What could he do now? If he were up against an ordinary soldier, Zhao Tianji was confident that he would be able to fight and even regain the iron mine. However, the opponent was Mo Rongzhan, so he felt that his chances of winning were slim.
Although this private mine was not the largest of all the iron mines, he had invested a lot of effort into it. Now that he had to give it up, he was truly unwilling!
“Leave through the secret passage,” Zhao Tianji said coldly. He was not someone who could not afford to lose. He had lost to Mo Rongzhan this time, he would definitely win back next time. He looked at Huangfu Chen. “Are you coming with me?”
“I want to find Yaoyao first.” Huangfu Chen said in a low voice, “Your legs are fine. You just need to practice harder. Do not forget the prescription she gave you to soak your body.”
Zhao Tianji snorted coldly. “Did you have anything to do with Mo Rongzhan finding this place?”
“What do you think? Before I came here, I didn’t even know that this private mine had anything to do with you.”
“Island Lord, I will go down and capture Lu Yaoyao,” Liang Yin said. With the little girl around, she could cure Island Lord’s legs.
“You’re just courting death,” Zhao Tianji said lightly. Since Lu Yaoyao didn’t follow him, she was naturally taken away by Mo Rongzhan.
Huangfu Chen looked at them. “Let’s go!”
As he spoke, Mu Xue hurriedly walked over from outside. “Second Young Master, something happened at the private mine!”
She had just entered the Peach Blossom Spring when she saw Huangfu Chen standing on the side like a tree. Her face changed. “Heartless man, you dare to come out?”
Zhao Tianji was too lazy to explain to Mu Xue. “Let’s go!” He looked back at Huangfu Chen and said, “I will return to Zhaojia Island. What happened back then… I’ll find out.”
Huangfu Chen knew that he was talking about Mu Qing and him as well as the truth about the sneak attack on Zhaojia Island.
Mu Xue turned around and looked at Huangfu Chen coldly. She was still very hostile towards him.
“Be careful,” Huangfu Chen said to Zhao Tianji.
Liang Yin pushed his master into the secret path of the Peach Blossom Spring. After a while, Huangfu Chen went to hide the entrance of the secret path.
Not long after, Mo Rongzhan and the others found this place.
“Ah Zhan, you really did find him.” Huangfu Chen looked at Mo Rongzhan with a smile. From the moment he was caught here, he had already predicted that if they could be saved, there would be no one else but Mo Rongzhan who could do it.
Mo Rongzhan walked up to him and looked at Huangfu Chen with his deep eyes. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Huangfu Chen nodded lightly.
“Marquis Jing Ning, take someone to search the rest of the villa.” Mo Rongzhan turned to Tang Zhen.
Tang Zhen left with this instruction.
Huangfu Chen said, “The servants in this villa don’t know anything. Zhao Tianji and the others have already left.”
“Who is Zhao Tianji?” Mo Rongzhan frowned at Huangfu Chen. “What’s the relationship with Mu Jiejie?”
“The master of Zhaojia Island, Mu Qing… Now she’s his eldest sister-in-law,” Huangfu Chen lowered his eyes and replied indifferently.
Mo Rongzhan was stunned. “Mu Qing is on Zhaojia Island? You’ve been looking for her for so many years but haven’t found her. Did she actually go to Zhaojia Island?”
“I didn’t tell you the truth about what happened back then. I went to Zhaojia Island with her.” Huangfu Chen said in a low voice, “I thought she had left, so I went to look for her and was hurt by someone. She waited for me. If not, she would have to marry Zhao Mingxiao.”
“Then why are you still here?” Mo Rongzhan raised his eyebrows and asked, “Are you not going to Zhaojia Island to bring her back? Are you just going to watch her marry someone else?”
Huangfu Chen shook his head and smiled bitterly. “What’s the point of going to Zhaojia Island? She’s already his wife.”
“So what?” Mo Rongzhan asked coldly. “Even if your fate with her is over, you should go to her and explain the misunderstanding. Is it not possible that she may blame you for this misunderstanding for the rest of your life?”
“Let’s leave here first,” Huangfu Chen said softly. He really wanted to find Mu Qing, but he was afraid of seeing her.
“Yaoyao still wants to go to Huaijiang. Did you indulge her?” Mo Rongzhan asked, stifling his anger. He was still unwilling to let her go to Huaijiang.
A faint smile appeared on Huangfu Chen’s face. “Even if I don’t agree, she would still want to go, but… Ah Zhan, you really care about Yaoyao.”
Mo Rongzhan snorted coldly, however, a suspicious blush lingered on his handsome face. “So what if I care about her?”
“I just think it’s not easy for you to hold a beautiful woman.” Huangfu Chen patted his shoulder and slowly walked out of the Peach Blossom Spring.
Tang Zhen led his men to comb the entire villa. Other than the terrified servants who didn’t know what had happened, Zhao Tianji and the others were nowhere to be seen. It was already late and no longer appropriate to leave the mountains. Mo Rongzhan sent someone to bring Ye Zhen to the villa, intending to stay here for a night before leaving.
“Your Majesty, what about that private mine?” Tang Zhen whispered..
“Hand it over to General Meng,” said Mo Rongzhan. “The iron from the mine…They should be used to forge weapons. If I’m not wrong, there should be a place nearby to forge weapons. You can lead people to search.”
Other than the imperial court, no one could build weapons without permission. If Zhao Tianji really forged weapons, what did he intend to do?
Huangfu Chen stood beside him. He thought of Zhao Tianji’s personality and frowned. He wasn’t sure if he was worried about him or remembered something else.
On the originally quiet, deep mountains, there were torches everywhere tonight. Tang Zhen and his men continued to search the surroundings. Ye Zhen had also returned to the villa.
Unlike other places, the Peach Blossom Spring was still quiet. Huangfu Chen wasn’t around, apparently gone off to somewhere, Mo Rongzhan was the only one waiting for her.
“Tang Zhen seems to have gone to the mountains. What have you tasked him to find? Zhao Tianji could not have left from there.” When Ye Zhen came to the villa, she happened to see Tang Zhen on the opposite mountain. She thought that he was looking for Zhao Tianji.
Mo Rongzhan held her hand and asked her to sit next to him. “I suspect that Zhao Tianji opened a private mine to forge weapons, and I asked Tang Zhen to take people to find a place where weapons were being forged.”
Ye Zhen asked in surprise, “Why is Zhao Tianji forging weapons?”
“This, I’m going to ask him,” Mo Rongzhan calmly said.
“Then what about my master?” Ye Zhen didn’t know if Huangfu Chen had left with Zhao Tianji. She wanted him to go to Zhaojia Island to find Mu Qing, but she was also afraid that it would only add to his grief.
Mo Rongzhan gently pinched the tip of her nose. “You would care about everyone but me?”
Ye Zhen patted his hand and whispered, “Aren’t you well here?”
“How could I be fine? I’m almost mad at you.” Mo Rongzhan gently pressed her pink lips, sucking her small tongue and kissing her. He held her waist with one hand and brought her into his embrace, preventing her from struggling away.
Ye Zhen pounded on his shoulder. In the end, she still leaned softly in his arms, allowing him to kiss her.
♚♚♚
