My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 50

"The police and tax collectors need to wait until the ruins in those places are cleared before they can tally the total amount of stolen money. The bad thing is that this will take a long time. Fortunately, those ruins can temporarily alleviate the economic pressure on the unemployed and provide some jobs while the economic crisis has not been effectively reformed. It can probably provide about 100 workers with work for about a month, which is better than nothing."

"It's better than nothing, I suppose... But do the Gauls really dare to do something like this? I remember that house..."

“You originally intended that room to be the Gauls' headquarters office,” Paul kindly reminded him, “but now it’s in ruins—and if the next two are like that too, then—”

"BOOM!!"

...

An explosion could be heard in the distance. Paul and Yang Hao gazed at the blazing night sky in that direction for a while before tactfully changing the subject to evaluating the Gauls.

Why? The remaining two noble residences were already doomed. Rather than discussing whether the Gauls worked in tents or on ruins, it would be more practical to talk about their performance ratings and how those ratings determined their rewards.

Chapter 113

......

When Mr. Napoleon and the last two Gallic squads returned to the rendezvous point at the side gate of the Duke's palace, it was already 1 a.m.

What should have been a time for blissful married life is now being used for work. Yang Hao's inner joy is definitely...

I'm quite happy...

After all, this is the current state of men after marriage. Before marriage, menstruation is a roadblock, but after marriage, it's a savior. Yang Hao's frail body really needs a thorough overhaul, otherwise, if Koscice gets into a good mood, it's quite normal for him to be bedridden for a couple of days.

"In short... the Gauls are better than you Serpentscale in breakthroughs and efficient annihilation battles."

"Yes. After all, we are a secret team that is better at espionage and infiltration. For us, comparing combat capabilities with our soldiers in direct combat is just comparing our weaknesses with their strengths."

"Hmm... then let's recalculate the score—they blew up three houses?"

"Yes. The remaining two houses are in terrible condition... The bomb in Mr. Napoleon's hand was actually for naval guns, so..."

"...I understand. Let's deduct 15 points for now."

Under the tense gaze of the Gauls, Yang Hao and Paul chattered for a while before finally giving the Gauls their scores.

This time, Yang Hao is willing to give the Gauls' test an "excellent" score of 80. 80 out of 100. If there's any point deduction, it's this—

They destroyed too many houses.

Yes, that's the main reason.

"In conclusion, Mr. Napoleon, your score is 80 points—if you hadn't destroyed those three houses, you might have gotten a perfect score."

"May I ask for more detailed reasons?"

“Of course. On one hand, there’s a lot of stolen money buried in the houses you bombed, and we need to get it out and tally it up—but the problem is, with the houses bombed like that, it might take several weeks before we can get our hands on the stolen money,” Yang Hao explained, while gesturing for Monica and the other servants to bring out Mr. Napoleon’s payment. “This makes me very dissatisfied. And on the other hand… Mr. Napoleon, do you know what I originally intended to do with those houses?”

"I don't know." At this moment, Mr. Napoleon had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem. He was confused and did not know what Yang Hao's arrangements had to do with them.

Seeing this, Yang Hao sighed heavily. After gesturing for him to come closer, Yang Hao explained:

“I originally planned that one of the larger noble mansions would become your base afterward—I thought that after cleaning up all the blood and corpses, you could move in and start working next week. But you blew them all up.”

"...Uh—" Mr. Napoleon was stunned! So, what did he mean by trying to ensure the structural integrity of the building?!

"So you guys figure out how to build this base for me yourselves. I'll give you three months, even if it's just a bungalow, you have to get the base sorted out yourselves—by the way, while the start-up capital I'm giving you is quite sufficient, it might not be enough to cover this money-burning gluttony of building the base."

"That—" Mr. Napoleon was dumbfounded! This was the income he and his men had earned from their first real job, and the bulk of it was going to be spent on building a base—something that shouldn't have been needed before?!

This...this is just too tragic! The ones who blew up my future office were me and my subordinates?!

"By the way, if nothing unexpected happens, please come to the Duke's mansion tomorrow morning so we can formally sign a contract—salary will be settled monthly, with additional subsidies for any tasks, and bonuses for completing any important missions. You'll also get four days of paid leave each month, and an annual bonus will be awarded at the end of each year. Is that alright?"

"No, sir, what about our compatriots—" Napoleon was momentarily overwhelmed by the lavish terms and instinctively agreed. Fortunately, he remembered his compatriots—the more than 1500 undocumented immigrants—whose identities were questionable...

“After you have worked for a year, I will issue 500 of you citizenship certificates. After you have worked for two years, all of you can become citizens of the Duchy of Kosichè and find good jobs near the Duchy’s mansion—but I need you to be loyal, I mean, loyal to me and my wife.” Yang Hao revealed a mysterious smile, “Even if I let you kidnap the dog emperor of Ursus, you still have to be loyal.”

...

Upon hearing this, Mr. Napoleon fell silent. He clearly understood that this "loyalty" was not quite the same as the "loyalty" he had initially imagined—this was personal loyalty, and accepting this man's conditions meant that Mr. Napoleon and his men would only offer their loyalty to the Duke of Cosice and this Mr. Yang Hao.

Not for this territory, for the country of Ursus, or for this title.

But so what? A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude. Since it was Duke Cosice and Mr. Yang Hao who gave these Gauls a way to live and dignity, what's wrong with us and our soldiers offering our loyalty to them?

Thinking of this, Mr. Napoleon stood up straight solemnly. He bowed to Yang Hao in a chivalrous salute, then took Yang Hao's right hand and kissed the back of his hand.

“We will be loyal to you and your wife for generations to come, sir,” Napoleon said solemnly. “But we also need your promise. A promise that no matter what happens, you will not abandon us Gauls.”

“Of course.” Yang Hao nodded. “Although my wife isn’t here, I can promise you on her behalf that we will not abandon any Gaul within the Duchy of Cosice—because you have already become our subjects, or will eventually become our subjects. So, come tomorrow morning to sign the formal contract, and then starting tomorrow, you will choose one of those three ruins to build your base. You’ll have work to do as early as June. I need you to be ready.”

"Yes, sir."

"Then go back first—you can take these vehicles with you. I don't want my subordinates to have to squeeze onto buses with commuters every time they go to work."

...

Watching the Gauls, who had already pledged their loyalty to him, leave to rest and recuperate, Yang Hao remarked, "The first thing a new organization does upon taking office is hand over the money to build a base." He then stretched, wondering just how much embezzled money had been found in the two remaining relatively intact rooms.

“The amount is huge. Human trafficking and medical supply smuggling are both very lucrative industries,” Monica, the maid, explained while checking the messages transmitted from the front via her communicator. “Right now, the accompanying accountants have tallied that the police have found... this much pure gold alone.”

"So many? That's enough for us to build an army!"

"My lord, I must remind you that this is at most enough to form half an army. But for a minor noble family, they have still amassed far too much wealth."

"Hmm...I understand."

Not counting the embezzled funds buried under the three ruined buildings, the money found in the remaining two minor noble houses alone was enough for Yang Hao to bribe the Kazimirs and then build the prototype of an army. If all of it were used to build a legion, without considering training, it could even equip a division of recruits with complete weapons.

Of course, considering factors like training, this money would at most allow Yang Hao to build half an army. But even so, it's still far too much.

If this money were Kosiché's pocket money, Yang Hao wouldn't be surprised at all, but the fact that it was the ill-gotten gains of two minor nobles through criminal activities was quite outrageous—but outrageous as it may be, now that they're dead, why don't we have a little more dancing on their corpses?

Thinking of this, Yang Hao gestured for Monica and Paul to come over; he had a plan.

“Go to the Administration Office later and find the head of the department in charge of news censorship. Have them draft a press release about the purge that happened tonight,” Yang Hao explained. “Just state the crimes of the nobles we purged—human trafficking, illegal medical products that turn people into zombies, the extortion of the people’s wealth, and the imprisonment of civilians. Write all of these things down and then publish it.”

“Yes. Shall we report the truth?” Monica nodded.

"No, what I mean is—even if they didn't do anything that outrageous, let's fabricate even more outrageous crimes. Aren't those people smuggling illegal medical supplies? Let's also fabricate a crime against them: abducting innocent people and then selling their organs to the powerful figures of the Nikolai Duchy. Aren't those people human traffickers? Let's also fabricate a crime like that. Anyway, the dead can't talk, so let's fabricate as disgusting a crime as possible."

"So, you mean, smear their reputation?" Monica frowned, quickly understanding Yang Hao's meaning. However, she had another question: "But what if the Duchy of Nikolai is unhappy about this—"

"Then tell them that in our Kosichean Duchy, the Duchy of Nikolai is synonymous with shit. We're going to fight them sooner or later—whether it's to reclaim those core districts or to purify those cannibalistic monsters, we'll have to fight the Duchy of Nikolai sooner or later. Instead of slowly building up our people's support for the war later, let's direct our hatred towards the Duchy of Nikolai now—it will unite our people in hatred and save us a lot of resources that we would otherwise use for stability improvement. Why not?"

“...I understand.” Upon hearing this, Monica understood.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Hao began assigning tasks to Paul. His task for Paul was simple—to do everything possible to block the infiltration of the Nikolai Duchy into the Kosiché Duchy.

He had long suspected that the Duchy of Nikolai had spies here. Now, at this crucial moment to intensify the people's hatred towards the Duchy of Nikolai, Yang Hao had to first eliminate those spies, then whitewash them to his own side, and finally send false intelligence to the Duchy of Nikolai to cause chaos among them.

However, snake scales alone are not enough—the vast majority of snake scales are carrying out important operations outside the Duchy of Kosiché, so Yang Hao's minimum requirement for Paul is to first find their tracks, or more precisely, to find their infiltration routes.

"When the time comes, once the Kazimirs are bribed, these hypnotic ponies can make those spies reveal embarrassing stories about wetting the bed when they were six. So all you need to do is find their infiltration route—or have you already found it?"

"They were able to infiltrate this city with Lord Kosiché's permission, and we know them inside and out."

"—Then, let's change the mission objective. Go and capture a few people now, but don't let the other spies find out that your comrades have been captured, understand?"

"Yes."

Snake Scales left. He had a tough day. He had to kidnap someone in one night without the kidnapped person's companion knowing anything about it. It was a difficult task, but that was that.

Monica needed to escort Yang Hao back to his room before she could begin her last task of the day. So, after waiting a short while, they headed together towards the palace.

[Event: Poor Gauls!]

The Gauls didn't expect that their first paycheck after their first mission would be used to build their own base, but what could they do when they made such a big fuss and blew up three houses?

Regardless, you've gained the loyalty of an entire Gallic army—that's a fact. They'll need about two months to build their base, complete the necessary training, and obtain their own insignia from you... Once these procedures are finished, you can use them as oversight personnel and special forces within the city after the first round of reforms in the administrative center!

Congratulations! Congratulations! But please be prepared. Your wife is waiting for you to return.

'...Can I sleep on the sofa tonight?'

"...Um, Monica? Do you have a sofa in your room?"

"Hmm? Why are you suddenly asking this... But I do have a sofa in my room. What's wrong, sir?" Monica was clearly flustered by Yang Hao's question...

"It's nothing, it's just that, can I sleep on your sofa? I feel like if I go back, it might be—"

"Please have some self-respect!"

Monica did not listen to Yang Hao's explanation.

The serious and earnest maid pinched his side, both amused and exasperated, but secretly decided that she would replace the single sofa with a long sofa the next day, just in case.

Chapter 114

.....

Yang Hao ultimately couldn't sleep on the sofa on the night of the 11th, and instead slept back in his own bed.

He couldn't quite remember what happened that night. He only knew that whenever he recalled that night, he felt a tingling, pleasurable sensation in his lower abdomen. In that instant, many things would flash through his mind, but those chaotic images would ultimately freeze on his wife's alluring, flushed face, leaving him in a daze and causing him to lose a lot of weight.

He decided to exercise. So, at 8 a.m. on March 12, before the Wendigo scholars arrived, and before the usual time to go find the Casimir foal, and before Mr. Napoleon would be able to finish dealing with his own affairs at noon, Koschche took advantage of this free time to work in a refreshed state.

Yang Hao is working hard to exercise.

"Sir, keep it up! Just 15 more pull-ups to reach this morning's goal of 100 pull-ups—"

"hiss--"

Yang Hao didn't dare to breathe loudly. After completing the last 15 pull-ups in the last two minutes, his face covered in sweat, he collapsed on the ground. While Monica wiped his sweat with a towel, he was puzzled: He used to be a person who exercised, so why was he so tired after doing 100 pull-ups?

"That shouldn't be the case!" Yang Hao was greatly puzzled and finally attributed his declining physical condition to his daily nightlife.

"Monica—what's the next plan?"

He took a sip of cool water and asked Monica. After a moment's hesitation, Monica gave her answer:

"According to your plan, sir, you will need to do a 3000-meter jog, as well as ten sets of sit-ups and push-ups. However, your work is about to begin, so..."

“I understand now. Take me to the bathroom—at least I need to be presentable and ready to receive that Wendigo scholar before he arrives.”

"Yes. Also, the task you requested yesterday has been completed. Paul has captured a spy from the Duchy of Nikolai, and he is now being held in the ducal mansion's underground cell. Furthermore, the press censorship department has also released yesterday's news—in our manner."

"How's the effect?"

"The results are very good. The people are happy and excited about the deaths of those heinous nobles, and with the work of clearing the ruins, some of the unemployed have also been temporarily stabilized—this should be stable until the day when your plan is completed and work relief is implemented."

Yang Hao's news and public opinion strategy worked very well. Today's morning news not only soothed the hearts of those people who were uneasy after witnessing the nobles' cleanup last night, but also made them feel much better—after all, this was news certified by the Duke's mansion! Those nobles who committed crimes, even human trafficking and human experimentation, are dead. How could we not be happy?

Regardless of how much false information was mixed into that newspaper, the people of the Duchy of Kosiché were happy, and stability naturally improved somewhat. The three ruins now needed clearing, which naturally alleviated the impact of the unemployment surge to some extent. The lesser nobles who knew the full extent of their crimes were terrified, but considering their assets were all within the Duchy of Kosiché and couldn't be transferred out, they could only tuck their tails between their legs and return to their servile ways, daring not to do anything outrageous again—this further boosted stability.

...Although the basic stability is still a cruel negative number, it is still a small step towards making this territory better and better.

"In that case, all we have left to do is wait for Mr. Joseph to settle his administrative center before we start working on it."

"Yes, sir. But then again, wouldn't you like to take this opportunity to improve your relationship with Lord Kosiché?"

"Oh, I'm really close to Koschei—I'm already looking forward to our date in a few days. But on another note, Monica, don't you get tired after working so long?"

"Tired? Hmm, I have my own ways of relieving fatigue. Maybe I read a book, or take care of the flowers I grow... In short, I'm not as fragile as you think, okay?"

"That's true... I guess I'm the only one who's bottling up all the pressure like an idiot."

In the bathroom, while showering to relieve physical and mental fatigue, Yang Hao also wanted to look his best. He chatted with Monica, who was standing behind him, as he soaked in the hot water.

He'd always been curious: when Monica came in wearing a maid outfit—that kind of uniform dress—into this hot, enclosed space [even with ventilation], didn't she feel stuffy? When he asked her that question, Monica took a step back and jokingly suggested, with a wary look, that maybe next time she should just wear her underwear?

Ah... Yang Hao definitely refused. After all, who knew if this serious and earnest maid was serious or joking... So after this incident, Yang Hao wisely refrained from asking those strange questions and instead chatted with Monica about some more relaxed things.

For example, her recent work, for example, Monica the head maid's way of relieving fatigue, for example...

...

In short, they talked about many things. After they had talked enough, Yang Hao left the bathroom with Monica's help. After changing into the formal attire he needed to wear when receiving guests, he suddenly realized that the Wendigo scholar, Grovazel, was supposed to be receiving him in... the audience hall?

"Monica, are we going to the audience hall to receive that scholar later?"

"Yes. After all, this is a formal occasion—but this should be your first time working with Lord Koschche?"

"Yeah... I feel like it would be bad to just show up there and leave, but oh well, let's just leave it at that."

Yang Hao sighed. He felt that it might be too inappropriate for him to go there just to receive Grovazier. But then he thought that Kosichelle had seen him act inappropriately many times before, so he might as well just go there openly, explain the situation to her, and then sit down in his seat and wait for her while watching how she worked.

With this in mind, Monica led him to the audience hall. The audience hall was quite empty at 8:40 a.m. There were no guests to receive and no important political affairs to handle. In Yang Hao's eyes, Koschche seemed to be resting with his eyes closed rather than working on his throne.

Because of Yang Hao's special status, he did not inform Koschitch of the purpose of his visit when he arrived. She was quite surprised by Yang Hao's arrival, who was dressed in formal attire. After he sat down next to her as if nothing had happened, Koschitch just kept looking at him, then gently raised her right hand, which was resting on the right armrest, and placed it on the back of his left hand.

“Monica said she’d be hosting the Imperial scholars here later,” Yang Hao explained with a smile, letting his wife hold his left hand. “So I came over to see how your work is going. Did I bother you?”