Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Around noon, a large pot was placed in the center of Yagyu Maru's courtyard.

The pot was steaming and filled with the aroma of meat, making the servants in Yagyu Maru's household drool.

After Shen Lang and his group arrived at Liu Shengwan's house, they immediately set up a large pot in the center of the courtyard, then chopped up the thirty catties of cured pork they had brought with them and poured it into the pot to start stewing.

Since the pork has been marinated in advance, there is no need to add any special seasonings. Just wait for the water to boil, and it will become a pot of meat soup on its own.

This scene drove the servants, who hadn't eaten a proper piece of meat in years, crazy with cravings. They thought to themselves that even the Holy King living in Edo probably couldn't eat this much meat.

Shen Lang sat quietly by the stove, holding a cup of tea, and used a bayonet to pick at the pieces of meat.

Jin Zizai, standing to the side, swallowed hard, then asked in a low voice, "Duke Zhenguo, are you really planning to do this?"

Shen Lang didn't even glance at him, and plunged the knife into a piece of pork.

"If your Taiji Kingdom's military strength weren't so weak, would I have needed to travel thousands of miles to this godforsaken place?"

Jin Zizai felt a wave of embarrassment, but he replied without blushing or skipping a beat, "What the Duke of Zhenguo says is very true. The military strength of my Taiji Kingdom is really too weak. We are truly indebted to the Duke of Zhenguo."

"hehe."

Shen Lang didn't bother with the guy's attitude and just smiled casually.

Just then, shouts and curses rang out from outside the courtyard, accompanied by the sound of whips.

Before long, a group of ragged slaves entered the courtyard amidst Yagyu Maru's angry curses.

"Kneel down, everyone!"

With a loud roar from Yagyu Maru, all the slaves knelt down in the courtyard.

"Sir, the people have been brought here. Would you please take a look at them yourself?"

Yagyu Maru fawned over Shen Lang, his eyes fixed on the stewed meat in the pot, swallowing hard.

He could smell the aroma of meat from a great distance, but he never expected it to be in his own home.

Looking at the pot full of stewed meat, Yagyu Maru was quite shocked.

Although I am a landlord, I can't eat this much meat in a year.

As for those slaves...

Two hundred pairs of eyes were fixed on the pot of stewing meat, and the sound of Adam's apples bobbing rose and fell.

Shen Lang got up and turned around, then his gaze fell on a man kneeling on one knee in the crowd.

"Who is he?"

"Reporting to my lord, this man is named Muto Kyoichi, and he was originally a hatamoto samurai of the Muto family."

"He's at least somewhat human."

After giving a perfunctory reply, Shen Lang cut straight to the point.

"I want both of these 200 people. Name your price."

Upon hearing that the transaction was about to begin, Yagyu Maru immediately perked up and hurriedly ordered his servants to bring the ledgers and begin to explain.

"My lord, although these slaves are worthless, their daily food and drink must still be provided by our Lord Miyō no Kami. Specifically..."

Shen Lang quickly raised his hand to stop him: "You're talking too much nonsense. Just give me a breakdown of the costs, how much per person."

"Please wait a moment, sir, I'll go and calculate it right away."

Yagyu Maru immediately had someone bring him an abacus and began to fiddle with it.

Time passed by minute by minute.

After a long while, Yagyu Maru, having verified the calculations, returned to Shen Lang's side: "My lord, each slave is worth five taels and eight thousand seven fen of silver, and these two hundred..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Lang raised his hand.

A guard immediately carried over a wooden box, which, when opened, contained ten ingots of gold, each weighing ten taels.

"Here is one hundred taels of gold, which, according to the gold-silver exchange rate of your Cloud Kingdom, is two thousand taels of silver. Let's say ten taels of silver per person. From now on, I am the master of this group of slaves, is that right?"

"Yes Yes Yes!"

Yagyu Maru was overjoyed and hurriedly took the wooden box, picked up a gold ingot, and licked it.

After confirming that it was real gold, he hurriedly bowed and smiled apologetically: "Please wait a moment, sir, I will go and fetch their indentures and give them to you right away."

After saying that, he carried the wooden box and trotted into the house.

Looking at the slaves kneeling all over the courtyard, Shen Lang couldn't help but think of a funny trick.

He returned to the pot of stew and scooped the pieces of meat with daggers stuck in them out of the pot.

Then it was handed over to the group of slaves.

"Oh……"

Instantly, the slaves began to stir quietly.

Especially Muto Kyoichi, who gritted his teeth and stared intently at the piece of meat on the bayonet like a hungry wolf.

"Want to eat?"

Shen Lang carried the meat to the side.

"Want to eat."

The slaves immediately followed Shen Lang, crawling towards the direction of the meat.

"Whoever grabs this piece of meat gets to keep it."

After saying that, Shen Lang suddenly flung the piece of meat high into the crowd of slaves.

"Ah~"

Just then, Muto Kyoichi leaped up, stepping on his companion's shoulders to jump several meters high and catch the piece of meat.

"Baka! That piece of meat is mine!"

"Everyone who sees this gets a share, you have to share some with me!"

"Muto-kun, is this what you call samurai pride? It's utterly shameful! Give me the meat right now, let me bear this sin for you~"

The moment he landed, ignoring the punches and kicks from his companions, he curled up on the ground and began to swallow and chew greedily.

"That's enough~"

The next moment, Shen Lang shouted, which immediately intimidated the group of slaves.

After the crowd dispersed, only Muto Kyoichi remained, still tearing and gnawing at the piece of meat.

"Is it delicious?"

"Mmmmmmm..."

When Shen Lang asked him, Mutō Kyo only nodded in agreement, but his hands and mouth never stopped moving.

He was stunned when Shen Lang held up his bayonet and handed him another piece of fatty meat.

Meeting Shen Lang's deep, unfathomable gaze, Muto Kyoichi felt an overwhelming urge to worship him.

"Your name is Muto Kyoichi?"

"Hi, Yi."

"From now on, your life and theirs belong to me. If you answer a few more questions for me, then this piece of meat will also belong to you."

Upon hearing this, Muto Kyoichi immediately knelt upright, lowered his head and eyes, and said, "Please ask your question, sir."

Shen Lang: "Judging from your flying skills just now, you seem to be a martial artist?"

"In reply to your question, sir, I am a martial artist at the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm."

"Do sects still exist in the Cloud Kingdom?"

"Sects? No, but every major power has experts who specialize in martial arts. After they complete their studies, they become top-tier warriors."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang understood the general situation of martial artists in the Cloud Kingdom.

"One last question: are you willing to come with me? If not, I'll set you free immediately."

When he asked that question, Shen Lang stared intently at Muto Kyoichi.

He was a man of his word; if Muto Kyoichi didn't want to, he would naturally set him free.

Freedom of the soul.

"Yes, I am. It is my greatest honor to follow you, Master."

Muto Kyoichi loudly proclaimed his loyalty.

Shen Lang smiled and said, "Very good, then this piece of meat is now yours."

Upon hearing this, Muto Kyoichi disregarded the threat of the bayonet and took a bite out of the fatty meat and began to gnaw on it.

This scene made the other slaves around it almost cry with envy, but they didn't dare to step forward and snatch it like before.

"Start another pot and cook a pot of rice. Today is the day you meet your new master, so I will naturally give you a good meal. Rice with meat broth, that's enough for you."

"Long live the Lord!"

Upon hearing this, a slave in the crowd cried out a slogan.

Shen Lang chuckled, turned around and sat back in his chair, beckoning Jin Zizai to his side.

“After these people from the Cloud Kingdom return, they will become the supervisory team, specifically responsible for monitoring your Taiji Kingdom's army. With them around, I don’t believe the Taiji Kingdom's army will dare not fight to the death.”

Jin Zizai cupped his hands in greeting: "The Duke of Zhenguo is wise!"

(End of Volume 3)