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

In June, the weather in Liaodong is unusually strange.

The temperature fluctuations are unpredictable; yesterday it was sunny and warm, but today the wind is biting cold.

In front of the city wall of Rangzhou.

"Sizzle~~"

On the edge of a red-hot iron plate, Muto Kyoichi poured a bowl of sliced ​​meat directly onto it.

The boiling hot oil sizzles as it touches the fresh slices of meat, creating a sound that whets the appetite.

The aroma of meat quickly spread across the city walls, making a group of Cloud Kingdom warriors around it drool.

"I never imagined that working for the Duke of Zhenguo would result in eating rice and meat every day. I wouldn't even dare to dream of this in the Yunshang Kingdom!"

"The food is good, but the Liaodong region is really too brutal. The war we have experienced in the past few months is far more cruel than the war in Yunshang Kingdom. So far, we have lost more than a thousand people."

"Mr. Matsui, you're wrong. Now that we're under the jurisdiction of the Duke of Zhenguo, we should just follow his arrangements. Besides, it doesn't matter where we die in battle."

"How many meals can we get if we fight against the daimyo of this Cloud Kingdom? How much money and grain can we obtain? What kind of compensation will we receive if we die?"

“What Lord Yizheng said is right. The Duke of Zhenguo is our savior. If it weren’t for him, we would still be working hard in the prison of the Imperial Guardian to die!”

Unlike now, we eat our fill every day, and even have meat. They promised each of us sixty shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice after the war, enough for us to live on for five or six years without doing anything in the Cloud Kingdom.

As for the dead, people die every single day in the Cloud Kingdom; you just have to get used to it.

The ronin chatted amongst themselves, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

Only Muto Kyoichi silently flipped the meat while frying it, without uttering a word.

One of his companions noticed something was wrong and immediately asked, "Muto-kun, why aren't you saying anything?"

Muto Kyoichi replied, "I want to be loyal to the Duke of Zhenguo forever. I want to obtain the citizenship of the Great Chu and do not want to return to the Yunshang Kingdom."

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

"Mr. Muto, are you running a fever?"

"Mr. Muto, how dare you have such a wild idea?"

"Impossible. Our status is so lowly, how could the Duke of Zhenguo possibly allow you to obtain Chu citizenship?"

Faced with the confusion of his companions, Muto Kyoichi firmly stated, "No, I've made up my mind."

No matter the cost, I will join the State of Chu and follow the Duke of Zhenguo forever.

If we return to the Cloud Kingdom, we have no future.

More likely, the commission we risked our lives for will be ruthlessly snatched away by those powerful landlords.

"Really, I don't want to live like that anymore. The Duke of Zhenguo is my only chance to change my fate, and I can't miss it."

Upon hearing this, the other companions also fell silent.

After a long while, a boy named Ming Guangxiu suddenly started crying.

"Baka! Mingguang-kun, why are you crying? You're disgracing the samurai class."

Ming Guangxiu: "These past few days, I've overheard those Chu officers chatting about life in Chu, and I really envy them. I wish I could live in such a country."

Then apply for a few acres of land, or borrow some money from the government to do some silk business. Once you have money, then build your own mansion.

In my free time, I would listen to music, invite a group of friends to go fishing and drink tea—what a wonderful life that would be!

After he said that, the others also had different expressions.

Actually, nobody wants to go back, but what else can we do if we don't go back?

Chu nationality? Is that something someone of my status can obtain?

"Hey, what are you doing!?"

Suddenly, a Chu soldier shouted at them, shattering their illusions.

"It's not lunchtime yet, hurry up and supervise the project. If anything goes wrong, you will be held severely responsible."

"Yes, General, please rest assured, we will definitely not let you down!"

After respectfully accepting the order, Muto Kyoichi and the others immediately turned their gaze to the city wall below.

Beneath the city walls, countless Goguryeo soldiers and civilians were seen, hastily repairing the walls under the stern urging of the Taegi soldiers…

Inside the palace, Shen Lang held the agreement that Ban Dingyuan had just brought back from Anshi City.

But after reading the above, he frowned.

Ban Dingyuan noticed something amiss and asked softly, "Commander, what's wrong? Is there a problem with the agreement?"

Shen Lang shook his head: "No, there's nothing wrong with the agreement, it's just that I overlooked an important point."

"What is it?"

"Murong Ke".

Shen Lang tossed the agreement onto the table, gestured for Ban Dingyuan to sit down, and then crossed his arms and leaned against the sand table.

"Since I can use Goguryeo to deal with Northern Yan, Murong Ke can do the same."

Moreover, compared to us, an external factor, it's clear that the Goguryeo people would rather cooperate with the Northern Yan, which was also already weakened, to deal with us.

Ban Dingyuan: "Probably not? That night, the Goguryeo people annihilated a full 80,000 Northern Yan soldiers. Would Murong Ke be willing to continue cooperating with Gao Zang? Is that even possible?"

Shen Lang: "You don't understand Murong Ke. He's the kind of person who will never give up until he achieves his goal."

Especially now that he's reached a dead end, the more difficult the situation, the more unscrupulous he will become.

Since we can negotiate with the Goguryeo people, they can also use the Goguryeo people to deal with us.

Moreover, their terms are definitely more advantageous than what we offered.

"But the agreement has already been signed. Do the Goguryeo people want to go back on their word?"

"An agreement that is not recognized is just a piece of waste paper, especially in Liaodong, a land where military might reigns supreme, where force is the key to having a say."

Ban Dingyuan's expression darkened: "If we follow the Commander's line of thinking, will the Goguryeo people launch a large-scale attack on Rangzhou?"

"They're probably already on their way."

Shen Lang sighed softly and smiled helplessly.

"In the end, I overlooked one point: I shouldn't have chosen this time to negotiate with the Goguryeo people. I should have let Goguryeo and Northern Yan confront each other for a few more months."

"Commander, there's no need to blame yourself. As the saying goes, even the wisest man can make a mistake. No one can be perfect in every aspect."

Shen Lang: "Now that we've realized our mistake, we must find a way to make amends. Let the Soren troops handle the aftermath."

I also want to see just how much combat power a heavily armed mounted archer unit can unleash.

Ban Dingyuan's eyes lit up: "So the Commander had already anticipated this?"

"It's just a matter of being prepared." Shen Lang sneered. "I originally wanted to play along with the Goguryeo people for a while before taking action, but now it seems there's no need for that at all."

"My subordinates will make arrangements now."

After seeing Ban Dingyuan off, Shen Lang immediately summoned Cui Mingji, who was returning to the capital with him.

"Meet the Duke of Zhenguo."

Shen Lang cut to the chase: "I'm asking you, how many soldiers does the Northern Yan army still have?"

Cui Mingji stammered and replied truthfully, "Reporting to the Duke of Zhenguo, the Northern Yan army has a total of 130,000 men. After the burning of the camps, the Northern Yan army has suffered almost all casualties, but still has more than 40,000 men."

Shen Lang nodded: "Alright, you can go now."

"Subordinates retire."

As soon as Cui Mingji left, Shen Lang sneered and then pulled out a "gold" medal from his pocket.

“I almost forgot, the Jianzhou troops are under my command. Notify Yue Fei to rush to Liaodong immediately.”