Chapter 125: 125. Meeting the Baron

On the morning of the 8th, after leaving Dawei, Wodun, and Dandi to guard the home, Luoning took the remaining men and set out from Shanlin Town, heading north.

Because Luoning had set a plan upon his last return to open up the road between Shanlin Town, Qingzhu Village, Ziguo Village, and Huitu Village, the Logging Squad prioritized cutting down trees on both sides of this path while working.

After more than a month, the trees on both sides of the path leading out of Shanlin Town had been cleared, revealing the outline of a mountain road about two meters wide.

Although this two-meter-wide road was currently less than three li long and not a smooth surface, it was already much better than when he had passed through last time.

Luoning believed that after the issuance of the current decree encouraging the territory's people to cut down trees, the expansion speed of this mountain road would become even faster.

Since the negotiation time set by Ruidar was three days away, there was plenty of time, so Luoning was in no rush to hurry.

He stopped for two hours when passing through Qingzhu Village.

When Luoning had returned to Shanlin Town after conquering the three wild tribes, he had handed the defense of Qingzhu Village over to the Huoen couple to manage concurrently, while matters regarding agricultural affairs remained the responsibility of Selis, the former steward of Knight Wili.

Luoning rode his Tayunjv through the fields of Qingzhu Village to take a look and found that the order there was decent and the vegetable plots had not been abandoned, so he affirmed Selis's ability and arranged for him to serve as the Village Chief, with plans to have Wilson bring people over later to provide guidance on agricultural matters.

After a simple inspection, the group set off again and arrived at Ziguo Village at dusk.

In addition to taking Jennie to Huitu Village, Luoning also prepared to rest here for the night to recuperate his spirit.

In his chat with Hong Knight, Luoning learned that the other party had recently cleared three or four mu of land to serve as mulberry fields in accordance with previous instructions.

According to this progress, the task of opening up ten mu of mulberry fields by the first or second month of the coming year could be completed.

Upon learning that Luoning was going to transfer Jennie to Huitu Village, Huoen also had the thought of going along.

Luoning felt it was not very easy to refuse; after all, his arrangement left the family of three separated in three different places, which was somewhat inappropriate.

However, he still required Huoen to arrange the affairs of Ziguo Village well, insisting that the ten mu of mulberry fields must be ready next year and that the scale of sericulture must be expanded.

At the first light of the next day, the group set off again; since they were all riding horses, and there was a frequently traveled road between Ziguo Village and Huitu Village, it was much more convenient to travel.

More than an hour later, the group arrived at Huitu Village.

"My Lord, welcome!"

Having received the report from Tangmu in advance, Ruidar came out of the stockade to greet him, followed by Babulin, Zhuweite, and other Transcendental, as well as several guards.

"Long time no see, Ruidar!"

Luoning greeted him with a smile, "You handled the provocation incident by the Heiling Tribe very well; I admire your decisiveness and bravery!"

"Many thanks for your praise, My Lord!" Ruidar responded with a smile.

After praising Ruidar, Luoning briefly greeted the others as well.

"Has there been any unusual movement from the Heiling Tribe these past two days?"

"None at present."

Ruidar replied, "I have already arranged for two scout cavalrymen to observe the opposite side from the mountain outside the village; if there is any situation, they will report it back in time."

Luoning nodded secretly; Ruidar's arrangements were also very thorough.

"It seems they must have notified Baron Leisen, waiting for him to come and make a decision; it remains to be seen if he will come over this time."

He asked, "What about that Fenlisi you captured? I heard he is an Advanced Knight; how is he now?"

"Fenlisi was injured in the fight that day, and I haven't arranged for him to have food or drink these past two days. He is half-dead now and doesn't even have the strength to try to escape."

Ruidar was no longer paying much attention to Fenlisi; he was more concerned about how the Lord would arrange things next.

"My Lord, if Baron Leisen comes in person, do we need to take him out outside the village?"

Luoning could see that as long as he gave the order to act against Leisen, Ruidar would execute it without hesitation; there was sufficient confidence in the other's eyes.

"No, now is not the time."

Luoning shook his head, "You might not know yet, but that Leisen is already a Bronze Knight."

Luoning did not yet have an intuitive understanding of the specific combat power of a Bronze Knight, and the Sain Territory possessed a Knight Squad, whose strength could not be compared to a few wild tribes.

"Setting that aside, I still lack the opportunity to wage war on a Baron Territory; even if I defeated him, it would not reach the level where Wushan Castle would strip him of his territory."

It was impossible for Luoning to kill him.

Nobles generally had immunity, and without an absolute reason and excuse, they would not be easily killed.

If Luoning wanted to mingle in this circle, he still had to follow the rules of the game while his strength was not yet strong enough.

To take a step back, killing him would not only fail to mean that the land belonged to him, but it would also push Luoning to the forefront.

After all, if he could take down a Bronze Knight and a Knight Squad, would such a Baron of Shanlin Town be weak?

"Coming here this time is firstly to see the attitude of the Sain Territory, secondly to discuss a non-aggression pact with him, and thirdly to talk about a price and see how many gold coins Baron Leisen is willing to pay to redeem his people."

Ruidar understood, "This subordinate understands!"

The group entered the stockade and had just sat down to drink tea in the simple fortress when, before Luoning could even ask about the construction progress of Huitu Village, the shouts of the scout cavalry came from outside.

"Commander, people from the Heiling Tribe have come, a lot of them!"

As soon as the scout entered the fortress and saw so many people, he was stunned on the spot, but upon seeing Luoning, he suddenly sobered up, "Greetings, My Lord!"

Luoning nodded in acknowledgment, "Since they have come, let us go out to meet them. Ruidar, have all the guards mobilize and follow us out of the village!"

"Yes!"

Luoning rode on his horse and looked back at his team, feeling a surge of excitement for a moment.

In addition to the twelve Transcendental including himself and the twenty old guards who had stayed behind, Ruidar had also trained about fifty militiamen here.

Although some of them were holding Ironwood Spears and didn't even have iron swords, they had a little bit of discipline and still looked capable of bluffing.

"If I could expand a team like this to thousands of people..."

Luoning thought to himself, also looking forward to such a day.

The team did not walk fast; after rounding the mountain corner, they happened to reach the position where the other side had prepared to build a watchtower last time, and Luoning saw a large crowd of people coming in a mighty force on the mountain road opposite.

The leading knight was tall and sturdy, wearing thick armor that looked like quality goods at a glance.

At his sides, one on the left and one on the right, two other knights were also equipped impressively.

These three should be Baron Leisen and his main knights.

Behind them were ten knights, thirty-six cavalrymen, ten Archer, and sixty Infantry.

Luoning could not help but raise an eyebrow.

Good grief, Baron Leisen had actually dispatched a standard Knight Squad!

Ruidar frowned slightly; the opponent's strength somewhat exceeded his estimates, and if a fight broke out, it would surely be a hard battle with heavy casualties.

Behind him, the Guards were extremely nervous.

Along the way, although they had conquered three savage tribes, they had basically done so without much effort; where had they ever clashed with true nobles?

At this moment, facing an "army pressing down on the border," their throats were nervously parched.

As for the militia in the back, it was already good enough that they could maintain their formation and stand still.

"The strength of the leaders is not bad, but the subordinates have a significant gap compared to Sain Territory."

Luoning took all of this in, knowing full well the disparity between his own troops and the opponent's.

He simply raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop in their tracks and wait for the other side to approach.

Soon, the people from Sain Territory arrived thirty meters away.

Baron Leisen spoke, his voice mixed with Battle Qi, carrying clearly: "Baron Luoning, I didn't expect us to meet here!"

"The last time I saw you seems to have been at the banquet in April or May; I remember we were discussing the crusade against the Black Gold Brotherhood, and you were still the heir to Wushan Castle back then."

Luoning took a deep breath; he did not use Battle Qi, merely raising the volume of his voice slightly.

"Baron Leisen, your memory is truly excellent!"

While speaking, he was also sizing up the opponent's forces; it would be a lie to say he felt no pressure, but he could not show it.

"But today is our first meeting as the Baron of Shanlin Town."

Disdain flickered in Leisen's eyes as he lightly kicked his horse's belly, detaching himself from the formation to approach Luoning's side.

"Since you and I are both Barons, you should know that provoking a more mature Baron Territory requires paying a price."

A cold sneer curled the corners of his mouth, "If you have enough courage, then come forward and speak to me."

(End of this chapter)