I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 129 Slaves and News

……

……

A cold wind howled.

Manshu actually brought a caravan.

At the gates of Frostleaf Town, Rhode looked at Manshu in surprise.

"Winter has already arrived. I remember you said that the next time we come should be in spring."

"It's so cold."

Manxiu rubbed his hands together and put his arm around his shoulder.

"It's really cold here. I thought I was making one last trip before winter, but I didn't expect the snow to come so quickly."

Rhodes waved his hand, signaling the guards to drape the fur coat over Manshu.

"As a friend, I must bring you the goods you need as soon as possible."

Manshu said boastfully, "This time I've brought you slaves, a full four hundred of them!"

Rod was clearly taken aback and asked in surprise, "Why are there so many people all of a sudden?"

He had already seen that Manxiu had brought a large, densely packed team this time.

But I was still shocked by the number.

Last time, Manxiu only brought nine slaves, but this time there are more than four hundred. The food expenses alone will cost a lot of money.

Therefore, Rhodes was filled with doubt.

"Ugh."

Manxiu sighed softly.

"Fighting has broken out in the west, and a huge influx of refugees has poured into Oak City. These slaves have multiplied to this number in less than two weeks."

To be honest, some were bought, and some were found. Gradually, it grew to this many people.

Looking at these people, Rhodes suddenly realized that he had made the right decision to stockpile food.

Before the autumn harvest, Rod felt he couldn't afford to support so many people.

"It's so cold in winter, I don't even want to come out of the house, and these soldiers still have to get up and fight, it's really..."

Before Rhodes could finish speaking, he suddenly realized, "Oh right, it's not as cold in the west as it is here."

They should have just finished the autumn harvest, and everyone has plenty of food, so it's normal for them to be restless and start a war.

Unlike the Northern Wastes, other places don't have people who spend the winter resting in their cabins.

Manxiu nodded in agreement.

Rhodes walked to the back of the line and looked at the ragged, emaciated slaves behind him, all dressed in very thin clothes.

Unlike the people of the North, who had long since donned thick fur coats.

"Alright, alright, let's go. Let's not let these people get sick."

Rhodes waved his hand and then told Lawrence to lead the caravan inside.

These slaves have finally made it here; let's hope they don't freeze to death in this cold weather.

That would be a loss for both Rhodes and Mansh.

Rhodes instructed Lawrence to place the slaves in the large communal room in the warehouse behind the inn.

Inside were rows of heated brick beds piled high with straw, specifically used to imprison unassigned slaves; they were very warm.

This wasn't the first time Manshu had worked with Rhodes, so he was relatively at ease and let Lawrence take the person away.

Bringing them here would naturally mean selling them all to Rhodes, as the weather makes it impossible for Manshu to venture further into the North.

Manshu then followed Rhodes back to the manor.

"Your Excellency, it's so cold here. I really don't know how you get through the winter."

"Manxiu sighed."

The reason Manshu doesn't come to the Northern Wastes in winter is because it's too cold.

It's cold not only outside, but also inside. Every time I come back from outside, I have to warm up by the stove for a long time before I can recover.

When traveling through the wilderness, Manshu felt like he would freeze to death every night when he was outside.

Rhodes smiled, simply said "It's alright," and then led Manshu into the hall.

"its not right……"

As soon as the guard lifted the curtain, Manxiu felt a warm breeze rush towards him even before he stepped into the hall.

When he entered the house, his face was filled with surprise.

"Something's not right here! How can it be so warm?"

Manxiu couldn't help but lick his lips; the inside and outside worlds were completely different!

Rod pointed to the fireplace next to him: "It's warmer because of it."

Manshu shook his head: "No, the taverns in the border town also have fireplaces, but they're not this warm. And the door is so far from the fireplace..."

Rod stopped teasing him and looked at the cigarettes beside him, saying, "That's for keeping warm."

"what is this?"

Manxiu walked over curiously, looked at the padded chimney, reached out and touched it, and was surprised to find that it was actually very hot.
Is this a stool?

Manxiu sensed something was wrong.

There were several frozen pears on the flue, slowly thawing.

"Could this be a table?"

"You can interpret it that way,"

Rod explained, "You can sit on it or lie on it; it's for keeping warm."

"Then why is it hot?"

"Did you bring in firewood to burn?"

"But how can it be put in?"

"Won't this place get congested if it burns for too long?"

……

Manxiu suddenly became like a curious child, sitting on the chimney and asking all sorts of questions one after another.

Rhodes was somewhat helpless.

"It's complicated and can't be explained in a short time. Besides, it's quite boring. You'd better not listen."

"Ok."

Manxiu looked slightly disappointed, then stood up. "I'm sorry, I was a bit rude. This thing is really quite amazing."

"It's okay, if you like sitting up there, we can chat up there."

Rhode gestured for Manshu to sit down, and then had Lia bring over some hot tea.

"Thanks you."

Manxiu bowed slightly, then happily sat back down on the warm chimney.

The children have been freezing in the wild these past few days.

"Let's talk about the war in the west that you mentioned earlier."

Rhodes looked at Mansh, who was holding a teacup, and asked, "With so many refugees, it seems like the war is quite large. Are those two noble families fighting?"

"It's the border of the Western Provinces, a war with the Allied Duchy of Eorfen."

Manshu said mysteriously, "Besides them, there are also some islanders from the western archipelago, and legend has it that some people have seen the figures of sea creatures among them."

"Sea creatures? What kind?"

Rhodes suddenly remembered the merman monster he had seen in the ruins.

But in reality, the sea people are a very broad ethnic group.

There are legendary mermaids, sirens, sea frogmen, and so on, making the population far more diverse than that of humans.

Like the alien races of the northern wilderness, the sea races refer to many kinds of intelligent beings.

"Some ugly fish-men emerged from the sea."

Manshu tried hard to recall, emphasizing, "It was extremely ugly, and all it did all day was scream 'waaaaa'. It didn't even know the Imperial language."

"But they were very cruel, attacking nearby fishing villages, catching the surrounding lords completely off guard."

Rhodes had thought it was a war between the western and southern provinces, but now it seemed to be an invasion by a foreign enemy.

"Was the fighting serious? Has the Empire made no reaction?"

Rod asked.

If it were truly a war of foreign invasion, the empire would not stand idly by.

"Before I arrived with these slaves, the Duke of Flowers was temporarily maintaining the war, but it is said that the Southern Lord has already prepared an army,"

Manxiu smiled and said, "The information is inaccurate; it's just hearsay. I think if it were truly a secret operation, they wouldn't let us know so easily."

"Don't you all know?"

Rhodes asked curiously, "Shouldn't you merchants profit from war? The prices of food and weapons in the west must be skyrocketing right now, right?" Manshu nodded, "Of course, but as you know, each of our family merchant guilds has fixed trade routes and areas."

“That one on the western border has nothing to do with our Silver Dove family, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Manshu felt helpless. "Back then, the Parchment family paid a heavy price to secure trade routes to the West."

"Then you can take good care of this trade route for me. You can continue to provide me with slaves, the more the better."

Rod said with a smile.

"Of course! Your place is better than theirs!"

"I want more salt and new paper!" Manshu exclaimed.

"Eh?"

Rod suddenly realized, "If there's a war in the western islands, does that mean your salt supply is also experiencing problems?"

Manshu looked at Rhodes and sighed slightly. "You're really too shrewd... well, you are."

Originally, Manshuh would have bought salt and then sold it back to Manshuh.

But now the price of salt near Oak City has also risen to 60 copper coins, and Manshu is considering sending it back to sell.

"You're not going to raise the price, are you?" Manshu asked with a pained expression.

“You yourself said that the price of slaves is not high, and the price of salt has gone up.”

Rhodes didn't say it directly, but smiled and looked at Manxiu, "You have to share some of the profits with me, right?"

Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. While you can be casual about eating and drinking, you must be serious when doing business.

"Ok."

Manshu sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "Slaves are half price, so you have to let me make back what I've eaten, right?"

"make a deal."

Rod readily agreed.

……

……

"By the way, Your Excellency!"

Manxiu smiled, his face full of mystery, his voice tinged with smugness.

"I've brought you something really good this time!"

"Ok?"

Rhodes raised an eyebrow, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

This is the first time this guy has ever shown such an expression.

Manxiu carefully pulled open his clothes and took out a very exquisite leather bag.

Do you have a knife?

"Manxiu asked."

Rod nodded, then took a fruit knife from the basket next to him and handed it to Mansh.

"Thank you."

Manxiu took the knife and skillfully cut open the belt seal.

The movements were very light, clearly indicating that something precious was inside.

"Your Excellency, please look at this!"

Manshu took out an orange-red gem from inside and held it up to Rhodes.

Rhodes's eyes narrowed as he stared at the gem.

It gleamed in the sunlight, like a dancing flame, both intense and familiar.

The Flame Gem among the extraordinary gems.

This one is even bigger than the one Rhodes got from inside the bear's belly!

Manxiu had a big smile on his face.

"This is the extraordinary gem you requested! I asked many friends for help and went to great lengths to get it for you!"

"I know."

Rhodes said calmly.

He took the gemstone, held it in his hand and weighed it in his hand; a burning sensation immediately came from his palm.

Even though Rhode isn't actively absorbing it, the energy of the flames is still gradually seeping into his body.

Before the Gem Collector unlocks it, this thing will just be a collectible for him.

But it's different now.

He needs the energy of this fire gem to make himself stronger.

"How many gold coins?"

Rod asked directly.

"This extraordinary gem is worth two hundred and thirty-seven gold coins."

Manshut's tone was very serious.

"This gem cost me a lot of favors, but I didn't ask for a single extra gold coin from you. What I paid was two hundred and thirty-seven gold coins."

Then Manshu smiled slightly, "However, I hope to exchange this gem for a sumptuous dinner."

"Hahaha!"

Rhodes gripped the Flame Gem tightly, in high spirits. "Don't worry, I'll let you taste a delicacy you've never had before."

The price of the Flame Gem is definitely not cheap; the price of over two hundred gold coins is far below Rhodes's expectations.

Rhodes thought it would reach four hundred gold coins.

So Rod didn't try to negotiate the price the first time.

He stood up, waved for Leah, and whispered a few instructions.

"This gem is nice; I hope you can give me more."

"Please rest assured, I will do my best to collect it."

Manxiu nodded solemnly.

In the hall, Leah and her servants began to get busy.

Before long, four braziers filled with charcoal were placed on the table, and Lia lit them and placed the earthenware pots on them.

"This is?"

Manxiu looked on with curiosity.

"You'll know in a minute."

Rod smiled.

Rod treated Manxiu to hot pot, of course.

It's just that unlike before, when we would gather around the stove together...
Nobles always have to eat in a more refined way; they can't eat together in a crowded place.

Now each person has their own small pot, with the soup bubbling and steaming.

In the evening, snowflakes were falling outside, but the house was warm and cozy.

Manxiu tossed a piece of meat into the pot, looked at the steaming soup, and couldn't help but exclaim, "This is really good!"

He picked up a piece of cooked meat, took a bite, and his mouth was filled with delicious flavor. His eyes narrowed as he exclaimed, "Eating something hot and drinking soup is just so comforting!"

However, unlike Avril Lavigne and Durant, Manshock was already adept at using chopsticks to pick up food quickly.

Like Lawrence, he fumbled around with the wooden skewers and fork, eating rather clumsily.

"You mentioned sea creatures today?"

While eating hot pot, Rod casually said, "I also hope you can help me investigate some things."

Manxiu swallowed what was in his mouth and nodded: "Yes, what can I do for you?"

Rod put down his chopsticks, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it to Manxiu: "Help me find out what these patterns are and what they are related to."

The patterns above are, of course, the text from the ancient texts found within the ruins.

Rod didn't say it was text, only casually referring to it as "patterns".

Rhodes is not used to placing all his hopes on one person or organization.

If Dawn is unclear about this, then perhaps Manxiu can also find the answer.

Manxiu put down his cutlery, took the note, frowned, and stared at it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out.

"This one……"

Manshu had never seen such a strange pattern before.

He looked up at Rod and assured him, "No problem, I'll definitely find out for you!"

Rhodes nodded, picked up his bowl, took a sip of soup, and said slowly, "It might be related to the culture of the sea people. You can look into that direction."

He paused, then added, "Of course, if we can't find it, then forget it."

(End of this chapter)