Chapter 262: A Beauty Trap?

"Knock, knock~"

The door was knocked upon.

Luoning, who was buried in his work planning and organizing the information Jennie had submitted on paper, did not look up and only said the word, "Enter."

He assumed it was Ruidar, Aierlong, or the others, but he did not expect a young girl dressed in gorgeous clothing, looking like a noble young lady, to walk in carrying a fruit platter.

"Who are you?" Luoning set down the pen in his hand.

The girl curtsied, parted her red lips slightly, and said in a sweet voice, "Lord Viscount, I am the daughter of the Administrator of Jushi Territory; you may call me Betty."

As she spoke, she placed the fruit platter on the table and, carrying a trail of fragrance, came to Luoning's side, actually taking the initiative to reach out and knead Luoning's shoulders.

"Lord Viscount, you have had a tiring journey; I have come specifically to serve you."

Luoning frowned slightly and casually picked up a book to cover the parchment.

Although the other party's movements were gentle, and Luoning could feel the softness touching his shoulders, and although he could vaguely feel the hot breath the other party exhaled against the back of his ear, he still felt it was somewhat inexplicable.

"Miss Betty."

Luoning pushed her hands away and looked straight into her eyes: "Did Keruien send you here?"

A flash of panic was clearly visible in Betty's eyes; she had not expected to be rejected. Had Lord Keruien not said that the man before her was very fond of carnal affairs?

Why was it that when she approached him, and even intentionally teased him, the other party's expression seemed to show no joy at all?

She hurriedly walked away and stood to one side of the table.

Feeling the coldness in Luoning's tone, Betty, despite being the Administrator's daughter, still lacked confidence in front of a true noble.

"The Baron said you were too tired and asked me to come and massage you, then serve you as you wash up and take a nap."

"How will you serve me?"

The corners of Luoning's mouth curled up, "Including offering your body?"

*Swish*, Betty's face turned red, and she buried her head in shyness: "Ye-yes, as long as you are willing, I can do it at any time."

Judging by the other party's previous performance, she was clearly a skilled veteran, but her current appearance was as if she were an inexperienced young girl.

"Keruien is truly thoughtful."

Luoning smiled, then shouted toward the outside: "Tangmu, Dawei, come in!"

Tangmu and Dawei, who were waiting not far outside, ran over in a hurry and subconsciously glanced at Betty, who was standing awkwardly to the side.

"My Lord, what are your orders?"

"You haven't been following me for just a day or two; why did you not report it beforehand when an outsider came to see me? How are you performing your duties?"

Luoning's reproachful attitude was, on one hand, indeed criticizing the two, but on the other, it was also for Betty to see.

Faced with the Lord's reprimand, Tangmu and Dawei immediately panicked, hurriedly knelt on one knee, and while begging for Luoning's forgiveness, also explained the reason.

It turned out that when they heard Betty say it was arranged by Keruien, they thought Luoning and the other party had already discussed it, so they did not stop her from entering, not realizing there was a misunderstanding.

"From now on, even if a fly wants to come in, it must first come to report to me, and I will let it in only after I have given permission!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Tangmu and Dawei were trembling; they were indeed at fault for how they handled this matter, and they should have reported it first at the time.

Luoning waved his hand, "Take her out!"

Seeing this scene, Betty dared not linger here any longer and scrambled to leave in a panic.

"Take the fruit platter with you!" Luoning added.

"Ri-right, okay..."

She hurriedly turned back, took the fruit platter, and left quickly.

Watching the figure leave, Luoning frowned and analyzed Keruien's purpose in doing this.

"Does he simply think I am lecherous and sent a woman, or does he want to ruin my reputation?"

War was about to begin; if Luoning were to fall into a scandal like Weijinsi because of a woman, his reputation would likely become as foul as Weijinsi's.

With the lesson of his predecessor, how could he possibly repeat the same mistake?

On the other side, Keruien was quite surprised to hear Betty's report.

"You may withdraw."

Keruien waved his hand to let Betty leave, still finding it hard to believe: "Betty's appearance is top-tier; I didn't expect Luoning to be able to resist and not make a move. Could it be that he has really changed his nature?"

"It is possible. After all, he suffered a loss at the hands of Earl Aosen's granddaughter, which is why he lost his right of inheritance."

Bulisuo said with some regret: "In that case, the plan to ruin his reputation has fallen through."

"No matter."

Keruien sat down, "There is more than one way to ruin a reputation. If this war ends in a crushing defeat, his reputation will likely be even worse than his father's!"

"If the Noble Allied Forces are completely wiped out, Luoning, as the commander, will likely be considered incompetent by all the nobles, right?"

These allied forces, no matter how poor their strength, were assets of the nobles; losing them would cause more or less heartache, and then the rumors and gossip about Luoning would follow.

In the evening, Aierlong returned to Jushi Castle and reported the news regarding the materials for the Burst Potion.

Regrettably, the required potions could not be gathered in Jushi City, especially a material called "Blood Hemp Grass," which the people at the Magic Chamber of Commerce had never even heard of.

It seemed impossible for Luoning to possess the Burst Potion in a short time.

Luoning did not attend the dinner at Jushi Castle, but instead discussed with Ruidar, Maiken, and others how to properly handle the work of setting up camp.

This was their first war; many things could be left undone, but they could also treat this as an opportunity to accumulate experience.

When Qiaofuli, Luogena, and even Tangmu and the others grew up and led teams in the future, they would also know how to handle such matters.

Sometimes improvement is not limited to strength; the ability to handle affairs is also very important.

The commander's absence from Keruien's dinner might seem ordinary, but different people viewed it with different understandings.

Those knights or nobles belonging to other nobles naturally did not care, but the three of them—Tolu, Feilipu, and Suoerstan—had to take it seriously.

They already understood Luoning's attitude toward doing things; before taking Chishan Town, they would need to appropriately refuse similar banquets, even if it might damage the inviter's face.

The next morning, Luoning summoned all the leadership members, including Tolu, Keruien, and others, to hold a meeting in the fortress of Jushi Castle.

Although nearly sixty people attended the meeting, in reality, only a few high-level combatants could make decisions; the other persons in charge only needed to be responsible for execution.

"When marching to war, the first thing to do is to know one's own situation."

Luoning took out the things he had prepared yesterday and passed them around for Tolu and the others to read.

"I have not touched the units that possess a complete Knight Squad organization, but I need to organize the other scattered personnel into formations, appoint persons in charge, and allocate relevant matters."

Tolu took the parchment and carefully browsed the text on it; the more he read, the more shocked he felt in his heart.

Did Luoning not attend the banquet yesterday just to do this?

He could not help but secretly glance at the young man beside him; could this speed and method of handling matters really be done by someone who had never been on a battlefield?

"Sir Tolu, what do you think?"

Luoning asked, "If you feel there are any inappropriate parts, you can bring them up for revision."

"I think this series of arrangements of yours is very reasonable!"

As he spoke, he handed the parchment to Mawen, who was to the side; as the two deputy commanders, they naturally had to look at it first.

"Lord Lulansi sent Mawen and me to assist you; now it seems that perhaps you do not need us to preside over this war!"

After Mawen quickly browsed through it, his eyes were full of shock.

He was a rough man and could not do such delicate work, but this did not hinder his admiration for someone who could.

"Tolu is right, Luoning. I have no objections; let's proceed according to what you said!"

Perhaps feeling that saying this was not enough, he added another sentence: "I feel that our Wushan Territory is about to have an outstanding military strategist!"

As these words fell, everyone who had not seen the contents of the letter became curious; what exactly was written on this paper to make the two commanders so impressed and full of praise?

Keruien was suspicious; was it really that exaggerated?

Could it be that the Marquis had arranged it in advance to pave the way for Luoning?

However, thinking of Betty's report yesterday, Luoning was indeed writing something at the table at that time, but the specific content had not been seen by Betty.

"Viscount Mawen, can you let me have a look too?"

Mawen was startled; he had forgotten to pass it around and hurriedly handed the parchment to Keruien.

Keruien hurriedly took it and began to read.

He did not know until he looked, and he was startled once he did.

He saw that the parchment was neatly written with Luoning's formation group numbers, team leaders, main member compositions, and the tasks each team was responsible for.

These tasks were not general, but fell into the details.

For example, there were teams responsible for reconnaissance, some for defense, some for analyzing intelligence, and some for maintaining camp security, and so on.

In addition to the combat troops, Luoning even had a division of labor for logistics—craftsmen, cooks, Grooms, and even those who cleaned had formations and persons in charge.

If the scattered Noble Allied Forces were really organized and formed according to Luoning's plan, the effect displayed would definitely be stronger than each acting on their own.

"This..."

Keruien was shocked in his heart, yet he still wanted to pick out some flaws.

"Commander, I think there is one place that is not quite appropriate."

"Oh?"

Facing the questioning, Luoning did not show the slightest anger, but instead appeared amiable.

"Baron Keruien, please bring up any opinions you have, and we can discuss them!" (End of chapter)