Chapter 424

The big farm in West Long is larger than An Ding, with over six thousand mu of land. Da Wang continues to appoint the Governor of West Long as deputy farm manager, and even transferred a manager from the Chief Manager's West Long Shop to handle the farm's finances.

Five hundred slaves are definitely not enough during the busy farming season, so this involves hiring civilians.

Da Wang pays civilians working on this big farm according to normal wages, with no question of unpaid labor.

Da Wang directly transferred someone from the local commerce department to handle matters; when money was involved, Da Wang became shrewd, believing that expertise requires specialization and refusing to leave everything to this governor.

With all arrangements made, Da Wang continued the journey; as soon as the troops set out and crossed the Peach River, something went wrong.

This year's drought exposed the riverbed, and the silt accumulated over the years caused trouble for the wagons. After two days of struggle, the troops finally crossed the Peach River smoothly, and everyone wondered why Da Wang bothered with this.

After all, their time is limited; they cannot visit every place, and when they set out they promised Xie Yuan and Xue Xiang that they would definitely return to Youzhou within two months, but now it looks impossible to keep that promise.

Da Wang's original plan also did not include the western part of the Peach River, since there were no large fields there, and the route didn't even cover western Liangzhou; otherwise the court would not have been so willing to release personnel.

In fact, what Da Wang did not say was that he faintly felt that the opposite bank… had slipped from his control.

The Governor of West Long said that the opposite bank is sparsely populated, and since West Long had just been incorporated into the Northern Frontier's hundred neglected affairs awaiting revival, there was hardly any contact with the opposite shore. Last year's war meant they hadn't even gathered a dou of grain or a wen of tax from the opposite bank.

Da Wang was thoroughly dissatisfied with this reply, and he faintly felt that he had lost control of the southwestern border of the Northern Frontier.

You know, from his 3D full terrain map of Liangzhou, the distance from the Peach River to the border is still two or three hundred li. This is all his territory; what ends up in his bowl absolutely cannot be lacking.

Wei Shen was tanned dark and shiny by the fierce sun of the northwest; he was no longer the wheat-complexioned young master who just left Youzhou. Riding out under the sun this afternoon, even the sturdy Lord Wei is about to get sunburned to a crisp.

"Your Majesty, are we going to Golden Radiance City?"

"First go straight to the border junction, then go north along the border to have a look at Golden Radiance City, which counts as patrolling the border. If there's time, go to Zhangye and Sincere City." That's right, this is the King's newly altered grazing route. Behind them, Xie Tu and the others were squatting in the carriage; otherwise, hearing this they'd probably cool down.

"Then why take a detour instead of going straight to Golden Radiance City?"

"Because I don't know that the straight line between two points is the shortest."

Wei Shen: …

"Look at you, being willful again! Honestly, are you uneasy about the Qiang?"

The King stubbornly said, "Would I worry about those little Qiang? Don't they ask around whether I'm easy to provoke!? If they provoke me, they'll have to join the tribute team of the neighboring Western Regions!"

Wei Shen curled his lips, "Those barbarians, have they even heard you say 'two'?"

The King was unconvinced, about to argue with him to pass the boring travel time, when in the next instant he saw two herders in the distance.

Originally the King just glanced twice; since crossing the river, this was the first time seeing people along the way, and he saw those two, upon seeing them, almost jump up and drive their sheep away.

It was as if they were a flood and ferocious beast!

The King puzzled, "This isn't right, why do they run when they see us?"

The King looked back at his entourage; behind him were his two cousins and the Xue brothers, then further back were the palace guards and the Snow Riders, each more neat than the last—are they frightening? Why would they run?

Even Bai Ze was curled up in its own carriage at the back, not showing its face, and there was no situation of being frightened by Bai Ze.

"Could it be that I look like I'm going to steal their sheep?!"

The nearest Wei Shen hadn't even had a chance to laugh when Zhe Tian, squatting on the King's horse behind him, erupted!

"What? What?! Those people are so clueless, what does 'rob' mean? Shouldn't they be actively offering it to the King!"

One wing was about to take off to go give them a taste of its own medicine, the King turned around and, in a flurry, pressed it down.

"What are you trying to do? I haven't spoken, so don't stir up trouble!"

The King dragged it to the front of the saddle; bold and skilled, this guy released the reins, with both hands knocked down and pressed the cloud-carved sculpture, Zhe Tian adult cooperated, struggled twice and lay flat. It found this pretty good—no need to expend effort standing and not fall off.

The King's thoughts had gone completely off track; he looked at his own White Dragon, Wei Shen's White Gold Wild Horse, then at the Snow Riders' horses, and he felt he had understood.

"The border folks must have seen so many white horses and thought we were the White Horse Qiang! That's got to be it!" The King stubbornly refused to admit he doesn't look like a good person.

Wei Shen laughed heartily, "This joke is funny."

The King turned to Wei Ke; Wei Ke: "……The White Horse Qiang are not called that because they ride white horses, but because their settlement is by the White Horse Water."

The King: …

Judging by how fast they fled, they really avoided us like snakes and scorpions. The King, being tactful, didn't chase and continued westward along the set route.

All the way to the border of Longxi and the Qiang, everyone they met regarded them like a flood and ferocious beast; the King was about to break down, why are these people so introverted!

"The border folk are really vigilant!" The King saw a boy on the neighboring hilltop who, upon seeing them, dragged his three or four little lambs and ran off without looking back.

Wei Shen: "I've been eating dry rations all the way; I really want to buy a few sheep from them to eat."

As soon as the King heard that, he quickly covered Zhe Tian's ears with both hands, "Keep it down! If it hears that, it'll go steal one, and they'll dislike us even more!"

Zhe Tian: …

Wei Shen: ……This life, it's getting more and more promising.

If we can't eat it, forget it; we can't even say it, we can only think about it……

The King was also unwilling to accept it, preparing to find someone to talk to when they encountered habitation. Thus, while others trudged along eating dry rations, he secretly improved his own beef jerky each day, persisting northward, and finally arrived near Golden Radiance City.

Once again, from afar he spotted traces of people; this time they didn't hide. Because they had sent the King a gift, a few mischievous youths waited on the spot for inspection.

They dug a big pit on the level little path, making it into a trap……

At the time there were no scouts ahead to probe the route; the King said it was all his land, so what was there to scout—you just camp wherever you go, and now it's fine.

Leading the way were the Wei brothers; Wei Ke was half a body ahead of Wei Shen, his mount being a Su Jin Te horse. The horse's description says it's a jumping genius of the plains, and it lives up to that name—its two front hooves kicked off the ground, and with someone on its back it still managed a mid-air head toss and turn, relying on instinct to touch the pit's edge with its left front hoof; once three hooves landed, it swiftly retracted the other leg to avoid danger.

Only Wei Ke, from that toss, almost fell headfirst into the pit, but fortunately he'd been solidly training martial arts in Youzhou these past six months, and his seat was steady.

Wei Shen's White Gold Wild Horse was also well-behaved; upon sensing the Su Jin Te horse's mishap, it immediately made an emergency stop!

Wei Shen, sitting on its back without having tightened the reins, plunged headfirst into that pit……

Only a world where Wei Shen alone is injured has been achieved.

Seeing Wei Shen fall from his horse, the King flew into a rage!

"How outrageous! Seize them for me!" He flicked his whip, pointing at the gang who saw their plan succeed, laughing as they fled.

The palace guards immediately dispatched a unit to pursue them.

At that moment, Wei Shen was distracted talking to the King, otherwise it wouldn't have been so bad. Fortunately the pit was only about two meters square and not very deep—about a meter deep—and contained no stones, just pure earth; otherwise those kids couldn't have dug it so easily.

Wei Shen is also tough; he reacted, twisted his body, and landed shoulder-first, quickly got up from the pit, but when he fell he was scratched on the face by the branch used to prop up the disguise.

The Great King felt distressed seeing the blood stain on his face and loudly wailed: "It's over! My cousin was already dark-skinned, and now he's been disfigured!"

Wei Shen, who was about to get angry:...