Chapter 982

Humans were also drinking in small groups of two or three.

The female elves were much quieter; they were also the ones responsible for night watch.

Their loyalty was high, and when it came to night watch, Su Qin only trusted them.

Zhao Chi asked: "In your territory, how long do the craftsmen work each day?"

Su Qin held up two fingers: "Ten hours a day, from 7 a. m. to 5 p. m."

Su Qin didn't have a Carefree Spring.

If the working hours were too long, the craftsmen's mood would drop extremely low, their efficiency would be terrible, and it would even lower their loyalty — not worth it.

Among lords of the same level, probably only Zhao Chi's territory had a 20-hour workday.

And those women had no complaints either; their loyalty was even very high.

Zhao Chi nodded: "Got it. Tonight I have some things I want to discuss with you, including our future cooperation."

"Tonight?" Su Qin was a little surprised: "Are you going to stay at my place tonight?"

"Mm, is that welcome?"

"Of course you're welcome! Have you eaten dinner yet? I'll prepare something delicious for you."

"Su Qin, are you silly? I just finished eating at your place before I left."

"Oh, right, right, right, hehehe."

"Let's go. We'll head to the family hall first. The clan leader and uncles and aunts are all there, so we can take care of our matter."

"Huh? To the family hall? Right now?"

"Yes. Today the alien race sent people, and the number Captain Mu Chang brought is too large — there might be a big battle. While we have time now, let's hurry and get it done."

"Okay! Let me get ready."

Su Qin touched her own face, as if checking her appearance.

"No need to get ready. You look great just as you are now."

"No way, this dress of mine is too short. I wore it for you to see — I can't go out in this. Should I switch to armor?"

"Sure, let's go!"

Zhao Chi already had reported remotely to Zhao Shizhang, and Zhao Shizhang agreed without hesitation.

And told them to come over in 15 minutes.

The two soon arrived at the clan leader's house.

Sure enough, several uncles and aunts were all there.

They seemed to be in a meeting.

The moment he saw Zhao Chi and Su Qin, Zhao Shizhang smiled and stroked his beard.

He said quite a few words of blessing and advice to the two of them.

Several uncles and aunts also offered their congratulations.

Zhao Shizhang, representing Zhao Chi's elders, gave Su Qin 66 gold coins as a betrothal gift.

And the eldest aunt, representing Su Qin's elders, gave Su Qin 66 gold coins as a dowry.

With several elders as witnesses, the two held a simple ceremony.

Su Qin's name was also moved from the position of vassal lord to the position of Zhao Chi's concubine.

Su Qin was both excited and thrilled, constantly looking at the family register, her gaze moving back and forth between her own name and Zhao Chi's, extraordinarily happy.

The ceremony was quickly completed.

The two didn't linger and soon left.

Along the way, Su Qin kept tightly hugging Zhao Chi's arm, chattering nonstop.

Zhao Chi was also infected by her mood and felt his spirits lift.

"Zhao Chi, shall we split these 132 gold coins evenly? If you need them, you can have all of them."

"No need. I still have some here. This money is for you to use — keep it."

Zhao Chi still had 694 gold coins left, which was quite a lot — no need to take the betrothal and dowry money.

Soon, the two returned together to Su Qin's bedroom.

They slipped into her bedding.

The two talked for half the night; this time it was mainly Zhao Chi talking, with Su Qin listening.

Zhao Chi talked quite a bit about the cooperation situation and plans, and Su Qin kept nodding.

Su Qin had to deal with 400 magical beasts every day. She needed to mobilize all her troops, plus the villagers to assist, and then use the defensive towers' terrain advantage to minimize losses.

But losses of soldiers and equipment were still unavoidable.

Zhao Chi happened to need to train his troops, so he proposed coming to support Su Qin's battle every day.

This way, Zhao Chi's female soldiers could obtain experience and also obtain loot.

Su Qin's losses would also be greatly reduced, and soldiers might not even die, so both the quantity and quality of soldiers could accumulate.

It was a two-birds-one-stone, win-win plan.

"Do you think this will work?"

Su Qin gladly agreed: "Of course! With your help, the losses will be even lower. Before, dealing with 300 magical beasts wasn't easy for me, and now with 400 it's even harder — I can only barely maintain a balance between income and expenditure."