Castle of Black Iron

It was bustling at the station of East Datang City. Whistles of trains could be heard every once a while. With the sound “Tshh”, the locomotive of the train was releasing the pressure of its boiler by blowing white steam. As a result, the rail and platform near the locomotive were suffused with white mist.

After daybreak, the entire city had woken up and recovered its vigor, including this railway station.

“Childe Liu, see you!”

The train conductor saw Zhang Tie off the exit of his compartment with a big smile. After hearing his words, Zhang Tie replied with “hmm” as he got off the train and left the railway station leisurely.

Not until he left the railway station and stood at the exit of the railway station among the people did Zhang Tie let out a sigh. He then started to squint at this city.

The exit of this railway station was composed of two stories of roads. The roads above were overline bridges made of steel structure, which looked like huge centipedes. After leaving the railway station, the travelers had to go to the overpasses for the taxi. Along the staircase of the overpasses, they would see over ten lines of yellow-green taxis waiting orderly in an exclusive station. Only after a short while, they would leave there by taxi.

The roads below were underground metro system.

Both two stories of roads were in order.

Among all the super large cities across the country, the underground metro system was taken as a symbol of the prosperous history of the city. As the underground metro system needed a pretty high cost, ordinary Class A cities didn’t have underground metro system; instead, only those super large cities which had seen its prosperity for over 100 years and especially reached a great scale in commercial prosperity and population could have such underground metro systems, in which pattern, the underground space of these cities could be fully utilized.

It was said that Datang City grew more and more prosperous under the rule of Xuanyuan Wuji the third prince of Emperor Xuanyuan. Therefore, this city proved the administrative ability of Xuanyuan Wuji as it glittered like a medal on the third prince’s breast.

It was of great significance for Zhang Tie to kill third prince. As long as it was revealed, many people would be involved. Therefore, the fewer people knew it, the better. That was why Zhang Tie didn’t inquire intelligence about Xuanyuan Wuji through Jinwu Business Group or other channels. After leaving the station of East Datang City, Zhang Tie felt very strange about the place and its people. Zhang Tie didn’t even know the trace of Xuanyuan Wuji; nor did he know how Xuanyuan Wuji look. Zhang Tie only knew that Datang City was the private city of Xuanyuan Wuji. According to the regulation, all the princes had their own cities. After growing mature, those princes were forbidden to leave their private cities without the consent or order of Xuanyuan Hill.

Although being noble, princes’ freedom was limited. After gaining their private cities, many princes could only spend most of their time over there. If any prince violated the regulation, the censorate of Xuanyuan Hill would submerge that prince by impeaching him. Given this point, after growing mature, princes were not even as free as commoners.

However, they were much freer than emperors who were even forbidden to leave the chief gate of the imperial palace. As each bounty land would cover over 6 million square miles, as long as those princes were not too ambitious, it’s enough for them to stay in their own city for their whole lives. Additionally, as most of their bounty cities were in prosperous prefectures or provinces, they would not feel bored at all. As bounty cities were the private properties of princes, they could manage it for free.

In peaceful time, many national ceremonies and campaigns would be held in Xuanyuan Hill and the Imperial Palace of Emperor Xuanyuan annually. During these periods, princes could attend parties over there. In addition, as royal members, princes were always invited to attend public events such as paying a visit to foreign countries; attending foreign events held by Foreign Affairs Ministry; even paying a tour inspection to the other places and showing their condolence to disaster areas on behalf of imperial households or attend special tasks at the order of Emperor Xuanyuan, etc..

However, as Emperor Xuanyuan had disappeared and the third holy war broke out, the current overall situation was rather sensitive. As a result, princes were forbidden to leave their own bounty cities or the prefectures where their bounty cities belonged to.

Not like other princes who indulged in sex and drinks all day, as a prince known as able and diligent, Xuanyuan Wuji spent most of his time in a deal within various affairs in Datang City. Even though he was not in Datang City, his private mansion was also located in Datang City, from where his schedule could be acquired. That was why Zhang Tie came to Datang City.

After standing at the exit of the railway station, Zhang Tie followed the others onto the overpass, then off it to the taxi station before getting on a steam taxi.

“Man, I am hiring your taxi for one day. Take me around today. Show me all the tourist sites and amusement centers. Keep the changes…” Zhang Tie gave a gold coin to the taxi driver like a playboy as long as he entered the vehicle from the back.

“That’s great, childe. You’ve got the right person. As I’ve been a driver for over 20 years, I’m familiar with every nook and corner of this city!”

Facing such a person who treated gold coins as silver coins, the slightly bald driver at his 40s became spirited at once. After taking the gold coin, he answered Zhang Tie as he drove out of the station.

“Childe, is this your first time in Datang City?”

“Yes!”

The taxi driver glanced at Zhang Tie with a smile from the rearview mirror as he said, “Haha, childe, given your noble look, you must be full of knowledge. There’s one place in Datang City that you have to see!”

“What is it?”

“Talents’ Pavilion!” the driver instantly started to introduce it to Zhang Tie, “Childe, don’t you know the famous Talents’ Pavilion in Datang City? Across Jinghe Prefecture, Jiang Zhou Province even other immortal provinces, many erudite people would come to Datang City especially for Talents’ Pavilion. As long as your poem, song, essay or a common administrative measure could rank the top of the list in Talents’ Pavilion for one month, you might be able to see the third prince within one year and become his VIP. That’s a shortcut to privilege. Third prince is the incarnation of the legendary deity of imperial examinations and literary affairs. The prosperous Datang City greatly benefits from third prince…”

Zhang Tie had not imagined that even a taxi driver admired Xuanyuan Wuji so much…