Who Said Being a Ruler Was Easy?

The Old Scholar Tree shook its head and said, "Neither the people nor the trees in our family do business at a loss. These were all transported from Great Qi; we didn't spend any money!"

Zhou Wanwan exclaimed, "Ah!" and said, "They were transported from Great Qi? Are all these things readily available?"

The Old Scholar Tree nodded and said:

"Yes! It's ready-made! And it seems they also want to dig an underground palace there, just like us."

So whatever they built, we just copied from there, and as a result, we completed this great underground palace without spending a single penny."

Zhou Wanwan was stunned. When she went inside, she was almost scared out of her wits.

Didn't I tell you to dig a hole?

"Yes, isn't this a cave? People can walk through it."

Zhou Wanwan was speechless. What exactly went wrong?

Before me lay a vast space, its floor paved with white marble slabs.

The dome was inlaid with Mingzhu, whose soft light illuminated the entire underground city clearly.

A network of white marble streets crisscrosses the landscape, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Rows of grand halls, side rooms, and auxiliary halls stood there, incredibly magnificent, as if the entire imperial palace on the ground had been moved underground.

Zhou Wanwan touched the white marble pillar next to her and said, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate? Did you move the entire Great Qi Imperial Palace here?"

Cheng Chao wiped the sweat from his brow and said:

"I always felt that this was not the imperial palace of the Great Qi. I heard that the Great Qi Dynasty has been carrying out a lot of construction recently."

The Emperor of Great Qi is already preparing his imperial mausoleum. You didn't get this from the mausoleum, did you?

The Old Scholar Tree scratched its head and said:

"We don't know! We just feel that it's exactly what we want."

We searched for a long time before we finally found a palace of this style.

It's for Wanwan, so it has to be the best, which is why I moved everything from there over!

Cheng Chao was completely speechless.

They walked along the underground palace and saw another palace, the floor of which was paved entirely with gold bricks.

On the high platform directly in front, there is a dragon throne made of pure gold, carved with five-clawed golden dragons.

The pillars of the main hall are all made of whole pieces of white marble, painted with gold and colorful designs, and carved with auspicious clouds and mythical beasts.

The high dome is carved with countless stars, and Mingzhu are inlaid among them, emitting a soft light.

The hall was spacious and empty; standing here and looking up, one felt exceptionally small.

Neatly arranged on both sides are gilded palace lanterns and complete sets of bronze ritual vessels, exuding the supreme majesty of the royal family. Every construction project was undertaken at an astronomical cost.

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched. "Isn't this too extravagant? Just how much manpower and resources did the Great Qi Kingdom spend to build something like this?"

The Old Scholar Tree said, "How about it? How about it? We had good judgment, didn't we?"

Zhou Wanwan chuckled and said, "What I really want to know is, will the Emperor of Great Qi go mad if he finds out his tomb is completely empty?"

The Emperor of Great Qi had just finished his morning court session when a eunuch rushed over in a panic, saying, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

The Emperor of Great Qi frowned and asked, "What's the matter? Why are you in such a panic?"

The eunuch, panting heavily, said, "Your... your tomb has been robbed."

The Emperor of Great Qi was shocked and exclaimed, "What did you say?"

The eunuch wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Your Majesty, your tomb has been robbed."

"Nonsense! How could my tomb have been robbed?"

The tomb had only been excavated for a little over two years, and it was located deep in the mountains, so very few people knew about it.

Now they've all been wiped out in one fell swoop.

The Emperor of Great Qi was furious.

"Who did this? Investigate! Investigate!"

That took me a lot of effort; building another tomb would take an even longer time.

It took five years to get to this point, and now it's all gone in an instant. Anyone would find it unbearable.

The Emperor of Great Qi said, "I want to go and see what has become of it."

He spent a day and a night to reach his tomb.

The moment he saw the tomb, he nearly collapsed with anger. "Not even a door?"

The eunuch nodded and said, "It's gone, the bronze carved gate is gone too."

Upon entering the tomb, it was clean and empty.

His face turned pale, and he coughed up blood.

The eunuch shouted, "Your Majesty! Please take care of your health!"

The Emperor of Great Qi was so angry that he felt dizzy and lightheaded.

Zhou Wanwan was utterly shocked. "The Emperor of Great Qi is indeed wealthy; he must have several thousand Mingzhu by now!"

The Old Scholar Tree nodded and said:

"Almost, almost. This underground palace really has everything. They even dug a river."

We thought about it for a moment, and decided that since he dug a river, we should dig one too.

Raising fish here would be nice, Wanwan, don't you like farming?

The land here has all been turned over. Our underground palace is particularly large, and we even prepared a special area for planting crops.

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched as she said:

"Huh? Farming in an underground palace? You guys really have a wild idea."

"If it doesn't photosynthesize, it won't grow, right?"

"But they've already been planted!"

Zhou Wanwan walked over and saw that there were indeed many things planted in the rows.

Upon closer inspection, they were all ginseng.

Zhou Wanwan said, "These ginsengs can be grown without the sun?"

The Old Scholar Tree nodded and said:

"That's right, but sometimes you just need to sprinkle some water before you can grow them."

We also found it strange; they grow vegetables over there, and look, they've actually grown them."

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched as she said, "This is too strange!"

The Old Scholar Tree chuckled and said:

"What's so strange about that? You've channeled spiritual energy into those ginseng roots."

Once you've infused these medicinal herbs with spiritual energy, they'll grow very quickly and won't need photosynthesis.

The most crucial benefit? Without photosynthesis, not even weeds could grow here.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "It's really quite good!"

The Old Scholar Tree pointed and said, "We've been digging non-stop for the past two weeks, and now this underground palace covers several hundred acres."

Now is the time when we need food, and it's fantastic that the ground can produce large quantities of food at this time!

Moreover, this place can not only produce food, but also provide a place for people to live in shifts if the population becomes particularly large.

This is truly killing two birds with one stone.

Zhou Wanwan asked, "Do we need to continue digging this underground palace?"

The Old Scholar Tree nodded and said:

"I think we can keep digging; the space underneath is very large, enough for us to use."

Moreover, this way we can have more food to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

We want to build a nation, and the most fundamental thing for a nation is food. Without food, everything is just empty talk.

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "That's true. We can't even feed the people in our eight cities right now. It's incredibly difficult to feed even more people."

Who says being a monarch is easy?

You have to consider all aspects. If ordinary people can't even fill their stomachs, who will support you?

Upon returning to the city lord's mansion, she went directly to court.

In the imperial court, the ministers were discussing the matter animatedly:

"Your Majesty, we are now surrounded."

Not only Yanmen Pass, but other cities are also surrounded. What do we do now?

Zhou Wanwan's lips twitched as she asked, "How did you get out?"