Ziyang County.

It was high noon. A few men who had just finished hard labor were walking down the road toward a simple noodle stall.

After sitting down, they skillfully called for bowls of plain noodles, then began chatting amongst themselves.

A skinny, dark-skinned man wiped the sweat from his face and suddenly said, “Hey, have you guys noticed? Seems like the mountain bandits outside the city have been fewer lately?”

This comment was clearly very relatable—someone immediately responded.

“Of course they’ve thinned out!”

A thick-browed man said excitedly, “You might not believe it, but a few days ago, one of my cousins came from Wuguang Village to visit me. Wuguang Village, you know, it’s not close to our county—takes more than half a day’s walk to get here. But my cousin made it the whole way without running into a single problem! Isn’t that strange?”

In the past, people from outside Ziyang County—let alone those from distant Wuguang—would get robbed by mountain bandits as long as they passed any hill known to harbor them. Even villagers from nearby settlements weren’t safe.

Half a day’s journey without a single robbery was clearly out of the ordinary.

“Seriously?” one man exclaimed. “No trouble at all? Maybe he took a hidden trail?”

“Hidden trail, my ass!” the thick-browed man waved his hand. “He came the usual way—didn’t run into a single bandit. The eggs and ducks he brought to town weren’t touched at all. If he’d run into bandits, you think he’d still have those?”

“Whoa, that’s something. Your cousin’s got good luck.”

Someone sounded envious, thinking it was just luck. But the skinny man who spoke first said, “I don’t think it’s luck. I reckon something happened to those bandits!”

He said it with such certainty that no one around believed him.

“Tian Hu, I know we all wish something happened to those bandits out there, but you’re way too sure. If bandits were that easy to get rid of, we wouldn’t still be dealing with them now.”

“Exactly, Tian Hu, don’t overthink it.”

Even the thick-browed man advised him, “Brother Tian, I have my doubts too, but there are so many bandits out there—get rid of one nest, and another pops up. Even if something did happen, it’s not like they’re all gone… Haven’t we heard news about government troops going out to suppress them?”

With everyone advising him, Tian Hu fell silent.

Just then, the stall owner brought over the noodles, and the hungry men began eating.

After finishing their meal and paying the bill, the men got up to leave.

Tian Hu and the thick-browed man lagged behind.

The thick-browed man looked at Tian Hu and spoke in a low voice, “We’re fellow villagers, and I know you hate those bandits to the bone, but we’re just common folk. We can’t fight them. You should just focus on living.”

Tian Hu lowered his gaze and said nothing.

Seeing this, the thick-browed man sighed, shook his head, and said no more as he caught up with the others.

After he left, Tian Hu looked up in the direction of the city gate, his eyes slowly firming with resolve.

After waiting so many years, he was finally seeing a glimmer of hope—no matter what, he had to witness those bandits meet their end with his own eyes!

—

Outside Ziyang County, a tightly guarded carriage was slowly making its way toward the city.

Wei Yu sat by the window, frowning more and more as he looked over the monthly camp expense ledger.

“This is really like pouring money into a black hole…”

Just a month for a thousand men, and they’d already run through all the grain. Not to mention his own silver notes—at this rate, even the money seized from the bandit dens would only last about ten more days.

Terrifying.

Feeding soldiers—no, feeding bandits—was terrifying.

This trip into the city was to buy more grain. The Eighth Prince had stayed behind to oversee the camp. Riding in the same carriage as Wei Yu was Xiao Anzi.

Xiao Anzi asked, “Master, are we out of money?”

Wei Yu sighed. “Even if we had money, it wouldn’t last long at this rate.”

It was mostly because he was too kind. No matter who it was, as long as they obeyed orders and worked, he made sure they got three meals a day. The food might not be fancy, but at least it was enough to fill their stomachs.

If he’d gone by the usual standards and just fed the working prisoners enough not to starve, he could’ve stretched supplies for another month—but that didn’t align with his humanitarian values!

If everyone ended up skinny as skeletons, how would they have the strength to work?

And if they didn’t work, or worse, died of hunger or got sick—that would be wasting sustainable human resources…

It didn’t match his scientific principles of labor management.

Wei Yu crossed his legs, looking up with emotion, “Your master is just too kind. The moment I think about how they’re all citizens of Great Wei, I just can’t bear to mistreat them—I want them all to eat their fill!”

Truly, too kind!

Xiao Anzi looked at his prince with admiration. He genuinely believed their prince was righteous and benevolent.

If it had just been the former bandits, that would be one thing—but even the prisoners got such good treatment and full meals to do their work. There wasn’t another master like this under heaven!

Thinking of how uncooperative those prisoners had been at first, Xiao Anzi’s eyes flashed with hostility. “Master, why bother feeding them so well—three meals a day, even? If you ask me, one bowl of gruel a day would be enough!”

What the hell?

Wei Yu stared at Xiao Anzi in shock.

This guy was even more stingy than him!

Wei Yu advised, “No, no, no. If we starve them until they’re too weak, who’s going to work for me? Right now, we’re just fixing up the camp—but soon we’ll need people to build roads throughout all of Ji Prefecture and even Jiaozhou.”

He had a point.

Still, Xiao Anzi felt bad seeing his prince frown over money. “But we’re out of grain, and you’re using your own money to feed them.”

Wei Yu said, “We’re not that poor. Using the bandits’ money to buy grain should last us another month or so. Once the camp is up and everyone’s trained, we’ll hit the road and raid more bandit dens!”

One den after another. Then they’d have people, money, and no more bandit problem. Perfect!

Yes, Wei Yu thought this was an excellent plan.

Who said suppressing bandits had to be done by the government?

Bandits could take care of other bandits, too.

Xiao Anzi suddenly realized, “Oh! Master, isn’t this what you call money making more money?”

Wei Yu smiled, “Exactly!”

He still hadn’t gotten over being a bandit king—his group had to grow bigger and stronger, until it covered all of Ji Prefecture!

Hahahahahaha—

Hmm?

Wei Yu suddenly paused.

Come to think of it, didn’t his bandit army still not have a name? Should he come up with something nice?

Wei Yu fell deep into thought.

Since he wasn’t talking, Xiao Anzi stayed quiet too.

Silently touching the silver notes in his pocket, Xiao Anzi thought for a moment—he’d give them to the prince next time he needed money.

Yes, after all, he had long vowed to take care of His Highness for life!