Married to the Demon King, she took the throne via infrastructure.

T/N:

Heikou (Black Dragon Pass)

Heicheng (Black Dragon City)

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The messenger had been observing everything—the canteen, the soldiers, and the female cook distributing food.

He gradually noticed that although these people wore clothes similar to his—patched many times but clean and tidy—they were in high spirits, not worn down by hunger.

And unless he was mistaken, wasn't that cook a low-ranking demon? 

Low-ranking demons lived outside the city and never entered the city, let alone interacted with the demons inside.

Yet, this cook had demon soldiers helping her carry food. What was going on?

"Whether you're a man or not, I've never seen a male demon as fussy as you. Her Majesty the Queen's order is that no one from Black Dragon Pass goes hungry."

**Fellow kin.**

The people from Black Dragon Pass silently repeated the term in their hearts. What a wonderful word—**fellow kin**.

They wondered about Her Majesty the Queen's background and appearance. Every soldier they overheard spoke highly of her.

The messenger, blushing, took a steamed sweet taro, the same size as the one he'd eaten at noon.

Everyone sat down and began eating the sweet taros. Since he'd already eaten one, he remained relatively calm.

But for those who had just arrived, the first bite was like cold water hitting hot oil—chaos erupted.

Even Lena, with her cold demeanor, was surrounded.

The general sentiment was that such precious food shouldn't be wasted on them. Water would suffice; there was no need to feed them so well.

Lena said coldly, "Don't worry. From now on, you'll eat like this every day."

The messenger quickly stood up. "Her Majesty the Queen has ordered that you be provided with two meals a day."

Everyone was stunned. By the time they recovered, Lena had already left with the baskets.

The soldier, seeing they'd finished eating, said, "Now I'll take you to your accommodations."

Leaving the canteen, everyone shivered. The warmth inside had made them forget how cold it was outside.

Children were held in their mother's arms, and the elderly were supported by the younger ones.

Fortunately, the canteen wasn't far. After walking 500 meters, they reached the dormitory.

The soldier led them. "Remember the building numbers so you don't get lost. The buildings look the same from the outside, but the ones in front are already occupied. The canteen provides two meals a day. Three drumbeats signal mealtime."

The messenger asked, "Are those buildings we passed occupied by outsiders?"

The soldier glanced at him. "They're for the demons outside the city."

Demons outside the city? 

Weren't those just low-ranking demons?

It suddenly hit him—these buildings were for low-ranking demons!

How had the Queen managed to get the city demons to accept the low-ranking demons from outside?

He couldn't figure it out, then chided himself for overreacting.

He had assumed the buildings would only be slightly warmer than outside, but upon entering, he was enveloped in warmth, just like in the canteen!

"This... this room is so warm. How is this possible?" He had guessed the canteen was heated by a fire, but why were these buildings warm too?

Everyone marveled at the rooms. Once inside, they didn't want to leave, eager to lie down and sleep.

But there was more. The soldier reminded them, "Some rooms are warm throughout, while others only have heated beds. You'll need to decide how to allocate the rooms."

He wasn't in a hurry. The guardroom was also warm, all thanks to the construction team. The buildings had pipes laid underground, making them as warm as summer.

However, buildings farther from the canteen could only use heated beds, as there weren't enough pipes to cover everything. He thought heated beds were enough; the rooms didn't need to be warm.

The buildings closest to the canteen had underfloor heating. The construction materials had been provided by the Queen, reportedly part of her dowry.

Soon, they divided the rooms. The elderly were assigned rooms with underfloor heating, while the younger women and children got rooms with heated beds. Since they could visit each other, they could squeeze together during the day.

Meanwhile, Yin Jixue was also thinking about recruitment.

With three mines, Black Dragon City's current workforce was insufficient. She needed a large number of people to mine.

Aside from school teachers and printing factory employees, she was even considering the city guards.

There were 500 city guards, including the patrol team. The Demon King didn't maintain a standing army, as demons were relatively peaceful. There were no wars, and conflicts between Demon Kings didn't involve their subjects.

Demon Kings were transcendent beings, capable of controlling the weather and changing their forms. They existed in myths, while their subjects were ordinary demons with strong vitality.

The absence of large-scale wars didn't mean demons were safe. There were still demonic beasts, and periodic beast tides were more brutal than wars. Thus, city guards were essential.

Returning to the main topic, Yin Jixue was at a loss until Black Dragon Pass reached out.

Learning that Black Dragon Pass was nearby—about a four- to five-day walk—she estimated the distance between the two cities to be within 500 kilometers.

If there were roads, 500 kilometers would take about six to seven hours by car. She had taken a day to get here.

However, demons had flying artifacts, which could shorten the round trip to two hours.

The problem was the lack of roads. Black Dragon Pass was on the edge of a desert, while Black Dragon City was surrounded by mountains. The sand couldn't even blow over, showing how many peaks lay between them.

If a road were built through the mountains, the travel time would be even shorter. But with current manpower, it was impossible. Even if low-ranking demons were resilient, building such a road would take generations. Moving mountains wasn't an overnight task, and building winding mountain roads wasn't cost-effective.

"It seems they'll have to live here. But this distance isn't bad. Besides leaving their hometowns, there's nothing wrong with it."

In ancient times, most people were reluctant to travel far for work, except for traveling merchants. She hadn't seen any demons from other cities in Black Dragon City, suggesting demons didn't travel far for jobs either.

"Teng She, come in."

She was a bit curious about where Teng She hid. As a shadow guard, he remained unseen yet always available when called. She found it fascinating.

On the eaves outside the door, a carving of a snake-like creature glowed as Teng She patted his clothes.

On the other side, a symmetrical carving of a horse-like creature with a horn—a qilin—opened its eyes, heard Yin Jixue calling for Teng She, and closed its eyes again to rest.

"Your Majesty." Teng She closed the door behind him. Humans couldn't handle the cold.

"If I recruit people from Black Dragon Pass to work in the mines, would they agree?"

She wasn't very confident. She knew nothing about Black Dragon Pass, and since it was a sister city, causing trouble over recruitment would be a headache.

Teng She replied, "They'll agree. Your mines provide food and shelter. Even the subjects of the Xuanwu clan would fight to get in."

Yin Jixue was shocked. "Really? Mining is such dirty, hard work. People would fight over it?"

"You underestimate the allure of food. Just providing meals would drive them wild. As long as they can make a living, they'll fight to mine."

So, the current state of the demon world was that the poor couldn't eat enough, while the few wealthy areas had no worries about food and drink. The disparity of this world.

"I'll write a letter. Is that messenger still here? Have him deliver it, and send some of Black Dragon City's specialties to show our sincerity."

Of course, the specialty was sweet taro.