Chapter 256: Thoughts
Editor: Atlas Studios
Rong Xuan thought about how the application for military supplies was being delayed. He pondered for a moment and said, “Chengde, Zijin and Haoran are right. Let’s put this matter aside for now. There’s no hurry to report it. The fields of the 5th Division are all over there, and we planned to use them to plant corn next year. It’s not certain if the land will still be ours after we report it.”
Qi Xiuyuan knew what Rong Xuan and the rest were thinking. He looked at his brother and Zijin and waved his hand. “Alright, we’ll take care of things from here. Go and rest.”
“Big Brother.” Qi Haoran was about to say something when Fan Zijin stopped him. He could only swallow the words that were on the tip of his tongue and leave with Fan Zijin.
After they left, Qi Xiuyuan sat on the chair and said with a headache, “I know what you mean. If this wasn’t an iron mine, I might have swallowed it myself. However, we can’t touch gold, silver, iron, and copper. Jinyu, don’t forget that I’m a general leading the troops. As long as I get involved with this, if the Imperial Court so much as catches a whiff of this, I won’t be able to escape the charge of rebellion.”
The Emperor was most wary of generals nowadays, and things like gold, silver, copper, and iron were sensitive to begin with. If sensitive people touched sensitive things, even if they did not have such thoughts, the Emperor would definitely kill them.
Qi Xiuyuan only wanted to have a smooth official career and reclaim his homeland. He did not want to rebel.
Rong Xuan was silent for a moment before he smiled and said, “I understand. It’s not that we’re not reporting it now, but we haven’t confirmed the news yet, so we’re not reporting it yet. Chengde, Haoran’s 5th Division isn’t dispensable now. Even if it’s to protect the fields under the 5th Division, we can just don’t touch these ores.”
“Let me think about it,” Qi Xiuyuan said tiredly.
Rong Xuan stood up. “You’ve been up all day and night. Rest first. I’ll go back and sleep too.”
Qi Xiuyuan nodded. Rong Xuan came out and turned to go to Qi Haoran. Fan Zijin was also in his room. The two of them looked at him eagerly. Smiling, Rong Xuan said, “Your big brother agreed to consider it. Haoran, although I’ve carefully investigated Luocong Mountain, from the situation you mentioned and the looks of it, there should be a lot of mineral resources. Although we won’t report it, we won’t mine it either. So you have to watch carefully. Don’t let anyone take away the rocks on the mountain under your nose.”
“Don’t worry, Brother Rong. I’ll get someone to keep an eye on the mountain.”
“Alright, I’ll go back and rest first. I’ll bring people to the mountain to take a look in two days. It’s best if I find a good excuse.”
Qi Haoran rolled his eyes and said, “Why don’t you use the excuse of hunting? There’s a lot of prey on Chef Mountain. We can enter the mountain to surround the deer herd.”
“That’s a good excuse. I’ll mention it to your big brother later.” Rong Xuan bade farewell and left. He also had his own room in the General’s Residence. As he was too tired, he couldn’t be bothered to return home and simply slept in the General’s Residence.
However, after lying on the bed, he could not fall asleep.
Xiuyuan was focused on recovering the country, but Rong Xuan himself was not as confident as him. The Emperor had always been wary of generals. General Yuan came from a poor family and did not have any siblings. He was a person with no foundation to begin with. The Emperor would not be at ease using such a person. Furthermore, Qi Xiuyuan had a family, his younger brother was quite talented in war, and his external family was the Zhu family, who controlled a military power. The Emperor would probably be even more worried about using such a person.
Rong Xuan was Qi Xiuyuan’s Military Advisor, so he naturally had to think more about the West Camp and Qi Xiuyuan. If they could have an iron mine in their hands, they would be even less restrained by the Imperial Court.
Oblivious that the few rocks she had asked Qi Haoran to bring along could cause so much trouble, Mu Yangling was leading people to set up traps in the forest at the moment. As they wanted to stop big wild beasts from leaving the mountain and this area was too big, there were many traps to be set up.
Mu Yangling explained to them as she set up the trap. After setting up the last trap, Mu Yangling straightened her back and said, “Alright, I don’t know if this can stop all the ferocious beasts, but it should be of some use. However, if you want to enter the mountains to gather firewood, it’s best to enter the mountains in groups. Not too big a group though. Five to ten people per group. This way, we can guarantee the number of people and not lose people.”
“But even if there are many people entering the mountains, as long as we encounter ferocious beasts, there will still be casualties.” Frowning, Old Man Sun said, “I’m afraid that wild beasts will hurt people. There aren’t many able-bodied men left in our village. If anything happens to any family, we won’t be able to save them in time.”
Mu Yangling said, “For ordinary ferocious beasts, such as wild boars, as long as you don’t provoke them, they won’t take the initiative to attack people. If you encounter wolves, show your aura first and get people to shout loudly. I’m usually in the village or in the forest. As soon as I hear it, I’ll rush over immediately. If you encounter black bears and female tigers, don’t call me because I don’t have the ability to help. Split up and escape. But I reckon everyone’s luck won’t be so bad.”
Everyone laughed. Bowen ran up from the foot of the mountain, panting. “Sister, Sister—”
Mu Yangling turned around and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Sister, hurry up and go down the mountain. General Qi and the others are here and are looking for you.”
Old Man Sun’s eyes lit up. He quickly pushed Mu Yangling and said, “Then, Ah Ling, go quickly. We’ll just pack this up.”
“Then be careful. Don’t step into your own trap.”
“Don’t worry. Go quickly. Don’t let the General wait too long.”
Old Man Sun and the others watched Mu Yangling and her brother leave. Someone said enviously, “Ah Ling’s relationship with General Qi’s family is really good. Not only does Little General come to look for her often, but General Qi also has to visit the Mu family when he comes over. I heard that Mu Shi now holds an important position in Hanzhong Prefecture.”
“Isn’t that so? Who in our village doesn’t come home once every three months? Now that Mu Shi is placed in an important position in Hanzhong Prefecture, I’m afraid he won’t be able to come back even once in half a year.”
“Hey, do you think Mu Shi has another home in Hanzhong Prefecture?” someone asked gloatingly.
“Do you think Mu Shi is like you? Don’t you see how much Mu Shi dotes on his wife? She’s so precious to him.”
“Speaking of Mu Shi’s wife, despite having been her neighbor for a year, I haven’t really seen what she looks like. Last time, during their first birthday celebration, she was either in the kitchen, or surrounded by people from Liu clan when she did come out. All I saw was the top of her head from outside. Sigh, have any of you seen Mu Shi’s wife?”
Old Man Sun looked at them coldly and said, “Go on, continue. Mu Yangling’s ears are very sharp and she might just hear this. Are you tired of living?”
The crowd instantly fell silent. Someone chuckled and said, “Uncle Sun, isn’t everyone just joking?” When a group of men gathered together, other than talking about work in the fields, didn’t they have to talk about women?
Old Man Sun snorted and said, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you. That eldest daughter of the Mu family doesn’t have a good temper. She usually smiles and doesn’t argue with you because she hasn’t encountered anything that she can argue with you about. If she does, no one can rest in peace. Also, that cousin of hers has a sharp tongue. Go ahead and say whatever you want after I leave.”
After saying that, he left with his hands behind his back. As soon as Old Man Sun left, everyone winked and didn’t dare to continue this topic. They packed their things and went down the mountain.