the single character 'Lü' as my surname. My sworn brother said that the eight winds are the winds from the east, south, west, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest, and I am in the center, which is the origin."

Zhang Yang exclaimed in surprise, "He's even cultured?"

Lu Yuan: "My sworn brother is just a bit rugged in appearance."

In fact, he was quite accomplished in both literary and military arts, proficient in everything. If others said such things about Guan Zong, Lu Yuan would most likely be angry, but since the person who said it was her sworn brother and lord, and her sworn brother himself was listening nearby without showing any displeasure, she naturally didn't need to take it seriously.

Taking things too seriously could damage the relationship between his sworn brother and his lord.

As they spoke, the group closed the distance between themselves and the city wall.

At this distance, anyone with a keen sense of smell could detect the pervasive stench of blood in the air. As a commander, Lü Yuan naturally possessed this level of judgment: "Were the traitors driven back by my sworn brother?"

Guan Zongdao said, "Hmm."

Lu Yuan led his troops to the city walls.

Looking up, one could see the city wall riddled with craters, the marks from various sources. There were claw marks left by giant beasts, arrow craters, and dents from close-range explosions. The city wall was covered in dried, discolored blood that had not yet been cleaned up. It was clear that the attackers were formidable enemies.

Such a dense attack would be difficult to withstand even with high walls.

Lu Yuan was engrossed in his analysis when Guan Zong interrupted him.

She gave an awkward smile, put aside her other thoughts, and followed.

The appearance of this unfamiliar army was reported to Fan You and his companions as soon as it appeared. They initially thought it was enemy reinforcements, but when they heard that the leader included their lord and Guan Zong, they all fell silent.

"When did my lord acquire this connection?"

Puyang Kui secretly gave Fan You a questioning look.

Fan You shook his head: "I don't know."

Zhang Yang still harbors countless secrets, so it wouldn't be surprising if the other party suddenly revealed some connections. However, not informing him beforehand would more or less disrupt his plans.

Yuan Xie said, "Uncle Yan doesn't know everything after all."

Fan You rolled his eyes subtly.

Fan You was completely at a loss with Yuan Xie, who was not only competitive and greedy but also shamelessly regarded him as a potential enemy. At this moment, Guan Si provided crucial intelligence—the unfamiliar troops discovered by the scouts were not part of Zhang Yang's network, but belonged to the various counties in the mountains.

"It's either Liesi County or Chesi County," Guan Si said confidently, then added, "You said Guan Zong was having a very pleasant conversation with the leader? It's more likely that it's troops from Chesi County."

Fan You asked casually.

Why is that?

Guan Sidao said, "Back then, the Dongxian forces wanted to annex the counties in the mountains, but the counties in the mountains had a special terrain, surrounded by two mountain ranges, with only two exits. Chesi County was the closest of the counties to the exits, so it naturally had to bear the brunt of the attack..."

Fan You asked, "Did you hold out?"

Guan Si shook his head: "We couldn't hold it; it was lost for over a year."

The counties in the mountains are not of one mind.

Guan Sidao said, "Dongxian launched a surprise attack, and Chesi County was not able to hold out. The county suffered seven days of massacre and looting. Other counties tried to join forces, but Dongxian had already devised a wicked plan, migrating a large number of people to occupy Chesi County. Later, Chesi County was recaptured, and Guan Zong contributed a lot of effort, being ordered to exterminate all the Dongxian people left in Chesi County..."

He paused for a moment.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he said, "Thirty thousand followers."

Guan Si sneered again: "Not a single one was left."

For several years afterward, Che Si County enjoyed a bumper harvest. The soil was fertile, and the fish and shrimp were plentiful. The people made a great contribution to this.

"Ordered to execute?"

Fan You found it intriguing.

He knew Guan Zong was a liar who had concealed much information, and he also knew he had an extraordinary background, but he never expected the other party to be such a ruthless person. He was now listening with great interest. Puyang Kui was greatly surprised: "Is the Guan Zong you're talking about really the Guan Zong I know?"

It's no wonder she misjudged.

Guan Zong was overly submissive to his lord.

Guan Si nodded: "Mm."

Knowing full well that Lü Yuan's troops were reinforcements brought by the Eastern Bandits, Fan You and the others discussed it briefly and then opened the city gates to let them pass—even if they wanted to trap the dog, they had to lure it in first before putting it in a sack.

Beneath the city wall, Guan Zong secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

It wasn't that he was afraid Fan You wouldn't open the city gates and expose his deception of Lü Yuan, but rather he was afraid of Guan Si. Guan Si probably knew far more than he thought, and he feared the other party might ruin things.

Fortunately, they still had a tacit understanding.

The messy council chamber has been tidied up.

The lack of furniture and the bloodstains on the floor and walls gave it an inexplicably dangerous feel. Zhang Yang went straight to the head of the table, while Lü Yuan, as a distinguished guest, sat at the foot of the table.

As soon as they sat down, soldiers brought them tea.

Lu Yuan, holding a cup of tea, stared blankly at the soldiers' clothing.

"But the tea is too bland and doesn't suit your taste?"

Lu Yuan smiled and said, "No, the tea is quite refreshing and sweet."

But I started muttering to myself.

Although the clothing styles of the Eastern Army were not uniform, they all had the same insignia, while the soldiers who had just served tea did not seem to have this feature.

Realizing this, she felt a chill run down her spine.

The scene I saw outside the city immediately flashed into my mind.

After entering the city, she saw soldiers busily carrying corpses and cleaning up the battlefield; most of the corpses had markings on them. At the time, she only felt sorry for the difficulty of defending the city and the heavy casualties. Her sworn brother also expressed his feelings of "not easy," so she did not investigate further.

Now, it looks weird no matter how you look at it.

But when her gaze fell upon Guan Zong, she regained her composure.

Putting everything else aside, her sworn brother would never harm her.

Lu Yuan symbolically took a few sips of tea, put down her teacup, and brought up the important matter, inquiring about the size of the bandits' forces and their combat intelligence, so that she could be prepared for the enemy's next attack.

Zhang Yang also pointed out the truth, saying, "In this battle, the bandits were severely weakened, and I'm afraid they won't have the strength to commit crimes again for several years."

Lu Yuan was stunned.

"The thief is severely weakened? But—"

The most recent letter requesting help was sent yesterday.

The situation reversed overnight?

As Guan Zong's sworn sister, she was naturally happy for her sworn brother and lord, but as the Commandant of Chesi County, this was not the outcome she desired. Lu Yuan lowered her eyelids, concealing her true feelings.

"Alas, I never expected it to turn out this way. The battle was raging during the day, and I was unable to send anyone to inform them. I've troubled Bafeng with this trip for nothing."

Lu Yuan's smile was somewhat forced, but a spark of anger ignited in his heart.

They still had to say insincere, polite things.

She once suspected that the Eastern Expeditionary Army was deliberately playing a trick on her.

The next second, she changed her mind.

Zhang Yang sincerely wanted to compensate them for their hard-earned losses, giving each soldier a generous subsidy. This move caught Lü Yuan off guard; she couldn't bring herself to say anything like, "Who are you trying to fool with this little bit of money?"—from assembling to setting off, it only took a few days at most; how much could a thousand men possibly expend in just a few days? But she also couldn't bring herself to say anything like "I'm flattered"...

Lu Yuan's trip wasn't for a small subsidy.

For a moment, I felt a tightness in my chest.

With a quick thought, Lü Yuan preemptively stopped Zhang Yang from sending them back, and instead found an excuse to stay.

The bandits were driven back, but there were bound to be remnants. To prevent them from returning and to give the prefect an explanation, she couldn't just do nothing and go back with the generous reward. If she did that, she would be betraying the long-standing friendship between the two families!

Zhang Yang: "..."

She looked at Lu Yuan's conversation in the system log.

Something feels off.

Is the other party trying to stay and refuse to leave?

If they don't want to leave, then they don't have to leave; it's not a big problem.

Zhang Yang, always acting on a whim, soon realized that the way Lu Yuan and the others had appeared was rather strange. It wasn't like they had come from somewhere; it was as if they had just appeared out of nowhere.

Chesi County, on the other side of the Dongfan Mountains, is not close to this place.

Just then, as if on the same wavelength, Lü Yuan mentioned the two families' business dealings. From Lü Yuan, Zhang Yang learned that the Eastern Fan army had placed a large order with them for grain. Lü Yuan subtly inquired about the purpose of the grain and whether it was sufficient.

If that's not enough, you can get more from elsewhere.

Guan Zong, as an observer, discerned some of the truth.

What are you concerned about?

Isn't it obvious that their real intention is something else entirely?

Under the guise of concern, Che Si County was actually trying to ascertain the strength of the Eastern Frontier Army. However, it was unclear whether they intended to annex the Eastern Frontier Army or had other plans. A sudden inspiration struck Zhang Yang, and he became interested: "The supplies are sufficient."

Lu Yuan was speechless: "Enough?"

No, they haven't delivered the goods for this order yet.

The Eastern Army, which had been complaining about food shortages, was now not short of food.

Lu Yuan's face suddenly darkened.

They agreed to collect grain, but suddenly they're going to break the agreement? Or has the Eastern Army already sensed something and is using this as a warning?

Lu Yuan's back muscles were tense, and his inner shirt was soaked with hot sweat.

When did the Eastern Expeditionary Army learn of their plan?

Zhang Yang sighed, "We don't lack food, but we lack everything else."

Lu Yuanqiang perked up: "What's missing?"

Zhang Yang looked at Lu Yuan enthusiastically: "You have everything you need?"

"Since the end of the Dongxian disaster, Chesi County has recovered to a decent extent, and with the help of the mountain counties, we can say that we have some savings, though we can't say we have everything we need. The Eastern Army is both an ally and a benefactor. If you need anything, just ask, Lord Zhang."

Zhang Yang said, "I need ramie, silk, cotton, wool, chicken feathers, duck feathers... in short, the more the better. Do you have any?"

The water conservancy project is under construction in an orderly manner.

But soon, Zhang Yang discovered an embarrassing situation.

The improved multi-spindle spinning wheel is indeed faster, more than twice as efficient as the original single-spindle spinning wheel, and the water-powered spinning wheel is far superior to the original hand-cranked human-powered spinning wheel. But—what's the use of such high efficiency if raw materials are scarce? Tianyue is resource-poor. The local resources can be consumed by the hand-cranked single-spindle spinning wheel. Why would we use the improved multi-spindle foot-operated/water-powered spinning wheel to spin air?

We had no choice but to find another solution.

Buying raw materials from elsewhere, processing them into finished products locally, and then selling them—there's still some profit to be made in this process.

Lu Yuan blinked.

"Is Magistrate Zhang certain... he wants these?"

Do you want raw materials, not finished products?

There's not much profit to be made from buying and selling these raw materials.

It's not like we're going to take it back and let the soldiers fend for themselves.

??(?w?)

Let me update this.

P.S.: I've run into a problem. So far, the map is still based on the Ming Dynasty star map from the Tianhou Temple. I thought the star names on that map were more accurate. But today I checked other versions of the star map and found significant differences in geographical locations between them. Scratching my head… Looking at it, the closest point to the two mountain ranges seems to be Chesi. I'll change that.