Chapter 15 - The Mayor
At the end of the road, Little Meng City came into sight.
As Little Meng City came into view, Wu Qi felt disappointed. It was surrounded by a three foot tall wall built of rammed earth. It also had a low city gate, a big flag twisting on a pole on top of said city gate, and a few languished guards standing in front of the gate. A desolate place, that was his first impression of Little Meng City.
When Wu Qi got close enough to the city gate, he saw some weeds had grown on the city wall, billowing in the breeze happily. Not only that, there was also a two foot tall bush growing on top of the city gate. Wu Qi also saw dozens of fist-size berries hiding amongst the bushes branches.
Wu Qi breathed in sharply through his teeth.
Lu Chengfeng’s expression turned awful when he saw the city wall. he tilted his head and just stared at it. It seemed like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. After some time, he let out a depressed sigh, put on a smile on his face, and said, “Wu Qi, it is fortunate that I have not become the Mayor of this city. Instead I have been appointed as a General! Don’t you think you should congratulate me?”
Wu Qi gave Lu Chengfeng a gaze, then said, in a similarly disenchanted voice, “Congratulation, young master. You really are lucky for not becoming the Mayor of Little Meng City! But why did they build this crumbling city here?”
At this moment, Zhang Hu came by, riding on his ride and, with a loud voice, said, “Because of the herbs, minerals, timber, beast skin, meat, and barbarians!”
Pointing at the Little Meng City, Zhang Hu explained its situation like a man who knows everything.
Meng Mountain is rich in resources that no one can neglect. Therefore, the Lu Kingdom, which ruled the land that Meng Mountain was on, specifically built a city at its perimeter as the hub for the collection and distribution of resources. No only this, the Lu Kingdom frequently suffered attacks from barbarians near Meng Mountain. Having a city built here can be considered a first line of defense, so, when those barbarians attacked again, Little Meng City would be able to alert Lu Kingdom to the threat.
Because of this tough situation, there’s barely fifty thousand permanent residents in Little Meng City, but there are more than two hundred thousand floating residents, who are earning their living here. Not only this, there are three battalions of soldiers, Heavenly, Earth, and Mortal, which grouped into twelve companies for a total of eight thousand warriors that are stationed here permanently.
An army of eight thousand soldiers. For any other prosperous city in the Lu Kingdom, this would be a strange arrangement.
“Ah! I See!” Lu Chengfeng nodded his head thoughtfully, then said, “Even back in Liyang City, where the Lu family resided, there were only three thousand soldiers. This small city has an army of eight thousand soldiers. No wonder they need a General here!”
Soon they had come to the front of City Gate, then, Zhang Hu hold his fist to Lu Chengfeng and Wu Qi.
“Brother Wu Qi, young master Lu, we’ll say goodbye here! Brother Wu Qi, Little Meng City is not a big city. If there is anything you need, just come and look for me. All my brothers and I are staying at the ‘Vigorous Tiger Residence’! That’s our base!”
Zhang Hu bid goodbye to Wu Qi in a loud, emphatic voice, without looking at Lu Chengfeng. Then, together with his men, they sped up their pace and entered into the city, riding the horses of those dead cavalrymen.
Awful expressions came over both Laohei and Xiaohei, their dark faces twisting with frowns.
Lu Chengfeng burst out laughing, then said, “This Zhang Hu is a good man with an interesting life story. But, the way he treated me. It was as if I was some poisonous bug or wild beast, showing that he is a wise man, but also a boring man. What do you think?” He looked at Wu Qi as he asked this.
As Wu Qi watched Zhang Hu disappear, said honestly, “I think brother Zhang Hu is a good man!”
Lu Chengfeng slapped his forehead, again laughing, and said, “I have to agree with you there. Never mind, these barbarian hunters will have to deal with the City Guards Army, and I, as the General of the City Guard, will just take good care of them! Ha, aren’t they going to have to buy all their armor and weapons from me?”
Wu Qi nodded his head, turning to look at Lu Chengfeng. So, the post of General is also in charge of the weapons in Little Meng City as well?
The villagers of Meng Village also waved at Wu Qi, then, with a fast pace, they pushed those push carts into the city. They, too, don’t get along with Lu Chengfeng. They felt a huge gap between them and this young master from a wealthy family. No matter whether it was the way Lu Chengfeng talked or the way he handled things, they simply felt uncomfortable.
Especially since some of Lu Chengfeng’s guards had wounded some villagers when they were fleeing for their lives. This made the villagers from Meng Village dislike him even more.
Although Lu Cheng Feng had generously paid a huge sum of money to these villagers for medical treatment, given all the horses of those dead cavalrymen to Zhang Hu, and even gave them all the weapons and money found on the men in black, but still, he couldn’t win the hearts of these villagers. These simple villagers were of a one-track-mind. When Lu Chengfeng’s guards hurt their men, he got the blame.
Breathing out a helpless sigh, Lu Chengfeng stared at Wu Qi and clapped his hand with a bitter smile.
Wu Qi shook his head, then pointed back over his shoulder at those cavalrymen, who were looking dejected and spiritless. He spoke with a stiff tone, “Young master, you better think of some ways to recruit more people in Little Meng City, these men are useless. You might as well send them back and save on the food.”
Lu Chengfeng clapped his hand again, laughing out loud and said, “You’re right, they are supposed to be my guards. Having them here would just waste the army supplies. So be it, all of you, leave your rides behind and walk back to Liyang, help me inform lady lord that I’ve arrived at Little Meng City safely!”
When those guards heard what Wu Qi said, their expressions became dark, then, when they heard Lu Chengfeng’s order, an intention to kill Wu Qi immediately popped up in their minds. Leaving behind their rides and walking a thousand miles back to Liyang on their feet? Isn’t that a death sentence?
What’s worse, they were chased back by the young master, who they supposed to be protecting. What would the family think when they got back? They could recieve serious punishment if they really left the young master behind.
All the cavalrymen rolled around and crawled off their rides, hastening to kowtow in front of Lu Chengfeng, without caring about how dirty the ground was.
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