The mine was bustling with activity, and many more torches were added.
Qin Zhaoqiong personally led the team, and the officials of the Tiangong Division surveyed the surrounding terrain along Tiezha Mountain, finally determining the route of the drainage ditch.
They were busy until early in the morning before returning to their temporary camp to rest.
After removing her armor, wiping herself clean, changing her undershirt, and drinking a cup of hot tea, Qin Zhaoqiong's worried expression remained unchanged as she listened to the rapid patter of rain on the tent.
This rain probably indicates that the flood season has begun. How can she not be worried?
"General, take a nap."
The guards only offered a word of advice, and Qin Zhaoqiong then lay down to rest.
After the water management efforts in Mingyan County, she became much more at peace with herself.
Urgent as it may be, we should do our best and leave the rest to fate. As the chief commander in charge of flood control, she naturally needs to take care of her health.
Before long, snoring began.
The laborers, civilians, and previously dispatched troops worked in three shifts, with more than two thousand people spread out in the iron slag heap and ditches, densely packed together, looking down from above like busy ants, never having a moment's rest.
Bubbles kept gushing out of the mine shaft; if it weren't for the unusual color, one might mistake them for a clear spring flowing from the mountains.
Yin Zhe tightly enveloped Cang Lan with his true energy, merging into the rain and the surrounding world, unnoticed by anyone.
Canglan was the fourth-rank martial artist under her command who was most skilled in water. She had brought him along because of the task of controlling the floods, but she never expected him to be used here.
There were no soldiers guarding the well, and the person who was secretly spying was focused on the eldest princess and Meng Jian in the main tent, so he couldn't keep an eye on this place. The journey was smooth sailing.
Everything that needed to be explained had already been said in advance, and Canglan had memorized the map perfectly.
With a slight nod, its feet touched the puddles and it quickly sank, like a fish swimming into the water, without stirring up a ripple, disappearing completely into the deep pool in the blink of an eye.
Yin Zhe remained silent for several dozen breaths, making sure the person in the shadows hadn't noticed anything amiss, before leaving.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qingshan returned to the temporary village through the underground waterway.
His internal energy was almost completely depleted, and he nearly collapsed from exhaustion. He leaned against the well edge, panting heavily for a while, before quietly returning home.
I closed the door as gently as possible, and before I could even turn around, I heard a question behind me: "Where have you been?"
His breathing suddenly stopped, and his body instantly stiffened like a statue.
A dim oil lamp lit up the room, illuminating Qi Zhenyuan's gloomy face.
Zhao Qingshan exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly turned around. "Uncle Qi, you've found out..."
"Where did you go?"
Qi Zhenyuan clearly had no intention of letting this go easily, and he questioned him sternly.
Perhaps fearing to "disturb" the neighbors, his tone was stern but his voice was deep, and his eyes were fixed on Zhao Qingshan's eyes.
"Uncle Qi, I...I'll go find someone to help me."
Qi Zhenyuan sighed deeply, strode over to him, and the two were almost touching.
"Don't you know the foreman's methods? Do you want to kill everyone?!"
Zhao Qingshan's eyes darted away, his fists clenched, his chest heaving violently. "I just want someone to go down into the mine to rescue my father..."
"Qingshan!" Qi Zhenyuan shouted, "It's been more than twenty days, more than twenty days already. Hengjiang must have perished."
"Stop acting like a child; it's time to learn to accept reality."
Zhao Qingshan's shoulders slumped, as if all his strength had been drained, yet he stubbornly kept his gaze turned away.
If one didn't know that Uncle Qi was from the other side, one would only think that this was an elder admonishing him.
The Xuanji Guard official reminded me to think carefully about how I would react to this information before we knew it.
If you don't know what to do, you might as well just lower your head and think about it slowly.
With the major premise of the father's "death" as a buffer, it's less likely to make mistakes.
So he lowered his head, looking dejected.
The sound of broad, calloused hands slapping against the soaked coarse linen clothes was somewhat crisp, followed by a long sigh.
"Cheer up. If your father could see you like this, he would be so disappointed."
After a long while, Zhao Qingshan replied dejectedly, "I understand, Uncle Qi."
"Alright, think twice before you act in the future. Go change your wet clothes first."
"Catching a cold at this critical juncture could be fatal..."
Zhao Qingshan didn't reply, but after changing his clothes as instructed, he said somewhat awkwardly, "Uncle Qi, it seems I've been discovered..."
"What!" Qi Zhenyuan, who had been leaning against the door, rushed to him in a flash. "You've been discovered?"
"Hmm, they seemed to be patrolmen, but I immediately dove into the well after I spotted them, so they didn't see my face clearly."
Qi Zhenyuan's brows were so furrowed they could trap a mosquito. "Are you sure you didn't see it clearly?"
“No,” Zhao Qingshan said firmly, “It was pitch black and raining heavily at the time, so he definitely didn’t see it.”
"That's good, that's good..."
Qi Zhenyuan breathed a sigh of relief, sat down with his hands on the edge of the bed, looking like he had just been frightened. "These are the names of hundreds of men and women in the village."
“I know,” Zhao Qingshan said through gritted teeth, like a child who had just realized his mistake, “I will never go again.”
Qi Zhenyuan nodded. "That makes more sense. But Qingshan, what exactly do you want to do in the city?"
Zhao Qingshan's heart skipped a beat; he had finally brought up the issue.
He had anticipated this and had even mentally rehearsed it.
After some internal struggle, he finally revealed the truth:
“My father once told me that if something unexpected happened and I was desperate, I could ask Jiang Mingyuan, a constable in the county government, for help.”
"Have you found her?"
"No, they were discovered before they even got close to the county government office."
That's true. His father probably had the intention of hiding the secrets in plain sight. The location where he hid the files was not far from the county government office, and the direction he initially headed in matched that.
"Oh well, let's not talk about this anymore. It's good that we weren't discovered. We'll never take any more risks like this again."
"Don't worry, Uncle Qi... I understand."
After repeated admonitions, the two went to rest.
Separated by a thin bamboo wall, Zhao Qingshan tossed and turned, unsure whether he had successfully slipped through.
Listening intently, I soon heard snoring coming from next door, as if they were already fast asleep.
Uncle Qi's name is in the second category, but it's only suspected and not confirmed. Could my father have made a mistake?
Filled with deep doubt, I don't know how long it took before I finally fell asleep.
Many people didn't sleep well that night, but Qin Zhaoyue slept soundly as always.
She had many maids; on the surface, one was on duty in the inner room and one in the outer room, while in the shadows, there was half a group of Qingluan Guards watching over her.
I can sleep soundly without a nightlight, especially with the sound of rain.
Because the machine was forced to turn on in the middle of the night, Qin Zhaoyue didn't wake up until early noon. After a quick wash, she took the meal that she had asked the kitchen staff to prepare in advance and set off for the mine.
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