Chapter 98

In the northwest direction of the Great Xia Kingdom, on the outskirts of Wuyang County, there is a mountain range called 'Heavenly Wind Ridge,' which is considered the first mountain range of the Great Xia Kingdom. Within this mountain range, there is also the highest mountain in the Great Xia Kingdom—Cloud Peak!

No one has specifically measured the height of Cloud Peak because it rises straight into the clouds and is covered in snow all year round. Now, Li Xian is leading a thousand guards provided by the Great Xia Kingdom to Cloud Peak, preparing to excavate rock caves and build a royal mausoleum at the foot of the mountain.

Li Wei has not been idle either; he has been recruiting displaced people and craftsmen everywhere. Even though Li Xian is using the mountain to build the royal mausoleum, which has greatly reduced the scale of the project, the workload is still considerable and requires many people to help.

However, once they enter the mountain range, there is nothing much for Li Xian to do. How to survey the feng shui and determine the location for the cave entrance is naturally the responsibility of professionals; and the person in charge is an old acquaintance—Ge Zhengfeng! The same fangshi who read Li Xian's destiny.

With nothing to do, Li Xian took out the imperial edict and read it again and again; although he had read it more than once, each time it made him feel elated. Why?

Because with the position of Eastern Governor, Li Xian now has a legitimate reason to launch military campaigns. And being appointed as the Minister of Works means that Li Xian no longer has to pay taxes!

The first order Li Xian received from the Minister of Works was—exemption of taxes for the Brilliant Starlight Group!

In the past, the tax exemption was for Anyang County, not for the Brilliant Starlight Group—although Li Xian doesn't seem to have paid much tax!

In addition, a large number of craftsmen have already started making gunpowder, basket after basket of gunpowder being produced. Although the Great Xia Kingdom has declined, it can still collect enough saltpeter and sulfur; after all, it is still a centralized state, far superior to Anyang.

While Li Xian is preparing to excavate and build the royal mausoleum, the Crown Prince Xia Xu in the northwest received a piece of news that made him ecstatic—Li Xian has gone to build the royal mausoleum and has left Anyang in the hands of Xia Qingqing to manage!

Without a second thought, the Crown Prince immediately ordered Yuan Cai to be sent to Anyang.

Watching Yuan Cai and his entourage depart, the Crown Prince smiled, "This time, it's not just 200,000 sets of bearings and 300 pounds of sea soul silk. I want 2 million bearings and 3,000 pounds of sea soul silk! If possible, I want all of Li Xian's secrets!"

And in Anyang?

Xia Qingqing still sat in her original position, with Li Xian's seat empty. The officials of Anyang and others sat in order below.

At this moment, several bound wealthy merchants were kneeling on the floor. These people had come to the Brilliant Starlight Group to wholesale goods, but they were bold—just as Xia Qingqing began to manage Anyang, they planned to make a profit without capital! They actually robbed some weak merchant caravans.

Xia Qingqing's face was stern as she issued her first order since taking charge of Anyang, "According to the laws of the Great Xia Kingdom, robbers shall be executed."

"Your Highness, we were wrong, we are willing to atone for our sins, we are willing to give all our wealth to Anyang, we are willing to swear to the heavens to be eternal slaves of Anyang..."

Xia Qingqing coldly interrupted their pleas for mercy, "Drag them away and behead them in public. All squad leaders and above in the other merchant caravans shall also be beheaded in public; the followers shall be reduced to slaves and sent to Cloud Peak to build the royal mausoleum!"

In less than a moment, a guard came in to report: the heads have been cut off.

The hall was silent, and everyone looked at Xia Qingqing, who seemed unfamiliar. In the past, Xia Qingqing gave the impression of a beautiful magnolia, always with a happy smile on her face; but now, Xia Qingqing is a cold and ruthless ruler, and her first order since taking charge of Anyang has resulted in the execution of over a hundred people and the reduction of over a thousand to slavery.

Xu Ren was also nervous this time, looking at the calm-faced Xia Qingqing, he suddenly realized—this is a princess, not a simple girl! She won't... take the opportunity to seek revenge, will she?

Xia Qingqing turned her head to look at the few disheveled merchants standing nearby, who were the victims of the robbery. She glanced at them and then looked at Fang Shijing, who was also sweating, "Mr. Fang, have the losses of these people been calculated?"

"They have been calculated. A total of 173 people died, and the losses exceed 300 taels of gold."

Xia Qingqing turned to look at the disheveled merchants, "Is this correct?"

The leading merchant steeled himself and replied, "Yes."

Xia Qingqing then looked at Fang Shijing, "Mr. Fang, give them 500 taels of gold as compensation, and send them to rest. They can leave on their own after they recover."

The merchants were immediately stunned, and after a long moment, the same merchant exclaimed in surprise, "Thank you, Your Highness."

After all the outsiders left, Xia Qingqing looked at Xu Ren, who seemed to have a stiff expression, "Sir, do you think Qingqing's methods are too ruthless?"

"This..." Xu Ren was at a loss for words.

Xia Qingqing slowly stood up, "If you have lived in the palace, you would understand Qingqing's methods; yielding only makes people think you are weak and easy to bully. In the past, I was a princess; now, I must protect my husband's legacy!"

Looking at Xia Qingqing's back, Xu Ren suddenly sighed and was about to leave.

Suddenly, a guard came in to report, "Madam, the negotiators from Cai Kingdom have arrived and are at the border of Anyang."

Xia Qingqing, who was about to leave the hall, immediately stopped and slowly walked back to her seat. "Thank you, sir."

Xu Ren immediately stood up and headed to the border. It was only a dozen miles from Anyang to the border, and he arrived quickly. The Cai Kingdom's delegation of a hundred or so people was very luxurious, with each member being a foundation-stage expert.

Xu Ren's demeanor was full of the pride of a victor, "Who are you?"

A core-stage expert strode forward with overwhelming presence, "I am Ye Mingquan from the Cai Kingdom's Ministry of Rites."

"Please come in." Xu Ren led the way, but not directly to Anyang, but to the prisoner camp. Here, the Cai Kingdom's delegation was surprised to find that the prisoner camp was not as terrible as they had imagined; it was very clean, with no emaciated or wailing prisoners, and no inhumane torture.

Many of the prisoners here had accepted their fate; even without supervision, they worked diligently and lined up to receive food.

Xu Ren looked at the clearly stunned Ye Mingquan and the Cai Kingdom delegation, his tone low, "We have over 30,000 prisoners here. You can go in and ask them."

Before Xu Ren finished speaking, Ye Mingquan rushed into the prisoner camp, grabbing people and asking questions. The results were completely unexpected; Ye Mingquan found that many of the prisoners actually wanted to "reform" and become part of Anyang, rather than return to the Cai Kingdom. So, they were working hard to reform!

There were also some who were very excited to see Ye Mingquan and expressed a desire to return home.

After a round of questioning, Ye Mingquan's expression was very serious. He asked many people, and the answers made his heart churn. More than half of the prisoners expressed a desire to stay! Some of the prisoners' families had even settled in Anyang.

In addition, the Anyang side had treated the prisoners well, and they had not been mistreated.

When Ye Mingquan met Xu Ren again, he opened his mouth but was at a loss for words—the current situation was completely different from how other countries treated prisoners.

Ye Mingquan was silent, but Xu Ren snorted, "I hear that many of our Great Xia Kingdom's prisoners are living worse than dead?"

...