424: Chapter 424 Not Standing for Many Years

Yang Gengzhong followed him down at this moment and was also very confused upon seeing those words.

"Isn't this a courier station? When did it change its name?"

Two coachmen nearby, who were eating breakfast, burst out laughing when they saw the group's confusion.

[Remember this site's domain name]

"Just arrived in the North, haven't you?"

"One look and I can tell you're from out of town."

"The official roads in the North are all expressways now. The Road Administration changed all the courier stations into Service Areas!"

Emperor Hong and Yang Gengzhong were both quite curious.

"Gentlemen, what is the difference between a Service Area and a courier station?" Yang Gengzhong asked politely.

"There's a huge difference! I can't explain it in a sentence or two. Why don't you go in and see for yourselves?"

The group thought that made sense. After parking the carriage in the parking lot, they walked into the pedestrian passage of the Service Area.

The most eye-catching thing was a large banner that read, "Beautiful Yong Province Welcomes You."

Following that, they saw road signs pointing to different zones.

"Shopping," "Public Restrooms," "Inn."

The three of them needed to relieve themselves, so they naturally headed straight for the restrooms.

But as soon as they entered the restroom, all three felt like they had come to the wrong place.

"Old Zheng, this... is a restroom, right?"

"Master Hong, we didn't go the wrong way."

"How is it so... elegant?"

Emperor Hong looked at the rows of clean and tidy squat toilets in front of him, separated by brick walls.

On the other side was a long row of urinals against the wall, and there was even running water underneath.

Potted plants were placed on the windowsills, and there were even paintings on the walls.

At the entrance of the restroom, a few older women stood guard with cleaning tools, ready to work at any moment.

"Master Hong, I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'll go into the dry latrine first?" Yang Gengzhong asked in a low voice.

"Please, suit yourself, Old Yang." Emperor Hong looked at the urinals in the corner and saw several people urinating, but he didn't dare go over.

The three had different expressions, but they all ended up using the squat toilets.

When they came out, an older woman at the door muttered under her breath, "Big grown men, squatting just to take a leak, like little ladies..."

Emperor Hong and Yang Gengzhong's old faces turned red. Zheng Yangwei, however, didn't care at all; he hadn't stood up to urinate for many years.

Walking out of the restroom, the three of them naturally came to the shopping area out of curiosity.

"Passing by? Don't miss out! Yong Province commemorative ribbons, Yong Province safety talismans—take one back as a souvenir!"

"Yong Province specialty white-flour flatbreads, fresh out of the oven!"

"Customer, have you had breakfast? Yong Province local noodles, thirty wen a bowl!"

Zheng Yangwei was disdainful. "Thirty wen for a bowl of noodles? Is this a robbery? Even on the streets of the capital, it's only fifteen wen a bowl."

"Heh, look what you're saying. This is an expressway official road; building the road cost quite a lot of silver! Your carriage ride was comfortable, so shouldn't you spend a bit more silver?" the vendor said with a grin and a very good attitude.

"Hmm... that does make sense. Since entering the Yong Province border, these old bones of mine haven't felt much jolting at all." Yang Gengzhong nodded with a smile.

Emperor Hong picked up a linen banner embroidered with the words "Yong Province" and the official seal of the "Northern Road Administration."

In the very center was a line of poetry, exactly the one Lin Xiao had composed back then, "Ascending Jiangyue Tower."

"The boundless falling leaves rustle down, the endless Cang River rolls on..."

Nowadays, Jiangyue Tower had become famous across the land because of this poem, becoming a landmark scenic spot in Yong Province.

"This gentleman, you really know how to pick. This is our best-seller, a fifty-wen commemorative ribbon. Since you're already here, why not take one?"

Emperor Hong asked in confusion, "Fifty wen? What use is this single linen ribbon?"

The vendor pointed to several carriages outside not far away.

Emperor Hong and the others were stunned to find that the carriage cabins were all hung with rows of commemorative ribbons.

"You see, the Service Areas in different places have different commemorative ribbons. The more ribbons you tie, the more it shows you've traveled far and wide and are well-traveled!"

"Some southern guests even buy dozens of them to give as gifts, since you can't buy them anywhere else!"

Emperor Hong and the others clicked their tongues. Business could be done like this!?

A linen ribbon cost five wen at most. This motherf*cker was simply an exorbitant profit!!

"No wonder the Zhenbei Army is filthy rich..."

Emperor Hong lamented and was about to walk away when he saw Yang Gengzhong taking out money to buy one.

"Old Yang, you're..."

"Master Hong, since we're a merchant caravan, we have to look the part. All the carriages here are covered in commemorative ribbons, only we don't have any."

Emperor Hong took a look and found that it was indeed so. These commemorative ribbons had already set off a trend of keeping up with the Joneses!

"Heh... it seems we have to buy it," Emperor Hong shook his head and let it be.

After walking a few more steps, they found the words "Northern Cottage" appearing ahead.

All sorts of goods from the Northern Trade Alliance were available, though the prices were twice as high as usual.

Even so, some merchants in a hurry were still spending money there.

Emperor Hong and the others were greatly shocked to see people actually buying bars of soap for dozens of taels of silver.

"Usually, collecting a bit of tax takes the life out of local regions, but here, a bar of soap for women can be sold at such a sky-high price?"

The more Emperor Hong looked, the more frustrated he became. He simply hurried out of the shopping area and came to the inn.

This was a place for merchants and coachmen from all over to rest. Many people were gathered together, chatting.

"This Crown Prince is really a piece of work..."

"Shh! Keep it down! Do you want to die?"

"What's there to be afraid of? This is Yong Province, not the Capital Region..."

Emperor Hong's expression changed, and he immediately noticed that these people were gathered around reading the Northern Daily.

"Old Zheng, go buy a newspaper."

Zheng Yangwei hurried over and bought a copy. Seeing the headline, his face changed drastically, and he hurriedly handed it to Emperor Hong.

Emperor Hong scanned it twice and suddenly felt his vision go dark!

"Outrageous... this... people actually believe this kind of fake news?!"

Although Emperor Hong also had to admit his son was a waste.

But precisely because he was a waste, how would he dare send assassins to kill Princess Li Xinglan!?

"This Lin Xiao is going too far!" Zheng Yangwei cursed.

"It might not be the Prince of Zhenbei. I think it's more likely Princess Xinglan is playing a trick. That woman will do anything to please the Prince of Zhenbei," Yang Gengzhong analyzed.

"True, Lin Xiao really wouldn't take that son of mine seriously," Emperor Hong nodded.

"Master Hong, we must ban the Northern Daily. This thing's influence is too great..."

"Old Yang is absolutely right." Emperor Hong said with a grim face, "Let's go, back to the carriage to draft an imperial edict."

...

Yan Region, Qizhou Princess Mansion.

A head poked out from the backyard wall, looking left and right.

Confirming it was safe, Princess Li Xinglan, dressed in plain clothes, gave a light leap, intending to bolt away.

But just as she jumped over the courtyard wall, a "whoosh" sounded, and a sword fell from the sky, plunging into the bluestone ground!

Princess Li Xinglan broke out in a cold sweat and turned her head stiffly to look at a tall elm tree.

Shu Yelan, dressed as a noble lady, was looking down at her with a smile.

"Princess, where are you going?"

Princess Li Xinglan said with a long face, "Sister Pavilion Master, just let me go to Xinghua Village. I really want to go see that Worlds Number One Wine Festival..."

"These are extraordinary times. In the Qizhou Princess Mansion, no one dares to touch you. Once you travel far, it might not be the case."

Shu Yelan said seriously, "The Prince wants me to ensure your safety. I cannot let anything happen to you."

"Didn't you see yesterday's Northern Daily? I found a few actors to put on a show, and I've already made that idiot's reputation stink to high heaven!"

"At a time like this, if anything happened to me, how would he still become Emperor?"

Shu Yelan smiled. "Princess, the people who want to kill you might not necessarily be from the palace."

"If something unfortunate happens to you, for the Prince, many things will have to be started over from scratch."

"If you really want to occupy a place in the Prince's heart, I advise you... to prioritize the big picture."

Princess Li Xinglan bit her silver teeth and took a deep breath, saying, "Fine, I'll listen to you! But when you return to the Prince's side in the future, you must put in a good word for me!"

Shu Yelan smiled. "That is a given."

Just then, Wei Kongming's voice came from within the Princess Mansion.

"Princess! This general requests an audience!!"

Princess Li Xinglan heard the urgency in his voice and knew something might have happened. She hurriedly used her lightness skill to return to her study.

"Wei Kongming, what happened?"

Wei Kongming didn't have time to ask why the girl was dressed like that. He cupped his fists and said, "An urgent report from the northern front! The Khitan army is gathering and approaching our border city!"

"I suspect it's because Khitan King Yelü Dachuan and former Northern Barbarian Marshal Suhe have completed their integration."

"The Zhenbei Army is busy managing Mobei and the Western Qiang and has no time to attend to them, so they plan to take advantage of the spring warming to raid our borders!"

Princess Li Xinglan's expression instantly became solemn. "Damn... do they also know that the Prince will be busy with the Number One Wine Festival and won't be able to split himself?"