Chapter 487: Chi Yan Zhu Hong: Grandeur and Departure

As Han Shuang and Xia Yu Yao conversed in their chambers.

At the entrance of the Lord’s Hall, Han Yue and Xia Yu Sheng had already boarded a carriage, escorted by three hundred Dragon Forbidden Guards, departed the Xia Palace, and traveled west along the main thoroughfare of the inner city toward the inner city gate.

Human-powered carriages were not a novelty in the Southern Slopes; leaders of large or even massive encampments generally owned them.

In such extreme cold as Binghe, for weak encampments with no infrastructure whatsoever, these carriages offered no time- or labor-saving benefit—they were purely luxury items symbolizing status and privilege.

But for town-level encampments, the situation differed slightly: their territories were already sizable, and for the sake of security and logistics, they typically invested effort in building roads.

With roads in place, the utility of carriages greatly increased.

First, they saved time for those with lower cultivation levels;

Second, most who had not yet reached Cold-Resistant Realm could not expose themselves to the cold light during daytime, and the enclosed carriage solved their travel problems;

Third, in such extreme cold, the elderly, weak, women, and children struggled to endure long journeys—riding in a carriage was naturally far more comfortable.

Towns across the Southern Slopes had long possessed human-powered carriages; only last year did they become widespread in Great Xia. Though late to start, noteworthy was that Great Xia’s carriages became the most popular across the entire Southern Slopes, far surpassing all other towns.

Great Xia carriages had three distinctive features.

First, perfect compatibility with roads, enabling blazing speed:

Roads throughout Great Xia could be divided into two types: the first, called Xia Cheng Dao, were internal roads within all Great Xia cities; the second, called Xia Zhi Dao, were originally proposed by Yue Feng, located entirely outside cities, connecting all garrisons and cities across Great Xia.

During early construction of Xia Zhi Dao, the Craft Department carved grooves into the ground using cast iron, then standardized the wheelbase and iron-wheel width of all cargo carts—no matter how heavy, a cart could swiftly run along these dedicated grooves with minimal human effort; the more laborers pushing or pulling, the faster it went.

With this experience, when human-powered carriages became popular last year, the Craft Department naturally adopted the same approach: cargo carts often carried tens of millions of taels, while human carriages were designed for passengers, so their specifications differed; thus, the Craft Department established standardized wheelbase and tire width for carriages, then expended considerable manpower to carve new dedicated grooves along all Cheng Dao and Zhi Dao roads.

As a result, any carriage built to Great Xia’s specifications could achieve blazing speed with minimal human effort within Great Xia’s borders, far outperforming those of other towns;

Second, the carriage’s own craftsmanship:

The Xia-style carriage, crafted by Great Xia’s Artisan Workshop, featured an elegant exterior, high enclosure, and exceptional shock absorption—its comfort was unmatched. Currently, it was an extremely scarce commodity across the Southern Slopes, yet its price was astonishingly high: even the lowest-grade carriage body without Great Xia’s standard iron wheels cost 30,000 taels of Bai Yin;

Third, Great Xia’s strict regulations on carriage accessories:

Ultimately, carriages emphasized personal luxury and were thus mere luxuries, not necessities; further, they carried strong status-symbol attributes and consumed considerable human resources, so when Great Xia introduced carriages last year, it immediately imposed strict rules.

First, since Xia-style carriages saved time and labor, everyone should be able to enjoy them, so they naturally became a trade: Great Xia mandated that anyone wishing to operate this trade must first purchase a license from the Logistics Department before officially running carriage services in any city.

Second, carriage specifications: the Li Rituals’ Protocol Chapter stipulated that ordinary carriages operated by carriage services could only be painted in vermilion and yellow, could carry at most two drivers, and must display the service’s emblem above the carriage front; only those granted noble titles could own private carriages, with color, size, design, and number of drivers strictly determined by noble rank.

With these three features, Xia-style carriages ensured exceptional speed while also delivering comfort and nobility—and upon release, they sparked fierce enthusiasm across the entire Southern Slopes.

Within Great Xia, needless to say, many high-ranking figures from the Five Northern Towns took pride in owning a Xia-style carriage; whoever acquired a top-tier model through special channels had ample grounds for boasting.

Of course, when it came to top-tier Xia-style carriages, no one needed to guess—they could only appear in the Xia Palace, and would inevitably be the Lord’s personal vehicle.

But Lord Xia Hong had not appeared in Xia Cheng for over four years, so no one knew what his carriage looked like; instead, Lady Li Xuan Ling’s carriage, Jiushou Xuan Luan, was currently recognized by all in Xia Cheng as the finest.

Below them were the two princes.

The eldest prince, Xia Yu Yao’s personal carriage, named Lan Yu Ni Huang, had only appeared within the Xia Palace so far; since the Three Halls were inside the palace, many had already seen it;

As for the second prince, Xia Yu Sheng’s personal carriage, named Chi Yan Zhu Hong, since the second prince frequently dispatched it to pick up companions, nearly everyone in the inner city could recognize it at a glance.

At this very moment, the carriage named Chi Yan Zhu Hong was being pulled by five soldiers clad in Xuan Guang Lin Armor, escorted by nearly three hundred Dragon Forbidden Guards, slowly advancing toward the inner city gate.

As its name suggests, the main body of Chi Yan Zhu Hong was red—but not ordinary red; it was a brilliant crimson resembling flame; the carriage’s sides were adorned with variously colored decorations; silver bells hung along the eaves, chiming as air rushed past;

At the front top of the carriage sat a statue of Zhu Hong, its wings fully spread, beak extended forward, poised to lunge; its silver-white pupils glared fiercely, lifelike beyond compare.

On the Zhu Hong’s forehead rested a palm-sized golden tablet, inscribed with two vivid crimson characters: “Da Xia.”

“Is that the second prince’s carriage?”

“Of course it is! Hasn’t it come out before?”

“No wonder the main road was closed today—no carriage services allowed.”

“Is the second prince going to pick up friends to take into the Xia Palace?”

“To pick someone up, does he need so many Dragon Forbidden Guards?”

“Exactly! Is the second prince leaving the city?”

“Lady finally gave in—the second prince must have been cooped up too long.”

“Hahaha, I heard he begged to go out, but Lady refused—this time he finally succeeded.”

“My son told me the same thing, hahaha!”

………………

After expansion, the inner city of Great Xia covered a total area of 35 square kilometers, stretching seven kilometers east-west and five kilometers north-south; the main road began at the palace gate and ran straight west to the inner city gate, totaling four kilometers—only Great Xia’s nobility lived along this four-kilometer stretch.

These people instantly recognized Chi Yan Zhu Hong and the Dragon Forbidden Guards, quickly deducing that the second prince was leaving the city; astonished, they recalled the amusing tales of Xia Yu Sheng being confined by Lady Li Xuan Ling, and couldn’t help laughing and chatting among themselves.