Chapter 568: A Different Color

"I am already old, and of little use to Huaxia anymore. Perhaps after this trip, I will retire, stay at home to bask in the sun and wait for death, and I won't say much more. But you all are still young, and your futures will not be bad; you still have a very long road ahead."

"Therefore, you must be mindful of your words and actions. Do not say what should not be said, and do not do what should not be done. The fate of those few in the Ministry of Personnel is the result of acting recklessly."

"Although our family has a good relationship with the Royal Family, and Wang Ye will be a bit lenient with me because I have followed him for a lifetime, what about the future? Will you receive the forgiveness of the next King? Having this surname is, in a way, a constant reminder to us."

The brothers all lowered their heads. They did not know if the things they had said in the past had anything to do with this surname; they had never thought such a situation would arise.

Shaohe also suddenly knelt down at this moment. Seeing this, the other brothers hurriedly knelt as well. Although they did not know why, since their eldest brother had knelt, it would not look right for them to remain standing.

Shaohe pressed his hands to the ground: "Father, I do not know if I have ever spoken recklessly in the past, but from now on, I will certainly keep my mouth shut and not speak of anything carelessly. This includes my children, my younger brothers and sisters; I will keep them in check as well."

The other brothers also hurriedly gave their assurances: "Father, we are the same."

The Wu felt somewhat relieved: "Fine, as long as you remember it firmly, that is enough. Go and eat. Do not speak of this matter to others; wait for the official notice from the King."

"Yes, Father."

The brothers slowly stood up, and then Changhe went over to help the Wu up: "Father, let's go eat together."

The Wu felt he had no appetite at all, so he waved his hand and said: "Forget it, you go and eat. I don't want to eat. Let me rest well; it will be time to depart soon."

In the end, the servants of the house still brought food for the Wu, but the Wu only drank a few mouthfuls of porridge before having it taken away.

Because this matter was very secretive, no one knew about it. Changhe and his brothers also kept their mouths shut. When colleagues asked how the Wu's health was, they only said the old man was a bit tired and there was no major problem.

On the day the Ministry of Rites was to depart, everyone finally saw the Wu, who had been on leave for several days. The Wu now had a full head of silver hair. Fortunately, Huaxia had previous precedents of old people's hair turning white, which allowed everyone to know this "common knowledge," otherwise the Wu would have looked too peculiar.

However, what everyone cared about now was that the Wu had aged too quickly; they hadn't seen him for a few days, and his graying hair had actually turned completely white.

When Baifeng saw them off, he felt a bit unbearable, feeling that he was the one who had said too much. The Wu was the same, always liking to overthink things and scaring himself half to death.

After giving instructions to several of them, they split into two groups and set off. After a period of study, Zhigui finally possessed the true capabilities of a Ministry of Rites Official. His main task this time was to discuss the trade of Tea Leaves with the Suiren Tribe; items like various furs were also among the trade goods.

Huaxia's Silk and Hemp Cloth replaced a portion of the grain as trade goods brought to the Suiren Tribe. What they needed to exchange in return were mainly Tea Leaves and furs.

Because hunting activities had decreased, the production of furs naturally fell. The output from the livestock Huaxia raised itself was not enough to supply Huaxia's demand for furs. Although they were not needed in the summer, when Winter arrived, in an era without cotton or down, furs were the best materials for keeping out the cold.

It was not that Huaxia had no down, but Huaxia only raised ducks. Duck down was considered decent as a warming material, but with the few ducks Huaxia had, how much output could there be? It was barely enough to supply the Royal Family. However, Baifeng did not particularly like duck down; the furs of various fierce beasts were better.

The Wu's goal was much the same: Tea Leaves, furs, and some special plants were also on their trade list. Both the Suiren Tribe and the Xuanyuan Tribe knew what these items were, as they had traded them before. There was also another important item: Tung Oil seeds; Tung Oil was also very important to Huaxia.

On the Large Ship, the Wu had no discomfort other than a little seasickness when the wind and waves were high. Having not been out for many years, the Wu was actually quite moved, his eyes fixed on the scenery along both banks of the Dahe.

That's right, the scenery. He had never noticed that this Wasteland was actually so beautiful. He had only thought it dangerous before. No wonder the King often stared into the distance.

At the same time, the Wu also discovered that the activity range of the Xuanyuan Tribe seemed to be getting larger and larger. In the past, although this area was said to be the territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe, they rarely came here. But now, if one looked carefully, one could actually see very obvious traces of campfires on the riverbanks, and in some places, one could even see large patches of forest that had been cleared.

The Wu was a bit nervous. Could it be that the Xuanyuan Tribe had also started large-scale construction?

The Wu asked the people of the Navy. Zisheng often traveled this waterway, so he naturally knew about these changes. He also knew the reason, because they had encountered people from the Xuanyuan Tribe on the road. Since there were no war factors, both sides could barely be considered friends; as long as the attitude was friendly, some communication was naturally possible.

Zisheng recalled: "The boats of the Xuanyuan Tribe are now also getting bigger and better. Of course, they are still far from our Large Ships, but their boats are almost as big as our small boats; there isn't much difference. When we passed by, we saw them using boats to tow cut timber in the river. When we asked them what was going on, they didn't hide it, just saying it was for Huaxia's construction needs. If they cut it on the mountain, it was too hard to transport, but if they cut it on the riverbank, they could just tow it back in the water using boats."

Zisheng pointed to the riverbank: "Look, those taller and sturdier trees are their targets. They are likely used for building houses. There are also some special woods that are definitely used for making boats. But we can't stop them, right? And it's even more impossible to go and cut down their trees; this is already in the territory of the Xuanyuan Tribe. However, judging by the scale of this logging, the Xuanyuan Tribe is definitely building very quickly and very well now."

The Wu's expression became increasingly serious. He felt it was impossible for Huaxia's construction speed to be overtaken by other tribes, but he really couldn't say for sure about the Xuanyuan Tribe. This was because the King had said more than once that Xuanyuan was too smart—so smart that in the next few thousand years, few would be able to compare to him. And as for Baifeng, ten Baifengs added together could not compare to one Xuanyuan.

And Baifeng himself was also very conflicted. He did not have the ability to create more things, but if he were to give the knowledge in his head to Xuanyuan, Xuanyuan would definitely be able to make the human race on this land rise rapidly.

There were some things Baifeng kept hidden in his heart and dared not say, which was that he also wanted the true Huaxia to completely occupy the whole world, so that those humiliating histories would not appear in the future. However, he was also reluctant to part with his own foundation. Everything could only follow the trend of the era. If he had come to this era inexplicably just to assist Xuanyuan, then he shouldn't have been thrown into the cave of the Cannibal Tribe.

Baifeng also wanted his arrival to add a different color to this era.