Chapter 178 A Review of the Infrastructure Map...
The new Prince Rui's Mansion is located in a prime location in the capital, surrounded by the residences of other imperial nobles.
This was originally the residence of a certain imperial relative. After the person was repeatedly harassed and punished by Emperor Hongren, the bloody atmosphere dissipated, and the huge princely mansion fell into the hands of Qi Chengming.
He didn't mind that the place was considered unlucky.
Emperor Hongren disliked all his brothers equally, only willing to put on a show of respect for distant relatives of the imperial clan. As for bad luck, there's no way he could possibly be all of it. Living here even brings him closer to his maternal grandfather's home.
More importantly...
Qi Chengming opened his infrastructure system, feeling extremely pleased.
On the map, a new visible area was suddenly highlighted, which was the Prince Rui's Mansion in the capital.
It's time for our daily happy time again!
He casually zoomed in, shrinking the map to its smallest size, leaving only a few scattered bright spots on the screen. The furthest spot—Silver Island Prefecture—was marked with colorful symbols across the sea.
The densely packed areas are the bustling population centers surrounding the mines, known as Silver Island City.
This city developed from the small village where people first landed on the coast. From Yindao Village, it was gradually transformed by Huang Dong into Yindao County, and finally into a city. It grew slowly and steadily.
The bright red markers in the distance represent war.
Qi Chengming frowned and studied the map for a long time. The map didn't distinguish who was fighting whom from a human perspective; it only generally marked the war-torn areas. The various colorful battles on the map likely involved battles between natives of Silver Island Prefecture, and Qi Chengming's army was certainly also fighting with natives to expand their territory.
He has designated the entire island as his private property, so the actual area he occupies must also be appropriate.
Across the water from Silver Island Prefecture is a large, brightly lit area.
Qi Chengming surveyed the area with satisfaction.
From Lingnan, Yulin Prefecture, and Liuzhou, to Guizhou, Yongzhou, and Wuling County, all of these areas belonged entirely to him, and a ticket system was in place. Further south, from He Dajia's hometown of Guanyang to Hangzhou and Suzhou, his influence extended in all these regions, so there were some notable areas, but they didn't illuminate the entire map.
Looking north, I saw that my cousin Yang Shou was active in Youzhou.
Why? Because Youzhou was quietly illuminated... This means that the army led by my cousin is under his control and has real control over the local area. He is probably preparing for war while simultaneously cultivating the land.
Qi Chengming guessed.
Looking around, he has been quietly encroaching on all sides of the country, especially in the south where he has already established a firm foothold and amassed considerable power.
Finally, looking towards the capital city...
Aside from the newly built Prince Xinrui's mansion and his maternal grandfather's home, which shone brightly in the capital, the outskirts of the city, where many of his quietly dismissed veterans had dispersed, shone faintly like starlight. There was another bright patch of paint in the capital.
Upon closer inspection, Qi Chengming realized it was the old territory of the Imperial Guards, the capital's main camp.
“…? Hiss, no need to go find Wen Er.” Qi Chengming thought for a moment and then rubbed his forehead.
The brightly colored patches on the map clearly indicated that it wasn't a small team of one or two people. It turned out that Wen Er had led his team back to the capital and was staying in the main camp. Besides Wen Er, Qi Chengming couldn't think of anyone else who could represent his power in the main camp.
"Your Highness, we've arrived," Xiao Chengzi called out from outside the carriage.
Qi Chengming didn't think too much about it for the time being, stepped out of the car, and entered the new mansion.
The journey was filled with bustling activity; a mere day in the capital wasn't enough for the entire household to settle in. The new residence had a large garden in the backyard, lush with greenery, and a stage on a waterside pavilion—all left behind by the original clan members.
This place is nothing like Liuzhou, where Qi Chengming casually bought a house, roughly expanded it, and called it a prince's mansion. This place is so big that even Qi Chengming was getting impatient leaving. What's the meaning of having to walk two miles to get back to the main courtyard?
No wonder you have to take a car to get in and out of those big houses.
As Qi Chengming walked, he instructed Xiao Dezi to write it down: "Add two more carriages to the back. One will be for welcoming guests, passing through the main gate and stopping in front of the main courtyard. The other will go through the back courtyard, from the garden corridor to the second gate and stop there."
This was still the case when there were no proper female relatives in his backyard, only his wet nurse, Liu, was temporarily living there.
Although the wet nurse was still young and not exactly old and frail, making her walk the entire distance of the garden every time she returned to the mansion was simply too much for her. Qi Chengming recalled that there seemed to be a carriage in *Dream of the Red Chamber* that stopped at the second gate. That should be the arrangement.
Let's leave it at that this time.
When Qi Chengming arrived at the main courtyard, he was quite tired from walking. Song Gu quickly caught up behind him, his face not flushed and his breath not out, and he had several things to report:
"Your Highness, the Emperor has bestowed upon us a mountain, a field, and a shop, and the deeds are here. Five bolts of silk and cloth have been put into storage, and ten pairs of cattle, sheep, ducks, and geese have been temporarily kept in the kitchen. However, the remaining items are a set of silver tableware, an agate box, and a gemstone football ball... which do not seem to be ordinary items."
"...Does Your Highness wish to review it personally?"
Song asked this question because he was unsure whether these obviously old items might be relics belonging to His Highness's mother.
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Author's Note: I'm exhausted today. I only wrote half of this chapter, but I can't write anymore, so I'm posting it now.
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