Transmigration: The Evil Mother-In-Law Is Actually Innocent!
Chapter 1419: Secret

Chapter 1419: Chapter 1419: Secret

The soldiers entered the village and in no time, dozens of villagers had emerged. The Crown Prince’s Guard squinted his eyes – were these villagers a bit too alert?

They do have a lot of people, and the villagers shouldn’t have reacted so quickly.

The village Lizheng approached anxiously, "What brings the officials into the mountains at such a late hour?"

The Deputy City Defense Commander sized up the villagers, "And you are?"

The Lizheng said, "I, I am the Lizheng of this mountain village. Everyone here is a hunter, and we have always been law-abiding."

After hearing this, the Deputy City Defense Commander let go of his suspicions and asked, "Have you seen two teenagers around the age of ten or so?"

The Lizheng breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, the officials have come to arrest people? Yes, we’ve seen them; they’re staying with the Li family!"

The Deputy City Defense Commander exhaled, not bothering to explain, "Lead us to the Li family."

The Lizheng pointed to a house at the edge of the village, "We’ll need to go back the way we came."

The Deputy City Defense Commander grunted affirmatively. Once they reached the farmyard, the deputy approached the closed door, "Are Shangguan Young Master and Zhou Young Master inside?"

Ming Rui, along with those outside, had been listening intently to the noises from outside. Hearing the inquiry, he fell silent for a moment, "Who are you?"

The Deputy City Defense Commander replied, "I am the Deputy City Defense Commander of Huizhou City, on a mission to locate Shangguan Young Master and Zhou Young Master."

Ming Rui’s heart finally settled, legs going weak with relief. It took him a moment to gather himself before opening the door, and seeing the officers with torches outside, and his own young servant rushing over, he smiled, "I am Zhou Mingrui."

Shangguan Liu also came out at this time, rescue at last. It was truly a relief.

The Lizheng’s eyes shifted, realizing they hadn’t come to arrest but to retrieve someone. He felt a tug at his heart, realizing they had almost come to blows.

Zhou Mingrui’s young servant ran over, "Thank the heavens, Young Master, you are unharmed."

Zhou Mingrui patted the young servant on the shoulder, "It’s alright, I am fine."

The young servant looked at his master’s face with anguish, feeling he had failed to protect him.

It was already too late to travel, and with nearly a hundred soldiers, all with excellent skills, the Lizheng had no choice but to prepare food and accommodations reluctantly.

Once the people of the village had left, Mingrui softly narrated the village’s oddities. The Deputy Commander and the Crown Prince’s Guard exchanged a look. Taking advantage of when the clouds obscured the moon, the Crown Prince’s Guard stealthily went to scout the village.

Zhou Mingrui, exhausted, finally could sleep peacefully.

The next day, Zhou Shuren attended the early court session. The Emperor’s expression was very grim. Having undergone several major purges, the Palace was on tight lockdown, and it was difficult to send messages out. It was unclear whether something had happened within the Palace.

The ministers in court were silent. The Emperor’s presence seemed increasingly imposing, and no one dared to cross him.

Zhou Shuren suddenly missed the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince was in the capital, the Emperor seldom wore such a cold face. Lately, the Emperor had been like a walking ice cellar.

The Emperor spoke solemnly, "There have been concerning movements on the Dongbei border—does any minister have an opinion on this?"

Zhou Shuren perked up his ears. The Grassland Tribes are like indestructible cockroaches, and the Dongbei border has been a headache for successive dynasties. With the development of foreign nations, the Sand Nation has also grown strong. Any unrest on the Dongbei border is likely to be connected to the Grassland Tribes.

Li Zhao stepped forward, "The Dongbei border must not be ignored."

Zhou Shuren followed up, "This servant believes we should send someone to investigate. The tribal groups on the Dongbei border have also been recuperating for many years, just as Mr. Li has said, they cannot be overlooked."

The Emperor seemed to share this sentiment, his face showing little change as he looked towards the other officials.

Old Minister Wen kept silent; lately, every time he spoke, he was rebuked by the Emperor. He did not want to speak out again.

The others were also wary of the Emperor’s stern face, and they echoed the sentiment accordingly. No one was foolish; after so many years since the Emperor’s accession to the throne, could they not see that the Emperor was ambitious?

After the court was dismissed and the Emperor had departed, Li Zhao sidled up to Zhou Shuren and muttered quietly, "I find myself missing the Crown Prince."

Zhou Shuren, "Indeed."

He hoped that the Crown Prince could return safely soon, as he could no longer bear the Emperor’s cold face.

Li Zhao stroked his beard, "War is on the horizon."

"Hmm."

Neither of them looked at each other with any intention to continue the conversation, the topic was too heavy.

Zhou Shuren paced with his hands behind his back, calculating in his mind—if the war was fought on two fronts, the Imperial court would also be under great pressure, silver, silver, the national treasury was like running water, constantly being drawn out, sigh!

In Huizhou Mountain Village, Ming Rui had a deep sleep overnight; he was truly exhausted, his nerves on edge as he fled for his life, staying awake all night on the watch, and even after arriving in the village, he didn’t allow his mind to relax. When he woke up, the morning hour had already passed.

Ming Rui stepped out the door and saw Shangguan Liu fiddling with gold?

"Where did you get this gold from?"

Looking closely, it was a sizable gold nugget, not yet melted down.

Shangguan Liu excitedly said, "You finally woke up."

Ming Rui pointed at the table, "What’s this all about?"

Shangguan Liu excitedly explained: "This is the village’s secret, Deputy City Defense Commander Wang led his troops to capture all the villagers, guess what happened?"

Ming Rui pointed at the gold on the table, "Is there a gold mine here?"

Shangguan Liu nodded, "Yes, there is a gold mine. The Crown Prince’s Guard found something unusual, and last night Deputy Commander Wang surrounded the village, catching the villagers off guard and capturing them all."

During the arrest, quite a few villagers were killed, and two Imperial soldiers also died. Luckily, those brought along were skilled; otherwise, the casualties would have been greater. Even now stepping outside, one could still see traces of blood; he had seen too many dead of late.

Ming Rui looked around, "Where’s Deputy Commander Wang?"

Shangguan Liu pointed up the mountain, "Deputy Commander Wang has taken people to look for the cave where the gold is hidden, and also to confirm the exact location of the gold mine. We, yes, we have made another achievement, and of course, your contribution this time is even greater."

Ming Rui touched the gold, thinking that if the gold mine were substantial, his merit would be too great; even for someone as composed as he, he now needed to take some time to digest this.

Shangguan Liu smiled, "Is this what they call high risk, high reward?"

Their luck was indeed good, having faced so many assassins and yet not died, and though the escape to the mountain village was fraught with danger, they arrived unharmed, which could only mean that fortune favors the bold who survive great disasters!

Now, any fear in Ming Rui’s heart was gone, leaving only the merits.

In the capital, at the Zhou family’s estate, Lady Gu’s mother from the Li family had passed away, leaving no one of the same generation as Zhulan. Lady Gu had invited her own mother Lady Fang to the Zhou residence.

Zhulan couldn’t help but laugh, the Li family was truly in a hurry, they had already come knocking on the door.

Lady Fang said to Zhulan, "I’m not afraid of being a laughingstock. Initially, when my mother-in-law betrothed my daughter Mei to the Li family, I was reluctant, but at that time my opinion didn’t matter, and the marriage was arranged."

Her feelings for her husband were not deep, and after being married for many years she only gave birth to a daughter, with no further pregnancies for a while, which caused her mother-in-law to have quite a few complaints. Her husband had numerous concubines and many illegitimate sons and daughters.

She rarely shared a bed with her husband, so how could she conceive?

Later, when her daughter was ridiculed by children of the other concubines, all she could provide for her daughter was silver. In the end, in order to please her husband for her daughter’s sake, she finally gave birth to a legitimate son.

Upon meeting Lady Fang, Zhulan could tell that she was a woman with stories to tell. Given Lady Gu’s pleasant disposition, this likely had much to do with Lady Fang’s influence.

Zhulan spoke, "The character of the second son of the Li family is not bad."

Aside from being a bit stingy, the second son of the Li family had an excellent character.

Lady Fang smiled, "This child is like his father; his father was also stingy back in the day. Initially, my Mei was often mocked by her sisters for it, but now, look who doesn’t envy Mei."

Her daughter was just married, and her mother-in-law was kind to her. After Mei’s first son was born, the mother-in-law never interfered in the young couple’s affairs. Her son-in-law only had eyes for her daughter, which over the years had become a celebrated story in the capital.

Zhulan thought to herself that stingy people only spend silver on those they deem worthy, everyone else need not apply, "I understand what you mean."