Chapter 115: Special Envoy

The facilities in the cell were very crude; aside from a single toilet, there was only straw covering the floor, and not even a wooden bed.

Although the straw was dry, after being left for a while it inevitably gathered a layer of dust. The Young Marshal, accustomed to a life of silk robes and jade meals, now confined in the cell, felt as if there was not even a place to set foot. Having been locked in for over two hours, they kept standing there, gritting their teeth and casting a sideways glare at Li Bucai's profile in the opposite cell.

The two cells faced each other, separated by a passage. Li Bucai, in the opposite room, sat cross‑legged with his side facing the cell door, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

"I want to relieve myself," the Young Marshal said, unable to endure the environment any longer, hoping to use it as an excuse to find a chance to break out.

Li Bucai sat there without averting his eyes; when he heard the shout, he merely shifted his posture, turned his back to the cell door, and gave no response.

"Did you hear? Tell them to open the door; I want to relieve myself."

Li Bucai remained seated in silence, ignoring her.

"Open the door! Let me out; at worst, after I get out I'll take the people with me and return to Sky City."

Li Bucai said calmly, "At first I gave you good counsel and you didn't listen; you chose to accept the punishment yourself. Now it's too late to say anything—if you want to go back, you must wait until the punishment is finished."

"You! —" The Young Marshal, unable to leave, was so angry they felt like tearing him apart alive. No matter how she shouted, Li Bucai ignored her completely, not even turning his head.

After another long silence, the Young Marshal's low voice said, "I can't hold it any longer."

"There's a toilet."

"You—I'm a proper princess, and you're just there; how can you…"

Li Bucai shouted, "Someone, come!"

A moment later, a sudden "Rrra—" sounded, and a dozen jailers entered.

Li Bucai still didn't turn his head, calmly ordering, "Take the Young Marshal and lock them in the adjacent big cell."

A dozen people rushed in at once; they were all members of the undead race, and after entering they re‑locked the outer door. The Young Marshal had no weapon, so a forceful charge was impossible. In a fit of frustration, they smashed the brand‑new toilet against a cell pillar, shattering it, and still unable to quell their anger, kicked the cell door with their foot.

At that moment the jailer hadn't yet unlocked the door, and Li Bucai said, "Enough, let them all out."

The Young Marshal couldn't get what they wanted; after a long venting with no response, they finally grew tired, caring little about cleanliness, sat on the floor, stared at Li Bucai's back, and breathed heavily...

The door creaked; it was already evening. Li Bucai, locked in the cell, could only work here. Yan Qiu entered and reported the day's harvest to him: "Lord Emperor, the fishermen have safely returned to the water village; 43 fishing boats, a total of 800 units of fresh fish have been caught. A portion has just been transported back to the storehouse; the rest will, tomorrow, have a dedicated transport team assembled, and in less than half a day all will be shipped back."

Li Bucai nodded, "No accidents, I presume?"

"Everything's fine. Right now it's two people per boat; everyone's fishing skills are still unrefined. After a few days, we should be able to catch more fish."

Li Bucai said, "Now most villagers have settled; some people still haven't been assigned work. Organize them into two groups. The Shalanjiang river is wide, so have a portion build a few fish farms along the riverbank to raise fish; the others, wandering merchants will arrive in the next two days. Take some money from the storehouse and buy some livestock hatchlings for them to raise."

Food is the key issue; these people now consume over 1,500 units of food daily. In recent days, only outflows have occurred, leaving the storehouse with little food left. After the fields were cleared, they no longer need that many workers, leaving over 200 people idle.

Yan Qiu replied affirmatively, then added, "Also, today's grain sowing is complete: 100 mu of rice, 80 mu of corn, and 100 mu of various vegetables. Additionally, Luo Ye collected some wild fruit seeds from the mountains; the western hills have sparse trees and ample sunlight—should we scatter those seeds on the mountain?"

Li Bucai nodded, "That works. Also, I've heard Yue Ji and her group usually subsist on fruit year‑round, but these days they've been eating only meat and are quite unaccustomed. We need to plant more fruit trees; I'll go fetch some saplings tomorrow. Do Rui Tong and her group have any news?"

Rui Tong and two scouts were dispatched by him to the western side of Wolong Mountain to scout the terrain; they have been there for four days now.

Yan Qiu shook his head and said, "Rui Tong is exceptionally clever; there shouldn't be any danger. Perhaps she went a bit far, but I'm confident she'll be back before the Lord Emperor departs tomorrow."

"Hope that's the case."

At that moment, a jailer reported, "Lord Emperor, Sky City has sent envoys to visit; they are now waiting at Tengyun Station for an audience. Shall we let them in?"

Traveling from here to Sky City via Transport Cloud takes just over an hour each way, and it has already been nearly a day since Jian Yu returned. What is meant to come will come, Li Bucai said, "Let them in."

The jailer responded and left.

In the opposite cell, the Young Marshal, upon hearing that Sky City representatives had arrived, instantly perked up, rose, and leaned against the cell door to look outward, occasionally casting resentful glances at Li Bucai.

Soon after, the door creaked, and accompanied by Wan'er, Zou Ying entered the cell.

"General Zou... General Zou..." The Young Marshal, seeing Zou Ying from afar, felt as if a great injustice had been done, tears welled up, and they choked, unable to speak.

Zou Ying walked straight to the Young Marshal's cell door, his face anxious, and said, "Young Marshal, are you... are you alright? Ah, seeing you safe and sound puts my mind at ease; I'll take you back right away." Realizing they were still in the big cell, he ordered the accompanying jailer, "Quickly, open the door now."

The jailer stood there motionless, his gaze shifting to Li Bucai.

"Hold on," Li Bucai said, still seated with his back to the cell door, "General Zou, haven't you forgotten? This isn't Sky City."

Zou Ying, still looking anxious, approached Li Bucai and said, "I was impatient earlier and forgot to greet Lord Li; my apologies, my apologies." Seeing that he and the Young Marshal were both locked in the cell, he was puzzled and asked, "Lord Li, what are you... what are you doing?"

Li Bucai couldn't discern any accusation in his words, stood up, and seeing that Zou Ying's face still bore anxiety, asked, "Looking at General Zou's expression, is something major happening in Sky City?"

"Ah..." Zou Ying glanced left and right, and Li Bucai, understanding, ordered the servant to go out.

Zou Ying said, "This time, borrowing land for training troops, the Emperor assigned 500 children to different territories..."

"500 children?" Realizing it wasn't just his territory being used, Li Bucai exclaimed, "How many offspring does the Emperor have?"

"Including the young princess..." He gestured toward the Young Marshal, indicating that the Young Marshal was the young princess, then continued, "There are 999 princes and princesses in total..."

Li Bucai thought to himself, "No wonder Sky City lacks food; a single Emperor has 999 children, not counting concubines, plus the offspring of nobles and ministers—just these idle heirs number in the millions."

Zou Ying exclaimed in shock, "The Emperor intended to use this training to broaden these princes' and princesses' horizons, but after only a few days, this morning twelve lords sent the corpses of princes back to Sky City..."

The Young Marshal, standing opposite and irritated by Zou Ying's idle chatter with Li Bucai, heard this, opened their mouth but did not call him back.

Zou Ying said, "Therefore, His Majesty, worried about the Young Marshal's safety, immediately sent me to fetch the princess back. Since the Young Marshal is unharmed, I'm relieved. Lord Li, please open the cell door so I can bring the princess back."

Since she was being taken back, it wouldn't cause further trouble to the territory, so Li Bucai gladly agreed and summoned the jailer to open the door.

The Young Marshal finally escaped. With so many royal siblings, each had lived in their own palace since childhood, rarely interacting, so feelings were naturally distant; she wouldn't dwell on her brother's death. She stepped out of the cell, wiped the tears from her face, and approached Li Bucai's cell door. Still sobbing, she said with a tearful, angry voice, "Li Bucai, listen to me. From now on, I will make you understand—I don't need to rely on the Emperor; I can punish you properly. Wait, tomorrow I will come to settle the score."

Zou Ying looked at her in astonishment and asked, "What exactly happened? Could it be that everything Jian Yu said is true?"

Given the Young Marshal's temperament, no one in Sky City could handle her. Jian Yu returned to Sky City and reported the Young Marshal's plight faithfully to the Emperor, who was grieving the loss of twelve princes. Those twelve princes had ignored the lords' counsel, mobilized troops on their own, entered alien territories, were outnumbered, and thus lost their lives. Hearing this, Jian Yu explained that the Young Marshal had been captured by Li Bucai for attempting to train troops beyond the borders. The Young Marshal is the youngest princess and the Emperor's most beloved daughter. Upon hearing this, he did not blame Li Bucai; instead, he secretly urged him to stop the princess, for with her temperament she would likely meet the same fate as those twelve princes. Consequently, he hastily ordered Zou Ying to bring the Young Marshal back.

Zou Ying, however, could not believe anyone still had authority over the Young Marshal; yet she was right there in the big cell, and he found it hard to accept.

Li Bucai did not engage in a verbal dispute with her, standing silently, ignoring her, waiting for Zou Ying to take her away.

The Young Marshal had no inclination to heed Zou Ying's words, and said, "Tell the Emperor that he need not worry about me; once I deal with that scoundrel, I will return and pay my respects to his old self." After speaking, they headed straight for the doorway.

Zou Ying followed closely, earnestly urging her to return, but the Young Marshal would not listen. Just as they were about to open the door, a clanging of metal sounded from outside; the door had been re‑locked.

"Since the Young Marshal has no intention of leaving, this cell door— you won't even think of stepping out," he said, and at that moment Li Bucai stepped out of the cell.