"I dare not deceive you; itâs true, we really found a gold mine." The subordinate was almost too excited to speak.
They had been helping the Second Young Master move things, discreetly, only working at night. They had just finished the previous day, and now they needed to restore the moved area.
They had trampled the umbrella trees nearby while moving things, so they planned to shift some of the trees from a nearby hill to cover the traces of disturbed soil.
Who would have thought that when a shovel went down, it hit something hard beneath and couldnât dig through.
One of them grabbed a pickaxe to dig, and a swing of the pickaxe revealed a gold-colored rock.
Perhaps hearing about gold mines too often recently, especially since they were moving treasures, naturally led them to wonder if it was truly a gold mine.
With this thought, they continued to dig.
The result was obvious; when they cleared the umbrella trees, yellow rocks were exposed underneath.
The leader immediately instructed him to report this.
"By the way, Lord, here are the ores I brought back." Beside him was a cloth bundle, and when opened, it indeed contained the familiar gold ore.
Seeing this, Ye Haoxuan laughed heartily, "Good, good, everyone from top to bottom shall be rewarded."
"Yes, thank you, Lord!"
After the subordinate left, Ye Haoxuan fiddled with the two rocks and looked at Lord He with a smile that wasnât quite a smile. "Lord He, look at this, isnât it a gold mine? It proves Tu Niu was right. Young Master Situ searched the wrong spot and offended the mountain deity. Whoever finds the real gold mine doesnât anger the mountain deity."
"As I see it, Lord He should now take more people to White Stripe Mountain to ascertain the size of this gold mine, and then report back to the Emperor with a memorandum. As for Young Master Situâs matter, report it along with it. With the gold mineâs discovery, the Emperor will naturally rely on you, so why should you fear State Duke Situâs wrath?"
"Moreover, Young Master Situ sacrificed in search of the gold mine; one could say he did it for Great Zhou. For Great Zhou, even royal children can be sacrificed, let alone us officials. Donât you think so, Lord He?"
At this moment, Prefect He understood Ye Haoxuanâs implication, suggesting to elevate Situ Erâs death to a national sacrifice to evade Situ Residenceâs anger. This way, even if Situ Residence wished to settle scores, it could not strike, or it would appear unwilling to contribute to Great Zhou before the Emperor.
"Yes, I understand, thank you, Prince, for your guidance."
"Well... I didnât guide anything; itâs all due to Lord Heâs good understanding. Also, Lord Heâs subordinates were competent to really discover a gold mine. Next, Lord He should prepare to go to White Stripe Mountain; I wonât keep you any longer."
"Yes, yes, I take my leave!"
Lord He left the study, eyes flickering, secretly cursing as a real fox, having done things yet distancing completely.
"There really is a gold mine?" Ye Rongqing remarked while touching two rocks, "I wondered why the old man kept heading west; perhaps he really smelled something."
Ye Haoyang nodded, "He indeed has some skills."
Ye Rongqing muttered, "I also wonder if our ancestors discovered that there was a gold mine nearby."
"Anyway, itâs no longer related to us," Ye Haoxuan said, "Everythingâs been handled well, so weâll return to the capital the morning after tomorrow."