Yun Zhe put the blueprints aside, and Serena leaned closer. She saw a rough outline drawn on the paper, which really looked like an impressive city.

"This city is nice. You actually do this kind of thing?" Serena naturally couldn't use the term "urban planning," so she could only use "this kind of thing" to refer to it.

Andrew looked around as well; he had never seen a city like this before, and he was somewhat surprised.

Yun Zhe naturally understood Serena's thoughts. He rubbed his temples and said with some pain, "This won't work. It only looks nice, but it's difficult to build and expensive. We can do it this way when we have more money in the future. Not now. We need something simpler."

Serena let out a soft "Oh," her voice filled with disappointment.

Yun Zhe's design inspiration had nowhere to go, which was quite a pity. He shook his head and drew a rough sketch based on the common appearance of military camps in his previous life.

"Isn't this a bit too hasty?" Serena looked at the rows and rows of neat houses and felt that they were completely devoid of aesthetic appeal, so she reminded her.

"Easy to build, easy to dismantle if you don't want it anymore," Yun Zhe said, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Serena didn't quite agree with this explanation. "I think the first one looks better."

Yun Zhe paused, realizing that aesthetics were indeed something that resonated between the two worlds.

“I also think the first one is better, but we’re in a hurry, so let’s consider the first city when we have more time.”

Andrew looked at the military camp layout drawn by Yun Zhe and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Sind held a stack of notes in various handwritings. Some of these notes came from Donic's frontline spies, some from his brother's traitors within the military camp, and others from Baron Arles' trusted confidants.

All the notes converged on one message: his brother, the reckless and impulsive brother in his heart, had forced the Ars and Tra families to retreat without bloodshed, thus lifting the siege of Donic.

That was a brilliant move.

Sind knew this couldn't be his brother's doing. If it were his brother, he would have led his army directly to Donic City, not resorted to such a cunning tactic. This proved that a powerful figure had appeared beside his brother, the one who orchestrated this whole affair. Even more ridiculous was that he had once been his brother's accomplice. After all, he was the one who first leaked the information.

Did that person even foresee this? Thinking this, Sind broke out in a cold sweat.

“In any case, find this person. He should be by my side, not my foolish brother.” Sind looked at the man in black robes before him. “It’s time to show your sincerity.”

"What if he disagrees?"

“Kill him?” Sind was curious. Did he really need to ask?

The man in black nodded and stepped back.

Countless wooden signs appeared on both sides of the road, bearing simple yet highly enticing slogans.

"Saba is the same as Paz. Go straight for three miles, then turn right and continue straight to reach it."

"The Countess is in Paz, awaiting her people!"

"The city of Pass needs you, just as you need the city of Pass."

Countless planks were nailed to the crossroads between the cities of Jialai and Pas. Yun Zhe even discussed with Andrew the possibility of sending out all the cavalry to spread the word about Pas's tolerant and welcoming policies towards refugees.

The propaganda had a clear effect, and more and more refugees began to follow Andrew's troops toward the city of Perth. A rough estimate suggests that there were already more than three thousand who followed the army, and the number scattered around the city of Perth was probably about the same.

The number of refugees was much less than Yun Zhe had expected, but this was still good news, as there would be enough food to last until the autumn harvest, saving a lot of trouble.

Andrew rode up to Yun Zhe's carriage. "I wrote the letter you asked me to write. But I'm worried that my brother might have other ideas."

"We'll leave five hundred men there to keep watch. No matter how nicely we put it, the real meaning is that we'll be providing him with half of our soldiers, saving some of the food for our refugees. Secondly, it also serves a military purpose of surveillance. Your brother certainly knows these two points. But he won't refuse; on the contrary, he'll welcome these troops. Because the current situation is very unfavorable to him. You're not the only one who saw the Ars cavalry; your brother must also know something about the situation in their territory. So our troops are indeed, as the letter says, there's a guarantee for him. As long as this guarantee remains, he can only accept our conditions. This is an open strategy; your brother can't refuse it."

Andrew frowned and nodded. Before the troops set off, Yun Zhe had him write a letter to his younger brother, a letter that revealed the elder brother's concern for his younger brother's safety. Half of the infantry were left to garrison the camp, ostensibly to help him defend against a possible invasion from the Ars family and to block the refugees' incursions into Jialai City. In reality, this was to completely separate them from the refugees and lead them entirely to Pas.

"How many troops does your brother have?" Yun Zhe suddenly asked.

"I don't know either. It's true that Jialai is very wealthy, but his army has never been large. I only know of a couple hundred men."

Yun Zhe suddenly thought of the Nightfire mercenaries, the soldiers of Jialai City. Perhaps they weren't soldiers in the traditional sense. Ordinary lords like Andrew mostly owned land and farmers, who were key to their army's composition. Jialai City's surroundings were unsuitable for farming, but it boasted convenient transportation, a thriving economy, and proximity to unclaimed land. Although it lacked land and farmers, it had a significant number of mercenaries, crucial guards for merchants. These might be his source of manpower. Moreover, mercenaries' combat strength was consistently higher than that of ordinary soldiers. Therefore, he didn't need to recruit many mercenaries.

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