Chapter 240: Chapter 240

Pei Shu’er originally had a physique that was not particularly strong, and she felt pain from the pat on the shoulder by General Zhao.

If she hadn’t been silently persisting in practicing horse stance recently, she might have already been knocked to the ground by General Zhao.

Seeing this frail young girl, everyone felt a subtle sense of dissonance in their hearts.

General Zhao felt a bit embarrassed, realizing that the person who helped build these city walls was just a 17-year-old girl.

At her age, among this group of burly men, she’s considered a child.

"Very well, Pei Shu’er, you’ve made such a great contribution to the Gulan Military Camp. What kind of reward do you want?"

Pei Shu’er smiled at General Zhao: "General, as I said before, I hope that the people of Deserted Mountain and I can have our sentences reduced by ten years."

"During these days, the people of Deserted Mountain have worked so hard, everyone has seen it. They burned the most bricks, worked the hardest and were the most enthusiastic."

As for the others, they haven’t really done much.

More importantly, in those other places, the leaders were not Pei Shu’er.

This made the exiles from other territories disgruntled, and they started complaining.

"We all participated in building the city walls, so why is it only the people of Deserted Mountain who get their sentences reduced? We want our sentences reduced too."

She only spoke up now because General Zhao asked.

The others saying this is undoubtedly undermining her.

If these people privately approached General Zhao, they might succeed and get a reduction of six months to a year.

And then, looking at the people of Deserted Mountain, standing quietly and obediently, with expressions that seemed content to let their leader handle the arrangements.

General Zhao had initially been somewhat tempted, but with these exiles creating such a commotion, he couldn’t help but waver.

If he only reduced the sentences for the people of Deserted Mountain, it seemed somewhat unfair.

Pei Shu’er smiled: "General, I have a question I’d like to ask."

Pei Shu’er said: "If my sentence is reduced, how many years can it be reduced by?"

General Zhao said: "You drew the design, supervised the work, and protected everyone’s lives, ensuring that so many exiles survived, your contributions are indispensable."

"At the same time, you inspected the city walls and eliminated all the hazards."

With each item mentioned, the expressions of the other exiles changed.

"Moreover, the catapult also made a significant contribution."

"So, regardless of which contribution, they are actually enough to change your lifetime exile status to freedom."

Commander Qian reported: "General, my fellow soldiers and I also participated in the construction of the city walls."

"Moreover, Pei Shu’er only participated in the making of the catapult, which cannot be considered entirely her credit."

Upon these words, General Zhao’s eyes turned to Commander Qian, while the expressions of others became taunting.

Commander Qian was more familiar than anyone with the quality of the city walls he participated in constructing.

Beads of sweat were already forming on Commander Qian’s forehead, but he still had to steel his nerves to finish speaking.

"General, such an arrangement might make the soldiers dissatisfied."

Pei Shu’er smiled: "Without me, this catapult might really not have been designed."

Commander Qian snorted: "The military has long had catapults, you merely took part in manufacturing them. What does that have to do with design?"

Pei Shu’er was just a girl raised in the deep chambers, who could do some clever handiwork. It’s already impressive; even the city wall construction likely learned from books and Tang Peiyi.

To claim she designed such an impressive catapult, that’s absolutely impossible!

General Zhao: "Enough, Pei Shu’er designed the catapult, she is the designer and also the chief builder."

With these words, the crowd erupted once more.

General Zhao had never mentioned this to anyone.

Yet a hero should not be overlooked, and Pei Shu’er made such great contributions; she deserves justice.

Commander Qian was taken aback, looking at Pei Shu’er incredulously.

A brainless fool just blindly chasing after the Third Prince? ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ n0velfire.net

Can she be that impressive?!

No, he doesn’t believe it!

He is sure General Zhao is shielding Pei Shu’er.

He tried to find some hint of deceit in General Zhao’s expression but came up with nothing.

The exiles were also a bit shocked; they had only heard of Pei Shu’er’s good cooking and ability to build city walls before.

They hadn’t heard the exiles from Deserted Mountain talk about anything else.

How could she have created such a powerful catapult?

The soldiers also looked at each other; they hadn’t thought the key catapult that turned the tides would be made by such a young woman!

However, this was said by General Zhao, so they couldn’t doubt it.

General Zhao told everyone she could not only build city walls but also make catapults.

Pei Shu’er ignored everyone’s astonishment and instead looked toward General Zhao.

Her mind was solely on the sentence reduction, or else her and her forces would be confined to this land, never able to return to the capital openly.

"General Zhao, I’ve made these three significant contributions. If my reward is shared with the people of Deserted Mountain, along with everyone’s contributions, then a ten-year sentence reduction is not excessive, is it?"

General Zhao still hesitated, but Pei Shu’er turned her gaze toward the observing Fifteenth Prince.

Since arriving on the city wall, the Fifteenth Prince hadn’t spoken a word.

Pei Shu’er smiled, her peach blossom eyes lifted as she looked at Yan Hengjin.

"Fifteenth Prince, what do you think?"

Yan Hengjin felt a bad premonition when Pei Shu’er mentioned sentence reduction. Now, seeing her , his premonition turned true.

Pei Shu’er gently tapped the paper in her hand; it was the contract they had signed.

The feeling of being coerced made Yan Hengjin quite displeased, but he had to speak, otherwise with Pei Shu’er’s personality, she might present the contract and read it aloud.

Moreover, he didn’t find her so annoying anymore.

After all, she saved his life.

Although she can also be considered the cause of trouble since the dish Mao Xue Wang was made by her.

Yan Hengjin gritted his teeth, saying: "General Zhao, you’ve said yourself that this city wall can fend off the Dazi for at least five years, so fulfilling the wish of the meritorious people isn’t unacceptable."

The other exiles were now silent.

Earlier, they thought Pei Shu’er was too bold for making such a request.

Now they realized that Pei Shu’er had calculated everything precisely.

She had even secured the assistance of her arch-nemesis, the Fifteenth Prince!

She didn’t even misappropriate everyone’s contributions and was just seeking welfare for the people of Deserted Mountain.

This made other exiles envy the people of Deserted Mountain.

Pei Shu’er’s reputation had already reached them; they just couldn’t connect it to the person.

This slender woman had repeatedly petitioned for the people of Deserted Mountain, allowing them a better life.

It’s said that now that Deserted Mountain’s city wall is done, the next step is developing and constructing within Deserted Mountain.

Such a large territory, with such a leader.

She wasn’t aiming to enslave them but to lead them to a better life.

Some people became tempted, wishing they were from Deserted Mountain as well!