The men's bodies were buried together at the edge of the woods.
This is a tradition of the Ji people, and it's also the reason why this orchard is thriving.
The women dug a large pit and threw the men's corpses into it one by one. This time, too many men from the Ji tribe had died, and the pit they usually dug wasn't big enough, so they dug another one next to this one.
Artemisia calmly watched as the little boy and the male clan chief were thrown into a pit.
The uncle and nephew had many conflicts during their lives, but after they died, they ended up lying in the same pit.
The bear was also at the edge of the pit.
Chi You was snatching the corpse from its mouth: "Iron Eater! This one is all chopped up! Can't you eat another one?" She only managed to grab a forearm; the rest was quickly swallowed by the bear.
Chi You, enraged, shoved the forearm into the bear's mouth as well: "Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating!"
The bear's little black eyes lit up, and it chewed and ate the forearm as well.
Chi You angrily stopped a woman who was throwing a male corpse into the pit: "Do you have a more intact corpse? I need to feed it iron."
The woman pondered for a few seconds, then pulled out a young man with fair skin from the pile of corpses beside her.
The woman said, "This man used to be quite pampered, so he should taste better."
Chi You dragged the corpse and threw it to Shi Tie.
The bear happily hugged the corpse and began to gnaw on it.
After it finished eating the corpse, it burped and said to the mugwort, "Thank you, I feel strong again."
Chi You laughed and pounced on it, vigorously rubbing the fur on its belly: "Hey, this really helps!"
Ai Cao asked, "Didn't you say before that you wanted to supplement our iron intake?"
She gazed at Chi You.
Chi You chuckled dryly a few times, saying nonchalantly, "Really? I don't remember! Haha!"
Ai Cao smiled and sighed. She left Chi You and some Jiang tribe women here to keep order, and then led the other women back to the Jiang tribe.
The Jiang clan chieftain sat listlessly before the Mother Goddess Stone. Since waking up on this day, she had dressed herself neatly and come to the Mother Goddess Stone to pray for the warriors far away.
Ai Cao walked over to the clan chief. She sat down beside him, watching the woman with her eyes closed, muttering incantations.
The mugwort also closed its eyes and quietly prayed to the Mother Goddess—or perhaps to itself.
The Jiang clan chief finished reciting the prayer. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Jiang Ai sitting beside her.
Jiang Ai had no injuries whatsoever, nor did she show any signs of anxiety or a desire for help.
She smiled.
She knew the soldiers had returned victorious.
Artemisia opened her eyes. She looked at her clan leader, and the older and younger women smiled at each other.
The clan chief asked, "How is it?"
The mugwort said, "Good luck."
The chieftain continued, "And you?" She calmly pressed, "And what about you?"
Ai Cao thought for a moment and said, "I'm fine too." She looked at the tall Mother Goddess Stone, "I originally thought I would feel uncomfortable, but later I felt that they were no different from wild beasts."
She can slit the throats of wild beasts, and she can slit the throats of humans in the same way.
The blood of both wild beasts and humans is bright red. Having seen and killed many wild beasts, she naturally had no fear of human blood.
"But now that I think about it, there are still some areas where I could have done better." Ai Cao paused before continuing.
For example, she could find a different reason to start the war, or she could keep the Ji clan chief alive and let him suffer for even longer.
“You did a very good job for your first time,” the chieftain said slowly.
The mugwort nodded with a smile.
She is reflecting on her past actions not to criticize her past self, but to hope that she can do better next time.
After all, she had embraced her past self. Ai Cao was simply Jiang Ai who had experienced more; they were essentially the same person.
She doesn't blame her past self.
The clan chief slowly stood up. Her legs were a little numb from sitting for so long. Ai Cao quickly got up and helped her to her feet.
They returned to the clan house.
Artemisia described the whole situation to the clan chief and said, "I plan to hold a banquet tonight."
The clan chief smiled. She first praised the artemisia a few times, and then agreed to the banquet that evening.
The clan chief asked, "What do you intend to do with the women and land of the Ji clan?"
Ai Cao thought for a moment and slowly said, "My initial suggestion was to bestow surnames upon the tribes that were merged. However, the Ji tribe only has women left, and I'm still considering whether to give them the surname Jiang."
"Have you come up with a solution?" the clan chief asked. "Tonight's banquet will be more than just a banquet."
Ai Cao hesitated. She knew that the women's banquet was more than just a banquet; it was also their social arena. If she didn't resolve the Ji women's issues at the banquet, they would miss their first social opportunity.
If you miss this first opportunity, it will be difficult to get them to integrate later.
Artemisia made up her mind and said, "I will give them surnames."
Only when she transforms the women of the Ji clan into women of another surname will the merged tribes have proper expectations. They will indeed lose their original surnames, but they will still be able to recognize each other's kinship.
Instead of having all tribes uniformly use the surname Jiang.
Although this approach might cause some minor problems for his future rule—such as different surnames forming small groups, leading to internal friction and mutual attacks.
But these are minor issues that won't affect the Jiang clan.
The clan chief smiled and nodded: "Say more."
“At the banquet, I will throw a piece of tortoise shell into the bonfire. After the fire goes out, the words that appear on the tortoise shell are the surnames given to them by the Mother Goddess,” Ai Cao said.
She almost completely copied the way the Jiang tribe named girls, but the chief didn't care about such a small matter.
The chieftain smiled and said, "That's good. Now they have a new surname—and then what?"
"Then?"
The chieftain's smile faded slightly. She said, "And then, what will you have these women do?"
“Some manual labor,” Ai Cao said. “I had these women elect one to lead them. I only give orders to this woman…”
She paused for a moment as she spoke.
Ai Cao suddenly realized that her experience from running a company was suddenly coming in handy.
With the clan chief's encouraging smile, she continued, "If conflicts arise later, they will be between this woman and other women. It has nothing to do with me."
The clan chief stared at her.
The clan chief asked, "Did the Mother Goddess tell you that?"
The mugwort shook its head.
Although this is just a basic experience, it is a method she came up with herself and has been tested in practice.
In fact, even if she hadn't practiced it herself, she could still deduce this method by observing how the company operates.
The clan chief laughed.
She asked in a lighthearted tone, "May I abdicate at the banquet tonight?"
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