Chapter 27: The Northern Border Prince's Manor Makes Its Debut

The stupid child king hadn't even thought of that direction for the time being; after discovering his great strength, he showed enormous enthusiasm for martial training.

Whenever he thought of the people fallen under the sabre, he had inexhaustible strength.

The King had great strength, but archery aim still required gradual, long‑term practice.

Zhao Bao and Tongchen stood guard at the sidelines; seeing the King finally hit the target and smile, they clicked their tongues and said, "Your Highness must have taken that straw man for a northern barbarian to shoot."

Tongchen felt a pang of distress just thinking about it; he and his master had attended the Your Highness since age three, from Chang'an to Youzhou, and this was the first time he'd seen the Your Highness cry like that. 'Your Highness has suffered a lot; you've lost weight recently.'

Ah?

Zhao Bao couldn't help but stare at the King—round face, baby fat, plus those chubby little hands pulling the bow—where's any weight loss?

'Your Highness hasn't shot up yet; only then will you be called thin.'

He imagined the appearance and stature of Emperor Ningde, recalled the graceful and radiant Lady Wei, and thought, 'Once His Highness shoots up, his future looks promising.'

Now we should cherish the plump King all the more—he ought to eat more!

When the afternoon martial arts class ended, Zhao Bao went over with a worried face: 'Your Highness, the cook who's good at mutton soup has returned. You've been tired all day; you should eat more for dinner—you've lost weight these days.'

Baili Jing heard his favorite cook had returned, instantly felt hungrier, and hurried a few steps back to eat his meal.

Chang'an received Minister Xue's , but it caused not a ripple.

Such border friction of this scale couldn't stir any waves in today's Chang'an. But the feudal lords' willingness to actively guard the frontier is commendable, regardless of form. If it were a favored son like Prince Yu, the emperor might issue an edict of praise.

But this person is the You Prince; Emperor Ningde merely nodded, indicating he understood.

Fragrance far, stench near—when Baili Hu was once again caught playing with bears, Emperor Ningde unexpectedly recalled this adopted son of his. He told Baili Hu something like 'Your third brother is more sensible than you,' unintentionally playing someone else's son, which made Baili Hu especially resentful toward the third brother.

Not mentioning Chang'an, Youzhou, in the midst of busy activity, welcomed the autumn harvest and… the completion of the You Prince's Manor.

From the start of the third month of construction of the You Prince's Manor in the northern outskirts, the whole northern outskirts bustled. Crowds of townspeople going out together to watch streamed without end.

Youzhou's local 1,500 workers normally put in six hours a day doing unskilled labor, whereas the technical personnel summoned by the game were a tireless crew of little ants, contracting every technical task on the site.

It left the laborers who had contact with them in awe every day. No one knew where the King had recruited these capable people—each versatile, able to do any task, and seemingly never tired! It gave them a sense of crisis, making them work ever harder. With no skills to begin with, if they didn't work hard, next time the King had something to do, why would he hire locals?!

Thus, after two months of busy work, the basic structure of the You Prince's Manor near the northern outskirts border was completed in the third month, leaving one month for interior decoration and exterior landscaping.

Laborers returning home after work said, 'The You Prince's Manor is so huge and so exquisitely built, yet nobody pays attention.' After all, a manor is where the King lives—he is the emperor's own son, so a large residence is a given.

Youzhou's townspeople had just this summer gone through the slave‑catching incident; even land reclamation was halted, and no one dared go out just to see the spectacle, no matter what those laborers might say.

The laborers conscripted for the You Prince's Manor received nine taels of silver per month; when the first month's work was actually paid out, it caused a sensation in the city.

When the second month's payment of nine taels came again, the sharp‑minded merchants had an idea: nine taels a month was enough to keep a poor family going, so some set their sights on the site's business opportunities.

This year's drought and heat—surely among so many workers on the site, someone would be willing to buy a bowl of iced sweet tea?

So someone risked it, driving a donkey cart, hauling a tea stall that earned nothing in the city, and set his sights on the worksite.

Who would have thought that before they even got there, far off they could see a prosperous city at the edge of the wasteland!

Zhang Er, who ran the tea stall, slapped his forehead hard: 'Am I suffering from heatstroke? Where did this fairy‑palace come from?!' He ran the tea stall, usually hearing all sorts of legends from the five lakes and four seas; the sight before him clearly exceeded his understanding.

All he saw ahead was a splendid city standing tall.

The You Prince's Manor covers 680,000 square meters—it's hardly a small city.

Its walls towered into the clouds, seeming to touch the sky. That imposing gate tower, the glimpse of carved beams and painted rafters on the wall, left Zhang Er, who had never left Youzhou in his life, utterly dumbfounded.

He thought, 'If there really are immortals, this is the sort of place they'd live.'

His head feeling dizzy and muddled, he kept driving the donkey cart forward; when he got a bit closer, he saw laborers laying the road ahead and finally recognized the uniform gray‑brown cloth.

This outfit had been all the rage in Youzhou these past months; wherever it went, it drew envious glances. So he wouldn't mistake it—this really is the newly built You Prince's Manor!

He had seen the old manor in the city before, but… the two were nothing alike.

Although the laborers were poor households Youzhou could count, some from military families were relatively better off. In this scorching heat, outdoor road work made them sweat profusely; even a bowl of cheap tea was barely acceptable. Zhang Er's business easily took off—the road‑crew he met halfway gave him full patronage.

On the return trip he kept looking back at the new manor, as if lost in a dream he didn't want to wake from.

Zhang Er returned to the city; the You Prince's Manor in the Northern Border gained fame inside the walls. Hearing so much talk, idle folk wanted to see for themselves. Since it lay near the border, opposite the northern bearded barbarians, townspeople dared not go alone and began going in groups to look.

Moreover, more and more small traders came seeking a livelihood—tea sellers, pancake vendors, you name it. Unfortunately, the site supervisors wouldn't let them near, so they could only do business with the laborers handling external road‑laying and bridge‑building.

Onlookers seeing the new manor of this scale felt they'd broadened their horizons, and truly believed the You Prince intended to guard the Northern Border himself. There's no reason to let a heavenly palace‑like manor sit idle, right?

The sharp‑minded merchants had already set their sights on the land near the manor.

If it were his own family living opposite that fairy‑palace manor, wouldn't his father live several more years?!

Well‑traveled merchants, broad‑minded, thought that once the You Prince moved in with his guards, safety here would be no worse than that of Youzhou city with its crumbling walls.

They hit on the idea of guarding the feudal princes' retinue, preparing to buy land in the northern outskirts following the King's steps.

Baili Jing, hearing this, was delighted—'Doesn't this mean fiscal revenue?'

Besides reserving a block‑sized area near the manor for officials, the rest can be sold. With the You Prince's Manor as center, prices drop with distance. But there's one condition: future construction in Youzhou must follow a unified plan approved by the government before building.

The King hadn't forgotten the game's grand mockery of him—hah! Improving basic infrastructure can wait; if someone already had a place to live and piled up a thatch hut just to occupy land, the King himself would be displeased! Anyone who hinders his missions is a bad guy!

In just a few days, the Accounts Office of the Internal Affairs Bureau actually received considerable silver for land purchases; the wealthy merchants weren't stupid either—since the You Prince's Manor's northern edge was fast approaching the border, with prices graded by distance, they preferred buying farther south.

Upon hearing the news, the King embraced Bai Ze and went to inspect the Internal Affairs Bureau, where he truly met a wealthy merchant in the midst of transferring ownership.

Heard he was a southern cloth merchant who also had a shop in Youzhou. The King approached him in a down‑to‑earth way, ready to keep the momentum going, give the merchant a reassurance pill, make the northern outskirts a hot commodity, and ideally have them move to Youzhou—great prospects.

All this was routine for him from gathering maps along the way.

Unfortunately, this time the heavens weren't conducive to chat; he asked a question, got a one‑sentence reply, and both parties trembled like sieved chaff.

Not to mention, before no one knew his identity; this time, when he entered, the Internal Affairs Bureau officials all knelt and kowtowed, calling him 'King,' their masks exposed—who would dare chat with him?

Baili Jing hadn't talked about such an exhausting day; he quickly offered a few words of encouragement, embraced Bai Ze, and left.

Stepping out, he asked the little cutie in his arms, 'I specially held you to run into them—doesn't that show extra affection? Why are they so afraid of me? In the palace, nobody ever feared me…'

Bai Ze in his arms yawned lazily, thinking, 'If you don't say you're the sugar figurine your dad bought for you…'

Sugar figurines on the street are only three wen each—this is easy; work it out, what are you worth?

Who would be afraid of you?

That White Marsh opened its mouth, but in the end it didn't make a sound. Forget it—you're even younger than my former master's great‑grandson; if you cry, it'll be hard to soothe.