Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Tian Wenjing gestured for the people behind her to be quiet, then took a deep breath, her knees involuntarily feeling a little weak.

He had served as the prefect of Chizhou for three years, and the highest-ranking official he had ever met was the governor. Today, however, the emperor and two princes had arrived all at once, and the emperor and princes were even flying.

To be honest, he wasn't qualified to do this level of reception work, and no one had ever taught him how to receive a prince who could fly.

But he was a seasoned official, so he remained calm. He straightened his clothes and knelt down first, followed by a group of subordinates who knelt down in unison, their robes spreading out on the ground.

"Your humble servant, Tian Wenjing, Prefect of Chizhou, respectfully welcomes Your Majesty! Respectfully welcomes Prince Rui! Respectfully welcomes Prince Han!"

Zhu Gaoxi was lying on his cloud chair flipping through jade tablets when he heard this name. His fingers paused, and he almost spat it out.

What's your name? Tian Wenjing? Tian Wenjing, I work 8 AM.

Where the hell did this come from? Is this still the Ming Dynasty? -- Isn't this a Qing Dynasty reference? How did it end up in the Ming Dynasty?

He turned his head away, his shoulders twitching suspiciously twice before he quickly regained his composure. The prefect did have an honest appearance, with a square face and broad forehead, and three neatly trimmed tufts of beard, but his name was really jarring.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him from the side and asked with concern, "Fourth brother, what's wrong?"

Zhu Gaoxi waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a dry throat."

Zhu Di's white cloud slowly descended to a position three feet above the ground and stopped. He glanced at the officials kneeling on the ground and nodded slightly: "Get up. I'm sure you've all been informed. His Highness Prince Rui is in charge of the military provisions and everything else. You just need to find a suitable place to set up camp. Stay here for one night and leave tomorrow."

Shen Qian quickly obeyed the order, stood up, bowed his head, and stepped aside, letting the constables lead the way.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, he didn't have to worry about the military rations. Prince Rui was indeed as resourceful as rumored, even taking care of logistics.

Zhang Fu commanded his army to set up camp in an open area outside the city. This open area was close to a water source and had a flat terrain. Shen Qian had chosen it three days in advance and even sent people to level the ground and clear away weeds and rocks.

The camp was set up in an orderly manner: the central command tent was in the middle, the tents of each camp were arranged according to their positions, the stables were set up on the side of the camp near the stream, and the grain and supplies were enclosed in a separate area and guarded by a special person.

The camp was surrounded by fences and barricades, and the patrol routes and duty shifts were arranged by Zhang Fu himself. Everything was as orderly as during the march.

The ferocious beasts were placed in a specially designated open area on one side of the camp, surrounded by a temporary enclosure made of thick wooden stakes.

The rhinos lay on the ground, breathing heavily from their nostrils, occasionally shaking their massive heads.

The war elephants stood quietly in the twilight, their ears flapping slowly, like several small, moving hills.

Two fierce tiger kings lay under a large tree, each licking its front paws, ignoring the busy soldiers around them. The lion mounts of the subordinate officers were also tethered in the same area, some distance away from the warhorses of Zhang Fu, Zheng Heng, and others.

After all, ordinary warhorses cannot stand the smell of wild beasts; getting too close will startle them.

Tian Wenjing watched all this from the side, secretly amazed.

He served as the prefect of Chizhou for three years and had seen armies coming and going from the north and south, but he had never seen such a scene.

He thought he was dreaming. He quickly pinched himself several times and found it hurt a lot.

After settling the army, Tian Wenjing led Zhu Di and several princes toward the post station.

The post station in Chizhou Prefecture was built during the Hongwu period. It has blue bricks and gray tiles. The stone steps in front of the gate are smooth and shiny from the hooves of horses coming and going. The paint on the plaque above the gate that reads "Chizhou Post Station" is already somewhat mottled.

The interior was clean, with tables, chairs, and beds all provided. It was clear that Tian Wenjing had sent people to clean it repeatedly beforehand. However, it was an old building that had been there for decades, and no matter how much it was cleaned, it still had an old wooden smell. The corners of the walls were damp, and there was a faint musty smell on the wooden beams.

Zhu Gaoxi followed behind, stood at the entrance of the post station and glanced inside, his brows furrowing slightly.

He had originally thought that once he arrived in the prefectural city, the post station should be better than the one in Caishi. It seems that all post stations in the world are pretty much the same, and he will have to do it himself again.

Self-reliance leads to abundance—what kind of place is this!

However, even if this inn were better, he still wouldn't stay there. It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

He slept on a large rosewood bed and sat in a soft cotton chair at the Prince Rui's Mansion. He didn't want to compromise when he was away from home and preferred to stay in comfortable accommodations.

He turned and walked to an open space next to the post station, raising his hand to unleash the divine power of his craftsmanship.

A flash of golden light appeared at her fingertips, and pieces of wood material materialized out of thin air. Their texture and grain were exactly the same as those of century-old sandalwood, gleaming with a warm luster in the twilight.

Next came the green bricks and tiles, carved window frames, and white jade steps.

These materials seem to have been drawn from the void by an invisible hand, automatically arranging and combining in mid-air. The wood is automatically cut into beams and pillars, the blue bricks are automatically stacked into walls, the green tiles fly onto the roof one by one, and the carved window frames are precisely embedded in the window frames.

The whole process took no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and a brand-new two-story pavilion stood on the open ground, with upturned eaves, carved beams and painted rafters, blue bricks paving the ground, white jade steps, and the carvings on the doors and windows were so exquisite that even the texture of the petals was clearly visible.

Compared to the one built last night at Caishiyi, this one has more ingenuity. There's an extra row of wind chimes at the corner, an extra corridor under the eaves, and even the stone patterns on the steps in front of the door are more elaborate than before.

"Ah...ah...aba aba," Tian Wenjing stood at the entrance of the post station, his mouth wide open enough to fit an egg, the sounds coming from his throat were beyond his control.

Although he had just witnessed the spectacle of riding a tiger and riding the clouds on the official road, he had already confirmed in his heart that this Prince Rui was the legendary disciple of the Taoist Ancestor and a living immortal of this world.

But what he saw before him was beyond his limits. With a wave of his hand, a pavilion even more magnificent than the prefectural government office rose from the ground.

He felt his knees go weak, his vision go black, and his body leaned backward uncontrollably.

The magistrate and sub-prefect behind him quickly supported him from the left and right, managing to steady him.

The prefect, while supporting his superior's arm, whispered, "My lord! My lord, please stand firm!"

The assistant prefect quickly whispered, "My lord, calm down, calm down! You must not be disrespectful before His Majesty!"

Tian Wenjing was helped to stand up, shook her head vigorously, and her lips trembled.

Zhu Gaoxu was already used to these people's reactions.

Zhu Gaoxu strode over and circled the new pavilion, clicking his tongue twice. He turned to Zhu Gaoxi and said, "Fourth brother, your skills are getting better and better. This one is even more beautiful than the one at Caishiyi yesterday. It feels like it's a whole level higher."