Chapter 245 - Summer Flowers
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
On the Zhennan Pass city gate tower, as Shi Hu arrived with the reinforcements, the tide of the battle had turned in their favor.
Wang Feng was freed up. He looked around and noticed that the commander of the bandits had disappeared. He shouted, “Your leader had cowardly fled, surrender yourselves!”
The bandits naturally had a weaker willpower than an ordinary military. Even before the casualties reached one-tenth, their morale had started to disappear. As Wang Feng shouted, his words became the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
The bandits turned and looked. Sure enough, their leader was long gone, and their will to resist immediately vanished.
The cowards surrendered instantly; the evildoers ran and fled.
“Chase after them!” Wang Feng gave his order to pursue the ones that fled.
“Understood!” the soldiers received the order, and they went on a pursuit.
From that moment onward, Zhennan Pass had turned into a city of chaos.
One have to say that the measures taken by Wang Feng were much like Ouyang Shuo’s.
In the midst of chaos, the bandit leader led over 20 of his trusted subordinates to try to find their way out. Even in such critical moments, the wicked leader still tried to snatch the little beauty Li Feixue along with him.
The bandit leader arrived at the courtyard. He saw the guards were still there and he was about to enter. The guards were puzzled. Didn’t the leader order the old-leader to be poisoned? Why is he still coming here?
The leader walked into the courtyard only to find it emptied. His voice was taut with anger and he shouted, “Where are they? Where have they gone?”
The guards felt this was odd, so one of them rushed in. His voice trembled, and he said, “Lea..Leader, there was a man not long ago, he came with your orders to poison the old-leader…. and he did not allow anyone to enter the courtyard.”
The bandit leader knew instantly he was caught in a trap. He lashed out at the guard in anger and scolded, “Idiots!” Time was ticking away, but there wasn’t anything he could do. His eyes were filled with hatred as he gave one last look at the courtyard. Then, he turned and ran.
Beauties were precious, but his life was more important.
Sadly, one couldn’t always get what he wanted.
Before the bandit leader and his followers even ran far enough, the cavalry unit had chased up to them.
The captain of the cavalry unit was excited when he saw them. He knew they were a bunch of running human prizes in front of him, so he shouted, “Take them down!”
“Understood!” the cavalry charged and surrounded them.
The bandit leader saw the cavalry. He sighed in helplessness and surrendered without putting up a fight.
By 3:30 PM, peace was once again restored to Zhennan Pass.
Ouyang Shuo kept his hands off the after-battle matters, such as the handling of resources and captives. Those were all handed to Mulan Yue and Mu Guiying. As he had stated earlier, Shanhai County was only here as a helper and nothing more. It would not participate in the distribution of loot.
Ouyang Shuo did not even plan to take back the scaling ladders and acruballistas. He intended to give them away to Mulan Yue. Five arcuballistas would be stationed in Zhennan Pass to improve its defensive capability.
According to Mu Guiying’s arrangement, a unit of soldiers would be stationed in Zhennan Pass during the early stages. The numbers weren’t big, but it was significant enough for Mulan County.
The military of Shanhai County pulled out from Zhennan Pass under Ouyang Shuo’s order and gathered outside.
After counting, 50 soldiers from Guards regiment were gone forever in the battle, most of them died from the stones during the siege. Because the 1st regiment’s 1st unit did not participate in the intensive battle, only 5 soldiers were lost.
Ouyang Shuo ordered the soldiers to take good care of their fallen comrades, as their dead bodies would be brought back to Shanhai County’s cemetery to be buried.
“Brother Wuyi, let’s go in together!” Mulan Yue hopped toward Ouyang Shuo with a bright smile.
Ouyang Shuo was stunned, he did not plan to enter at all. In fact, he was ready to depart back to Shanhai County. He asked, “Yueyue, is there anything?” Do not underestimate Mulan Yue as a teenager, after over half a year of her journey as a lord, her mentality had matured. If she were to hold Ouyang Shuo back, there must be a reason behind it.
“Brother Wuyi, just come!” The inwardly evil little girl did not explain. Instead, she pulled on Ouyang Shuo’s sleeve and dragged him into Zhennan Pass. Ouyang Shuo could only smile bitterly and follow her.
Zhennan Pass, Council Chamber.
In the middle of the hall sat tens of boxes. The father and daughter, Li Anbai and Li Feixue were also there. Li Anbai’s face were pale, and he seemed like he was going to exhale his last breath at anytime. Tears rolled down Li Feixue’s cheeks, as she looked at her father.
Mulan Yue dragged Ouyang Shuo and sat him beside her in the council chamber.
Mu Guiying sat down. She cupped her fists and said, “Reporting to the lord, we have a total of 2,140 captured prisoners, and plundered a massive quantity of resources and weaponry. The most precious loot are these 12 boxes of treasures. I have roughly counted them. Among the 12, 2 boxes contain gold, 8 boxes contain silver, and 2 boxes have jewelry.”
The resources in Zhennan Pass were massive and abundant, ranging from basic needs such as foods and forages to the defensive materials like burning oils, stones and wood. They also had military goods like bows, swords, and armor.
Other than that, there were also a variety of jewelry, gold, and silver.
Some of these treasures had long existed in Zhennan Pass; others were brought along by Li Anbai after he occupied Zhennan Pass; the rest were plundered by the bandits from the caravans that passed by.
These treasures were the reason Mulan Yue had dragged Ouyang Shuo here, to discuss the distribution of the 12 boxes of treasures. In her heart, she was crystal clear that elite troops of Shanhai County were the foremost contributors in the battle taking down Zhennan Pass.
Although Ouyang Shuo declared long ago to give up the distribution of loot, Mulan Yue still couldn’t allow herself to swallow all of the loot. Mu Guiying also agreed with her in this matter.
Ouyang Shuo was astonished. The treasures in Zhennan Pass even surpassed those of the Er'Shi Ridge stronghold. Honestly speaking, if one said that he was not moved by the treasures at all, one would be lying. Even so, the treasures were only icing on the cake to Ouyang Shuo. On the other hand, it would mean baskets of charcoal in snowy weather to the Mulan County that was under rapid development.
“Brother Wuyi, the gold and jewelry will be yours to take, how is that?”
Her distribution plan looked exaggerated, but it was reasonably fair. The value of the resources she had plundered from Zhennan Pass was way greater than only 2 boxes of gold, especially the various weaponry.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head in determination. He fondly looked at Mulan Yue and said firmly, “Yueyue, there is no need for this. How about this, I will take 1 box of gold, and the rest belongs to you.”
Mulan Yue was about to voice something, but Ouyang Shuo raised his hands and stopped her words in her mouth, “This shall be it.”
“Alright, thank you brother Wuyi!” Mulan Yue rolled her eyes and accepted his decision with a smile.
After they settled the distribution plan, Ouyang Shuo rose and was about to leave.
“Cough, cough….” Li Anbai faked a cough, reminding them of his existence.
“Is there anything, old leader?” Mu Guiying asked.
Even simply nodding his head required great effort, and his voice was hoarse as he spoke. “I am dying; there is not much time left for this old man anymore. The only worry I have left is my lovely little daughter. I beg for the general and the two great lords to take good care of her.”
Mu Guiying turned to Mulan Yue, waiting for her call.
Mulan Yue said in a cute voice, “This won’t be a problem. Little sister Feixue is so cute and innocent. She will definitely not be bullied in Mulan County. May the old leader be at ease.”
Ouyang Shuo shook his head in amusement. He didn’t know that Mulan Yue was like him, having the hobby to adopt little sisters.
“If that is the case, I am thankful.” After Mulan Yue gave her promise, Li Anbai was finally at ease.
When he saw that everything was settled, Ouyang Shuo rose to leave.
Before he left, Mulan Yue gave Ouyang Shuo a token.
“What’s this?” Ouyang Shuo asked.
Mulan Yue mysteriously smile. “This was found when Sister Mu was searching the secret chamber in Zhennan Pass, have a look.”
Ouyang Shuo took the token and had a look. At that moment, his jaws almost fell off.
[Token of Territory Merging] (3/3) : After use, subordinate village creation token can be used to merge existing territory, saving the need to build everything from scratch.
Needless to say, [Token of Territory Merging] solved the biggest problem that was troubling Ouyang Shuo. He could actually extract subordinate village creation tokens from Qiushui, Beihai, or Friendship County, then merge them with an existing territory such as Tianfeng County, restoring the potential of these territories.
“Yueyue, do you know the value of this token?” His tone was solemn and serious.
Such a token defied nature. If it were placed on the auction platform, it would be the tossed stone that raised a thousand ripples.
She seemed to be unconscious of the value of the token, as she laughed as usual. “I am well aware of it. But, in my opinion, Brother Wuyi you need it more than I do. And only you can maximize the full potential of this token.” News regarding Ouyang Shuo’s success in capturing 5 territories had reached the lords of Shanhai Alliance, which naturally included Mulan Yue.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. All of a sudden, he held out his hand and patted her head. Then, he smiled and said, “Well then, I will take this token.” He did not speak of any repayments, as he openly received the gift. The relationship between the two suddenly became closer, while the estrangements disappeared, and they became much like a true brother and sister pair.
Her smile bloomed and resplendent like a summer flower, which warmed the hearts of those around them.
When Ouyang Shuo returned to Shanhai County, he dispersed the military and turned into his office alone.
The [Token of Territory Merging] could be used 3 times. That meant 3 village creation tokens. Matters regarding on how to use, when to use, and which 3 to use would depend on Ouyang Shuo’s future plan for the territory and his own jurisdiction.
The first that crossed his mind was Beihai County. As a harbor city, Beihai County should not scatter its attention. Furthermore, the surroundings of Beihai County were nothing but a long narrow coastline. It was simply unsuitable to expand its territory.
Therefore, the 3 black-iron level village creation token from Beihai County could be freed out and taken by Ouyang Shuo.
Secondly, he had to consider which subordinate territory he would merge the tokens with. Out of the 5 subordinate territories, Gushan County was an autonomous city by the mountain barbarians, so it could be taken off the list. Gushan County was purposed to attract populations from the tribes of mountain barbarians in the woods. The rate of population growth would not be lower than the other subordinate territories, so it didn’t require the system migrants.
Of the rest of the 4 subordinate territories, Tianfeng County was a must. The only problem was whether Ouyang Shuo should use a token on Yishui, Yongye, or Guangshui County.
In his plans, he has no intention to spend all 3 chances at once. He would need to save up at least 1 token for Ba Dao’s Broken Blade County. He couldn’t claim it yet, but it would be his in the future.
As the eastern central city of Ouyang Shuo’s plan, he naturally would not allow its potential to get wasted.
In the end, Ouyang Shuo decided to merge Tianfeng County and Yishui County.