Chapter 725 The Birch Pass (Part One)


    On the way to South Kingdom, the journey went smoothly for Matthew and everyone else. In fact, it


    was way beyond their expectations. When the envoys arrived at the station of the Birch Pass, Luther,


    who was responsible for guarding the south domain, personally led his soldiers to receive them.


    "Your Highnesses, good day to you all. I''m Luther Lu." With thick and seemingly imprable armor,


    Luther looked like a mighty general. The innocent face that he once had was nowhere to be seen. After


    strenuous training, he gave people the impression of being steady and sophisticated.


    Matthew lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at Luther. The prince actually thought highly of the


    general. He got promoted to this position solely because of his military prowess and didn''t keep close


    rtionships with the courtiers.


    "You, are Luther?" Actually, a lot of people were surprised when thete emperor chose Luther to take


    over the south domain''s army. After all, he didn''t attract much attention at the imperial court. If thete


    emperor hadn''t suddenly promoted him as amander in chief, only a few people would have known


    his name.


    "That''s right, Your Highness. I am Luther, themander in chief of the south domain''s army," Luther


    inly answered in a tone that was neither humble nor rude. The army of the south domain had always


    been a headache for the imperial court. It was all because the ce was located near South Kingdom


    where the people were very skilled at using poison. Additionally, the soldiers in the south domain were


    arrogant. It was impossible for them to passively obey an order from anyone who they regarded as


    ipetent and undignified.


    "How many soldiers are in the garrison of the south domain?" Matthew asked slowly.


    "Your Highness, in total, there are 200, 000 soldiers in the garrison. The troop of 100, 000 soldiers is


    directly under mymand. The other 100, 000 are being led by General Xu and General Wei." More


    than what Matthew was asking for, Luther exined in great detail the division of the south domain''s


    army. Including himself, there were three leaders in the army. However, even when a prince hade


    to the Birch Pass, the other two generals didn''t show up. Even though Luther didn''t say anything


    outright, he was actually trying to snitch on the other two generals.


    "Where do you live right now?" Matthew then asked. After entering the Birch Pass, he had been


    deciding whether they should stay in the official inn or in the military camp.


    "Your Highness, thete emperor gave me the former marquis''s mansion as the general''s residence.


    I''ve already asked my men to clean up the guest room. You may go there right now so you can take a


    rest. You must be really tired after traveling for so long." It seemed like Luther already had an idea


    about Matthew''s concerns. He even prepared their amodation in advance.


    With one hand resting on her chin, Harper smiled. "General Luther, you''re very considerate. Thank you


    very much."


    "Well, then please lead the way, General Luther," Matthew said.


    There was a time when the mansion was extremely grand because the former marquis Harrison had


    guarded the south domain for an awful lot of years. But the man used his influence over the people for


    their own selfish and avaricious gains. They robbed a lot of people''s properties and assets. When


    everything that they owned was confiscated, all of the treasures almost filled half of the national


    treasure house.


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    As soon as Matthew and Harper entered the mansion, they noticed that theyout was very simple,


    other than the fact that the estate was veryrge. With a slight change of the originalyout, the


    magnificent mansion had be a simple and stunning residence.


    "You have good taste, General Luther," Harper praised.


    "I''m ttered, Your Highness. I''m not particrly good at designs. It''s just that I like it to be simple, so I


    tried my best to organize the mansion in this way," Luther slowly replied with a small smile on his face.


    "You''re too modest, General. This ce is indeed well arranged. Now I feel sorry as we''ll have to


    trouble you in the following two days."


    "It''s my pleasure. I''ll take you to your room. Please follow me." Luther led the way, giving Harper a


    chance to observe the interiors of the mansion more closely. Although Luther was very humble, he had


    actually put a lot of effort in decorating the mansion. It was apparent that he had unique tastes


    compared to ordinary martial generals.


    Luther had arranged a picturesque and tranquil house for them. Harper was very satisfied with it so she


    instantly had a good impression of the general.


    "So apparently, it''s true that Luther is capable," Matthew idly stated while looking at the dishes served


    to them. The food was neither too luxurious nor too shabby. They were actually delicate and delicious.


    It was obvious then that Luther made a lot of effort to prepare the meal, the amodation, and the


    journey to be asfortable as it could be.


    While enjoying the delectable dishes, Harper couldn''t help but praise Luther a lot. "He knows us very


    well."


    "Yes, I think you''re right. He is very thoughtful and detail-oriented. He has a good understanding of our


    concerns," Matthew said while his eyes lit up.


    While Harper continued to eat, she picked up some food for Matthew. "This tastes good. Give a try."


    Matthew always ate at a very quick pace, which was a habit that he picked up from the military camp.


    Although he had changed a lot since he got married, he was yet to get rid of that habit. Compared with


    Matthew''s, Harper''s pace of eating was very slow. When she finished eating about half of her meal,


    Matthew already put down his chopsticks and bowl.


    "I''ve told you many times already. Don''t eat so fast. It''s not good for your digestion. Do you know the


    repercussions of not giving yourself enough time to digest your food?" Harper asked while she


    continued to eat.


    "You''ll have a stomachache?" Matthew tried to guess.


    "It''s not as simple as that!" Harper swallowed the food in her mouth before continuing, "If a person is


    killed and his death time cannot be recognized due to external reasons, another way is to open his


    stomach and see the contents. We will then calcte the time of his death based on the food digested


    in his stomach because once a person dies, his stomach would, of course, stop digesting. With that, we


    can roughly know the death time from the amount and state of food that is digested."


    "You''re eating," Matthew reminded her. He was at a loss while he looked at Harper. She was talking


    about cutting open a dead person''s stomach while eating the food as if it was nothing.