Chen Ping's Sword

Perhaps, in this era, for ordinary people, reclaiming these wastelands seems to be more trouble than it’s worth, laden with various difficulties.

In Chen Ping’s view, all these taboos and difficulties are not a problem at all.

He even gathered a group of blacksmiths and carpenters, offering them generous compensation, and personally drew blueprints to recreate some farming tools he had seen or heard about in his previous life.

For example, the waterwheel, the curved plow, and so on...

The development speed was very fast, and crafting them wasn’t too difficult.

Chen Ping even prioritized these items over the creation of weapons and armor.

Because he felt that there was an invisible and mysterious force that quietly gathered around him every day.

"Perhaps it is luck."

Chen Ping didn’t know in what form this force affected him.

But he knew that force was always beneficial to him.

It could bring peace and joy, making tasks go smoothly.

He knew no more applications for it.

But just with this, he didn’t want to let go.

As for the deep-seated compassion about "the hardships of the people’s lives," it was certainly present. Any modern person with a decent worldview, witnessing the suffering of these people as if in hell, would inevitably want to do something more.

This is not about good or evil, nor is it a responsibility.

It’s just a wish to make oneself feel better.

"... Righteousness Reaches the Heavens Opens Grand Peace, this is indeed a good saying, but how did it get composed into a children’s rhyme and spread all the way to Wenyuan Prefecture? What is their intention?"

Chen Ping listened intently to the children’s rhyme drifting through the window, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

It’s likely that besides the Three Prefectures, this has spread throughout the region of Xingqing Prefecture as well.

The speed of information dissemination in this era is both slow and fast.

It depends on whether someone is willing to spread it and cares enough.

"Your Highness, this matter was a failure on my part, letting such rhymes spread unnoticed, it’s truly an unforgivable sin..."

Perhaps the official hat on Zhuo Meng’s head was too thick, as sweat beaded on his forehead.

The officials behind him also hurriedly bowed to admit their fault, their bodies trembling slightly.

This is the aftermath of slaughtering one hundred thousand Rushing Wolf Cavalry of Hu People and vanquishing the Celestial List Grandmaster Divine Master Duran.

Chen Ping noticed that whenever his mood darkened slightly, the officials around him would start trembling, afraid he’d punish them.

"I’m not some man-eating tiger."

Seeing Zhuo Meng and others so terrified, Chen Ping laughed aloud: "Little Table, in the past you weren’t this timid, I thought you had become capable of standing on your own now, but it seems you’ve regressed."

"Mainly, Your Highness’s tiger-like majesty—no, dragon-like, it’s dragon majesty..."

Little Table joined in with a foolish laugh, took a long breath, and relaxed a bit. However, his inchoate and jumbled words revealed that, despite his scholarly prowess, his heart was far from calm.

Beside him, Little Commandery Princess Mingyue giggled: "Look at you, you bear-like fellow, even if Seventh Brother is in a good mood, you’d ruin it. Go on and continue your work, no need to worry about the children’s rhyme."

"Yes, yes, as the Commandery Princess orders, Little Table takes his leave."

Saying this, he bowed deeply once again and led the officials out of the Warm Pavilion swiftly.

Just as they exited, Zhuo Meng slightly stalled, realizing that he had come to report on the land survey results but would have to find another time to discuss distribution.

’Seventh Brother’s majesty grows heavier, could it be that there truly is True Dragon Qi in this world, Heaven’s Mandate upon him?’

Zhuo Meng pondered for a while, then remembered the disaster relief work, and decided he had to set aside some time to supervise it, ensuring no chaos arises to affect King Ping’s reputation.

"Tsk, this Little Table, how did I not see before that he’s actually a bureaucrat at heart. So worried about gains and losses, afraid you’ll blame him, just really fearing for his position."

Hearing this, Ji Mingyue laughed again, her eyebrows quivering, her phoenix eyes curving.

However, Chen Ping didn’t see people with his eyes, but with his heart.

He clearly felt on the little girl’s body a faint, persistent sense of melancholy she couldn’t shake off.

[The wise often come to harm, intense feelings shorten one’s life].

She was evidently a very intelligent girl, a type that tends to overthink, known for heavy hearts.

Ji Mingyue wasn’t only smart, but also gentle outside while strong inside, with firm opinions.

When she first heard her father was to marry her off to the Fourth Prince of Beizhou Barbarians, Yuwen Hao, she felt her world had collapsed, and her heart was mostly helpless and dark.

Being born in the Prince Manor, Ji Mingyue had seen her share, and because of the complex family relations, she wasn’t naively simple. She secretly gathered much information about the Jianghu and the Court.

She not only knew the famous Jianghu figures and their peerless skills.

She also had a bit of understanding of Beizhou and Nanli’s notable figures and the Noble Families’ pedigrees, among other things.

As for Yuwen Hao’s true nature, she wasn’t wholly ignorant.

Outsiders mentioned that he gained fame young, had high cultivation, and was proudly heroic.

But there were rumors that he was a violent and lascivious person, who had tortured to death dozens if not hundreds of Hann women.

He was typical of the savage and cruel Hu style, often treating women as spoils of war rather than partners.