Who Knows How Easy or Hard Life Is

A large field by the river was full of Chinese Milk Vetch, lush and green after being recently harvested, leaving only palm-high stubble. A flock of sheep grazed on the stubble.

White clouds drifted across the sky, and the weather was not as hot as it had been in previous days.

A Wooden Dragonfly spun and flew into the air. After flying a short distance, it ran out of energy and fell onto the grass.

A sweet, melodious laugh rang out. Maria, dressed in riding attire, ran over, picked up the Wooden Dragonfly, and rubbed it vigorously between her snowy white hands. The new toy flew into the air once again.

The underside of the Wooden Dragonfly's blades was painted with bright colors. When it flew into the air, from the ground it looked like several concentric colored circles.

The Grand Duke of Mainz had a great-grandson, a little younger than Frederick. Many toys, including this Wooden Dragonfly, were originally meant for him, but now they belonged to Maria.

Below the riverbank, a white sunshade with beautiful tassels was set up on the grass, with a thick carpet spread on the ground.

Sophia took fruit, pastries, and lunch out of a basket and arranged them in the middle of the carpet. She was currently lighting the tea stove on a stand by the edge of the carpet.

Although the weather was still hot, Sophia didn't dare give her daughter cold tea, as it was easy to upset her stomach.

Lighting the fire was simple. Once the charcoal was in the stove, you just extended your finger, and a flame shot out like a flamethrower, burning for a while.

Matches didn't make much money in this world. Nearly half of healthy adults could produce small flames. Instead, Magic Lighters with exquisite casings and beautiful decorations had a market.

Having finished these tasks, Sophia looked into the distance. Her sunshade was still on the riverbank; Frederick had said he was going to draw and had borrowed it to shield himself from the sun.

At this moment, Frederick was using charcoal on a Parchment to draw a layout plan of the Refugee Shelter Camp.

He had been here for three days. Yesterday, he had requested a meeting with the Grand Duke of Mainz through Philip. He received news that the Grand Duke's entire family had gone on a hot spring vacation. At the same time, Philip was granted the authority to command 500 soldiers of the Duchy to guard the territory, sell a fixed amount of grain from the warehouse, and conscript a certain number of laborers. He was also hinted to guide the refugees and perform other related tasks in the relevant territories.

It was obvious that King William intended to trap Frederick in this incident. The Grand Duke of Mainz, after his talks with the Duchy of Bayern had broken down, didn't want to appear to be opposing the King by directly helping Frederick.

So, the Grand Duke's family went on a hot spring vacation in the scorching heat to avoid meeting Frederick, gave Philip, who was on the front lines, several powers, and had other areas cooperate.

This excuse clearly showed that the Grand Duke of Mainz was deliberately annoying the King.

Frederick didn't care about this; getting the job done well was the most important thing.

Currently, building the shelter camp was the top priority. The Wessen Territory had already sent people to notify others, and Philip was using his newly acquired power to concentrate manpower and resources to assist.

Aside from other things, the amount of firewood needed alone was not small, and trees couldn't be cut indiscriminately; they had to be cut from firewood forests of specific ages.

To speed things up, Frederick came to the field where the camp was to be set up for a site inspection so that his people could start working as soon as they arrived.

Sophia thought he was out for a leisurely trip, so she brought her daughter along.

But Frederick didn't have the time for that, so he had to let Maria play by herself.

Setting up a camp was not as simple as pitching tents. It involved eating, drinking, relieving oneself, sleeping, where to store supplies, where the kitchen was, where people would live, and where to set up toilets. All of these had to be carefully considered.

The architectural scholars at Weissenburg had provided templates, but on-site optimization was needed based on the actual situation, such as where the water would come from.

Even what to do with bodies if someone died in the camp had to be planned for.

"What are you drawing?" Maria had had enough of playing with the Wooden Dragonfly and ran to sit beside Frederick. The distance between them was exactly the width of her five fists, the perfect distance between a lady and a gentleman.

Just then, the cloud that had been shielding the sun moved away. Frederick gave her the sunshade and said, "We're going to build a camp here."

"Are we building a new castle?!" Maria exclaimed happily. "Can the castle be purple? It's all purple flowers here in the spring, it's so beautiful!!"

Frederick shook his head and said with a smile, "No, it's just lots and lots of tents. Many people will live here for a few days and then leave."

He didn't know if Maria understood. The little girl's topic jumped elsewhere. "Oh, will you come here next spring when the flowers bloom? It's all purple flowers here, and little bees and pretty little butterflies, it's so much fun!"

Frederick replied, "Next year, this field will be wheat. The purple flowers will be on the other side of the river."

"Huh?" Maria's beautiful big eyes widened in surprise. "Why do the purple flowers and the wheat have to move?"

Frederick said with a smile, "Because they are good friends. Next year, the purple flowers will go to visit the wheat, and the wheat will go to visit the purple flowers, and they'll both find that their good friends aren't home."

"Really?" Maria asked, not quite believing him.

"It's true!" Frederick said earnestly. "Next spring, you come here and see for yourself."

Chinese Milk Vetch was the most common cover crop in the area. It was sown in the fall, and its flowering season in spring and early summer of the following year provided a nectar source for bees. After the flowering season, it was harvested to feed livestock. In late summer, the entire plant, along with its roots containing Rhizobia, was plowed into the field as green manure, and then wheat was planted.

The fields on the other side of the river had already finished harvesting beans and were currently being plowed. Chinese Milk Vetch would be planted at the end of September.

Maria looked like she didn't understand but felt impressed, saying "Oh" several times.

Just then, Sophia waved and called the two children back for pastries.

Maria ran a few steps with the sunshade, looked at the riverbank under the scorching sun, and turned back to Frederick's side.

"Come on," the little girl said proudly, "I'll hold the umbrella for you."

Saying this, she held up the sunshade, making sure Frederick was also covered.

However, the sunshade's handle and ribs were made of wood, which was not light. The little girl's hands were trembling after holding it for only a moment.

Frederick took the sunshade, deciding to hold it himself.

Servants brought water pitchers for them to wash their hands. Sophia told them to eat whatever pastries they liked.

Frederick helped himself to a few gingerbread pieces onto his plate, placed it beside him, and continued drawing the plan while eating.

"Hmm?" He looked at a gingerbread piece that had been bitten into and sighed, "It's really delicious."

There was a tradition here of using ginger to nourish the stomach.

Sophia handed him an apple sauce tart drizzled with honey and said with a smile, "If you think it's delicious, eat more."

"Thank you." Frederick took the pie and set it aside. "I'll eat after I finish the blueprints."

Saying that, he continued to refine the ceramic pipes between the pump and the water tank.

Maria was eating her apple sauce pie, getting it all over her mouth, and Sophia was gently wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief.

"Why are you eating so fast?" Sophia said. "You're getting it all over your mouth."

Maria replied, "I thought the pie wouldn't be good."

"Why wouldn't it be good?" Sophia was very surprised.

Maria said, "Look, Mama, Frederick isn't eating it. Doesn't that mean it's not good?"

Sophia turned to look and saw Frederick sitting on the carpet, drawing and writing intently on the parchment, with an extremely focused expression.

She wanted to say something, but gave up. Her husband occasionally had that expression too. Every time it appeared, he was dealing with something very important.

Frederick suddenly realized that the original camp layout hadn't considered requirements like fire evacuation, so he made adjustments.

When he finished the modifications and put down the charcoal pencil, he heard Sophia ask him, "You could just let others do these trivial things. Why tire yourself out?"

A hint of bitterness appeared in Frederick's smile, and he said somewhat wearily, "I can't help it. The Weissen Family is just me now."

"I'm too young, that's a disadvantage, and it's easy for people to have bad intentions."

"To prevent my subordinates from having such thoughts, I can only do everything correctly, do it perfectly, and lead them from one victory to another. Only then can I truly convince them, make them worship me from the bottom of their hearts, and at the same time fear me, so they won't have other ideas."

He knew his own situation. Managing a territory was not that simple.

People's hearts were the most difficult to fathom and the most dangerous. Firstly, he couldn't see how much others liked him. Secondly, he didn't have absolutely loyal summoners as a base. He could only work hard to build up the persona of a child prodigy to ensure his subordinates maintained confidence in him, at least raising the bar for betraying him.

"Are you very tired?" Sophia couldn't help but reach out and gently stroke Frederick's hair, feeling pained for this little boy who was only slightly older than her daughter.

Frederick just managed a small smile and didn't say anything, just watched the flock of sheep gradually approaching.

If he didn't want to become a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, he could only keep working this hard.

Maria didn't understand the previous conversation, only hearing her mother say that Frederick looked very tired. So she picked up the conversation and said, "If you're tired, you should sleep more! Do you want me to sing for you? Father slept so soundly when I sang for him!"

Frederick smiled and said to her, "Okay, I love listening to singing the most."

Maria immediately put down the preserved fruit in her hand and started singing.

Frederick knew her voice was pleasant, but he hadn't expected her singing to be so heavenly that even that description felt insufficient. The cheerful singing went straight to the depths of his soul, and his mood calmed down completely.

It wasn't just him. The flock of sheep and the sheepdogs that had walked not far away also heard the singing and were immediately attracted, forming a circle around the carpet, quietly listening to Maria sing.

After a moment, even the birds landed on the crossbar of the awning, on the backs of the sheep, and a few even flew around Maria.

Sophia proudly looked at her daughter, but Frederick was filled with shock. This girl's talent in Soul Magic was actually this terrifying!