Li Ruo smiled.

Isn't this the young lady from the restaurant family who, along with Zhang Shu'er and her sisters, "gave gifts" to the old mother of the Prince of Runan on her birthday?

"Oh, it's Miss Sun!"

It's true what they say, life is full of unexpected encounters.

Miss Sun looked at Li Ruo, her fingers trembling uncontrollably, "You, you... Li Ruo!"

"That's me!" Li Ruo laughed. "How have you been? But I heard that your good friend Zhang Shu'er is dead."

Miss Sun's face paled, but she quickly regained her composure. "She is her, and I am me. We're not that close. General Li, Miss Li, since we're all acquaintances, let's talk this out."

"Now you're talking things out? Why didn't you talk things out when you all humiliated and framed me at the Prince of Runan's residence last time?"

Li Qing's eyes widened, and a sharp glare shot towards Miss Sun. "What? You bullied my sister?"

That's like looking at a dead person.

"I didn't, it's all a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?" Li Qing's brows were icy as he looked at the trembling noblemen, ladies, and young women. "Is it a misunderstanding that you're capturing and eating people from the mountain?"

The gentlemen pleaded, "We had no choice, but it's only the beginning today, and we haven't even had a taste yet."

Li Qing retorted sharply, "Didn't we get to eat even though we weren't here?"

One refugee said, "They even stole our food before! Those whose food was stolen will starve to death."

Many people echoed, "Yes, they say we'll starve to death sooner or later, so we might as well support others."

Li Qing interrogated the family heads and their servants thoroughly, but all the food was gone, and not a single grain of rice could be found.

Li Qing didn't kill them, but confiscated their weapons and made these powerful families serve as slaves and servants to the ordinary refugees in the mountains, doing the hardest work.

Miss Sun, Madam Chen, and Master Zhang all cried, especially when they watched helplessly as Li Ruo found out all the gold, silver, treasures, house deeds, and land deeds that they had secretly hidden.

That wasn't the end of it. Li Ruo not only seized their treasures, land deeds, and property deeds, but also forced them to write IOUs, owing the people one tael of silver forever!

Those who allow cannibalism will inevitably be eaten themselves.

Everyone was stunned!

In just half a day, these wealthy families who had bullied others were all reduced to even poorer paupers than the lowly people they had called "lowly people"!

See, that's the power of upheaval. Soon, ordinary people near the Taoist temple and Buddhist monasteries joined Li's army, not only becoming masters of their own destiny but also having food to eat.

I heard that if I joined the rebellion, I would be able to get land later.

Of course, many families do not join.

Because I heard that General Li was going to march on the capital to avenge his father and avenge the 30,000 soldiers, no matter what, that would be considered treason.

What does it matter to me if you seek revenge? They wouldn't dare to come again.

But they ate and wore very little.

At this moment, a merchant named Fan suddenly appeared, saying that he had stockpiled some grain and clothing, and that anyone who wanted them could buy them from him with gold, silver, jade, land deeds, house deeds, and other valuables.

This was like sending charcoal in snowy weather; those who hadn't joined Li's army traded their secretly hidden treasures for food and clothing.

I won't starve or freeze to death, and I won't have to join Li's rebellion. Hahaha.

But they didn't know that once the food ran out, they would have to join Li's army.

What they didn't know was that this merchant was Fan Li, the head of the Fan family who had been imprisoned in Black Wind Stronghold, and the person Li Ruo had borrowed from Xie Xiao.

This time she learned her lesson and didn't show up herself.

Let someone else handle it.

Who could be more suitable than Fan Li?

Fan Li sold the goods to those people at the same price as he had at General Mountain, but they didn't complain at all.

She was extremely grateful to him.

This is the result of different people doing the same thing.

First, Fan Li does indeed have a good business sense and is also eloquent.

Secondly, their social statuses differ. If Li Ruo, the daughter of a general, were to do this, they would feel she shouldn't accept payment. If a merchant were to do it, they would think that given the major natural disaster, it's understandable for them to charge a higher price.

Humans.

Alright, from now on we'll follow Fan Li's example.

In just two days, everyone on Qinghua Mountain was on Li Ruo's pirate ship and had no choice but to join them in the rebellion.

Li Ruo also received three large boxes containing gold, silver, jewelry, calligraphy, paintings, and other items.

Unable to resist the system's threats and inducements, Li Ruo exchanged all her points for a total of 12 million points, bringing her total points to 55 million!

The space has been upgraded to an unknown level, and this time it has also been upgraded to collect the volume of objects at once, which can now collect 500 cubic meters at a time.

Not only medium-sized ships, but also large ships can be acquired!

Unfortunately, I'm still five million points short of unlocking the ability to enter other people's spaces.

The available points balance was previously ten million, and now it is twenty-two million.

These are all to be kept to exchange for food, medicine, cotton, cloth, and other necessities.

At night, Li Ruo continued recruiting female soldiers in Qinghua Mountain, this time led by Ye Sang.

Seeing the women's army of General Mountain, all so spirited and rosy-cheeked, and their fairy-like entrances when fighting the enemy, the girls eagerly joined in, and soon there were a thousand of them.

The next day, Li Qing had his soldiers issue a notice to distribute porridge. People from Qinghua Mountain also came. Li Ruo had the women soldiers distribute the porridge and register them.

There are more than 10,000 people still alive on Qinghua Mountain. Most of them are young and middle-aged men and women with good physical condition. There are also some children. There are almost no elderly people left because they did not survive after catching a cold.

Yang Huahua, Ye Sang, and others remarked: "General Mountain is still the best. There are still many elderly people like Old Man Zhou there."

They spent their days scouting and collecting excrement. When they caught a cold, they would drink Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction) or some Lotus Flower Decoction made by Ziyang Peak, which often helped them escape danger and live a very happy life.

Of these 10,000-plus people, nearly half joined Li's army.

As a result, the number of male soldiers in Li Family Army on Qinghua Mountain grew to 15,000, while the number of female soldiers was 3,000.

"General, Miss Li is truly an extraordinary woman. I have never seen anyone like her before." At first glance, it seemed like nonsense, but upon closer inspection, it didn't seem so. Fu Yun, one of Li Qing's subordinates, was full of admiration. "With you and your sister working together, you will surely be able to create a great cause."

Li Qing looked at the girl whose hair was ruffled by the wind and laughed, "You don't know, this is my sister. My father once said that one day she would come back with fire."

"Come back? Hasn't she always been here?" Why is she carrying fire again?

"I can't tell you about this." After Li Qing finished speaking, Li Ruo came up to him. "Big brother, I've done my job here. I'll leave the rest to you."

Li Qing patted her head. "Alright, your brother will live up to your expectations and help you expand your territory. I also entrust your sister-in-law and grandmother to your care."

Li Ruo was touched. "Brother, I've always had a question in my mind: why don't you set up your own faction and instead let Xie Xiao be the leader?"