Dali was not an orphan, but he was no different from one. His mother was a woman in a brothel. It was unknown which man she was pregnant with a bastard… This bastard was him. His mother hated him and only raised him like a cat or dog. When she was happy, she would give him food. When she was unhappy, she would bring him out to be used as a punching bag. His right eye was blinded by his mother. He left when he was ten years old, but his mother never looked for him. When he first went to a mountain to do manual labor, which he now knew that it was a mine, he was bullied by the foreman in the mine. He escaped with a few companions and met the group of bandits. At that time, they were not bandits yet, but a few little beggars who cheated and scammed others. He could not even explain how he grew stronger by the day.
As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. They had robbed so many powerful people, but in the end, they fell in a small village.
Now, he could finally leave.
“Dali?” Yu Wan waved her fingertip in front of his eyes.
Dali clenched his fists and looked at Yu Wan seriously. “I want to stay.”
“Why?” Yu Wan was puzzled.
“I want to mine!” Dali said with great ambition. “I want to dig the Dali Mine into the most famous mine in Great Zhou!”
The Emperor woke up in the middle of the night. When he opened his eyes and remembered why he had fainted, he felt his heart ache again.
Eunuch Wang presented a bowl of tonic in time.
The Emperor took a few sips and gritted his teeth. “Isn’t it just a few ores? Whether there are really mineral veins is another matter. Moreover, mineral veins are also of different sizes. I don’t believe that such small mountains can dig out any large mineral veins. Call the Ministry of Public Works to take a look!”
There were officials in the Ministry of Public Works who knew about geology. With the help of secret guards, they infiltrated the desolate mountains overnight to investigate. When they returned, they reported, “Your Majesty, good news! Good news! If my deduction is correct, the mineral veins under those desolate mountains are very likely the largest iron mine discovered by our dynasty to date!”
The Emperor… the Emperor vomited blood and fainted again!
Yan Jiuchao only arrived at Lotus Flower Village after dinner. A few days ago, he had faked all kinds of “heaven’s punishment”. In the past two days, he had been carefully dealing with the aftermath. If Uncle Wan hadn’t reminded him, he would have forgotten that Prince Cheng and the princess of Xiongnu’s wedding was in three days. It was obvious that a certain heartless person had also forgotten this. He said that he was going to pick up his sons, but in the end, he stayed in the village.
Yan Jiuchao entered the house. It was unknown if it was an illusion or something else, but in the past, the villagers would have rested at this time. Tonight, the lights were brightly lit, as if every family was quite excited.
“Ahahahaha… Hmph ha… Hmph ha…”
Little Bruiser’s laughter came from the Ding Family’s new residence that he had bought. Immediately after, the three little fellows laughed like pigs.
Yan Jiuchao didn’t want to laugh, but he couldn’t help but smile. No wonder she wanted to stay, even he couldn’t bear to leave.
“Oh? Yan Jiuchao?” Yu Wan had just walked out of the central room when she saw Yan Jiuchao alighting from the carriage.
He was wearing an ink-blue brocade robe and was handsome and elegant. Yu Wan’s eyes lit up and she walked towards him with a smile. “Why are you here?”
Yan Jiuchao snorted coldly. “Have you forgotten about Prince Cheng’s wedding?”
“No way,” Yu Wan said guiltily.
“What is this?” Yan Jiuchao saw the bag in her hand.
“Let’s go in and talk.” Yu Wan held Yan Jiuchao’s hand and entered the house.
Yan Jiuchao looked at her hand that was holding his wrist and his throat moved.
After the two of them entered the house, Yu Wan remembered that this fellow did not like to be intimate outside. She quickly put down her hand, opened the bag, and said to him, “It’s a document.”
The place where she had pulled was separated by several layers of clothes, but it was still a little hot.
He composed himself and said, “What document?”
“Hasn’t Dad been vindicated? His Majesty conferred my father as a marquis and even rewarded him with a few mountains…” Yu Wan told Yan Jiuchao about the ores found in the mountains. “I was going to discuss the mining with the village headman.”
The noble marquis’s fief was actually just a few mountains? To think that the Emperor could do it. The Emperor definitely didn’t know that there were mineral veins in the mountains. Otherwise, how could he be willing to reward anyone? He had long had it for himself, but then again, there were actually mines in the few desolate mountains that the Emperor casually rewarded. How lucky was the Yu family?
He could not wait to see the Emperor’s expression when he found out the truth. It must be quite exciting.
“Yan Jiuchao, do we have to go through the procedures to start mining?” Yu Wan knew that they had to develop the land, but that was because it was not their own desolate mountain. Now that the Emperor had already rewarded them with the desolate mountains, it shouldn’t be much trouble for them to open a pit in their own territory, right?
“Give it to me.” Yan Jiuchao brought the document and the title deed over.
It seemed like they needed to go through some procedures. It was naturally much more efficient for him to do it than for the village headman. Yu Wan smiled at him. “Hubby, you’re really good.”
The news that the Yu family had a mine and the good news of Yu Shaoqing being conferred the title of marquis spread together. The next day, many villagers from other villages came to ask for news. While they were jealous, they asked if there was any work.
The people of Lotus Flower Village could finally hold their heads high. Didn’t they laugh at their village for being poor? Didn’t they refuse to marry their daughter in or interact with them? Were they dumbfounded now?
In the past, the village was despised, but now, there were people who wanted to come in no matter what. Of course, there were also people who wanted to go out.
In the Zhao family, the old man, Ah Wei, and the other two were sitting at the table in the central room. The door was closed by Ah Wei. Recently, there had been a joyous event in the village, and more people had come to the village. It was not as convenient for them to do things as before.
Ah Wei said, “Give me a little more time. I’ll definitely be able to catch that woman!”
“No need,” the old man said.
Ah Wei looked at him strangely. “Why?”
The old man spread out the note in his hand and said to Ah Wei and the other two, “There’s news from the clan that the envoy from Nanzhao has arrived. It’s best if we don’t meet them. The King wants us to return to the clan first and discuss the capture at length.”
Qing Yan nodded. “She’s settled down here. We don’t have to worry about her running away. We can come back and catch her after this blows over!”
Yue Gou also agreed.
As for Ah Wei, he was the youngest. So his opinion was directly ignored.
The old man instructed, “Ah Wei, go pack your things. We’ll leave tonight.”
“Oh.” Ah Wei went to pack his things in the house. Soon, he came over with his head drooped. “Grandma.”
“What’s wrong?” the old man asked.
Ah Wei opened the pouch that only had one copper coin left. “We’re out of money. Without money, we can’t go back.”
The old man: “…”
Yue Gou: “…”
Qing Yan : “…”
