There was only one question: "But this is Wanping Wasteland—where are we supposed to recruit people from?"
Du Ze replied, "Soon, a group of refugees will pass through Wanping Wasteland, cross the Jade River, and head all the way to the capital to seek refuge. With the war raging in the northern regions, the common folk at the foot of Dayan Mountain have been displaced. Especially around the Dayan Plains—the fighting has already begun there. When the time comes, Master can intercept and take in these refugees."
Lu Yunqi thought to himself—he did seem to recall hearing that Great Xia was about to go to war with Great Yan. In a couple of his previous lives, his father had even led troops to reinforce the front lines.
It looked like this life was still following the same script: Great Xia versus Great Yan, war breaking out, and the people left homeless and wandering.
Actually, in the previous nine lives, he had been completely focused on the world quest strategy and had never been anywhere beyond the capital.
This was a good opportunity to look around and see the magnificent landscapes of ancient China.
Lu Yunqi nodded and said, "Good, very good. Then I'll go check out the junction between Wanping Plains and Wanping Wasteland tomorrow. Thirty refugees shouldn't be too hard to recruit."
Du Ze added another reminder: "I suggest Master bring a few Guard-type NPCs with you. There are quite a few Rioter NPCs among the refugees, so it's best to be prepared in case of danger."
Lu Yunqi let out an "Oh" and said, "That reminds me—if I recruit those refugees, what if they leak the location of my Wanping Wasteland? What do I do then?"
Du Ze said, "Master, please rest assured. I have already enabled the Loyalty Detection Mini-program for you. As long as you recruit NPCs with a loyalty level of seventy percent or above, they will absolutely never betray you. If their loyalty is below fifty, they absolutely cannot be recruited. Furthermore, I will constantly monitor the residents' loyalty levels. If it drops below sixty, I will send you a warning, and you can find a way to carry out a Confidential Expulsion."
Lu Yunqi gave Du Ze a thumbs up: "Excellent! You really are a Professional Manager! I'm very satisfied with your work ability!"
Du Ze smiled and said respectfully, "Master flatters me. This is my job. I've already installed the Loyalty Detection Mini-program for you. Please try it out."
The next second, an electronic notification sound came from the system: "Loyalty Detection Mini-program has been activated."
Lu Yunqi blinked, and saw that above each NPC's head floated a white progress bar, marked with a one hundred percent sign.
So all the NPCs had one hundred percent loyalty—that really gave him a sense of security.
Du Ze continued, "Master can hire four Guard-type NPCs. They carry weapons and possess martial skills, which will be more than enough for when you recruit residents."
Lu Yunqi nodded: "Tomorrow, then! Today I need to prepare a carriage. Later I'll set up an Anywhere Door so I can teleport them over at any time."
Du Ze nodded: "That works. These are the only plans for now. Further planning will require unlocking Prosperity Level three. Master, if you're busy, I'll go take care of my daily tasks."
Lu Yunqi waved his hand: "Alright, alright, go on then!"
This was wonderful—with a Professional Manager, it seemed like he didn't have to do anything at all!
Well, no, not exactly—he still had to go recruit residents tomorrow. Ugh, he might as well head out and prepare the carriage first!
"Go wherever you want, do whatever you want"—he suspected the system was just messing with him.
With a sigh, Lu Yunqi turned and went back to his room, then pushed the door open and instructed Liubao: "Little Six, come keep your master company on a trip out."
Preparing a carriage that could hold thirty people—wouldn't that be a bit too big?
Lu Yunqi slapped himself on the head with a smack, thinking, I must be an idiot—can't I just make a few extra trips?
Liubao came running over and asked, "Master, what are your orders?"
Lu Yunqi said, "Come on, accompany me to the market."
Liubao said, "If Master wants to buy something, just give the order. Why would you need to make the trip yourself?"
Lu Yunqi said, "You wouldn't understand. What I'm buying has its uses. Just do as I say."
Liubao acknowledged: "Got it! Master, please get on the carriage!"
All the carriages at home were the kind decorated with ornate flowers and lavish embellishments—one glance made it obvious they belonged to a distinguished household, as if afraid no one would know this was the young master of the Nine Thousand Years Estate.
What he needed was an ordinary flatbed cart, preferably loaded with a cart of rice—that would make recruiting people much easier.
Boarding the carriage, they arrived at the market district, and Liubao asked, "Master, what would you like to buy?"
Lu Yunqi replied, "Go buy me a carriage—a flatbed cart. You know, the kind… ordinary poor folks use."
Liubao was confused: "This… Master, we have over a dozen carriages at home. Any one of them is better than a flatbed cart. Why would you—"
Lu Yunqi kicked Liubao square in the rear with a thud and scolded, "When I tell you to go, you go! Why all the useless questions?"
Liubao stopped asking and hurried off to buy the cart. Before long, he came back pulling a flatbed cart and pointed at it, asking, "Young Master, what do you think of this one?"
Lu Yunqi nodded: "Fine. Now go buy me a cartload of rice—just ordinary millet that common folks eat will do."
"Huh?" Liubao was completely baffled, thinking to himself, could it be that the young lord has had his fill of delicacies and suddenly wants a taste of plain fare?
But he didn't dare ask, afraid of getting hit again, so he turned and pulled the cart to go buy rice.
The rice was bought—ten full sacks, filling half the cart. Lu Yunqi was satisfied this time. He took the reins of the carriage and sat up, then instructed, "You head back first. I'm going out for a bit."
Liubao asked, "My lord, where are you going? How about letting Liubao tag along? I hear there's been trouble with refugees up north lately, and I'm worried you might run into them…"
Lu Yunqi waved his hand. "No need. I'll be back at the manor shortly. Don't worry about me."
Liubao let out an "oh" and rubbed the back of his head, feeling that the young lord wasn't quite himself today.
Lu Yunqi, however, paid Liubao no more mind. He drove the carriage straight to a secluded spot, looked around to make sure no one was watching, then installed an Anywhere Door and drove the carriage through it.
Upon arriving at Wanping Wasteland, Lu Yunqi saw Du Ze leading the NPCs in a group meeting.
Very realistic—even NPCs have to hold group meetings.
When everyone saw him arrive, they quickly stood and bowed to him. "Master."
Du Ze rose and walked over to him, glancing at his carriage. "Master, are you planning to go recruit residents now? But the residents haven't arrived at Wanping Plain yet—at least not until tomorrow morning."
Lu Yunqi said, "No worries. Just have the carriage ready, and I'll come straight over. Take care of the horse for me, and build a stable or something."
Du Ze nodded. "Understood, Master. Please rest assured."
Lu Yunqi waved at the NPCs. "Alright, I'm off."
With that, he turned and stepped through the Anywhere Door—and appeared directly inside his own wardrobe. It turned out the door he'd just set up was a one-time use Anywhere Door, and returning could only bring him back to his own room.
He thought, whatever, he'd have to come back eventually anyway, so he pushed open the wardrobe and stepped out.
The result was that he immediately spotted Liubao and Yunhua cleaning his room together. It nearly scared Liubao half to death—he stood there trembling, unable to speak for a long time.
Yunhua, at least, remained fairly composed. She said, "Huh? Young lord, when did you come back? And why were you hiding in the wardrobe?"
Lu Yunqi cleared his throat and said, "What if I told you… I've been in the wardrobe the whole time? Would you believe me?"
Liubao burst into tears. "Young lord, Liubao has a weak heart—don't scare me like this!"
He had clearly just seen his young lord drive the carriage off toward West Mountain—and that was West Mountain, the closest place to the Western Paradise.
Liubao cried with snot and tears streaming down his face, stepping forward and saying, "Have you met with misfortune, and come back to see us one last time?"
Lu Yunqi: …
As loyal as Liubao was, why did he so badly want to hit him?
Yunhua stepped forward, bravely reaching out to touch Lu Yunqi, and said, "Brother Liu, stop crying. He's alive."
Liubao looked up and saw Lu Yunqi staring at him with a constipated expression. Lu Yunqi said, "We arrived at the Nine Thousand Years Manor one after the other. I hid in the wardrobe in advance just to scare you."
Liubao let out a sigh of relief, wiped his tears, and said, "Young lord, you… you rascal!"
Lu Yunqi closed the wardrobe door, thinking to himself that it was lucky he'd placed the Anywhere Door inside the wardrobe—otherwise, Liubao would have been scared out of his wits.
Liubao stepped forward to help Lu Yunqi sit down, saying, "Please don't play tricks on Liubao next time—Liubao can't handle the fright!"
Lu Yunqi sat down, took the tea Liubao had brewed, and asked, "Has anyone come looking for me? How's Prince Cang doing?"
Liubao replied, "Prince Cang hasn't left his manor all day. But when Liubao was coming back, I saw three princes' carriages parked in front of Tianhuan Tower."
"Oh?" Lu Yunqi perked up at the prospect of gossip and quickly asked, "Did they get into a fight?"
Liubao said, "I didn't go inside, but I heard there's a literary gathering at Tianhuan Tower tonight. Miss Xie said that whoever wins the gathering may enter her chambers and debate poetry with her alone for two hours."
Lu Yunqi let out a derisive snort, thinking to himself, no wonder—all the romantics of the Murong family have gone over there. They must all be hoping for a night of passion with Miss Xie!
His eyes sparkled as he instructed Liubao, "Liubao, go notify Prince Cang. I'm taking him to watch the excitement tonight."
Three princes vying for one woman—a spectacle rarely seen in a thousand years. He absolutely had to go see it.
However, the Third Prince was still under house arrest. He'd just been demoted to a commandery prince by the Emperor, and now he was sneaking out of his manor. He wondered whether the dog emperor would punish him for it.
At the thought, Lu Yunqi's expression turned excited, and he got up to personally fetch Murong Jie.
When he saw Murong Jie again, Lu Yunqi furrowed his brow and asked, "Why do you look so terrible? Don't tell me you played too hard last night and drained your kidneys?"
With that, Lu Yunqi let out a couple of snickers and said, "Did those worthless servants not take good care of you? How is Liubao handling things?"
Murong Jie said, "No, it's not that. I just can't eat."
Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue: "Can't eat? I'm the one who's pregnant, not you. Why can't you eat? Hey, come on, let me take you to Tianhuan Tower to have some fun. Their milk custard is pretty good—I'll get you some to try when we get there."
Murong Jie hid the sharp glint in his eyes, thinking to himself, Perfect timing. I was just wondering what excuse I'd use to get out tonight.
Tonight, it was time to make the Murong family pay a little interest.