Do Not Offend the Reborn Wicked Wife-Chapter 193: Nighttime Investigation of Bai E Mountain
The next day, Li Qingmu went to the government office as usual.
In the Imperial Censorate’s office, colleagues were still gathered in threes and fours, chatting and laughing, enjoying themselves immensely.
When Li Qingmu arrived, an Imperial Censor came up to tease him: "Imperial Censor Li, I heard you went on an outing with a young lady yesterday? Tsk tsk, you really know how to enjoy life, making others envious!"
This was a provocation. Just a short while after arriving at the office, he needed to take a leave to play. What was this?
Dereliction of duty!
Li Qingmu smiled lightly and said, "If Imperial Censor Liu thinks it’s nice, he can also take his wife along."
"Humph!"
The picky Imperial Censor Liu waved his sleeve and turned into his office.
"Brother Li, yesterday you took a full day off. Several colleagues in the Imperial Censorate have been quite critical of you. You need to be careful moving forward."
Once inside the office, Su Shi came over to remind him.
"Impeachment?" Li Qingmu chuckled, "Let them impeach me then. Besides, I’ll take another day off tomorrow."
There’s an action tonight, for sure can’t wake up tomorrow, taking a day off to catch up on sleep.
"You..."
Su Shi probably never expected Li Qingmu to be so bold, even reckless. He hadn’t even secured his position as an Imperial Censor, and he’s behaving this way. Is it really okay?
If Su Shi were a man with an interest in personal gain, he would distance himself now, draw a line, but he didn’t do so.
"Brother Li, these are my honest words. Many people in the Imperial Censorate are watching you..."
"Brother Su, it’s nothing!"
Li Qingmu smiled and patted his shoulder. His confident demeanor gave Su Shi a sense of illusion. Could it be... there’s more to this than meets the eye?
That night, Li Qingmu and Long Yue headed to Bai E Mountain again.
They first went to an inn, got a room and changed into outfits resembling laborers, ensuring no one was following them, before heading to Bai E Mountain.
It was already midnight by then.
The sky was so dark it was terrifying, Bai E Mountain had many grave mounds and barren places. At night, eerie ghost fires would appear, looking very frightening.
The two continued forward, quickly arriving at the cave.
It was nighttime. Four people were guarding the cave entrance before, now only two remained. It was a perfect opportunity to make a move.
"We need a way to draw them away so we can go in."
Li Qingmu looked at the cave, resting his chin in thought.
"Isn’t it simple? Watch me!"
Long Yue picked up a stone, crept over, and threw it.
The two guards heard the noise, shouted "Who’s there?" and went to investigate.
The two seized the chance to slip inside and quickly entered the cave.
Inside the cave, there was a clink-clank sound as if something was being dug up, accompanied by the sound of whips cracking.
"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for? Quick, work faster! Anyone dares to slack off, I’ll whip them to death!"
"Be efficient, finish up and you’ll be allowed a quarter-hour break, hurry!"
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Li Qingmu and Long Yue approached, seeing several supervisors wielding whips to drive some craftsmen, who were using strange-looking tools to carve into the rocks.
From the cracked stones, Long Yue was shocked to see some blackened objects.
"It’s... it’s iron! Master, this is a large iron mine!"
Li Qingmu nodded. They had actually guessed upon entering the cave since there were iron ore fragments all over the ground, though it was hard to confirm.
Now, it was definitely confirmed!
"And judging by the looks of it, they’ve been digging for a long time! They’re in such a rush, probably wanting to extract all the iron available here and then seal off the mine!"
"Why are they in such a hurry?"
Li Qingmu pondered with concentration. This place had clearly been mined for a long time, and recently they’ve become so urgent, so...
Li Qingmu felt like something flashed across his mind, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.
"Master, daring to privately mine iron is definitely a plot of rebellion!"
Throughout history, any mineral deposit belonged to the court, as the saying goes, ’Under the heavens, none are not royal land, within the seas, none are not subjects to the king.’ As a minister, finding mineral deposits should be reported to the court, right?
Private mining reveals a treasonous heart!
Li Qingmu calmly said, "There’s profit to be gained! The Wang Family couldn’t use that much iron themselves, probably cooperating with someone else, and generally... only the army would need that much iron!"
Such a large iron mine, extracting so much iron, relying solely on selling, simply wouldn’t be feasible. After all, selling salt or iron illegally, both sellers and buyers are guilty.
Since it certainly wasn’t for sale, only one possibility remained: to use it themselves!
Using it themselves means assembling an army, plotting rebellion, right?
The Third Prince wants to rebel?
No, not that. He just wants to raise some private soldiers to gain more chances in the future fight for the throne.
But then, what?
Raising private soldiers for self-defense? Not even a three-year-old would believe that!
"We’ve found where they’re mining, next is to see where these ore are being transported to."
"But how do we track them?"
"Let me think..." Li Qingmu stared at the craftsmen mining inside, thought for a moment, then said, "We’ll blend in and then follow the ones carrying ore out of the cave, find a chance to track them. This method would have flaws normally, easy to see through, but now they’re rushing, they won’t check carefully!"
"Alright!"
Carrying tasks are done in pairs, just perfect for the two of them.
Moreover, by this time it was almost dawn, they wouldn’t stay inside for long.
The couple found it not difficult, so they stayed hidden in the dark, waiting for the sky to slowly brighten.
"Quickly, bring all the things inside out."
After an unknown period, someone shouted at the cave entrance, and the supervisors immediately ordered the craftsmen to carry the ore out.
Long Yue and Li Qingmu smeared dirt on their faces and joined the carrying.
A small mountain of iron ore was loaded into large baskets or boxes, and then the two carried them out of the cave.
But this time, unlike before, carrying to the entrance, they were intercepted.
"Just leave it here, go back in and continue carrying more out!"
Li Qingmu and Long Yue exchanged looks. With more guards gathering at the entrance, they couldn’t risk alarming them and continued back to carry more.
On the second turn, they still weren’t allowed out, were sent back again to carry more.
"Something’s wrong!"
As they reached the ore pile, Long Yue suddenly realized something was amiss.
Yesterday, they clearly saw people carrying out of the cave, but today, only to the cave entrance? What’s going on?
Li Qingmu said nothing. When they weren’t allowed out the first time, he already guessed it, but he wasn’t sure. Now he was certain.
"Yue’er, they’ve mined almost enough. They’re preparing to seal the mine and... seal all of us inside!"
"What do you mean? Are they crazy? To seal all these people inside?"
There were at least forty or fifty craftsmen here; how heartless must someone be to do such a thing?
However, Li Qingmu’s words were soon proven true.
"Everyone get inside, no one is allowed out, get inside! Anyone dares to come out, kill them!"
A group of guards wielding long knives drove the craftsmen back, and almost simultaneously, Long Yue smelled the scent of gunpowder!
