Chapter 171: Xia Jing Has Arrived, Everyone Has Arrived! (Extra Update 2)

"In this batch of Shiyang Grotto Heaven's Agricultural Reserve, Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing have also completed the Third Ring mission."

"They have the Tiger Jiao Army backing them, so their situation is even better than Zhao Xing's, yet these two have each already failed to receive the optimal evaluation once." The third phantom figure evaluated.

"For the Third Ring, let's tilt some human resources toward Zhao Xing. Transfer Xia Jing from the Azure Dragon Martial Division to serve as County Colonel, and also send some reserves from the Divine Might Army over."

"People he's familiar with from the breakout exercises, transfer a small portion of them over as well."

The third phantom figure radiated golden light, the golden light faintly taking the form of a dragon wandering across its surface. Clearly, the third phantom figure held a higher status.

"Mm, this Zhao Xing is indeed worth cultivating." The other two phantom figures also nodded in agreement. "Let's do as King Tianyan intends."

Yuncheng, Shao Wanjie's residence.

Zhao Xing lay in a chair, leisurely enjoying the massage service of cat-eared exotic maidens, while the Shape-Weed effigies 'Shao Wanjie' and the 'Steward' watched from the side.

"Master, when shall the banquet begin?" A Minotaur guard came to report.

"Go with the highest standards—fine wine, delicacies, bring out the very best of everything!" The Shape-Weed effigy mimicked Shao Wanjie's voice and demeanor.

Too lifelike, and with the mist swirling around the hot spring, plus Zhao Xing casting a Fog Shadow concealment, he easily deceived these subordinates.

"I want to chat and carouse with Lord Zhao for three days and three nights. Once you've set up the banquet by the Warm Jade Pool, don't come disturb us. Go enjoy yourselves."

"Yes, Master." The Minotaur guard noticed nothing amiss.

Because Shao Wanjie had always been this way.

Sometimes he would carouse with his subordinates for days and nights on end, neglecting all official business.

Let alone having just won over a seventh-rank official?

Even those exotic twin maidens were used to entertain Lord Zhao—one could well imagine this Lord Zhao was truly valued.

Afterwards, as expected, no one approached this pleasure spot by the hot spring. Even when servants delivered fine wine and delicacies, they kept their heads down as they arranged everything, not daring to look up.

Zhao Xing glanced over casually and couldn't help feeling a pang of admiration—damn, Shao Wanjie really lived the life.

The ones he hired were basically all young beauties, and he had a taste for exotic races—cat-girls, leopard-girls… most of them exuded an exotic charm.

Moreover, Shao Wanjie only let them wear a single layer of thick gauze, their delicate, graceful figures appearing and disappearing in turns—delicacies and beauty formed a double-layered sensory assault.

"Luxurious, far too luxurious!" Zhao Xing enjoyed a beauty feeding him wine while savoring the delicious food, and casually patted an exotic maiden on the behind: "Go on, dance a number for this lord. This lord intends to harshly critique it!"

"Y-yes." The exotic maiden shyly stepped back a little, then began to dance on the lawn.

On both sides of the lawn, musicians played drums and music, decadent melodies drifting into his ears.

Zhao Xing crossed his legs, the picture of leisure.

Not long after the evening banquet began, Long Xiao returned.

Seeing the scene below, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"A-are you Zhao Xing? Or Shao Wanjie?"

Zhao Xing, with a dancer in his arms, laughed: "What, you went to the temple and don't recognize me anymore? Sit down quick, have something to eat."

Long Xiao sat down suspiciously, and immediately two maidservants pressed close. He raised his hand to push them away and dismissed them: "You doing this… isn't quite proper, is it…"

Zhao Xing, however, said without a care: "After training so long in Shiyang Grotto Heaven, can't I enjoy myself a little?"

"Besides, we still have to stay here until someone comes from above. Even if we're acting, we have to act convincingly."

Long Xiao said: "How are you so practiced at this? Throw you into a scene like this and there's not the slightest sense of awkwardness."

Zhao Xing said righteously: "I'm viewing this with a critical eye, studying how these corrupt officials rot, experiencing their degenerate psychology, so as to constantly keep myself vigilant."

"Is that so…" Long Xiao muttered. "What you say makes sense, but I just feel something's off."

"Enough of that." Zhao Xing said: "Is everything taken care of?"

Long Xiao transmitted his voice: "Mm, among the Five Divisions of Yuncheng, the temple is the only place Shao Wanjie didn't dare reach into. The moment I brought people over, the temple priest Shen Mingyu immediately brought people to conduct the interrogation before the Judicial Divine Statue, and the charges were quickly confirmed. He's been imprisoned."

"And Shen Mingyu told me that as long as you give the signal, he can act immediately and arrest all the remaining conspirators. He's already dispatched Yin Spirits to blockade every direction within Yuncheng's territory."

Zhao Xing nodded: "It seems this Shen Mingyu also knows this time is different. His reaction was fairly quick."

The temple has the duty of oversight—did Shen Mingyu not know about Shao Wanjie's misdeeds? Of course he knew; he had even impeached him before, but with the higher-ups suppressing any response, what could he do?

But this time, when Long Xiao went over, the higher-ups quickly responded. Shen Mingyu immediately knew his chance had come, and swiftly made operational arrangements.

Long Xiao said: "What do we do next?"

Zhao Xing said: "It has nothing to do with us—we're just helping out. This proper seventh-rank Shao Wanjie requires someone sent from above to try him, and we don't need to be the ones to arrest the remaining conspirators either."

"So then? We do nothing at all?" Long Xiao asked.

"It's not that we do nothing at all." Zhao Xing patted a maidservant on the behind: "Keep the music playing, keep the dance going!"

Long Xiao: "…"

Zhao Xing and Long Xiao's period of enjoyment lasted two days and two nights before ending.

Early on the third day, a large number of officials descended upon Yuncheng.

They surrounded Shao Wanjie's residence so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through.

Additionally, people were dispatched to investigate the Phoenix Cry Mountain Bright Mine, the Agricultural Bureau, the Heavenly Craft Division, the Sacred Hall, the Martial Division, and the Medical Division.

Anyone with any connection to Shao Wanjie was taken away, no exceptions.

After the people from above arrived, Zhao Xing and Long Xiao immediately revealed their identities and were allowed to leave.

As for how Shao Wanjie and the remaining conspirators would be dealt with, Zhao Xing didn't care—he didn't even ask a single question, looking every bit the picture of someone uninvolved.

"We need to get replacements in quickly." Zhao Xing looked at the roster of officials across Yuncheng's divisions—another batch gone—and immediately frowned.

If no one came, he alone couldn't possibly complete the governance. When training in Shiyang Grotto Heaven, manpower was plentiful—every division had plenty of personnel and tools, never lacking.

But the actual situation was completely different. Even now, his preparatory work had barely gotten off the ground.

Ling Yuan brought people to begin shifting the focus of work, coordinating with Agricultural Bureau's Zhang Zhong, Bao Wenshan, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian to carry out internal dike-repairing and dam-building within Yuncheng County.

But this was far from enough.

"Why furrow your brows, my lord? Now that the tumor Shao Wanjie is no longer holding things back, the government offices have gradually recovered their proper function." Ling Yuan looked at the youth before him, his heart full of respect.

Saying to bring Shao Wanjie down and he goes down—simply terrifyingly capable.

You don't understand... Zhao Xing had no desire to explain it to Ling Yuan at all.

His current third-ring task was tied to his plans afterward.

Zhao Xing wasn't really here to put down roots in Yuncheng, so he had to see results as quickly as possible.

Where did the natural disaster come from? It had to be the work of the Southern Barbarians.

Because they occupied the upper reaches of the Canglan River, the water shamans upstream only needed to stir the water veins a little, and those downstream would be worked to the bone.

Zhao Xing didn't need to think to know that the various Southern Barbarian tribes had already dispatched large numbers of people to approach the front lines of the Nine Heavens Response Palace Prefecture.

There was no helping it — when the Great Zhou moved, the Southern Barbarian tribes had to move.

Whether the Great Zhou was holding military exercises or truly intended to fight, as long as one side moved, the other had to make preparations of a corresponding scale.

Was the Great Zhou holding exercises or truly intending to fight? The Southern Barbarians weren't sure. After all, over the past two hundred years, the Great Zhou would stir up small trouble from time to time, and the same was true for the Southern Barbarian tribes.

Zhao Xing reckoned that in the Fengming Mountains and the upper reaches of the Canglan River to the south, many military fortifications had already appeared, and even a squad of water shamans had begun to target Yuncheng, using it as the target for their natural disaster strike.

Zhao Xing had never been the type to sit and take a beating, only concerned with defense.

He wanted to quickly complete Yuncheng's defensive preparations and lead a team to counterattack.

Only then could he rake in enough military merit.

Zhao Xing had memorized the Southern Barbarian terrain map and the distribution of forces map from Emperor Jing's era, because during the Jingxin calendar years there was only this one great war, and in his previous life players had already replayed it over and over again.

In later generations, the military exercises of the Wu Di era all used this battle for repeated deduction — it would be hard for any Military Agricultural Official not to remember it.

"Come on, people! I need people! People!" Zhao Xing cried out in his heart.

For someone of his level, the window for raking in merit during the Great Southern Pacification Campaign wasn't very long.

Because not long after the fighting started, the war escalated.

Once it reached a certain level, participating again would bring more danger than opportunity. Zhao Xing would not take part any longer, and would even have to find a way to extricate himself.

While Emperor Jing was popping the champagne at halftime and bestowing rewards left and right, he had to quickly rake in his merit and run. Otherwise, the merit he'd earned earlier would later have to be paid back because of defeat.

"For the last large-scale drill of the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, I only need to equip it to seventy percent of the new recruit camp standards from back then, and it'll be enough to snowball."

"I don't expect top talents like Xia Jing. A few dozen mid-tier professionals of various vocations will be plenty." Zhao Xing thought silently. "I hope this time the luck of Yan Three can really come through."

On the fifth day after the Shao Wanjie case, at the hour of the Rabbit, Zhao Xing finally received the personnel reinforcements from above.

He immediately got a notification from his official seal that Yuncheng's roster of officials had been refreshed.

Zhao Xing immediately took out his Earth Mirror to look.

The first batch of reinforcements filled the three Martial Offices, totaling 513 people, including the position of Yuncheng County Magistrate, a seventh-rank post, which had also been restored!

What Zhao Xing hadn't expected was that among the first batch, he saw the names Xia Jing, Zhang Jie, Chen Fang, and Hu Bing!

"Hahaha, incredible luck — Xia Jing's been assigned here! Seventy-five people from the Four Great Martial Offices have come — awesome!"

Zhao Xing excitedly jumped out of bed.

"Meow?" Ao Tianmiao woke from a deep sleep, yawned, and looked at Zhao Xing bouncing around on the bed in confusion. What was he so worked up about so early in the morning?

Truly impossible to understand humans.

Zhao Xing quickly got dressed.

He took the three eighth-rank officials on duty at the Agricultural Monitoring Office — Zhang Zhong, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian — and boarded the Arrowfish Flying Boat.

He immediately flew outside Yuncheng.

To show how much he valued them, he even went three li out of the city to greet them.

After docking, the signal tower and formation array on the Arrowfish Flying Boat kept flashing nonstop.

Zhao Xing even cleared the gloom in the sky, making the weather warm as spring.

If he had the means, he'd have called in a whole troupe of musicians and dancers to serve as a ceremonial escort!

"Whoosh~"

Before long, a medium-sized Tiger Jiao Flying Boat descended from the sky.

Soon Xia Jing leaped down from it.

The moment he entered the city and territory, he also immediately checked Yuncheng's roster of officials.

Upon discovering Zhao Xing's name, Xia Jing was also quite pleased.

The Du Shui Ling was actually Zhao Xing — simply incredible luck!

With Zhao Xing as the Military Agricultural Official, what in this practical examination could possibly stop him, Xia Jing, from building his career and earning great merit?

"Brother Zhao!" Xia Jing jogged over. Seeing that it really was Zhao Xing and not someone with the same name, the Hou Fu heir was also a little excited. "I didn't expect it really to be you!"

"Brother Xia!" Zhao Xing also ran over and gripped Xia Jing's arm. "One day apart feels like three autumns!"

The words were a bit mushy, but this was the style of the times — when people got happy, hugging each other and calling each other "brother" was common enough.

"With you as Du Shui Ling, I don't have to worry about the natural disaster at all!" Xia Jing laughed.

"With you as County Magistrate, I can finally breathe easy too." Zhao Xing laughed.

Just then, a slightly teasing voice rang out:

"It seems Brother Zhao only has eyes for Brother Xia and doesn't need the rest of us. Brothers, let's just go."

"Brother Chen!" Zhao Xing immediately released Xia Jing's hand. "How could that be? It's I, Zhao, who has been remiss. I apologize, I apologize."

"How will you make it up?" Zhang Jie laughed. "You can't be planning to entertain us with hemp fish fruit, can you? The little Marquis can't stomach that."

"Urgh~" Xia Jing seemed to have triggered some memory. His body reacted immediately, and he lunged to grab Zhang Jie by the neck: "Bastard, who told you to bring that up!"

"And Brother Zhang has the nerve to talk?" Chen Fang laughed. "You were the one clinging to Commander Liu's leg, crying and calling for your great-grandmother!"

"Hahahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.

"How could the esteemed guests who have come here eat the same things as during training? Of course we need something good!" Zhao Xing said boldly. "I just happened to get my hands on a batch of good stuff the other day. Come with me into the city, everyone — I won't let any of you down!"

"Let's go, into the city!"

"Hahaha, please tell me there's no more fish."

"Ugh~ you bastard!"

The arrival of Xia Jing's group was undoubtedly a powerful shot in the arm for Zhao Xing. Not only were these people outstanding in their own right, each also had their own backing. Take Xia Jing, for instance — the Tiger Flood Dragon flying boat he sat on was of a higher grade than his Arrowfish flying boat. Moreover, all of these people had connections through which they could obtain high-level intelligence, which was exactly what Zhao Xing wanted most.

But the surprises were not yet over.

On the second day, a second batch arrived, mainly Mechanism Masters and Agricultural Officials.

Among them, Zhao Xing spotted familiar faces like Wang Ji, Han Bing, Che Shihai, and Cao Shuang.

On the third day, the third batch arrived, mainly of the Physician and Priest professions.

The moment Zhao Xing scanned the roster, good lord — Yuan Yang and Zhang Yi had arrived too!

"They're back! I can sense it — everyone's back!"

"The Three Qi Fortune of Yan is living up to its name!"

Zhao Xing grinned like a fool. What could be more delightful than running into his old crew?

Dantai Ming says: there is.

Based on the fact that Yuncheng was a county-level city under the commandery, yet had long failed to receive its full allocation, Fucheng decided to make a one-time top-up to every office in Yuncheng for the supplies that should have been transferred but weren't over the past ten years.

Past accounts need not be handled by the officials of this term — everything would be based on the end of the third month of the seventeenth year of the Jingxin Calendar!

Still owe two more chapters — begging for votes.