It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"Well... maybe."

Miss Shiyuan sighed, as if she was not satisfied with the answer, but she did not ask any more questions. She calmly left the inconspicuous courtyard, took the oil-paper umbrella at the door, and stepped into the world. Not long after, the green-clothed Lolita chased out in the rain and said to Miss Shiyuan:

"Miss, please stay. Madam has something for me to tell you."

Miss Shi Yuan turned around with interest.

The green-clothed Loli propped herself up on her knees, took a deep breath, and then said to her:

"Madam said that Yunyang's affairs will be handed over to Bishop Sean of the Justice and Peace Council, and asked Miss not to show up again."

Miss Shi Yuan raised her eyebrows and asked:

"Why?"

The blue-clothed Loli replied:

"Madam said that love is often just a curiosity at first, but then it becomes a deep love. If you are not sure that you can handle Lord Yunyang, you should withdraw as soon as possible to avoid getting yourself trapped."

Miss Shi Yuan nodded and said with a smile:

"understood."

The green-clothed girl used her hands to block the rain and tried her best to run back to the courtyard. However, she couldn't block anything at all, and most of the rain still fell on her body, which made Miss Shiyuan laugh.

Shi Yuan's gaze moved to the wall of the courtyard and he could see spots on the leaves of the Xiangfei bamboo.

The most special woman in the world, the biological mother of the Crown Prince of Nanchu and the Crown Prince of Xiqin, lives here.

No one knows what she wants to do, no one knows what she is doing. Perhaps in the eyes of those men, she is just a canary imprisoned in a cage.

Shi Yuan tightened his collar, walked away quickly, and his figure soon disappeared in the heavy rain.

62. This is her fate

Li De met Jiang Yuesheng's wife and granddaughter on the road.

Lid had a good memory, and even if he only saw them from a distance in the crowd last time, he could still remember their appearance clearly. So this time, he still only saw them in the crowd, and Lid accurately identified these two poor people who were exhausted from the journey.

The old general's wife had no interest in Li De and Xiang Zhehua at first, because Xiang Zhehua had an aristocratic aura that could not be concealed. The old general's wife had seen countless people in her life, so she could naturally see that Xiang Zhehua was a noble lady who grew up in luxury and was not the same as herself.

However, in such occasions, Reid is always able to get closer to the other party in the first place.

"Jiang Yuesheng's case is closed. I am Li De, the leader of the investigation team."

Lid looked into the old man's eyes and said calmly:

"There are so many people on the road, old man, why don't you find a hotel with us to chat?"

So Jiang Yuesheng's wife and granddaughter followed Li De to a nearby hotel. Li De searched through the cash on him and found that it was not enough to stay in a high-end suite, so he could only rent an ordinary double room. The four of them seemed a bit crowded inside. Li De and Xiang Zhehua sat on one bed, and the old general's wife and granddaughter sat on another bed, less than half a meter apart.

Reed first asked the names of the old man and the girl in front of him.

Jiang Yuesheng's wife is named Chunjing, and Jiang Yuesheng's granddaughter is named Jiang Lianqing.

Li De told Chun Jing everything he had seen and heard in Jinxiu City, including that the villagers of Sai'an Village had been replaced, that seven members of the previous investigation team had died in various ways, all kinds of evidence proving Jiang Yuesheng's innocence, and that he and Xiang Zhehua had killed two city lords... and of course, that he had provided Jiang Yuesheng with the murder weapon and helped him commit suicide in prison.

When he heard that Jiang Yuesheng had committed suicide, Chun Jing's face changed drastically. Jiang Lianqing immediately covered her mouth, tears flowing silently. Li De sighed, lowered his head, and said to Chun Jing:

"This is the only thing I feel I must apologize to you for. Jiang Yuesheng is a hero of Nanchu, and I respect heroes. Whether it's a race, a country, or a territory, their rise and fall should not be pinned on a single person, but if someone is really willing to take on the responsibility of their rise and fall, others should show them enough respect. Jiang Yuesheng's death was not my wish, and I'm sorry for that."

Xiang Zhehua lowered her head along with him, without any arrogance of a lady from a noble family.

Chun Jing was silent for a long time, so long that Xiang Zhehua's heart was beating like a drum. After a long time, Chun Jing sighed softly and said to Li De:

"Child, please raise your head... I am not an unreasonable person. Yuesheng always thinks too much about others and too little about himself. Xiang Mu told him that if Nanchu wanted to unify the world, it must reduce the military power of the nobles. He always kept it in mind. Later, when he was about to retire, he went to Xiang Mu and said that his prestige in the army was too high, which would be detrimental to Xiang Mu's weakening of the military power in the future... So he retired from the army calmly, taking away a few rags and the robe given by the lord..."

Chun Jing's eyes turned red and his voice became more choked up.

Li De took out the banknotes from his pocket and handed them to Chun Jing. Chun Jing shook his head silently and said to Li De:

"Why do I need money? My family didn't make much money when we were in the army, and we are just ordinary farmers when we are unemployed at home. If we really wanted to get rich, we would have done it when Yuesheng was a general. I just don't want to do it. Now that things have come to this, I have only one request..."

Chun Jing pointed at Jiang Lianqing who was standing beside him and said to Li De:

"Take this child away from Nanchu and go to Yunyang."

Li De looked at Jiang Lianqing. Jiang Lianqing was of average appearance, not a goddess, and a little worse than Xiang Zhehua. But she had a kind of tenacity, and her eyes were bright and energetic. When Li De looked at her, her eyes were a little evasive, but there was no fear in them.

Lide was confused about what Chunjing meant for a moment, but Chunjing did not give Lide time to think about it and calmly explained:

"Everyone in Sai'an Village says Jianlan, the eldest son of Yuesheng and me, looks like Yuesheng. But in fact, when Yuesheng was still alive, the one who was praised the most in private was Lianqing, who was said to have a talent for leading troops in battle. Although I don't have much experience, I know that when the world gets chaotic in the future, Jianlan, as the eldest son of a general, will have to join the army. Lianqing will also have to go to the battlefield one day... This is her fate, and she can't escape it."

Chun Jing babbled on and on:

"Our Jiang family doesn't owe the Xiang family anything. Yuesheng died for Nanchu, and Jianlan will probably die on the battlefield in the future. When I'm gone, how will Lianqing and her mother support themselves? There will be chaos and no one to take care of them... By then, Lianqing will most likely choose to join the army as a general. Well, wouldn't that mean she will serve the Xiang family again? Instead of that, it's better to leave early..."

This trip to the north seemed to have exhausted Chun Jing's last bit of strength. Her mental state was very different from when she pointed the dagger at her chest some time ago. Jiang Yuesheng's death was also a big blow to her. Even though Chun Jing did not show any blame to Li De, Li De could clearly feel that she was extremely sad.

Li De was silent for a moment, then said to Chun Jing:

"I can take Lianqing back to Yunyang. If she wants to join the army as a general, I will naturally agree. If she doesn't want to, I will never force her."

Chunjing nodded, gratitude in his eyes.

Lid asked again:

"How about you come with us? That way Lianqing will have someone to look after her."

Chun Jing helped Lian Qing with her hair and smiled:

"No need... I have to go back, Yuesheng is still waiting for me. You guys, don't underestimate Yuesheng because he is very capable and calm. In fact, he is no different from a child in many cases. He will make a fuss if he doesn't have the food he likes, and he often has nightmares at night, and I have to comfort him... It must be very dark underground, he definitely doesn't dare to go alone. I will go down there later and accompany him..."

Jiang Lianqing covered her face and broke down crying.

Chun Jing patted her on the back and said kindly:

"You, you, why are you crying? I've told you so many times that since you were born in our family, you must be stronger than other children. Grandpa and grandma will not be with you one day, but you have to live on..."

Ignoring Jiang Lianqing who was crying louder and louder, Chunjing stood up silently and bowed to Lide, signaling him to take good care of his granddaughter. Xiang Zhehua wanted to support Chunjing, but Chunjing coldly blocked her way. In the end, Lide stood up and sent her downstairs. Old man Chunjing took out the half-remaining robe and bloody clothes and put them on, and tremblingly continued on the road back to Sai'an Village.

Her figure quickly disappeared in the crowd.

Jiang Lianqing curled up her small body into a ball, biting her lips tightly, and did not follow out.

63. Remuneration

When Lid returned to Yunmeng City, the chaos in Nanchu had officially come to an end.

For Lid, this was not a surprising thing. Although the classes in Southern Chu were clearly divided, it was not corrupt. If we compare it to a dynasty, it should still be in the period just after its heyday. Although Southern Chu had many problems during this period and was no longer the absolute overlord in the world, it could still cope with this scale of civil strife.

After hearing the whole story from Xiao Hei, Reed nodded calmly. It was almost the same as he had guessed.

In fact, even if Li De didn't kill Jiang Yuesheng, the Nanchu lord should be able to suppress the rebellion, but it would cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of lives. If the Nanchu lord was really at his wit's end, he should have sent Xiao Hei to Jinxiu City to help Li De investigate the case, but Li De never saw Xiao Hei from beginning to end, which means that the Nanchu lord didn't need to pin all his hopes on him.

But Xiao Hei was very grateful to Lid.

He was still as talkative as before, and it took him almost half an hour just to apologize:

"I'm sorry for you this time. At first, I really didn't know what was behind the bloody shirt case. It wasn't until my father arranged for me to sneak into the army and contact some generals that I realized it. At that time, I arranged for someone to send a message to Jinxiu City, but the situation was becoming more and more critical, and my people were directly intercepted and killed halfway."

"When I first heard the news of Jiang Yuesheng's suicide, I felt very sad. I have never seen him, nor have I spoken to him, but there are not many old generals left in Nanchu. I was thinking that when we go to war with Xiqin in the future, maybe the old general can go into battle again, but now it seems that it is impossible. Alas..."

"By the way, my father said you have the appearance of an emperor. But he said the same thing to me before, so I don't think this evaluation is worth much. What is valuable is Nanchu's attitude towards Yunyang. My father should form an alliance with you in the future, but of course it's up to you to decide whether to form an alliance or not. I guess Yunyang is most in need of money right now, and coincidentally, Nanchu is least in need of this thing."

"Also, as I said before, as a reward for your help, I can agree to three of your requests. What I value most is promises. Once I promise, I will definitely do it. Just ask for whatever you want, but don't let Nan Chu suffer too much loss..."

Xiao Hei spoke intermittently, and if Reed didn't interrupt him, he would probably be able to talk until tomorrow.

Lide didn't see Xiaobai by his side, and after asking Xiaohei, he learned that Xiaobai had returned to Xiqin. Before Nanchu fell into civil strife, the pro-war and pro-peace factions had wanted to hold Xiaobai hostage as a bargaining chip to threaten the lord of Xiqin in the future. However, Xiaohei successfully sent his brother back to Xiqin, saying that he didn't want Xiaobai to see these dirty things in Nanchu.

Although Reed remembered that Xiao Hei had promised three conditions, he had no intention of taking advantage of them before.

After thinking about it, Lid told Xiao Hei that he could lead the nobles of Nanchu to invest in Yunyang's enterprises and then hold a certain share in them.

Yunyang was indeed short of money, but if it was just a little bounty, it would be nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Just like this time, Li De got a lot of silver notes from Xiang Linglong. This money might not be spent by an ordinary person in a lifetime, but if this money was invested in the construction of Yunyang, it would disappear without a trace in a few days.

Nanchu was very rich, but the economic structure of Nanchu determined that their wealth had begun to stabilize and no longer flowed. From the various luxurious buildings, it could be seen that the nobles of Nanchu had long been rich, and they didn't know where to spend their extra money, so they could only repeatedly buy various luxury goods.

Yunyang is still in the development stage and needs to accept external investment appropriately. If Xiaohei can persuade the nobles of Nanchu to take the lead in investing, Yunye can win more support in the subsequent diplomacy. After all, capital is something that always requires someone to enter the market first before others can come in. As for whether Nanchu's money will be returned in full and the remaining money will be divided 30% and 70%, it depends on the subsequent development of Yunyang.

Xiao Hei was very smart. Although he had not studied much about economics before, he nodded readily after Lid gave him a brief explanation:

"I'm confident that Yunyang can produce in-demand goods like steel. I know it's a good thing. When you come back, I'll tell you a number. As long as your production can meet the target, I can get any investment. This time the noble civil strife has been suppressed, and my father's power has returned to its peak, and the status of our Prince's Mansion has also greatly increased. In addition, many nobles who participated in the rebellion are still in fear. As long as I mention this to them casually, I'm afraid there will be many who are willing to show their loyalty."

Xiao Hei was silent for a while, then said to Lid:

"However, this is still a win-win situation for both of us. What about you? What do you wish for?"

Lid yawned and asked with a smile:

"Peace in the world?"

Xiao Hei also laughed and said to Lid:

"The world will always be peaceful, it just depends on who will unify it in the end. The world will always be in chaos again. My father said that where there are people there will be conflicts, where there are conflicts there will be divisions, where there are divisions there will be violence, where there is violence there will be wars. I also want the world to be peaceful... When it is peaceful, I will find a wife for Xiaobai. He gets annoyed when he sees a woman now. If I don't help him, he will probably have to become a rabbit god in the future... Seriously, three wishes."

Lid thought for a moment and said to Xiao Hei:

"First, give Jiang Yuesheng a respectful burial; second, take vengeance on Xiang Geling's family lightly, and Xiang Zhehua will come back to Yunyang with me this time; third, I hope you promise me that if you win the war against Xi Qin in the future, you will treat their people well, and if you lose, you will treat your people well."

Xiao Hei looked at the gray sky, and after a while he said to Lid:

"I understand what you mean. Don't lose too badly... Is that what you want to say? Okay, although I don't know whether it will be me or my father who will be in charge at that time, but I promise you. But I really didn't expect that you also have compassion for the people of Nanchu."

Reed smiled and said nothing.

Unlike Yunyang, Nanchu has many cultural treasures from this world, as well as intangible cultural heritage including witchcraft, poison, and various martial arts. In Lid's eyes, as long as Yunyang continues to develop, these things will one day be his.

You should always protect your own things in advance.

Xiao Hei said to Lid:

"I told Xiaobai that the matter here has been resolved, and asked him to come back as soon as possible. When he comes back, we will discuss the plan of the organization [Potian]. I have a few friends who will come with me, and we can get to know each other then. They are all interesting guys."

64. Breaking the Sky

After going around in circles, Reed felt that he was finally back on track.

He originally came to Nanchu to discuss the matter of [Potian] with Xiaohei and Xiaobai, and to see if he could recruit Nanchu as an external aid for Yunyang. The latter purpose was indeed achieved. After Xiaohei finished talking to him, the lord of Nanchu personally met Lide, shook his hand in public, expressed his gratitude to him, and promised that from now on Yunyang's affairs would be Nanchu's affairs, and the two territories would never be separated.

Of course, compared to Xiao Hei, Lord Nanchu's sincerity is slightly lower. This is also related to Lord Nanchu's personality. He has a vigorous and resolute aura of a superior, and is almost the same as Lord Lingwu. Although he is not as arrogant as Lord Lingwu, he will not regard anyone as his friend from the bottom of his heart.

Lid didn't care. In diplomacy, there were no permanent friends. As long as both sides satisfied their immediate interests, Lid would smile and cooperate with their performance.

Perhaps because of his favor to Nan Chu, Xiao Hei pushed Li De to the top in the discussion about [Breaking the Sky]. Except for Merlin, the people who came this time were all guys Li De didn't know, and he didn't know where Xiao Hei found them and brought them together.

However, there are indeed people who are interested in Li De.

The first one was a handsome young man carrying a medicine basket. He looked young, about fifteen or sixteen years old; he was not tall, had a gentle smile, and had a pleasant smell of medicine on his body. It was obvious that he often went in and out of various herb gardens. What Reed was interested in was that he carried a medicine pot with him, and there were a lot of herbs piled in the medicine basket. It seemed that he never forgot to cure diseases and save lives wherever he went.

Before the discussion, Xiao Hei introduced Lid. This young man did not belong to any territory, but was the young master of the independent organization [Benevolence]. This organization was similar to a medical and health institution established spontaneously by the people. It collected donations from the nobles and paid salaries to its employees. Most of the employees were barefoot doctors who traveled all over the country to treat people in need.

"My name is Baicao, just call me Xiaocao."

Baicao took the initiative to shake hands with Lid and said with a smile:

"I heard from Brother Hei that you guys would fight against aliens, so I came to help. I don't know martial arts, so I can't go to the battlefield, but I can heal people. If you need me, I'll be there at your service."

His hands were slightly cold and his body temperature was obviously lower than that of a normal person.

After chatting for a while, Baicao said that he was weak and sickly when he was young, and was a real medicine jar. His father spent a lot of effort to save him. He had too many illnesses and took too many medicines, so that later Xiaocao became a good doctor. At the age of ten, he began to carry a medicine basket to various territories to treat the poor.

Li De originally wanted to recruit him to Yunyang, but after hearing this, he decided to give up for the time being.

[Benevolence] This kind of charity organization is running around the world with the attitude of curing diseases and saving lives. They know that there are too many patients and they cannot save all of them, but they still work tirelessly out of the sense of responsibility of a benevolent doctor. It is inappropriate to recruit such people to serve Yunyang.

The second person that Lid was interested in was Xihe, the prince of Wanze Territory. Wanze Territory ranked fifth in the last territory ranking, which was considered a very high ranking territory. However, this territory was in the northwest corner of the entire Yongtian Kingdom and had almost no intersection with the Central Plains.

Li De was interested because this was the first female prince that Li De had seen. Xihe looked about 25 years old, with bright eyes and white teeth, and a heroic look between her eyebrows. She was wearing men's clothes, but she had a little bear hairpin in her hair. According to Xiao Hei, when Xihe was 15 years old, she was engaged to the prince of the Nanyue territory. As a result, the other party later fell in love with the male favorite Xiao Ling. One day, when he was fencing with Xiao Ling outside, he just said "Xiao Ling, I'm coming in" and was caught by Xihe. He broke one of his legs on the spot and was cruelly divorced. Ten years later, Xihe has become an old girl, and still has no intention of marrying anyone.

Today, Xihe’s swordsmanship has reached the middle of the ninth level, and at this age he is considered one of the few great swordsmanship masters.

"Yun Yang... Actually I had a chance to meet you two years ago, but now it's a pity. The capital also sent me a New Year's invitation, but I was sick at that time, so my third brother went on my behalf. When he came back, he told me that you had a fight with the prince of Qiming Territory, Norn, and the great swordsman Qingyun was the referee."

Xihe smiled and patted Lid on the back:

"I didn't have a good impression of Norn, but I was quite happy when I heard it. In the blink of an eye, you have become the Lord of Yunyang. You should be the most senior person present. I feel relieved to have you as the chief."

Xihe's words gave Lide a reason to convince the crowd. She, Xiaohei, and Xiaobai were only princes, and indeed did not have the real power of a lord. However, in the eyes of others, the status of these princes was much higher than that of Lide, the lord of Yunyang, because they would inherit large territories that ranked high in the future, while Yunyang was only a region ranked at the bottom.

The third person that Lid was interested in was a large man.