Chapter 75 "The Prime Minister's Favorite Woman is One Who Listens..."
The stable smelled terrible, but they each shared a piece of broken bread and ate it with relish.
I also got a small piece. Originally, there wasn't any, but a little boy with dirty black hair secretly slipped a piece to me.
"Sister, here you go."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. You and I both have black hair, which is quite rare."
I laughed, took a bite of the coarse, hard crumbs, and said, "It's delicious." I meant it; it was much better than the hard biscuits in Black Castle or the black bread from the Wildlands.
The little boy laughed. He was about ten years old, very thin, with sunken cheeks that made his red eyes appear especially large.
Yes, his pupils were light red, which is rare. His eyes were mostly covered by dirt, but they were still very beautiful.
It was midnight, and everyone was asleep. I slept near the entrance to the stables.
Just before dawn, I was gently shaken awake by this little boy, "Sister, wake up!"
"What's wrong?" I asked, still confused.
“You’d better hurry,” the little boy whispered in my ear. “Our boss is going to sell you to the innkeeper for some money.”
I snapped back to reality. The little boy shoved me aside, and I stumbled to my feet, whispered my thanks, and then staggered away into the distance.
An hour later, the wind and snow were raging, and my eyes were blinded by the dense snowflakes, making it almost impossible to see the road ahead.
I fell down several times, each time struggling to get up and keep going, and I walked like that for a long time.
I'm lost. Everything is a blur of white, and I can't tell which way is which.
But I dared not stop, for fear that I would freeze if I did.
I staggered along for a long time, not knowing which direction I was going. Just when I thought I was about to collapse, I suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats ahead, so I quickly quickened my pace.
I saw a black carriage approaching in the distance, and just as I was wondering how to make it stop, it suddenly stopped a few meters away from me. The coachman hurriedly jumped off the horse, pulled up his trousers, and rushed into the dry grass beside him, clearly needing to relieve himself.
I ran towards the carriage with all my might, and with my last bit of strength, I climbed onto the back of the carriage. Just as I rolled into a pile of boxes, the carriage started moving, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
——
The densely packed alleys were dirty and chaotic, the streets were filled with sewage and garbage, and there were overturned trash cans everywhere. After nightfall, you would not dare to walk on the street at all, because you might be robbed if you were not careful.
This is a dilapidated little town in the North. I don't know if it's easier to survive here or in the wilderness. Here, officials and merchants collude, and bandits roam freely, while in the wilderness, zombies abound and war is rampant.
None of these are good places!
After jumping off the carriage, I found a job and began the most miserable working life of my life.
I get up before dawn to clean the biggest hotel in town, taking out the trash, wiping tables and benches, sweeping and mopping the floor, etc. After getting a breakfast, it's already daylight. Then I rush to a small tavern to chop and wash vegetables and help the kitchen cook. After getting a lunch, it's already afternoon. Then I rush to a small hotel to wash bed sheets, wash guests' clothes, and clean rooms and corridors, so I can get a dinner.
It was late at night, and everyone was asleep. I had to sit at the front desk of the small hotel to try and find somewhere else to stay for the night.
Sometimes I can sleep for most of the night, and sometimes I can be busy for most of the night. When I encounter guests who are very busy, it is not a big deal to bring towels and change bed sheets, but to make late-night snacks and keep them company. These tasks can take up a lot of time.
Sometimes when I'm extremely tired, I chat with customers in a half-hearted manner, which results in complaints from them and a severe scolding from the boss the next day.
"If you don't want to work here anymore, then get out!" the boss yelled.
"I'm sorry, boss, there definitely won't be a next time." I bowed and scraped like a shrimp. This is the attitude a working person should have. I'm not ashamed. Making a living isn't easy, especially in a place where women struggle to find work.
Women can only barely survive by doing things that men and most women are unwilling to do.
Around midnight, I would often chat with guests who had to travel before dawn, and that's how I found out what the place was like.
"If the goods we need weren't in the North, who would bother coming to this freezing place?" the guests complained. "It would be better in the capital, at least it's a vibrant city. Here, you hardly see anyone even during the day."
"It's cold here," I said with a forced smile. "Everyone's hiding and afraid to come out."
“Every time I come here, I long to return to the Southern Territory,” one guest remarked. “The Southern Territory is summer all year round. Although the weather is so hot that it feels like your skin is being peeled off, it’s still better than this freezing cold. The Southern Territory has abundant fruits and vegetables, and I eat my fill every time I go back.”
“I think the Western Territory is better,” another guest said. “The Western Territory has many mountains and forests, as well as many lakes. It’s very nourishing, and there are many beautiful women there.”
“The East is good,” another guest added. “The East is wealthy, with four distinct seasons and a pleasant climate. I spend most of the year in the East.”
From their conversation, I concluded that the Eastern Territory is a place with four seasons, mainly plains, rich in resources, and famous for producing silk, gold, silver, gemstones, precious jewelry, tea, and various crops. The textile industry, agriculture, and heavy metal industry are particularly developed.
The Western Regions are a place with three seasons: spring, summer, and autumn. It boasts numerous mountains, forests, and rivers. Spring and summer are rainy, while autumn is short, mild, and dry, with neither rain nor snow. It is rich in cotton, linen, timber, coal, various spices, and game, and the cotton, linen, timber, and coal trades are extremely thriving.
The South is a place with only one season a year, with only summer. However, it is hot during the day and cool at night. It is a coastal country that is rich in spices, seafood, fruits and vegetables, salt, pearls, chariots, and various horse trades. The seafood, salt, and horse trades are very profitable.
The North has only one season, winter, which is divided into early winter and late winter. Early winter is a mild winter, without snow, similar to late autumn elsewhere. Late winter, however, is very cold, with snow falling all day long, sometimes accompanied by freezing rain, making it impossible to go outside. But if you think the North is poor, you'd be wrong. The North is not poor at all; in fact, it's quite wealthy, similar to the East.
The North is incredibly rich in resources, but most of them are buried deep underground. For example, agriculture produces various tuberous plants such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams; the heavy metals industry yields bronze, iron, gemstones, diamonds, and rare ores, and the recent discovery of coal mines promises another fortune; deep-sea fish, including whales, fish, and shrimp buried beneath deep-sea glaciers, are exceptionally delicious, attracting nobles from all nations who eagerly purchase them at exorbitant prices; and there are also rare Northern bear paws, polar bear pelts, Arctic wolf pelts, seal skins, and reindeer antlers.
The weather here is also suitable for winemaking, and the wine produced here is sold far and wide.
The most developed industries in the North are rare minerals, seafood, fine wines, and exotic animal furs.
“These four regions all sound very wealthy,” I interjected, “so why are we so poor here?”
The guests burst into laughter, saying, "Because their money won't go into your pockets."
“They spend most of their money on the capital and the enjoyment of the nobles,” one guest said. “The closer a town is to the capital, the richer it is, and the farther away it is, the poorer it is. This place is not too far from the capital, but it is still quite a distance away, with a small town and a village in between.”
"So that means we're considered wealthy here?" I asked, somewhat surprised.
“That’s right,” the guest said, “but because the North is winter all year round, life is harder in these small towns than in other countries.”
“Your place is pretty good,” another guest interjected. “You have complete brick houses, streets, shops, taverns, pharmacies, and even a patrol.”
They burst into laughter, seemingly mocking me for not appreciating my good fortune.
Sometimes I get sleepy, so sleepy that I lean against the stove and doze off.
When the guests saw that I was asleep, they would whisper about some wars. For example, the South and the West had recently started a war. The cause was that after Prince Hyja of the West was exiled to the wilderness, his marriage to Princess Yani of the South was in name only. The Queen demanded the return of the dowry, but the newly enthroned King Midan disagreed. So the Queen launched a war, vowing to reclaim the property of the South.
The Queen of the South? The gentle queen I remembered, standing against the sunlight in the garden, turned out to be a tough one.
They started talking about the desolate land of Bernot in the East years ago, the zombie outbreak, the bastards' chaos, and the orc mercenaries that occurred there. They discussed whether the Queen of the South and the King of the West would create zombies and hire mercenaries to fight. They talked so enthusiastically that I fell asleep completely.
These customers are lucky; they won't report me for sleeping while "on duty." Some troublesome customers have already complained about me twice. If the boss could find someone like me who doesn't need money and just wants to stay somewhere, he would have fired me long ago. He only dares to verbally warn and threaten me.
Another month has passed in the freezing cold. That night, I actually heard a dirty joke.
Several male guests, perhaps drunk, slapped the table and laughed, saying, "I've heard that the palace in the North is like paradise, with high-class prostitutes barely clothed, crawling around on the tables and under the feet of nobles."
They burst into laughter.
"The prime minister of the North is the most carefree. He married a woman from the richest family in the country and has two women on his left and right every night. I heard that his wife doesn't care about him at all and sometimes even joins in his nonsense."
"Oh, his wife is an idiot, so easy to fool."
"The Prime Minister likes obedient women the most. His former mistresses were disobedient, so he kicked them out."
They burst into laughter.
“He’s another fool. Just listen to him and you’ll be set for life,” they laughed. “If you listen, you’ll get rich and powerful.”
"This prime minister has a huge fondness for fools; his wife is a fool, and his mistress is a fool too."
I sat by the stove, added some charcoal, and boiled some water, pretending I hadn't heard anything.
"Hey, tell me, is the Prime Minister's mistress an idiot?" a guest asked me with a smile.
Just as I was about to answer "yes," a thought suddenly struck me: "No, perhaps she needs something more."
The guest squinted at me, a flash of annoyance and regret crossing his eyes so quickly I could barely see it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
