Chapter 165 - 136: Power
Chapter 165: Chapter 136: Power
However, just as Lu Yuan and Xiao Hua were about to leave.
A group of ministers surrounded them. Naturally, the one leading them was the Grand Minister of Rites, Xiao Gu. He wore a purple official robe and said to Lu Yuan, "Prince Qin, when you have time, come to this old man’s mansion for a drink. Get to know those good-for-nothing grandsons of mine."
Although he seemed gruff, his voice was very kind.
Lu Yuan could feel the powerful aura radiating from the Grand Minister of Rites before him. His cultivation was definitely beyond Divine Essence, and by a significant margin.
His words were a complete acknowledgment of Lu Yuan’s status.
"Of course. I’ll be sure to pay you a visit another day."
"Haha, good. You’re not all shy and hesitant like other Yong People." After speaking, Xiao Gu left.
The other ministers then came forward one by one to pay their respects.
A moment later, Xiao Hua finally pulled Lu Yuan out of the grand hall.
Then, she whispered, "The Grand Minister of Rites is my third grand-uncle. He’s always been very good to my mother and me. He’s an upright person, and very powerful.
He even fought Dayong’s Grand Commandant, Chang Dao, once."
Lu Yuan turned his head, a little curious. "Who won in the end?"
He had, of course, heard of Chang Dao. A commoner who had risen to the rank of Grand Commandant and stood against all of Dayong’s noble families—the man himself was a legend.
In all of Dayong’s several-thousand-year history, he was the only one.
"I don’t know. Third Grand-uncle never said," Xiao Hua said, a little disappointed.
She was very curious, too.
As they spoke, they passed through the palace gates.
Lu Yuan didn’t see a carriage and asked, puzzled, "Are we walking?"
"Of course. It’s such a short distance, do we really need a carriage?" Xiao Hua said, then pointed to an estate next to the Imperial Palace.
"What do you think? That’s your Prince’s Mansion. The only one in the entire Imperial Palace area," she said with a smile.
For certain special reasons, all the buildings around the Imperial Palace had long since been demolished, and no one was permitted to build residences there.
"This estate... it’s been finished for a long time. After my mother ascended the throne, she granted my request. It took a full two years to complete. I was thinking back then that if you ever came to the Northern Barbarians, you could live here, and we’d be neighbors.
The guards, maids, and servants inside are all ready.
Come on, let’s go see it."
After speaking, she pulled Lu Yuan toward the Prince’s Mansion.
The courtyard walls were high, at least five meters tall, only a little shorter than the walls of the Imperial Palace.
Guards stood atop them as well—the very same Tiger Warriors Lu Yuan had seen when he first arrived in the Imperial City.
They wore heavy armor and carried weapons.
Just as Lu Yuan approached the main gate.
Whether it was the Guards at the gate or the ones on the walls, they all knelt in unison, bowing and proclaiming, "Greetings, Your Highness!"
CREAK! As the great gates opened, even more people knelt.
Three men stood at the front.
One was the Tiger Warrior Commander, Man Gang.
He was two meters tall, clad in heavy armor, with two battle-axes slung across his back. His cultivation was at the Innate Realm.
Another was the Beast Rider Commander, Mankuo. He was similarly big and burly, and also at the Innate Realm.
The last was the Prince’s Mansion’s steward. This man wore a long black robe, his graying hair was meticulously neat, and just standing there, he gave off an impression of unfathomable depth.
Xiao Hua whispered in Lu Yuan’s ear, "He’s a palace eunuch who was preparing for retirement, named Cai Chong. I specifically requested him from my mother. Don’t underestimate him. His strength is at the Divine Palace Realm, and he’s trustworthy. I had him assigned here to protect you."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan’s heart was once again thrown into turmoil.
’Back in Dayong, I would never have even had the chance to meet such a master. Weren’t they all high and mighty, far beyond my reach?
Now, one of them is my servant.
This is the taste of power.
With a single word, you could make countless people die for you.
And it feels damn good.’
"All of you, rise," Lu Yuan said to the crowd before him.
Then, he walked inside.
The Prince’s Mansion was enormous. While it couldn’t compare to the Imperial Palace, it was still the largest estate Lu Yuan had ever seen.
Just inside the gate was a shimmering lake.
It was surrounded by rockeries of various shapes, their strange and rugged stones forming a beautiful sight.
Trees were planted all around, and a spiritual mist drifted among them, suggesting they were no ordinary fruit trees.
Further out were pavilions and storied verandas.
Continuing deeper inside were the living quarters for the guards and servants. It was an immense area of intersecting courtyards, like a self-contained residential district.
There was also a training field dozens of acres in size, large enough for horse riding.
Behind that were the maids’ quarters.
Finally, the rear residence was Lu Yuan’s own living area, consisting of more than ten magnificent and exquisite courtyards built around a garden.
In the central pond were all sorts of aquatic creatures, many of which Lu Yuan didn’t recognize, that radiated an astonishing spiritual essence.
If nothing else, the Spiritual Qi within the estate was no weaker than that in the Dayong Imperial Palace, and it was dozens of times denser than in the borderlands.
Lu Yuan did a rough count and estimated that the guards and servants in the mansion totaled two to three thousand people.
It made him click his tongue in astonishment.
’With so many people, how much would the monthly expenses be?’
After all, he had just discovered that even the maids were at the Entry Level of cultivation.
The servants were mostly at the Bone Forging Realm.
And that wasn’t even counting the fifteen hundred Guards and their warhorses.
By his estimate, the monthly cost would be at least several hundred thousand taels of silver, and that was before the estate’s maintenance fees, which would be even higher.
He even saw that in the rear residence, every courtyard had an Array set up within it.
All of those would require an Array Master for regular maintenance.
However, when he was back in Dayong, he had wiped out quite a few noble fiefdoms and brought some silver with him—not a lot, just over a million taels.