Chapter109

After six or seven days of major reconstruction, Elara finally felt like this city had come alive a little when she left the county office and stepped onto the streets of Marigold City this morning.

Along the streets, after constant reassurance from government officials, some of the commoners who received compensation had slowly regained a bit of courage. The tightly shut doors of every household had finally opened a little, and the streets now had people walking back and forth again. Occasionally, a few vendors carrying small goods passed by, and scrawny children tiptoed through the shadows near the buildings.

Although it was still far from lively and prosperous, it was already much better than the lifeless state a few days ago.

Elara wasn't in a rush. The city's recovery would take time.

She wore plain clothes on purpose, blending in easily with the commoners around her. Aside from being a rare woman, which caused a few of the men walking by to secretly glance at her with surprise, everything seemed normal. No one recognized that she was the brutal princess who had displayed several severed heads in the center of the city.

After walking through the main streets in all four districts and confirming that they were all recovering at a similar pace, Elara headed toward the business district. She was accompanied by Uno and a newly appointed official who was also dressed like a commoner.

The business district had recovered slightly better than the commoners' neighborhoods.

People in that area were mostly wealthy merchants. Though merchants had low status during this time, they had money and often dealt with the government, so they were less afraid than most civilians.

Once it became clear that Elara's new government truly intended to restart development, the merchants reopened their shops quickly and without hesitation.

Even so, although those who could reopen had done so, Elara had already executed and confiscated the properties of nearly eighty percent of the local merchants in Marigold. So even with all the remaining shops open, the market still looked empty and quiet. Many of the buildings that had been seized were left vacant, and there was hardly anyone around.

Elara walked through the chilly and sparse streets with Uno and the new official. She found that while most of the surviving merchants had reopened their stores, the goods available in the entire district were still pitifully few.

The variety of items was even more lacking. Apart from a few stores selling basic needs like grain and clothing, there were barely any goods that could be called real products.

Frowning, Elara walked with the other two from one end of the market street to the other. Only near the far end of the street did they finally see a crowd gathered together.

She raised her brows and looked at the long lines of people ahead. "What's going on up there?"

The official who had been quietly following her looked up and answered, "Your Highness, that's the salt shop run by the government and the recruitment zone you ordered to be set up."

Elara walked closer and observed for a while. Thanks to the earlier recruitment for her ironworks and papermaking factories, the workers who joined had been paid fairly according to the terms. With various sectors of the commercial district slowly recovering, she had also told the recruited craftsmen to organize workshops for products they were skilled at.

Because of that, the recruitment zone had grown increasingly lively over the past few days. Every day, many refugees came to apply, hoping to be hired and earn some food or money.

Seeing the bustling recruitment scene, Elara finally showed a trace of satisfaction. But when she looked at the salt shop next to it, her satisfaction faded.

The line for salt was even longer. Because salt was scarce and essential, merchants weren't allowed to buy or sell it.

Ordinary people could only buy government salt, and in the past, it had been sold at sky-high prices under Gao Qiong's orders. People had to sell everything they owned just to get a little salt.

Now that Elara had lowered the price, it was more affordable. But the problem was the supply was still extremely limited, and people could only buy a small amount at a time, barely enough for a few days.

Even this tiny amount was concerning to Elara. She thought of the small salt supply left in the government storehouses and frowned.

If she couldn't find a new salt source soon, Marigold County wouldn't be able to recover as planned.

Elara looked at the salt shop for a while, then turned to glance at the empty business district behind her.

Besides salt, she had executed too many of the original merchants. For Marigold to truly flourish, she not only had to secure salt but also find a way to bring in a large number of merchants from other places.

As she considered this, a clear image popped into her mind — the Lianyi House.

Lianyi House had branches across various nations and carried an unmatched variety of goods. Its reputation and status were highly respected across all social levels. If she could get a branch of Lianyi House to open in Marigold, it would be like gaining a golden seal of approval.

Maybe then, she wouldn't even need to recruit anyone. The big merchants would come on their own once they caught wind of it.

But... a top-tier trading house like Lianyi only set up branches in the most prosperous cities of each nation. Though Elara had interacted with them before, she still didn't know who truly owned the organization.

Marigold had just started its recovery. Most people were still refugees. There was basically no financial base here, and ordinary citizens had no real savings.

In this situation, even if she were in charge of Lianyi, she wouldn't choose to open a branch here. It would cost too much time, effort, and money, and would likely end in loss.

So for now, getting a major trading house like Lianyi was out of the question.

But if she could find something slightly below that level — larger and better connected than the scattered local merchants — it would be perfect.

Such a merchant group was exactly what Marigold needed right now.

But finding one wouldn't be easy. She had only just arrived. Where would she even start looking?

As she was thinking this, Elara suddenly remembered something and asked the official behind her, "Besides the local merchants I dealt with, were there any other merchants Gao Qiong used to trade with?"

The merchant official was a young man named Kalyan, just twenty-three, who had recently passed the civil service exam. Grateful for the opportunity, he had been working diligently these past few days. When Elara asked the question, he immediately recalled the information he had memorized and answered quickly.

"In the past, there were several large trading companies from the border towns of Bluebell State and Sargassum State that did business with Gao Qiong. But after the trade routes got damaged and bandits increased, most of those foreign merchants stopped coming."

"Only one remained before Your Highness arrived — a place called Zhaiyun Workshop from Sargassum. But they don't deal in rare items or luxury goods. They only sell salt."

"Salt?" That was exactly what Marigold needed.

Elara turned to look at Kalyan. "Why do they only sell salt? How big is Zhaiyun Workshop? Who owns it?"

Even though he had seen Elara several times in recent days, Kalyan still didn't dare look directly at the elegant and noble woman in front of him. He kept his eyes lowered and respectfully answered,

"Sargassum State has many salt mines and salt lakes. It produces a huge amount of salt, enough to supply all the nearby nations every year. Zhaiyun Workshop is the largest salt business in Sargassum."

Zhaiyun Trading House had not only become the largest business in Sargassum State, but also the strongest and most prosperous business among the more than ten third-class countries in the southwest region of the continent, including Plumera State, Bluebell State, and Sargassum State. Centered in Sargassum, Zhaiyun had built many trade routes to other countries, dealing in rare and unique goods every year with third-class countries in the southwest. As for why it only sold salt whenever it came to Marigold County, well, I only gathered a vague guess from old records in the government office.

It seemed that the owner of Zhaiyun Trading House did not like people like Gao Qiong. If Gao Qiong had not previously paid high prices and begged on behalf of the whole salt-starved city, Zhaiyun might have already stopped trading entirely during times of chaos outside the city.

"Oh? So the owner of this Zhaiyun Trading House still has some conscience? Who is really behind it?" Elara grew interested in the mysterious person behind Zhaiyun.

Zhaiyun held control over trade among the small countries in the southwest, with powerful business networks and resources. This was exactly the kind of commercial strength Marigold County needed most right now.

Kalyan frowned and thought for a moment after hearing Elara's question.

"Gao Qiong never seemed to have met Zhaiyun's owner. They always dealt with a manager sent by the trading house. But since Zhaiyun became the top salt supplier in Sargassum and such a major player near the southwest border, it must be tied to powerful people in the state. There were once rumors that the real owner behind it was Sargassum's only non-royal heir to the throne."

"But unlike other royal family members with different surnames, this one was born from the emperor's younger brother and carries pure Sargassum royal blood. Still, he doesn't use the royal surname. Instead, he takes his mother's."

Kalyan paused again, gathering his words before continuing. "It's said that his mother was a noble from a powerful second-class matriarchal country, even stronger than Sargassum. So even though his father was a prince of Sargassum, his mother declared him part of her country's bloodline and gave him her surname. But something must have happened later. His mother apparently abandoned him and never brought him back to her country."

"In short, the whole situation is messy and tied to secrets within the Sargassum royal family. I don't know much. I only heard that he went missing for a time as a child. When he was found, he didn't return to his mother's land and instead became Sargassum's heir. But because he was born in a matriarchal country and took his mother's surname, he was marked with a purity seal at birth."

"To men outside those matriarchal countries, this is..."

Before Kalyan could finish, a commotion erupted ahead.

Elara and the others quickly turned their heads and saw a crowd suddenly forming around a recruiting area. In the center, a thin young man was being shoved around by several large men.

"Hey, what's a man from a matriarchal country doing in our patriarchal land?"

"Couldn't stand being a servant to women anymore, huh? Finally remembered you're a man and came here to feel powerful?"

"I've never seen a guy from a matriarchal country before. That flower mark on his forehead is the purity seal, right? What a joke. Controlled by a flower seal. Pathetic!"

"Men like you got no strength. Can't even hold a woman down, and you still dare show up for labor recruitment? Aren't you afraid your back will give out and we'll have to carry you?"

"I heard men from those countries even give birth. Where do they give birth from? Disgusting!"

"Exactly. It's gross! Men who bow to women bring shame to us all. You don't deserve to be called a man!"

In this world, matriarchal and patriarchal countries existed side by side, often clashing with each other. The two types of nations had always looked down on one another.

Men from patriarchal countries thought those from matriarchal lands were a disgrace. They despised countries where women ruled.

Women from matriarchal countries felt the same disgust. They believed the women in patriarchal countries were weak and foolish, precious in number but still controlled by men.

They also looked down on patriarchal men, calling them crude and wild. In their eyes, these men didn't understand how to be good husbands or raise children and were just savages.

Currently, one of the strongest first-class nations, Freesia State, was a matriarchal country. Many second and third-class matriarchal countries were also powerful, so the debate between male and female dominance had lasted through the ages.

Each side believed they were right. Whenever people from these two kinds of countries met, they would inevitably argue and insult each other.

But arguments aside, if such conflict disturbed the recovering order in Marigold County, Elara would have to step in.

She walked into the center of the crowd and saw that the young man being mocked and pushed around looked only seventeen or eighteen.

His face was delicate, his skin fairer than the rough men surrounding him. A petal-shaped mark on his forehead looked almost like a decorative flower.

After hearing the insults, Elara quickly realized that this was the purity seal boys in matriarchal countries received at birth. It marked their chastity and only disappeared after they married a woman and shared a bed with her, transforming into another kind of mark.