This haul was incredibly rich. Lü Tu not only captured over 3,000 military slaves, but also obtained a large amount of armor and weapons from them, which are of utmost importance to Lü Tu at the moment!
Furthermore, he thwarted Ye Qingyu's plan from the side, bringing Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan back to the village, which gave Lü Tu much more confidence.
Whether it's Ye Qingyu or Zhao Wuyou, they'd have to think twice before taking action against Lü Tu. After all, Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan are imperial relatives, and if they were to step forward, the other Huai Shuo border troops or Shence troops would recognize them, and they would naturally understand that they were rebelling.
Most importantly, Lu Tu can extract as much interest as possible from Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan; it's time to collect that interest!
Before long, Lü Tu led everyone back to the village.
From a distance, Zhao Qingyao saw the city walls, which were even taller than those of Wuchuan City, and was shocked: "Lu Tu, is this your territory?"
Lu Tu nodded: "Yes, Princess, is she alright?"
After exchanging a glance, Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan both saw the shock in each other's eyes, and then nodded: "It's passable, quite passable."
Lu Tu thought to himself, "This is nothing! If I had another year or two, I could develop Kuishan Village into a village even larger than Wuchuan City!"
With a heart full of trepidation, Zhao Qingyao walked in. How could she not know what Lü Tu was thinking?
What kind of good person would turn their village into a fortress? What is this if not a premeditated rebellion?
At this moment, Zhao Qingyao felt extremely overwhelmed, as if she had just escaped one danger only to fall into another. She could only sigh softly and continue walking inside.
Upon entering, Zhao Qingyao was even more astonished. She not only saw an open-air latrine used by dozens of people, but also that the ground was covered with stone bricks, and that all the houses in sight were built with high-quality blue bricks.
What surprised her even more was the smiles on the faces of all the villagers and the hopeful look in their eyes—something Zhao Qingyao had never seen in the capital!
She had long since transcended vulgar tastes and no longer treated ordinary people as human beings, after all, she was born as the most beloved daughter of the former emperor of the Great Yu Dynasty.
But she still loved to go out of the palace to play, even though there were poor people everywhere in the capital, and beggars and brawlers were everywhere.
But in this small village under Lü Tu's rule, none of them could be seen!
Everyone unanimously admired Lü Tu. From the moment they entered the village, they greeted Lü Tu and then very familiarly stepped forward to help carry various supplies. Some of the bolder ones even helped escort the military slaves, which completely refreshed Zhao Qingyao's worldview.
If she was like this, then the captured military slaves of the Shence Army must have been even more stunned. Everyone who saw this scene was dumbfounded, their eyes wide open and their mouths agape the whole time.
Lu Tu handed over the slave to Tuoba Yue and Liu Hong to deal with, while he himself took Zhao Qingyao to a house that had been cleaned up. Prince Duan was in the next room, and Liu Hu was ordered to lead men to guard it.
Since they already had palace maids with them, Lu Tu didn't even bother to find them any maids and prepared to leave.
But Zhao Qingyao suddenly stopped him: "General Lü, wait a moment, I want to ask you some questions."
Lu Tu returned to the doorway: "Please speak, Princess."
How long do you plan to let us stay here?
Prince Duan, standing to the side, looked over anxiously: "Yes, General Lü, we are currently cut off from information. I don't even know what the situation is in Longcheng. If I had known, I would have gone back to Longcheng to take charge of the overall situation earlier. I still have so many troops here."
Zhao Qingyao couldn't help but roll her eyes at him: "I told you to go back to Longcheng a long time ago, why are you saying these things now?"
Prince Duan was speechless. Lü Tu explained, "Princess, it's not up to me to decide how long you stay here. It's because Zhao Wuyou and Ye Qingyu have rebelled, and apart from here, no other place is safe. So you can stay here for now without worry."
Zhao Qingyao isn't some incompetent fool like Prince Duan. How could she not know that Lü Tu was using the emperor to command the feudal lords?
As long as they live in the village, Lü Tu will spread the word, and Zhao Wuyou and Ye Qingyu will not dare to send troops over.
After all, both of their armies are regular troops. Once they are at the city gates, Lü Tu will definitely make Zhao Qingyao and Prince Duan stand on the city wall to explain. At that time, the morale of those government troops will be lost, and there is even a possibility that they will rebel.
Zhao Qingyao sighed: "But we don't have many people, so we're still on the defensive. What if the Wuhuan people take the opportunity to attack us? Why don't I write a letter to Prince Duan, and you can have someone take it to the capital? His Majesty will definitely send troops to suppress them."
Lu Tu was just waiting for this, and immediately agreed, saying, "Alright! But I'll trouble the princess to have His Majesty bring more people over. Huai Shuo alone has at least 200,000 troops, not to mention the Shence Army, who knows how many people Ye Qingyu tricked into coming here."
Zhao Qingyao gave Lü Tu a deep look: "Okay, I will write it clearly."
He then turned and led Prince Duan into the room, and handed over a letter that was not sealed with wax: "Please trouble General Lü to have it sealed and then send it to the capital."
Lu Tu knew perfectly well what Zhao Qingyao meant. It was obvious that she was afraid Lu Tu wouldn't trust her, which was why she did this.
Seeing the letter bearing the seal of Prince Duan, indicating it was for urgent delivery over 800 li, Lü Tu nodded: "This humble general will certainly deliver the letter intact to the capital!"
Zhao Qingyao waved her hand: "Thank you for your trouble, General Lü. I am tired. Please have someone bring in some food and hot water, and it would be best to also send a bar of soap."
After hearing this, Lu Tu ordered someone to make the arrangements, thinking to himself that Zhao Qingyao was really not polite, knowing that he had a lot of soap, she immediately wanted to arrange for it.
However, these were all minor matters. After reading the letter, Lü Tu summoned three trusted confidants and instructed them, "The three of you must deliver this letter to the palace!"
"Huh? Us? Sir, we don't know the way."
Lu Tu took out 200 taels of silver from his pocket and handed it over: "You three are very clever. If you don't know the way, you can ask. As long as you deliver the message to the destination, someone will reward you handsomely. You might even have the honor of meeting the current emperor!"
Upon hearing this, the three men grinned from ear to ear and immediately knelt down to thank Lü Tu: "Thank you for your promotion, sir. We will never forget your kindness!"
"Go, take plenty of dry food and water, and be quick-witted. Remember, you are on an urgent mission, so no one will dare to rob you along the way. When you arrive at the post station, change horses immediately, and the horses should not rest even if the people rest!"
"Yes, sir!"
After everyone left, Lü Tu looked at Xiao Zhong beside him and asked, "Mr. Xiao, what do you think?"
"My lord's strategic planning and ability to win battles from afar are truly admirable!"
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