116 Research and developmen (1/2)

In the gentle spring sunshine a proud four-story stone mansion stood out like a white pearl among scattered charcoal, this building had a dirt road leading to a maze of dilapidated wooden huts at its rear housing pale-faced and dirty despairing people.

The creaking and rattling sounds of the constant traffic of wooden wagons was abundant in the air, the dirt and stained-riddled robes of commoners fluttered in the spring breeze as they maneuvered these wagons and moved around the estate in a zombie-like state, ferrying agricultural produce from the fertile fields off in the distance to the storehouses of the main manor.

Every now and then the scowl-bearing foreman overseeing the work would bark orders and lash out at the tired and hope-deprived commoners, ramming the butt end of his spear from his position atop his sturdy horse into their backs and sending the odd commoner sprawling off a moving wagon and to the floor screaming for mercy.

This was House Wan located in the fertile, windswept flat lands about two hundred miles west of House Hartley. This was a place of notorious extremes, from the below zero temperatures of the bitter icy and powdery snow in the winter to the boiling heat and humidity in the summer, from the extravagant luxurious lifestyles of thosewho resided in the mansion to the bare-bone existence of the commoners living in the huts.

Anyone currently residing on these premises were either living in a bubble akin to heaven on earth or experiencing the closest thing to hell they could possibly imagine.

Inside the mansion Baron Hongtian was sipping fragrant fruit wine from a crystal glass sat on a red cushioned chair facing a balding fat man who was as wide as two adults standing side by side.

”Baron Hongtian, What are we going to do about this little vicious runt. Are you telling me my nephew's life is just going to go like that?”The fat man's eyes bulged with rage as he addressed the Baron in agitation.

”My innocent nephew didn't even die with an intact corpse, and to make matters worse there are murmurs circulating among the commoners that the western hills is a paradise for commoners. The lord of the western hillshas to be stopped, he cannot be allowed to run wild or else we might have a rebellion on our hands.”Pa! The fat man slapped his hand against his own thigh in disgust leaning forward then blurted out.

”I don't care if the young prince is backing him, I want him gone! The sooner the better!”

”I understand how you feel Elder Wan but I must caution you that this boy is not easy to handle. You must thread carefully,I wouldn't advise you to send any of your people into the western hills. I sent one of the best shadow crawlers after him once and the assassin hasn't been found yet.” The relaxed Baron spoke in a calm tone as he took another sip from his glass, hiding the fact that he was the one who had encouraged San Wan and Juntao to enter the western hills in the first place.

Elder Wan finally calmed down and slumped backwards in his cushioned chair when he heard the anecdote about the shadow crawler, he knew these were assassins trained from childhood only to kill. They had no other interest in life other than perfecting the art of killing as efficiently as possible, if one of them couldn't kill the boy then he was definitely biting off more than he could chew.

”Then how do we move forward?” he asked hoping the Baron had an answer he wanted to hear....

The Western Hills were now enjoying a period of peace and calmness. After the incident with Elder Juntao and San Wan, no one has dared to poke their head out again, to everyone's surprise even House Wan had stayed quiet. The story of the losses suffered by Elder Juntao and House Wan had spread like wildfire through the aristocratic circles. This had instilled a certain fear within certain nobles that Hartley would slap their faces without care or fear of any repercussions.

Some nobles even began labeling Hartley as a rogue-noble, the youth was as fierce as a wolf and didn't practice the conventional etiquette of those in the aristocratic circles, nor did he come out to the glamorous banquets thrown by the nobles. Hartley didn't even pay attention or participate inthe gossip and petty politics that these people used to maneuver and raise themselves to the top.

Other nobles who could forsee the rise of the lord of the western hills took a gamble and sent their well wishes to House Hartley allying themselves with the youth, they assumed that the young prince must have seen something extraordinary in the youth and would be one of his biggest backers in the future, based on that alone they could hope to reap some benefits in the end.

For the first time in his life Hartley had taken time off from cultivating to enjoy his beautiful wife, the couple had a whirlwind of a time in their honeymoon period.

Weeks went by as the Western Hills enjoyed peace, prosperity and a breathtakingly fast development rate. They grew in riches with the first payment they received from the gemstone mines in Tivoli.

Hartley was finally beginning to understand the importance of affiliate countries and the resources they could provide, no wonder those from Sasko were so desperate to take over the country.

The new residential buildings forthe migrating commoners were finished and allocated to the people who turned up and started working first, there were still people left to be housed but they had to hold on until the next phase of development. These commoners didn't mind, the temporaryhousing they were placed in were more than adequate for their current needs, even so, they still dreamt of having their own stone houses. It was a motivating factor that led to them working their hardest for House Hartley.

The cobble stone roads were now finished, it joined all sectors of the manor making it more efficient and easier to ferry things from one place to another. The miners rejoiced at the this development, now their loads could be easily driven on an open wagon from the beginning of the back-mountains all the way to the manor.

The forces of House Hartley were now strong enough to start practicing weapon techniques. They had been training in the rough terrain of the mountains for weeks under the watchful eyes of the burly captain Houlang. They first ran laps in the mountain until the strength in their bodies were expended leaving some crawling back to the residential areas.

When they got used to that, they were then strapped with weights and ran even more laps. The days had been arduous but the men were in good spirits, motivated by the show of force displayed by their god-like young lord.

Before the men could even touch any weapons Fu Qian made them pledge their allegiance to House Hartley. In this short amount of time spent in the western hills these commoners had started to feel a special affinity to the place. This was the first time most of them had been treated fairly, when they returned home in the evenings they were greeted by smiling well fed families.

This was something worth fighting for and soon the western hills started to feel like the land of their birth. The sight of two hundred men dropping to one knee and shouting out their pledges to the young lord of the Western hills made Fu Qian smile.

During this period Viscount Sanzu came to visit, Hartley had marked him as an untrustworthy person but in the end he had an unwilling alliance with the shrewd man.

The viscount agreed to supply the western hills with the latest information on the noble factions, there strength and intentions. He was also going to send an apothecary to be stationed in the western hills.

This man was a former genius who got a little bit too obsessive and over indulgent was how he vaguely described the man. At that time Hartley was trying to develop his fief and that was one of the skilled positions that he needed filled so he happily accepted the viscount's generosity without shame.