Chapter 470: Chapter 439, Hilltop_1
The gold mine was discovered by the Jiang Family, and Jiang Wanying even earned herself the title of a county princess. To be honest, Daohua was extremely discontented, but when she learned about the assassination of the Jiang Family, she instantly came to her senses.
The feelings of injustice in her heart disappeared in an instant.
The merits of the gold mine were significant, but it involved many people. If she had been the one ennobled as a county princess, then it might have been her family facing the assassination attempt.
Yan Wenkai and Wentao returned home three days after the Yan Family received the imperial decree, followed by their well-wishers Xiao Yeyang, Dong Yuanxuan, Su Hongxin, and others.
Xiao Yeyang had just paid his respects to the elders of the Yan Family along with Dong Yuanxuan and others, and hadn’t even finished a cup of tea, when he saw Daohua giving him a meaningful glance.
After Daohua left the room, Xiao Yeyang stayed for a little while longer, exchanged a few pleasantries with the old madam, and then found an excuse to leave.
Dong Yuanxuan watched the two of them leave, one after the other, his expression darkening somewhat.
He had seen little sister Yan giving the Little Prince a signal. The natural intimacy and understanding apparent in their eyes had left him a bit dazed.
What had happened in these last couple of months?
Back when she achieved academic excellence, little sister Yan was intentionally avoiding the Little Prince, so why had their relationship become so close after not seeing each other for a while?
Dong Yuanxuan’s gaze slightly fell, thinking about how the Little Prince, since establishing the Glass Factory, had significantly reduced the time he spent with them. As he himself grew older, he started to help his father with some manageable tasks, and he did not go to the barracks as often anymore.
With fewer interactions, naturally, he knew less about the other party.
Now looking at the Little Prince, he found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to guess what he was thinking. Even Wentao and Wenkai had become much more reticent.
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Not long ago, the two had stopped going to the barracks for some time, and no matter how much he and Hongxin pressed them, they kept their mouths shut tight, revealing no information at all.
Ah, the childhood friends were all growing up and maturing in their own ways.
…
In the pavilion in front of the back garden of the Yan Residence, Wang Manman had brought Xiao Yeyang over by the time Daohua had prepared the tea.
Xiao Yeyang walked into the pavilion, took a careful look at Daohua’s complexion, and seeing that she seemed calm without any sign of displeasure or unhappiness, felt a slight relief. He sat down beside her and whispered, “About the gold mine… The Emperor Uncle has his reasons. Not granting you a title is only temporary. In the future, I will find an opportunity to discuss it with Emperor Uncle again.”
Daohua shook her head, “No need for that. The emperor has already conferred the title of Commandery Madam on both my grandmother and mother, which is a reward for me as well. To ask for more rewards would seem ungrateful.”
Not to mention this was an era of absolute imperial authority, even in modern times, absolute fairness doesn’t exist.
Through the incident with the gold mine’s rewards, she had clearly experienced the emperor’s power to grant and take away. Even if the emperor hadn’t rewarded her grandmother and mother this time, what could she have done about it?
As she spoke, Daohua’s expression became serious as she turned to look at Xiao Yeyang, “Do you know about the assassination attempt on the Jiang Family?”
Xiao Yeyang nodded, “I do.” After the incident occurred, he had gone to visit the Jiang Residence. Madam Jiang had been injured badly, and his cousin Wanying was terrified; both of them still couldn’t get out of bed.
Daohua: “…Were they assassinated because they found the gold mine?”
Seeing Xiao Yeyang nod, Daohua’s heart instantly tensed.
If assassins dared to target the outer relatives in the Jiang Family, what would happen if they knew she was the one who found the gold mine? She could hardly imagine what the Yan Family would face.
After a moment of silence, Daohua asked again, “Is it the same group that attempted to assassinate Lord Wu before?”
Xiao Yeyang nodded again, and seeing Daohua’s furrowed brows, he carefully explained to put her at ease, “Prince Duan hoped to use the submission of the gold mine as an opportunity to return to the court, but the Jiang Family intervened and cut him off. The substantial loss left him displeased, which led to the assassination attempt.”
Daohua pondered for a moment, then tentatively said, “The emperor… doesn’t have a good relationship with the Jiang Family, does he?”
Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua, surprised by her keenness. It was through this incident that he had come to see just how much the Emperor Uncle disliked the Jiang Family.
Seeing his silent affirmation, Daohua knew he agreed with her, and suddenly all her doubts were cleared. It was highly likely that it was the emperor who had leaked the information about the gold mine to the Jiang Family.
After all, having two empresses from the same family was both an honor and a threat.
Xiao Yeyang poured two cups of tea, pouring as he spoke, “Forget about the gold mine. I’ve also instructed your two brothers. Now that Emperor Uncle has sent people to take over the gold mine, the matter can come to an end.”
Daohua nodded and didn’t say much more.
Seeing Daohua still looking unhappy, Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, “I brought you a little gift this time. Do you want to guess what it is?”
Daohua looked up and seeing his amused expression, she felt a bit speechless yet amused herself, her tension from the Jiang family’s assassination incident gradually relaxed, and she smiled, asking, “What is it?”
Seeing her smile, Xiao Yeyang felt relieved, leisurely picked up his teacup, and took a slow sip, chuckling, “I told you to guess.”
Daohua pursed her lips: “Something to eat? Or something to use? Could it be a toy? Or perhaps, has the Glass Factory released a new product?”
Xiao Yeyang shook his head while laughing: “None of those, keep guessing.”
Daohua’s eyes lit up: “Could it be that you’ve found some new kind of seeds or something?”
Xiao Yeyang shook his head again.
Seeing that her guesses were all wrong, Daohua lost interest, couldn’t bother to guess anymore, picked up her tea and took a sip, giving Xiao Yeyang a glance: “If you’re not going to tell, then don’t.”
A bit helplessly, Xiao Yeyang watched Daohua with a smile: “I’ve already had Defu deliver the thing to Manman, when you go back to your courtyard later, you should be able to see it.”
Curious, Daohua said, “Then I’m going back now to see it.” With that, she was about to get up and leave.
Xiao Yeyang hurriedly held onto her: “You were the one who called me out here, you should at least join me for a few cups of tea before leaving.”
Daohua responded directly: “You can go back and drink with my brother and the others.”
Xiao Yeyang: “I often spend time with them and I’m tired of drinking tea.” He paused, then looked up at Daohua, “But you, it’s been quite a few days since we last saw each other, and you didn’t even say you’d keep me company.”
Daohua: “…”
She found that Xiao Yeyang was becoming bolder and bolder in what he said.
Seeing Daohua silent, Xiao Yeyang hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly asked, “Don’t you want to see me?”
The question was abrupt, Xiao Yeyang was unsure, and he asked in a very soft voice.
Daohua heard it clearly, but she didn’t know how to respond, so she directly changed the subject: “What did you say? Okay, you have been out for a while now, go back quickly, otherwise, my brother will come looking for you. I’m going to the courtyard to see what wonderful thing you sent.” With that, she swiftly walked out of the pavilion.
Watching Daohua’s rapidly disappearing figure, Xiao Yeyang smiled, but didn’t rush to leave, continuing to leisurely enjoy his tea.
Meanwhile, as soon as Daohua returned to her own courtyard, she asked Wang Manman, “Where’s the thing Xiao Yeyang sent me?”
Wang Manman pointed towards the room.
Daohua quickly walked toward the room, and upon seeing two half-meter-tall boxes placed inside, her eyes widened in shock: “What are these?”
Wang Manman shook her head: “I don’t know, but they’re pretty heavy.”
Daohua stepped forward, opened the box in one go, and in an instant, her eyes were dazzled by the sudden flash of gold.
“Bang!”
Daohua quickly closed the box and looked around to see that there were only Wang Manman and Bi Shi in the room, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, she didn’t like maids coming and going from her room at will.
Otherwise, these two boxes of gold would have been exposed.
Wang Manman excitedly said, “Miss, this is…?”
Daohua smirked: “This is your miss’s compensation.”
Having found two gold mines, in the end, she received two boxes of gold, which could be considered a consolation, she supposed.
She asked Bi Shi to close the door and opened the box again, picking up a gold ingot and playing with it.
“Miss, there’s also a deed here.”
Wang Manman suddenly pulled out a deed from the other box.
Daohua took it, and upon seeing it, she froze for a moment: “A mountain top?” And it was even in the Beijing suburbs.