Chapter 224: The Secluded King's Greed

The confident Great King, after leaving court, returned to the Suiyu Palace, muttering and fiddling with his fingers. White Marsh really curiously asked him what he was calculating.

I am calculating: if the Eastern Xianbei go south, how long will it take to reach Secluded Province?

Their intelligence team has made many trips; he roughly knows the location of the royal capital and the positions of several tribes relatively close to Secluded Province. Marching speed is definitely different from that of a caravan, and the Great King is seriously calculating travel time.

Who would have thought that just as they mentioned the intelligence team, Zhu Ti came over. She said she had just received news from her caravan: when the caravan, carrying refined salt and tender alfalfa, set out north again, it had only traveled two days before being blocked by a heavy snowstorm and had already begun to turn back.

The snow on the grassland was also half a meter deep; with such harsh weather, venturing further into the grassland would be unsuitable.

The Great King pondered and said, 'Around… they won't be able to make it before the festival; at least they can have a few peaceful days.' Likewise, with such thick snow, gathering people will also take time.

Now it's fine—the road to the Imperial Academy is difficult to travel, so the Great King, as a part-time student, automatically took leave and didn't have to go. Unable to stay idle, he followed the soldiers into the snow‑clearing project.

Seeing the crude snowman in the snowdrift outside the Western Great Camp, the Great King became interested and, with Weini, began to work on it.

I'll model it after you and pile up a white bear!

The Great King's iron claws aren't afraid of the cold, but he couldn't call that thing a bear—Weini refused to claim it. Seeing him busy for half a day, exhausted and scolding, with zero effect, the all‑purpose bodyguard Ling Yin stepped in.

He drew his sword and, with a few swift slices, carved the Great King's bear's facial features, even adding fur texture to its body, then casually shaved the nearby snowdrift into a mountain shape.

The Great King opened the door to a new world.

Oh~ more imposing than the original bear~

Nice, he likes it!

Next, the Great King slowly turned his gaze toward the snow‑capped hill the soldiers had just moved out with a cart, then looked back and forth between Ling Yin and the snowdrift—the meaning was obvious.

Ling Yin: ……

Ling Yin's hands itched a bit, and he led a new trend in Secluded Province.

Seeing that the New Year celebration was approaching, this snow wouldn't melt that quickly, and leaving it piled by the roadside wouldn't be pleasant.

Besides the eight thousand soldiers needed for the parade, the Great King summoned everyone else in the afternoon, piled the remaining snow into a Great Wall—especially the open square in front of the main gate of the Royal Mansion, where he cleared away all snow, and heaped the rest along the edges into wall‑like formations, neat and tidy to look at.

Three days passed in a flash, and suddenly it was the twenty‑ninth of the twelfth month—the Great King's New Year celebration.

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital came upon invitation.

Worried that the road conditions would be poor and hard to travel, the Marquis of the Eastern Capital's party set out in the middle of the night. He had no choice—given the current situation, even the commander‑in‑chief dared not be away too long. The Secluded King warmly invited him, so the Marquis prepared to spare just a day to come and mend relations.

Exactly, this trip is mainly to foster friendly neighborly relations.

Who would have thought that after running for over two hours on the wasteland outside Upper Valley Pass, they encountered the pristine Secluded Province Expressway? This expressway was broad and flat, with only a thin layer of snow on top, as if blown there during the night. Everyone joked that the Secluded King was quite particular—could it be that he had specially cleared the road for them?

They came in from Upper Valley Pass at an angle; this place was already near the border of Secluded Province and Wing Province. Do the diligent Secluded Province locals really need to sweep the roads here?

Haven't you seen the huge snowdrift by the roadside? One look tells you it was pushed there by human effort.

Actually, that's true—the road had been dragged over once by a horse‑pulling plow, and it wasn't done specially for them. Yesterday the treasure ship returned with a hold full of fish, and Zhu Ti sent people to clear it once more. Goods at year‑end sell best; even poor families are willing to splurge on a good New Year meal, so she had to hurry and transport these fish to the two neighboring inland commanderies for sale.

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital and Ge Zhong, who accompanied him this time, were seeing the Great King's expressway for the first time. Although they had heard from scouts and various people returning to the capital who passed through Secluded Province on this route, seeing it for the first time was still shocking.

How much silver must have been spent to build such a wide, flat road stretching this far!

Everyone seeing this for the first time had the same thought in their hearts. But the others lacked the standing to speak up; the Marquis of the Eastern Capital was steady, so only Ge Zhong voiced it.

General, look—it's straight and level, built all the way here—how much silver does this cost!

Although the sky wasn't bright yet, the white snow outdoors hadn't melted, the moon hung in the sky, and today's visibility was especially good—everything could be seen clearly.

This road definitely couldn't have been built just with free laborers; judging by the sound of horse hooves on it, the underside is paved with stone slabs or the like, which is costly.

What could the Marquis of the Eastern Capital say? Just hurry on the way.

The remaining road is easy to travel—just run along the expressway.

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital also specially rode the white‑gold wild horse the Great King had given him; it ran even faster, and he didn't need to wait for the rear detachment—he had already left them in the dust.

Even if they controlled their speed, by the time they caught sight of Secluded Province's city walls, dawn had just broken.

Secluded Province's city walls lay like a giant dragon coiled in the white‑snow world, winding without end in sight.

Even Ge Zhong, who had visited Secluded Province just a year ago, was dumbfounded. He had thought the Secluded King's mansion was already extravagant, but this city wall—what's your deal! Are you trying to compete with Ever Peace? If so… you've won.

"How can it be higher than our Upper Valley Pass?!"

He once again voiced everyone's feelings.

Hearing his subordinates report that the Secluded King had newly built a not‑short city wall, and seeing it in person, it's still not the same.

"I thought those little brats were just bragging!"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital had only one question: "Is Secluded Province's city really that big?" The last time he came, he was attacking to drive out the Xianbei who had occupied Secluded Province, so his impression was deep.

As soon as Ge Zhong heard, he began to survey the surrounding terrain: "That kid definitely expanded outward!"

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital was even more puzzled: isn't Secluded Province as poor as Upper Valley Pass? Or could the garrison farms be so profitable?

Their party of about a hundred, upon nearing the city gate, heard the guards on the wall shout: "Isn't that the Marquis of the Eastern Capital, General?"

Ge Zhong replied: "Exactly! Open the gate!"

They waited outside for a moment, and the huge bronze gate slowly opened.

Secluded Province also has a City Gate Colonel; although he usually oversees the Secluded Province Guard, he came down to pay his respects to the Marquis of the Eastern Capital, General, and said he would personally lead everyone to the Secluded King's Mansion.

The Marquis of the Eastern Capital dismissed him, saying it was too early and would be too much of a disturbance.

They planned to stroll around the city themselves, have breakfast, then go to the Secluded King's Mansion.

Who goes to someone's place as a guest right at dawn? That would be too forward.

After passing the gate, they saw a vast expanse of whiteness, and everyone finally realized that the Secluded King really had expanded the city outward.

That morning, the folks from Upper Valley Pass finally broadened their horizons—clearly so close by, how could this place suddenly become unfamiliar to them?