She carried the black ore back to the manor and went straight to Wen Yuanbai, who was reading a book.
"Senior Brother Da Bai, look what my brother has discovered this time?!"
Wen Yuanbai glanced at the guilty Jiang Youchen before turning his gaze to the black stone in her delicate white palm and nodded, "You finally found out?"
Jiang Youchen asked in surprise, "Senior brother already knew?"
Wen Yuanbai picked up a small stone and said, “Whenever coal is discovered by the people, they shall not keep it for themselves. The Ministry of Works shall be in charge of developing it.”
It turns out they had planned this all along; they couldn't escape his grasp.
Xiao You let out a sigh of relief; no wonder she was so calm and composed.
Sure enough, the next moment he said, "You've come here today because you've made up your minds to offer this to the imperial court?"
Xiao You Ran: ……
So, being a coal mine owner is ultimately just a dream, isn't it?
"Not yet. Sanyang Mountain isn't really ours. We still need to go back and discuss this with my great-aunt and cousin Tiankuang." Jiang Youchen changed the subject. "It seems that the matter of Shitou and Siwa is related to this coal mine. Could it be that someone, like my senior brother, already knew about the coal mine hidden in this mountain, and is therefore trying to buy it from my aunts?"
Wen Yuanbai pondered for a moment, "Very likely. But before you discover it, no outsiders should know about this."
The cave was discovered last year, and only Wen Yuanbai and Nan Zhuo knew about it at the time, but the two have kept it a secret ever since. Including the Jiang siblings now, no one else knows about it.
If so, then there must be a ghost.
A mole?
Or is it a reborn ghost like her?
Xiao Youran asked, "Senior brother, do you have a way to find out who is behind this?"
Wen Yuanbai said calmly, "Alright."
However, to their surprise, the brother and sister were attacked by several men in black on their way back to the old house.
However, their kung fu didn't look very impressive. Although their moves were powerful, they were actually quite slow. The two of them could escape far away in just eighteen steps.
Even Jiang Youchen, who wasn't very familiar with light-body skills, escaped without any effort.
The two of them, of course, did not dare to run towards the old house, but instead led the person back to the vicinity of the manor.
As a result, the guards around the manor saw from afar that the Jiang siblings, who often had close ties with their master, were being attacked. They immediately came out and subdued the man in black in just a few moves.
There were six men in black, who were immediately brought before Wen Yuanbai.
The interrogation was also effortless; a few punches and a few threats were all it took to get them to confess.
"We...we are boxers from a boxing gym in Wufeng County...In this year of great disaster, we're just trying to make a living...that's why we took this job...please spare our lives, sir!"
Xiao Youran and Jiang Youchen listened in stunned silence.
What?
Boxer?
Bribing a few boxers to kill someone?
This is so unprofessional!
Xiao Youran asked indignantly, "How much is this deal worth?"
"Fifty...fifty taels!" the man answered honestly.
What? !
Xiaoyou Ran is about to explode again.
The buyer only spent fifty taels of silver to buy her head?!
"Who are you insulting with fifty taels?! Who are you looking down on?!" she said angrily. "Who is it that's so blind?"
Jiang Youchen: ...
"I...I don't know...it's...a little girl..." the man replied timidly. "We originally thought...it was just a five-year-old girl...easy to get, so we...we only asked for fifty taels..."
If I had known it was this powerful, asking for five thousand taels wouldn't have been a problem!
But... he can't accept a task worth 5,000 taels of silver, can he?
"What does that little girl look like?" she asked.
The man shook his head. "I didn't see what she looked like. Her face was covered, but... she was about this tall..."
He gestured.
Seeing that he could get no more information from them, Wen Yuanbai simply threw the six men into Lord Sun's yamen.
The most direct consequence of this incident was that Jiang Youchen suddenly decided to go to Guigu Mountain to undergo the test, as Wen Yuanbai had previously suggested.
Upon hearing this request, Xiao Youran was surprised. "Brother, why?"
Why are you so pessimistic?
Jiang Youchen pursed his lips. "Last time in court, a mere county magistrate almost humiliated my mother and me. This time, with just a few amateur boxers, I could only run away. I have no talent to be a top scholar, nor do I want to pursue an official career. Only by becoming a disciple of Guigu Mountain can I gain the respect of the world and protect you and your mother."
Xiao You Ran: ……
“Brother, we can protect ourselves, we don’t need you to protect us…” she protested weakly.
However, Jiang Youchen had thought about this countless times.
Although his sister was actually more powerful than he imagined, the number of times he could take the blame for her was very limited. For example, in the field of medicine, he knew that his sister had only learned it alongside him, and he had only taken the blame for her when necessary. But when it came to power and life and death, he was still too weak.
He couldn't protect his mother, nor could he protect his younger sister!
Wen Yuanbai then spoke up, nodding in agreement, "It's good for you to give it a try, Junior Brother. If you don't pass the test, it will only take two months to travel back and forth. If you pass the test, it will take at least three or four years, and at most eight or nine years. I promise you, I will protect the mother and daughter until you return."
The two teenagers looked at each other and saw a certain determination in each other's eyes.
Two people who had always disliked each other suddenly reached a strange consensus at this moment.
Wen Yuanbai took out a token and gave it to him. "This is the Ghost Valley Mountain Token. Only disciples chosen by the people of Ghost Valley Mountain can enter the mountain. I will have someone escort you so that you can arrive safely."
Xiao Youran looked left and right, completely baffled as to why they were looking at her with such unwavering determination.
She decided to use her trump card: "Does Mother know? Will she agree?"
Jiang Youchen chuckled. Given her mother's unconditional doting on her younger sister, as long as she said it was for the sake of better protecting her sister in the future, her mother would definitely agree.
As expected, when the brother and sister went back and told Su about it, Su strongly objected.
"No way! Does our family lack money? We don't want to get involved with power or influence! How can your mother be at ease letting you leave home at such a young age?"
Jiang Youchen said, "Mother, as long as I study at Guigu Mountain for a few years, I don't need to graduate. I can come back as long as I get permission. At that time, I can protect you and my sister."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Madam Su's expression, which had initially strongly opposed the idea, instantly changed to one of agreement. "Oh dear! It's to protect your sister! Why didn't you say so sooner! Go away! Your mother supports you!"
Jiang Youchen was speechless: ...
Alright, I've seen the look in her eyes, she really is my biological mother...
Madam Su pushed him into the room, "Go pack your things, and come back as soon as possible!"
Jiang Youchen: ...
The idea that they're worried about him living away from home at such a young age is just nonsense!
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