Chapter 11 The Iron Mine Exposed
With Shen Xingzhi as our guard, Elder Sister and I no longer worried about safety. The days truly felt like a carefree sightseeing trip.
We lingered in cities for several days at a time, eating good food and listening to little tunes.
The constant anxiety from before had vanished. Life felt comfortable and pleasant.
The Yun family, however, fared far worse.
Shen Xingzhi kept a carrier pigeon that brought constant news from the capital.
After the Plum Blossom Festival ended, Second Sister returned to the mansion in a rage, looking for Elder Sister to settle scores.
Yet the courtyard had caught fire, leaving only two bodies burned to charcoal.
She ran to vent her anger on Lotus Lady, only to find the woman had already vanished.
Second Sister could only swallow her fury.
The Crown Prince had been deposed because of the Yun family. For a time the entire mansion lived in fear and tension.
Fortunately the Iron Mine continued to supply steady silver.
To show remorse, the Yun family spent heavily to smooth the Second Prince's path.
When Second Sister entered the prince's mansion she brought a generous dowry.
After these moves the Yun family avoided the Second Prince's disgust and bound themselves even tighter to him.
Moreover, because Second Sister had taken medicine for so long, her face bloomed like peach blossoms and her figure grew graceful. She gained the Second Prince's exclusive favor.
The Yun family became even more prosperous than before.
If matters continued this way, the Yun family and the Second Prince could have supported each other to achieve great things.
Unfortunately one trouble had barely settled before another arose.
The palace received a secret report that a group of strange people lurked in the East Mountain outside the city. They posed as villagers by day, yet shouting sounds rang out at night.
They were all strong men suspected of being rebels.
The Emperor summoned the princes to discuss the matter. The Second Prince strongly recommended Yun Hao to lead troops and suppress the rebellion, guaranteeing victory.
Since the Emperor had once placed high hopes on him, the Emperor agreed.
Yun Hao believed it was a guaranteed victory. Without even clarifying the situation he led troops overnight to East Mountain.
When he reached the destination he was stunned.
There were no rebels at all. Those strong men were miners working Legal Mother's private Iron Mine.
Yun Hao knew he could not let the Emperor learn the truth. He planned to bury all the miners alive as rebels and thereby establish his name as Young General.
Yun Hao wanted to deceive heaven and earth, but his men refused to obey.
As soon as they learned the truth the deputy general sent word back to the capital.
Just as Yun Hao gathered all the miners to bury them alive, the imperial decree arrived.
The Yun family had concealed the Iron Mine and mined it privately for profit. That was the first crime.
Yun Hao had tried to cover it up, deceived the Emperor, and treated human lives as worthless. That was the second crime.
These two crimes could not be tolerated. The entire family was sentenced to execution as a warning to all.
The Second Prince was blamed for his oversight and confined to his mansion by the Emperor, losing all chance to fight for the throne.
After reading the letter from the capital, Shen Xingzhi could not help sighing. "Fortunately both young misses had already escaped, or you would have been dragged down with them."
Elder Sister wiped her eyes and sighed softly. "Yes. Fate truly plays with people. It is good I did not remain in the capital. Taking in the daughter of a condemned minister might have implicated Fourth Young Master."
Shen Xingzhi's eyes eased slightly.
I kept one sharp thought.
Every step of this had been calculated by Elder Sister.
This secret I would carry to my grave.