Not long after the officers and soldiers entered the village, villagers from more than a dozen households came out. The prince's guards narrowed their eyes. Were these villagers too alert
They did have a lot of people, and the villagers shouldn't have reacted so quickly.
The village chief stepped forward in panic, "Why is the official going into the mountains so late at night?"
The deputy commander of the city looked at the villagers and asked, "Who are you?"
The village head said, "I am the village head of the mountain village. We are all hunters in this village and we have always been law-abiding."
After hearing this, the deputy commander of the city put away his doubts and asked, "Have you seen two teenagers?"
The head of the village heaved a sigh of relief, "The officer is here to arrest people. I have seen them. They are living in the Li family!"
The deputy general guarding the city let out a sigh, without explaining, "Take us to the Li family."
The village head pointed to a house at the edge of the village and said, "We need to go back."
The deputy general guarding the city hummed, and when they arrived at the farmyard, the deputy general walked to the closed door and said, "Inside are Master Shangguan and Master Zhou."
Mingrui waited for the people outside to leave and kept listening to the noise outside. He was silent for a while when he heard the question, "Who are you?"
The deputy general defending the city said, "I am the deputy general defending the city of Huizhou City, and I have been ordered to find Master Shangguan and Master Zhou."
Mingrui felt relieved this time. His legs felt weak after he had exhausted his strength. He took a while to open the door. He saw soldiers holding torches outside and his servant rushing over. He smiled and said, "I am Zhou Mingrui."
Shangguan Liu also came out at this time. It was great that he was saved.
The head of the village rolled his eyes and realized that they were not here to arrest anyone, but to look for someone. His heart ached. They almost started a fight.
Mingrui's servant ran over and said, "Thank God you are okay, sir."
Mingrui patted the servant's shoulder and said, "Okay, I'm fine."
The servant felt sad when he looked at the young master's face. He failed to protect the young master.
It was too late to travel. There were nearly a hundred soldiers, all of them very skilled. The head of the village had no choice but to go and prepare meals.
After Mingrui and the others had all left the village, he whispered about the abnormalities in the village. The deputy general and the prince's guards looked at each other. The prince's guards took advantage of the clouds blocking the moon and went to the village to investigate in the dark.
Mingrui was so sleepy that he could finally sleep peacefully.
The next day, Zhou Shuren attended the morning court. The emperor's face looked very ugly. The palace had undergone several major purges and the secrets in the palace were very tight. It was difficult to pass news outside. It was not known whether something had happened in the palace.
The ministers in the court were very quiet. The emperor's momentum was becoming more and more formidable, and no one dared to offend him.
Zhou Shuren suddenly missed the prince. The prince was in the capital, and the emperor rarely had a cold face. Recently, the emperor was like a walking ice cellar.
The emperor said in a deep voice: "There is a movement on the northeastern border. What do you ministers think?"
Zhou Shuren pricked up his ears. The grassland tribes were an indestructible cockroach. The northeastern border had also been a problem for successive dynasties. With the development of foreign countries, the Saudi Kingdom had also become stronger. If there was any movement on the northeastern border, it was most likely related to the grassland tribes.
Li Zhao stepped forward, "We must guard the northeastern border."
Zhou Shuren continued, "I think we should send someone to investigate the situation. The tribes on the northeastern border have been recuperating for many years. As Lord Li said, we must be on guard."
The emperor also had the same idea, but his expression did not change much and he looked at the other adults.
Old Master Wen remained silent. Recently, whenever he opened his mouth, he was scolded by the emperor, so he didn't want to speak.
The others also took into account the emperor's cold face and seconded the proposal. No one was stupid. The emperor had been on the throne for so many years. Couldn't they see that the emperor had ambitions
After the court session, the emperor left first. Li Zhao leaned close to Zhou Shuren and whispered, "I kind of miss the prince."
Zhou Shuren, "Yes."
He hoped that the prince could return safely soon, as he could no longer bear the emperor's cold face.
Li Zhao stroked his beard and said, "The war is about to begin."
"Um."
The two looked at each other and neither wanted to continue the conversation as the topic was too heavy.
Zhou Shuren stood with his hands behind his back, thinking in his mind, if we had to fight on two fronts, the court would be under great pressure. Money, money, the money in the national treasury would be taken out like water, alas!
In Huizhou mountain village, Mingrui slept very soundly all night. He was really too tired. He had been running for his life with his nerves tense and had not slept all night on guard. He did not relax when he arrived at the mountain village. When he woke up, it was already past noon.
Mingrui pushed the door open and saw Shangguan Liu fiddling with gold
"Where did you get the gold?"
It looks quite big, but when I look closer, I see that it is an unmelted gold nugget.
Shangguan Liu was surprised, "You finally woke up."
Mingrui pointed to the table, "What's going on?"
Shangguan Liu said excitedly: "This is the secret of the village. Deputy General Wang led his troops to capture everyone in the village. Guess what happened?"
Mingrui pointed to the gold on the table and asked, "Is there a gold mine here?"
Shangguan Liu nodded, "Yes, there is a gold mine here. The prince's guards discovered something unusual, so Vice General Wang surrounded the village last night and captured everyone before the villagers could react."
During the arrest, many villagers died and two soldiers also died. Fortunately, the people he brought were experts, otherwise there would be more casualties. Now you can still see bloodstains when you go out. He has seen too many dead people recently.
Mingrui looked around and asked, "Why can't I see Vice General Wang?"
Shangguan Liu pointed to the mountain and said, "Vice General Wang is leading people to look for the cave where the gold is hidden. We also need to confirm the location of the gold mine. We, yes, we have made another contribution. Of course, your contribution is even greater this time."
Mingrui's hand touched gold. If the gold mine was big, his contribution would be too great. Even if he was calm, he needed to digest it carefully.
Shangguan Liu also grinned, "Is this called high risk and high reward?"
The two of them were really lucky. They survived despite so many assassins chasing them. The process of escaping to the mountain village was thrilling, but they were safe and sound. This is what they say: "Those who survive a great disaster will be blessed in the future!"
Mingrui no longer had any fear in his heart, only the credit remained.
In the capital, the old ladies of the Zhou and Liu families passed away. There was no one of the same generation as Zhulan, so Guo invited her mother to the Zhou Mansion.
Zhulan laughed. The Liu family was really anxious and came to the door so soon.
Fang, Guo's mother, said, "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. When my mother-in-law arranged for Mei'er to marry into the Liu family, I was unwilling to do so. But my words were useless at the time, and the marriage was still arranged."
She and her husband did not have a deep relationship. After many years of marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, but she had not been pregnant again for many years. Her mother-in-law was quite dissatisfied with her. Her husband had many concubines and many illegitimate sons and daughters.
She and her husband don't have sex very often, so how could she get pregnant
Later, her daughter was ridiculed by other families, and she could only give her daughter money. In the end, she tried to please her husband for the sake of her daughter, and only then was a legitimate son born.
As soon as Zhulan saw Fang, she knew that she had a story. Guo had a good temper, which had a lot to do with Fang.
Zhu Lan said, "Second Master Liu has good character."
Apart from being a bit stingy, Mr. Liu is an excellent person.
Fang smiled and said, "This child is like his father. His father was also stingy. Mei'er was often laughed at by her sisters. Now look who doesn't envy Mei'er."
Her daughter had just gotten married, and her mother-in-law treated her very well. After Mei'er's eldest son was born, her mother-in-law never interfered in the affairs of her daughter and her husband. Her daughter was the only son-in-law, and this had become a good story in the capital over the years.
Zhulan thought that stingy people only spend money on the people they like, and would not talk to others. "I know what you mean."