There were weeks here too, and Sundays were generally days of prayer and rest devoted to the gods. Su Qin spent a very full day.
He saw many interesting places, including the rye growing on the estate's 600 mu of farmland, and paid a visit to the several dozen serfs privately owned by the lord on the estate.
He also inspected the granary, which held roughly 10,000 units of barley. The lord's private holdings at Gull Manor brought in 3,600 units of barley a year, enough to support quite a few people.
One unit equaled fifteen kilograms, and a person needed around twelve units of grain a year.
Apart from the lord's private property, the peasants' land in the small territory of Gulltown could produce roughly ten thousand units of grain a year. Fishing also yielded several thousand units each month, but the fish could not be stored for long.
The other three territories were currently regarded by default as the local families' fiefs. They had yet to be formally recorded by the Church and the kingdom. In principle, Su Qin could demand direct control of all three territories back, but after considering that these three local powers truly had some ability, he decided to take his time.
The grain stored in Su Qin's holdings was enough to feed eight hundred people for a year.
This was currently Su Qin's greatest asset, worth 1,500 gold coins.
Su Qin even felt a little afraid in retrospect. He had taken Gulltown from Fett, yet the man had neither resisted nor plundered any property?
He had even told Su Qin where some important contracts were stored. Perhaps Fett was actually very loyal, but when certain things happened, someone had to bear responsibility.
The Earl had been attacked, and his eldest son had died protecting him. Those responsible had to be punished. Even if the Earl knew he was loyal, he still had to do it.
Fett had also led House Grafton out of Gulltown openly and honorably, taking his people to Featherwood. This was no small family. In principle, they should not have been stripped of their fief, because under the law, a noble's fief was property that could not be taken away.
Yet he had simply left openly and honorably. Why exactly was that?
Besides the farmland, Su Qin inspected several other places, including the market, docks, taverns, inns, some private smithies, and logging yards. He even inspected a few brothels, simply to investigate the territory's economic situation.
The situation was far from ideal. The conditions here were terrible. There were no designated pit latrines, and excrement littered the alleys. It would defy all reason if disease did not spread here.
Night soon fell. In the night sky, the stars of the seven great stellar regions glittered beneath the light of seven morning stars.
Su Qin stood on the castle's highest platform, admiring the night scenery. The platform sat atop a tower, the castle's most important watchtower. Su Qin decided to give this place a name: Moonwatch Terrace.
Moonwatch Terrace itself was small, a little over ten square meters, surrounded by stone walls half a meter high. A dome overhead sheltered it from rain, mainly allowing soldiers to keep watch on rainy days.
At that moment, a table stood on Moonwatch Terrace, with some food and wine cups upon it. Torch pillars at the four corners supported a round dome. From a distance, it looked like a torch, proclaiming the lord's presence deep into the night.
Yira stood beside Su Qin, refilling his wine from time to time. Su Qin looked at the mountains to the north and the crescent moon, then at Yira beside him.
Since he intended to treat her as a trusted confidante, he naturally needed to know something about her background. So Su Qin asked, "Yira, how did you become a maid? Would you mind telling me?"
Yira fell silent for a moment at his question, then continued refilling his wine. As she poured, she said, "My lord, when I was little, my father encountered a band of mountain clansmen while he was out hunting."
"They brutally killed my father with long axes. His remains were only found during one of the lord's campaigns against the mountain clans. That wolf-tooth necklace was a gift I made for him."
"Mother found it when she went to claim his belongings. She cried her eyes out then, and before long, she fell ill."
Su Qin drained his wine in one gulp, and Yira poured him another cup...
"Tell me about your mother."
Su Qin lowered his gaze toward the lofty mountains. The crescent moon and silver stars overhead no longer seemed so beautiful. The distant Gull Mountains looked so dark now.
Yira's hand trembled. Su Qin glanced at it, then quickly looked away.
"After my mother fell ill, our family had little income. Later, strange men began coming to our home, one after another."
"Every time someone came, Mother told me to go outside. I always obediently went out!"
"Then... then... then..."
Su Qin immediately looked toward her less-than-perfect face, now streaming with tears. He stood at once and wiped her tears away with his black woolen robe.
"Don't say any more, Yira..."
"No! My lord, I want to say it!"
Su Qin and Yira looked at each other for a while. She stared stubbornly at him, so he slowly sat back down and said, "Keep pouring..."
"Then a nobleman came to our home. Mother told me to go outside as usual, but that hateful noble grabbed my hand and wouldn't let me leave!"
"Mother immediately realized something and started fighting with that man!"
"I ran out in the confusion. When I sneaked back that night, a crowd had gathered around our home. I squeezed through them and went inside, only to find a pool of foul-smelling blood already beneath my mother."
"I cried and held my mother!"
"Later, a neighbor recommended me to the head maid, and I entered the lord's estate, then the castle."
"From then on, I never went outside again!"
Su Qin listened in silence until she finished. "Do you remember who that noble was?"
"I remember, my lord! On the night you first arrived, at that banquet, I saw that man. He followed Telang into the dining room."
Su Qin fell silent, feeling somewhat distressed. "Yira, I shouldn't have let him into the castle." "Did it remind you of that day?"
Feeling the lord's warmth, Yira actually smiled. "It's all right, my lord. I survived, after all. You don't need to feel guilty about it!"
Su Qin looked at Yira, set down the cup in his hand, picked up the wine jug, and filled the cup halfway with wine before holding it out before her. Yira looked into his eyes, took the cup, and slowly drank the wine.
Su Qin watched Yira and asked, "How does it taste? Sour or sweet?"
Yira gazed into Su Qin's eyes for several dozen seconds. "My lord, it's sweet!"
Su Qin smiled faintly, then looked straight into her eyes again. "Tomorrow, I'll have Telang and Aila come here. Take them out of the estate with you. I want you to thrust a spear into his chest yourself. Can you do that?"
Yira stared intently at Su Qin's face. "My lord, I can!"
After admiring the night scenery on Moonwatch Terrace a little longer, Su Qin went downstairs, slightly tipsy, with Yira close beside him.
Changing the conduct of the nobility through changes in policy would take time, but taking revenge would not take long! Su Qin had obtained a very important piece of information: there were mountain clans in the Gull Mountains!
He needed to expand his army and establish outposts!
After returning somewhat groggily to the third-floor bedchamber, Su Qin dismissed Yira, then entered the lord's bedroom on the third floor.
The lord's bedroom was spacious, with a very large bed in the center. The bed was covered with sheets made from bear and wolf pelts, while the quilt was made of woolen cloth and cotton. This was Su Qin's first time staying here.
Yet once he entered, he found every corner spotless. Clearly, someone had tidied it every day.
Su Qin went to the desk by the window, took a sheet of paper from a drawer, and began writing something, revising it repeatedly. Sometimes he looked outside for inspiration, and he kept writing late into the night.
Only at midnight did Su Qin put down his quill and shut the green glass window. (Glass had already been made, but most of it contained many impurities and was not completely clear.) He took two bells from his pocket, hanging one on the glass window and the other on the locked door's handle.
These bells were specially made. Any vibration would make them ring immediately.
The next day, as the bell rang in Gulltown's central square, another new day began.
Su Qin dressed and opened the door, only to see Nack wearing a yellow woolen robe. Nack said to him, "My lord, Earl Yalun's special envoy has arrived and is waiting for you in the reception room on the first floor. Please go there as soon as possible!"
Su Qin was somewhat surprised. A special envoy?