108: Chapter 0108 The Princess Goes to the Countryside

Xie Juner covered half of her pretty face with the curtain, her bright eyes peeking out of the carriage window to take a look outside.

At this glance, she was instantly stunned for quite a while.

The originally potholed dirt and stone official road had actually been paved with a layer of hard, gray material.

Some tiny pebbles were visible mixed into it, but overall, it was very flat.

As the carriage drove over it, not only was the speed faster, but it was also incomparably smooth.

"What is this material... How come I have never seen it before?"

Xie Juner was incredibly curious. She had been to the capital, but even the bluestone roads there were not as comfortable as this one!

At this moment, she saw a group of people ahead repairing the road, seemingly working on a branch line leading to a village in the distance.

"Uncle Xu, stop the carriage and go ask what is going on with this road."

Uncle Xu immediately agreed. After stopping the carriage, he went not far away to find the construction team to inquire about the situation.

Because she was far away, Xie Juner could not hear clearly; she only saw various expressions appearing on Uncle Xu's face.

Frowning one moment, surprised the next, then puzzled—watching this made Xie Juner feel anxious.

If not for her status and the reserve expected of a lady, she would have really wanted to run down and ask herself.

Finally, when Uncle Xu returned, Xie Juner asked hurriedly, "How was it? Did you find out clearly?"

"Princess, this old servant knows now. The material used for this road is called 'Cement,' and it is produced by the Zhenbei Army Workshop; it is said that Lin Xiao came up with it."

"Cement?" Xie Juner found it novel. "Can mud really be this solid?"

"Indeed! I heard they also use this to reinforce the city walls, and they even... built some kind of bunkers?"

Uncle Xu said excitedly, "The White Kings Army of Wushan Commandery could not breach these cement walls and were annihilated by the Zhenbei Army, who were outnumbered!"

Xie Juner's expression changed. "They even told you about this!? Isn't this a military secret?!"

"Oh! It doesn't matter! They said that Lin Xiao intends to pave this cement road across all six states of the Northern Territory, so it will be popularized sooner or later!"

Uncle Xu added, "By the way, they call themselves the 'Militia.' Although they receive military pay, they mainly work and farm on ordinary days."

"I pretended to say that I had a nephew who wanted to join the army, and they said the benefits of the Zhenbei Army are very good—not only is the military pay fifty percent higher than that of the provincial army, but it is also never in arrears!"

"Even their families can live in family villages. The houses are all new and very nice, and there is a canteen in the village where eating is very cheap."

"Regardless of whether they are boys or girls, children can attend school for free. If they excel in their studies, the school even gives them something called... a scholarship?"

Uncle Xu said with emotion, "Oh my, once they start talking about Lin Xiao and the Zhenbei Army, they simply cannot stop."

"I didn't even have to ask; they said a whole lot on their own, but this old servant is dull and didn't understand much of it!"

Xie Juner's eyes flickered as she listened. "Militia? Family village? Scholarship? Why have I never heard of these..."

She looked far off toward Baishui and made a decision in her heart.

"Uncle Xu, let us not enter the city yet. Ask where the family village is, and we will go take a look."

"Ah? Princess, what is there to see in a place where military families live? Besides, you are of noble status, so it might not be appropriate..."

"I said we are going! I want to see if this bunch of people is just bragging for Lin Xiao!"

Uncle Xu sighed, but he had to nod and go inquire.

Two hours later.

Xie Juner arrived at the Shibao Border Army family village.

To keep a low profile, she changed into a commoner woman's lotus-root colored dress in the carriage and styled her hair simply with a wooden hairpin, though she still wore her veil.

After getting off the carriage, what came into view was a pedestrian path paved with cement and pebbles.

Xie Juner looked around; every household was clean and tidy. At the entrance of the village, a group of women were gathered together, chatting and doing handicraft work.

Seeing Xie Juner and her two companions enter the village, the women did not ask much; they seemed accustomed to people coming to visit the village.

Walking on the pebble road, Xiao Die was very surprised.

"Miss, this village is so clean, and look, there are even people planting flowers and grass by the roadside?"

What Xiao Die was pointing at were some flower beds by the road, planted with some evergreen plants that seemed to have been transplanted from wild mountains.

Although not as good as a noble courtyard, for a commoner village, being able to consider beautifying the roads was already very novel.

Xie Juner nodded and continued walking inside, where she saw a large courtyard with the characters for "School" written on it.

It happened to be lunchtime, and a group of children came out of the school.

As expected from what they had heard earlier, there were both boys and girls, and they seemed to be "arguing"?

"Yang Erni, I will definitely beat you in the next exam!"

A sturdy, energetic-looking boy, while wiping away tears, pointed at a little girl with red-string braids in the group of girls, his face full of defiance.

"Give it a rest, Chen Xiaozhi. You say that every time. Anyway, the second place also gets a scholarship, so just be content with that." The little girl looked smug.

"Yang Erni, you are a girl, and you can't take the imperial examination, so what is the use of getting first place?" A boy said, unconvinced.

Someone in the group of girls immediately retorted: "Lin Xiao said it! In the future, in the Northern Territory, girls can also take the imperial examination! They can also become officials! If you are not convinced, go find Lin Xiao!"

Upon hearing that it was what Lin Xiao said, the boys immediately lost their temper, looking like defeated roosters one by one.

In the end, Chen Xiaozhi wiped his tears and said, "What is there to fear! Next time I will definitely take first place! I will fight it out with the girls!"

"Right! Fight it out!!"

"Let's go eat first! I'm starving!"

"Charge! —"

The bunch of boys turned their sorrow and anger into appetite and rushed toward the canteen in the distance.

Xie Juner and her two companions were dumbfounded. How could there be such intense rivalry in the school of this small family village?!

"Girls can also take the imperial examination? And become officials?"

Xiao Die said enviously, "Miss, I want to come here to study too."

"When I taught you to read before, didn't you always doze off?" Xie Juner rolled her eyes at her.

"That's because it was useless to learn it back then!"

Xiao Die said excitedly, "Do you think Lin Xiao can really let us women take the imperial examination?"

Xie Juner's eyes were complex. How could she not hope for all of this to come true? She could be like the boys, standing tall and righteous as a great merchant traveling north and south.

But... is it really possible?

Unknowingly, the three of them arrived at the canteen.

The aroma of food made the three of them very hungry, and they swallowed their saliva wildly.

"What is going on? The food here smells so good."

A middle-aged woman from the canteen saw the three of them coming and greeted them with a smile.

"You are here to visit from the outside, right? If you are hungry, you can come in and eat. Our set meals are quite affordable—five wen for adults, three wen for children."

Xie Juner was a bit nervous; after all, she had never eaten in a village.

But seeing the neat and clean tables and chairs in the canteen, and the floor paved with stone slabs, which was not at all inferior to some restaurants, she nodded and went in.

Under the guidance of the "canteen manager" woman, the three of them each took a large wooden tray.

Arriving at the place where food was served, there was one fixed meat dish and three optional vegetable dishes.

Although monotonous, for the common people, being able to eat meat for five wen was already considered a very good meal.

Rice, steamed buns, porridge, and the like could only be served once; for more, one needed to pay an extra wen.

The whole process was very convenient. After getting their food, the three of them ate at a table.

Uncle Xu was somewhat reserved; eating at the same table as his master, he dared not sit.

"Uncle Xu, sit down. We are here to visit, so let's dispense with the rules."

As soon as Xie Juner said this, Uncle Xu sat down. The old man, who had been starving for a long time, began to eat in big mouthfuls.

"Miss, this food is really delicious; it's actually not worse than what we have in our manor!" Xiao Die ate a few bites and was immediately pleasantly surprised.

Xie Juner tasted it and was also somewhat surprised. Do they eat this well in the family village!?

"This meal is only five wen, it's really cheap! Where we are, it would cost at least over ten wen!"

At this time, the canteen woman walked over and said, "Are you used to the meal? If you are dissatisfied with the taste, you can give us your feedback!"

"No, no, it's really delicious," Uncle Xu praised repeatedly.

The woman said very proudly, "That is because the headquarters of our canteen is the number one restaurant in Baishui, the Baiyu Pavilion."

"Boss Su had all the chefs trained, and now we have opened nearly ten canteens; they are in villages and in the city!"

"Boss Su said... what do we call this... 'Chain catering'? I don't understand it either, but anyway, every one of our canteens is at the standard of a restaurant!"

Xie Juner was, after all, an experienced businessperson. Hearing about this "chain" model, she immediately found it amazing!

Undoubtedly, this way of opening restaurants could greatly save costs, reduce waste, and increase profits!

No wonder they could make a meal so cheap while still maintaining operations!

"Could this Boss Su, being able to take over such a large industry, also be a subordinate of Lin Xiao?" Xie Juner asked.

"Boss Su? That is not a subordinate; it is much closer than a subordinate..."

The woman had just covered her mouth to giggle when she suddenly let out an "Oh!" and pointed to the distance!

"She is here! Boss Su is here to inspect the work, I must go receive her!"

After saying this, the woman hurriedly went out to greet her, her face full of smiles.

Xie Juner looked up and saw Su Wansha, wearing a blue Confucian scholar's robe, holding a folding fan, fair-skinned and handsome, walking toward the canteen.

"She is actually a woman?"

Xie Juner recognized at a glance that this Boss Su was a woman... and a great beauty at that!

Much closer than a subordinate? Could it be...