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

Chapter 311 Give birth, give birth to me with all your might (Supplement)
……

……

Inside the dungeon of Eagle Fortress.

The torchlight illuminated the darkness of the corridor.

Rhodes followed Luris into the innermost cell.

This place is completely different from traditional dungeons. There are no bloodstains or chains, nor the stench of decay. Instead, it carries a faint fragrance of flowers.

It looks more like a simple bedroom.

A wooden cabinet stood in the corner, next to a simple table.

The most eye-catching piece is a solid wood bed frame, with a thick wool blanket covering the bed.

Lying on the bed was a girl dressed in a black robe, her hands resting quietly at her sides, her chest rising and falling slightly with her breath.

It was clearly sleeping peacefully.

Ruris opened the door with the key and said softly, "She is the girl my brother sent back, Harlan's eldest daughter, Zoya Falcon."

Rhodes nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the girl's face before finally settling on a delicate bracelet on her wrist.

The bracelet is silver-white and its surface is engraved with intricate runes.

In the dim light, Rod could see faint wisps of fluorescence rising and falling with Zhuoya's breathing.

"Is this a magical item?"

Rod turned to look at Ruris beside him.

Ruris nodded.

"Yes, my lord."

"This looks like the Sleeping Bracelet."

She explained softly, "According to the people who escorted Zhuoya, wearing this will put people into a deep sleep and they won't be awakened."

"However, this bracelet has a drawback: it only works if the wearer actively puts it on."

"How do I remove it?"

Rod asked, "Should we just take it off?"

"Yes."

Ruris nodded slightly.

After a brief moment's thought, Rod grasped Zhuoya's wrist and carefully slipped the bracelet off.

After the bracelet left Luris's wrist, the light gradually faded, and the magical fluctuations ceased.

Rod silently put the bracelet away. Zhuo Ya, who was lying on the bed, fluttered her eyelashes, turned over, and slowly opened her eyes.

Upon seeing what was before him, he instantly sprang to his feet.

"who are you?"

Zhuoya looked warily at Rod and Luris by the bedside, then retreated to the corner with a look of suspicion on her face.

Zhuo Ya fully regained consciousness, memories flooding back, and she asked loudly,

"Where is my father? Why are you arresting me?"

After throwing out three questions in a row, Zoya raised her hand towards Rhodes and Zoya, and her magic began to surge.

"Calm down, it was Baron Zane who arrested you, not me."

Rhodes proclaimed loudly, "I am Rhodes Tulip, Lord of Blackpine Ridge. I rescued you and awakened you from your slumber."

“I know you’ve been asleep, don’t understand what happened, and may not believe what I’m saying…”

“No, I believe you.” Zhuo Ya lowered her hand.

"Ok?"

Rod was somewhat surprised and stared at Zhuoya with a puzzled look.

Zhuoya paused for a moment, then explained, "Linda and I are very close, and she often mentions you."

"She said that although you can be very fierce at times, you highly recognize the spellcaster's abilities and will give them respect."

"...Linda's words are very realistic."

Rod didn't dwell on Linda's assessment of him, and calmly said:
"In that case, I don't need to explain any further."

“I don’t know what happened to you before. You were captured and brought here by Zane’s men.”

Rhodes simplified the process, describing it as follows: "I conquered the Falcon family, and that's how I knew you were here."

"It just so happens that I have a good relationship with the Dawn Society and have worked with your father twice, so I rescued you while I was at it."

"Thank you very much!"

Zhuo Ya bowed respectfully. "I only remember that my father's friend gave me a bracelet to wear, and then I fell into a deep sleep."

Zhuoya briefly described her identity and experience.

In reality, a man claiming to be Baron Harlan's confidant, who knew many details, displayed the Falcon family crest.

They also claimed that Baron Harlan had prepared a mysterious gift for Zoya—the Sleeping Bracelet.

Zhuoya put it on and tried it on before falling asleep.

After listening to Zhuoya's story, Luo De was speechless.

Zain used the same tricks he used to deceive children in kindergarten in his previous life, but unexpectedly, Zoya actually believed him.

The only thing that could easily sway people was their identity as members of the Falcon family and their understanding of Baron Harlan.

Zhuoya is a bit too naive.

However, considering that a large part of Zoya's self-introduction was about her research on necromancy and magic circles, Rhode felt that it was actually quite good that she was a bit naive.

"You just said you conquered the Falcon family. Does that mean the Imperial War is over?"

Zhuo Ya looked surprised, her memory clearly still stuck in the period of fighting against the Western Alliance, when the Empire was under an order prohibiting lords from attacking each other.

"The Imperial Wars have ended, but with the Emperor's passing, the Empire has fallen into a new period of turmoil."

Rhodes briefly recounted everything that had happened in the Empire these days, mainly the death of the emperor, the lifting of the imperial ban, and the conflict among those with the right to succession.

After hearing this, Zhuo Ya fell silent. "If I hadn't been captured, I might have reminded them that necromancers could gain power by sacrificing their own life force."

"But there's nothing to regret. It can serve as a warning to the next emperor not to underestimate spellcasters and knowledge."

Rhodes was not surprised by Zhuoya's attitude toward the emperor.

Agnar himself had not accomplished anything memorable, and the Dawn Order members were all people who pursued truth and magic, so the emperor's death felt much like the passing of an ordinary person to them.

"Now that the emperor has passed away, the empire is in turmoil, the three successors are at odds with each other, and no one knows the stance of the nobles in various regions. It is very unsafe to leave now."

Luo De said casually, "If you'd like, you can stay at Black Pine Ridge for now, and we'll send you back to the Dawn Society once everything is safe."

“I also have several wizard apprentices in my territory. If you are interested, you can exchange some knowledge with them.”

"I want to go home to Hawkeye Manor to see my mother first..."

Zhuoya suddenly realized something and looked at Luo De, "You conquered the Falcon family, does that mean you will also rule our family?"

"Yes, Luris is preparing to send someone to inform your mother that if she does not agree to my rule, it will be a war."

Rhodes nodded slightly, his tone becoming more serious as he looked at Zhuo Ya.

“Zhuoya, although you are Harun’s daughter, as a spellcaster, I advise you not to get involved in this matter.”

As he spoke, Rhodes suddenly drew Ashbringer and swung it at the cabinet in the corner.

A crimson flame flashed through the air, and with a loud bang, the cabinet instantly split in two.

The broken edge was charred black and emitting white smoke, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt charcoal.

This sudden action startled both Zoya and Luris.

What they feared was not Rhodes' sudden swing of his sword, but the crimson flames that followed the blade as it sliced ​​through the air.

"Legend?"

Ruris instinctively took two steps back, blurting out the words, her eyes flashing with horror.

But Rod is clearly younger than me!
But then I thought, how could someone who could control a legendary beast like a dragon be an ordinary person?
Zoya could feel the restless, scorching energy in Rhodes' body more clearly, which was very similar to the way her sister Linda cast spells.

Furthermore, the sword in Rhodes's hand can turn scorching energy into a blade of fire; it's no ordinary sword at all.

Rhodes did not respond to Luris's words, and continued to stare at Zoya.

"You can't change anything about this war."

Rhodes slowly sheathed Ashbringer, "And you will understand later that what I do is beneficial to all spellcasters."

After saying that, Rhodes didn't give Zoya a time to reply, and waved his hand.
"Come with me, and you'll see that many wars are unnecessary." ...

……

The army of Black Pine Ridge did not linger at Eagle Fortress, but quickly assembled at the border and launched a swift attack on the other minor lords.

Territory can be ignored for now; we need to secure key resources like population, food, and minerals first.

As for the remaining three minor lords of Eagle Ridge, their territories consisted of villages, and even the towns lacked proper defenses.

The Black Pine Ridge army was not needed; Sejuani and Sao, along with 360 surrendered soldiers from Eagle Ridge, easily conquered it.

Rhodes had little patience and mercy for these minor lords.

Those who are unwilling to surrender and submit can simply go north to mine.

The sparsely populated villages in their territory were merged together, and they chose to live together in fertile areas with abundant arable land.

The northern border is vast and sparsely populated; it takes a dozen or so villages to form a town.

With the population concentrated in this way, the management pressure will be greatly reduced—this is also true for the villages in Xiong Yingling.

Therefore, it is understandable that there are two fewer minor lords.

However, this also exposed the plight of the population in the North.

This is due to the conditions of the North itself, where winters are extremely cold and wheat can only be planted once a year.

As long as people can survive in the warmer south, no one will come to live in the north.

Especially those who are capable and knowledgeable.

This resulted in large tracts of land yielding very little grain, with large areas of arable land only able to support a few dozen people, leading to the fragmentation of villages.

The petty nobles, who were content with their lot in life, were unwilling to change these things.

But once it belongs to Rhodes, everything will change completely.

With the addition of this entry, the availability of food and wild resources will certainly be plentiful, so there will be no need to worry about food.

Therefore, there is absolutely no problem in bringing all the villages together.

Merging villages is only the first step.

Rhodes wasn't one of those nobles who only cared about making gold coins—population was the greatest wealth.

With abundant food supplies, it is necessary to increase the number of people under our control.

The population cannot rely solely on transportation from other provinces; this will not change the total population.

Rhodes also wanted to encourage the initiative of the men and women in the North, to get them together and have lots of babies.

Rhodes also wanted the deliberations to vigorously promote the idea of ​​family reunification.

For example, the more children a family has, the more prosperous it becomes, and the greater its sense of security.

Set examples to let everyone know that having many children is a source of pride for men and a glory for women.

The family had five children, and the land even gave them grain as a reward.

Of course, Rhodes has had his fox-woman assistant record all these issues for now, and the specific implementation methods will be discussed and decided upon later.

Of the three minor lords of the Falcon family, Rhodes only showed more patience to Baron Harlan's Hawkeye Territory.

Rhodes' decision was based on Zoya's status as a wizard apprentice.

Like other minor lords, Eagle Eye Territory is a village with no decent defenses.

Furthermore, half of the army in the territory had been taken by Baron Harlan to participate in the noble alliance and had not yet returned in the southwest.

Sejuani's surrendered army surrounded Hawkeye Manor, but instead of attacking immediately, she sent Zoya into the manor to persuade her to surrender.

Within half a day, the manor gates were opened, and the soldiers came out empty-handed to surrender.

Baron Harlan's wife, Aurelia, stood atop the manor's watchtower, gazing blankly at everything.
"Your father's territory was handed over to me so easily."

Aurelia glanced at Zhuoya, who was holding the child beside her, and said with a forlorn expression, "You offered no resistance. I'm sorry to your father."

“If you resist, my father will lose more than just territory.”

Zhuoya looked at her mother and said, "At least you preserved my father's wife and bloodline."

Zhuoya smiled and pinched the little boy's cheek in her arms.
"You can still live in the manor and have half of the family fortune, which will at least guarantee your sister and brother a stable and secure life in the future."

"And what about you, Zhuoya?"

Aurelia looked at her eldest daughter and asked softly, "Will you stay and live with us?"

“I don’t belong here, Mother.”

Zhuoya shook her head slightly and returned the younger brother in her arms to Aurelia.
"I need to fulfill my agreement with Baron Rhodes."

Zhuoya waved to Aurelia, "Don't worry, I will come back to see you often."

After saying that, Zhuoya turned around and walked down from the watchtower.

……

……

Outside Hawkeye Manor, in the woods not far away.

Rhodes sat by the campfire, roasting a wild rabbit he had just hunted.

Frost and Thunder lay on either side, their eyes fixed intently on the sizzling, oily rabbit.

Zoya walked slowly through the woods to Rod.
"Thank you for your kindness and patience."

Zhuo Ya nodded and said, "I may visit your territory at any time."

After witnessing the Black Pine Ridge army and the Frost Thunder, Zoya knew just how powerful Rhodes truly was.

Frost and lightning alone were not enough to stop Hawkeye Manor.

So Zhuoya took the initiative to participate in this war—or rather, the transaction.

Zoya hopes her family can have a stable and prosperous life, and in return, she dedicates her loyalty and knowledge to serving Rhodes.

Rhodes originally wanted Zoya to stay in Blackpine Ridge, so he naturally wouldn't refuse such a deal.

But Rhodes also knew that if he didn't demonstrate some strength, people would always fail to see reality, which is why he had Zoya appear at the last moment to persuade her family.

Rhodes nodded slightly and tossed the roasted rabbit behind him, leaving Thunder and Frost to fight over it.

Then Rod looked up at Zoya's serious expression and said with a smile, "Don't be so nervous, Zoya."

"I will not restrict your freedom; you can come back to see your family anytime."

"Nothing will change. In Black Pine Ridge, you will still do what you are familiar with before."

As he spoke, Rod took out a thin booklet and handed it to Zhuoya, "Take a look."

Zhuoya took the book with both hands, opened it with a puzzled look, and then her eyes gradually lit up as she turned the pages faster and faster.

"This is all recorded with information related to necromancy?!"

Zhuo Ya lowered her head and carefully flipped through the booklet, murmuring softly, "I've never seen so much of the information in this book before, it's amazing!"

"This is only a small part; the rest is in Black Pine Ridge."

Rhodes said calmly, "I still have many ideas about necromancy and human modification, such as creating magic-powered armor."

"My fiancée Avril is currently conducting the research, but I hope you can take over in the future."

"Of course, if you're interested."

"interested!"

Zhuo Ya's serious expression immediately turned into a smile.
"Then let's set off now!"

……

……

Two weeks later, the cold wind howled.

South of the border town lies Frost Fortress, perched atop a mountain.

The soldiers, clad in fur coats, hurried along, quickly delivering orders out of the castle.

Inside the castle's council chamber, the various noble lords of the Cold Blade family frowned, staring intently at the map on the table.

Many towns above were marked with red flags, representing the land that had been annexed by Black Pine Ridge.

　I was stuck in traffic yesterday and couldn't stay awake all night. I didn't wake up until 10 a.m. this morning.

　　This is a make-up for last night's; tonight's will be as usual.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)