Lu Cijian frowned and said coldly, "Making money? You're probably planning a rebellion."
The Longxing Mountains are only a day's journey from the capital. If a group of soldiers were to hide weapons and ambush the capital here, they might just storm into the city.
He guessed that the person behind the scenes had this idea, but later changed their mind and started mining after discovering iron ore in the mountains.
Upon hearing this, Wang Jinbao and Zhao Xiaonian were so frightened that their legs went weak.
After a long pause, Zhao Xiaonian tentatively asked, "If, if someone really wants to rebel, won't we miners be implicated?"
They were all forced to come to mine, not voluntarily. If they were also branded as rebels, they would be doomed.
Judging from what these two people said and the series of actions they took, they must be people from the imperial court.
They wouldn't arrest and behead these two just because they helped with the mining, would they? That would be too painful!
Seeing that he was quite frightened and even stuttering, Jiang Yimian deliberately nodded, "That's right, you are accomplices. If you don't want to be thrown into jail, you will have to listen to us and atone for your sins."
If you do well, I might consider letting you off the hook, wouldn't you say, Aci?
Jiang Yimian smiled so hard her eyes narrowed, making her look like an adorable little fox.
Lu Cijian simply hummed in response, not exposing her joke.
Seeing this, Zhao Xiaonian believed it to be true and nodded repeatedly, "I, I will definitely listen to you, and I will never doubt that you are bad people again."
He'd do anything as long as he wasn't beheaded.
Hearing this, Wang Jinbao breathed a sigh of relief. If they could still joke about mining, then their being forced to go up the mountain to mine must not be a big deal.
Rebellion is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family, and he did not want his family members to be beheaded because he was forced to go to the mountains to mine.
As they were talking, the tightly closed door was opened from the inside.
A burly man came out, quickly closed the door, and looked at the five people slacking off to the side. He said irritably, "What are you doing? Hurry up and go crush the ore. We're running out of supplies here. Master is cursing us out!"
The others just laughed and reassured them, "What's the rush? Come on, take a break."
"Did you hear what those patrolmen said when they came back? Another miner has run away."
"Tsk, what a bunch of overconfident fools. Where do they think they can run to on this mountain? It's hilarious."
"Absolutely, they're all idiots."
"Hey, do you think those people won't come here?"
"It's just in time. Leader Zhang and so many patrolmen are here, as well as the blacksmiths inside. Anyone who dares to come here will surely be dead."
The burly man glanced at the five men and said irritably, "What's wrong? So free? Come inside with me to forge iron."
Upon hearing this, the five immediately waved their hands, "We're not going. It's unbearably hot in there. We're going to break up some rocks."
After saying that, the group quickly went into the cave next to them.
Jiang Yimian and Lu Cijian exchanged a glance before whispering, "We can definitely get out of that iron smelting cave. Let's go that way."
She heard the sound of hammering through the crack in the door just now; besides smelting iron, they must also be making weapons inside.
To avoid being discovered by too many people, the weapons must have been transported out through that cave.
Lu Cijian nodded and squatted down.
Jiang Yimian carefully helped Jiang Dazhuang down from behind him and handed him to Wang Jinbao.
Zhao Xiaonian glanced cautiously at the patrol team that was constantly walking back and forth, then looked at the muscular man, and whispered, "How are we going to get over there? There are more than twenty people patrolling over there, and there must be quite a few more inside the cave. I heard that Zhang, the leader, is also there."
That guy is really something. I heard from Brother Zhao that he used to be a soldier who had been on the battlefield, and he could easily take on ten people at once.
There are only five of us, and one of us is seriously injured. He probably got caught as soon as he went out.
Even if no one is injured, those five of them have no chance of getting out safely.
Now we're truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Jiang Yimian simply said, "We'll deal with those people outside in a bit, and you can take the opportunity to enter the cave. Once inside, just run out."
Zhao Xiaonian unconsciously swallowed, and asked nervously, "Will that... will it work?"
He felt this method was unreliable.
There are more than twenty people outside. Can these two really handle more than twenty people?
Are you sure you're not just bragging?
Wang Jinbao hesitated for a moment before saying, "There are probably still people blocking the way outside the cave. Even if we go out, we'll be caught very quickly."
At that point, let alone running away, they'll definitely be hacked to death.
Since so many secrets are hidden here, we certainly won't let them know.
Lu Cijian simply said, "Don't worry, there are people waiting for you outside. Remember to light it when you get out."
As he spoke, he handed the other person a small bamboo tube.
More than an hour has passed since they went up the mountain. If Song Er hasn't managed to catch up with his men successfully, then all those years he's spent in the Ink Pavilion will have been for nothing.
Wang Jinbao nodded and squatted down to carry Jiang Dazhuang on his back.
Zhao Xiaonian picked up a stone from somewhere, held it tightly in his hand, and looked around warily with a fierce expression, but his legs were actually trembling.
Jiang Yimian and Lu Cijian seized the opportunity and rushed straight out of the corner.
The muscular man was startled by the sudden appearance of the two people. Before he could even cry out, Jiang Yimian knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck.
The oil lamp in the cave was instantly extinguished by the pebbles thrown by Lu Cijian.
The dim light suddenly vanished, plunging the surroundings into darkness. The patrolling men were instantly panicked, asking in bewilderment, "Why did the oil lamp go out all of a sudden?"
"Who knows? Quickly find a tinderbox."
The patrolmen were frantically checking themselves, and chaos ensued.
After Jiang Yimian and Lu Cijian adjusted to the darkness, they rushed into the patrol team and quickly knocked everyone unconscious.
Wang Jinbao and his companion found the innermost door in the dark, carefully opened it, and went straight inside.
Jiang Yimian and the other two followed closely behind.
Upon entering the cave, we discovered that it was extremely spacious.
Several huge iron smelting furnaces were located near the entrance, and on the side, craftsmen were vigorously hammering the red-hot iron or cooling it in water. The various steps were tedious and complicated, but they were done with great skill.
Everyone inside the cave was busy, and waves of heat spread through the cave with the pushing and pulling of the bellows, making people dizzy and nauseous.
The flickering firelight made it difficult to see clearly on everyone's faces, and for a moment no one noticed that a few people had sneaked into the cave.
Zhao Xiaonian was so frightened that he slowed his steps and quickly carried the person on Wang Jinbao's back into the cave.
Jiang Yimian and her companion kept an eye on the movements of those around them while trying to avoid being noticed.
As the group searched for a way out, a loud horn suddenly sounded outside, its sound echoing throughout the entire cave.
Instantly, everyone who was doing their job stopped what they were doing and looked around.
Someone shouted, "Warning! Enemy invasion!"
The next second, someone noticed the group of people who had been running and shouted, "There they are! They're trying to escape! Catch them!"
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