Chapter 485 Iron Ore
During the confinement period, the baby sleeps after eating and eats after waking up. In just a few days, the baby grows a lot.
It was a rare occasion when the child was awake, so Shen Wan used a rattle to play with the child, making the child dance with joy.
Mo'er asked for a rattle, so Shen Wan gave it to him. However, his small hands couldn't hold the rattle, and it hit his face, making him stunned.
Didn't cry.
The nurse said, "Young Master really doesn't like to cry. If it were another child, he would have cried miserably."
The child didn't cry, but Shen Wan was heartbroken.
The child's skin is fair and tender. If he was hit, there would be a red mark, but it would disappear after rubbing it twice.
With Xie Jingyu and two children, Chen Wan felt extremely satisfied.
After playing with the child for a while, the child became sleepy, so the nurse took the child away. A maid came in and said, "Prince's Consort, Master Zhou and Madam Zhou have returned to the capital..."
Shen Wan, “…???”
As time went by, I almost forgot about my cousin and Young Master Zhou.
Young Master Zhou accompanied his cousin Ye Caiwei back to the Ye family in Junzhou. Why did he return to Beijing only now? Did he spend the New Year at the Ye family?
The next morning, Young Master Zhou and Ye Caiwei came to the Jingbei Palace.
Seeing her cousin, Shen Wan was very happy. "Why do you look a little unwell?"
Ye Caiwei touched her face and said, "It's much better now..."
Shen Wan suddenly became worried, "What happened?"
Ye Caiwei's cheeks flushed slightly. "I was suffering from morning sickness for quite a while, so I couldn't travel. I could only spend the New Year at the Ye Mansion. I came back only after I felt better these days..."
Master Ye San was not able to escort Ye Caiwei well, so he was sold by Master Er and helped him count the money. The Ye family felt that they owed Ye Caiwei and gave her a lot of dowry. Old Madam Ye hoped that Ye Caiwei could come back to the Ye family after she got married, and Shen Ji agreed to this.
But when Ye Caiwei got married, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou were reluctant to let her leave Beijing, so they kept her there day after day.
As a result, Ye Caiwei and Young Master Zhou felt nauseous and wanted to vomit just two days after arriving at the Ye family. At first, they thought it was due to acclimatization, and only after seeing a doctor did they find out that she was pregnant.
Ye Caiwei suffered from severe morning sickness and vomited everything she ate. Junzhou was some distance away from Kyoto, and they were afraid that the bumpy ride back to Beijing would injure the fetus in her womb. Madam Ye asked Ye Caiwei to wait until she felt better before leaving. Young Master Zhou did not dare to take the risk, and as he had something else to do, he agreed.
Three months after the New Year, Ye Caiwei's vomiting finally improved, and the two of them set out to return to Beijing. They didn't dare to walk too fast on the road, and they only returned to Beijing yesterday.
Ye Caiwei said, "I returned to Beijing a few days late and missed the third birthdays of both children. Fortunately, I didn't miss the full moon banquet..."
Chen Wan said, "You can come to see me anytime. You are pregnant and you have had a bumpy ride back to Beijing. You should have a good rest."
Ye Caiwei said, "My husband has something to ask the Prince of Jingbei, and I happened to want to come too, so we went together."
Master Zhou and Ye Caiwei came to see Shen Wan and the child, and Xie Jingyu welcomed them.
Ye Caiwei went into the room to see Shen Wan, and Xie Jingyu asked Master Zhou to go to the study to talk.
After chatting for a while, Master Zhou congratulated Xie Jingyu and said, "I came to see you today because of something..."
Xie Jingyu asked, "What's the matter?"
Young Master Zhou turned around and the servant handed the half-big box in his hand to him.
Young Master Zhou handed the box to Xie Jingyu.
Xie Jingyu took it and opened it.
There is a stone in the box.
Xie Jingyu was surprised at first, then he picked up the stone, took a look at it and said, "Is this iron ore?"
Young Master Zhou nodded, "It's iron ore."
How to get iron ore to him...
Xie Jingyu found it unusual and asked, "Where did this iron ore come from?"
Young Master Zhou said, "Quanzhou."
These two words successfully made Xie Jingyu frown.
Quanzhou is no other place but the fief of Prince Qing.
He had never heard that there were iron mines in Quanzhou. If the imperial court knew about it, Young Master Zhou would not have to bring the iron ore to tell him about it.
Prince Qing privately opened an iron mine in his fiefdom.
If it was just mining and selling for money, it would be a small matter, but the worry was that they were privately manufacturing weapons with the intention of rebellion.
Young Master Zhou told Xie Jingyu about the discovery of the iron ore.
To go from Kyoto to the Ye family in Junzhou, one has to pass through Quanzhou. On that day, Young Master Zhou took Ye Caiwei through Quanzhou. The officers and soldiers in Quanzhou punched and kicked an old woman with a child of five or six years old. The beating was so cruel that even Young Master Zhou, who didn't like to meddle in other people's business, couldn't help but intervene.
Seeing that he was well-dressed, the officers and soldiers did not dare to act rudely and left. Young Master Zhou helped the old woman up and asked her, "Why did those officers and soldiers beat you, an old lady?"
The old woman said, "My two sons were conscripted by the government to work and haven't returned for two months. Their grandfather was repairing a roof and fell from it and died. I asked the government to return my sons to bury their grandfather, but the government kept making excuses, saying they didn't know. I was afraid that my two sons had also been in trouble, so I didn't ask a few more questions, and then the soldiers attacked an old woman like me so cruelly..."
Young Master Zhou asked her, "Didn't the government say what they were conscripted for?"
The old woman shook her head. "No, the government conscripted a lot of able-bodied men from the farm, giving them generous wages for their hard work and no questions asked. I originally wanted to stop them from going, but my two sons thought everyone else was going, so they wanted to go too, and I couldn't stop them..."
Young Master Zhou had to rush to Junzhou, so he couldn't help them find the government, nor did he dare to alert the enemy. He just gave the old woman ten taels of silver and continued on his way.
But Young Master Zhou always felt something was wrong about this matter.
Quanzhou is the fiefdom of Prince Qing. Unless the imperial court issues an order, no able-bodied men will be conscripted from the fiefdom. Moreover, conscripting men without specifying the purpose is very suspicious.
The prince's unusual behavior in his fiefdom made it hard not to think of rebellion.
Originally, Young Master Zhou was planning to return to Beijing to tell Shen Ji about this, but Ye Caiwei was pregnant, and he couldn't leave Ye Caiwei alone to return to Beijing. But he couldn't stay in the Ye family all the time. After telling Shen Ji, he still had to send someone to Quanzhou to investigate the matter, so Young Master Zhou simply went to investigate it himself.
The investigation revealed that Prince Qing not only privately opened iron mines throughout the state, but also forged a large number of weapons.
Young Master Zhou secretly investigated the matter, was discovered, and was almost silenced.
Not daring to investigate further, Young Master Zhou took the iron ore and went to Junzhou with Ye Caiwei to celebrate the New Year with the Ye family. He would return to Beijing after the New Year.
Only when he came back did he know that Shen Ji had gone to the border. Young Master Zhou did not dare to become an enemy of Prince Qing. After thinking about it, he came to find Xie Jingyu.
Xie Jingyu asked, "Do you know how long Prince Qing has been operating the iron mine privately?"
Young Master Zhou said, "According to what I've heard, Prince Qing has been mining iron ore for the past few years, but only in the last few months has he recruited a large number of able-bodied men to concentrate on mining..."
This was Prince Ling's return to his ancestral home, which threatened Prince Cheng's fight for the crown prince position, forcing them to make preparations for both scenarios.
In Chen Wan's previous life, Xiao Yun ascended the throne and Prince Qing did not rebel. Instead, Prince Ling threatened Prince Cheng, and Prince Qing could no longer sit still.
It is really intriguing that Prince Qing is so devoted to Prince Cheng.
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