Chapter 70070 Dedicated to Me
Chapter 70
Seeing Meng Yuning's incredulous expression, Qi Jingyan raised the corners of his lips slightly and said softly, "Yes, An Ning, let's go together."
Meng Yuning wanted to avoid suspicion, but her curiosity about this grand plan got the better of her. After thinking it over, she nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll go and listen."
Then he added, "But I just listened blindly and didn't understand anything."
Seeing the girl taking herself off again, Qi Jingyan smiled: "Okay, it's me who wants An Ning and Yi Er to accompany me."
Meng Yuning thought that this man was quite good at talking, and walked back with Yi'er.
It was dark and the road was dim. She picked up Yi'er and placed him on Qi Jingyan's lap. "Yi'er, come ride in the car with your brother."
Yier agreed, but her little hand held Aning's hand tightly.
The group slowly walked to the Qingke Hall. Mu Yun helped Qi Jingyan sit on the armchair at the top of the conference room, and then called someone to make tea.
Meng Yuning brought Yi'er and they sat on the couch by the window. Each of them held a chess basket and made various moves on the chessboard.
The two had just played for a while when they saw Mu Jiu and Su Yang coming, along with Mu Shan, Mu Jiang and Mu Feng.
Everyone greeted each other, exchanged greetings, and then sat around the table.
Mu Jiu's face lit up with joy, and he said straight to the point: "Your Highness, we've found the place."
Qi Jingyan: "Tell me in detail."
Mu Jiu: "Over eighty miles away from Canghai County, there is an ownerless, desolate mountain called Lianfu Mountain."
Lianfu Mountain? Meng Yuning couldn't help but frown.
Why did she remember that the mountain in the book was not called this name, but Leyang Mountain.
Could it be that because of Su Yang's participation, they missed Leyang Mountain?
But the problem is, there is a gold mine on Leyang Mountain!
Although the gold mine was not very large, it still played a great role in Qi Jingyan's recruitment of troops and his return to Beijing.
If I miss it, will it delay his important event?
Before Meng Yuning could think about it, Mu Jiu continued, "Lianfu Mountain is far from the official road, rarely visited, and has dense forests."
He dipped his hand in tea and sketched the mountain on the table: "This mountain is steep and dangerous on three sides, with only a few narrow passes for entry."
"There's a large flat area on the top of the mountain, enough to station three to five thousand soldiers."
"The back of the mountain is a hundred-foot cliff, with deep ravines on both sides. There are only two small paths leading down the mountain, and the foot of the mountain is right next to a turbulent river."
When everyone heard this, their eyes flashed and they looked at each other and nodded.
This kind of terrain has strong concealment. We can control the important roads when advancing and defend the dangerous places when retreating. It is truly a place given by heaven to hide troops.
Mu Yun asked, "Is there any running water in the mountains?"
Mu Jiu: "There are streams, springs, and waterfalls in the mountains. You don't have to worry about drinking water."
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up with joy. With such abundant water resources, even a massive army could stay there for a long time.
Mu Shan scratched his head and said naively, "How do we arrange for meals? If we have to go down the mountain to buy food all the time, it will not only be very tiring, but we also worry about word leaking out."
Su Yang, who had been sitting quietly, put down his teacup and said with a smile, "This mountain has been abandoned for many years. I'm afraid no one has been there for a hundred or eighty years. Birds and beasts, exotic flowers and plants can be seen everywhere. You won't starve."
Mu Feng recalled the happy and carefree days when he lived in the wooden house in the mountains, and couldn't help but smile: "We have learned so many skills from Miss Meng, and now we won't starve."
Mu Yun shook his head and said, "Three to five hundred people will be no problem, but if there are three to five thousand or even ten thousand people, and they spend all day hunting and picking wild vegetables, I'm afraid that within half a month, the whole mountain will be barren."
Yi'er sat on the couch next to An Ning, quietly listening to everyone's conversation. Mu Yun's words somehow hit the little kid's funny bone. He chuckled and gestured with his two little hands on his head: "It's all bald."
Everyone laughed out loud at this remark.
Looking at An Ning, who was holding Yi'er and laughing non-stop, Qi Jingyan remembered that during dinner, An Ning had talked about the plan to reclaim the wasteland outside the mansion. He tapped the handrail with his fingertips and asked, "Is there any other open space on the mountain?"
Mu Jiu nodded and replied, "Your Highness, we have walked the entire mountain and found that in addition to the platform on the top of the mountain, there are several flat areas halfway up the mountain. They are not small. If we set up camp, the combined area can easily accommodate three to five thousand people."
Qi Jingyan paused for a moment and said, "In that case, we should choose one or two places to cultivate, grow some fruits, vegetables, and raise some poultry. Supplement them with wild game from the mountains, and we should be able to be self-sufficient."
Mu Jiu looked embarrassed and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I'm afraid this will not work."
Qi Jingyan: "What?"
Mu Jiu explained, "Those few flat areas are just piles of sand and gravel, with no grass growing, so no trees are growing. With this kind of soil, I'm afraid even vegetable seedlings wouldn't survive."
Qi Jingyan: “…”
Meng Yuning leaned back on the couch, listening quietly. She couldn't help but laugh. This Prince Shen, truly a naive person, thought he could grow vegetables just by finding a random piece of land.
Qi Jingyan turned to the smirking girl and said gently, "A Ning, do you have any good ideas?"
Meng Yuning said, "If the platform is not suitable for growing vegetables, then we can find other places, such as clearings in the woods, streams and springs. These places have fertile soil and moist water, so they should be suitable for growing vegetables."
Qi Jingyan smiled and nodded slightly: "This plan is feasible."
Mu Yun bowed and asked, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"
Qi Jingyan paused for a moment and said, "In two days, you will go with Mu Jiu again to explore the area carefully and plan the uses of each place. Once everything is finalized, Mu Jiu will take dozens of his brothers and go there first to take care of the arrangements."
Su Yang heard this and said, "Brother Qi, I will go with you then."
Thinking of his abilities, Qi Jingyan clasped his fists solemnly and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Brother Ayang."
Su Yang returned the greeting with a smile: "Brother Qi, there's no need to be so formal."
Seeing that they were about to agree on this, Meng Yuning pretended to be casual and said, "Your Highness, do you still remember the book 'Lingnan Food Notes' I mentioned? I vaguely remember that there was a sentence on the back page of that book saying 'Gold veins are hidden in the Leyang Mountains'."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Gold mine!
Mu Jiang excitedly slammed the table and stood up: "Miss Meng, where is Leyang Mountain? Let's go find out tomorrow."
Mu Shan grabbed Mu Jiang's shoulders and pushed him back to his seat, lowering his voice and saying, "You reckless man, be careful not to scare Miss Meng and the young prince by being so jumpy."
Mu Jiang smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.
Meng Yuning spoke frankly: "The book only said that one sentence, but it didn't mention the specific location of Leyang Mountain."
But she guessed that it should be near Lianfu Mountain.
According to Qi Jingyan's habit of employing people, he usually sent Mu Jiu to lead the troops. If the book also recorded Mu Jiu going to look for him, then it should be roughly in that direction.
So she made up another story: "But Canghai County was mentioned in Lingnan Food Notes. I think Leyang Mountain should not be far from Canghai County. Maybe it's near the Lianfu Mountain you are looking for."
Mu Jiu frowned in thought and turned to Su Yang: "Brother Ayang, the woodcutter we met that day mentioned several mountain names. Do you remember if he mentioned Leyang Mountain?"
Su Yang paused for a moment and said, "The old man's accent is really hard to understand, but..."
He thought about it carefully, and suddenly his eyes lit up. "He did mention the sound of 'Luoyong Mountain'. Could it be that Leyang Mountain?"
Mu Jiu also became excited: "Yes, yes, I remember it too."
Meng Yuning was curious: "There are people living near that barren mountain?"
Mu Jiu nodded. "Two hilltops away from Lianfu Mountain, there's a slightly lower mountain. There are three or five families living there. I heard their ancestors moved here to avoid disaster."
Meng Yuning: "Since what the old man said is difficult to understand, how did you know the name of Lianfu Mountain?"
Mu Jiu explained, "That mountain is the highest in the area. The old man described it, with both words and gestures, as a place where a lotus flower had appeared on the summit. A-Yang and I guessed, and we figured he was probably referring to 'Lian Fu Mountain,' but we don't know what the exact words were."
Qi Jingyan stroked the teacup gently and said, "No problem. 'Lianfu Mountain' is very elegant, so let's call it that."
Everyone said it was good.
Mu Yun bowed: "Your Highness, what should we do now?"
Qi Jingyan immediately made the decision: "No need to wait for two more days. Go tomorrow with Mu Jiu and A Yang. You must find Leyang Mountain."
Everyone stood up and bowed in response.
---
The meeting ended and everyone dispersed.
Meng Yuning brought Yi'er and Qi Jingyan back to Yanfu Residence. The three of them took a bath, changed clothes, and then lay down on the bed.
Yi'er snuggled into An Ning's arms, tugging at her clothes with one hand and patting her chubby legs with the other: "An Ning, coax Yi'er to sleep."
"Okay, Aning, coax our baby Yi'er to sleep." Meng Yuning stretched out her arms to hug the chubby little baby, patted his little butt again and again, and hummed a little tune softly.
Qi Jingyan supported his head with one hand, lying on his side, and with the other hand, holding a fan, silently fanning the two of them.
Soon, Yi'er fell asleep. Meng Yuning moved the little tiger-head quilt behind him down to let him air out, and then lay down herself.
Seeing Qi Jingyan still fanning himself, she whispered, "Your Highness, there's no need to fan me anymore. Go to sleep too."
Qi Jingyan agreed, put down the fan and lay back down.
The two of them lay quietly, but neither of them felt sleepy.
Soon, everyone spoke up: "A Ning." "Your Highness."
The two turned to look at each other, smiled, and said in unison: "You go first."
They both laughed again.
After laughing, Qi Jingyan looked at Aning quietly and motioned her to speak first.
Meng Yuning then lay down and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, today's event is so important, why are you so confident in letting me listen? Aren't you afraid that I will tell others later?"
Qi Jingyan: "I believe you."
Meng Yuning looked at him quietly, then smiled with her eyes curved for a long time: "Okay, I won't tell anyone."
Qi Jingyan reached out and tucked a strand of hair that was covering her face behind her ear: "A Ning, thank you."
Fingers with slightly calloused skin gently brushed across her face, making it itch. Meng Yuning reached out and scratched her cheek, looking puzzled: "What are you thanking me for?"
Qi Jingyan: "Thank you for your wholehearted devotion to me."
"Oh, you are talking about the Leyang Mountain matter." Meng Yuning reacted and thought to herself that she was just saying it casually. Anyway, it was impossible for her to go mining by herself, so it would be okay to tell Qi Jingyan.
She couldn't say that she wasn't wholeheartedly devoted to him, so she smiled and said perfunctorily, "Your Highness, you are too kind."
Qi Jingyan smiled slightly and rubbed her hair with his hand: "A Ning, I will never treat you unfairly in the future."
Meng Yuning instantly thought of the gold mine. She immediately supported herself on the bed and crawled towards him. She asked excitedly in a low voice, "Does Your Highness want to share some of the gold with me?"
Qi Jingyan was stunned for a moment, then laughed softly.
Meng Yuning pressed on: "Are you going to break up or not? Give me a definite answer."
Qi Jingyan laughed so hard that his shoulders trembled. He reluctantly reached out to press Meng Yuning's shoulders and pushed her back onto the pillow: "Go to sleep."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
