Journey Afar, Imperial Preceptor Governs in the Regent’s Stead

Prince Nolan understood the importance of roads without Serena even needing to explain it. He had considered building them before, but constructing roads was far from easy.

In this era where everything relies on manual labor, road construction consumes enormous manpower and resources—and even with such investment, there’s no guarantee the roads will turn out well.

When Serena mentioned using coal slag to pave roads, Prince Nolan wasn’t particularly excited at first—there weren’t that many roads to pave anyway. But as Serena described her vision, he gradually became serious.

If it really worked, the entire Nine Provinces Realm might enter a new era.

“Blasting mountains? Using thunder-blast grenades to blast through?” The greatest obstacle to building roads was the mountains—moving mountains like the old fable was just a legend. For one family to shift a mountain would take centuries.

Serena nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking at rice, and grabbed Prince Nolan’s arm, dragging him toward the study. “I have a map—let me show you. I want to build a road all the way to the Shandong Circuit.”

She had the manpower, and didn’t even need to pay wages—just provide meals and they’d build the road. Once the route from Shandong to the outside was completed, her small territory today would become the center of the Nine Provinces tomorrow.

Just thinking about it made Serena excited. She didn’t care whether Prince Nolan was listening; she energetically described the blueprint in her mind: “When that day comes, the Nine Provinces Realm will be interconnected—no matter where you go, there’ll be a major road. Merchants will travel everywhere, the commoners will prosper; wherever there’s rebellion, the army will arrive instantly, no more fear of bandits; wherever there’s unrest, news will spread quickly, no more anxious citizens.”

Serena knew well how vital transportation was. In this era, many people never left their villages their entire lives, living in complete self-sufficiency and hardship.

If roads could be built, and ordinary people could take their crops to market and trade for what they needed, wouldn’t even more people be able to live better lives?

She was a selfish person, but within her ability, if she could help the common people live better lives, she would do it without hesitation.

“Prince Nolan, this is a merit for our generation and a blessing for a thousand autumns. It’s of immense benefit to both nation and people—you can’t back down just because it’s hard.” Seeing Prince Nolan’s blank expression, Serena’s excitement faded a little.

Building roads isn’t something that can be done overnight. If you really want to do it, it might take decades, and if you give up halfway, all the early effort will be wasted.

“Mm.” Prince Nolan responded heavily. Normally calm and collected, he couldn’t help but feel stirred by the picture Serena painted.

Bustling traffic, roads stretching everywhere, people living in peace and prosperity, the realm unified—isn’t this exactly what he wanted?

A surge of emotion hit Prince Nolan; he suddenly stood up. “I’m going to the palace.”

“Ah…” Serena rose in surprise, but all she saw was a flash of his robe—Prince Nolan was already gone.

Serena wasn’t one for fiery speeches, but her words had hit exactly what Prince Nolan longed for. He wasn’t someone who acted on impulse, but today, this was something worth a burst of passion.

Prince Nolan entered the palace and summoned the Three Excellencies, William Wang Jinling, Felix Fuller, and the prime minister. Before they arrived, he wrote up Serena’s road-building plan as a memorial, rewording it for official presentation.

Prince Nolan wasn’t asking for their opinion—he was informing them. He would build roads in Eastlyn and flatten every mountain that stood in the way of the armies.

The benefits of building roads were clear—even if Prince Nolan didn’t spell them out, the old ministers could see them. As for the immediate gains, those were obvious: once the key routes Nolan mentioned were finished, moving troops from north to south would take half the time.

Speed is everything in war. Cutting travel time by half means you can invade the enemy’s city before they’re ready, and even wipe out their forces before they can mobilize.

“The Regent Prince’s proposal—I agree wholeheartedly. Thunder-blast grenades are too deadly, but if they can benefit the people, it’s a great achievement.” Anything that helped Eastlyn, the old ministers and the prime minister had no objections to.

Prince Nolan was willing to do real work, which was far better than endless power struggles. As veteran ministers, they preferred to see Eastlyn grow stronger, not just watch royal brothers fight for the throne.

As core officials of Eastlyn, they knew perfectly well that Eastlyn still possessed thunder-blast grenades—the claim of their destruction was just a ruse to fool outsiders.

“All the people of the realm will remember the Regent Prince’s kindness.” Felix Fuller’s words carried no flattery—they came straight from the heart.

As the representative of the poor-born, Felix Fuller knew how many people starved or froze to death every winter. If Prince Nolan ordered road construction, laborers would be needed. Even if no silver was paid, at least the poor could be fed—of course Felix would support it.

And William Wang Jinling? The moment he heard the palace summons, he knew trouble was coming—and sure enough…

Seeing everyone debate so eagerly, William groaned inwardly. He knew he’d be swamped with work for years to come.

If he’d known Prince Nolan was so petty, he wouldn’t have teased Serena at The Windchaser Inn. All he got was a mountain of work and not a single benefit.

“What’s this? The Imperial Preceptor disagrees?” Prince Nolan suddenly interrupted the prime minister, turning to William Wang Jinling with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

A gentleman waits ten years to take revenge, but Prince Nolan never considered himself a gentleman—if he had a grudge, he preferred to settle it right away, rather than let it fester.

With one remark, Prince Nolan drew everyone’s attention to William. Felix Fuller raised an eyebrow and asked, “Does Lord William have a different opinion? Why not share it so we can discuss?”

“No,” William replied coolly, shaking his head.

“Then what does Lord William mean by this? You don’t look pleased—what’s the matter, are you against building roads?” Felix pressed him, aggressive and overbearing, never missing a chance to show his displeasure with William.

In truth, he didn’t want to act this way, but he had no choice. He and William had to be political rivals—no matter how much he agreed with William, he had to appear opposed and pick at him every chance he got.

Can you imagine the Grand Heir picking fights on purpose?

Of course not.

So, if anyone was going to stir up trouble, it had to be Felix. If they acted too friendly, both their superiors and subordinates would be unhappy.

No matter what they thought in private, in public they had to look like they didn’t get along. William understood Felix’s intentions and wouldn’t expose him—occasionally he’d fire back, just to make their rivalry look even more real.

William smiled gently, offering a mild, pointed retort: “We do need to build roads, but where’s the money coming from? Surely Lord Felix doesn’t think it’s as simple as just saying the word?”

“The money for roads can always be squeezed out—if it can’t, we’ll just have to squeeze harder. For something that benefits the nation and the people, I won’t let anyone’s private interests get in the way.” Felix even turned it into a battle between the poor-born and the great houses. William responded in kind, and the two traded sharp words without real hostility, each laying out facts and methods, striving to find the best solution.

So the discussion became a debate between Felix and William, both calculating how to get the job done with the least money, and how to prevent the other’s faction from profiting too much.

No matter which side—William’s or Felix’s—wanted to push through their policies, they’d have to pay a price. Usually, in the end, Prince Nolan—or rather, the Emperor—was the biggest winner, which was exactly what Prince Nolan wanted.

With Felix and William leading the way, building roads in Eastlyn wouldn’t be difficult at all.