Chapter 70 Gold Mine and Underground Palace
Chapter 70
Wang Sumo whispered, "Just now, Old Zhu asked a man named Cai Gen'er to deliver something to the neighbor's house. Cai Gen'er said to him, 'Okay, Grandpa.' Cai Gen'er looks to be around thirty years old. Didn't Old Zhu just say that when Old Liu first met Cai Gen'er, Cai Gen'er was exactly a few years old? I guessed that."
Bai Cen: "..."
Bai Cen suddenly understood, but then he felt as if he was watching a magic trick, and just when it got mysterious, the real person suddenly revealed the truth to him.
Not only that, it's also perfectly reasonable, and even fits the host's temperament when enjoying a good show.
—With ears listening to everything around them, eyes observing everything, and mind never resting.
"Old Zhu was the first person Old Liu met in Liu Village. Old Liu was able to stay in Liu Village thanks to Old Zhu's help back then. So, Old Zhu and Old Liu must have had a very good relationship. He just went through all that trouble, saying so much and even testing us for a while before finally getting to the point about Old Liu and the Golden Gate. Old Liu's matter isn't that simple."
After Wang Sumo finished speaking in a low voice, Bai Cen was so shocked that his jaw dropped.
Suddenly, I understood why the old man had such a bad temper, but he listened to Wang Sumo in everything.
The boss is smart...
Most importantly, it's about knowing when to use it and when not to.
There have been many times when the employer has given up and neglected their duties.
But since the owner was just letting things slide, no one in the entire Bazhenlou restaurant felt any pressure.
"Later, keep an eye on your surroundings," Wang Sumo reminded him.
"Hmm?" Bai Cen looked at him.
Just as the two finished whispering to each other, Zhu Weng finished his water and looked up.
Bai Cen didn't ask many questions, but he remembered his master's instructions. From that moment on, although his gaze was fixed on Zhu Weng, he kept an eye on his surroundings.
The village is called Liu Village.
The most common surname is Liu, but Zhu Weng seems to have better popularity and prestige in Liu Village than many other people with the surname Liu.
Even the fact that Lao Liu was able to stay back then was thanks to Zhu Weng's help.
Therefore, Zhu Weng was definitely not just a simple carpenter as he appeared on the surface.
Bai Cen crossed his arms and looked at Zhu Weng with a smile.
Interesting, listen carefully...
"Miss Wang, have you ever heard of the Golden Gate?" Zhu Weng glanced at Wang Sumo.
Wang Sumo shook his head truthfully: "I haven't heard of it. Bazhenlou has many customers, but it doesn't get involved in many martial arts affairs."
Wang Sumo was indeed honest. Not only Wang Sumo, but Bai Cen, who had previously traveled alone across the country, had also never heard of it. The martial arts world is vast; some sects are renowned, while others remain in their own little world, quietly making their fortunes.
Not all martial arts sects with branches in various places are necessarily powerful. Some sects within their own territory are not to be underestimated.
The Golden Gate is very likely such a sect.
After all, how could a sect that can give itself such a grand name have no strength at all?
Bai Cen is now genuinely interested in the Golden Gate.
Zhu Weng smiled and nodded: "Indeed, the Golden Gate rarely appears in the Central Plains, and there is very little news about the Golden Gate in the Central Plains martial arts world. In fact, the Zhenhu Division's register does not include this sect."
Wang Sumo and Bai Cen exchanged a glance; this was interesting.
Under the jurisdiction of Zhenhu Division, all sects must be recorded and pay annual administrative taxes. This includes sects like Qingyun Manor, which do business with the palace and garrison troops.
I haven't heard of any sect being an exception.
Unless, this is a martial arts sect from another country...
It's believable that martial arts sects from other countries would come to the capital looking for a knife, but it's really unreasonable for them to come to a place like Liucun to demand answers.
If Zhu Weng wasn't talking nonsense, then this matter is rather mysterious.
Bai Cen crossed his arms and said, "Old Zhu, please stop keeping me in suspense."
Zhu Weng gave him a meaningful look, but still didn't say anything.
Wang Sumo suddenly understood: "Old Zhu promised others that he would not reveal the secrets of the Golden Gate; but if others guessed it, like me, then Old Zhu would naturally be able to tell you what happened next."
Bai Cen was slightly surprised.
But Zhu Weng smiled approvingly: "Miss Wang is truly intelligent."
Wang Sumo hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
Mr. Zhu smiled and said, "Miss Wang, please speak freely."
Wang Sumo hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Old Zhu, you are from the Golden Gate, aren't you? Or were you before?"
Bai Cen's eyes widened; this time it wasn't a magic trick.
This time, Zhu Weng also stopped what he was doing and looked up at her closely.
Wang Sumo continued, "The Golden Gate doesn't often appear in the Central Plains, and it's not even registered in the Zhenhu Division. The chances of such a sect appearing in Liu Village are very small, so small that it's unlikely they would come here specifically to buy a weapon. But if they come to Liu Village looking for someone and happen to encounter Old Liu's blacksmithing skills, they might have the idea of having Old Liu forge a weapon for them."
Yes, Bai Cen also realized that they had stumbled upon this by accident, not that they had come prepared. So they didn't think anything of it when Lao Liu didn't fire their weapons; if they had come specifically for this purpose, they probably wouldn't have let it go so easily.
"Miss Wang, please continue." Zhu Weng's gaze towards her seemed different from before.
Wang Sumo readily agreed: "If what I said earlier is correct, Mr. Zhu, you have more or less revealed your close relationship with Lao Liu and also wanted our help. If it were an insignificant person, they probably wouldn't have done so much."
"You've been working as a carpenter here for so long, and you've kept your words very well hidden. You must have finally managed to get out of the Golden Gate, and you promised the gate not to reveal any information about it. If I'm not mistaken, it was when the people from the Golden Gate came to Liu Village looking for you that they targeted Old Liu. To save you, Old Liu made a powerful weapon for the Golden Gate."
"The Golden Gate saw that Old Liu was very skilled and wanted to forcefully keep him for their own use. You must have intervened in the matter. The Golden Gate eventually let Old Liu go, but the price Old Liu paid was that he could not forge weapons for other sects. Only in this way could they live in peace."
"Without a direct conflict or mutual benefit, the Golden Gate wouldn't have come to Liu Village. Unless, in the Golden Gate's view, Old Liu hadn't kept his promise, they wouldn't have threatened him to pay a price."
Wang Sumo blinked: "But the Golden Gate might really be reluctant to kill Lao Liu, so they took Lao Liu's son away and made Lao Liu take the initiative to find them, thus taking control of the situation."
"So, Old Liu's son wasn't taken away because he lost money at the Guancheng casino, but because he was held captive by the Golden Gate. You told the outside world that he lost money at the casino because you were afraid of causing panic among the other villagers, Mr. Zhu. These villagers can't save Old Liu, so telling them the truth won't do much good. But you know who's at the Bazhenlou, which is why you told us about the Golden Gate."
"Old Zhu, am I right?"
After Wang Sumo finished speaking, her eyes curved into two crescent moons with a smile.
Bai Cen felt that all the excitement he had witnessed at his employer's place over the years had been worthwhile!
Regardless of how accurate this speculation is, the logic is self-consistent.
Even if there are differences in the details, the overall difference may not be that significant.
Sure enough, Zhu Weng shook his head, this time putting down the food box and carving knife in his hands, and said gently, "That's right, Miss Wang guessed it pretty accurately."
Haha, it really is eight or nine!
Bai Cen looked at Wang Sumo with new respect.
“Indeed, I used to be a member of the Golden Gate, and Old Liu did indeed have a conflict with the Golden Gate because of me. He forged that dagger for the Golden Gate because he saved me, and that's how the rest of the story happened…”
Zhu Weng took out a token as thin as a piece of paper from his sleeve.
Bai Cen recognized it as pure gold at a glance.
Zhu Weng handed it to the two of them, and Wang Sumo reached out and took it.
The token, as thin as a cicada's wing, has the three large characters "Golden Gate" painted in gold on the front, while the back features a very special symbol.
Bai Cen exclaimed in surprise, "I feel like I've seen this symbol somewhere before!"
Wang Sumo and Zhu Weng both looked at him upon hearing the sound.
Bai Cen frowned slightly. He did have a vague impression of it, but he couldn't quite place it. He searched his memory for the symbol.
“The north!” Bai Cen suddenly said, “I saw it when I was in the north…”
Bai Cen suddenly became certain: "I remember now! Old Zhu, I saw this symbol when I was in the north, but it seemed slightly different, like, the left and right sides were reversed?"
Wang Sumo knew from his confident words that he must have seen it and was not making it up.
I've probably only seen it a few times, and I only know that it has this shape; I don't know much else about it.
Zhu Weng nodded: "That's right, young master. If you saw it in the north, then the symbol should indeed be reversed."
That's really true!
Bai Cen and Wang Sumo both looked at Zhu Weng. Bai Cen further speculated: "So, the Golden Gate usually appears in the north? And it's not under the jurisdiction of Zhenhu Division, so it's not registered?"
“It shouldn’t be entirely true,” Wang Sumo added. “The fact that the symbols can be interchanged left and right to distinguish them indicates that they are a pair of similar things; what Zhu Weng should have seen in the north was indeed the opposite image, which means that in other places, such as the south opposite to the north, the symbols are interchanged left and right?”
"That makes sense! Boss, you've got some skills!" Bai Cenran exclaimed in admiration.
Looking at the two men before him, Zhu Weng's eyes showed a slight surprise, but also a deep sense of emotion: "Both of you guessed correctly."
Zhu Weng took the thin, cicada-wing-like token of the "Golden Gate" from Wang Sumo: "The Golden Gate is not under the jurisdiction of the Zhenhu Division because the Golden Gate is special. It is a Jianghu sect, but it is supported by the imperial court and serves the imperial court. In a sense, the Golden Gate's jurisdiction is above that of the Zhenhu Division, and the Zhenhu Division cannot control it."
"A sect supported by the imperial court?" Bai Cen had never heard of such a thing. "What would the imperial court do with them?"
The imperial guards, garrison troops, and various other guards are all formally organized; there's no need for them to support a martial arts sect.
Wang Sumo replied, "The Golden Gate has the word 'gold' on its name and serves the imperial court; it is not under the jurisdiction of the Zhenhu Division..."
Wang Sumo looked at Zhu Weng: "A gold mine?"
Bai Cen stared wide-eyed at Zhu Weng in surprise.
Zhu Weng nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, a gold mine!"
"Wow! I never expected the sect's name to be so fitting!" Bai Cen exclaimed in amazement.
Zhu Weng continued, “The mining of gold is overseen by the imperial court. To prevent the gold from flowing out of the country, there are special officials in the court to supervise the process. However, due to years of war and unrest in the court, in order to ensure that the gold mining does not fall into the hands of others, some gold mines in the court are not made public, but are mined in a specific way. Even if there is war and turmoil, those who usurp the throne and plot rebellion cannot obtain information about these gold mines, so these gold mines remain hidden.”
"A slush fund!" Wang Sumo understood. "Such a slush fund naturally cannot be placed under the jurisdiction of Zhenhu Division..."
Zhu Weng nodded: "That's why the Golden Gate is so mysterious, because the fewer people who know about the secrets of the gold mine, the better."
"That's why the Golden Gate isn't well-known in the martial arts world; it's safer that way!" Bai Cen understood.
Zhu Weng continued, "This is the origin of the Golden Gate. Currently, most of these gold mines are located in the north, which makes it easier to concentrate mining. So, the opposite symbol that Young Master Bai just mentioned seeing in the north refers to the Golden Gate that is used for mining gold in the north."
"So, there is indeed another branch in another place, and it's not mining gold?" Wang Sumo drew inferences from this example.
Zhu Weng nodded: "Miss Wang is right. This token is the Golden Gate to the south. But this 'south' is not the same as that 'south.' Here, 'south' refers to the area south of the gold mine to the north. Therefore, everything south of the gold mine is called 'south,' which is another Golden Gate. The way to distinguish them is by the symbol on the token."
"No wonder it's different, now I understand." Bai Cen finally understood.
Wang Sumo asked curiously, "If the Golden Gate to the south isn't for mining gold, but it's still called the Golden Gate, what is it for?"
Yes, Bai Cen was curious too.
Zhu Weng laughed and said, "Since they are all called the Golden Gate, it means that the purpose of setting them up, the things they want to do, and the underlying logic are all the same."
Bai Cenchao: "Independent of other institutions of the imperial court, secretly guarding and mining another type of treasury? Elder Zhu, are you a member of this Golden Gate?"
Zhu Weng nodded: "That's right!"
Zhu Weng's gaze narrowed slightly, darkening a bit: "Another kind of gold is also hidden underground, it also needs to be dug and mined, and it's just as unsafe..."
Bai Cen was completely bewildered and was deep in thought.
Wang Sumo's eyes paused slightly: "Burial goods, the gold and jewels buried in the underground palace?"
Bai Cen: ? ? ?
Bai Cen: !!!
Old Zhu couldn't help but laugh: "Miss Wang, it's perfect!"
[Author's Note]
Hehehe, I'm back!!
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