Early the next morning, after finishing breakfast, Elara told everyone to pack up and prepare for the return trip. Her purpose for coming to Anqi Town had been fulfilled. From now on, Anqi Town would be her first mineral supply base.
To ensure Anqi Town could safely operate as a mining base, Elara left behind around one thousand three hundred elite soldiers under Francis's command. One thousand of them were to stay as the town's defense force to prevent further rebel attacks or invasions. The remaining three hundred were tasked with escorting the first batch of mined resources back to Marigold County once ready.
The mining craftsmen and skilled builders she brought were also left behind to handle the construction and protection work in Anqi Town. The roads outside Anqi Town, especially the route to and from Marigold County, had to be widened and repaired. Every fifty kilometers, a defensive post needed to be built to keep the path secure.
Elara's plan was to make the road between Marigold County and Anqi Town smooth and wide, while building stops to keep it safe for trade and communication. After finishing all arrangements in Anqi Town, she thought about the likely outbreak of "international war" and how the Youdan Kingdom was just beyond the nearby border. She used the power of the blood bead to quietly summon snakes, rats, insects, and beasts to gather at the border to spy on Youdan's movements and report back.
Since she was leaving and wouldn't be able to communicate with the puppet beasts easily from afar, Elara gave them orders. If anything happened, they were to report to the stationed soldiers in Anqi Town, who would write a letter and send it to her via Black Hawk.
This kind of situation really showed how convenient the puppet beasts were. The ability she got from the "Poison Spider" proved extremely useful. After all the tasks were settled, Elara wasted no time and set off with the group back to the county.
That morning, since Oswyn had reminded her last night not to let the two grandsons of the Qi family become overly attached to her, Elara didn't let them approach. Compared to the older and more obedient Qimu Feng, Qi Haochen was younger and more difficult to manage.
Due to the hardships he'd faced from a young age, he understood how cruel and competitive the world could be. He had learned to use everything he had to get what he wanted. The moment Elara refused his approach, the child acted pitiful and sad. When that didn't work, he tried other tricks to get close to her and get her to carry him.
He was indeed clever. Before trying anything, he would always study Elara's face to test her mood. If he saw the slightest hint of irritation, he would immediately stop and change to a different tactic.
Unfortunately for him, today Elara wasn't going to let him get close no matter what. Once the child realized this, the fake pleasing expression vanished from his face. His beautiful and delicate features turned cold and distant as he stared silently at her.
Even adults would struggle to control their expressions as well as he did. After staring for a while and seeing Elara unmoved, he suddenly turned and ran out of the carriage, disappearing from sight.
Elara glanced in the direction he left but didn't plan to send anyone after him. She wasn't going to spoil him. She had no experience raising children anyway. If he was unhappy, then so be it.
The insect inside him allowed Elara to monitor his condition anytime. If needed, she could directly order the insect to bring him back. As for his safety, given how many tricks and schemes he had shown, he probably wouldn't go around harming innocent animals.
And if things really got bad, she could just ask Uno to retrieve him. In short, for this child who was young in age but already deeply scheming, Elara planned to let him grow on his own. As long as there was no big problem, he could do whatever he wanted.
On the way back, Elara didn't arrange for troops to sweep up rebels since she needed to prepare for the upcoming war. They only eliminated those they encountered on the road or near their route before continuing south.
She didn't plan to bring the captured rebels back. Instead, she wrote a letter and had it delivered by small animals to Anqi Town. The stationed soldiers there would send three hundred troops to bring the captives back and use them to build roads, construct posts, fortify the town, and help with mining later.
By noon the next day, when they were only a dozen kilometers from the Valley of the Divine Healer, Elara received two letters from the Plumera capital. One was from Damon and the other from Mathias.
Damon's letter focused on the development of the Bai Trading Village. The village was now running smoothly. The population had reached over six thousand, with more than four thousand being able-bodied soldiers. The number of craftsmen kept growing, and they were producing a steady stream of goods to be sold in shops throughout the capital using Mathias's special distribution methods.
Thanks to the fresh ideas Elara had provided, the goods were eye-catching and practical, attracting people from all walks of life. Last month alone, the sales of these items brought in over six thousand taels of pure silver in profit.
Besides that, under Mathias's efforts, the trading village signed several large deals with Lianyi Pavilion. Because of the pavilion's huge reputation and vast trade network, these deals brought in twice the expected profit.
Including the earlier income from tofu and other food products, the trading village had earned a total of thirty-seven thousand taels in dividends. Altogether, the village had around forty thousand taels of silver in circulation.
Even Elara was surprised by this number. It exceeded her expectations. Damon also mentioned that the village still had many things left to improve and that daily income was still increasing. By next month, profits might double again.
Elara was in a great mood after reading that. The village's success was an excellent boost for her, especially with war on the horizon. War burns money, and the more silver they had, the better.
So she immediately wrote half a letter back to Damon, filled with praise and encouragement. She told him to keep going and to report any problems to her or Mathias so they could solve them together.
After finishing the section about commerce, Elara looked at the military updates. According to Damon, the village had been built into a small fortified base as planned. There were more than four thousand soldiers hidden and in plain sight throughout the village. Defense structures had also been built around it.
If war broke out in the capital, the trading village could immediately become a stronghold that was easy to defend and hard to attack. The only problem was that they had run out of iron ore and couldn't produce any more iron weapons or armor for now.
Damon mentioned this point in his letter as well. He said he would immediately lead two thousand troops secretly to Anqu Town. At the same time, he would bring miners and construction workers.
According to what Elara had written in her letter, they would clear out the rebels while opening a path. Along the way, they would have the prisoners and soldiers build defensive outposts. This would continue until the road from the merchant estate to Anqu Town was fully open.
After reading his letter, Elara picked up her brush and added two more lines below her words of praise. She told Damon to bring some merchant goods with him when he came to Anqu Town. Anqu Town was too remote, and there were no big cities around it for trade.
Now that most of Plumera State was full of chaos from rebel forces, even the cities that could trade didn't dare risk being looted to open their gates. The Qi family was a major merchant family in Anqu Town, but they were still affected. Their selection of goods was poor, and most of their income came from land they owned.
The goods they produced were mostly local specialties that couldn't be found outside of Anqu Town. So, if Damon could bring goods needed in Anqu Town, he could earn a good profit. When he returned, he could take back the unique specialties of Anqu Town, sell them in Plumera's capital, and make silver from both sides.
After finishing the reply to Damon, Elara opened the letter from Mathias and began to read. Compared to Damon's letter, Mathias wrote more but used simpler words. He first told Elara about the situation of the Bai merchant estate.
Maybe he guessed that Damon would also write, so he gave only a brief summary of their current status. Aside from that, Mathias focused more on Lord Gregory and others, as well as the overall situation inside and outside Plumera's capital. All the information from Emory was sent to Mathias.
Mathias carefully wrote down everything Emory had sent during the past month. As Elara read, a cold smile gradually spread across her face. As expected, Lord Gregory and the others had stationed troops outside Plumera's capital.
Emory's early estimate was that there were already at least two or three hundred thousand soldiers. Their movements had also become bolder recently. It seemed that after being suppressed by Commander Shu in the north for so many years, Lord Gregory's ambition had finally grown.
Now that military strength had risen and Commander Shu remained silent, their fear was fading. On top of that, the recent temple incident and Elara's departure from the capital probably touched their nerves. They could no longer hold back.
They didn't even care about Commander Shu's power anymore. They just wanted to tear off their disguise and take what they desired.
At this rate, within a few months at most, once their army was ready, they would likely march south to eliminate Elara, the princess. Then, inside Plumera's capital, they would start listing every reason why Shera was unfit to rule.
Using those reasons, they would pressure the court to force Shera to step down and completely seize the throne. Elara clicked her tongue softly. Thinking about the turbulent situation in the north and the possible attack from the west by the Sargassum State, she let out a quiet sigh.
This really was a case of wolves in front and tigers behind. Being the princess was truly not easy.