"What's all the noise about? If you keep making noise, I'll send you to mine for minerals, you hear me?!"

At this moment, a man around forty years old appeared at the entrance of the earthen prison. He was the honest and simple gatekeeper, Old Geng, whom Prince Jing had mentioned in his letter.

Prince Jing never imagined that his lifelong reputation would be ruined by this seemingly honest and simple middle-aged man.

This was absolutely the biggest mistake of his life.

"Old Geng, since you're free anyway, why don't you keep me company for a chat?"

Prince Jing is now very humble, seemingly not holding a grudge against Lao Geng for capturing him, and treating Lao Geng with the same attitude he would show to any other brother.

For more than a month, it has been Old Geng who has been guarding his little earthen cell, and naturally, only Old Geng can chat with him.

"What are you talking about? I think you're just too idle. How about I let you go out and mine?"

That's what he said, but Lao Geng still sat down outside the earthen cell, ready to have a chat with him.

"Sigh, you're just stubborn but soft-hearted!"

Prince Jing chuckled and moved closer, saying, "Speaking of which, since you already knew I was here to gather information, why did you still tell me the truth? Weren't you afraid I'd spread it around?"

He was referring to the mine in the mountain that Lao Geng had mentioned before. It was because he knew this that he couldn't wait to write to He Jiuniang and then rushed in to find out, which resulted in him being captured alive.

"What kind of news is this? Our lord is powerful and already plans to attack. It's no secret; everyone was going to find out sooner or later. Besides, would you have been captured so quickly without some benefits?"

Old Geng scoffed, looking at Prince Jing as if he were a fool.

Prince Jing felt offended, but the smile on his face remained unchanged. Perhaps he had been offended so many times recently that he had gotten used to it.

"How could I have been fooled by your honest and simple appearance back then?"

Prince Jing sighed and continued, "I wonder when my men will find this place. It's truly a tragedy."

Old Geng glanced at him, thinking to himself, "This kid really dares to speak his mind."

However, Old Geng lowered his guard a bit and laughed, "Don't even think about it, kid! If this place were so easy to find, we wouldn't have been able to develop for over twenty years! Besides, even if we were found, it wouldn't matter. This mountain is easy to defend but hard to attack, and we have soldiers and weapons, so we're really not afraid of you!"

"But honestly, you've been captured for so long, and your men still haven't found this place. That's really pathetic!"

As he spoke, Old Geng's face showed a proud expression, and he even looked forward to Prince Jing's men finding their way here, so they could test their new weapons.

Prince Jing's expression instantly darkened; these people were far too arrogant.

However, they also have the capital to be arrogant. They have been secretly developing for more than 20 years, and their weapons reserves are beyond what he can imagine.

Thinking back to my time in the army, I remember that the soldiers' weapons were all chipped or even rusted, but there was no way to replace them with new ones. Meanwhile, these people had plenty of weapons and were just worried about not having the opportunity to use them.

He gritted his teeth in anger, also regretting that he hadn't noticed anything unusual about this place after being at the border for so long. Furthermore, their unbridled behavior at the border must mean they were colluding with local officials, and cracking down on them wouldn't be a simple matter.

Now, the Eastern Court is eyeing them covetously, and King Xun is constantly restless.

Prince Jing couldn't help but wonder, if he were the one sitting on the throne, how would he handle this situation?

There seems to be no good solution. It turns out that giving up the fight for the position and coming to the border was the right choice.

"Old Geng, you guys live on the mountain all year round, can't you just come down easily? There's nothing good on the mountain, and you've been eating this kind of food day after day for decades, it must be very difficult, right?"

He calmed himself down and then continued chatting with Lao Geng.

Speaking of food, Old Geng became interested and said, "We poor folks can't compare to you nobles in terms of food and drink, but we don't ask for much. As long as we can fill our stomachs, that's enough! Our lord said that once we reach the capital and achieve great things, he'll let us eat and drink well every day! Hahaha, and then we can take a few more beautiful concubines. All the hard work over the years will be worth it!"

In Lao Geng's view, this counterattack was bound to succeed. The imperial court was so weak, how could it compete with them?

Furthermore, our lord has been in the capital for so long, and the court knows nothing about it. Isn't he being manipulated by them all along?

"Sigh, you're dreaming."

Prince Jing sighed and said, "I don't think about things that far ahead. I'm just thinking about when I can eat Lu Hei Ya again. I haven't had it for over a month, and I'm craving it so much!"

Old Geng's reverie about the future was interrupted, which annoyed him somewhat, but he still grasped the key point in the other man's words and asked, "What Lu Hei Ya? What is that?"

Seeing that he had taken the bait, Prince Jing chuckled and explained, "It's a special kind of duck meat with a secret recipe. It's so delicious that you can smell it from far away. It's fragrant, spicy, and incredibly stimulating! The most interesting thing about this Lu Black Duck is that only the scraps like the duck head, neck, and feet are tasty. The real meat isn't as flavorful!"

"Hey? That's amazing! You nobles really know how to eat! You always make things that even dogs wouldn't eat?"

Old Geng's face was full of sarcasm, clearly showing his disbelief.

"You really shouldn't disbelieve me! That recipe was developed by a friend of mine. The seasonings are very scarce; even if you have the recipe, you might not be able to make it. So, when my friend knew I was in this godforsaken place, he prepared a lot of seasoning packets for me, so I can often enjoy the delicacies that only the capital city has. It's just a pity..."

He stopped mid-sentence and shook his head regretfully.

Old Geng immediately became anxious: "What's a pity?"

Prince Jing glanced at him leisurely: "Of course it's a pity I haven't had any for over a month! My friend just sent a truckload of seasoning packets a while ago, and they haven't been touched much!"

As she spoke, she sighed again: "To be honest, I really admire you guys. Eating those tasteless things day after day, it must be really tough."

Old Geng hadn't thought anything of it at first, but after hearing what he said, he suddenly felt uneasy.

Although they always thought that once they reached the capital, they would be able to eat and drink well and have women on both sides, when would they be able to achieve their great cause?

Or perhaps, was he still alive before he achieved great things?

Why can't we enjoy it now?

"Hey kid, tell me properly, where's your seasoning packet?"

Through the wooden fence, Old Geng grabbed him by the collar, his tone very impatient.

"It's in my tent! I treasure that thing so much, I certainly wouldn't put it anywhere else. But why are you asking? You're not thinking of stealing it, are you? Don't even think about it, my tent is heavily guarded, don't risk your life for a bite to eat."