Chapter 38
Lia nodded: 'Yes, that's the one. Once a cement road is built, travel back and forth will become much more convenient, and no one will get lost in the desert anymore.'
'Wanting to build a cement road through the desert? Let's not even talk about the consumption of manpower and resources; the very idea is practically impossible.' Morgan thought about the desert environment and felt Lia was being a bit too fanciful.
She also knew that connecting the north and south roads would be an excellent thing, but it simply couldn't be done!
But in fact, building a highway through the desert is achievable. For example, in reality, our country's Taklamakan Desert Highway was built right on the desert.
Lia also knew this point, which is why she wanted to build a highway across the desert.
However, just as Morgan said, putting aside the issue of financial resources for now, the manpower problem alone is something they currently find difficult to solve.
Perhaps this desert highway would be even more arduous to build than Emperor Qin Shi Huang's construction of the Great Wall.
Future generations have described these kinds of endeavors in this way:
'The hardship belongs to the present generation, the merit lasts for millennia!'
Whether it was the Great Wall or the Grand Canal, both consumed countless manpower and financial resources, ultimately even bankrupting the state.
Lia thought for a moment, then could only sigh.
To connect Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, she would at least need to unify the entire country first. Thinking about this now was still a bit too early.
Lia pondered and felt it would be better for her to figure out a way later to capture some people from other countries, directly using them to build various highways, railways, and dig canals within her own territory.
As long as these people were all from other countries, she figured she probably wouldn't incur any infamy domestically.
Listening to her two daughters' conversation, Iglein couldn't understand a word of it. Not understanding was fine; she wasn't interested in these matters anyway. It was more fun to hold her granddaughter.
'By the way, Lia. I heard from Morgan that this child is yours and her daughter. Is that true?' Iglein asked.
Alice, who had been silently eating, nearly spat out her food. Lia's and Morgan's daughter? Is this something I should be hearing???
But aren't Lia and Morgan both girls? Can girls have children together? Didn't the books say that a child comes from the union of male and female, yin and yang?
Thinking of the knowledge she had learned, Alice was instantly plunged into silence.
Lia also flushed bright red at Iglein's words. Looking at her mother, she felt there was a peculiar gleam in her eyes.
'That... probably, maybe, yes.' Lia stammered out her reply.
How could she say out loud that she was forced by Morgan and that's how the child came to be?
'Your sisterly affairs... I don't even know what to say... Forget it, you already have a child. I just hope you two can be well and safe.'
Iglein truly didn't know how to address this matter. When Morgan initially said the child's father was Lia, she couldn't believe it, thinking Morgan was deceiving her, not wanting her to know who the father was.
Now that Lia had admitted it, it meant this granddaughter was indeed the fruit of both of them. She could only sigh.
Although it seemed unlikely for two women to bear a child, she had always known her two daughters were not ordinary people and couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
Forget it, why should she meddle so much in her daughters' affairs? It was better to amuse her granddaughter. Thinking this, Iglein began to play with Long Luxin.
Seeing Iglein didn't press further, Lia breathed a slight sigh of relief, but could only glare fiercely at her sister.
Morgan was completely unfazed by her little sister's minor threat; in fact, she found it rather cute.
Chapter 91: Morgan Is Getting Restless Again
In the evening, Lia was alone in the garden, leaning against a pillar, gazing up at the stars in the night sky. Countless stars shone brilliantly, making the entire night sky seem paved with gems.
In the 21st-century world, starlight was completely overshadowed by streetlights. Generally, except in the countryside, one could hardly see such a scene.
However, having lived in this world for so long, she was used to it by now, so she wasn't particularly moved. She just felt a bit sentimental looking at the bright moon in the sky.
For some reason, she felt a little homesick for that home from the future, wondering if her parents were doing well.
Looking at the familiar night sky, Lia sighed.
'Little sister, why are you still outside? Aren't you planning to rest?' A voice suddenly came from behind. Lia turned to find her sister, one hand holding down her hair blown by the cold wind, a gentle smile gracing her face.
'Just thinking about some things. Aren't you asleep either, sister?' Lia was a bit surprised to see Morgan come out of the room.
Ancient times were not like modern times. Once it got dark, the entire street fell into silence. If it wasn't a major festival, Common People, tired from a day's labor, chose to rest early.
Nothing like modern times, where night is when the fun begins.
But Lia believed that kind of time shouldn't be too far off. The knowledge in her mind was enough to develop this world to the level of the 19th century.
As long as they had electricity, many things could be created then.
Human labor was far too inefficient compared to technological productivity. Once usable electricity was available, productivity would rapidly increase.
'Is that so... Then I'll keep you company.' Morgan quietly sat down beside Lia. A sweet, distinctly feminine fragrance drifted into Lia's nostrils.
Lia glanced at her sister, smiled, and simply leaned against her, her gaze returning to the sky. The softness of Morgan's bosom against her felt very comfortable.
After a while, Morgan stroked Lia's golden hair and asked nonchalantly, 'What were you thinking about just now, little sister?'
'Home, I guess.'
'Home?' Morgan frowned slightly, looking at Lia with confusion.
'Mm, home.' Lia didn't explain, just nodded gently, then looked at Morgan.
'Sister, how has it felt for you handling government affairs these past six months?'
After Lia set out for the Western Regions, she had essentially handed over all matters in the Hexi Corridor to Morgan. However, because many of her policies and directives differed from this world's norms, she imagined Morgan had quite a few arguments with the ministers.
Although Merlin had once opposed Lia doing this, Lia didn't follow Merlin's advice. Artoria listened to Merlin too much and ended up getting herself killed; Lia naturally wouldn't make that mistake.
Of course, it wasn't about not listening to Merlin at all, but rather not blindly obeying. Good suggestions Lia would naturally adopt.
Since Morgan loved power, Lia gave her all the authority, letting her handle all affairs in the rear, overseeing the state, while she herself acted as Morgan's 'Northern Expedition General.'
Similar to Zhu Di and his son.
This way, she probably also realized that being a good ruler wasn't so easy, right? It wasn't something one could achieve by scheming in the shadows.
The moment one grasps power, while enjoying giving orders, one must also take responsibility for those orders.
So Lia handed over all rear administrative affairs to her to handle, while she watched from the side, offering reminders if anything seemed off.
So far, under Lia's 'guidance,' Morgan had been handling things quite well.
'How to put it... I used to think a king just sat on the throne issuing orders, doing whatever they wanted, and those below just followed. But from handling affairs this period, it seems it's not something that makes one feel happy.'
A trace of confusion appeared in Morgan's eyes.
After Lia left, after Lia handed over all rear affairs to her, she originally thought she could wield power freely. But when she actually started acting, she found her policies constantly encountering obstacles.
Today, if it wasn't someone reporting problems to her from somewhere, it was some rats hiding in the shadows working against her. Although those ministers didn't openly curse her, Morgan understood better than anyone. She was clearly furious, but couldn't just eliminate these people. Sometimes, it was enough to give her internal injuries from frustration.
"Sister, unless you want to be the kind of tyrant or despot. While that might make you feel good in the moment, if you disregard the lives of the people, then the nation won't be far from collapse. Even a tyrant wouldn't last long," Lia said with a laugh.
She was just starting out now; what foundation did she have to support them acting like tyrants? Unless she laid a solid groundwork, then when Morgan ascended to power, she might have the chance to be that tyrant.
Right now, Morgan and she were starting from scratch. They both knew how hard-won this was, so how could they possibly afford to act like tyrants?
"Sigh..." Morgan couldn't help but let out a sigh.
A nation's longevity naturally relies on the support of its people. How could an absurd and profligate ruler earn the affection of Common People? Failing to show compassion for the people and subordinates, even bullying them—a popular uprising is bound to happen sooner or later.
Since she had already decided to let Morgan handle governmental affairs for her in the future, she began telling her some historical anecdotes from previous dynasties as a warning.
But as she spoke, the situation started to change flavor.
"Um, sister, could you please stop your hands?" Lia looked up, her face slightly flushed as she stared directly at Morgan, a hint of shyness on her face.
It turned out that at some unknown point, Morgan had already pulled Lia entirely into her embrace. Her hands were also moving rather unnaturally over Lia's body.
Moreover, Morgan's body pressed closer, as if she wanted nothing more than to meld Lia into her own form.
Lia was immediately flustered, not just by Morgan's actions, but also by the sensations transmitted through their physical contact.
She was having a perfectly serious conversation with Morgan about the rise and fall of history!
"Don't you like it?" Morgan looked down at Lia, her eyes filled with tenderness.
Faced with such undisguised affection for her, Lia was also at a loss, unsure how to respond.
"If you don't answer, I'll take it as you liking what I'm doing too." A sly smile flashed across Morgan's face as her hands continued moving over Lia's body, gradually becoming more audacious.
Sensing Morgan's hands acting wantonly on her body, Lia's face naturally flushed red.
Lia tried to struggle a bit, but Morgan held her very tightly. Unless she used magical power, she might be able to break free, but that would injure Morgan.
Chapter 92: Gaining a Skill from Morgan Once More
After hesitating for a moment, Lia finally set aside her reservations about Morgan. With a hint of shame on her face, she said, "Um... even if we're going to do it... not here. Let's go back to the room."
After saying this, Lia's face was already completely crimson. Wasn't this just admitting she agreed to let Morgan have her way with her?
Hearing this, Morgan couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. This time, she wasn't forcing it; she was making her younger sister willing.
"Little sister, do you prefer black stockings or white stockings?" Morgan suddenly asked.
Lia was a bit confused, not understanding why Morgan suddenly brought this up. "What black stockings or white stockings? I don't care what you want to wear!"
Morgan blinked her eyes but didn't say anything more. Instead, she picked Lia up and headed towards her room.
The night was naturally filled with boundless amorous scenes!
"System: Close Contact, successfully activated! You have successfully obtained a skill from the other party (water mirror Art · Spatial Transfer). Host, keep up the good work! ●●●"
water mirror Art · Spatial Transfer: Can create a mirror-like spatial construct. The other side of the mirror can lead to a desired location. The distance depends on one's own magical power.
The next day, Lia got out of bed feeling somewhat weak. The bedsheet was still damp. Remembering the events of last night, Lia's face couldn't help but flush red, followed by deep regret.
Last night, she had been too careless and fell right into her own sister's trap. She must be more careful next time!
However, this time she did obtain a rather useful skill from Morgan. Just from the description, this water mirror Art was clearly a teleportation-type magic!
This skill was much more useful than something like summoning skeletons. Originally, using those skeletons as laborers wasn't a bad choice, but they were skeletons after all. If people saw them directly, wouldn't that cause trouble immediately?
"Ah, I've got an idea!"
When talking about laborers, Lia suddenly thought of something. Wasn't she planning to build some kind of road in the desert? Having Common People build roads in the desert definitely wasn't suitable, but what about having skeletons build a cement road?
After all, skeletons don't know fatigue, don't need to drink or eat. Just drag them to the desert to build the highway. The results might unexpectedly be good?
Moreover, there are basically no people in the desert, so they wouldn't be discovered.
Even if someone did eventually discover them, they would likely be considered the restless dead who perished in the desert. No one would connect it to her, and it wouldn't cause widespread panic.
However, this still needed testing. Although Lia had obtained this skill, she had never used it. She didn't know the limits of these skeletons or whether they could actually handle this job.
Thinking this, Lia decided to find a place to test it.
But first, she needed to change the bedsheets and bedding. She was truly too embarrassed to call a maid to tidy up. If those servants found out what happened last night, where would she put her face?
Lia directly threw these bedsheets into the river outside her window. What she didn't know was that some small fish swam over, drinking the residual traces, gradually undergoing some changes.
Ancient times said that even a dragon's urine could cause mutations in river fish. It seems there might be some truth to that?
Lia called for Ninger and asked where her sister had gone, only to learn she had already left for the court assembly.
Since she had gone to the court assembly, that meant she wasn't in the residence. Lia had someone prepare some breakfast. After finishing it, she looked at a fish bone on the table, lost in thought.
After some consideration, Lia placed a hand on the fish bone. Magical power passed through her palm and entered the bone.
Then, in the eye sockets of the fish bone, an eerie blue light suddenly ignited. Then, without anyone touching it, it began to move on the plate.
However, after just a few movements, the fish's bones clattered apart onto the floor, and the light in its eyes gradually faded.
"Hmm? Is the bone quality not sufficient?" Seeing this, Lia was a bit puzzled.
Because these fish had been cooked, the nature of the bones had long since changed. So, they just shattered after moving slightly.
After some thought, Lia felt she needed to find some larger things to try.
After having someone clear the table, Lia returned to her room. She wanted to test the effects of this water mirror Art. After thinking, Lia directly summoned a water mirror.
Looking at this water mirror, Lia walked straight into it. When she emerged, she saw a water mirror abruptly appear atop a stretch of yellow sand, and then Lia stepped right out of the water mirror.
This was a desert area outside the Yumen Pass. From Liang Province to Yumen Pass was nearly 1,000 kilometers. She hadn't expected to travel this far after using half her magical power.
But this skill was indeed useful! A thousand miles traversed in an instant, somewhat similar to the immortal art of 'shrinking the earth to an inch.'
Although the cost was consuming half her magical power, as a Dragon's Incarnation, her magical power recovered extremely quickly. The expended power would be restored within a day.
Lia thought for a moment and began walking in the desert. After over ten minutes, she found a large bone almost buried by the yellow sand. Judging by its appearance, it should be a camel.
As Lia approached and touched the camel's bones, planning to try the Skeleton Summoning spell on this camel, she suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves not far away in the desert. The sounds grew from distant to near—a total of over a dozen riders.