My lord, spare his life!

No one knows what the military general felt upon hearing this, but the expressions of Fan You and the other two were clearly those of astonishment and disbelief!

It looked as if he had swallowed a hundred or so maggots whole.

Puyang Kui was the first to break down, laughing so hard her shoulders trembled as she teased Fan You, "While there's nothing inherently wrong with what you said, it's true... Shuyan should try to get the lord to read more classic texts and improve himself."

Zhang Yang possesses a purity untouched by knowledge.

Guan Zong knew that Zhang Yang's education level wasn't very high, so how could Fan You not know? It's not that being illiterate and uneducated is scary, it's that an illiterate person might perform extraordinary feats. Zhang Yang not only possessed extraordinary abilities, but she also carried a treasure trove and harbored lofty ambitions.

Fan You naturally had to take on the task of promoting education and literacy.

He couldn't directly call the other person illiterate; he could only subtly influence them while simultaneously "smuggling in his own agenda"!

With benevolence, wisdom, diligence, and virtuous governance as its core, it aims to cultivate the standard qualities of a benevolent ruler, including but not limited to "virtuous character," "openness to advice," "diligence and frugality," "treating the people as if they were his own wounds," and "loving the people like his own children." The last two are the most important! Over this period, Fan You clearly realized that Zhang Yang neither valued "people" nor "fate."

Zhang Yang remained silent, puzzled. She hesitated, then asked humbly, "...What if I don't want to be a mother without pain? No, no, I just don't want to be someone's mother, so..."

Although she herself is an NPC made up of data, she has self-awareness, while other NPCs are just data. Why is Fan Shuyan so insistent on making her a cyber mother to the data?

[Painless...becoming a mother?] Fan You's expression froze like a rusty gear, only slowly starting to move after a long while. He tentatively asked, [What does this have to do with 'becoming a mother'?]

[Do all the stories you tell portray the ruler as "loving his people like his own children"?]

Yes, but...

Fan You suddenly realized what was going on.

Zhang Yang slowly said, "I don't want to be a cyber mom. Is it... that people in this world are so desperate for parents?"

[...This is something the lord must learn!]

If you listen carefully, you can hear that Fan You's voice is filled with gritted teeth.

Zhang Yang: 【...Okay.】

For the sake of the home side map! To avoid wasting the sunk cost of 888,888 billion! Although she doesn't understand people's penchant for finding cyber mothers for themselves, she chooses to respect it.

On second thought, she could understand.

According to the observed samples, their lives were given by a man and a woman together, and they were born with a pair of parents. The NPCs in the game world are different; their lives are given by the game designers using digital code, and they have no parents. So, logically speaking, it's not impossible for them to want cybernetic parents. However, Zhang Yang has some unpleasant things to say upfront.

Zhang Yang struggled to recall the few entries related to family education in her notes, frowning: "Spare the rod and spoil the child. I will never spoil my child, nor will I be a doting mother who spoils her son!"

Even when she's a loving mother, she's a strict loving mother!

Fan You laughed in anger.

What I didn't expect was that Zhang Yang would say it in public.

The general thought Zhang Yang was deliberately humiliating him! Just as he recovered from the agonizing injuries to his internal organs, a familiar weapon pierced his palm, the spearhead and half its shaft sinking into the ground under immense force. The young man who had done this looked down at him, his once-charming eyes now devoid of emotion.

"What's the point of a mere feud over the murder of one's son compared to the importance of one's life?"

Is it worth fighting her for a cybernetic son who is destined to die in the plot? This game has been running for sixteen years, and after the homestead gameplay was released, almost every player has their own homestead map, which means that her son has died in the plot hundreds of millions of times.

Having been killed so many times, one more Zhang Yang won't make a difference.

Why are you still so easily angered?

The general's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

He felt the force of Zhang Yang's foot on his breastplate, a subtle yet deadly threat gripping him. Faced with the threat that could crush his sternum and internal organs at any moment, he felt as if someone had poured cold water on him, forcibly calming his anger-blinded mind.

I vaguely saw my own star-like phantom teetering on the verge of collapse.

Guan Zong took a few steps closer with his short legs.

He said gruffly, "A son can be born again, but you've lost your life. Why don't you think about the elderly and young in your family?"

The general's attempt to self-destruct and take others down with him suddenly froze.

Yes—

He has more than one son, more than one relative. How long can the elderly and children survive without protection? The situation inside the city is dire; without him, it's hard to say whether his family won't be driven out by his political enemies. The chaos is far from over; in this freezing weather, death is the only outcome.

Zhang Yang frowned in displeasure and turned to reprimand Guan Zong.

"Listen to yourself, are you even speaking human language?"

Guan Zong: "..."

He felt that his words were more human than Zhang Yang's.

But he didn't have the courage to say what was really on his mind, and just vaguely changed the subject: "One meaning, one meaning."

Zhang Yang then turned his attention back to the military generals.

He squinted his peach blossom eyes, waiting for the BOSS to make his choice.

Based on experience, not every boss needs to be killed. Some bosses, when their health is reduced to almost nothing, will forcibly lock their health, making them impossible to kill no matter how many attacks you take. The boss will even restore half of their health right before your eyes, utter a few meaningless words, and then become an untargetable green-named enemy. If the plot doesn't allow a boss to die, then the boss can't die. If the plot decides someone to die, then that person can't live.

Zhang Yang didn't not want to kill the military officer; she just remembered what Fan You had said and planned to recruit some people for her makeshift troupe.

"Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

Zhang Yang's question was scattered by the cold wind, but it struck the general like a hammer blow to the top of his head. Even with a thousand parts killing intent and ten thousand parts resentment, he could only suppress his emotions and make a choice. But Zhang Yang's foot was still on his breastplate, and each breath seemed more difficult and painful than the last. He didn't need to look at Zhang Yang's eyes to know that the other's gaze was fixed on him, wary of a sudden attack. After an unknown amount of time, the foot on his chest was removed.

He looked at Zhang Yang in astonishment.

Zhang Yang simply shook the spearhead off with a forceful shake, pulled out the spear, and said, "Those who understand the times are heroes."

Without needing any pronouncements from his generals, Zhang Yang knew his choice as the health bar above his head turned from red to yellow, then slowly returned to green after a struggle. Although his son couldn't be respawned, he had survived: "Tell the people inside the city to open the gates!"

The general's bloodied hands hung limply at his sides.

He was breathing heavily: "It won't open."

Honestly, a captured military officer isn't that valuable. At most, we could let Zhang Yang and a few others in, but there are too many refugees outside the city to get in. If they did, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Zhang Yang remained silent, but the military officer shouted first, "It's not that we are heartless, but the heavy snow has blocked the roads, making it difficult to transport grain from elsewhere. The city's reserves are only enough for the common people to survive for half a month at most. If we let the refugees into the city, I'm afraid they won't last three to five days..."