Upon arriving at the coal mine, Lu Tu, the head of the military slaves there, didn't recognize him. From a distance, a tall, thin man with a dusty face ran over and knelt on the ground: "Greetings, Lord Lu!"

"Please stand up. Are you the manager here? What's your name?"

"My name is Luo Shichang. I'm not in charge here. People just let me do some odd jobs because they saw that I wasn't feeling well."

Lu Tu nodded secretly after hearing this. Luo Shichang's emotional intelligence was not bad. Since he was elected by the soldiers and slaves themselves, it meant that his prestige must be very high.

However, there was no hint of boasting in his words, and he maintained a humble attitude, which shows that he was well-versed in human relationships.

Lu Tu dismounted and walked into the coal mine.

Luo Shichang whispered a word of advice: "Sir, it's better to just look from the outside. It's too dusty inside."

Lu Tu waved his hand: "It's alright. Everyone is working, but I don't even dare to go in. What kind of person am I?"

Approaching several military slaves working in the mines, he said, "You two, take off your masks so I can see."

The two men looked at Luo Shichang somewhat awkwardly. Luo Shichang nodded to them and said, "Sir, you shouldn't think we've offended you. Please take it off."

After the slave soldiers removed their masks, a thick layer of coal dust had accumulated between their mouths and noses, and with each breath they took, the dust was carried into their lungs.

Lu Tu took the mask from their hands and then realized that the mask, which should have been made of cotton gauze, had been replaced with linen.

He couldn't help but ask angrily, "Where did you get this thing from?"

Luo Shichang whispered, "Sir, it was Zhao Kang, who delivers the grain every day, who brought it along with the grain."

"Zhao Kang?" Upon hearing this name, a lewd figure appeared in Lü Tu's mind. This person was Zhao Liang's cousin. When Qin Qianqian first entered the village, she was given a good scolding by Zhao Kang.

Given that this kid often came to the city to help transport goods, Lü Tu quickly figured out the key point: it seemed that this kid had embezzled the money for the cotton gauze and replaced it with linen that couldn't keep out dust!

Lu Tu tore the burlap mask to shreds and shouted at the 300 slave soldiers present, "Everyone, put down your picks and take off your masks so I can see!"

Everyone looked at Lü Tu in surprise, and seeing his extreme anger, they quickly took it off and showed it to him.

Lu Tu walked past them one by one, his teeth clenched as he looked at the masks inside and out, all blackened by coal dust.

He laughed in anger: "Very well! You have some nerve to embezzle from me, Lü Tu."

Upon hearing this, the men immediately knelt down and said, "Sir, we dare not! We are only here to mine coal and have never handled silver. We even eat only half a pound of our usual rations!"

"What!?" Upon hearing this, Lü Tu's sword-like eyebrows shot up in anger!

"Is that so? Luo Shichang, tell me!"

Luo Shichang was so frightened that he trembled and also prostrated himself on the ground, quickly thinking about how to respond with high emotional intelligence. But after hearing Lu Tu snort again, he quickly reported the truth: "Reporting to my lord, what everyone said is true. A few days ago, Zhao Kang only gave us half a catty of food. He said it was because of the recent influx of refugees, so everyone should think of my lord."

Lu Tu nodded: "Everyone, listen to my command!"

"exist!"

"It's a rest day today. Everyone come with me back to the training ground. I'm going to have a good talk with Zhao Kang about when he'll be able to make decisions for me!"

Upon hearing this, the 300 coal-mining slave soldiers finally understood that it wasn't Lü Tu who reduced their rations, but rather that Zhao Kang had embezzled them.

Not only that, but they also replaced the masks that Lu Tu had originally given them to cover their faces from the coal dust with useless linen!

Normally, even if they knew Zhao Kang was embezzling money, they wouldn't dare to complain or challenge him, since they were just military slaves whose status was comparable to that of cattle and horses.

With Lü Tu backing them up, all the military slaves were immediately agitated and cried out in protest, "Sir, you must stand up for us! We may be cattle and horses, but we are your cattle and horses, not Zhao Kang's!"

Lu Tu mounted his horse and waved to the slave soldiers, saying, "Everyone, follow me!"

He led the group toward the training ground.

The light drizzle fell on the soldiers' bodies, leaving a trail of black footprints.

As soon as the group arrived at the training ground, they attracted the attention of the refugees and soldiers. After all, the dark mass of angry military slaves was quite alarming.

But when they saw Lu Tu, who was standing at the head of the group, looking furious, everyone's hearts were in their throats.

Those familiar with Lü Tu, such as Nie Yun, knew that Lü Tu rarely showed such emotions, not even when fighting against the Wuhuan people.

Nie Yun stepped forward and asked loudly, "Brother, what happened?"

With this roar, the surrounding soldiers stepped forward in unison: "Sir, please give your orders!"

The local people and refugees also gathered around out of curiosity. After all, such a large-scale event might be related to their living conditions, and they all wanted to see it clearly.

Lu Tu shouted sternly, "Where is Zhao Kang?"

"Whoa!" Upon hearing Lu Tu call out Zhao Kang's name, the people looked at each other, seemingly searching for him in the crowd.

At this moment, Zhao Liang walked out tremblingly, cupped his fists to Lü Tu and said, "Sir, my cousin went to Wuchuan to buy things with Lord Liu Yang."

Lu Tu glanced at him sideways: "Aren't you in charge of feeding the warhorses? How do you know Zhao Kang's whereabouts so well?"

With a thud, Zhao Liang immediately knelt down upon hearing this: "It's just that I ran into my cousin while feeding the horses today, so I asked him a question out of curiosity."

Lu Tu nodded and said, "Alright, Nie Yun, take some men to Wuchuan and urge them to come back quickly!"

"Yes, sir!"

Nie Yun immediately selected 10 cavalrymen, mounted his horse, and galloped towards Wuchuan. He knew that Lü Tu had already decided to kill him, and that Zhao Kang must have done something that was outrageous to both gods and men.

Standing in the rain, Lü Tu looked at the people around him and said, "Everyone should go back and take shelter from the rain!"

"We're not leaving, sir, you're getting soaked in the rain."

"Yes, sir, what exactly happened? Do you need our help?"

At this moment, Xiao Zhong and Sun Kuang also arrived from afar. Since he couldn't ride a horse, he sat behind Sun Kuang.

Approaching closer, he asked in a low voice, "My lord..."

Lu Tu sighed helplessly and looked at Luo Shichang behind him, saying, "Tell everyone what you have to say."

Luo Shichang came before everyone, and before he could say a word, he burst into tears, his tears mixed with rainwater. Combined with his clothes dripping with black water, he looked incredibly pitiful.

“This Zhao Kang is no human being…” Luo Shichang then used his high emotional intelligence to recount in detail what Zhao Kang had done.

Before he could finish speaking, someone in the crowd shouted in uncontrollable rage, "Slay this bastard!"