Although the man in black had Cheng Gong's personal token, Qin Huaiyuan still felt a little uneasy. He has always been cautious in doing things, especially choosing this path, for fear that he would take a wrong step and then be doomed.
Although he had done many things for Cheng Gong in secret over the years and was also Cheng Gong's most capable man, Qin Huaiyuan had no doubt that if the incident of dredging the official silver in the north was exposed, Cheng Gong would definitely regard him as a discarded pawn.
He has been trying to get the skin of a tiger over the years. It's not that he hasn't thought about getting out, but he is already deeply involved and is getting deeper and deeper. It is not easy to get out.
The man in black who was hiding silently in the dark curled the corner of his mouth hidden under the veil. Fortunately, Ziqi had already expected that Qin Huaiyuan was scheming. Even if he took out Cheng Ying's jade ring, Qin Huaiyuan might not believe it completely. He had made arrangements in the palace and Annan Marquis' Mansion.
Qin Huaiyuan sat in the carriage waiting for a quarter of an hour, feeling increasingly uneasy. Although he was a little restless, after serving as an official for so many years, he had already developed the ability to remain calm no matter how turbulent his heart was.
Just when Qin Huaiyuan was about to give up, the sound of horse hooves came. He hurriedly lifted the curtain of the carriage, and the servant who was sent out suddenly stopped the horse's head and got off.
"Sir, I went to the Annan Marquis' Mansion as you instructed, but I did not see the young Marquis Gu. The doorman of the Annan Marquis' Mansion said that the young Marquis Gu went to the palace in the afternoon and has not returned since." The servant hurried to the carriage to report without even catching his breath.
Qin Huaiyuan breathed a sigh of relief and said to the personal servant who was driving the car, "Leave the city and go to Tingfeng Forest outside the city."
The carriage drove towards the north of the city. Gu Yun, dressed in black, followed closely behind, holding his breath and leaving marks along the way.
The carriage drove to the north gate of the city, passed through Tingfeng Forest, and entered a village.
Gu Yun recognized this village. The people in this village had made a living by blacksmithing for generations. Many blacksmith shops in the city were opened by people from this iron smelting village.
As soon as he entered the village, Gu Yun felt something unusual. There were people patrolling the village.
Qin Huaiyuan's carriage was also stopped. Qin Huaiyuan got off the carriage and asked the servant to lead the carriage to wait outside the village. He whispered to the villager who stopped him, "Mr. Cheng asked me to come."
Upon hearing this, the patrolling villagers hurriedly led Qin Huaiyuan to the village head's home.
Gu Yun was afraid of being discovered, so he became more cautious. There were people guarding the perimeter of the house, and Gu Yun could only watch Qin Huaiyuan and others enter the house.
The house was brightly lit and there were sounds of footsteps in the yard, indicating that there were still many people active there even in the middle of the night.
Gu Yun avoided the guarding villagers and walked around the courtyard. He did not dare to jump into the yard rashly. He found an opportunity when one of the patrolling villagers was alone. He covered the man's mouth with one hand and knocked him unconscious with the other hand. He dragged him to a remote corner, changed him into the villager's clothes, smeared his face with mud, then quietly jumped onto the roof and slipped into the yard.
There were indeed many villagers working in the yard. A large amount of firewood was piled in the corner, and one of the rooms was built into a furnace.
It turned out that this house was a smelting workshop. Gu Yun pretended to be a worker and followed the others to carry firewood into the house. As he approached the house, he saw a newly cast silver ingot that had been formed in a mold in the corner of the house, and there was still molten silver in the furnace that had not been completely smelted.
Before Gu Yun had time to look further, he saw Qin Huaiyuan and two others enter the house. He hurriedly lowered his head and walked out.
"Master Qin, we can't finish melting all the silver tonight." The head of the Iron Smelting Village said, "I reported this to Master Cheng early in the morning. Master Cheng knew about it. Why did he send you to transport the silver tonight?"
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