I became a prince in a martial arts world.

The next day, when Zhao Rong heard about what had happened the night before, especially that Wang Yu had invited Gu Tong Ziyu to be his guest, he was stunned for a moment before rushing to the reception hall, only to find that everyone was already having breakfast.

After they had met, Wang Yu invited Zhao Rong to take a seat, and Wei Gutong also explained his intention to move into the Wang residence.

"My husband and I are like hermits, living a nomadic life with no fixed abode, which we've gotten used to, but it's a bit inconvenient to have Feifei with us."

Wei Gutong said, "Feifei's family was destroyed, and she was depressed. She did not intend to stay in the Central Plains. Her original intention was not to return to the Central Plains after taking revenge, but to go to the Western Regions in anonymity."

It is said that the Western Regions connect the East and West, with vast deserts and oases, where thirty-six kingdoms live in peace, and where both men and women are skilled in singing and dancing—truly a blessed land. However, after inquiring in Longshan Prefecture, we learned that the Western Regions are also plagued by war and are struggling to survive.

"But as luck would have it, we ran into Prince Zhao," Yan Ziyu said. "Although Prince Zhao has quite a temper, he is sincere and reliable, and the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion is enough to deter villains."

Therefore, we wish to entrust Feifei to Prince Zhao so that she may stay at the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion for a while. My husband and I are deeply grateful for your hospitality. If any talented young man from the Northwest is willing to accept Feifei, my husband and I will also provide a generous dowry.

"Auntie," Yuan Feifei gasped, "I only wish to grow old alone..."

"Foolish," Wei Gutong interrupted, "If you die alone, the Yuan family bloodline will be extinct."

Yuan Feifei stopped talking, but her eyes remained stubborn.

Wei Gutong sighed and didn't press the matter further, but simply looked at Wang Yu.

Wang Yu naturally had no objection. "It is my honor that Senior Wei and Senior Yan trust the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion. Please stay at Yingfeng Pavilion for as long as you like, so as to add some elegance to the mansion. I will also have the pleasure of hearing a timeless masterpiece."

"Excellent, excellent." Wei Gutong clapped his hands and laughed. "Although Feifei is young, she has already inherited the true teachings of the Yuan family and her zither skills are extraordinary. Her rendition of 'Ice Mountain Flowing Spring' is also extremely exquisite."

Yan Ziyu smiled and said, "Then thank you very much, Prince Zhao."

……

People of the martial world are free to go whenever they want.

After breakfast, Wei Gutong and Yan Ziyu took their leave. Wang Yu gave Yan Ziyu three bottles of his homemade perfume, which earned him even more goodwill. Then Zhao Yingjie tidied up Yingfeng Pavilion, and Yuan Feifei stayed at the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion.

A few days later, the follow-up matters of Qianliu Manor were settled. The Ding family branch sold a large amount of land and shops to the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion, keeping only the manor and a small amount of land and wealth for themselves. In addition, the new head of the family was not good at martial arts, so it could be said that he had almost withdrawn from the martial arts world.

The construction of the perfume workshop is also progressing smoothly. Orchid, peony, and peach blossom perfumes grown in the Northwest have begun to be produced on a small scale. The royal family's caravans have already taken the finished perfumes to the Central Plains and also purchased roses, cloves, wild roses, and other plants grown there.

This world is not like the modern world, where various flowers can be grown at any time under temperature control in greenhouses. We can only wait for the right time or buy some dried petals left over from last year.

Wang Yu has been practicing his skills these past few days, and he has made progress in all aspects, including internal strength, lightness skills, and swordsmanship.

In particular, Zhao Rong also purchased a century-old wild ginseng and a piece of old mountain Solomon's seal.

Once again, seeing Wang Yu devour a wild ginseng and an old Solomon's seal like they were eating steamed buns, Zhao Rong's lips twitched.

Every medicine has some degree of toxicity, and even the most potent tonic shouldn't be taken without any medication.

He couldn't hold back any longer and asked Wang Yu, "Would you like to have Doctor Li take your pulse?"

Doctor Li was the physician in the Prince's residence, specifically responsible for treating illnesses among the residents.

"No need, I know what I'm doing!"

Wang Yu waved his hand, feeling the expansion of his meridians and the increasing flow of his internal energy. "Uncle Rong, continue to acquire medicinal herbs, especially those that are hundreds of years old, or those that are highly nourishing and useful to us martial artists."

Zhao Rong, "..."

Seeing that Zhao Rong didn't move, Wang Yu asked, "Uncle Rong, is there anything else?"

Zhao Rong nodded. "Young Master has already met General Peng and General Lu. Now that the Prince's residence has stabilized, would you like to take some time to go to the northern front and meet General Yang and General Feng?"

General Yang, Yang Tianzhao, commander of the Yangwei Army, is stationed at Jinfeng Pass on the northern front of Longshan Prefecture.

General Feng, Feng Jing, is the commander of the Ding'an Army and is stationed at Lingwu Pass on the northern front of Qing'an Prefecture.

The King of Zhenxi was, after all, a king who was enfeoffed on horseback. Both the founder Zhao Ling and Wang Yu's fake father Zhao Zheng had commanded various armies, swept across the northern deserts, and established their own independent regimes.

Therefore, a general must know his troops, and a king must know his generals.

Yang Tianzhao and Feng Jing are stationed on the northern front, so they certainly cannot leave the army to come to the Prince's residence to pay their respects. If Wang Yu does not go to the northern front, then they can only wait until next year when the troops are rotated to pay their respects.

However, this would take too long and give the impression that the prince was afraid to go to the front lines. If the prince was unaware of the generals, then decline would not be far off.

"Great!" Wang Yu's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

As a Chinese man, besides having a martial arts dream of roaming the world with a sword, one naturally also has a dream of becoming a general who can conquer the world and drink from the vast ocean.

In the modern revival of Hanfu, some people say that men are not interested in Hanfu and there are not many nice clothes for them, and that women are the ones who carry half the sky of Hanfu.

Try giving him a suit of gleaming armor and a bright silver spear.

It should be noted that in ancient costume scenic spots across the country, the ones that attract the most attention are not the various beautiful young ladies, but the handsome young men dressed in full armor, riding warhorses, and holding long weapons.

At the very least, he should be a member of the Imperial Guard with an embroidered spring knife at his waist, right?

It's not that men don't want to wear them, but if you want them to be of good quality, the cost is indeed a bit high.

Besides, people might just think a dozen or so beautifully dressed young ladies look good, but if you gather a dozen or so burly men in armor and carrying weapons, do you think the local hat-wearing uncles will allow you to go out on the street?

I never imagined that the dream I couldn't wake up from in modern times would all come true after I traveled through time.

"Since I'm free lately, let's go."

To be honest, taking control of the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion was much simpler than Wang Yu had imagined, and even more so than Li Yunxiu had anticipated.

Although Li Yunxiu did not think that Wang Yu, who looked exactly like Zhao Yu, would be exposed as an imposter, he was still not skilled in martial arts and had been away from the palace for ten years, so he had no foundation in the palace.

Even if Zhao Yu were to return, in order to gain real power and avoid being sidelined, he would still need to engage in intrigue and power struggles within the Prince's residence.

It should be noted that Zhao Rong, the chief steward of the Prince's mansion, and the six military commanders under the Prince's command are not easy men.

However, Wang Yu's performance greatly exceeded Li Yunxiu's expectations.

Although she was unaware that Wang Yu's martial arts skills had reached a level where he could deceive Zhao Rong, he resolutely and decisively countered Zhao Rong and Zhao Siqi's inquiries and tests, displaying the demeanor of a powerful ruler.

With Zhao Rong's genuine assistance and Zhao Siqi's loss of military power, the entire Prince's Mansion immediately submitted to Wang Yu. Even the assistant administrators and clerks cooperated smoothly with Li Yunxiu.

News of that day had been circulating in bits and pieces. Everyone knew that the more capable Li Yunxiu was, the stronger the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion would become. She was all alone there; no matter how capable she was, how could she possibly cause any trouble?

After all, in the end, Wang Yu made the decisions regarding matters in the Prince's residence!

Unless she gives birth to a child for Wang Yu, then kills Wang Yu and helps his son ascend the throne, and then, as the Dowager Consort, controls the Prince's Mansion and surrenders to the court.

Leaving aside the fact that this step takes a long time, if Li Yunxiu really did this, there would be many obstacles and the chances of success would be slim. Apart from saying "admiration" and "ruthless", everyone could only lament that Li Yunxiu's title of female champion was not well-deserved.

Getting back to the main point, Wang Yu and Li Yunxiu's operation to take control of the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion went very smoothly, allowing Li Yunxiu to carry out her work without Wang Yu even needing to stay in the mansion as a mascot to assist Li Yunxiu.

Alternatively, going to inspect the northern front to ensure the loyalty of Yang Tianzhao and Feng Jing was also an important task.

Seeing that Wang Yu immediately agreed, Zhao Rong also smiled, "I will prepare wine, meat and money for the troops to reward the young master, as well as some food and medicine."

Wang Yu asked curiously, "How much stuff are you preparing?"

"Two catties of meat, one liter of wine, and half a tael of silver," Zhao Rong replied.

"It's only half a tael of silver, what's the big deal?"

"Half a tael of silver is quite a lot. This isn't military pay, but a reward."

At this point, Wang Yu remembered to ask, "How much are our soldiers' pay?"

"Twenty taels a year."

"Only twenty taels a year?"

"Twenty taels is not a small amount. It includes food and lodging. This twenty taels is actually money to support the family. Fifty thousand soldiers would cost one million, plus three thousand iron cavalry and thirty thousand warhorses, replacement clothing and weapons, etc. Just maintaining the Prince's army would cost close to two million a year."

Zhao Rong emphasized, "The treatment of our Zhenxi Army is already much better than that of the imperial court. The border troops in Ding'an Prefecture and Yumen Prefecture only receive twelve taels of silver a year, not to mention the garrison troops in various places."

Wang Yu counted on his fingers as he did arithmetic.

He was influenced by the martial arts novels from his previous life, which often mentioned hundreds or thousands of taels of silver. In reality, prices in ancient agricultural society were really low; twenty taels was enough to support a family.

Twenty taels may not seem like much, but multiplied by fifty thousand, it is no small sum.

It has to be said that maintaining a regular army is indeed expensive, and it's not something that ordinary people can afford.

Fine, anyway, even if I wanted to raise the soldiers' salaries, I wouldn't have the ability to do so right now.

Even without a pay raise, occasional subsidies are enough to enhance soldiers' sense of belonging and combat effectiveness. Just like modern state-owned enterprises, even though the salaries are not high, giving out money and gifts during holidays makes people feel that the benefits are really good.

"I just took office as the Prince of Zhenxi this year, so let's make the rewards for the troops even more generous this time," Wang Yu thought for a moment and said, "Two catties of meat, two liters of wine, and two taels of silver."

An extra liter of wine is nothing, but two taels of silver is no small sum. Zhao Rong couldn't help but ask, "What about the rest of the three armies and the Iron Eagle Cavalry...?"

"Naturally, it's the same number."

Fifty thousand soldiers would cost one hundred thousand taels of silver, which the Prince's treasury could easily afford. Moreover, the perfume workshop had already begun mass production, and its annual income would exceed one hundred thousand taels.

Zhao Rong was aware of this, so he did not object to it.

Wang Yu instructed, "I will personally go to the northern front. You keep an eye on the rewards for the other three armies. Tell them that these rewards are to celebrate my new appointment as the King of Zhenxi. Anyone who dares to embezzle them is going against me. If I find out, they will be punished according to military law."

Zhao Rong smiled, as if seeing his sworn brother from his youth, and readily agreed, "Alright!"