The voice of Xiao Yibo carried a clear sense of excitement. After all, of all the demon kings in the Green Willow Fortress, he had the best relationship with Xue Three.
Some days ago, when the fortress sent out its troops, Xue San did not return. This resulted in Xiao Yibo shedding quite a few tears in secret.
Xiao Yibo could genuinely sense that Xue Three didn’t mind his status as his father’s killer, and even enjoyed drinking a pot of wine and chatting idly with him when they were free.
Therefore, upon learning that Xue Three had returned safely, Xiao Yibo could be said to have rushed back to inform his master, his eyes red from tears of relief.
Zheng Fan was awoken and frowned slightly.
At this point, although he had had enough sleep, he still wanted to lie in bed a while longer.
If this were his previous life, he would be lazing in bed, phone in hand, not in a rush to get up, just idly scrolling through his phone.
In this lifetime, though he had no phone to scroll through, he had Siniang. And she was much more entertaining than a phone.
Thus, Zheng Fan felt instinctively angry at Xiao Yibo for disrupting the early morning atmosphere.
Siniang turned her head. She was awake too.
Zheng Fan looked at Siniang and leaned over for a kiss.
Admittedly, by normal standards, no matter how attractive the beauty or handsome the man, upon first waking up their breath would be quite unpleasant.
So the common television trope where the main couple wakes up and immediately shares a passionate kiss is quite excessive.
But Siniang was different. Firstly, her physical constitution was perhaps somewhat unique. Secondly, before sleeping, she would place a mint leaf she had specially prepared in her mouth.
Thus when she woke up, her mouth always had a fresh, sweet taste.
"My lord, has San’er returned?" Siniang asked, cuddling into Zheng Fan’s side.
At the same time, her left hand idly drew circles on his chest.
"Hmm, well if he’s back, he’s back. Let’s sleep a little longer."
As it turned out, Chief Zheng’s decision to sleep a little longer was both wise and correct.
When Xue Three returned, Blind Bei and the others were eating breakfast. Xue Three, upon arrival, immediately gave Blind Bei a big hug, causing the typically calm and composed Blind Bei to throw up!
By the time Zheng Fan walked out of his room, after Siniang had helped him dress, Xue Three had already scrubbed himself several times with soap.
"My lord, BOO HOO HOO, I thought I would never see you again, My Lord, or hear your teachings anymore!" Xue Three emoted dramatically.
He had returned to Green Willow Fortress, originally intending to pay respects to his fallen comrades. He was surprised to find the fortress still standing. Upon entering, he discovered that Blind Bei and the others were all still alive, and even more astonishingly, his lord hadn’t perished!
Xue Three’s emotions were complicated, probably akin to the Monkey King’s love-hate feelings for the golden fillet that bound him.
"Okay, okay. It’s good that you’re back safely." Zheng Fan reached out to pat Xue Three’s head.
He had wanted to pat Xue Three’s shoulder, but his back was a bit sore, and he didn’t want to bend.
As Xue Three started to narrate his experiences since infiltrating Mianzhou city that night, he was promptly interrupted by Blind Bei just as he was about to describe his risky journey back after overhearing some chatter among the army cooks.
"San’er, never mind how you made it back. Just show us Prince Fu’s head."
Xue Three wasn’t very eager to explain how he had returned either!
After revealing Prince Fu’s head, wrapped in Golden Silk Soft Armor, everyone’s expressions were quite peculiar.
Because that head looked too much like a cured pig’s head, ready for braising.
"This Prince Fu, he kind of resembles Hui Wenzu," Zheng Fan said.
All chubby people bear some resemblance. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by ⓝovelFire.net
"My lord, this is his personal seal and some documents. I brought them back too."
Xue Three knew that a head alone wouldn’t be very convincing, as there was no facial recognition or DNA technology in this era.
Zheng Fan nodded. "You’ve worked hard."
This was a major military merit. Zheng Fan knew that Hui Wenzu was likely feeling extremely vexed after the recent incident of assembling and then disbanding troops. Offering this head, which looked so much like Hui Wenzu, would certainly help alleviate Hui Wenzu’s predicament.
This head, at this particular time, represented significantly more than the heads of one or two thousand Wolf Land Soldiers.
"Find a nice box to repackage it," Zheng Fan instructed.
"My lord, how about we use this head to free the families of the remaining prisoner soldiers from their slave status?" Blind Bei suggested.
Hui Wenzu had just granted Zheng Fan fifteen hundred barbarian soldiers, increasing the number of cavalry at Green Willow Fortress to over twenty-five hundred.
So, in the short term, obtaining more men or military supplies was almost impossible. Instead, they might as well use this opportunity to do a good favor. Among the prisoner soldiers, many still had relatives who had not been freed from slave status. This time, they could settle the matter for all of them.
"Hmm, that was my plan as well."
Hui Wenzu, this milch cow, had just produced a good amount of milk and would likely be dry for a while now.
At this moment, Ding Hao came over. Ding Hao had been in high spirits for the past few months. After the Yan Emperor crushed the powerful clans, the Liu Clan of Beifeng Prefecture, a large and influential family that had long dominated Beifeng Prefecture, was eradicated.
Thus, Ding Hao had avenged his grudge. With the weight off his shoulders, he felt much livelier.
"Master, someone from the Spy Bureau is here. It’s that man from last time... Shan Ji."
Shan Ji was back again?
Yes, Brother Pheasant had indeed returned.
Zheng Fan had originally thought the Spy Bureau was here to urge him to deploy his fortress’s troops for some mission. But now, the Qian State forces had completely abandoned their fortresses and adopted a scorched-earth strategy. Even if he wanted to fight, there was nowhere to do so.