So she had no idea that the perverted man was now desperately searching for her.

They couldn't even imagine what their next meeting would be like.

After Wen Qixi left, she slept for a full day and night, and it wasn't until the third day that she remembered the people in the council hall.

The people in the council chamber were trapped by her for three whole days, without water or food, and they suffered occasional chest pains, making their lives worse than death.

They regretted it more and more as time went on.

They regretted leaving the Prince Heng's mansion. If they hadn't left, even if they had done something bad, Prime Minister Shen wouldn't have killed them to keep the peace. They would at least have had a way to survive.

Even if they regretted leaving the Prince Heng's mansion and becoming bandits, they shouldn't have gone so far as to poison this demoness after she seized power.

They should not have listened to Boss Chen's instigation and attacked the witch.

In short, looking back now, I regret everything I did before.

Some even regretted that they should never have entered the Yucheng military camp in the first place.

"Have you thought it through? Do you want to live or die? This is your last chance."

Cen Xi entered the council hall, took out the antidote, and used it to treat the more than 500 men in the room. He then asked...

"We all want to live, young lady. Don't worry, from now on, we'll never go west if you point east. We didn't want to oppose you before, it was all Chen Dahei's doing. Please be magnanimous and don't poison us again."

As soon as Cen Xi finished speaking, one of the people inside immediately begged for mercy in a hoarse voice.

"But what if I don't trust you?"

Cen Xi brandished the Broken Shadow Sword in his hand, then suddenly pointed it sharply at the speaker's neck.

"I...I, Liu Ji, swear on my life that I will follow your lead from now on. If I break this promise, may I be struck by lightning and never be reincarnated!"

Seeing the sharp sword energy, the man hardened his heart and made a solemn oath to Cen Xi.

And you?

Seeing genuine submission in the man's eyes, Cen Xi then glanced at the crowd.

"We also swear to follow you for life! We will never betray our vow. If we break this vow, may we be struck by lightning and never be reincarnated!"

After Cen Xi finished asking the question, the people below responded in unison, but they lacked confidence because they hadn't eaten for three days and were also affected by the poison.

"Alright! Three days should have taught you a lesson. The ancients valued oaths, so this time I'll trust you."

"From now on, you are my people. You will do whatever I tell you to do, and you must not resist."

"If any of you ever try to scheme against me again, or try to be two-faced, I'll accept it, but your punishment will definitely not be as fortunate as it was this time. I'm a person who holds grudges, and your Chief Chen is a perfect example. If you don't want to die a terrible death, you'd better behave yourselves from now on!"

Cen Xi looked at the large group of people in front of her and said domineeringly.

"yes!"

As soon as Cen Xi finished speaking, those people responded weakly. They had been tortured terribly. Not only did their chests ache, but they were also starving. They were so hungry they could eat a whole cow.

"Who among you is capable of managing things? Step forward and let me see. If I deem it feasible, you will be the leader, and everyone else will have to listen to you except for me."

Cen Xi glanced at everyone and said.

"Boss, I can! But I really don't have the strength to stand up. Could you please have some food for us? After all, we can only work for you if we're well-fed!"

The one who spoke first was Liu Ji, who had been struggling to get up for a while but still couldn't.

"Oh! I forgot about that. Now that you're all in this state, you can't be self-sufficient. But as your mistress, I can't lower myself to serve you food. So, I have some food. Whoever can cook, give some to the person who cooks first. Once they're feeling better, you'll all have food to eat."

Cen Xiguang was so focused on dealing with these people that she forgot they needed to eat. However, since they had offended her, she wasn't kind enough to repay their kindness by cooking for them herself.

So the only solution is to find the cooks and let them solve the problem themselves.

"Yes, the chief is right!"

Upon hearing that there was no food, the people's voices became as faint as mosquitoes.

"Who's the cook? Shout it out!"

Seeing that no one said they were cooks, Cen Xi asked again.

"Boss, we don't have a cook. We used to be Prince Heng's personal guards. We only know how to wield swords and spears, not how to cook."

Liu Ji, struggling to stay upright despite being starving, said...

"Is there anyone among you who can cook? Step forward quickly."

Cen Xi sighed and facepalmed. She really had picked up a treasure – a bunch of clueless noobs.

She's already neglected farming, and these people are even worse off than her.

Fortunately, she had the foresight to ask Wen Qi for two old women who could cook.

Otherwise, she would choke to death by this group of people sooner or later.

Ms. Li had taught her to cook before, but her culinary skills were limited to simply cooking food.

So if she wants to eat something delicious, neither she nor this group of people can conjure it up.

"No!"

Although their voices were not loud, their meaning was very clear.

"Fine! You can all just starve to death!"

Cen Xi turned and walked out. These people were beyond saving. They couldn't even cook. What was the point of keeping these idiots?

"Boss, we can learn if we don't know how. I, Liu Ji, will be the first to learn. Please don't leave. Give me some dry rations first! I'll eat my fill and then immediately start researching how to cook."

Seeing Cen Xizhen heading out, Liu Ji desperately called out to him, "Stop Cen Xizhen!"

"Alright! I'll go get you a bag of beef jerky. After you finish eating, hurry up and start learning how to cook. If you can't save these people, then you might as well not live either. I'll personally send you on your way."

Cen Xi thought that since she had already kept these people, it wouldn't be worth it to let them starve to death, as she would still have to clean up their corpses. So she decided to treat them as a last resort.

"Okay! Boss, don't worry, I'll do a good job and won't let you down."

Liu Ji assured him.

"From now on, don't call me 'Boss,' call me 'Miss.' This place will no longer be a mountain stronghold; it will become my Begonia Manor. And you are all guards I carefully selected. Your duty from now on is to protect me and safeguard Begonia Manor, understand?"

Cen Xi turned to him and said.

"Understood. Liu Ji will serve you as my master. From now on, you will be my only master, and I will follow you through life and death."

Liu Ji then made another promise.

"Wait!"

After leaving those words, Cen Xi went to his residence to get a bag of beef jerky and went to the council hall.

Don't ask her why she has this; it's actually dry rations prepared by the Wen family's caravan for their northward journey.

After robbing Chen Dahei, she collected everything at her residence. Among the provisions were not only beef jerky, but also various melon seeds and nuts.

So even though she's been on the mountain for so long, she really didn't know that Feifeng Mountain didn't have a cook.

There must have been a cook before Chen Dahei's accident. As for why there is no cook now, Cen Xi thinks it is very likely that the cook took the opportunity to run away.