Chapter 24: Zhao Zhuge

In order to finish before the autumn harvest rush, the construction of the new prince's mansion in the northern suburbs will begin preparations tomorrow, and officially start the day after tomorrow.

After Minister Xue found out, he came in the midst of his busy schedule to ask the King whether the hurriedly gathered construction materials were ready.

The King blinked his big, round eyes, saying, "I've already assigned someone to handle the preparations; besides, isn't building a house supposed to start with digging the foundation?"

Minister Xue thought that made sense, so he let him have his fun. At the very least, those ten thousand taels of silver… scattering them counts as hiding wealth among the people.

That night, Bai Li Jing drove away the attendant Zhao Bao who was waiting nearby, and then studied the Imperial Order Design of the You King's Mansion again in his study.

The dense list of building materials below the diagram was mostly incomprehensible to him; he could barely grasp the various stones and timbers. What are "European concrete No. 1", "exotic plant glue No. 3", "ceramic three-way 25mm diameter", "ceramic pipe 25mm diameter 500 meters", "glazed window 120x120"? He recognized the individual characters, but when combined he had no idea.

It doesn't matter, it's not like he has to build the mansion himself.

The King just reluctantly glanced at the outer wall height and the scale of the building complex; that much he could tell from the drawing. As for the model diagram, no matter how many times he looked at it, his heart burned with excitement.

The King proudly put his hands on his hips; compared to the You King's Mansion given to him in the game, the palaces of Chang'an City were nothing special.

After looking, the King rubbed his chubby hands and solemnly clicked the button to open the side quest.

A small, green, semi-transparent outline of a mansion immediately appeared.

Bai Li Jing found the northern suburbs wasteland on the full terrain map of Youzhou, zooming in repeatedly, confirmed there was no one nearby, and then placed the marker on that flatland not far from the border line.

As soon as he placed it, a new bubble popped up: 【Confirm construction of the You King's Mansion at this location? Yes/No】

He clicked 【Yes】.

Immediately another bubble appeared: 【Construct according to the original scale of the 'Imperial Order Design of the You King's Mansion'? The scale can be adjusted up to 1.5 times. Original drawing scale / Original drawing scale times 1.5】

The King's simple understanding was that the higher the mansion's outer walls, the better. Before he could build another city wall, the You King's Mansion's outer walls would have to serve as the city wall.

He clicked 【Original drawing scale times 1.5】 without hesitation.

A new bubble quickly popped up: 【Claim the raw materials, tools, and specialized labor (x5000) required for the 'Imperial Order Design of the You King's Mansion'? Yes/No】

After he clicked 【Yes】, another bubble appeared: 【Distributed to the construction site of the 'You King's Mansion'. Summon the on-site technical supervisor NPC—Zhao Zhuge? Yes/No】

The King skillfully clicked Yes, still thinking he was continuing to place things in the northern suburbs, but then a living person suddenly appeared before his desk!

"Ah——!"

A tall middle-aged man in a black robe materialized out of thin air and stood before his desk; the King jumped in fright, nearly falling from his chair!

He had seen a small date turn into a living horse before, but seeing a living person appear out of nowhere was still his first time.

The man performed a standard salute, saying, "Greetings, my lord! I am Zhao Zhuge, commoner, the on-site technical supervisor for the You King's Mansion project. I have traveled south and north all my life, studied advanced architectural theory overseas in foreign lands, and entrusting the You King's Mansion to me, my lord, you can rest assured."

The King, startled and dazed for a moment, unexpectedly reached out his chubby paw and poked the man's hand.

"Hot!" Good news, it's a person! No sign of anything unusual at all!

Zhao Zhuge appeared completely unfazed, even smiling at the King, saying, "As a commoner, I am also from Jin."

"My lord, tomorrow I will uniformly allocate the local labor force; their work uniforms and meals can also be distributed by me. Please take out the work uniforms and one day's meals and place them at the construction site."

The King stared at him without blinking, responded verbally, and skillfully opened the warehouse to drag one thousand five hundred sets of work uniforms and a day's worth of meals into the construction site.

One person's daily meal ration is two liters, packed in a hemp-colored cloth bag. One bag holds exactly two liters, so issuing one bag per person per day is sufficient.

Seeing these neat little bags, the King couldn't help but be curious; he hadn't opened one yet.

Curiosity demands action; the King turned, took one for himself, used the paper cutter on the desk to pry open the binding string, and exclaimed, "Wow~ I've never eaten such fine rice!"

The King knew that game products always come out as quality goods; just look at the little Bai Ze lying on his foot to see that.

But such pure, gleaming white rice—I, the King, have never even tasted it! The King is delighted for the common folk who will soon receive these meals.

The King comes from Chang'an, where people usually eat various soup cakes and hu cakes; he truly has never eaten such white rice!

Judging that the King's resentment ran too deep, the NPC who had been playing the wooden man finally spoke up, saying, "My lord, do more tasks later to earn rewards; rewards can be exchanged for white rice and whatever you want. Even… you can top up silver, and once the shop opens, you can purchase from the Myriad Worlds City officials." He hesitated a moment, feeling it wasn't very moral to trick a child into spending money.

The King's eyes lit up upon hearing that; he remembered topping up… wait!

Hehe, he probably doesn't have any spare cash either.

Let's discuss it later.

Zhao Bao went to the front hall, and upon returning, from afar he saw a stranger emerging from the King's study.

He hurriedly asked the little eunuch outside the door, "Who is this person? When did they arrive?"

That little eunuch also stared, saying, "I, I didn't see……"

Zhao Bao lifted his foot and kicked him, saying, "The King is still inside; you can even zone out while guarding the door!" The little eunuch hurriedly knelt to apologize.

Zhao Bao quickly stepped forward to block Zhao Zhuge, and before he could ask who this person was, the other party first bowed and said, "Are you the Zhao Supervisor attending to His Highness the You King? His Highness asked you to arrange a horse for me; I, a commoner, am rushing out of the city on business."

Zhao Bao became even more confused, "Who are you?"

Zhao Zhuge: "I, Zhao Zhuge, commoner, have been favored by His Highness and am in full charge of constructing the You King's Mansion outside the city. Tonight many building materials will arrive; I am rushing out of the city to arrange their reception."

Zhao Bao had no choice but to let the gatekeeping little eunuch take him to get a horse. He headed in, full of bewilderment, to ask his lord, "Where did you pick up this foreman?"

The King replied mysteriously, "I have my own connections."

What are connections?

"Your Majesty, do we not need the Wang Lang Official for building the mansion? And Mr. Zhao calls himself a commoner—could he still be a mere commoner to this day?" This is too bold; to employ a completely unknown commoner for such a huge project…

The King slammed the table, his round face scrunching up, and said in great disdain, "This place was being supervised by the Wang Lang Official; I am very dissatisfied, it's time to replace him!"

Zhao Bao: ……

Give the Wang Lang Official a candle.

The King's diary:

【July 4th, You King's Mansion

Magic tricks are really fun!

I, the King, am very happy today; things are moving in a good direction again.

Other things cannot be written; I, the King, have many little secrets.