Xie Liu, feeling elated, could also predict how difficult Wang’s days would be from now on. But what did that have to do with him?
Right now, he only wanted to hold onto the happiness before him.
To work steadily for the Lord Duke, to diligently complete every task assigned by the Lord Duke.
He turned around and went to find General Zhang Shi, reporting in detail the gains from this trip.
“Good, good, good!” Zhang Shi exclaimed several times after listening, unable to contain the joy on his face.
This place, Luofeng Slope, was not bad at all.
The yield of sweet potatoes was even higher than at Qingchou Plain.
From this, it was clear that Xie Liu was an extremely capable person.
No—Xie Liu was an extremely hardworking person.
He poured almost all his effort into crops like sweet potatoes.
But in the past, all that hard work had been wasted, without receiving the pay he deserved. Now, though, things were different. Every task Xie Liu accomplished would become his merit.
He would receive rewards from both Zhang Shi and the Lord Duke.
Zhang Shi believed that Xie Liu would become even more dedicated.
This also inflated Zhang Shi’s confidence to an astonishing level, and he immediately had an idea.
“The Lord Duke’s strategy for Pukou City is to cut off their water and food. Now that the sweet potatoes supplying Pukou City have all been seized by me, the task has been completed ahead of schedule.”
“So what’s next?”
“Just wait for Pukou City to collapse?”
“At a time like this, shouldn’t I be more proactive?”
“Might as well take over the surrounding outposts of Pukou City while I’m at it?”
Zhang Shi thought this wouldn’t be difficult.
At the very least, to his now skyrocketing confidence, it was very easy. So why not do it?
“I’ll write a letter to the Lord Duke to explain the situation, but... I’ll have to lead the main army forward first.”
Once Zhang Shi made up his mind, he set off immediately.
Unsurprisingly, as soon as he finished arranging things here, Lu Shuang advanced alone ahead of the group. This had become the fixed pattern of their cooperation: Lu Shuang would scout first, gather information—especially about “love-brain” types—while Zhang Shi followed behind to command the big picture.
...
In Pukou City, Song Shaoyi burst excitedly into the temporary lodging, where his ally Chen Liang was lost in thought, head down.
Ignoring Chen Liang’s mood, he exclaimed, “Good news, good news, Brother Chen! Great news!”
Chen Liang snapped out of his reverie, turned his head, and smiled. “What good news has you this thrilled?”
“The grain prices in Pukou City have skyrocketed!” Song Shaoyi said excitedly. “It rises three times a day, to the point it can’t be controlled. And it’s not just ordinary food—even the military in Pukou City has come out to buy grain, and the prices are absurdly high.”
“People can’t afford to eat anymore.”
“Do you know what this means, Brother Chen?”
Chen Liang’s eyes lit up.
He understood perfectly.
It meant that Pukou City’s grain system had completely collapsed—especially the sweet potatoes, which the city relied on most.
“From this, it seems the Lord Duke’s people have made their move, cutting off the supply of sweet potatoes around Pukou City... The Lord Duke is also going with the strategy of cutting off water and food!”
“Brilliant!”
“As expected of the Lord Duke!”
Chen Liang’s face was full of admiration.
He wasn’t impressed just because Ren Tianye had come up with this strategy, but rather because of Ren Tianye’s efficiency. How much time had it taken to completely control Pukou City’s grain supply?
After all, he and Song Shaoyi had been messing around inside the city, constantly trying to manipulate grain prices and squeeze the military’s food supplies, but Zhou Xiong was no ordinary man—he had deep defenses that couldn’t be shaken.
But now...
It was done!
“It seems...” Song Shaoyi said, “it won’t be long before Pukou City changes hands.”
“Absolutely!” Chen Liang said with blazing eyes. “Because, aside from this, there’s another huge piece of good news—though I’m not completely sure yet.”
“Another good news?” Song Shaoyi’s excitement grew. “Tell me, Brother Chen, hurry up!”
Chen Liang said, “After I led the members of the Pukou City Love Alliance to tirelessly send countless letters to the Yunjing court, Yunjing...”
“Is considering replacing the general.”
“They plan to replace Zhou Xiong!”
Song Shaoyi’s excitement faded, and he frowned. “Is that even good news?”
“Of course it is,” Chen Liang explained. “This Zhou Xiong is a real oddball in Yunjing. With someone like him guarding Pukou City, it’s an impenetrable fortress for the Lord Duke.
“But once Yunjing makes up its mind and sends in their own people... Pukou City will fall to the Lord Duke with little effort.”
This hit Song Shaoyi like a revelation. He nodded in agreement. “When you put it that way, it really is true.”
“Of course it is. And...” Chen Liang stared into Song Shaoyi’s eyes. “Do you know who the replacement might be?”
Song Shaoyi felt a rush of blood, sensing that the name Chen Liang was about to say would be the one he most wanted to hear.
“Who?” he asked.
“I don’t know either,” Chen Liang said.
Song Shaoyi: “...”
“Though I don’t know who it is, I have some idea about that person’s identity.”
“That person’s idol is the Prince of Love of Yunjing!”
Song Shaoyi said, “The Prince of Love of Yunjing? You mean Xiao Che, the brother of the former Yunjing king, who was titled the Prince of Love of Yunjing? I heard that guy loves to hide his identity and chase so-called 'love.'
“Every time, he disguises himself as a commoner to test a woman’s sincerity, claiming to seek true love unpolluted by status or money."
"But when things get tense, he has his subordinate Yu Chenglong bring out his dragon robe to reveal his identity, and after that, he usually has anyone who offended him exterminated down to nine generations?"
Chen Liang nodded. “You’ve got it right. That’s the Prince of Love of Yunjing. And it’s very likely that the person Yunjing plans to send as the replacement looks up to him.”
Song Shaoyi got excited again. “Then it’s a sure thing!”
“What’s more,” Chen Liang added, “I heard that person has been retired from military service for over five years. Now they’re dragging him out of his home and putting him straight into the army.”
Song Shaoyi paused.
Five years without touching a weapon, and then leading troops right away?
Will the soldiers even respect him?
Even more excited: “Then it’s even more certain!”
Chen Liang said, “Absolutely. The day Yunjing replaces Zhou Xiong will be the day Pukou City falls!”
...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
