It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"Then what are you going to do?"

Yunye took a sip of wine, the corners of her mouth raised into a beautiful arc, she opened her eyes and said to Lid:

"The six cities of Nanyan plus Yunye herself will be exchanged for the safety of the prince. If the lord and the prince are willing to do this business, Yunye will naturally come to Yuxi City with good reason. After that, unless one day you use Yunye as a bargaining chip to trade to others again, Yunye will always serve the city lord."

At this point, the top executives of Yuxi City also breathed a sigh of relief.

Yunye said this as she showed her last bit of loyalty to Yunyang.

As for whether Lord Yunyang and Li Yi will agree to this deal...is there any need to say it?

64. There is a fine line between pride and vanity

Yunyang Prince Li Yi finally returned to Lingyun City with all his limbs intact.

As a price, or compensation for the defeated party, Yunyang gave the six cities of Nanyan to Lide, the lord of Yuxi City. Lide's decision was beyond everyone's expectations, as he only asked for six cities as compensation after capturing the prince of Yunyang. After all, these six cities originally belonged to the fifth prince Li Ze, and Li Ze was also a prisoner of Yuxi City. It can be said that if Yunyang did not interfere, these six cities would have been in Lide's pocket sooner or later.

The Yunyang Territory simply did a favor and in return got the official heir who was very important to them. This deal can be said to be a great profit.

The explanation given by Yuxi City to the public was that it was difficult to have peace in a turbulent world, and the world was about to change. Although Yunyang did not recognize Yuxi City, Yuxi City did not want the people of Yunyang to fall into war because of fratricide. If Yunyang insisted on attacking Yuxi City, Yuxi City would defeat Yunyang's army on the battlefield, but Yuxi City would not seek benefits for itself by taking advantage of the situation.

As soon as these words were spoken, the reputation of Yuxi City was immediately raised to a higher level.

As for the additional condition besides the six cities - Yunye, the new messenger under Li Yi, it also aroused the curiosity of many people. The more inconspicuous the condition is, the more attention it attracts. Six cities and one girl, everyone's attention is definitely on the girl. So all kinds of investigations were overwhelming, but because Zi Pu and the core members of the messenger group had resigned and fled, the Anbu of each family investigated for a long time but ended up with nothing.

There were all kinds of legends on the market at that time. Some said Yunye was extremely beautiful, some said the two fell in love at first sight, and some said Yunye was just a little extra when buying vegetables, a pure toy given by Yunyang. But no matter what, it was an indisputable fact that Yunye went from being unknown to becoming famous overnight, which was exactly what Yuxicheng wanted.

In the future, when Yunye is sent as an envoy to various territories, the greater her reputation, the easier it will be to get things done.

Only the prince of Qiming, Norn, who was far away, smashed down half of the wall with his fist, his face was so gloomy that it looked like water could be squeezed out. He left Huayue City without saying anything, and cursed Kaiya's trick of playing hard to get. For half a month afterwards, every night when Norn lay in bed, he would turn over in anger when he thought of this matter, and there was only one thought in his head: Why didn't I take the initiative? If I had taken the initiative, would I be like this? !

But there is no medicine for regret in the world. Nollen could only curse Reid, that bastard, for not following the rules of the game at all. The plan he had been planning for so long was intercepted before he could even close it. As the person involved, he now regrets it very much.

At the same time, Noren actually had a glimmer of hope in his heart. He felt that Reed had hastily used negotiations to abduct Yunye, and Yunye must be unwilling in her heart. She was probably still thinking about herself as the gentleman she was in the past. When he had the chance and expressed his willingness to help her out of the suffering, she would definitely come to join him with tears of gratitude.

What Nolan didn't know was that Yunye drank too much that night, and when she woke up the next day, she had completely forgotten his outstanding performance and crazy hints. She only remembered that she and Zi Pu had visited his place, but other than that, she had no impression of Nolan at all.

She was more concerned about the fact that because of her arrival, Yuxi City had taken the initiative to make great concessions in the negotiations. Although these were all planned, these plans could not be made public to the public at present. If the public was outraged, then it would be difficult for her, as an unknown newcomer, to gain a foothold in Yuxi City.

But in fact, the people have been very quiet, and there is no scene of people rising up to attack as she imagined.

After asking carefully, I found out that it was just a habit...

He Yue was fine at that time, but when Fang Shisan joined Yuxi City, the people were the most violent. The city they had fought so hard to conquer was given away, and Li De had to kneel down and pay tribute to the fallen soldiers to barely calm the people's anger. But soon it was proved that Fang Shisan's value could not be measured by just a few cities. He expanded the territory with great momentum and had never lost a battle since he came to Yuxi City.

Later, when they took in Liu Shi, no one understood at first, but now everyone respects Liu Shi. Who doesn't know that he is the chief blacksmith of Yuxi City? A large part of the reason why the army is always victorious can be attributed to the fact that Yuxi City's weapons and equipment are always ahead of the enemy. Isn't the reason for the lead here because of Liu Shi?

Now everyone has formed a special tacit understanding. Since it is the decision of the city lord, don't rush to criticize it, just observe for a while.

Yunye integrated easily into Yuxi City and took up the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After that, the first thing Yunye did privately was to hire a carriage to pick up her family. She had secretly observed that a meal in a cheap restaurant in Yuxi City would cost at most one or two silver coins. She could take her brothers and sisters to eat there once and fulfill their dreams. Every time she led them past the restaurant entrance, the aroma of the food would make them drool. Although her brothers and sisters were always sensible and didn't make any noise, every time she saw them clumsily hiding their eager eyes, Yunye would feel sad.

Because she had just arrived, Yunye had been familiarizing herself with the situation in Yuxi City and had not been able to spare the time to make the trip in person.

Once, Yunye was reading the information about Yuxi City until late at night, and then she took a nap on the table. The next day, she was woken up by the noise outside. She rubbed her cold nose, put on her coat and went to the city lord's mansion to see what was going on. When she opened the door, she found that it was her family who seemed to have just arrived outside the city lord's mansion, and her mother was arguing with a middle-aged man.

When she saw Yunye, the middle-aged woman's eyes lit up. She ran over in two steps and grabbed her wrist.

The woman was very strong and her grip on Yunye's wrist was painful. Of course, it was also possible that the woman was too excited. She pulled Yunye over and the joy on her face was beyond words:

"Congratulations! Congratulations, my girl! In such a short time, you have moved into the City Lord's Mansion. Mom is so proud of you."

After that, she immediately said loudly to the onlookers:

"Look, look, this is my daughter, Yunye! I've long said that this child is very smart, born to do great things, and will definitely have a bright future. Look, in just a few days, she has become a high-ranking official! She also has the support of the city lord. I want to see who dares to bully us in Yuxi City in the future?"

For a moment, everyone looked at Yunye.

At this time, Yunye realized that not only her family came, but also many relatives from the village. After Yunye's mother said this, her father lowered his head and said nothing, while her brothers and sisters looked at their sister worriedly. On the contrary, Yunye's brother and her aunts and uncles all looked arrogant, looking down on the people of Yuxi City, as if they had become the new masters here.

Yunye was silent for a moment, then gently pulled her hand away from her mother's.

65. Give Him a Die Hard

Yunye's mother didn't care about her daughter's little action at all. She had already started to look into the City Lord's Mansion. To her disappointment, she didn't see any magnificent and glittering ornaments inside. It was quite different from what she had imagined. Her original idea of ​​taking something back was also dashed.

But she quickly cheered up, walked up to the middle-aged man who was arguing with her before, turned sideways and said to Yunye:

"My girl, please judge for me. I told him to give up the house, but he refused. I told him that you are now the woman of the city lord, but he still dared to glare at me. What a shame! I heard people say that a new official will start with three big things. I think the first big thing should be done on his head, otherwise everyone will dare to bully you in the future!"

When the middle-aged man first saw Yun Ye coming out of the City Lord's Mansion, he felt a little uneasy. He was just an ordinary citizen in Yuxi City, but his ancestral property was closer to the City Lord's Mansion. If the girl next to the City Lord really took a fancy to his property and forced him to hand it over, he would have no choice but to give it up obediently.

Unexpectedly, Yunye walked up to the middle-aged man, bent down without hesitation, and took the initiative to apologize to him.

The middle-aged man was a little stunned.

Yunye's mother glared at her and complained to her again:

"Why, am I the bad guy? Who did I work so hard to get them to vacate this house for? Wasn't it for you? I haven't had any water since I got up this morning, and my lips are almost worn out. Isn't it because I'm worried that you'll need someone to take care of you living alone in the City Lord's Mansion that I plan to live as close to you as possible? Girl, why don't you appreciate it?"

After saying that, he pointed at the group of aunts and uncles behind him and said to Yunye:

"And they came to see you because they were worried about you. If you don't make more money, how are you going to accommodate them? If you really let a bunch of people squeeze into a tiny house, you won't feel ashamed, but I will."

A bunch of relatives who Yunye had no impression of came up to her and said to her one after another:

"Yunye, do you still remember your aunt? When you were one month old, your aunt held you in her arms!"

"Yunye, ten years ago when you came to your uncle's house, your uncle invited you to dinner. Do you remember? Now that you are rich, you must not forget your uncle."

"Come here, let aunt have a look... Hey, you are so good, I said that Miss Yunye is blessed, look at her eyebrows and eyes, she doesn't look poor, but an extraordinary golden phoenix! This is your cousin, Yunye, hey, do you remember him? Even if we are rich, we should still think of our hometown people. You, arrange a job for him in the City Lord's Mansion. It doesn't have to be much per month, just one gold coin is enough, but the job must not be too tiring..."

Yunye was surrounded in the center, and for a moment her ears were filled with laughter. Her thin body was pulled back and forth, like a lonely boat.

After finally squeezing out of the crowd, Yunye's mother quietly patted her hands and said:

"Originally I wanted to ask you for some money as a dowry for your brother. But then I heard that you became a high-ranking official, so I discussed with your brother and called off the previous marriage. That girl named Yanqi is just the daughter of a blacksmith, how can she be worthy of our current status? You are working in the City Lord's Mansion now, and the people you meet are all upper-class nobles. Why don't you talk more and find a better partner for your brother."

Before Yunye could speak, the woman continued:

"How much salary do you get every month? At least several gold coins, right? Then, you can keep one gold coin for yourself and give the rest to mom, who will keep it for you. Let your brother also benefit from your salary. He has had a hard time these years and it's time for him to enjoy himself. Anyway, you probably don't need money, so if you run out of money, just ask the city lord for help."

She stretched out her hand and without waiting for Yunye's consent, she reached directly for the bag around her waist.

Yunye instinctively took a step back and frowned. At this moment, there was only one thought in her mind -

If I don’t refuse, my younger brothers and sisters will go hungry again.

She clearly wanted to take them out to eat delicious food and buy them some new clothes. But when that big open hand came down, Yunye didn't know how to react for a moment. Everyone was looking at her, and their expressions were like looking at a big cake at a banquet, and everyone was thinking about how to cut it to get the sweetest piece.

Yunye's mother's eyes lit up. A huge, inexhaustible wealth was right before her.

The hand fell, which meant that although Yunye's identity was different, she could still demand from Yunye as greedily as before. As long as she could always be above Yunye, no matter how high Yunye rose in the future, she would be the biggest beneficiary and could unscrupulously squeeze all the value of Yunye.

It’s a pity that the hand never touched Yunye’s bag.

It didn't feel good to have someone grab her wrist in a hurry, especially when the other person was so strong that her wrist hurt.

I don’t know if she considered Yunye’s feelings when she pulled her wrist just now, but at this moment, the woman didn’t even have time to raise her head before she started scolding:

"Who is so ignorant?"

After saying that, she looked up along the hand that was holding her wrist, and happened to meet Reed's smiling eyes.

She didn't know Lid, but Yunye had already taken a step back and said respectfully:

"I have met the Lord of the City."

The woman was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether she should salute him or not. The pain in her arm made her sweat, but she dared not cry out. Yunye's brother Hu Luo was attracted by the girls following Li De, especially one of the girls with twin ponytails. After noticing Hu Luo's gaze, she turned her head and showed him a charming smile, which made Hu Luo's heart beat wildly. He was fascinated by him instantly.

Lid smiled and asked:

"Are you Yunye's mother?"

The woman nodded hurriedly.

Lid raised his chin towards Hu Luo again and asked:

"That's Yunye's brother, your son?"

The woman continued to nod, and when she saw that Reed seemed to be chatting with her, her eyes suddenly became eager again.

Unexpectedly, Lid's smile disappeared, and his face was full of doubts:

"No. I see you are wearing a colorful silk dress, which is much better than the gray cloth that Yunye usually wears. The powder on your face is also quite exquisite, and I think it should be bought in the city. A box should cost at least one or two silver coins. And then look at the boy standing there, who looks lazy and ignorant. He doesn't look like the eldest son of a poor family who has to bear many responsibilities. Could he be a liar from somewhere, bullying the people of Yuxi City?"

The woman was anxious and said to Yunye hurriedly:

"Hey, quickly explain this to the city lord and tell him that we are a family!"

Yunye stretched out her hand to Lid and said through gritted teeth:

"Lord City Lord, I am very sorry. This... is my mother."

The woman immediately laughed and said to Lid proudly:

"Look, Lord City Lord, we are not liars at all. We are a family with Yunye. Just for the sake of our relationship with Yunye, we are also with you now-"

Before the woman could finish her words, Reed's hand had already accurately clamped her mouth.

Five fingers pinched her cheeks, making her swallow the half-finished words. The powder on her face fell off. The huge pain finally made the woman sober up, and she found that the smile on Reed's face was vaguely cold.

He smiled and said to the woman:

"Oh. Family, does that mean you've spent all your money on yourself these years, leaving the dirty work to Yunye, and leaving the easy and enjoyable things to yourself? You didn't treat her as a human being before, but when she became successful, you shamelessly came to join in the fun. You really don't mind being ashamed! You even act as if you are proud of it. Is any of her achievements today due to you? Family, how dare you say these three words out loud."

Lid loosened his hand, shook his wrist to shake off the powder on his fingertips, looked around at Yunye's silent relatives, smiled and said:

"I don't care what Yunye thinks, but I am a little upset when I see it. So I thought of a way. It just so happens that I plan to continue to develop the business of the demon clan recently, and I need some people to immigrate to the demon clan. The difficulty of this matter is that it requires people around me to take the lead first, but I haven't found a suitable person yet. Since you are so eager to make connections, I think it's better to start with you first. I will hire a few carriages to take you all the way west. When we reach the territory of the demon clan, I guarantee that everyone of you can become a local landlord and everyone can become a rich man!"

Yunye's mother was startled. Cold sweat washed away the powder on her face, leaving marks one after another. She said in a trembling voice:

"Lord City Lord, are you kidding me?"

Lid waved his hand and replied:

"Do I look like I'm joking? I'm doing this for your own good. Since you all consider Yunye a family member, and Yunye is from Yuxi City, then you are also my family member, right? How can I harm you? I have decided to give you wealth and honor, but as the saying goes, wealth and honor come with risk. If you want to get rich, you always have to face a little risk. I believe you won't mind. Pingzi, count the number of people, Heyue, arrange the carriages, remember to pick a few comfortable ones, and don't be stingy."

Pingzi, who had twin ponytails, responded sweetly and started running over to count the number of people one by one.

He Yue soon brought several magnificent carriages and began to persuade some people who were nearby to get on board.

Yunye's relatives had no choice but to believe it. For a moment, there was wailing and complaints everywhere. At this moment, they wished they could find a crack in the ground to hide in. Wherever the bottle ran to, the crowds were scared and scattered.

Reed glanced at Yunye and winked at her secretly.

Yunye was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood something. She bit her lip with a complicated expression, knelt on one knee, and said loudly:

"Please have mercy, Lord City Lord! These people are Yunye's relatives after all. Yunye doesn't want to see them suffer no matter what. If the Lord City Lord insists on forcing them to death, Yunye... is willing to go with them."

The scene became quiet again.

Lid stared at her for a long time, shook his sleeves, and said:

"Since you've asked for mercy for them... let's put this plan on hold for now. Today I'll be especially merciful and allow them to go back to where they came from. But Yunye, since you work in Yuxi City and will need to represent Yuxi City on diplomatic missions to various territories in the future, then according to the rules you must have some relatives living here so I can feel at ease. Today your father and your brothers and sisters must stay and temporarily live in Yuxi City as hostages."

Yunye lowered her head and said respectfully:

"Yes."

66. Let’s drink together under the stars tonight

That night, Yunye took the initiative to ask Lid out for a drink.

The two of them sat on the edge of the wooden corridor surrounding the courtyard, and the early autumn breeze blew cool on their faces.

The night was beautiful today, with a bright starry sky above the courtyard. After the hustle and bustle of the day, the night in the City Lord's Mansion was surprisingly quiet, with only the occasional sound of iron hammering coming from afar, which sounded completely calm, like the occasional sound of a bell from a temple deep in the mountains.

Yunye sat very quietly, spinning the bottle in her hand a few times, lowering her head and speaking:

"Um, I'm really sorry about this being during the day."

Lid's eyes followed the last firefly flying around in the yard, and Yunye beside him mustered up the courage to continue:

"The Lord Mayor deliberately took the blame for the conflict in order to protect my reputation, right? I know... Even I can see this. But in this case, the Lord Mayor has to be the bad guy again. Thanks to the Lord Mayor, I can sit in the night and fantasize about the future like this, so I will do my best to repay you."

After Yunye finished speaking in one breath, she turned sideways and bowed deeply to Lid, saying:

"I am not from a noble family. Although I know that money can move people's hearts, in my heart, the kindness I have received during this period is more important than any amount of money. Thank you, Lord City Lord, for thinking highly of me. Thank you, Lord City Lord, for keeping my father and my brothers and sisters here. Thank you, Lord City Lord, for being the bad guy for me."

Reed witnessed the firefly flying towards him, circling him a few times, and then landing on Yunye's shoulder very close to him, flashing a long light.