Cleaning Up

"Donny, stop spacing out. Take Edward's helmet and sword back to the castle first. Tell Madam Madeline about this, and then have the servants in the castle bring the bodies from the pit back... As long as you follow the points I taught you, the overall situation of the Glan Territory will be under your control."

Zhou Ming patted his shoulder and said in a relaxed tone in his ear, "Now you are Baron Connor's only son, the sole heir of the Glan Territory. Even if a few blind fools stand in your way, as long as I'm here, there won't be any more problems!"

Zhou Ming said these words with great confidence. Originally, the Glan Territory, besides Baron Connor, had a total of 11 Knights (including Edward). However, in the "500 Horses Battle," 6 of these 11 Knights died. Of the remaining 5, besides Knight Henry, whose eyes he had blinded, and the three lying in the large pit... now, the Glan Territory only had Knight Morris, who guarded Baron Connor day and night.

Looking at the more than twenty strong bandits present in the Small Woods, Zhou Ming had no reason not to be confident that he could control the overall situation of this small Glan Territory.

Donny nodded, took the flattened helmet and a bent, misshapen long sword that Great Thief Jero handed him, mounted his horse, and returned to the castle.

"Mother, something terrible has happened! Brother Edward was killed by bandits!"

After the bad news reached the castle and the body was quickly transported back, Madam Madeline fainted on the spot. The critically ill Baron Connor also coughed up a large mouthful of blood and remained unconscious for several days.

After Madam Madeline woke up, she gathered all the servants, had the butler Brunode and her younger son Donny preside over the territory's affairs, and also had Knight Morris recruit a group of strong farmers to patrol the territory day and night, strengthen the castle's defenses, and sent out a group of messengers to seek help from the surrounding lords and Earl Lautz.

Naturally, all these messengers were intercepted and killed by people Zhou Ming sent – before he controlled the entire situation, he would not tolerate any hidden dangers appearing and disrupting his plan.

A week later, Donny in the castle sent someone with a letter, saying that only one-third of the people in the castle were willing to listen to him now, and the other two-thirds were Brunode the butler's people. No matter how he tried to win them over, he couldn't, and he asked what he should do.

This Donny is also useless, he doesn't even know how to simply win people over. It's nothing more than the four words: divide and entice. I taught him so many tricks hand-in-hand before, and he still doesn't know how to use them...

Forget it, Butler Brunode is an old fox who has lived for decades after all. Donny, this newcomer, definitely can't compete with him. Let him open the city gate. The time to enter the castle has arrived...

Zhou Ming wrote a reply to Donny, arranging for him to open the castle gate at dawn tomorrow. He, Great Thief Jero, and more than twenty others would enter the castle to support him and help him ascend to the position of lord.

With a series of "click, click, click" sounds from the city gate, with Donny's help from inside and out, at dawn the next day, Zhou Ming and more than twenty fully armed people, including Great Thief Roger, all poured into the castle.

Seeing this group of fierce-looking people suddenly entering the castle, Madam Madeline trembled all over with fear, pointed at Great Thief Roger and the others, and questioned her son Donny, "Donny, who... who are these people? Are they friends you made outside? How come Mother didn't know you had these kinds of friends outside?"

In Madam Madeline's heart, she already vaguely guessed what was going on.

"Respected Madam Madeline, you don't need to worry. These people are mercenaries that Young Master Donny asked me to hire from outside. They are specifically here to protect you and the castle's safety." Zhou Ming's voice came from the doorway.

"Ryan?"

Madam Madeline was startled, pointed at him and said, "Didn't you leave a few days ago? Why are you back again? Could it be..." Madam Madeline's eyes suddenly widened, looking at the group of strangers in the room with disbelief, as if everything had become clear.

"Respected Madam Madeline, too many things have happened recently. I think you should go back and rest well. The affairs of the castle should be left to Young Master Donny. Young Master Donny will take care of everything."

Zhou Ming said with a smile, but in Madam Madeline's eyes, he was as terrifying as a devil.

After having Snake Woman and a few other female bandits "send" Madam Madeline back to her room to rest, Zhou Ming's target was Butler Brunode, whom he was most looking forward to.

The next day.

After a surprise raid late at night.

In the center of the castle's front courtyard square, more than a dozen boxes filled with dazzling treasures were piled up. Among these treasures were gold and silver coins, precious stones and jade, and various rare and exotic items.

Seeing these treasures, Zhou Ming sighed, not expecting that the stingy Brunode had not only embezzled and hidden a lot of treasures in his own house, but even his "small vault" in the castle contained far more treasures than the time he stole from his house before, with a total value exceeding 30,000 gold coins. Zhou Ming estimated that nearly 90% of the entire Glan Territory's wealth had probably gone into Brunode's private vault.

"Brunode, with so many treasures laid out before you, do you have anything else to say?"

Donny pointed at Brunode, who was kneeling on the ground, and questioned him sternly, while many of the surrounding servants who were watching were either ashen-faced and silent, or loudly cursed, demanding severe punishment for this greedy embezzler.

"According to Article 75 of the Territory Law regarding the punishment for embezzlement, he shall be publicly hanged. Execute it immediately!"

Donny's voice was cold as he delivered the final judgment. He felt incredibly relieved. Brunode, you've been opposing me all these days. Today is your death day!

Hearing the sentence, the butler Brunode trembled all over. He rushed forward and hugged Donny's leg, wailing like a slaughtered pig: "Young Master Donny, I was wrong! I was wrong! Please spare my life, please spare me! For the sake of my lifelong dedication to the territory, even if I have no achievements, I have worked hard. Please spare my life!"

Donny kicked him away forcefully and roared at him, "Your 'achievements' are these treasures you embezzled! Guards, drag him away and execute him immediately!"

"Yes, Young Master Donny!"

Great Axe Johnson led two strong men and dragged Brunode away. Under the gaze of hundreds of townspeople, he was hanged at the entrance of Rose Town.

After executing Brunode as quickly as possible, Zhou Ming had the Snake Woman take out a packet of poison and poison Brunode's close associates who were locked in the dungeon. A group of servants who weren't close associates but were disobedient were also dismissed and sent out of the castle by Zhou Ming.

By now, except for a critical few who had not yet been "dealt with," everyone else in the entire castle had basically been cleared out within these two or three days.

"Baron Connor, Madam Madeline, Edward's wife and two daughters, Knight Morris, and who else? Oh, there's one more, I almost forgot about him..."

Zhou Ming called Great Thief Jero and brought a few people with him to a room on the third floor of the castle's side building.

Entering the room, they saw a tall patient lying on a large bed by the wall. His eyes were injured, and because the sharp object had penetrated too deeply, it had damaged some structures inside his brain. He had been lying in a semi-paralyzed state on the sickbed for over two months.

"Respected Knight Henry, do you still recognize me?" Zhou Ming walked to the bedside, gently squatted down, and leaned close to his ear to ask.

"Rec... recognize," Henry said in a trembling voice. His limbs also shook violently, but they were quickly held down by four strong men.

"Respected Knight Henry, regarding that competition, do you think you won in the end, or did I win?" Zhou Ming tilted his head, his ear close to his mouth, and asked. The dagger in his hand was already pressed against his chest.

"You won, you won, you won."

Henry's body trembled even more violently. He clearly articulated and repeated it three times. However, a sharp pain from his chest quickly sent him into deep darkness.

"Mr. Henry, next time you compete with someone, make sure your sword is against their left chest, not their right chest..."