Chapter 89 There's something to be gained from His Majesty's heart, like a needle at the bottom of the sea...
Upon hearing this, all the women responded in unison, "Understood."
Qian Qingling was quite satisfied and turned to look at Zhilan, who was clearly waiting for her instructions.
Seeing Zhilan nod slightly, she announced loudly, "Let's go!"
As soon as Qian Qingling finished speaking, Zhilan nimbly mounted her horse and looked down at Fu Jun, Ye Lan, and the others.
Upon seeing this, Qian Qingling, Xing Fei, Liu Lan, and the others mounted their horses, leaving Ye Lan and Fu Jun looking at each other.
Ye Lan looked at Fu Jun, who was standing still, and hesitated before speaking: "You..."
Fu Yun touched her nose, and then realized what Ye Lan meant when she asked if she had come alone. It turned out that her earlier reminder not to go alone had a double meaning: besides bringing a companion, it also meant transportation.
The reason they didn't explicitly remind him was probably to protect his pride.
Thinking of this, Fu Yun felt somewhat embarrassed: "I left in a hurry and didn't have time to go to the carriage shop to get a horse."
In fact, he considered that the twenty-odd stonemasons all came from poor families, not wealthy ones, and naturally could not afford a horse that they could freely use as a means of transportation.
Given his own circumstances, he didn't have much cash to pay the deposit for renting horses that could travel long distances, so it was only natural that he didn't rent any horses.
It's admirable how the ancients managed their businesses. The horse rental shops here have regulations. If the horse is only used locally after being rented, in addition to the rental fee, the deposit is only half the market price of the horse. However, if the horse is to stay overnight in the outer city or other towns and no specific return date can be given, the deposit is double the market price of the horse. This is to prevent customers from renting horses and not returning them on time.
Unlike modern markets, deposits for any item are generally at a fixed price, which lacks flexibility and deterrent effect.
It is common to see shared products being vandalized and abandoned in corners, which is a huge waste of resources.
Fu Yun thought to himself that since the workers didn't have any mounts, he didn't need to be special. He had to stick with everyone and share weal and woe.
Unexpectedly, he had narrowed his perspective. Although the stonemasons did not have their own means of transportation, he had just glanced around and noticed three simply decorated horse-drawn carriages parked at the foot of the city wall.
The coachman on the carriage was looking this way, presumably the means of transportation that Ye Lan and Qian Qingling had prepared for the stonemasons.
He never expected that Ye Lan and Qian Qingling would prepare such a spacious carriage for the stonemasons. Based on the area occupied by the carriage, one carriage could seat at least seven or eight people.
While he was talking to Ye Lan, Qian Qingling clapped her hands. As her clapping subsided, three carriages from the city wall, guided by their drivers, trotted towards the area.
Fu Yun watched as the twenty stonemasons boarded the carriages, and he was both amused and exasperated.
Now he's the only one left who's on the Pacers.
For the first time, Fu Jun felt a sense of embarrassment, and he forced himself to suggest, "Well, why don't you go ahead first, and I'll go into town right away to get a horse and catch up with you, so as not to delay everyone's time."
Ye Lan remained silent for a moment, then glanced at the others and noticed that Qian Qingling and the others seemed oblivious to Su Fuyun's predicament, and were calling everyone to set off. She was at a loss for words.
Knowing Qian Qingling as she did, how could he not see the predicament he was facing, given how concerned he was about Young Master Su's affairs?
Unless this guy did it on purpose, even if he knew that something unexpected had happened to Young Master Su, he pretended not to notice and dumped the thorny problem on his friend to deal with.
Looking at His Majesty again, his gaze was seemingly fixed on Su Fuyun, neither speaking nor moving, but simply letting the horse kick its hooves and circle around in place.
Ye Lan suddenly felt a headache coming on, wondering what His Majesty meant.
Is she trying to get Young Master Su to offer to ride a horse with her, or is she just testing him to see how he handles unexpected situations?
Her Majesty's thoughts are always hard to fathom; what will she do?
Could it be that she's going to remind Young Master Su to ask if he can ride a horse with someone?
What if Young Master Su, considering the difference in their social standing, didn't choose His Majesty but instead chose one of the people present? Wouldn't I then have to bear His Majesty's wrath and be reprimanded?
She didn't want to be someone's punching bag, much less the sucker.
If all else fails, shall we do as Young Master Su suggests? Let the others go ahead, and I will wait here?
Having made this wasted trip, I don't know whether to lament Su Gongzi's misfortune or pity myself.
Thinking of this, Ye Lan seemed to resign herself to her fate and nodded in agreement: "Okay, go and come back quickly, I'll wait here."
Fu Yun breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and was about to take his leave when Zhi Lan's clear, cold voice suddenly rang out: "Why go through all this trouble? Just borrow a horse from the city garrison captain."
Ye Lan straightened his expression and immediately replied, "Yes, Your subordinate will go right away."
Before she could finish speaking, His Majesty's cold voice rang out again: "What are you waiting for? Set off immediately."
Qian Qingling and the others immediately replied, "Yes!"
Ye Lan's body suddenly trembled, and she quietly raised her eyes to look. She saw His Majesty with a cold and handsome face, pulling on the reins on the horse's neck, turning to the side and tightening the reins as he resolutely rode forward.
This is truly the Emperor's heart, as unfathomable as the bottom of the sea. Needless to say, I'll be sitting on His Majesty's sideline for a few more days.
Qian Qingling gave Ye Lan a look that said "good luck," then gave a soft shout of "Giddy up!" and quickly followed the Empress.
Ye Lanling gritted her teeth: This old Qian is getting more and more cunning, and he's so disloyal.
Even if Fu Yun was slow to realize, she could see that she had caused Ye Lan a lot of inconvenience.
I can't take things for granted next time; perhaps some of my thinking doesn't apply to women in a matriarchal society.
After watching Zhilan and Qian Qingling leave, Fu Yun looked at Ye Lan apologetically and said, "I'm sorry! I've caused you trouble."
Seeing Fu Yun's sincere apology, Ye Lan waved her hand: "You're too kind. It's not entirely your fault. I didn't explain things clearly at the time."
She pointed to the guards below the city wall: "I'll go borrow a horse from there. You wait here for a moment."
Fu Jun looked in the direction Ye Lan pointed and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
Ye Lan strode towards the city gate, took out a token that could prove her identity, exchanged a few words with the guard, and the guard immediately had someone bring over a horse, and then very respectfully handed the rope to Ye Lan.
Ye Lan took the rope and turned back, quickly returning to Fu Yun and handing the rope to her.
Fu Yun reached out and took it: "Thank you."
Ye Lan waved her hand dismissively and blurted out, "No need to be so polite. Just spend more time talking with His Majesty in the future."
"Huh?" A hint of confusion flashed across Fu Yun's eyes. What did thanking her have to do with Zhilan? How did it suddenly turn into talking about Zhilan?
[She means you should spend more time talking to the Empress to relieve her boredom.]
Fu Yun countered, "Would the Empress lack people to amuse her?"
[There shouldn't be a shortage!]
Fu Yun: "Then why are you making up these nonsense explanations?"
Okay, I'll shut up. You keep going.
Seeing Fu Yun's unpredictable expression, Ye Lan coughed lightly, mounted her horse, and said, "It's alright, let's go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he gave a low shout and spurred the horse forward at high speed.
Fu Yun didn't investigate further, mounted his horse, kicked its belly, and galloped forward behind Ye Lan.
The two rode at full speed, and in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, they saw the back of the main force.
Fu Yun and Ye Lan cracked their whips, and the horses instantly sped up, allowing the two of them to catch up with everyone else in no time.
The Empress rode her horse at the head of the procession, leading everyone forward steadily.
This shows that she attaches great importance to this project of developing the mineral vein.
Qian Qingling followed at the back of the group, while Liu Lan and Xing Fei were in the middle, one on the left and one on the right, forming a three-legged formation so that any unexpected events could be detected in time.
As soon as Fu Yun and Ye Lan slowed down, Qian Qingling turned around and glanced at them, saying meaningfully, "You caught up so quickly, Young Master Su's riding skills are quite good. You've always been weak, can you withstand such a bumpy ride?"
Fu Yun's forehead veins throbbed slightly. He chuckled dryly and explained, "Fortunately, you weren't very fast, so it wasn't difficult for us to catch up."
Qian Qingling twitched the corner of her mouth, said no more, turned her head to look straight ahead, and walked on her own.
Ye Lan frowned slightly, wondering what Old Qian was up to.
She leaned slightly closer to Fu Yun on the right, and asked in a low voice, "What did you do to offend her recently? Why does she seem to be throwing a tantrum?"
Fu Yun shook her head: "I don't know either. Maybe I said something wrong without realizing it and made her uncomfortable!"
Even if Ye Lan hadn't asked the question, Fu Yun himself had sensed that Qian Qingling seemed to have some complaints about him these past two days.
Ye Lan shrugged: "Then you're in trouble. Old Qian's temper is hard to handle. You're probably in for a rough time."
Fu Yun was a bit of a headache. The upcoming schedule was quite important, and only by working together could they avoid doing anything pointless.
Fu Yun sighed inwardly, hoping that General Qian could still distinguish between public and private matters as before!
"How about I talk to you first if anything comes up, and then you can communicate with General Qian?"
"No!" Ye Lan quickly waved her hand: "I can't help with the turmoil between the two of you."
After a moment's thought, Fu Yun dropped her trump card: "Once this matter is over, I'll treat you to tea for half a month, with Lu Zhisheng personally delivering it to you. How about that?"
Ye Lan paused, and almost instinctively asked, "Really?"
She seemed to realize something, and her eyes flickered slightly, but she pretended to be calm and said, "Young Master Lu is usually quite busy, how could he have such free time?"
Fu Yun readily agreed, "No problem, we'll just arrange for someone to cover for him for a while."
"Deal." Ye Lan agreed quite readily.
Fu Yun breathed a sigh of relief, pointed at Qian Qingling, and gestured for Ye Lan to help with her thinking.
Ye Lan smiled slightly, raised no objection, and kicked the horse's belly, making it catch up with Qian Qingling's horse and ride alongside her.
Fu Yun chuckled inwardly; the charm of a handsome man was still the most effective, and Ye Lan was now willingly helping him.
[Mr. Fu, you're not here to play matchmaker. Don't forget your main mission.]
Fu Yun: "Commander Ye and Lu Zhisheng were already in love, but because of their different statuses, they didn't have much opportunity to get to know each other better. I'm just adding fuel to the fire, bringing together a good match and helping two lovers. This can be considered a good deed, so what's wrong with it?"
Yes, yes, yes, you're right. I was just reminding you not to focus only on others and forget about yourself.
Fu Yun retorted, "I haven't forgotten the important matter; I'm doing a mission right now."
Before Xiao Ba could respond, he asked the most important question at hand: "Speaking of which, you still haven't told me the exact location of the mine!"
After leaving Lingzhou City, you need to enter Bacheng, then Hongxing Town. Pass through Futou Village in this town, cross a river, climb over two mountains, and after reaching the third mountain, start digging from the foot of the mountain. You should find something there.
Fu Yun: "Isn't it usually inside a cave?"
In general, mineral veins mostly originate from caves, but they are also formed along mountain ranges. Some mineral veins may also appear beneath farmland, depending on the type of mineral vein.
Fu Yun: "I know that. Fine, I'll do it your way. With you as my magic touch, I don't have to worry about it."
Don't worry! We're in this together, so I definitely won't let you waste your time.
Fu Jun snorted coldly and didn't respond to Xiao Ba.
He couldn't be bothered to say it; how many times had that guy, Xiao Ba, screwed him over?
Fu Yun had been looking down and joking around with Xiao Ba in his mind until he looked up and saw Liu Lan riding a horse towards the end of the group.
Fu Yun originally thought she was going to say something to Ye Lan, but she passed by Ye Lan and Qian Qingling and came straight to him: "Master has something to ask you."
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