Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 125

On the day of his departure, Ye Zhou didn’t inform Chen Hou in advance.

He doesn’t want to see a huge crowd when he leaves. The bigger the crowd, the more of a headache it gives him.

But perhaps because he knows Ye Zhou is leaving, Chen Hou comes to visit him almost every day. Sometimes he comes alone, sometimes he brings the prince, and sometimes Zhao Xue comes with him.

Now Zhao Xue holds an official position and becomes the prince’s teacher.

The rank isn’t too high or too low—enough to avoid making Zhao Xue feel looked down upon, but not high enough to draw hostility from the noble families.

Ye Zhou feels that Zhao Xue enjoys his current life. He follows Marquis Chen with neither servility nor arrogance. Whenever he gets the chance to spend time with Ye Zhou, he sticks to him and eagerly asks about the imperial examination and legal codes.

In fact, Ye Zhou doesn’t have as much knowledge about the law as they do. Times are different, and the examination system has to be revised to suit the current situation—let alone the law.

But while he doesn’t offer them criminal law, he does provide them with civil law.

At present, every country has its own criminal code, but the contents vary.

For example, although the State of Lu hasn’t yet proposed that the emperor be punished as a commoner, it already has strict rules about royal family members committing murder or assault. They still don’t pay with their lives, but they do face punishment—which is a form of progress.

However, none of the countries have laws regarding ordinary livelihoods.

There are no formal marriage laws, inheritance laws, or similar statutes—everything is based on custom.

Zhao Xue, in fact, is more interested in civil law than in criminal law.

He isn’t from a noble family and doesn’t see laws for commoners as trivial.

On the contrary, he pores over the civil code day and night—not only studying it himself, but also gathering a team of aides to work on it.

These aides are people he meets while staying in the house Ye Zhou prepares for him—knowledgeable individuals Zhao Xue carefully chooses for their ambition.

This group focuses entirely on civil law.

As for criminal law, Marquis Chen assigns someone else to revise it.

It needs to be revised. This isn’t the modern era, and resources are scarce. Is it really practical to imprison criminals and feed them at the state’s expense? There are no factories here.

It’s more efficient to send them to hard labor. If they serve their time, it’s redemption. If they die, so be it.

Besides, criminal law is too detailed for the current conditions. There are no modern forensics or sufficient manpower or material resources to enforce it. Revising the criminal code has the scholars assigned by Chen Hou scratching their heads.

But Chen Hou doesn’t halt reforms because of the two legal codes. He quickly issues decrees for a twenty-rank nobility system and for military-agricultural reform.

Because his earlier actions have already stirred the State of Chen, no one is surprised anymore. Even with sweeping changes, the people just think: if it can truly be implemented, then being a soldier might not be so bad.

Chen Hou originally assumes that people care more about the noble titles.

But to his surprise, what commoners value more is hereditary succession—the ability for a son to inherit his father’s title.

If a father dies, his son can still inherit the rank.

This comes with a stipend. Though it doesn’t pass on to grandchildren, it means that even if a soldier dies on the battlefield, his wife and children won’t starve.

If there’s no son but a daughter, she can’t inherit the title—but she’ll continue to receive the salary until she marries.

If she never marries, she can receive the salary for life.

No one realizes yet that because of this policy, fewer women in the State of Chen will marry—and more will take husbands into their households.

Commoners aren’t fools. They instinctively know what benefits them. Unlike merchants, who weigh costs and benefits with precision, the common folk often go by intuition.

And their intuition is surprisingly accurate. Even without fully understanding the policy’s long-term advantages, they begin maneuvering for maximum gain.

Though daughters can’t inherit titles, as long as the benefits are secured, it doesn’t matter.

After all, if a man inherits the title but doesn’t fight on the battlefield, it’s no different from not inheriting it.

Since there are benefits, no one wants to lose them. There will always be poor sons willing to marry into a wife’s family. And they won’t dare act out—under the current clan system, once they join the household, they belong to it. Try to rebel, and my clan will deal with you.

If a daughter can draw a salary, she absolutely must not be married off.

There’s also another form of marriage that’s not much different. If the man is an only son, he can join the woman’s household without changing his surname, and the children aren’t required to take her surname either.

This type of “joining the household” becomes more accepted.

More and more people are willing to enlist. Before, no one wanted to join the army—Chen State was poor, and military pay was meager.

Worse, soldiers only receive payment after battles, like a carrot dangled before them to keep them fighting.

But now, people hear that being a soldier means earning money—receiving pay every six months, possibly earning a title for battlefield merit. Even if they die, their wives and children will be cared for, and the family line will continue—so they join.

Some poor households even force both the young and elderly into military service.

The tears shed when they send them off are real—but that’s all.

The State of Chen is changing rapidly, with new developments nearly every day.

The noble families initially stir up trouble but quickly grow tired of constant opposition—objecting today, resisting tomorrow, it’s exhausting.

So they give up. They focus on managing their own fiefs and let Marquis Chen do whatever he wants in Linzi. When he eventually tries to meddle with their lands, they’ll deal with him then.

To outsiders, the State of Chen’s reform seems like Marquis Chen’s personal project—something he entertains himself with. Though he has a group of scholars supporting him, their power is limited. They have no land, no clans behind them, and what little authority they possess comes from Marquis Chen.

So the State of Chen is a little chaotic—but not completely out of control.

The officials are just waiting for Marquis Chen to get tired of his game and return to the “right path.”

Chen Hou once again sees Jiang Hui and Zhao Xian off. When he returns to his study and opens the door, a rare smile appears on his tired face.

No matter what happens outside, stepping into the study always lifts his mood.

Inside, scholars are hard at work, writing feverishly. Many haven’t left the palace in ten or twenty days. Most stay right here in his study. Since they’re all men, they’re not too fussy—often writing with their hair loose and disheveled.

When arguments erupt, they nearly come to blows.

Because of all the men, the room constantly smells of sweat. Without regular ventilation, the stench could choke a man.

But even so, Chen Hou is delighted when he sees them.

He doesn’t remember the last time he felt this happy. Maybe it’s a long time ago—maybe it’s the first time in his life.

Zhao Xue follows him in. As soon as he enters, he nearly chokes, scrunches his nose, and walks in with a frown.

The smell is… overwhelming. Now he finally understands why people call scholars “stinky men.”

Some have even taken off their shoes.

Chen Hou doesn’t mind. This is the romanticism of scholars. If they follow too many rules, they wouldn’t be true scholars.

All across the world, scholars take pride in their eccentricity. Taking off shoes? That’s nothing. Some get so swept up in poetry that they run outside naked. When commoners see it, they only say the scholar is “unconventional.”

“The immortal should be leaving soon,” Zhao Xue whispers, “If you want to ask anything, you’d better do it in the next few days.”

Chen Hou smiles. “I think he’s already given enough—and in great detail. If we only rely on the immortal, who will we ask after he’s gone?”

Zhao Xue is stunned, then bows slightly. “Your Majesty is wise.”

Chen Hou waves him off. “I’m not wise. If I hadn’t met the immortal, I’d still be clinging to Jiang Hui and Zhao Xian, letting them lead me by the nose. For now, let’s keep stringing them along—until winter.” Marquis Chen looks out the window. “The people of Chen have suffered long enough. It’s time for them to live decent lives.”

“There’s only one available option.” Ye Zhou looks at the new dimension unlocked by the system.

Along with it comes the “Mini Hotel”—essentially, employee housing.

The name of the new plane is a bit of a tongue twister. Just from the name, Ye Zhou can tell it’s not a place from the Han cultural sphere—Klagenfurt.

He hovers the mouse over the name, and a description pops up.

Klagenfurt is located on the edge of the Will Empire. It isn’t poor—in fact, it’s very wealthy. But only the elite are rich, and the gap between rich and poor is massive.

That’s the gist of it.

Still, Ye Zhou is very interested in this dimension.

It isn’t just humans—there are elves, goblins, treefolk, orcs… nearly every fantasy race except demons and angels.

But Ye Zhou can’t figure out whether this world has magic.

Just as he’s about to press the jump button, Sarah—who hasn’t spoken to him alone in days—suddenly says, “Boss, I want to go back to my dimension.”

Ye Zhou’s hand moves away from the mouse.

He looks at Sarah.

She says calmly, “I suddenly remembered something I need to take care of. I have to go back.”

Ye Zhou asks, “Can you go back on your own?”

He’s never been to Sarah’s world, so he can’t send her back through the supermarket.

“I can,” Sarah says. “The employment system has a return option, but you have to approve my leave first.”

Under her guidance, Ye Zhou opens the employment page and approves her vacation.

Sarah glances at Ye Zhou and finally says, “Don’t be too nice to her. She’s still dangerous right now.”

Ye Zhou responds with a soft “Ah?” and looks at her, not understanding.

Sarah doesn’t explain further. She simply waves. “I’m going now. I’ll be back soon.”

She wants to go with him—but she can’t.

There can only be one of her in the same timeline.

If there are two, both will vanish.

So she might as well take this chance to go back and settle things with her brothers and mother.

They won’t be apart for long.