Chapter 94: Iron Mine

Wu Jiangjun followed Yan Ze into the study and pointed at the three Eunuchs below: "Your Highness, how should we deal with them?"

For a moment, Yan Ze did not know how these two should be dealt with either.

He asked the maid at his side: "Where is Ningning? Have you seen her?"

The maid said respectfully: "She was thrown into the School by the Prince."

Wu Jiangjun was taken aback.

Should such a matter be left for a child like Yan Ning to resolve?

Yan Ze pondered for a moment and said: "Let's just keep them under house arrest for now. Ningning has many clever ideas; I will let her think of a way later."

Afterwards, Wu Jiangjun found two trusted subordinates and locked the three of them in a room.

The cloth strips gagging their mouths were removed, and Eunuch Li was finally able to speak. He was furious, and his words were full of threats:

"You are presumptuous! How dare you tie me up! When I return to the Capital, I will certainly report what you have done to the Emperor!"

"Are you trying to rebel?!"

Yan Ze was somewhat impatient: "If you keep making noise, I will have someone tie you up."

Eunuch Li was a bit intimidated, and his voice was not as sharp as before: "Your Highness, take my advice. If you hand over the Gunpowder formula now, you still have a chance to turn back."

Yan Ze frowned: "Let's just tie them up after all."

Eunuch Li panicked: "No, no, no, I won't speak anymore."

Yan Ze: "If you say one more word, I will kill you."

Eunuch Li seemed to have lost all his strength; he slumped on the ground, not daring to say a single word.

Intuition told him that Yan Ze would really do it.

Wu Jiangjun sneered: "Coming here to ask them for the explosive formula—has the Emperor gone mad?"

Anyone with a normal brain could not come up with such a rotten idea.

After dealing with the Eunuchs, Yan Ze returned to the study, and the Prince said to the maid: "You may leave first."

When only the two of them were left in the room, Xiao Chengtian asked: "What is your plan for the next step?"

Yan Ze said: "No need to rush. Let's observe the situation in the imperial court and see if Yan Qing can become the Emperor. If he can ascend the throne, we won't have to go as far as rebelling."

Xiao Chengtian was puzzled: "Why do you trust Yan Qing so much? Regardless, he is the son of the deposed Crown Prince."

Yan Ze explained: "Yan Qing was not born to the Crown Princess. His biological mother was beaten to death by the Crown Princess. This child had no one to look after him, so I saw that he was pitiful and often took him out to play; he is close to me."

"But that is before he ascends the throne. How can you guarantee that he won't have murderous intentions in the future?"

Yan Ze said with a smile: "You don't know..."

Yan Ze recounted how Yan Qing helped them steal treasures from the Crown Prince's study, and that there was also evidence of the Crown Prince colluding with the enemy and committing treason in the chest.

Xiao Chengtian's expression was somewhat complex.

He had not expected such a turn of events.

Xiao Chengtian was meticulous and began to ask again: "However, he is too young. Even if he is named Grandson of the Emperor, he might not necessarily become the Emperor. What then? We must have a backup plan."

Taking advantage of the break, Yan Ning slipped out immediately, and the first thing she did was go find her father.

Hearing their conversation, Yan Ning asked: "What backup plan?"

Yan Ze then said: "In case Yan Qing cannot ascend the throne, we must have a backup plan."

Yan Ning nodded: "That is indeed how it should be. We still have a fairly large island; I have already sent people over to build houses, and there are people taking turns guarding it."

Yan Ze beamed with joy: "Ningning is always so thoughtful."

Xiao Chengtian's mouth twitched. Why were this father and daughter both thinking about a retreat? With so much Gunpowder in his hands, let alone a few thousand people, even if an army of one hundred thousand came to Lingnan, they might not be able to take them down.

Xiao Chengtian poked the little bun on Yan Ning's head: "Better consider what we should do if someone attacks. Our manpower and weapons are not many, especially weapons. We need a large amount of iron; otherwise, if they bring archers, we won't be able to block them."

Yan Ning said: "I was just about to mention this. Uncle Xiao, there is an Iron Mine near your Wangfu."

Xiao Chengtian was stunned, his eyes full of surprise: "How do you know? Is this news reliable?"

Yan Ning took out a map, a map of the entire Daxia dynasty; near Ding'an City, there was an Iron Mine.

Xiao Chengtian looked at this map. It had different markings: Iron Mines were black circles, Gold Mines and Silver Mines were red "×"s, and other ores were black "×"s. It had counted almost all the mines in the Daxia dynasty, especially those mines in the North.

Xiao Chengtian simply could not believe his eyes. How on earth did they get this map?

Xiao Chengtian's expression was complex. Could it be that your family is just that lucky?

Yan Ze just smiled.

Xiao Chengtian was somewhat excited: "Then let's hurry and mine the Iron Mine! With the Iron Mine, our strength can increase by a large margin."

Yan Ze had originally wanted to stay at home for a while longer, but Xiao Chengtian was very anxious, so he took Yan Ning and the Xiao Chengtian family to Ding'an City.

Passing by Haicheng, they also saw Lu Prefect.

Lu Wanshun had originally wanted to flee, but he received two gazes and could only bite the bullet and go over to greet them.

"Your Highness, Prince, how do you have the time to come to Haicheng?"

Lu Wanshun could not figure it out.

If he guessed correctly, the Emperor should have wanted Wu Jiangjun to lead troops to kill the Yan Ze family.

But Wu Jiangjun did not do so and instead tied up the Eunuchs and went to the First Prince to claim credit.

If the Prince had been staying with Yan Ze all this time, wouldn't he have known long ago that the Emperor wanted to kill Yan Ze?

The trouble was that the Prince knew the Emperor wanted to kill Yan Ze and was still close to the Yan Ze family.

Lu Wanshun only assumed they had already joined forces to rebel.

His eyes flickered, and he made up an excuse and slipped away.

Xiao Chengtian watched his back and could not help but laugh: "He is so timid. Even if the Emperor were to lead the army himself to Lingnan, they could still win, so what is there to fear?"

If Lu Wanshun knew what Xiao Chengtian was thinking, he would probably be wronged to death.

He was just a small Prefect; on one side was imperial power, and on the other was the First Prince who could blow up tens of thousands of Woguo troops. He felt neither choice was reliable.

It is better to stay further away from them.

After riding horses for two days, they finally arrived at Ding'an City.

Having not been to Ding'an City for a long time, the first thing Yan Ning wanted to do was go listen to music.

But Xiao Chengtian was very anxious: "Listen to what music? People are about to knock on our door, let's hurry and go find the Iron Mine."

Yan Ning was certain that Xiao Chengtian really wanted to make her father rebel.

Yan Ning then took them to find the Iron Mine.

It was just that the Iron Mine only had a general range, and this map could not be enlarged, so even with the map in hand, finding the Iron Mine would still take some time.

After traveling for about five or six days, they finally found the Iron Mine.

Right at the foot of a mountain, they found a mine cave.

Xiao Chengtian immediately arranged for people to come and mine the Iron Mine, not wasting a single moment.

Xiao Chengtian patted Yan Ning on the shoulder: "Once we mine the ore, I will immediately have people send it to Chaoyang Village."

Xiao Chengtian would not be going to Chaoyang Village this time; he and his wife and children would stay in Ding'an City for the time being.

However, his five hundred mansion guards were left at Chaoyang Village.