Chapter98

The people building the road said this new type of highway was made using a special method. Eventually, it would cover all of the Plumera Kingdom's territory. It would not only connect the major cities, counties, and states in the Plumera Kingdom but would also have courier stations built along the way. Special soldiers would guard the road to ensure safety and provide places for travelers to eat, drink, and rest.

With this, there would be safe and excellent highways between every city and state. People would no longer worry about mountain bandits, and it would greatly help citizens and merchants travel. It would also make trade and military movements between cities much faster and safer.

This benefit was not small for ordinary people. For merchants who had done business for generations and understood how important the roads were for trade, this was amazing news.

Anyone involved in trade had surely suffered losses because of blocked roads or robberies. But once this strong, smooth, and durable new highway was built and reached every state and county, business travel would become much safer.

Travel time would also be much shorter. They could deliver more special products from different regions in less time, making business more prosperous.

If the new flat and sturdy road really could cover all of the Plumera Kingdom as people said, they could almost predict that the Plumera Kingdom would become a developed center for commerce in the future.

As traders stood on the solid and smooth road beneath their feet, they couldn't stop expressing their amazement.

In the middle of the crowd, a small child was holding his father's hand, standing at the end of a long line. His family used to live in a village in the southern part of Plumera City, but one year ago, bandits attacked the village.

Many of the people he knew died, and his father took him to another village. But even though that village wasn't attacked by bandits, it was struck by a plague. Almost everyone there died too.

He and his father had nowhere to go, so they kept wandering in the wild and became refugees.

A few months ago, someone who escaped with them and made it to Plumera City sent back news. They said the city had changed the old system. Not only had they truly opened the granaries to help refugees, but they even treated former slaves the same as everyone else.

In Plumera City, slaves were no longer slaves. Refugees who entered the city were no longer treated like outsiders.

He heard from his father that the person who reached the city said the Plumera Kingdom had changed completely.

The newly crowned Empress was kind and loving. As soon as she took the throne, she punished all the corrupt officials who used to sit high above the people and abuse them.

She abolished the old systems and issued new laws that benefited both the country and the people.

Now in the Plumera Kingdom, anyone who wanted to become an official had to pass a strict exam personally created and judged by the Empress. Only then could they be given an official post.

What mattered even more was that the new Empress did not judge people by their background. She didn't look down on anyone, not even former slaves.

As long as someone had talent and good morals, they could take part in the Empress's exams and aim for a position that used to be impossible to reach.

The little boy didn't really understand what his father meant when he talked about officials and politics, but he understood one thing his father told him—his father said that if good people were sitting in those high places, then they wouldn't have to starve anymore.

They wouldn't have to live as hungry and cold refugees anymore. And what the Empress was doing now was making sure only good people were allowed to become officials.

She was clearing out the bad ones.

The little boy understood the words, and in his small heart, a strong longing for the new Plumera Kingdom, Plumera City, and the Empress inside the Plumera City Palace suddenly grew.

When his father told him that they would soon go to Plumera City to make a living, he became excited and walked faster all the way.

Even though the long and tiring journey made his small body struggle a little, he never said he was tired. Instead, he kept urging his father to hurry, to go faster.

They met many people on the way who, like them, planned to come.

Most of the Plumera Kingdom's common people, refugees, and former slaves already knew about the new reforms in the Plumera Kingdom and Plumera City.

Plumera City had become the holy place in their dreams. As long as they came here, they would no longer freeze or starve or be homeless.

If they worked hard, they could eat enough, wear warm clothes, and even have a new warm home to live in, no longer wandering without shelter.

As the little boy pulled his father, eager to move forward in the crowd, behind the crowd was a group of people with tattered clothes and shy, timid looks, carefully lining up at the very end.

Most of these people wore barely enough clothes, and their exposed skin showed ugly scars from old wounds. Around their necks and collarbones, wrapped tightly with torn cloth, were marks from chains and branding.

They were people who had just escaped slavery.

Some were adults standing outside, while several very young children were protected inside the group.

These children were even more timid and careful than the little boy in front.

They were all children of slaves, lower in status even than slaves.

Luckily, they met the best time in thousands of years. After the new Empress of Carnation Kingdom ascended the throne, she abolished the old system of slavery and created a new one.

The difficult and tragic fate of these children was saved by the new reforms.

Not only them, but also their enslaved elders and all people like them in the Plumera Kingdom were saved by this new system.

After truly escaping slavery like a dream, they were brought by their elders to Plumera City.

Their fathers and uncles said that once they reached Plumera City, they could live a new life, eat well, and wear warm clothes. If they worked hard enough, they could even have a warm house to live in, no longer beaten, abused, or killed like slaves.

The children all looked forward to this new life that adults described with great hope.

But at the gate of Plumera City, seeing the dense crowds coming from all directions, the children's natural fear of being lowly made them tremble and lower their heads. They barely dared to look around, afraid someone would recognize them as slaves and abuse them.

"Father... so many people have come to Plumera City... can we really find a place to eat and wear warm clothes here?"

Compared to the children's timid confusion, the few adults who had escaped slavery at the front of the line all looked up, stretching their necks to look around, wishing they had extra eyes to see every part of this newly built grand Plumera City clearly.

Seeing the little boy lower his head and not dare to look around, the man in front bent down, lifted the boy high in front of him, and pointed to the distant tall and magnificent city walls.

"Eren! Look quickly! Are the walls of Plumera City taller and grander than any walls we've ever seen before? Father heard these walls are not only high but very wide. They can hold dozens of rows of soldiers standing in formation! With such wide and tall walls, we don't need to worry about any bandits or enemy troops coming to attack! The soldiers guarding the walls will definitely beat those enemies so badly they will run everywhere!"

Eren's father was not born a slave. Before falling into slavery for various reasons, he once studied at the village school and had much more knowledge than ordinary slaves.

His father spoke, then hugged the child and turned toward the northwest, pointing to several large round buildings in the distance, as grand as the new city walls.

"Eren! Look over there! Do you see those huge round buildings with smoke coming out beyond the northwest city walls?"

The child followed the adult's direction and nodded again.

The man laughed heartily, lifted him higher, and said happily, "Before I came, I already asked around! Those big smoking round buildings are called 'factories.' They were built under the direct order of Her Majesty the Empress after she took the throne."

"The newly built Plumera City has gates much taller and grander than before! The area inside is also more than ten times larger than before!"

"Inside and outside Plumera City, there is busy construction and renovation going on. People like me who have strong bodies are most needed for the hard labor!"

"Once inside the city, Eren, you can rest easy! With the strength your father and uncles have, whether working in those factories or doing other jobs in Plumera City, you will definitely be able to support your family!"

Hearing his father's joyful tone, the child's fear faded a little. But then the father, who had just been holding him up and laughing happily, suddenly put him down in front of him with a serious face and said:

"Also, Eren, you must remember, you, your father, and your uncles are no longer slaves. The Empress has abolished slavery. Under the new system, we are protected by Her Majesty. No one will dare to bully or harm us anymore! If they do, they will pay with their lives!"

"After entering the city, we are no different from other ordinary citizens of Plumera Kingdom. As long as we work hard, we can earn a life where we eat well and wear warm clothes just like others!"

The child stared blankly at his father, who was seriously telling him not to be afraid anymore.

The man tightened his grip on the child's shoulder, as if wanting to carve his words deeply into the child's heart:

"So, Eren, you must remember! We are no longer slaves! We don't need to suffer insults or be oppressed! As long as we work hard, not only can we eat and wear well like others, but if you have talent, your father can even send you to study!"

Eren felt a surge of hope from his father's words.

"Father, study, I... can I really study? What can I do after studying?"

"Yes! Eren, now everyone can study! After the Empress's new system, no matter your past identity, as long as you want to learn and work hard, you can study!"

"Before I came, I heard others say that Plumera University inside Plumera City is already built! The teachers there are all famous scholars. They accept students regardless of identity. Whether from noble families or ordinary citizens, anyone willing to study can enroll!"

"If you really have a talent for study, after finishing, you can take the great exam personally reviewed by the Empress!"

"If you pass this exam with extraordinary skill, you can become a high-ranking official in the government and continue to contribute to the development of Plumera Kingdom!"