My lord, spare his life!

Wang Gongsun?

After thinking it over, Zhang Yang still didn't recognize the person.

However, the system logs have been updated with new information.

The name "Wild Man Naked Runner" also came to mind.

She said, "Oh, it's him."

Zhang Yang pointed to the extremely docile Zhang Damiao and corrected the visitor's misconception: "But it's no longer Wang Gongsun's star beast. It's my mount, and I've given it a new name, Zhang Damiao. You can call it Meow-kun."

A family of animals should be complete, just like Zhang Da Mi's Mi Jun, Zhang Da Gu's Gu Jun, so Zhang Da Miao should also be called Miao Jun. You can tell at a glance that these three come from the same family.

Zhang Da Miao pricked up its ears to listen carefully. When it heard the title "Miao Jun," its leopard eyes showed a hint of human-like surprise, and then it straightened its chest with a touch of pride.

Yes, yes, that's what we'll call it.

"Meow, Meow-kun?"

The visitor was dumbfounded, so shocked by Zhang Yang that he almost lost his speech.

Is the main point now what this star beast's name is?

The key question isn't why Wang Gongsun, that ruthless star beast, inexplicably changed hands? You see, Wang Gongsun has a notorious reputation for cruelty and has never been known for showing mercy to women. He doesn't even dare to imagine how this star beast came to be, whether its origins were legitimate or not.

He thought this way, and he was so audacious as to ask it.

"It came from the right place! Big Meow, it belongs to the capable."

"What does this mean?"

When he asked the question, he was already trembling with fear.

"You mean I captured him through my own abilities?" Zhang Yang seemed oblivious to the man's deathly pale face and pressed on, "Is the Wang Gongsun you're talking about someone who looks like a savage, wearing only animal skins and running around half-naked?"

The visitor carefully recalled Wang Qi's appearance.

He didn't recall seeing this image before, but there were rumors that Wang Qi was rough and wild, disliked fine clothes, and often associated with wild beasts. Regardless of whether that was true or not, the fact remained that the person before him had stolen Wang Qi's Star Beast. Thinking of this, he helplessly slapped his thigh.

He lamented, "Alas, you've gotten yourself into a terrible mess."

"How did I get into trouble?" Despite Zhang Yang's question, she was secretly pleased that she had triggered a new plot.

"How could you, a mere maidservant, possibly know how cruel and tyrannical that Wang Gongsun is? His father, Wang Ba, is notorious for siding with his relatives and ignoring reason. He spends his days chanting Buddhist prayers but commits countless heinous acts, even condoning his son's slaughter of innocents and his own brothers. This scoundrel has a heart smaller than a pinhead and will never let this go. It wouldn't be surprising if he cuts off your head while you're dreaming."

Zhang Yang's current identity is that of Xiao Sui's maid. Xiao Sui still possesses an extremely rare and magical human skin, so as her classmate, he naturally gives Zhang Yang some face and doesn't reprimand him for his arrogance. He only plans to complain to Xiao Sui later, so she can prepare in advance. Sacrificing a disobedient and lying maid to quell the disaster is better than offending the warlord's son.

"What do you mean, 'kingly domineering'?"

It sounds familiar; I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.

Then Zhang Yang remembered that Fan You had gathered information on forces similar to Tianyue, and that Dongxian County was currently under the control of the warlord Wang Ba. Wang Ba's exploits seemed quite remarkable, but there was very little information about his children.

This time, the visitor did not answer, but simply turned and left.

By the time Zhang Yang met Xiao Sui, the person who had come to complain had already left.

"What did he say to you?"

"I suspect that my lord stole someone's leopard."

"Steal? That's utterly alarmist and an attempt to smear my innocence!"

How could this NPC lie and slander people?

"I inquired about the internal situation of Dongxian County with him. Wang Qi, who recently came into contact with the lord, is the son with the highest cultivation and best fighting skills among his many sons. Fearing Wang Ba's power, they are wary of this grandson of Wang Gongsun. I heard that he is cruel and bloodthirsty."

As Xiao Sui spoke, she deliberately concealed her classmate's suggestion to push their lord out as a scapegoat to appease Wang Gongsun's anger.

Zhang Yang: "How cruel was it?"

Xiao Sui picked out a few horrific tragedies to recount.

Normal people wouldn't do things like pulling out someone's intestines to use as ropes, skinning someone to make flags, or using someone's head as a wine cup. However, considering that this is a chaotic era, these behaviors are, to some extent, commonplace among warlords, so they're not entirely out of the ordinary.

Zhang Yang agreed: "That is indeed cruel."

NPCs are all of the same origin, why are they so eager to fight each other?

Even players who abuse or kill NPCs will be condemned.

Xiao Sui warned Zhang Yang, "My lord, beware of assassination attempts lately."

Zhang Yang, however, did not have this worry.

"He won't."

"Why do you say that, my lord?"

"He doesn't seem to have the brains for that." She had fought the Wild Man Naked Runner before; his fighting style was all about brute force, not assassination. Even if there were assassins, he wouldn't personally take action.

Xiao Sui: "..."

For a moment, she felt a mix of emotions.

To be described as "lacking in intelligence" by a tyrant with a carefree and unconventional personality must mean someone extremely confident, overly reliant on their own abilities, and disregarding strategy. But is that even possible? Those born into warlord families, with their simple minds, never even have a chance to grow up.

Xiao Sui's intuition told her that Wang Qi was no ordinary person.

Zhang Yang, the person involved, only spent half a day forgetting about Wang Qi. In her eyes, he was just a wild boss she had accidentally encountered. As long as he didn't have any story missions, he was meaningless to her and not worth worrying about.

How can a mere savage like Wang Qi compare to the prowess of homework?

"That persistent homework..." Zhang Yang grabbed Zhang Damiao's paw, which she was using as a cushion, and, while the latter was bewildered, reached for the homework with the paw in her hand. "What if Uncle Yan finds out that the homework he assigned was accidentally stepped on and broken by naughty Damiao? Or what if Damiao bumped into a candlestick while playing, and the candlestick burned the homework..."

Zhang Yang stared blankly at the giant paw, twice the size of her hand, pondering the feasibility of the two options. Although Zhang Da Miao didn't know who Fan Shuyan was, its star beast intuition told it that Zhang Yang wanted it to take the blame. It tried its best to pull the paw back.

However, Zhang Yang's grip strength was astonishing.

No matter how Zhang Damiao tried, it wouldn't budge.

Left with no other choice, it could only meow pitifully and try its best to make its leopard eyes look round, pitiful, and cute.

Zhang Yang stared at it for a long time, then raised his hand to cover his eyes.

"Big Meow, you can't look at me like that."

Zhang Da Miao: "..."

Fortunately, it was ultimately saved by the very man who had almost killed it with a single blow. Yuan Xie stared at Zhang Yang's homework on the table with a half-smile, giving no room for surprise.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Homework is painful.

In particular, the homework Fan You gave was not something that could be completed by rote memorization, which prevented Zhang Yang from using the system log as a cheat tool. In addition, there was also calligraphy practice.

Apart from Zhang Yang's name, she had never practiced any other characters.

The reason for only practicing names is because they are required for official document signatures.

[What's the difference between this and a lazy person who never bathes but only washes their face once a time when meeting guests? Is it enough to just keep your face clean?] Fan You looked at Zhang Yang's homework; her name and the content of her homework were completely different, and he almost laughed in exasperation.

Zhang Yang countered: "Is that not allowed?"

As long as the storefront looks decent, that's fine.

Fan You said that wouldn't work.

They gave Zhang Yang extra practice time for calligraphy.

Yuan Xie: "My lord, your brushstrokes are incorrect."

Zhang Yang's eyes flashed defiantly: [If you're so capable, why don't you do it yourself?]

This look was exactly what Yuan Xie wanted to hear, and he volunteered to correct Zhang Yang. After obtaining permission, Yuan Xie held his breath and loosely grasped Zhang Yang's hand, but dared not get close, maintaining a restrained yet safe distance that did not hinder the correction.

The person inside the ear seemed to be dead.

This discovery greatly pleased Yuan Xie.

However, this pleasure only lasted until he let go.

He keenly sensed a cold gaze emanating from the eaves outside the latticed window, and knew who it belonged to without even looking. The next second, the owner of that cold gaze silently appeared on a mat not far from the table. The person stood with arms crossed, their expression indifferent and aloof.

"...I am here to properly assist my lord with his studies."

"Are you serious?"

"General, you are not a mind reader, nor do you have ears to hear what people are thinking. How can you be so sure that I am not upright?" He was a very upright and traditional man. Even if he wanted to become a eunuch in the lord's palace, he would not engage in such lewd behavior in broad daylight. His teaching was serious teaching. At most, he used teaching as a way to get closer to the lord.

Guan Si was clearly a novice who knew nothing about this.

The other person simply doesn't understand how male courtship works.

How will you know you don't have opportunities if you don't create them?

Guan Si sneered and remained silent.

Zhang Yang looked around, then sighed as he held his pen.

With these two around, she has absolutely no chance of using Zhang Da Miao's claws to destroy these assignments. Or should she collude with Zhang Da Gu?

Xiao Sui's classmate helped her make connections and cultivate relationships in Tianjiang County, and she's been frequently running around here these past few days. After doing so much, she's noticed something: "You, a mere maid, are quite lucky to be fought over by two men."

"A scramble?"

Is she some kind of trophy?

His classmate's smile carried a hint of ambiguity.

"Two men are vying for one woman."

Zhang Yang said, "What's the big deal?"

My classmate exclaimed in surprise, "You actually knew that?"

He had previously thought Zhang Yang was clueless about love, so he let things unfold as they were. But now, seeing her answer, he realized that she clearly understood everything and was simply enjoying being fought over by the two of them.

Zhang Yang: "...I'm not blind."

Not only is You Zheng trying to win her over, but Shu Yan, Yuan Yi, Xiu Ying, Jun Du, Jiu Si, Jiu Ge, Dong Su... all the NPCs around her with whom she has story interactions are trying to win her over and increase her favorability.

Players are the bread and butter of game designers and game companies, so it's only natural that the NPCs created by the latter would go to great lengths to win over players' favor. Zhang Yang doesn't need to repay anything; her favorability is the best reward.

The idea of ​​including NPC walkthroughs in the homestead side quest map to please players is simply to enhance the game's enjoyment. Isn't that normal?

However, Xiao Sui interpreted her answer differently. He felt that this maid was arrogant and presumptuous. Relying on her looks, she flirted with men and toyed with their feelings. He thought she would surely die in the chaos of her lovers' rivalry and meet a tragic end.

So he turned around and secretly complained to Xiao Sui again.

Xiao Sui: "..."

Zhang Yang heard about this.

"Is your classmate a spy?"

Do you really enjoy tattling?

You probably secretly complained to your lecturers a lot when you were in school, right?

Xiao Sui chuckled as she waved her sword fan, "He does have this habit. He always complains to the lecturer or headmaster about things or people he doesn't like, which makes him unpopular, but he doesn't have any bad intentions."

Putting everything else aside, her classmate has indeed been working hard for them these past two days, and there has been some progress so far.

Xiao Sui said, "However—"

"But what?"

Xiao Sui sat up straight and leaned closer to Zhang Yang, almost whispering in his ear, her breath tickling Zhang Yang's ear: "If my lord truly wishes to take me in—"

Yuanxie is also a good pastime to pass the time.

Capable and capable, killing two birds with one stone.

"If I were to accept your offer, would you then offer yourself as my bedmate?"

She knew this game had been running for sixteen years, and the game planners were a bunch of omnivores, able to enjoy all sorts of things. According to what the observers had whispered to Zhang Yang, this game world had introduced hundreds of relatively famous couples over the past sixteen years, including but not limited to male-female, male-male, female-female, human-animal, human-human-animal, beast-human, human-zombie, human-animal, human-insect... There were even players who held grand, high-profile in-game weddings with their mounts.

When Zhang Yang learned that there were NPCs who could guide players in the side quests of the home map, she was mentally prepared. These interactive NPCs might reflect "species diversity," but Xiao Sui's implication right from the start caught her off guard.

She looked down at Zhang Damiao at her feet, then at Zhang Dagu standing guard on the roof of the building diagonally opposite, and felt a little worried about the future.

Other players might find it enjoyable to be "conquered" (or "captured").

But as an awakened NPC, she found it all rather dull.

It's noisy, disruptive, a waste of her time, and a waste of her time doing tasks.

Xiao Sui pondered for a moment, then nodded: "If this is the only way to obtain human skin, I would consider it. Being a guest of the lord is not something shameful."

Those ministers compare themselves to resentful widowers and grieving wives every day, and compare their lord to the pillar of their household. Can you say they don't have any ulterior motives?

How many ministers can sleep on their lord's bed?

Zhang Yang: "..."

This stupid game isn't rated 30+, but in some ways it's more harmful than 30+ games. What kind of thinking is that?

Even she, a player pretending to be a player, couldn't stand it anymore.

"But I'm all alone."

"What does the lord mean?"

Zhang Yang said in a serious tone, "I can't be in two places at once."

Xiao Sui: "..."

She was taken aback for a moment, then burst into a string of melodious laughter, which grew more and more unrestrained, almost losing all composure as a young lady from a noble family: "I never imagined that my lord would be so devoted."

Thinking of those philandering, unconventional warlords, Xiao Sui looked at this lord who said "I am all alone," and her strange sense of humor made her laugh even louder.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Just then, Xiao Sui's classmate walked over quickly.

"Oh no, oh no, Xiuying! This maidservant of yours is truly a femme fatale! Not content with attracting one or two, how did she manage to provoke that madman Wang Gongsun as well?" she said to Zhang Yang. "Didn't you say you only stole his star beast? Why didn't he kill you, and why is he still so hung up on you? Now he's leading two thousand men straight to the county seat! He specifically asked you to come out and give him an explanation—"

Zhang Yang: "???"

She angrily retorted, "I said it wasn't stealing!"

Xiao Sui, a classmate, exclaimed, "It really was him who gave it to you!"

Zhang Yang pointed a finger: "Big Meow, pounce on him!"

??(?w?)

The male and female warlords in this article are portrayed in rather eccentric ways, so don't have high expectations for their character and morality.

I went to Hengdian today, and it was packed with people! My family insisted on bringing the kid, and he was running around everywhere. Seven adults couldn't keep up with him. We were afraid he'd disappear into the sea of ​​people in the blink of an eye. There wasn't much to do anyway. Maybe we should visit the martial arts city another time.