Chapter 44: Good Talent


    Trantor: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales


    After feeding her a small half-bowl of red date porridge, Zhu Minng remembered something and felt that he should report it to Li Yunzi.


    “I saw your sister at the academy,” Zhu Minng said.


    “Who?” Li Yunzi asked.


    “Do you have many sisters?” Zhu Minng asked, puzzled.


    “What did she say to you?” Li Yunzi said.


    “The first time, I saw her at the bridgehead, she was buying peaches next to me. I thought she was you, so I spoke to her, but she didn’t say much. Later, I saw her in the Book Pavilion, where she disguised herself as you, and I was deceived,” Zhu Minng recounted the events to Li Yunzi.


    Zhu Minngter learned that people at the Dragon Taming Academy all knew of Nan Lingsha, but not many had actually seen her, with many saying she had the beauty to bring down a nation.


    In the nearby Foundry and marketce, not many knew of Nan Lingsha, and no one had seen her. Only when Zhu Minng tested Nan Ye did Nan Ye seem to know the situation surrounding Li Yunzi and Nan Lingsha.


    Nan Ye was naturally from the Nan Family and seemed to have a high status, as if he alone knew of the rtionship between Li Yunzi and Nan Lingsha.


    “They’ve all seen her,” Li Yunzi seemed to understand something, nodded her head, and after a while, said, “They shouldn’t have taken part…”


    After saying this, Li Yunzi herself seemed a bit lost, with a tinge of mncholy between her eyebrows.


    Participated?


    Zhu Minng couldn’t quite grasp the meaning of the two words Li Yunzi had said.


    “Do you suspect your sister and the Nan Family are also the ones plotting against you?” Zhu Minng asked, surprised.


    “I have many enemies,” Li Yunzi said.


    Zhu Minng didn’t know much about Li Yunzi’s family, so naturally, he couldn’t help her analyze the situation. Then there was the foxy woman who called Li Yunzi ‘sister’ in the dungeon.


    She seemed to have been killed by Luo Xiao, so what was her true identity? From what he could tell, she used to be someone close to Li Yunzi, and this person was most likely just an executor. So who was the mastermind behind the scenes?


    Many enemies, does this mean during her times in Wutu when she was overthrown and framed, many people were involved? Close rtives, old enemies, distant enemies?


    On further thought, Li Yunzi originally had many subordinates, her own Army Guard, and extraordinary Divine Power. How could she be reduced to a prisoner by an ordinary woman? The situation was much moreplex than what Zhu Minng had seen.


    “How can I help you?” Zhu Minng asked.


    “Take good care of yourself,” Li Yunzi said.


    Zhu Minng scratched his head awkwardly.


    “Some of my enemies are still lurking in the shadows, and they will likely target you. You will need to be even more careful going forward,” Li Yunzi seriously told Zhu Minng.


    Zhu Minng nodded.


    Luo Xiao apparently already knew who the man sharing a dungeon with Li


    Yunzi was. To Zhu Minng, he was a major problem, and those who did not wish to see Li Yunzi rise again would undoubtedly exploit the situation to the fullest!


    Li Yunzi’s situation within her family seemed to be improving, while Zhu Minng, on the other hand, was likely bing her weak point.


    At this moment, Zhu Minng remembered what Nan Lingsha had said.


    The best way for the wound to heal for Li Yunzi was for her to transform herself.


    “You don’t need to worry about me; I will manage. As for you, in the future, try to do less of this self-harming. Passing out like that when there’s no one as upright as me to take care of you is very dangerous,” Zhu Minng also took the opportunity to remind Li Yunzi of this.


    Li Yunzi chewed slowly on the red date flesh in her porridge, her beautiful eyes looking elsewhere, probably feeling that there was a hint of hypocrisy in Zhu Minng’s words.


    At this time, footsteps were heard in the courtyard.


    It was Zheng Yu. He had actuallye by earlier, but considering the two needed some private time, Zheng Yu purposely strolled around the streets to reassure the residents of Rong Valley City.


    “Female Monarch.”


    “Brother Zhu.”


    Zheng Yu maintained the courtesy of a schr, meticulous every time.


    “Brother Zheng, what brings you here?” Zhu Minng’s response was much more casual, as he never considered himself a schr.


    “The resources the Female Monarch brought this time are very plentiful. Although not fully distributed yet, I estimate it’s enough for eight thousand households for a season. Zhang Tuo, the leader, is also a man with ideas. He discussed with me and thinks that the surplus food and clothes should not be given directly to the Wutu people. It’s better to teach them how to fish than to simply give them fish. Using the organizational cohesion and crisis awareness they still have, we could hire some of them to mine iron ore in the North


    Mountain behind Dongxu Fortress City and then settle the wages daily,” Zheng Yu said.


    Food would eventually run out.


    What if next year’s harvest were also poor?


    What if the summer heat disasteres next year, and the winter bes even colder?


    Zheng Yu believed that since the Female Monarch considered them her own people, then the people should not only receive relief but should also work.


    Every one of the Wutu people who had suffered from this natural cmity understood how precious it was to be able to work, harvest, and receive payment.


    Iron ore was in demand in all the major city-states; selling the iron ore and exchanging it for food and clothing meant Wutu would have an extrayer of security.


    “Mm, that’s a good suggestion, but there’s no need to mine those low-grade iron ores. I have a vein map of Wutu; I will send someone to give it to you. You and Zhang Tuo carry out this task, ” Li Yunzi nodded and said.


    “I had heard that Wutu contained rare ores, so the Female Monarch has already thought of a path to prosperity for Wutu!” Zheng Yu once again bowed respectfully to express his admiration and respect.


    “Flying Bird Camp will withdraw from this ce soon. Have Zhang Tuo retain some morally upright individuals to stay in the army. Wutu needs its own army. I will pay these people’s sries for half a year. After six months, the proceeds from the mines will take over. The Nine Cities of Wu Tu will be exempt from thebor tax for theing year,” Li Yunzi stated with clear artiction.


    “Your servant understands!” Zheng Yu nodded. He had wanted to raise this issue with Li Yunzi, and sure enough, she had already taken it into ount.


    Having experienced this riot, Wutu was in chaos and needed to be reorganized and more importantly, to recuperate and heal.


    Fortunately, everything was developing in a positive direction; Zheng Yu felt extremely relieved.


    As long as they didn’t face a disaster with bodies strewn everywhere and widespread carnage, with the army, officials, and people working together, they would ultimately not be devastated by natural cmities again!


    Zheng Yu also knew that Li Yunzi needed more rest and did not mention other trivial matters—those were naturally for them, the officials, to handle.


    “Zheng Yu is a capable talent,” Zhu Minng said to Li Yunzi.


    On the way here, Zhu Minng had already told Li Yunzi about Zheng Yu’s water-retention strategy to fend off enemies, and just now, Li Yunzi’s words also showed her intention to make good use of Zheng Yu.


    “Yes, he held Rong Valley City, stopped the tragedy of people killing each other, and left us room to maneuver. If he can handle the tasks I assign, let him take charge of the Nine Cities of Wu Tu,” Li Yunzi nodded.


    Understanding military strategies, capable of governing a city, aware of the bigger picture while not neglecting the details—Li Yunzi might’ve been able to stop the riot, but the true peaceful living of the people depended on someone like Zheng Yu.


    Moreover, civilians killing each other was extremely unfortunate. As one of the rulers of Ancestral Dragon City, if the citizens of Rong Valley City were massacred and she let the killers go free, it would be difficult to exin to the people of Ancestral Dragon City.


    The current oue was already a stroke of luck amidst the misfortune!


    Zhu Minng also felt relieved; at least he could still enjoy the tranquility in the courtyard filled with falling plum blossoms. Any other oue might have numbed his heart to death.


    However, this peace was slightly fleeting.


    When it was time to say goodbye, Zhu Minng suddenly felt a bit of reluctance.


    “Then, I will return to the academy,” Zhu Minng said.


    “I won’t appear in the academy. The person you’ll see there won’t be me,” Li Yunzi reminded Zhu Minng.


    Zhu Minng scratched his head, unsure whether Li Yunzi was upset about the incident where he mistook another person for her, or if she was suggesting that she would not take the initiative to find him.


    “Be careful. The person you met at the bridgehead was not by chance,” Li Yunzi hesitated for a moment, but still gave Zhu Minng another reminder.


    ‘I???” Zhu Minng wanted to ask further, but Li Yunzi had already stepped onto the Flying Sword woven from numerous silver threads, leaving Zhu Minng with a stunningly beautiful silhouette…


    Zhu Minng watched her leave and soon fell deep into thought.


    Not by chance?


    So their encounter at the bridgehead was her initial test.


    And then, another encounter in the Book Pavilion…


    At first, Zhu Minng had even suspected that Li Yunzi might have a split personality; the woman he met at the bridgehead and in the Book Pavilion was just too simr to her, and having been in Ancestral Dragon City for a while, he had never heard that Li Yunzi and Nan Lingsha were twins.


    Now it seemed, he was a little too imaginative.


    Li Yunzi’s warning to be cautious of Nan Lingsha, was it because she was worried Zhu Minng would not be able to tell them apart and get tricked again, or did she think Nan Lingsha was still a suspect? For some reason, Zhu Minng felt that Li Yunzi was wary of Nan Lingsha.


    Were their rtions not harmonious?


    Twins usually share both glories and misfortunes.. Was it because they grew up in separate families, or had some unpleasant events happened between them in the past?