Though the battle ended in victory for the Jin family, it came at a heavy cost. Lady Jin had been stabbed during the fighting and now lay unconscious, her life hanging by a thread.
Luo He entered the castle, expression in his dark eyes unreadable. The smell of blood and smoke still lingered in the air, clinging to the stone walls like a reminder of the night's brutality.
"Report," Luo He said coldly. An officer stepped forward, lowering his head. "We lost around 134 men in the battle, in addition to the seven from the village."
Luo He closed his eyes for a brief moment. "And the near three hundred lost during the battle at The Gold Island have also been officially recorded." That number lingered.
Three hundred. Even for him, it weighed heavily. His mood darkened further. Later, he found Jin Mulan. Her already red eyes were like now red all over, her expression filled with rage and grief.
"Where are the prisoners?" she demanded. "I want them executed." Luo He studied her for a moment. Then he said calmly, "Do you want to torture them?"
Her eyes flickered eager, almost desperate. "Yes." She said in anger. That was enough evidence to say, she was no longer in her right mind. Luo He quickly caught on to that.
"Guards," Luo He said without raising his voice, "escort Lady Jin Mulan to her room. Do not let her leave." His command was direct and absolute. It had no room for denial.
"What?!" she snapped, struggling. "Luo He let me go!" She shouted. "You are not in a state to decide anything," he replied coldly.
"Restrain her if necessary." She fought back, furious and heartbroken, but the guards obeyed. She felt like cutting through them and took out her sword. The guards back down terrified of her.
Luo He stepped forward. Her blade pointed at him. He went till the blade pressed into his chest plate. "Not all people who points a sword at you are your enemies he said calmly."
For some reason that hit her. Luo He slowly took the sword from her hand. She tried to somewhat resist, but it didn't work. Then the guards tightly bound her.
As she was taken away, her voice echoed down the hall "Coward! Let me avenge her!"
Luo He did not respond. He went directly to Jin Su. The room was dimly lit, filled with anxious servants and physicians whispering in fear. "The blade passed through the liver," one of them said nervously.
"It is a fatal wound we can't do anything." Luo He stepped forward. "Move." They hesitated but something in his tone made them obey instantly. He examined the wound, his eyes sharp and calculating.
Without warning, he heated a dagger over a flame. "What are you doing?!" one physician gasped. Luo He didn't answer.
With precise control, he cut open the wound further. Blood flowed.
Then, taking a bottle, he poured alcohol directly into it. Jin Su's body twitched faintly. "Hold her down," Luo He ordered. The physicians watched in horror.
"To them, this is fatal," Luo He muttered quietly. "But not to me." He applied a specially prepared ointment deep into the wound, his hands steady.
Then, taking a needle and thread, he began stitching. Every movement was exact. Controlled. Unfaltering. When he finished, he wrapped the wound carefully. "She will live," he said simply.
The room fell silent. He then left, giving clear instructions on what to do before walking out as if it were nothing. Outside, the general approached him and bowed deeply.
"My lord about my son" he began, his voice heavy with guilt. Luo He looked at him. "I sincerely apologize for his actions," the general continued. "And I thank you for sparing his life."
Luo He waved his hand dismissively. "Make sure he becomes someone worth sparing." The general lowered his head further. "He will not fail you again." Luo He then ordered proper burials for all the fallen.
Not just the trained soldiers, but even the villagers who had taken up arms. "They died as soldiers," he said. "They will be honoured as such."
He also commanded that their families receive the same monthly pension as official soldiers do. No one objected.
The next morning, the funeral was held.
The air was heavy with sorrow. Rows of bodies, wrapped in cloth, lay beneath the grey sky. Jin Mulan stood among the high officials, alongside Jin Quan, her face pale and silent.
The flames rose one by one. No one spoke loudly. No one dared. Afterward, Luo He went to her. She stood alone.
"I'm sorry for confining you last night," he said. She didn't look at him. "I had to, there was too much on my plate to let you go on a rampage," he continued calmly.
"But I promise you, I will do everything I can to save your mother." That broke her. Tears streamed down her face as all the anger collapsed into grief.
Before she was told her mother will most certainly die but now everyone said she was getting better. It was all thanks to his strange intervention all the doctors agreed on that.
Without a word, he pulled her into his chest. She tensed at first. Waiting. Expecting a mocking remark a cold calculation, but none came. Only silence. Only warmth.
That unsettled her more than anything.
"Everyone has their ups and downs," Luo He said quietly. "We should remain calm or at least try our best, even if we fail."
He held her there until the ceremony ended. He never stepped forward to give a speech. That simply wasn't who he was. And he would not pretend otherwise just to be liked.
With the mourning period passing, Luo He turned his attention back to the silk factory. The construction finished two days ahead of schedule.
He paid the workers double what he had promised. "I never would have killed any of you for failing," he said plainly. Though whether that was truth or motivation none could tell.
Using the knowledge stored within his armour's database, Luo He developed advanced dye compounds, colours unseen for generations.
Rich. Vibrant. Unique. When harvest time came, all the farmers' silk was bought uniformly by the Count's mansion. With the factory now fully operational, the next phase began.
"Wait," Luo He instructed. "Let the major silk families run out of cocoons." "And then?" Jin Quan asked. "Then we offer their workers new work."
It worked perfectly. Within a week, lines of unemployed workers stretched in front of the mansion gates. Desperate. Hopeful. Ready.
On the opening day of the factory, Jin Su finally had her consciousness returned. The moment she did she arrived at the opening herself. She was pale, but standing. Her wound had improved greatly under Luo He's care.
She watched silently as the factory came to life. That night, Luo He gathered the entire family. "I have decisions to announce," he said. He turned to Jin Sang.
"You will take lordship of the pirate island." Jin Sang blinked in shock. Then to the general "You will serve as commander-in-chief of the Golden Island forces." The general dropped to one knee. "I will not fail you my load."
Jin Su, still weak but sharp-minded, spoke next. "How did you know we would be attacked even before it happened?"
Luo He leaned back slightly. "I didn't know," he said calmly.
"I guessed." They listened closely. "Our enemies would strike during our weakest moment. That was certain. What I didn't know was when." He paused. "But that night, before I slept, I reassessed everything.
And I saw something I had missed before." His eyes darkened slightly. "That was enough." He said. "So you acted," Jin Su said softly. "Yes." And I was right on time. If I failed to realise and arrived the day after I would have woken in to a cemetery.
He stood up. "I haven't had time to interrogate the prisoners," he continued. "They've been rotting in cells long enough." A faint, cold smile appeared. "Tomorrow morning I will begin." Jin Quan spoke up, concerned.
"And the pirates? Have they made any moves?" Luo He shook his head slightly.
"Not yet. It will take them a long time to destroy one another, as all of them have mobile fleets, with no fixed strongholds."
Then his tone turned serious. "Father-in-law we do not have enough men to control our territory." He said. "How many do we need?" Jin Quan asked.
"At least five thousand more." The room fell silent. "We will be able to pay them," Luo He added. "With the income from the silk we can sustain it."
The game was no longer about survival. It had become something far greater. And Luo He was only just getting started.