Iron Ore (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation, Already Signed)

Hearing Zhao Fu's call, Bai Qi and Li Si walked out looking rather puzzled. "Your Highness! What is the matter?"

Zhao Fu frowned and asked, "What is going on in my room?"

Upon hearing this, Li Si realized what he meant. He bowed with a smile and said, "I wish Your Highness an early birth of a dragon heir!"

Hearing this, Zhao Fu felt a slight headache. "What is the meaning of this?"

Li Si replied, "Your Highness! I saw that Miss Liu Mei possesses top-tier beauty. Since Your Highness has taken a fancy to her, we are naturally pleased and supportive. On one hand, it allows Your Highness to have a concubine, and on the other, it serves to win over the hearts of the people from Dire Wolf Village. It is a win-win situation."

Zhao Fu gave a bitter laugh. "When did I ever take a fancy to her?"

Hearing Zhao Fu's words, Li Si said with surprise, "Bai Qi said so!"

Beside him, Bai Qi's face turned pale upon hearing this. Realizing he had misunderstood Zhao Fu's intentions, he hurriedly tried to plead guilty, but Zhao Fu interrupted him. How could Zhao Fu blame these two men who had worked so hard for Great Qin over such a trivial matter? He said, "Enough! Let us leave this matter here. It is getting late, so you two should go back and rest!"

Li Si and Bai Qi breathed a sigh of relief, then offered their farewells and departed.

Zhao Fu turned to glance at his room, shook his head, found a random room to practice his cultivation, and then fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing that Zhao Fu did not enter again, Liu Mei breathed a sigh of relief and began to put her clothes back on.

Early in the morning, the darkness receded bit by bit, and the world gradually brightened, revealing a clear blue sky. A few small birds chirped happily in the trees.

Zhao Fu also woke up. Just as he stepped out of his room, he found Wang Ergou waiting outside the door with a washbasin. As soon as Zhao Fu emerged, Wang Ergou said fawningly, "Your Highness! You are awake. I have already prepared the wash water for you."

"Oh!"

Zhao Fu responded, picked up the towel from the basin, and washed his face.

At this moment, Wang Ergou whispered a reminder, fearing that Zhao Fu might get angry, "Your Highness! You still haven't given me the antidote."

So that was it. Zhao Fu smiled and said, "That pill wasn't poisonous!"

"Really, Your Highness?" Wang Ergou was overjoyed.

"Yes!"

Zhao Fu replied, then added, "I will let you taste it once I actually concoct that poison."

Wang Ergou's face fell, and he begged for mercy, "Your Highness! Please don't. Can't I just be your servant and wait on you every day?"

"This... we shall see how you perform!"

After saying this, Zhao Fu walked away. Wang Ergou tactfully poured out the wash water and followed behind him.

"Bai Qi! Assemble the troops and come with me to Li Family Village."

Zhao Fu instructed Bai Qi to assemble the troops while he checked the population refresh for the day. There were 14 people in total, one of whom had B-grade aptitude. This time, Zhao Fu did not promote any of them to soldiers; instead, he assigned them all to the Blacksmith Shop, the Tailor Shop, and the Apothecary.

As the population grew, the consumption of resources would also increase, so it was necessary to allocate more manpower.

Afterward, Bai Qi assembled the troops. Zhao Fu did this because he feared that Li Youcai might break his word. Since the agreement was only verbal, human hearts were unpredictable; they might be full of promises now, only to turn hostile in the blink of an eye. Thus, Zhao Fu prepared a backup plan.

"Your Highness! May I have my weapon back?"

At this moment, Liu Mei found Zhao Fu, performed an awkward salute, and spoke.

Zhao Fu nodded. Her whip was a blue-grade weapon, and it had been confiscated when she surrendered.

Seeing Zhao Fu nod in agreement, Liu Mei's face lit up; she had thought she would never get it back.

"Wait a moment, you are coming with me to Li Family Village," Zhao Fu instructed Liu Mei before going to find Bai Qi.

Liu Mei nodded and went to retrieve her whip.

An hour later, Zhao Fu had his troops hide while he, Bai Qi, and Liu Mei approached Li Family Village once more.

Li Family Village had learned last night that Dire Wolf Village had been destroyed and reduced to a pile of ruins. When the news reached them, some were excited, while others were fearful. They were excited that the scourge of Dire Wolf Village had finally been removed, but fearful that Zhao Fu might turn his sights on them next.

The village gates opened, and Li Youcai led his people out to welcome them. "My Lord! You are truly a hero. By removing the scourge of Dire Wolf Village for us, all of us in Li Family Village have decided to join your village."

Li Youcai was a cunning old fox. Seeing that even the third-in-command of Dire Wolf Village had been subdued, and knowing that Zhao Fu's forces were already strong enough to easily destroy Dire Wolf Village—and were now even stronger with the addition of the Dire Wolf villagers—he realized Li Family Village stood no chance. Thus, he chose to submit, showering Zhao Fu with praise and acting the part of a most loyal subordinate.

System Prompt: Li Family Village is willing to submit to you. Do you accept?

Zhao Fu chose to accept. The prompt indicated he had gained 60 War Merits, which surprised him. He checked Li Family Village and discovered it was a blue-quality village; subduing a blue-quality village granted 10 more War Merits than a common one.

However, Zhao Fu already had four subordinate villages, so after some thought, he decided to designate the newly established Dire Wolf Village as his affiliated village.

An affiliated village was different from a subordinate village; while it technically belonged to Great Qin Village, it could not receive the attribute bonuses of Great Qin Village.

Afterward, Li Youcai invited Zhao Fu inside to discuss the details of joining Great Qin Village. Along the way, many people from Li Family Village looked at Liu Mei with curiosity. They had always heard of her notoriety as a "she-devil," but they were surprised to see how pretty she was today.

Faced with these gazes, Liu Mei immediately turned her head, looking fierce. "What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

This fierce display caused the villagers of Li Family Village to shrink back in fear.

Zhao Fu glanced at her, and Liu Mei immediately lowered her head, acting obedient. After a detailed discussion, Zhao Fu took two-thirds of the people from Li Family Village with him. Li Youcai remained the village chief, but at his strong insistence, his son, Li Wen, also followed Zhao Fu to Great Qin Village.

The reason for this was that after joining Great Qin Village, Li Youcai had gained some information about it and felt that Great Qin's future was promising, so he sent his son to join early in hopes of securing a good future for him.

After bringing these people back to Great Qin Village, the number of soldiers officially exceeded 200. Zhao Fu handed them over to Bai Qi for rigorous training. Then, there was more good news: a small iron mine had been discovered five miles west of Great Qin Village.

Zhao Fu was delighted. He dispatched a group of people to mine the ore while also accelerating the construction of the stairs into the Great Rift. The bottom of the Great Rift was a treasure trove; killing just a few skeletons yielded dozens of gold coins, which was enough to make Zhao Fu's heart race.