I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 264 Opening New Trade Routes
……

……

"My lord! My lord!"

The urgent knocking sounded particularly jarring in the quiet of the night.

Baron Edmund rolled over in bed.

He squeezed his eyes shut, seemingly trying to ignore the annoying sound.

"My lord, please wake up!"

The knocking became more urgent.

The maids who were accompanying the lord got up one after another, looked at the lord lying on the bed, and hesitated whether to wake him up.

Then the sound from outside rang out again.
"Kelly, Morrie, quickly wake the lord! It's important!"

Upon hearing the voice of the captain of the guard, Karuzer, the two maids hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out to shake Edmund.

"My lord, it seems there's something important..."

Edmund sighed, frowned, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Damn..."

Edmund struggled to his feet, and the maid rushed to help him.

The effects of the alcohol hadn't worn off yet, and Edmund felt as if he'd been struck hard on the back of the head with a sledgehammer.

Edmund yawned, rubbing his forehead.
"Go and open the door."

"Yes, sir."

The maid Kelly responded, wrapped her clothes tightly around herself, and ran barefoot to the door to open it.

"I'm so sorry, sir, for disturbing your rest!"

Karuzer bowed and hurriedly reported, "However, Baron Rhodes's personal guards caught a spy in the kitchen, and it was targeting Baron Rhodes!"

"A spy?!"

Edmund sobered up halfway in an instant, rolled over, and jumped out of bed.
"Quick, get me dressed!"

……

……

A few minutes later, Edmund entered the council chamber wearing a heavy robe.

Baron Rhodes sat in his chair, eating his dessert with a blank expression.

But there was a clear fierce glint in Rhodes' eyes.

Vivian stood beside him, holding a rag covered in writing.

On the ground in front of Rhodes, two spies were tied up, their mouths stuffed with rags, their faces filled with fear.

"Baron Rhodes..."

Edmund spoke cautiously, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea..."

"That's normal, I didn't expect that either."

Rod pointed at Vivian, "Vivian discovered the spy, let's hear what she has to say first."

Vivian stepped forward.
"Lord Edmund, I'm so sorry to disturb your rest."

"I wanted to go out for some fresh air, but I got lost in the hallway."

Vivian was somewhat helpless.
"I walked to the vicinity of the kitchen and then heard unusual noises coming from inside."

"At first I thought they were just young men and women who couldn't suppress their feelings, but later I found out that they were spies gathering information."

Vivian held up the rag in her hand. "More importantly, they are recording information about our lord!"

Edmund took the rag, unfolded it, and saw the scrawled writing on it; his face turned even paler.

The document contains detailed records of everything that happened at tonight's banquet, including the Wasteland Alliance and Rhodes's strength assessment.

“Baron Edmund, to be honest, I would be happy to be your friend.”

Rhodes looked at Edmund seriously, “But I must remind you that we must be careful in our actions, otherwise we can easily arouse jealousy or even be plotted against.”

"Also, please forgive me, but I had your head guard seal off the entire manor before you got up."

"It's okay, it's okay, you did the right thing!"

Edmund had no objection to his captain of the guard being at his beck and call; on the contrary, he looked apologetic.
"It was my negligence that allowed these spies to infiltrate the manor and gather information about you!"

"Rest assured, Baron Rhodes, I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Edmund turned to Karuzer and said, "Quickly investigate how these two got in, who they're connected to, and arrest and interrogate them!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Karuzer hurriedly responded and was about to rush out of the council hall, but was stopped by Rhodes.

"No need, we'll know everything if we interrogate these two people properly."

"Oh, right, interrogation!"

Edmund nodded repeatedly.
"Since you arrested him, why don't you interrogate him?"

Edmund's voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"I...I'm not very good at this kind of thing."

"OK then."

Rod didn't stand on ceremony and bent down to look at the man on the ground.
"Many lords can send spies, but not many are interested in me."

Rod asked leisurely, "Were you sent by the Falcon family or the Cold Blade family?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The man sobbed and cried out, and Rod reached out and pulled the rag out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to offend you. I just want to earn some money for my mother's medical treatment!"

The man cried out and begged for mercy, "I wasn't sent by anyone! I just leaked some information, please spare my life!"

Rod frowned as he looked at the man.

This guy is more cunning than I thought.

Rhodes remained calm, neither angry nor resorting to violence, his expression unchanged as he glanced at the two spies.
"I don't like nonsense. Only one of you can live."

"Whoever speaks first lives."

Rhodes gave the two no time to hesitate and ordered Vivian, "Drag the woman out for interrogation."

"Yes, my lord."

Vivian nodded, grabbed the woman by the collar, pulled her out without looking back, and closed the door behind her.

The man, clearly flustered, immediately begged for mercy, "My esteemed sir, I didn't lie to you, I told you the truth!"

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough whether you're telling the truth or not."

Rod didn't say much, then picked up a piece of dessert and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.

Rhodes stopped looking at the man and turned to look at Edmund.
“Baron Edmund, you could add some jerky or something to the dessert. These honey shortbreads are too sweet and not to my liking.”

"what?"

Edmund was clearly taken aback, not understanding the meaning behind Rhodes' words, and could only nod in response.

"No problem, I'll have the kitchen prepare it for you!"

"Ah."

Rod responded softly and continued eating his dessert, completely ignoring the man on the ground.

The man on the ground gradually panicked, and while he was still hesitating, Vivian pushed open the door and walked in.

"Sir, she has confessed."

"Okay, then this man is useless."

Rhodes waved his hand and looked at Edmund, "Have your guards kill him and throw him into the wild to feed the wolves."

"Ok."

Edmund waved his hand, and Karuzer stepped forward and grabbed the man himself.

"Sir, please spare my life!"

The man, his face contorted with fear, shouted, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

"Don't kill me!"

"I just said, whoever speaks first lives."

Rhodes shook his head helplessly. "As a nobleman, you must keep your word. You have no chance now."

"I know less about that woman than I do, sir!"

The man cried out urgently, his voice trembling with tears.

"Please, sir, give me a chance! I know a lot of important information. Please let me speak!"

"Ok?"

Rod reached out to stop Karuzer's movement, frowning as he asked, "Do you really have important news?"

"really!"

The man broke free from Karuze's grasp and crawled to Rhodes' side. "Believe me, I really have important news!"

"Shall we listen to it?"

Rhodes looked at Edmund.

Even if Edmund was foolish, he was still a nobleman, and he immediately saw through Rhodes's intentions, so he quickly nodded in agreement.
"I think we can listen to it. If there's no important information, we can kill him later."

"Well."

Rhodes turned and looked down at the man. "Then you speak. Note that you only have this one chance."

"We come from the border town and are known as the Gray Rats. Our main job is to gather information and follow the orders of the Skinny Rat King."

"The Skinny Rat King has sent us to infiltrate various territories in the Northern Wilderness, keep an eye on all the lords, and send any news back to the border town."

"Everything went smoothly in the other territories, but your territory, Baron Rhodes, was the most secure. We didn't find any information, so the information is extremely valuable!"

"Furthermore, the Skinny Rat King is a spy for Lady Rose, and the gray rats all serve her!"

"Lady Rose is subordinate to Marquis Coldblade, and these are actually the Marquis's orders!"

...The man blurted out all the information he knew.

Rod seemed to be thinking about something; things were basically as he had imagined.

"Did the female spy say all of these things?"

Rhodes turned to look at Vivian.

Vivian nodded and said without hesitation, "Yes."

Rod gave Vivian an approving look, then turned back to the man.
"Where is the important information you mentioned?"

"Sir, if I tell you, will you really spare my life?"

“If you don’t tell, you’ll definitely die,” Rhodes said calmly.

"I said!"

The man dared not hesitate any longer, and gritted his teeth to report:
"The merchants under Lady Rose have seen the towering walls of your town, and based on the number of slaves you have purchased in the past, they estimate that the number of people in your territory may exceed 1,500, or even reach 2,000."

“Lord Coldblade has always wanted to set foot in the Northern Wilderness. Now that your power is growing too rapidly, Lady Rose feels that you are threatening Lord Coldblade. You must be contained.”

"In the future, Marquis Hanren will raise the prices of all your purchased goods and set up checkpoints around the border town to restrict caravans going to Black Pine Ridge."

"These are all things that Lady Rose told the Skinny Rat King herself!"

The man's eyes were sincere. "Please believe me!"

Upon hearing this, Rod frowned.

What the man said may or may not be true, but it makes logical sense.

But Rhodes was still puzzled.

"Then how do you know?"

Rhodes looked up and asked, "A spy like you, gathering information on the front lines, shouldn't know such important news."

In all assassination and intelligence organizations, information is generally disseminated from the bottom up. Unless the people below are involved in future plans, they will not know the arrangements made by their superiors.

"Yes, it was the skinny rat king's woman who told me..."

The man lowered his head. "The Skinny Rat King also speculated that Lady Rose might target your caravan next, or even assassinate you."

"Very good, this is the really important news."

Rhodes nodded in agreement. "I will keep my promise and not kill you, but you must confess all the other spies."

"Good good!"

The man breathed a sigh of relief and immediately knelt down to thank Rod.

Rod waved his hand, signaling Karuzer to take the man away for interrogation.

After the man left, Edmund looked at Rhodes.
"After that spy confessed, are you really going to release him?"

“Baron Edmund, this is Frosttown, and my word doesn’t count.”

Rhodes shrugged, smiled, and shook his head. "After all, he's a spy in your territory. What I say only represents myself, not yours."

"However, if you don't want to kill them, you can send them to mine; that would be like having more laborers."

"good idea."

Edmund let out a long sigh of relief and bowed slightly to Rhodes. "I apologize again for startling you."

"It's okay, it's not your fault."

Rod smiled and said, "On the contrary, I received a lot of important information, which allows me to prepare in advance."

"But, Baron Edmund, after hearing Marquis Coldblade's attitude towards me, do you still want to form an alliance with me?"

"Of course!"

Edmund straightened his chest and said without hesitation, "The hostility of Marquis Coldblade is not enough to make the men of the Darkwood family break their alliance."

"As expected of a man from the Youlin family."

Rhodes nodded in respect, then stood up. "Then I'll leave the spies to you, my dear ally."

"no problem!"

Edmund assured him, "I will handle this properly and will not leak any of your information."

Rhodes nodded, then led Vivian out of the council hall and back to their guest room.

"You've gotten smarter this time."

In the corridor, Rhodes praised Vivian beside him, "Even without any prior notice, you were able to cooperate with me in advance."

"Huh?" Vivian was clearly taken aback. "You mean?"

Rod smiled but didn't explain. He asked, "Did the woman really confess?"

"Confess!"

Vivian said, "They confessed almost immediately after being taken out!"

"You really confessed?"

Rod looked at Vivian in surprise.

Vivian looked at Rhodes with equal surprise, "Didn't you already know?"

"Okay, it's okay."

Rhodes thought Vivian was with him in deceiving the male spy.

Unexpectedly, the woman actually confessed.

It seems I overestimated these two people.

They couldn't even withstand the first move of the Prisoner's Dilemma.

……

……

For Frosttown, this was destined to be a sleepless night.

Before dawn, countless screams echoed through the manor.

The two captured spies subsequently named six people, and then Karuze, along with his guards, followed the trail and arrested four more.

The existence of these twelve people shocked Edmund, who immediately began a thorough investigation of all suspicious individuals in his territory.

Under the coercion and enticement of the guards, eight more people were identified.

Of course, none of these eight people were Marquis Hanren's men. Two of them were sent by Baron Slor, there were spies from the Western Province, and there were also organizations that sold information on their own.

Even with his good temper, Edmund flew into a rage upon hearing that twenty spies had been arrested and began a massive purge of the entire town.

Rhodes did not stay in Frosttown for long; after two days, he left with a portion of Edmund's reward.

Edmund was exceptionally generous, giving Rhodes three hundred gold coins, five thousand catties of grain, two sets of crystal cups and ornaments, and various exquisite silver utensils.

Rhodes didn't like these aristocratic items, but it would be very impolite to sell a gift given to him, so he took them with him in the end.

Once the lord's manor is built, it should also have some decent aristocratic items.

Rhodes then gave the three hundred gold coins to Edmund, instructing him to exchange them all for slaves and send them to Longwinter Town.

Gold coins themselves have no value; people are the most important.

Edmund readily agreed, since there were many refugees but not a shortage of slaves.

Meanwhile, Rhodes' soldiers led the people of Longwinter Town back to Blackpine Ridge.

Instead of following the group, Rhodes took Frostbolt and Rock Ridge and headed straight for the mountains east of Longwinter Town.

The scout made it very clear that Lady Rose planned to disrupt Rhodes' trade routes in order to curb the development of Blackpine Ridge.

Previously, Rhodes might have had no choice but to silently endure the suppression.

But now, Rod wants to open up new trade routes.

“Rock Ridge, I want you to forge a path along this valley.”

On the hillside, Rod pointed to the mountains ahead and gave instructions.

"You can traverse all the mountains and hills you encounter, and the road should be as straight as possible."

"As long as you pave this road."

Rhodes looked solemnly at the rocky ridge beneath him, "I will grant you a powerful true dragon bloodline, as fierce as frost and lightning."

"Roar!"

Rock Ridge let out an excited roar, turned its head, and stared at the mountain in front of it with its golden vertical pupils, as if it had seen a mortal enemy of the dragon, and pounced on it fiercely!

It then opened its blood-red maw and bit down on the rock!

The hard rock instantly turned into crisp biscuits, which the earth dragon bit off piece by piece. In the blink of an eye, the rock was pierced through, revealing the soil inside.

This was even simpler for the rocky ridge; its forelimbs flailing wildly, and the two horns on its head flashing yellow light, causing the soil in the cave to disappear rapidly.

Before long, the rocky ridge disappeared on the hillside, leaving only a dark cave.

"That's really fierce!"

Vivian couldn't help but marvel at this sight, looking at Rhodes, "Judging from this, Rock Ridge can pierce through a mountain in a day?"

"Not so fast, the rocky ridge also needs to rest."

Rhodes explained with a smile, "Digging caves like this not only consumes physical strength but also magical power; otherwise, the soil wouldn't just disappear into thin air."

"but……"

Rhodes looked at Vivian, "How are those two Earth Spirit Rabbits?"

"Shouldn't we need to rest for another two weeks?"

Vivian glanced at Frost and Thunder, "Those two were too ruthless; they suffered more than just superficial injuries."

Rhodes nodded thoughtfully. "It seems we need to concoct some healing potions. Once the Earth Spirit Rabbit recovers, it will be able to help Rock Ridge clear a path."

The northern wilderness is full of mountains; if more direct roads could be built, the efficiency of travel would double.

"Let's go, let those three little ones come and help first."

Rod said slowly, "At least it can help widen the road."

As he spoke, Rhodes mounted Thunder, then suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, what caused your father's injury? Has he tried any treatment?"

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(End of this chapter)