He got up and walked outside, and he was gone for a short while.
Someone outside the cave said, "Your Majesty, Prince Xiao has come to the mine."
Prince Jin carried Ruanruan out of the cave and glanced at the guards kneeling on the ground.
"Your Highness, Prince Xiao heard from somewhere that there is an iron mine here, so he brought people here to check it out."
"He used the excuse of guarding Qingzhou for His Majesty and assisting the prince, so none of the guards at the mine dared to stop the prince." The attendant said.
"I know. Where are they now?" King Jin asked with a frown.
"The people are now in the forging camp next to the mine." The attendant stood up from the ground and led King Jin there.
"Uncle Prince Jin, is that little uncle here?" Ruanruan looked up at Prince Jin.
"Well, Ruanruan, do you want to go with me to take a look?"
"Go ahead." Ruanruan nodded. The younger uncle told grandpa that he could only meet Uncle Xiao alone when Prince Jin and the others were there.
Inside the forging camp.
The temperature in the tent was very high and the blacksmiths were all wearing thin clothes.
Wearing heat-insulating gloves, he hammered away at the iron with a "clang clang" sound, and the charcoal fire in the stove burned bright red.
"Prince, this is our forging camp. The prince set up the camp here to make it easier to get iron blocks." The guard led Xiao Qinbei in.
"Prince, please take a look." The curtain of the tent was pulled open, and the servant led Xiao Qinbei in.
Xiao Qinbei did not disturb the people inside, but walked to the side of a blacksmith and was attracted by the charcoal fire burning in the furnace in front of him.
“Is this charcoal?”
He took the tongs next to him, picked up a piece of red-hot charcoal from the stove, and looked at it carefully.
The charcoal fire burned evenly, exactly the same as the charcoal they usually used in their house.
However, these charcoals are actually used to smelt iron in Qingzhou!
"Your Highness, this is white charcoal, but its texture is similar to silver bone charcoal. Every household in Qingzhou uses this kind of charcoal." The blacksmith next to him responded.
"You...you are such a waste! You actually use such good white charcoal to smelt iron. Do you know how many people in Gan country have frozen to death now?" Xiao Shunan was very angry when he heard this. He looked at the charcoal in the stove and said loudly.
Even before the famine in the country, such white charcoal would only appear in the homes of some dignitaries, and was used to keep their masters warm. Ordinary servants used black charcoal that was more smoky.
"Prince, Young Master, you know that we are poor in Qingzhou and we have almost burned all the firewood. So we can only use charcoal." The attendant explained.
After these words were spoken, Xiao Qinbei and Xiao Shunan were speechless for a moment.
"Are you kidding me? You're so poor, yet you still use charcoal fire to smelt iron." Xiao Shunan felt a surge of anger in his chest, and he grabbed the servant's collar.
Being so poor that you have to use white charcoal to smelt iron, who are you showing off to?
"No... no, sir, you have misunderstood me." The servant waved his hands quickly.
"Yeah, you really misunderstood him. Don't be so fierce."
"Why do you always look so angry?" A small figure walked in, with her hands tucked into her wide sleeves. She frowned and looked at Xiao Shunan.
Xiao Qinbei signaled Xiao Shunan to let go, and Xiao Shunan gave up.
"They really only have this kind of charcoal to burn here. In order to keep warm, they must use this kind of charcoal." Ruanruan put her little hands in her pockets and glanced sideways at Zhao Chengqian who followed her in.
"Brother Xiaogan, don't you think so?"
"Well, if we could find something else that could burn, we would have used it long ago," Zhao Chengqian said.
"Then where did you get all this charcoal?" Xiao Shunan wondered.
He was well-read and naturally knew that the charcoal-making process was complicated and required a large amount of firewood.
If Qingzhou has an endless supply of charcoal, then where does this charcoal come from?
Or did the King of Jin already make a perfect plan before coming to Qingzhou?
"I remember that you only came here to help Qingzhou, and now Qingzhou is safe. I advise you to know less about things that you shouldn't know, so as not to bring trouble upon yourself." Prince Jin walked in and glanced at Xiao Qinbei with a cold look.
Xiao Qinbei stepped forward, bowed, and saluted the Prince of Jin. "This is your own business in Qingzhou. We are only here to assist you on His Majesty's orders. Your Highness is alright now, but we still need to investigate further before returning to Bianjing to report to His Majesty."
"Your Highness, you may not know that His Majesty has learned that Qingzhou is under siege by the Northern Rong. Your Highness's life is in imminent danger, and Your Highness is extremely anxious. I'm sure Your Highness doesn't want to cause Your Highness to worry."
Prince Jin waved his hand and called over his chief guard. "Sir, if you want to know about the current situation in Qingzhou, I will have someone show you around. Just be sure not to disturb the lives of the people of Qingzhou."
"Take the prince around Qingzhou."
"As you command." The captain of the guards bowed and saluted, then walked to the side of Xiao Qinbei and his son.
Xiao Qinbei lowered his eyes. It was obvious that the Prince of Jin wanted to send someone to monitor him.
"Your Highness, I have a favor to ask of you." He glanced at the soft figure in front of Prince Jin and spoke.
King Jin: "Speak."
When Xiao Qinbei heard Prince Jin's cold reply, he became furious, but for the sake of the overall situation, he could only endure it.
After taking my little niece away, I will deal with King Jin!
"Why not let the young doctor accompany you? I've heard that although he's young, he has great powers."
"Ruanruan, are you willing?" King Jin lowered his head and looked at Ruanruan and asked.
Ruanruan looked up at Prince Jin, then at Xiao Qinbei, and was clearly dazzled by Xiao Qinbei's fiery eyes.
"But Ruanruan doesn't want to go with him." She pouted and scratched the back of her head.
"Why?" Xiao Qinbei paused, a hint of loss flashed in his eyes, and he looked at Ruanruan and asked.
"Hmph! Why should I? I don't know you well. Besides, you don't like Ruanruan, so why should I go out with you?" Ruanruan turned around and hugged Prince Jin's thighs, burying her little face in Prince Jin's clothes, and said in a baby voice.
"You misunderstood that we don't like Ruanruan. We don't dislike you." Xiao Qinbei felt a little uncomfortable when he heard her say that, but he quickly calmed down.
"I don't believe it." Ruanruan glanced at him and tilted her head away from him.
Only at this moment did Xiao Qinbei realize a big problem: it was not an easy task to take Ruanruan away.
"How about this, then please ask Prince Jin to take us there."
"Yes, my father is the prince of Prince Xiao's Mansion after all. The prince only let a guard entertain us. This is too disrespectful to my grandfather." Xiao Shunan raised his voice by taking advantage of the momentum of Prince Xiao's Mansion.
Prince Jin cast a sinister glance at him, "Master Xiao, do you think I'm afraid of your Prince Xiao's Mansion?"
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