Chapter 52: Establishing Trust with a Wooden Sign

()Chapter 63: Establishing Trust with a Wooden Sign

Li Bucai woke up in a daze; it was already past noon. He never expected Wan'er's move to actually work, and he fell asleep without realizing it while trying to stay alert.

"Ah." Li Bucai let out a light sigh, hurriedly got up. Among the servants, over a dozen girls purchased from the Langlu merchants always felt somewhat distant from him. Even though Rushi and Xiaoxiao had followed him and lived together in Luo Ping Hai for a few days, those days were spent busy resisting rebels, so although they shared a tent, there was little conversation. Thus they remained as reserved in his presence as Wan'er and the others.

As for these girls who barely know him, they are busy outside while he lazily sleeps in the newly built Xinggong, which might leave a bad impression. They are the second batch; if word spreads from them that the Sovereign is a gluttonous, lazy master, how can he remain invincible among the myriad nations?

He stretched, feeling much refreshed after that sleep; although still a bit weak, he was no longer completely devoid of strength as before.

After dressing hastily, he went down and reached the Xinggong gate, where Xianghong was sitting; since she too had been unable to sleep since the previous night, she was now leaning against the doorpost, fast asleep. Li Bucai lightly touched the pair of small hands resting on her knees.

Xianghong jolted awake: "What's the matter?" Upon looking, she saw it was the Sovereign and apologized, "Sorry..." She felt guilty for her dereliction of duty.

"Why aren't you sleeping in your room?" Li Bucai asked softly.

"I... I'm not sleepy; I was just... thinking about a problem, and in a moment of carelessness I didn't hear the Sovereign's voice, sorry..." As a personal guard, falling asleep while the Sovereign is awake and with no other guards nearby is dereliction; she knows the Sovereign won't blame her, but she explains so she can always hear his summons.

Li Bucai smiled and said, "Now I'm giving you an important task—do you dare to take it?"

"Of course I dare—what task?"

"It's quite a daunting task; you need to think it through—once you take it on, you must have no regrets, otherwise I'll beat you."

Xianghong firmly nodded: "No matter what task, I will never regret it."

"All right, which room is your bedroom?"

Xianghong pointed to the room near the left side of the gate.

"I order you: return to your room immediately and do not step outside until dinner."

Only then did Xianghong understand his intention—to let her rest in her room.

"But... I..."

Li Bucai feigned anger: "Huh? Are you having second thoughts?"

"No... no... just..."

"Then hurry up and go."

Xianghong smiled sweetly, bowed, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Sovereign."

Li Bucai nodded: "I have nothing to do today either; I'll just wander around the camp, not go elsewhere, and nothing will happen. So your task now is to get a good sleep—I'll have someone bring dinner to you. All right, hurry up."

Watching Xianghong return to her room, Li Bucai left the Xinggong. At that moment, a construction worker was laboring on the unfinished watchtower at the left corner of the camp gate, a porter continuously carried the timber finished by the carpenters from the square up to it, and the sound of axes from two woodcutters in the forest outside the camp rang without cease. Under Yan Qiu's supervision, everyone was busily working in tension.

Li Bucai frowned; there were only seven people able to help develop the territory. The Emperor wanted these lords to suppress the rebels for him, yet imposed a strict deadline. Thinking of those hundred thousand gold coins, even someone who wished to live a carefree life here long-term would find them highly attractive—having that money is like possessing a million-strong army as a sturdy shield; even if he cannot become king of the myriad nations, he would not be easily eliminated.

To obtain those hundred thousand gold coins, he must first develop enough strength to probe the depths of Luo Ping Hai, and cannot focus solely on numbers—since even a general like the Heavenly Might Grand General, a match‑for‑ten‑thousand commander, was cut down on the battlefield, he must push each person's ability to the limit before daring to dream of that wealth.

It goes without saying that this will be a lengthy development process.

Before that, two matters lie ahead: the Tan brothers' monthly stipend. If he gives them one gold coin—though not much—it will still affect his own development; since they are already stronger than him, giving them a coin means he loses one while they gain one, a net difference of two coins, which over time will lead to his elimination, not to mention it would embolden their arrogance; if he doesn't give them the coin, a future clash with them is inevitable.

There is still over half a month until month‑end, plenty of time to devise a foolproof plan.

That madman Puk Fengtian is a time bomb; his gaze shows he could strike at any moment. If he attacks openly, it's not frightening, but if he strikes while Li Bucai is away from the camp, those left behind might meet with accident, so constant vigilance is required.

Most troubling is that in the ant‑hole of Luo Ping Hai, while dueling the Young Marshal, his war spear was cut in half; now he has no serviceable weapon. To obtain a decent weapon, Sky City offers no hope—he can only hope to recruit a few blacksmiths and wait for them to raise their casting skill to the needed level to forge a spear like the one Wu An gave him. All this can only begin at month‑end.

All he can do now is gather as much food as possible, so that after paying the month‑end wages, he can recruit all needed personnel at once.

Currently only two fishermen and one gatherer can provide food; they say the lu lu beast is a secondary edible land animal, so there must be other hunt‑able game for food, requiring him to personally lead these guards in hunting.

Before that, Zhuoran was injured; the excellent personnel must stay in the camp to protect everyone, and they can only move out after Xianghong, Wan'er and the others have rested.

"Sovereign, why not sleep a little longer?" Yan Qiu saw Li Bucai leave the Xinggong with his head down and called out from afar.

"I lay down a while but couldn't sleep; being idle is unpleasant, so I came to ask you, Sir Yan Qiu, to arrange something for me to do—what would you like me to do?"

Yan Qiu's pretty face blushed slightly; she timidly said, "The Sovereign is teasing me again—how could I dare to trouble you greatly? Your health isn't fully recovered yet; if you feel stifled indoors, I'll have Rushi and Xiaoxiao bring the umbrella so you can sit here comfortably. That umbrella was made by the carpenter Qiaoer during her noon break; her craftsmanship is excellent."

Li Bucai lowered his voice: "It was your order." The laborers recruited from the wandering merchants had only been with him for a day, so they were unfamiliar and would not be this attentive; he knew it was Yan Qiu's arrangement and did not want to slight her kindness, so he spoke softly so Qiaoer wouldn't hear.

Yan Qiu gave a timid smile, did not deny it, and said, "Then I'll go call Rushi and Xiaoxiao."

"Better not to call them; these past few days they haven't gotten sound sleep, and now they're sleeping soundly—since there's nothing else to do, let them rest properly."

"Then Yan Qiu will go fetch it."

"Thank you for the trouble."

Yan Qiu returned to the storeroom to fetch the umbrella, while Li Bucai went to the carpenter Qiaoer's place.

"Sovereign!" Qiaoer hurriedly stopped her work and bowed to Li Bucai.

Li Bucai said, "I really like the umbrella you made at noon; thank you."

Qiaoer gave an embarrassed smile, stood respectfully in place, seeming somewhat unnatural.

Li Bucai thought to himself, "This isn't good; I must quickly dispel their fear of him." He picked up a freshly planed wood board from the ground, examined it closely—smooth and flat, with no bumps—and praised, "Huh, not bad craftsmanship."

"Thank you for the praise, Sovereign."

Taking the saw blade from her hand, he pointed to the cut timber and asked, "Is this kind all we need?"

Qiaoer nodded.

"How long to saw out a piece?"

"About a few minutes."

Li Bucai nodded, then suddenly said, "Dare to race me on speed?"

"Well..." Qiaoer hesitated; she had practiced for five days to reach a speed of three to five minutes per piece, had never heard the Sovereign do woodworking—losing to him would be hard to accept, but if she won, she didn't know whether it would damage his dignity and embarrass him.

"What, are you afraid?" Li Bucai goaded.

Qiaoer pondered a moment, then said, "If we race, we race—if you lose, you must not deny it."

"All right, with everyone as witness, since it's a match, let's set an agreement: if you win, you may make any request of me that I can fulfill, and I will surely agree; if you lose, you must also agree to one condition of mine. Moreover, regardless of who loses, besides finishing their own tasks, they must also do half a day of hard labor as punishment. How about that?"

"One word, and it's set?"

"One word, and it's set!"