Lian Ming was startled when Wan Tao suddenly mentioned her. She didn't think he would award her with a medal of honor.
Without thinking much, she stepped on the stage and accepted it respectfully, "I am truly grateful for this reward, Mayor."
Lian Ming wore this medal around her neck. The public instantly went crazy in excitement as they saw her wearing the medal of honor.
Wan Tao smiled upon witnessing this scenario.
He spoke loudly and clearly, "I am happy to see that you all are pleased with this event. To conclude, I will present everyone who has arrived here with a thousand Ela to reimburse your loss during those riots."
A thousand Ela was quite a bit of money for the low-class and middle-aged families in Suqui Town.
Additionally, around three to four people from the same family attended this event. Thus, each family would receive at least three thousand or four thousand Ela.
And this was equivalent to their arduous work of three to four months.
Thus, their excitement could be imagined.
Wan Tao was paying these civilians with his personal wealth.
The JRA's scheme was indeed a wake-up slap for him. He knew that if it had succeeded, he would have lost everything.
Thus, it was better to utilize his wealth to earn some benefits.
Not even the JRA could quickly shake his prestige at this moment. If a nasty rumor about the Mayor were to circulate at this time, the public would not accept it as seriously as they did previously. In fact, they might even disregard it altogether.
The Mayor decided to leave while his subordinates began distributing a thousand Ela per individual in this Plaza.
Even after he left, Lian Ming and her comrades remained behind as they tried to maintain disciple in the crowd. This was to prevent them from attacking the Mayor's underlings and hoarding that money.
Lian Ming's prestige was high enough that she could even discipline this unruly crowd.
In a few hours, this event came to an end.
Lian Ming's comrades urged her to a celebration.
Lian Ming couldn't really refuse her comrades at this moment and internally cried, 'Damn it! These fools will make me spend the salary of this entire month.'
'Wan Tao better provides me a refund!'
Soon, she couldn't help but stare at her medal and wonder, 'I wonder how much will it sell for? It can be sold, right?'
If someone from the crowd could hear her thoughts, he would have laughed off while thinking that Lian Ming was really stingy.
~~
A shocking incident occurred in the entire Jin Family's territory approximately a week later.
The Jin Family held control over Dongchun City, Suqui Town, Miantong Town, Kudong Town, and lastly, Xuanzou Town.
Each city in Zhongxing Kingdom has about five towns under it, and each town has five villages under it. A weak Noble Family in Zhongxing Kingdom possesses only a single city. Meanwhile, a strong Noble Family in Zhongxing Kingdom possesses four cities.
The Jin Family could be considered a weak Noble Family considering that they only possess a single city under them. However, this single city generated enough revenue to rival two cities of other Noble Families.
There were several factors at play in Dongchun City's enormous earnings. It was in an excellent location, and several trade routes flowed through it.
The Ren Family had developed a masterplan architecture that suited Dongchun City's requirements. They heavily invested in schools, inns, lakes, parks, startups, and business models.
The Ren Family initially suffered a colossal loss for simultaneously focusing on so many fields. However, the gains were visible very soon.
Unfortunately, the Ren Family couldn't enjoy the fruit of their labor as the Jin Family assaulted them and replaced them.
The Jin Family continued the Ren Family's work and built multiple routes across their entire territory, connecting it to the cities of other Noble Families.
Considering the superior living standards in Dongchun City, many wealthy merchants actually shifted to this place. The Jin Family also cut apart many of the nearby forests to create private villas for these wealthy merchants in Dongchun City.
And today, something shocking occurred to these wealthy merchants.
The three most affluent and influential merchants received news that their caravans were missing. The news came from many angry retailers and dealers in other cities who complained that they had yet to receive their orders.
This shocked the three most affluent and influential merchants since their carriages had never been delayed before. They initially thought their subordinates were delayed for a few days and would reach their destination soon.
This initially pacified those retailers and dealers.
However, three more days passed, but the goods didn't arrive.
At this point, the three wealthiest and most influential merchants in Dongchun City were getting nervous and worried about their stock.
Thus, they ordered their subordinates to investigate the carriage's route thoroughly.
In the meantime, a small team had also begun investigating this issue. They were disguised as travelers.
One of them spoke out, "We have found many signs of battles on this route. Yet, when we follow the track, we get nothing. It's like they vanish into thin air."
The second man responded, "…Yeah. Moreover, it's strange that the location where these battles occurred is so far away from each other. Just how could someone cover so much distance in just a week?"
The only girl in their group spoke, "They must have a huge group. Maybe three to four parties attacked these caravans simultaneously."
"Brother Jin, what do you think?" The first individual who had spoken asked the man seated in the carriage.
The man with the surname Jin woke up groggily. He was lying in a carriage.
He quickly sat up and grumbled weakly, "…I suspect there wasn't any battle. At least not on these paths."
"What do you mean? We have clearly found the clues of battle occurring on these routes. We even found their tracks before they disappeared."
Zhu Hui rubbed his eyes and cleared them of any dirt. He gulped down some water and spoke after wiping his mouth, "I was wondering the same thing for the last few days. But don't you think it's strange that the spot where the battle occurred is bizarre? We found many clues on the site rather easily, making it easy for us to conclude that this was where the battle took place. Next, we are following a trail of blood that has already mixed with the soil on the ground."
"This is the standard investigation method," Lei Wenling responded nonchalantly.
Zhu Hui spoke, "Yes. And perhaps it's this reason that we couldn't figure out the truth earlier. Don't you think it's strange that they made no attempts to conceal those signs of battle? Like, I would have at least carried those caravan wheels and some boxes and taken those mules with me. But they didn't do that. The situation was the same when we reached the second site and the third site."
Another member of the group named Han Shan suddenly spoke, "I see. That's indeed a bit suspicious. But I believe that they were in a rush and didn't have the time to cover all the clues. Many caravans pass through this path. So it's not that strange."
Zhu Hui nodded as he spoke, "I thought the same initially. But it still feels a bit fishy that the tracks disappear after a particular distance."
Han Spoke asked, "And, what do you think about this entire matter?"