It's better to be an empress than a county magistrate

Lu Xingchen waved at the child.

The child's eyes flickered and he seemed very timid, but he still walked in front of Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen reached out and pinched a dirty spot on his cheek.

The little boy shrank back in fear.

The old servant stretched out his hand and supported the little boy's lower back.

"What's your name?" Lu Xingchen looked at him and asked.

After a while, the little boy mustered up the courage to answer, "My name is He Zhang."

"How old are you this year?" Lu Xingchen asked.

"Eleven..." He Zhang replied.

"Have you ever read any books?" Lu Xingchen asked again.

"I read it when I was young. I read The Analects of Confucius." He Zhang glanced at Lu Xingchen and lowered his head again.

"Then you will follow me from now on." Lu Xingchen patted He Zhang's shoulder gently.

"From now on, Tang City will no longer be called Tang City, but He County."

"Your last name is He, so this place is called He County."

He Zhang looked at Lu Xingchen with disbelief.

"This place is called He County, but it is no longer the previous He County, nor is it your He County. It is my He County."

Lu Xingchen continued, "My name is Lu Xingchen."

"You can call me Sister Xingchen from now on."

"You are my father's adopted son. We are brother and sister."

"However, you can keep your first and last name and still be called He Zhang."

He Zhang nodded.

"Young master, kowtow to the governor." said the old servant from behind.

He Zhang knelt down and kowtowed three times to Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen did not go to help him, but watched him stand up on his own after he kowtowed.

Lu Xingchen asked Feixue to take He Zhang downstairs to wash and change clothes.

The old servant watched He Zhang being taken away by Feixue.

Lu Xingchen turned around and was about to say a few more words to the old servant, but he saw the old servant bump directly into the horse tethering post.

The guards helped the old servant up from the ground, but he was already dying.

The old servant looked at Lu Xingchen with gratitude in his eyes at the moment he breathed his last.

It is not easy to find such loyal servants in such troubled times.

This was an era when intellectuals were always thinking of surrendering and military generals were always thinking of defecting.

"Give him a proper burial." Lu Xingchen said to the guards.

The guard nodded in agreement, and carried the old servant away on the door panel.

Although Tang Yi was a blacksmith and came from a humble background, he was not completely useless.

Looking at the infrastructure in He County, Tang Yi wanted to expand it on a larger scale.

During the time when Tang Yi occupied He County, the city walls of He County were reinforced, and there were many defensive weapons on the walls. However, when Lu Xingchen attacked, he had no time to use them, and the city was breached.

In addition, all shops in the city are open.

Outside the city of He County, you can see that the villagers' lives are also normal.

The autumn harvest has been completed and the crops in the fields have been harvested. Some fields are planting some winter vegetables such as cabbage and radish.

In addition, blacksmith shops, carpenter shops and other shops are also open for business.

The basic operation of He County is normal.

Tang Yi got his start by relying on his fellow villagers and sworn brothers... then he kept expanding his business, and finally captured He County and grew stronger.

Ling Xiao captured some of Tang Yi's brothers and fellow villagers who did not die in the battle.

"Girl, some of these people are tough and refuse to surrender, while others are willing to surrender." Ling Xiao said.

Lu Xingchen nodded slightly, "I see that the people of He County don't have too much resentment towards these people."

"No more public executions for them."

Ling Xiao nodded in approval.

"Take those who surrendered to Niutou Mountain and make them work as laborers in the mines."

"Those who are unwilling to surrender can stay. I will still be of use to you tomorrow." Lu Xingchen said.

Ling Xiao nodded and agreed.

Lu Xingchen looked at the boy's resolute eyes and smiled with satisfaction, "Why...are you not feeling awkward anymore?"

Ling Xiao's cheeks suddenly turned pale red.

Then he became awkward again and averted his gaze.

Ling Xiao still felt very uncomfortable.

He still couldn't accept that the former young master had become a young lady.

He can't treat the girl as a brother.

So he is very conflicted now.

He wanted to treat the girl in a brotherly way, but felt awkward because she was a woman after all.

But if you treat Lu Xingchen as a woman.

He would always think back to the intimate times they had spent together when they were little.

Looking at Lu Xingchen's beautiful appearance, the boy's chest couldn't help but rise and fall.

He always had an urge to prove himself as a man in front of Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen put his arms around the boy's neck, "Is it that difficult?"

"Wei Hu, Zhang Fan, and Brother Lu accepted it easily. Why can't you accept it?"

Ling Xiao didn't say anything.

He also asked Wei Hu and Zhang Fan the same question.

Wei Hu and Zhang Fan's answers were almost the same.

"Whether it's a girl or a young master, they are all their young masters. What's the difference?"

So, for Wei Hu and Zhang Fan, there is indeed no difference.

But it was different for Ling Xiao.

He always treated Lu Xingchen as a woman from time to time.

For example, at this moment, the smell emanating from Lu Xingchen was a feminine scent that rushed straight into Ling Xiao's nostrils, making his heart beat faster inexplicably and the blood in his body seemed to be churning.

If he was really a brother, it would definitely not smell like this. He had never smelled it before.

Of course, he had smelled a different scent on Lu Xingchen before, but he thought it was because of her noble status and love of cleanliness.

Now he finally understood that it was not a noble status or a love of cleanliness, but a unique smell of women.

He would never smell this smell on Wei Hu and Zhang Fan.

He would sometimes think of Lu Xingchen as a woman, a person of a different gender from him.

This made him very depressed and devastated.

If only his ideas were as simple as Wei Hu and Zhang Fan’s.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Ling Xiao didn't say anything, but held his breath to prevent the warm and sweet scent from Lu Xingchen from entering his nostrils.

He longed to smell such a smell, and sometimes he would dream about it at night. But now he felt scared, it was too scary. He felt that he would do something inexplicable and he would not be able to forgive himself.

"Okay, little brat." Lu Xingchen rubbed Ling Xiao's hair.

"It's too dirty, go wash it quickly."

"Also, don't be reluctant to wear the new clothes I made for you."

Lu Xingchen pushed Ling Xiao away.

Ling Xiao ran forward two steps, looked back at Lu Xingchen, turned around and walked out quickly.

Before, he disdained those beautiful clothes, he didn't like them at all. For him, it didn't matter what he wore, as long as it could cover his body.

Ever since he learned that Lu Xingchen was a woman, he wanted to put on beautiful clothes and show off in front of Lu Xingchen.

But he felt it was too eye-catching.

So he would only put on the beautiful clothes that Lu Xingchen had made for him when he was alone in the room to show them off. Then he would take them off, crumple them into a ball, and stuff them in the corner.