Mad Wolf abruptly raised her head, her face filled with astonishment.
Zhang Tao's eyes flew wide as well.
Three soldiers up ahead also turned around, staring at Lin Xiaosu in shock.
"My lord!" Mad Wolf pushed herself upward, about to stand, but then remembered that she would tower over Lin Xiaosu. That seemed decidedly rude, so she stopped short and sat back down. "My lord, although our brothers haven't received their full pay in years, and their families truly are waiting for rice to fill their pots... the court is short of money and grain. It could never approve such a generous reward."
"My lord!" Zhang Tao spoke up too. "Even at full pay, soldiers of the Heaven-Subduing Pavilion earn only twenty gold a year. You're offering a hundred gold for a single operation-five whole years of pay. However much His Majesty trusts you, this would never get past the high officials at court. They would never agree."
Lin Xiaosu smiled. "You keep talking about whether the high officials would agree. Do I need their agreement? I never intended to ask them for money."
Zhang Tao and Mad Wolf were both startled. "You mean..."
"I just inspected the Mystic Insight Sect's storehouses. There are at least several million in wilderness gold," Lin Xiaosu said. "Our soldiers risked their lives to win it. Aren't they entitled to a bonus? I've decided: none of our troops died in this operation, but some were wounded. Each wounded soldier will receive a hundred gold for medical expenses. In addition, everyone will receive a hundred gold as a reward. In the battles ahead, we cannot expect our soldiers to suffer no casualties. But whenever someone falls, we will award a thousand in wilderness gold and make certain it reaches their surviving family!"
Mad Wolf shot