Chapter 1419 Secret
Not long after the officers and soldiers entered the village, villagers from more than a dozen households came out. The prince's guards narrowed their eyes. Were these villagers too alert?
They do have a lot of people, and the villagers shouldn't have reacted so quickly.
The villagers were walking forward in panic, "Why are you going into the mountains so late at night?"
The deputy commander of the city looked at the villagers, "Who are you?"
Li Zheng said, "I am Li Zheng from the mountain village. We are all hunters in this village and we have always been law-abiding."
After hearing this, the deputy commander of the city defense put aside his doubts and asked, "Have you seen two teenagers?"
Li Zheng breathed a sigh of relief, "The officer is here to arrest people. I saw them. They are living in the Li family!"
The deputy general guarding the city let out a sigh and said without explaining, "Take us to the Li family."
Li Zheng pointed to a house at the edge of the village and said, "We need to go back."
The deputy general guarding the city hummed, and when they reached the farmyard, he walked to the closed door and said, "Inside are Master Shangguan and Master Zhou."
Mingrui waited for the people outside to leave and kept listening to the noise outside. He was silent for a while when he heard the question, "Who are you?"
The deputy general defending the city said, "I am the deputy general defending Huizhou City, and I have been ordered to find Master Shangguan and Master Zhou."
Mingrui felt relieved this time. His legs felt weak from exhaustion. He waited for a while before opening the door. He saw soldiers holding torches outside and his servant rushing over. He smiled and said, "I am Zhou Mingrui."
Shangguan Liu also came out at this time. He was saved. It was great.
Li Zheng rolled his eyes and realized that they were not here to arrest anyone, but to look for someone. His heart sank. They were almost about to take action.
Mingrui's servant came over and said, "Thank God, you are okay, sir."
Mingrui patted the boy's shoulder and said, "Okay, I'm fine."
The servant felt sad when he looked at the young master's face. He failed to protect him well.
It was too late to hurry. There were nearly a hundred soldiers and officers, all of them very skilled fighters. Li Zheng had no choice but to prepare meals.
Mingrui waited until everyone in the village had left, and whispered about the abnormality in the village. The deputy general and the prince's guards looked at each other. The prince's guards took advantage of the clouds blocking the moon and went to the village to investigate in the dark.
Mingrui was so sleepy that he could finally sleep peacefully.
The next day, Zhou Shuren attended the morning court, and the emperor looked very unhappy. The palace had undergone several purges, and the secrets in the palace were very tight, making it difficult to pass news out. It was not known whether something had happened in the palace.
The ministers in the court were very quiet. The emperor's power was becoming more and more formidable, and no one dared to cross him.
Zhou Shuren suddenly missed the prince. The prince was in the capital, and the emperor rarely had a cold face. Recently, the emperor was like a walking ice cellar.
The emperor said in a deep voice: "There is a move on the northeastern border. What do the ministers think?"
Zhou Shuren pricked up his ears. The grassland tribes were an indestructible cockroach, and the northeastern border had been a problem for dynasties. With the development of foreign countries, the Saudi Kingdom also became stronger. If there was any movement on the northeastern border, it was most likely related to the grassland tribes.
Li Zhao stepped forward and said, "We must guard the northeastern border."
Zhou Shuren continued, "I think we should send someone to investigate the situation. The tribes on the northeastern border have been recuperating for many years. As Lord Li said, we must be on guard."
The emperor also had the same idea, but his expression did not change much and he looked at the other adults.
Old Master Wen remained silent. Recently, whenever he spoke, he was reprimanded by the Emperor, so he didn't want to speak.
Others also took into account the emperor's cold face and agreed. No one was stupid. The emperor had been on the throne for so many years. Couldn't they see that the emperor had ambitions?
After the court session, the emperor left first. Li Zhao approached Zhou Shuren and whispered, "I miss the prince a little bit."
Zhou Shuren: "Yes."
He hoped that the prince could return safely as soon as possible, as he could no longer bear the emperor's cold face.
Li Zhao stroked his beard and said, "The war is about to begin."
"Um."
The two looked at each other and neither wanted to continue the conversation as the topic was too heavy.
Zhou Shuren put his hands behind his back and thought to himself, if we fight on two fronts, the pressure on the court will be very great. Money, money, the money in the national treasury will be taken out like water.
In Huizhou mountain village, Mingrui slept very soundly all night. He was really too tired. He was tense to escape and had been on guard all night. He did not relax even when he arrived at the mountain village. When he woke up, it was already past noon.
Mingrui pushed the door open and saw Shangguan Liu fiddling with gold?
"Where did you get the gold?"
It looks quite big, but when I took a closer look, I found that it was an unmelted gold nugget.
Shangguan Liu was surprised, "You finally woke up."
Mingrui pointed at the table, "What's going on?"
Shangguan Liu said excitedly: "This is the secret of the village. Deputy General Wang led his troops to capture everyone in the village. Guess what happened?"
Mingrui pointed to the gold on the table and asked, "Is there gold here?"
Shangguan Liu nodded, "Yes, there is a gold mine here. The prince's guards discovered something unusual, so Vice Admiral Wang surrounded the village last night and captured everyone before the villagers could react."
During the arrest, many villagers died and two soldiers also died. Fortunately, the people he brought were all experts, otherwise there would be more casualties. Now you can still see bloodstains when you go out. He has seen too many dead people recently.
Mingrui looked around, "Why don't I see Vice General Wang?"
Shangguan Liu pointed to the mountain and said, "Vice General Wang is leading people to find the cave where the gold is hidden and to confirm the location of the gold mine. We, yes, we have made another contribution. Of course, your contribution is even greater this time."
Mingrui's hand touched the gold. If the gold mine was very large, his contribution would be huge. Even if he was calm, he needed to digest it carefully.
Shangguan Liu also grinned, "Is this high risk high reward?"
The two of them were really lucky, as they survived the pursuit of so many assassins. The process of escaping to the mountain village was thrilling, but they were safe and sound. This is what they mean by "those who survive a disaster will be blessed in the future!"
Mingrui no longer had any fear in his heart, only the sense of achievement remained.
In the capital, the old ladies of the Zhou and Liu families passed away. There was no one of the same generation as Zhulan, so Guo invited her mother to the Zhou Mansion.
Zhulan couldn't help laughing. The Liu family was really anxious and they came to the door now.
Fang, Guo's mother, said, "I'm not afraid of your laughter. When my mother-in-law arranged for Mei'er to marry into the Liu family, I was unwilling to do so. But my words were useless and the marriage was still arranged."
She and her husband did not have a deep relationship. After being married for many years and having a daughter, she had not been pregnant for many years. Her mother-in-law was quite dissatisfied with her because her husband had many concubines and illegitimate sons and daughters.
She and her husband don't sleep together very often, why is she pregnant?
Later, her daughter was laughed at by other families, and she could only give her daughter money. In the end, she tried to please her daughter's husband, and only then was a legitimate son born.
As soon as Zhulan saw Fang, she knew that this person had a story. Guo had a good personality, which had a lot to do with Fang.
Zhu Lan said, "Second Master Liu has good character."
Apart from some minor things, Mr. Liu's character is excellent.
Fang smiled and said, "This child looks like his father. His father was also a dick. Mei'er was often laughed at by her sisters. Now look who doesn't envy Mei'er."
Her daughter had just gotten married, and her mother-in-law treated her very well. After Mei'er's eldest son was born, her mother-in-law never interfered in the affairs of the daughter and her husband. The daughter was her only son-in-law, and this had become a good story in the capital in recent years.
Zhulan thought that the person who picked the money would only spend money on the one who caught her eye, and the others would remain out of the question. "I understand what you mean."