Chapter 691

Lu Mingzhe nodded with a smile: "Good, let the hero rest well—we'll meet again later. I heard she brought back two sacks of silver ore—where are they? I've invited Magistrate Ding and some craftsmen; they're experts in silver ore…"

The two sacks of silver ore are on the ship—they certainly didn't bring just two sacks.

This is merely what's on the surface.

In reality, Pan Yun, Seeing Miao Zhen, Miao He, and Tao Yanbai each have piles stored in their space treasures.

Back in Dasen Village, Pan Yun also gave Xue Shao a space jade; Xue Shao's space treasure holds a pile too.

To attract more people to Woguo and make them fight over this silver mine, they must know just how rich it is—they must actually touch the ore…

Pan Yun barely paid attention to the two sacks on the ship, letting everyone compete as they saw fit.

Yet Qu Le, in charge of those two sacks, somehow traded the ore for over two thousand taels of silver.

Pan Yun: "... No wonder you're you!"

Qu Le had servants bring in two chests of silver, then pulled out a stack of silver notes: "Each stone, depending on size, sells for fifty to a hundred taels. The Chen family bought ten—they're rich, so I charged them a hundred taels each regardless of size, making a thousand taels profit."

Prefect Lu, being an official with influence, took two large pieces—I gave him a discount at one hundred fifty taels."

General Gong haggled over a small piece; I couldn't even offer him a discount, so I took fifty taels."

Qu Le glanced around, saw no one, leaned in, and whispered: "A few senior brothers from our Academy came secretly to buy ore, and specifically told me not to tell anyone. But strangely, Zhang Yuanzhu and Mr. Li never came to buy."

Pan Yun: "With Zhang Weiyi around, they don't need to buy."

Qu Le blinked: "You mean Zhang Weiyi hoarded the ore?"

Pan Yun waved dismissively: "Hoard if he wants—what does it matter? Anything else? Two thousand taels—is that all?"

Qu Le fidgeted before saying: "My uncle bought two pieces. I... I bought a few for my grandfather too."

Pan Yun nodded approvingly, patted his shoulder: "Ruzike Sect."

Seeing she wasn't angry, Qu Le beamed and boasted: "I didn't give myself or my uncle any discounts—I charged exactly what each piece was worth."

Pan Yun: "Your uncle is lucky to have a nephew like you."

Qu Le regretted: "If I'd known we could hoard ore, I'd have carried back several sacks!"

Pan Yun: "A few pieces, fine. Several sacks? Do you think I'm blind? I take back what I said—you're utterly unteachable."

Qu Le:...

Pan Yun waved him off: "Go, go, I need to rest."

Qu Le stared: "Aren't you coming to the victory banquet tonight?"

Prefect Lu hosted the victory banquet at Pu Family's Ping'an Tavern to welcome them back, and invited them all.

Pan Yun: "Your uncle said I just returned, exhausted, and need rest—I won't be going tonight."

"But—" Before Qu Le could finish, he was pushed out of the courtyard.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Tao Yanbai took turns stowing the two chests of silver into their space treasures, then turned to Pan Yun together.

Pan Yun counted the silver notes, then handed them casually to Miao He: "Put them away."

Pan Yun couldn't carry any more silver on her person.

Luckily, the ore isn't counted as money—if it were, her pile of ore would've gotten her into trouble.

Seeing Miao Zhen: "If ore's this profitable, we could make a fortune selling it."

"Only for a while—and everyone's not stupid. Do you really think everyone on the ship is as law-abiding as Qu Le?" Pan Yun said. "Tonight, countless pieces of ore will fly out of Quanzhou."

Many heroes hoarded ore—Gao Zhiming even hid three pieces.

He showed them to his master's disciple, whispering: "Pan Yun says this silver mine in Woguo is rich—the silver refined isn't just high-purity, its output will be enormous. With enough labor, annual production could reach one million taels!"

His master's disciple's hand trembled: "That's more than the entire Great Ming's annual silver output?"

They didn't know the exact annual silver output of Great Ming's mines, but from the imperial court collecting only eight taels from Fujian's single mine, even Pan Yun's claim made this mine seem dazzling.

Lu Mingzhe was far smarter—he directly showed the ore to the discerning Magistrate Ding and the craftsmen.

The two merely broke off a piece, then smashed it and began refining it; by midnight, a Semi-finished product emerged.

A piece the size of a forehead was refined down to a fist-sized lump, silver-gray in color.

Magistrate Ding and the craftsmen were thrilled, telling Lu Mingzhe: "My lord, this is a rich ore! I've handled countless silver ores in my decades of service—this is the richest by far!"

Lu Mingzhe: "How does it compare to the silver mine in Ninghua County?"

Magistrate Ding sneered: "Night and day difference. Ninghua's mine is low-to-medium grade—after a few more years of heavy mining, it'll become a lean ore. But this ore has extremely high silver content. If, as they claim, the entire mountain is like this, it's a rich mine—indeed, the richest in the world!"

Lu Mingzhe's heart surged; he clenched his fists and paced the workshop, eyes blazing like fire: "Only Daoist Priests could pull this off! No wonder they caused so much chaos—even just for this mine, the sea ban must be lifted! Woguo—we're going!"

Magistrate Ding was equally excited: "If we can mine this ore, the empire's silver shortage will be solved. Miners everywhere can breathe easier. Rebellions like those in Ninghua and Yushan won't happen again."

Lu Mingzhe nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes—I'll submit a memorial immediately, requesting the imperial court send troops to Woguo... Xue Shao, where's Xue Shao?"

Magistrate Ding stayed silent; the secretary whispered: "Xue Shao was taken to Jingcheng by the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Lu Mingzhe opened his mouth, then closed it—his heart felt like a spilled spice rack.

He finally said: "I'll submit a memorial pleading his case—he fulfilled his duty by going to sea. Though he failed to detect the dangers in Ninghua and Yushan in time... he discovered this mine and helped these martial heroes avenge their village massacre, projecting our glory overseas—he's earned merit. Merit and fault cancel out..."

"My lord, if news of this mine reaches Jingcheng, countless people will want a share. Xue Shao has no background, and his uncle Xue Xuan has made many enemies—they won't want him involved."

But this mine was discovered by him and Pan Yun—he's the only proper official who went there."

By standard practice, if mining proceeds, he's the top candidate—unless..."

The secretary didn't finish, but everyone understood.

Right now, countless people want to remove him from office and replace him with their own men.

Lu Mingzhe didn't particularly like Xue Shao—his eyes always made Lu feel exposed. Though gentle, when Xue Shao glanced his way, Lu always felt every secret, every dark thought, had been seen.

But he also deeply liked Xue Shao.

He was the most qualified Censor Lu had ever met.

He admired his competence, revered his character.

When he first passed the provincial exam, he was exactly like this—until he passed the palace exam and became county magistrate. For nearly ten years, he had been just like him.

He also liked the version of himself from those ten years.

That really was the best time of his life.

But things remained while people had changed.

Xue Shao was now in that best stretch of his own life. Lu Mingzhe hesitated a moment, then still decided to lend a hand—consider it for the sake of the version of himself from those ten years.

Lin Mengzhu had also found someone to verify the silver mine.

Qu Le had plenty of complaints about his lack of trust: "I already told you it's a rich mine, and you still don't believe me…"

Lin Mengzhu: "Is it that I don't believe you? It's that I don't believe Pan Yun!"

"Pan Yun is pretty good, why don't you trust her?"

Lin Mengzhu: "It's only been this long and you've already changed your tune? Have you forgotten how you cursed her when you first got home?"

Qu Le said, squirming: "Well, I can't just keep holding a grudge just because she wouldn't take me in, right? She did look after me quite a bit along the way…"

Lin Mengzhu looked at the Semi-finished product that had been smelted—silver was already visible,

he sighed: "It really is rich, I believe you now."

"Only after it's smelted out do you say you believe it—what kind of belief is that?" Qu Le muttered under his breath.

Zhang Ziming was also looking at the stone smelted into a Semi-finished product, silver-grey, the layer of silver coating the surface still glinting in the firelight, like flecks of Seeing Xue Hua.

"If the lead and impurities within are all removed, it is indeed silver of extremely high purity." Zhang Ziming turned the fist-sized Semi-finished product over in his hand, and asked Zhang Weiyi: "It was Pan Yun who took the initiative to keep Xue Hua and Zhang Weiliang?"

Zhang Weiyi: "She specifically asked us about it—Zhang Weiliang was the one actively kept."

The corner of Zhang Ziming's mouth lifted slightly: "Looks like she's also inclined for our Long Hushan to do the mining. She still distinguishes between close and distant."

Li Wenying: "That's because Mount Sanqing has no one."

Zhang Ziming acted as if he hadn't heard.

Suddenly, Li Wenying raised her head and looked out the window.

Zhang Ziming also raised his head to look, his brow slightly furrowed.

Zhang Weiyi wore a face full of puzzlement and looked out as well. Outside the night had grown thick, pitch-black, nothing could be seen.

Li Wenying turned to go out, Zhang Ziming called out to her: "Forget it."

Li Wenying turned her head back: "You're quite at ease, aren't you."

Zhang Ziming's expression was calm: "She's even gone to the land of the dwarves and killed a person's worshiped Shikigami—what is there for me to still worry about?

My only requirement of her now is that she not go to Jingcheng and provoke those imperial court officials."

Matters in the localities, let her do as she pleases.

"As for what's out there, as long as she isn't caught in the act, my Academy will never acknowledge it."

Li Wenying: "And what if she is caught in the act?"

"If the sky falls, the taller ones hold it up. Our Long Hushan Academy isn't something just anyone can question. Besides, there's still a True Person above." Zhang Ziming now found Pan Yun more satisfactory the more he looked at her: "This child has just rendered great merit to the Academy. At her age, with her cultivation, look across the whole world and she's one of a kind. Shouldn't we protect a promising seedling?"

Li Wenying simply sat back down: "So you were certain all along that she wouldn't come to grief on this trip?"

Zhang Ziming: "Is there anyone around here who could make her come to grief?"

Li Wenying gazed out the window in silence, a vague unease in her heart—but it wasn't directed at Pan Yun's little secret outing this time, it was rather…

Is there really no one around here who could make her come to grief? (End of chapter)