It doesn't matter what the lord is.

The latter is more complicated. Those who are truly powerful usually do not work for anyone, but will serve as "guest officials" in the lord's mansion. Those who are not strong enough and have nowhere else to go will choose to become a member of the guard. It seems that they are all working for the lord, but the actual situation is very different. The guest officials are guests, and the guards are servants.

On a snowy night, the housekeeper of the Yunyang Lord's Mansion picked up a little girl in the wasteland.

She looked young, with a pale face and thin body, and her body was covered with wounds of varying sizes.

"Oh my god, who on earth could do such a thing...using a knife to cut a half-grown baby into this state..."

That day, the little girl was brought into the lord's mansion.

As an ordinary servant.

The housekeeper said that the manor was no longer short of servants. If you want to stay, you must practice hard and strive to become a member of the guard.

The little girl held the sword clumsily, slashing again and again, practicing day after day.

However, on the day when the lord's children selected their guards, the skinny little girl stood in an inconspicuous corner holding a sword, and no one paid attention to her from beginning to end. She wanted to show those people the calluses on her palms and tell them that she was practicing with all her strength every day and that she would be useful one day.

She can also wash clothes, cook, and chop wood to make fire.

I am not a useless burden.

But no one paid any attention to her, and no one listened to her.

She tried to pull the hem of the clothes of a much taller brother, and said hesitantly:

"Well, I..."

What he got was the other party's unbridled laughter.

She remembered that the lord's son leaned over, pinched her chin, and looked at her carefully.

At that time, the little girl was short, with dark circles under her eyes, messy hair, and a smell of vegetable leaves because of long-term malnutrition and hard training. The young man let go of her hand, snorted coldly, and kicked her to the ground.

"It's okay that you have poor sword skills, but you're also so ugly... You don't even qualify as a plaything. Get out! Get out of our lord's mansion, you piece of trash... Remember, don't bother me anymore. I, Li Yi's men, don't keep disgusting things like you."

The little girl covered her stomach which was kicked so hard that it raged all over her body, and tried her best not to cry.

Because the housekeeper said that girls don’t look good when they cry.

But it’s so uncomfortable, really…it’s so uncomfortable…

My heart felt as if it was being squeezed, and every breath was filled with extreme pain.

She sat in a muddy corner, watching the people in the martial arts training ground full of high spirits.

The selected guards walked past her with smug smiles on their faces.

There was no reservation at all in the laughter.

"See... I knew it..."

"You're just a bastard that we picked up. Do you think you can steal our jobs?"

"If you can face the reality, just get out of here. Hahahaha... I don't know how I can still stay here after being scolded like this by the lord's eldest son!!"

"Hey, little one, why didn't you practice swordplay today? Can you chop the wooden stakes? Hahahaha——"

Everybody was smiling.

Everyone has a smiling face.

Everyone was looking at him with eyes full of mockery.

Even the housekeeper who had picked her up back then stepped away when she saw this scene.

Are you kidding me... After offending Lord Li Yi's eyes, can I still stay in the Yunyang Lord's Mansion?

Everyone knows that the eldest son Li Yi is the future lord of Yunyang...

The little girl hugged the sword tightly in her arms, huddled into a small ball, and her tears fell into the soil.

If I become ugly, then I won’t be ugly. No one will like me anyway.

Then cry. Crying will make you feel better...

Suddenly, she seemed to feel that the discussions around her gradually died down.

In silence, the little girl opened her tear-blurred eyes and looked in front of her.

A guard who had just been talking about her was kicked to the ground by a boy about her age.

The people around didn't dare to breathe.

She watched the boy walk towards her and vaguely heard discussions coming from the side.

"Fourth Young Master..."

"What is the Fourth Young Master going to do?"

The little girl looked at him timidly, then shrank back as she saw the boy walking towards her, fearing that he would be kicked again.

But the boy in luxurious clothes half squatted down, with a dandy smile, and said casually:

"Want to follow me?"

She remembered that the discussions of people around her were like boiling water.

"Fourth Master, she is nothing but a waste! It is inappropriate to let such a person serve as a guard!"

"That's right, Fourth Young Master, which one of us is not better than her?!"

"I volunteer to join your guard, please..."

The little girl's mood suddenly became depressed again.

Yes, I am just...

The boy turned his head and said gently with a warm smile:

"I, Lide, don't need you to teach me how to do things."

He put his expensive coat on the little girl's dirty body.

A warmth seeped in from behind the little girl.

He smiled and extended his hand to the disheveled little girl in front of him.

"From now on, you will be my only guard. Hold the sword firmly. From now on, I will grant you the title of knight! ...You must be loyal to the last moment."

After saying that, he turned around and waited for a while.

The little girl stood up shakily and quickly followed.

That day she walked a long way holding the fourth young master's clothes.

That day she told a stranger her name for the first time.

Her name is... Alayya.

Many years later, Alayya became the most beautiful girl in the lord's mansion. Except for her thin breasts, her beauty and figure firmly crushed the harem beauties of the Yunyang lord and his family. Her sword skills became more and more crisp and neat, and there was a sense of mystery. Everyone could see that if she continued to grow like this, she would probably be the most outstanding young swordsman in the Yunyang territory. However, Lid, who took her away that year, lived a life of a young master every day, and his reputation in the Yunyang territory was getting worse and worse.

Everyone said that this young dandy did not deserve such a good guard.

Li De’s elder brother, the eldest son Li Yi, also thought so.

So one night, the eldest prince called Alayya to his room, smiled and offered her all kinds of benefits and made all kinds of promises.

"My brother can't inherit the position of lord, but I can. From now on, you will be the mistress of Yunyang, with endless money and countless treasures. You don't have to take risks anymore, and you don't have to fight with others anymore... Look, he actually let such a beautiful woman be a mere guard. What on earth is my brother thinking! Alaiya, I promise you that from now on, I will definitely-"

As he said this, he extended his hand to Alayya's shoulder.

Alayya slapped him on the face.

That was the first time in her life that she cursed someone. She clumsily imitated her young master and replied to Master Li Yi:

"I can go fuck you."

10. Sealed in a strange place

"The young master looks very happy."

Alayya sat next to me in the bumpy carriage and asked with a smile.

And I, holding a big box of money, was smiling happily.

That's right! I, Li De, became rich overnight! From then on, I got rid of the fate of being kept by a rich woman and truly achieved independence!

"But it's really infuriating when you think about it. I've been working so hard outside these years, but I've only managed to save more than 500 gold coins. Yesterday, after I had a friendly conversation with my brother, he gave me more than 2,000 gold coins. This money is what he had left over. It's amazing to have a good father."

Alaia reminded diligently:

"Master, you are now the 'hatred of the rich' that you mentioned before, and you and Lord Li Yi have the same father."

I stretched myself and said to her:

"What do you know? I have the same father but different treatments. No one loves me. I am just a cabbage in the field."

Alayya laughed.

I shook my head, clenched my fist, and said proudly:

"My brother is not a good man, but money is innocent. I can't spend it with guilt just because it's his money. I have to live happier in this world on behalf of those who are exploited and persecuted by him. Alayya! From today on, we are the nouveau riche from the big city! Enjoy life, and we must enjoy a life of luxury!"

Alaia nodded heavily:

"Yes!"

After that, she added in a low voice:

"But Master, I heard that the place we are going to is very poor."

"Don't ruin the good atmosphere!!"

I complained and took the map that I had looked at dozens of times recently.

The power system of this world is a bit despairing. Whether it is martial arts or magic, the upper limit is 20th level. But the human race, which is in the "lower nine clans", can only reach the 10th level at most. This is also one of the reasons why I am not willing to work hard - I have worked hard all my life, and you tell me that the upper limit of the level is only half of others, what's the point of playing this game?

Then bordering the human race is the demon race, one of the “Six Middle Races”.

Hmm… Demon clan, this sounds familiar, does it take a brave man to fight the demon king?

The answer is of course no.

It's very simple. The Demon King is the strongest of the demons, and the demons in the "middle six tribes" can use up to the fifteenth level of martial arts and magic, which means that the level of the Demon King is about 1.5 times the highest level of humans. What's the point of fighting? To be honest, if the demons were not in a serious internal strife and the situation was not so good, the human side would have been slaughtered countless times.

Then the strongest are naturally the "upper three tribes", but humans rarely see them on a daily basis, so they don't care about them.

It is worth mentioning that our Yunyang territory is located in the westernmost part of the human race and borders the demon clan.

The bordering city is called "Yuxi City", which, as the name suggests, is a city that resists the invasion of western demons.

But in fact, there was no resistance at all.

Every time the demons came to plunder, it was easy. The people in the city worked diligently every day, but when the harvest season came, the demons came happily, robbed the things and ran away. This made people wonder, since the living conditions were so difficult, why didn't the people in the city run away?

The answer is also very simple. To the north of Yuxi City is the territory of Lord Zhaochen. This family has always been at odds with our Yunyang, and they are completely watching the show with the gates closed. To the south is the territory of Lord Yunhai. This family is a merchant family, and they will not do anything without profit. They completely regard Yuxi City as a bridgehead to attract firepower.

Then the Yunyang Territory in the east should be able to take them in, right?

Sorry, the east is the fiefdom of my third brother "Lineng". He made it clear that we should let those people work for the demons so that the demons will not harass his territory.

Awesome! This theory made me cry.

Why are you crying?

Because I, Lid, was sealed in Yuxi City.

I am now the lord of Yuxi City.

At this moment I just want to sing a song in the rain. Ah, I live such a sad life. I want to play Chopin in the rain.

I didn't expect that the old ones are the wisest. My father had already made two preparations. It would be best if he could kill me. If he didn't find the opportunity, he could just lock me up in that broken place to vent his anger. Alas, Comrade Li De is just a brick in Yunyang Territory. He can be moved wherever he is needed. Qingshan is lucky to bury his loyal bones, and he will wait for his body to return wrapped in horsehide!

I took it.

11. Just forget about the side quests

Alayya looked at me worriedly.

"Master, why don't we just run away privately?"

I smiled bitterly and said:

"Where can we run to? In Yongtian Kingdom, evading fiefdom privately is a serious crime. My father will issue a wanted order and make my life uncomfortable. Now I am at least the mayor of Yuxi City, and I have some foundation of my own. If we run away, we will be really poor and only have money left."