Chapter 79 Natural Disasters and Man-Made Calamities
While the people sent by Consort Jia hurriedly went to the Xie family, another person was rushing to the Prince Ping's residence in a disheveled state.
This man was travel-worn and his clothes were so tattered that his original appearance was unrecognizable. He had disguised himself as a beggar and had been begging his way to the gate of the Prince's mansion.
The gatekeeper of the Prince's mansion was about to send the man away, but when the man pretended to beg for food, he grabbed the gatekeeper's hand tightly: "I am Shi An, the personal servant of Young Master Lu. Quickly take me to see the Prince!"
After the incident at the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence, the emperor replaced most of the servants at the Prince of Ping's residence. The gatekeeper didn't recognize Shi An, and seeing his disheveled appearance, didn't dare lead him inside immediately. Instead, he asked, "Which Young Master Lu?"
"Lu Heng, the sixth young master of the Lu family, also known as Shuanglu, or Lu Ziyou! Go and deliver the message quickly, or it will be too late!"
"Shuanglu" is a nickname for Lu Heng among his friends; ordinary people wouldn't call him that. Seeing that this man had clearly stated his address and even knew Lu Heng's courtesy name and nickname, the gatekeeper was largely convinced. He first led the man into the gatehouse to settle him in, while he himself quickly went to report the news.
Qi Jingxuan was quite surprised to hear that Shi An had arrived: "Why is he back? Where is Lu Ziyou? He wasn't with him."
Lu Heng had been entrusted by him to investigate a possible earthquake in Yingzhou in October. He had only received Lu Heng's letter yesterday, saying that after thoroughly checking the local chronicles of Yingzhou, there had never been an earthquake in the area since records began. He had also personally investigated the area, and the local terrain did not seem to be prone to earthquakes. Based on his years of experience, the probability of an earthquake in such a place was very small.
In his letter, Lu Heng asked him why he was so certain that an earthquake would occur here. He added that if such a normally earthquake-free place were to experience one, it would likely cause a major disaster, and the suffering would extend far beyond Gan Ning city. He doubted it would be easy to persuade the people of these cities to move to open areas based on a mere prediction. Moreover, he had found no record of earthquakes in historical texts or local chronicles, and he didn't know what reason to give the local officials. He couldn't very well say it was something Prince Ping had dreamt about.
Lu Heng urged him to come up with a solution as soon as possible, or to have the imperial court prepare disaster relief in advance. In any case, based on his observation, Yingzhou would either not experience an earthquake, or it would be a major one.
Qi Jingxuan and Shen Yan read the letter together, racking their brains for a reason to persuade the court, when Shi An unexpectedly returned today, looking so disheveled.
Shi An was eager to see them, and when he was brought before them, he was still wearing the same clothes as before, without even bothering to wipe his face.
As soon as he entered, he knelt down with a thud and cried, "Your Highness, please save my young master!"
Qi Jingxuan was startled and quickly asked, "What happened to backgammon?"
Shi An said with tears streaming down his face, "My young master was entrusted by you to survey the terrain near Ganning City in Yingzhou and observe whether there were any signs of an earthquake. He consulted many local historical records and gazetteers, but there was no record of an earthquake. He also went to investigate on his own but found nothing. So he wrote you a letter to inform you of this matter."
"Although the local situation had been roughly determined, the young master still insisted on visiting various places to confirm it again."
“There is an unnamed mountain outside Ganning City. You once went to explore it, but you were stopped. The locals said that the mountain belongs to someone and that you cannot go in or out at will. Even the villagers in the surrounding area are not allowed to go there to cut firewood in winter.”
“It is common for wealthy families to buy up mountains and forests to use as their own estates, and the young master did not take it seriously at first. However, since he had seen other places nearby but had never been to that mountain, he wanted to go in and take a look just in case. But the person who bought the mountain land refused to make an exception. No matter what the young master said or how much silver he was offered, he would not let the young master into the mountain.”
"An earthquake is an ominous sign. Young master, you fear that the local government may have concealed the truth in the past. To prevent them from deceiving you, you have never revealed your identity. You have only said that you are traveling here and are interested in the local scenery."
"The other party did not know his identity. Seeing that he only had three or five attendants with him, they took him seriously as an ordinary young master from a wealthy family and almost attacked him."
“You know our young master’s temperament. If he speaks politely, that’s fine, but if he’s so unreasonable, he insists on going in to take a look. And then…and then we sneaked into the mountain in the middle of the night when no one was looking.”
"After we went in, we found that the mountain was very strange. There were many people stationed there, all of them strong and healthy. Some of them were even wearing armor, like... soldiers."
Qi Jingxuan was listening intently when he heard this, and his expression tightened: "Soldiers!"
"Yes and no." Shi An's voice trembled slightly. Recalling the situation at the time, he even forgot to cry. "Those people looked like soldiers, but that was not a local garrison area, and they were not wearing the uniforms of local soldiers. They just acted very much like soldiers."
Although Lu Heng's father was a civil official, he came from a prominent family in the capital. Even though he had never dealt with military camps and soldiers, he had seen them before, as there were always soldiers patrolling around the capital.
When Lu Heng and his group entered the mountain, they saw that the people were patrolling around and there were sentries changing shifts, which was very vigilant.
"We sensed something was wrong then and advised the young master not to go any further, but to wait until dawn to go directly to the yamen to report to the authorities, telling them that there were suspected bandits stationed there, and to ask the government to bring troops to suppress them. But the young master said..."
Shi An choked up again as he spoke, tears mingling with the mud on his face, creating a mess: "Young Master said that the local people may not know that so many people are stationed here, but the government certainly does. Even if we report it to the authorities, it will be useless. They might just arrest us and kill and bury us without a word."
"The local government is not reliable, and the governments of nearby prefectures are not necessarily reliable either. The only way is to send the message back to the capital."
"But for the news to reach the capital, it needs to be plausible. The capital needs to know where these troops came from, what they are doing, and approximately how many there are. Otherwise, how can the capital believe him, and how will they arrange for their disposal?"
"So he ignored our advice and insisted on going in. Then... we saw many, many people and heard many, many sounds."
"It's iron ore!" Shi An's eyes widened in terror, and his voice trembled even more violently. "Your Highness, it's iron ore! Those people are illegally mining iron ore!"
Upon hearing the words "iron mine," Shen Yan felt a buzzing in her ears: "How could that be... Yingzhou does have iron mines, which is why the imperial court has stationed troops there year-round to prevent enemy invasion. But the nearest iron mine is quite a distance from Ganning City, and I've never heard of any iron mines in that mountain."
It's true!
Shi An said with certainty, "We saw it with our own eyes! Basket after basket of iron was being sent out of the mine! There were many mines there, and we didn't know how deep they were or how long they had been digging. Although we couldn't hear any noise outside the mountains, the noise inside the mountains was extremely loud."
“My young master said that with so many mines so densely packed together, something bad is bound to happen! If they are dug shallowly, it will be better, but if they are dug deep, the mountain will eventually collapse! If they are dug even deeper... reaching the vicinity of Ganning City through the bottom of the mountain, then... Ganning City will surely not escape disaster.”
The buzzing in Shen Yan's ears grew louder, and scenes from her past life reappeared before her eyes.
A fierce wind whipped up a blizzard, the earth shook violently, and her parents were trapped beneath the collapsed beams and walls. She could see them clearly, yet she couldn't reach them; she could only watch helplessly as their blood spread…
"I always thought it was a natural disaster, but it turns out... it was man-made."
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