Border Cook

Chapter 640 Hidden
"Commander Lu's illness came at the perfect time." One of the guys laughed, "This way, we can stay here legitimately without being noticed."

This way of speaking, could it be...

An acquaintance?
Xia Mingyue paused while feeding Lu Qiyan and raised her eyes to look at the two servants.

The two men were dressed in green cloth, the attire of typical waiters, and were not conspicuous. However, if one looked closely, one could see that they had a distinguished temperament and did not seem like ordinary waiters or servants.

Especially the one who was slightly shorter, with a straight body. Even though his face was slightly dark, it was hard to stop his aura of keeping strangers away. However, his facial features looked very familiar, especially the conspicuous black mole under the corner of his eye...

Xia Mingyue pursed her lips and asked tentatively, "Madam Cen?"

"Yes." Cen Ying bowed to Xia Mingyue, "Madam Xia, long time no see."

"It's been a long time indeed." Xia Mingyue was extremely happy. After greeting Cen Ying, her eyes fell on the young man next to Cen Ying.

Since she can see Cen Ying here, then the person next to her...

Xia Mingyue bowed to Xiao Luoan, "Third Prince."

"Madam Xia." Xiao Luoan returned the greeting respectfully, and then looked at Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji, "Commander Lu, Commander Xia."

"The Third Prince." Lu Qiyan and Xia Yunji greeted him together.

Especially Lu Qiyan, who stood up from the bed with a smile, poured tea for Xiao Luoan, raised his hand and said, "Third Prince, please sit down."

"Thank you, Commander Lu." Xiao Luoan sat down and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Lu Qiyan seemed to be in good spirits. "Looking at Commander Lu's appearance, I think his condition has improved a lot."

"Whether the condition improves or not depends on whether it is necessary." Lu Qiyan joked.

Xiao Luoan was slightly startled, but soon understood what Lu Qiyan meant. At first, he was a little surprised, but when he thought of Yin Lingyou, who lived near Xia Mingyue's house and had a miraculous healing skill, he figured it all out. "I never thought that Doctor Yin's medical skills could reach this level."

"It's really amazing." Lu Qiyan nodded, "But compared to this, I am more amazed by Ruan Zhiheng's ability to do things so flawlessly."

At this time, it has been nearly two months since the Third Prince arrived at Meiling.

During such a long period of time, despite the Third Prince's cleverness, he was unable to obtain any solid evidence to report, which was enough to show how powerful Ruan Zhiheng was.

"Indeed." Xiao Luoan nodded, but also sighed, "Ruan Zhiheng is always friendly to everyone, and he always responds to my requests, so people can't see anything wrong."

"Father had received a secret report that someone was secretly mining in Meiling, but Ruan Zhiheng took me to almost every part of Meiling, and indeed caught some profit-seeking merchants who found a lot of lime in Meiling and mined and sold it without notifying the government. All of these people have been detained and questioned, and no abnormalities were found in the rest."

"But I have carefully read all the remaining files in the government office of Ronghe Prefecture, and found that when my father just ascended the throne, iron ore was indeed discovered in Meiling. It was reported to the court for disposal, but when the court sent people to re-examine, they said that the exploration was wrong. The amount of iron ore in Meiling was very small, which was obviously inconsistent with the estimate. Smelting was not cost-effective, so the matter was not mentioned again."

"That is to say, since this incident, Ruan Zhiheng has been appointed as the prefect of Ronghe Prefecture. In the following years, Ruan Zhiheng, the son-in-law of the Wen family, has risen in status in the Wen family and has received a lot of respect. It can be said that there must be something fishy about Meiling, and the iron ore in Meiling was indeed mined by the Wen family without authorization." "It's just that mining iron ore is not a trivial matter. If there is, there must be traces. But I have visited many places in Meiling, and it can be said that I have not found anything at all. This is somewhat contrary to common sense, and I really can't figure out why."

"So I plan to ask Ruan Zhiheng to take me for another round tomorrow to see if there are any new discoveries."

Xiao Luoan's words made Lu Qiyan frown and start to ponder.

It was certain that the Wen family would mine iron ore here, but how could they do it without leaving any traces...

Lu Qiyan thought for a long time before asking, "Are there many hunters in Meiling?"

"As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain. The people living near Meiling Mountain, who don't have farmland, can only go into the mountains to hunt and pick mountain products to exchange for some silver to make a living. However, since a few years ago, wild beasts have been rampant in Meiling Mountain, and even big insects have appeared, which have killed many hunters and made many people dare not go into the mountains anymore."

Xiao Luoan said, "Many people only hunt wild rabbits and pheasants in the surrounding areas, and dare not go too deep into the mountains to pick mountain products. Occasionally, some brave people try to hunt some valuable prey, but basically they never come back."

"When I went to Meiling for inspection, I did see several decayed skeletons, and the bones were incomplete. There were also signs of wild beasts around, so I think it is true."

"That does sound like there's nothing wrong with it." Lu Qiyan nodded slightly. "Have you ever checked whether there have been a large number of missing people in recent years, or whether there have been any convicts transported here?"

Xiao Luoan, "Commander Lu means..."

"Since it is a mine, even if the appearance is concealed and difficult to be noticed, this manpower cannot appear out of thin air. Moreover, for a mine that the Wen family attaches so much importance to, there must be a large number of people, and there must be traces left behind."

Lu Qiyan's words immediately enlightened Xiao Luoan, "Yes, that's right. It's impossible for human hands to do things perfectly. As long as you check carefully, you will definitely find the problems."

"In addition, mining and iron smelting require a large amount of coal. The coal is transported into Meiling and the ironware is transported out. There must be no traces of carriages and horses. Starting from these two aspects, there will definitely be gains."

Inspired by Lu Qiyan, Xiao Luoan immediately understood the key, drew inferences from it, and found other breakthrough points.

"Not bad." Lu Qiyan nodded in agreement.

Many times, when people are stuck in a dead end and can’t get out, they tend to ignore the clues around them. But when they push open the paper window, they see a whole different world.

Vast and full of hope.

"I will send someone to investigate from here immediately." Xiao Luoan was a little excited.

“But in the end we still have to find the mine hidden in Meiling Mountain.” Lu Qiyan reminded.

Be it manpower, vehicles, or coal, even if it can be found out that they were all used in Meiling, they can only be used as auxiliary evidence.

After all, as long as the mine is not found and hard evidence is not presented in front of them, given the Wen family's usual style of doing things, they will completely deny it to the death.