kingnovel Chapter 1164 The King's Madness and His Bewitching Subordinates
Chapter 1164 The King's Madness and His Bewitching Subordinates
After hearing Hou Gui's words, Crown Prince Xiao Jingye, Prince Yu Xiao Jingyu, Leng Rongyue, and Crown Princess Fang Haoqing all felt genuine respect for Xun Zheng!
Faced with threats, inducements, or even threats to their lives, they remained steadfast in their integrity and unwavering in their loyalty, demonstrating their noble character and lofty integrity, making them exemplary models of loyalty!
This person must be rescued—Xiao Jingye, Xiao Jingyu, and Leng Rongyue all shared the same thought.
How many people are currently working at the gold mine in Qilin Mountain?
Crown Prince Xiao Jingye asked.
There were more than seventy guards stationed there;
The hard labor of mining...
Hou Gui thought for a moment and said, "There are still about 150 miners..."
Oh... originally there were more than two hundred people, but... but... the mine only gave them two meals a day of coarse rice soup that was big enough to reflect a person's image.
The work was both hard and tiring;
The guards watching over them constantly beat and verbally abused them, pushing them too far...
And so, one after another, many people died!
The dead were all thrown into a large pit not far from the gold mine, with layers of people being thrown in and then covered with soil...
That huge crater...that crater is almost completely filled!
As Hou Gui finished speaking, he glanced furtively at Xiao Jingye and the others opposite him...
Seeing that Xiao Jingye and the others had their brows furrowed and their faces were frighteningly dark, Hou Gui couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
Clutching the hem of his robe, Hou Gui composed himself before continuing, "The villages near Qilin Mountain are constantly losing people, and reporting to the authorities hasn't helped. So, the villagers have all become more cautious—"
Whether they go up the mountain to hunt or to chop wood, as long as they are men... well... now it's not just men, even young and strong women dare not go out alone!
If they see a stranger approaching, they'd be ready to fight to the death!
It won't be so easy for the gold mine to find laborers nearby anymore.
So now the number of people there has dropped from over two hundred to just over one hundred!
"Tell me about the road to the gold mine!"
Xiao Jingyu put down his teacup and looked at Hou Gui.
"Yes!"
Hou Gui hurriedly responded.
"The road into the mountains is easy to travel and easy to find..."
Once you reach the mountainside, you'll see a large rock formation with four large characters engraved on it: "Qilin Blessed Land".
That was the first line of defense leading to the gold mine.
There are usually six or seven people guarding that large rock face;
After passing that large rock, turn right.
That mountain road was difficult to travel; it was barely wide enough for one horse-drawn carriage to pass.
But the only way to get to the gold mine is by that road.
After that, immortal, please remember, whenever you see three identical trees forming a triangle by the roadside with a large rock in the middle, go to the right side of the road.
If you see a large rock lying flat between three trees, you should go to the left.
Besides the checkpoint at Dashiyan, there are three more checkpoints further in, each about two miles apart.
Oh, by the way, the more guards are inside the checkpoints, the higher their martial arts skills!
Beyond the last checkpoint, the carriages could no longer proceed. Every time we went to haul gold, we had to park the carriages there and wait for the people inside to unload the gold and load it onto the carts.
Xiao Jingyu and the others listened attentively and carefully memorized the information.
Who's in charge at the gold mine?
It's Feng Jiu.
Feng Jiu is the elder brother of Deng Chusheng, the Vice Minister of Works in the capital, and the most favored concubine of one of his concubines!
The Vice Minister's wife, Madam Jiang, came from the Second Minister's household and was the eldest daughter of Second Minister Jiang Ciche.
Lady Jiang had been unable to conceive for many years, but in recent years, the Vice Minister had brought several concubines into the mansion under the pretext of having an heir.
Even if Madam Jiang wanted to stop her, there was nothing she could do.
If the Deng family were to die out due to Madam Jiang's obstruction, Madam Jiang would be criticized by the world.
Madam Jiang became a sinner against the Deng family!
Strangely enough, after the Vice Minister of Works, Lord Deng, married a wife and later took seven concubines, only Feng Jiu's sister, Feng Lingling, gave birth to a son!
Therefore, Feng Lingling and her son were highly favored by Vice Minister Deng.
It is said that Vice Minister Deng originally intended to register the son born to Feng Lingling under the name of his principal wife, Madam Jiang, as the legitimate son of the Deng family. However, Feng Lingling refused to comply, and Madam Jiang also refused to elevate this son born to a concubine to be the legitimate son under her name.
Feng Lingling wanted to use her son, whom she had given birth to, to rise to the rank of a secondary wife, but Madam Jiang and the Second Minister's Mansion consistently refused to agree.
Even now, Feng Lingling is still a concubine, and the son she gave birth to is still an illegitimate son.
Oh, right, speaking of concubines... the immortals probably wouldn't guess...
Zhu Baoyuan, the eldest daughter of Prefect Zhu Gefu... is now called Tan Baoyuan...
She was registered under the name of the wealthy merchant Tan Jizu and sent to Prince Yi's mansion as his eldest daughter, becoming Prince Yi's concubine!
Aunt Tan in Prince Yi's Mansion is actually the biological daughter of Zhu Gefu, the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture!
When Zhu Gefang was drunk, he boasted that his cousin Zhu Gefu was actually Prince Yi's father-in-law!
Her niece, Bao Yuan, might even become a concubine someday!
Imperial Concubine!
Leng Rongyue and Xiao Jingyu couldn't help but sneer.
Prince Yi, Xiao Jingyi, is obsessed with the throne!
His cronies have also become blinded by greed!
They were even dreaming that their daughter would one day become a royal concubine!