Yin Zhe's eyes remained fixed straight ahead, as aloof as ever, yet concealing an unwavering resolve.
"Sixth Prince, you may."
Without a second thought, Qin Zhaoyue waved her hand and said, "If you can't do it, and you don't want to talk about it, you can take the secret to your grave."
Zhao Qingshan: ...
Well... it doesn't have to be so absolute, and it's not like it's completely unnecessarily unchangeable...
Just then, a man walked in from outside the door; it was none other than Constable Jiang Mingyuan.
Although the dagger didn't hit a vital spot, it still caused an injury.
I got caught in the rain and experienced the underground sleeping environment, so I just finished getting medicine and bandages applied next door and changed into clean clothes before rushing over.
"Officer Jiang!"
Zhao Qingshan was overjoyed, as if he were seeing a relative. The atmosphere in the room was too heavy, and it would be easier to talk to someone he knew.
Jiang Mingyuan first clasped her hands in a salute, then looked at the other party and said, "Qingshan, it's already come to this, what other choice do you have?"
"Let's be more decisive. I'm confident that Her Highness the Princess and the Xuanji Guard will keep their promise."
Uh-huh!
Zhao Qingshan looked eagerly toward the doorway, awaiting the arrival of a promise.
A dozen or so breaths passed, and no one spoke.
Just kidding, Qin Zhaoyue wouldn't make promises lightly.
It's one thing if it's her elder sister's request and it concerns disaster relief, but what does the iron mine have to do with her?
If you don't have the skills, don't take on a job you're not qualified for; even if you do have the skills, don't take on too many.
What happens if you do a good job? Promotion and a raise aren't guaranteed, but you're more likely to get more work opportunities.
Yes, she has flawed values, lacks ambition, and is a lazy bum, but... that's just how she is.
The veil of seclusion fluttered slightly, which was already a very strong emotional fluctuation for her.
"Is the promise of the Xuanji Guard, witnessed by the Sixth Princess, enough?"
Yao Guang was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped; she looked like she had seen a ghost.
Has her family's commander shrewdly yielded? Just... yielded?
Qin Zhaoyue pursed her lips. Being a witness was alright, she was just a tool, she was good at that job.
This time, Zhao Qingshan didn't even dare to stumble. "Okay, I agree!"
His answer was crisp and clear, because he had a strong intuition that this was the best possible outcome.
The eldest princess is unlikely to return anytime soon, and the sixth princess shows no intention of getting involved. If the argument continues, there might not even be any "witnesses" left.
“I can immediately begin translating the secret document and beg you, sir, to go down into the mine to rescue my father.”
Upon hearing this, Yin Zhe finally withdrew his gaze, as if signaling the end of the battle, and Qin Zhaoyue also returned to her seat at the head of the table.
“Your father was underground in the mine when the flood occurred, and more than twenty days have passed since then.”
Is the word "救" (jiù, rescue) somewhat inappropriate? Perhaps "殓" (lǐn, encoffin) would be more suitable.
Zhao Qingshan clenched his fists; he knew all too well how outrageous this sounded.
He pleaded with the organization to provide rescue time and again, but the more he pleaded, the less anyone paid attention to him, and they just thought he had gone mad.
The mine shafts were deep and winding, and filled with floodwaters. How could anyone still be alive after more than twenty days?
"An invisible mine!" Zhao Qingshan firmly believed only this point his father had mentioned.
“My father would occasionally stay out all night. I initially thought he was out drinking and gambling, but he only recently revealed some information to me.”
Looking back now, it was an implication of illegal iron ore mining.
Since you'll be spending the whole night underground in the mine, will you prepare some food and water?
Is it possible that the illegally mined tunnels were located in areas of higher elevation that were not flooded?
"To lie low and ponder"—this was Zhao Qingshan's earnest hope, and it did have some merit.
If Zhao Hengjiang were still alive, his value would naturally be higher than that of a secret document.
"You can go down into the mine, but you'll need a map."
Chiyan County has been developed in two generations, with a complex network of tunnels.
New or old, closed or collapsed, without a familiar veteran leading the way, one is likely to get lost, let alone find any "invisible" tunnels.
"Yes, I have a map here!"
As he spoke, Zhao Qingshan quickly took out his secret file. When the outer layer of oil paper was peeled off, it turned out to be a book.
The first dozen or so pages are filled with dense numbers, while the latter half of the book is filled with all sorts of lines.
"Here's the map."
Qin Zhaoyue, with her hands tucked in, craned her neck to peek twice.
He nodded. "Yeah, it has absolutely nothing to do with the map."
Some pages have only a few lines, some have more, and some even have circles and crosses marked on them.
Where is the map? It looks like a child's scribbles.
Yin Zhe's temple twitched again. After all these years in intelligence work, she admitted that she hadn't noticed it either.
You're saying this is a map?
"Yes, it's very simple, you can learn it in no time."
After his explanation, everyone finally understood why it was a map.
Anything on one page indicates that the mine tunnels are roughly on the same horizontal line.
A single page turning into the next page indicates a significant fluctuation in height.
The bottom line on the next page that points to the left means going up, and the line that points to the right means going down.
Most of the booklet is filled with this.
Qin Zhaoyue's lips twitched. Good heavens, it's a spatial 3D map.
I couldn't help but ask, "Who did your dad learn drafting from?"
"Nobody else, my dad invented it."
Qin Zhaoyue gave him a thumbs up, saying, "What a talent!"
Yin Zhe took the booklet and decisively tore out most of the back half.
After explaining the rules for recording, it was actually quite easy to understand.
However, the underground tunnels are certainly not that simple, especially since they are filled with a large amount of water.
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