Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 335 Chen Ying's new discovery, Xia Yuning, good news

On a snowy night, on a mountain wall two kilometers north of Xiacheng.

A team of about twenty people were walking up the slope with their heads down, braving the severe cold.

"Captain, if we're not going hunting or exploring, what are we doing here?"

Chen Shang in the team, holding a sword in his hand and carrying a strong bow on his back, looked at his father Chen Ying, the leader, and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Although Chen Ying is a father, he is also the captain of the Iron Eagle Team. When going out with the hunting team, he still has to call him captain. This is the rule.

"Stop for a while, we are almost at the top of the slope, take a rest!"

Chen Ying in front turned around and looked around at the team members. He found that their faces were as confused as Chen Shang's. He first stopped the team, then was silent for a moment before slowly speaking:
"You all should know about the rat tide on New Year's Eve, right?"

Chen Shang and the two brothers He Yuanfeng and He Yuanluan beside him, their expressions suddenly became heavy when they heard Chen Ying's words. They were all old people in Chen Ye's camp and they were eyewitnesses of the rat-eating tide that year, so they naturally remembered it.

"I've read the Great Xia calendar. It says that before the first year of the Great Xia era, a group of hundreds of rats appeared on the northern slope of the mountain. At that time, our camp was very weak and it was difficult to deal with it. It was the lord who discovered that the Teng Jiao poison sac could restrain the rats. He then led the people to build a batch of five-stone bows, and finally led all the digging and logging realms in the camp to drive away the rats with one heart."

"I have also read the records in the calendar. It is said that during that time, Da Xia discovered the people from Jingxian Camp. At that time, they also merged with a small camp with only a few hundred people. It seems that the camp was called Chen Ye..."

The Great Xia calendar in charge of Yue Feng basically records every major event that has happened in the camp from the Tupo period to the present. The rat infestation on the northern slope of the mountain wall could have threatened the survival of Great Xia at the time, so it was naturally recorded clearly as well.

In order to let the people of Daxia remember the difficult times in the past, and also to make the image of Lord Xia Hong more popular, Xia Chuan requires everyone in Daxia to read the book of the chronicle carefully.

Therefore, the rat-eating incident that year was known not only to Chen Shang and the two He brothers who witnessed it, but also to almost all members of the Iron Eagle Squad.

However, when a team member mentioned the Chen Ye camp recorded in the calendar, he suddenly paused and looked up at the captain Chen Ying.

The others reacted similarly. When they heard the name Chen Ye, they all looked up at Chen Ying and reacted instantly.

The Iron Eagle Squad is now an intermediate team. They have been with Chen Ying day and night for almost two years, so they naturally know something about Chen Ying's past.

Chen Ying was the first leader of Chen Ye's camp, which meant that he himself was an eyewitness to the rat-eating tide. It was after that incident that he led hundreds of people from Chen Ye's camp and successfully merged into Da Xia.

"Captain, what you mean is that the reason there was a surge of rats here was because there was a silver mine. But in the past six months, at least six high-level hunting teams from Yunjiao, Longwu, and others have come here to investigate, but they all found nothing. There's no point for us to come here, right?"

Chen Shang had already seen through his father's intention to bring up this old matter again.

It was no secret that Chen Ying had always been thinking about the north slope of the mountain for the past two years. Especially after the Cold Yuan Festival at the beginning of this year, Qiu Peng announced that anyone who directly discovered the silver mine would be awarded 300 military merits by the quartermaster department, and anyone who provided clues to the silver mine would also be awarded 30 military merits. Since then, father Chen Ying was like a possessed person, and whenever he had time, he would run to the north slope of the mountain to search.

Chen Shang sighed slightly. In fact, he could understand why his father was like that.

After all, it’s all for the sake of being conferred a title!

Last year in Longyou, my father's personal contributions were actually quite significant. In addition to accumulating 120 military merits in the Beehive Defense Battle, he, together with Bai Wuting, Lin Fan, and Lu He, used small torches to successfully lead out the beast tide at the exit of the tunnel connecting the Beehive and Wu Shuang, and successfully destroyed more than Longyou troops led by his wife Li Xuanling, who was the leader of Longshan at that time.

If the credit for the annihilation of more than 2300 Longyou soldiers was attributed entirely to Chen Ying and his four companions, it would be enough for all four of them to be conferred titles at the same time.

However, this great achievement obviously cannot be attributed to just these four people. Although the direct role they played was crucial, if Xia Chuan had not led his men to defend the Beehive, if Xia Hong had not led the army to break through Longshan and cut off one of Li Tiancheng's arms, and if Yuwen Tao had not brought the news in time to disrupt the morale of the Longyou army, the ambush by the four people would have been impossible.

In the end, the credit was divided equally among all the participants in the battle, and Chen Ying and the other four who played a direct role took the lion's share, with 200 points each.

Therefore, my father’s accumulated military merit value is 320 points, only 180 points away from being awarded a title.

180 points may not seem like a lot, but currently there are too few channels for Daxia to gain military merit.

Since Longyou was incorporated into the territory last year, there has been basically no fighting in the camp. Even if other camps are encountered, they are basically small or medium-sized. Even large ones are rare, let alone giant ones.

Furthermore, with the current size of Daxia, even if they encountered a large camp, it was estimated that a high-level hunting team would be able to deal with it. Unless they encountered a village or even town-level camp, there would be no chance of gaining military merit.

Since it is so difficult to obtain military merit, there are naturally very few people who can be granted a title. There are actually quite a few people like Chen Ying who have accumulated hundreds of military merits in the Battle of Longyou. As far as Chen Shang knows, Lin Fan has 450 points of military merit and Bai Wuting has 420 points, both of which are higher than his father and are very close to being granted a title.

However, today is already July 25th, and in the past six months, there have been only three new ninth-rank nobles in the entire camp, which shows how difficult it is to be granted a title.

The three newly-crowned nobles, if Chen Shang remembered correctly, were Li Tiancheng, Hou Jing, and Zhou Yuan. The first two were basically the most powerful people in Daxia at present, except for the lord and the lord's wife. The last one, Zhou Yuan, was definitely one of the best in terms of strength as well.

From this we can see how difficult it is to be conferred a title.

Li Tiancheng had previously provided the locations of two silver mines in Longshan, and originally only received 200 military merit points. However, he later discovered another silver mine in Longshan, so he was awarded 300 military merit points and was awarded the ninth-class nobility.

Hou Jing found two winter apple trees, which earned him 200 points, and then discovered a silver mine in Beimang Mountain, which earned him another 300 points, and he was successfully conferred a title.

Zhou Yuan was just pure luck. The Longyuan hunting team he led had been stationed in Longshan. At the beginning of last month, he discovered a giant camp called Beiyuan with a population of more than 80,000 in the extreme north of Longshan.

As luck would have it, Zhou Kai, the leader of the Beiyuan camp, had a bad temper and actually tried to negotiate with Daxia to divide the hunting area of ​​Longshan.

The result was that the Dragon Slayer Army, which had just been established for a month, was dispatched, and the Beiyuan Camp was directly swallowed up by Daxia without even making a wave.

Zhou Yuan, who discovered the Beiyuan camp, was already credited with the first merit. He also participated in all subsequent battles, and his military merit easily exceeded 500. Finally, at the beginning of this month, he was successfully awarded the ninth-rank Viscount Xuanling.

Last month, Zhou Yuan's ennoblement ceremony was presided over by Si Cheng Xia Chuan himself. Chen Shang was also present at the time, so he knew very well that there were actually many people like his father who were obsessed with ennoblement.

The improvement in status within the camp after being conferred a title was almost visible to the naked eye, especially at the Cold Yuan Festival at the beginning of this year, when the lord only invited those who were conferred a title to enter the council hall, which made the temptation of being conferred a title reach its peak.

Of course, it is not just an improvement in status. The qualification to have maids and attendants, the right to exempt family members from corvée labor, the annual salary... and other generous benefits make people flock to the title.

There is no war in Daxia now. If one wants to gain military merit quickly, the only way is to find silver mines and winter apple trees. It is not difficult to understand why Chen Ying has been running to the north slope of the mountain so frequently during this period.

The problem is what happened on the north slope of the mountain wall. Chen Ying is not the only one who knows about it. Not to mention the early eyewitnesses such as Xia Chuan and Yuan Chuan, anyone in Xiacheng who has read the calendar basically knows about it. They have already read it thoroughly.

It would be fine if the other teams were not capable enough, but in the first half of the year, six high-level hunting teams came here, and all of them ended up with nothing.

How could there be any gain if my father brought them here tonight?
There are thousands of thoughts in my mind, but in reality it only takes a moment.

After Chen Shang raised the question, everyone obviously reacted and nodded, then looked at Chen Ying with confusion on their faces.

Facing the doubts of his son and the other team members, Chen Ying seemed very calm. He nodded slightly and said to everyone, "I also know that the six senior teams including Yunjiao came here to explore but found nothing. But I think they all overlooked one place. A month ago, I came here alone to explore and finally made some new discoveries. That's why I brought you here tonight."

Chen Shang and the others were stunned when they heard this, and immediately looked up at Chen Ying.

"What was overlooked?"

Chen Ying showed a mysterious look on his face, stomped his foot on the ground, and said:
"They definitely didn't search our previous station area thoroughly!"

The previous base, that is, the base of Chenye Camp?

When Chen Shang and the He brothers heard this, their expressions froze for a moment, and then after they realized what was going on, their expressions suddenly became moved.

"That's right! Back then, the group of rats only gathered on the top of the north slope during the day, and would squat on the top of the mountain where we were stationed at night. The others who came here must have searched on the top of the north slope, and would not have noticed the cave where we were stationed before!"

As soon as Chen Shang finished speaking, He Yuanfeng nodded and continued, "I remember that there was a very deep secret passage behind the cave in the base. We were too weak back then, so we sealed it with wood. Let's explore from that position. Who knows, we might find something new!"

He Yuanluan also spoke excitedly: "The rat tide back then had already caused the mountain to collapse, and the entrance to the cave where we were stationed was also blocked by rocks. Others would never have thought of this."

"Now you know why I brought you here, right?"

Seeing that everyone was recalling the situation in the cave, Chen Ying became more excited and continued, "In the past period of time, I have already explored the end of the secret passage. The secret passage extends three or four kilometers to the east and has penetrated deep into the mountain of Shuanglong Mountain. If we want to continue to explore forward, we can only dig it manually, and..."

At this point, Chen Ying paused, and continued with excitement: "When I was exploring the secret passage, I not only ran into four low-level rats, but also found a lot of traces of rat activity. More importantly, I found two red silver flowers at the end of the secret passage last night!"

Teng…………

Hearing the three words "Zhu Yinhua", Chen Shang and the other twenty or so team members all stood up with a bang, their expressions instantly becoming extremely excited.

"I see. I was wondering why the captain asked us to bring chisels and shovels tonight. If there are red silver flowers, then there is a high probability that there is a silver mine!"

"Great! This is a silver mine! Even if we report it now, we can get 30 points of military merit!"

"I'm stupid. How can we report it now? Of course we have to continue to explore. If we can confirm that it is a silver mine, we will get 300 military merit points."

"Captain, you're only 180 points away from being knighted. It would be great if this really is a silver mine."

"Not only will the captain be knighted, but we can also gain a lot of contribution points!"

"Then let's go, what are you still standing there for, hurry up!"

………………

After Chen Ying revealed the truth, the doubts on everyone's faces disappeared immediately. They all became very motivated and their eyes were full of gratitude when they looked at Chen Ying.

Although excavating the mountain is tiring, Chen Ying has reached the level of cold-resistance. As long as he is willing to spend more time, even if he only brings his son with him, he will be able to dig through the mountain sooner or later. Once a silver mine is discovered, he can take all the credit.

However, Chen Ying not only revealed the news, but also brought them over to work together, making it clear that he wanted to share some of the credit with them. Naturally, everyone was grateful to him.

"Okay, then I won't waste any more time talking nonsense. I'll lead you through the mountain. From now on, we'll concentrate on digging the mountain and continue exploring. As long as we don't run into high-level rats, there won't be any danger. If we can really find a new silver mine, I won't take all the credit. I'll only take 180 points of military merit, and the rest will be shared among you."

Military merits are also divided!

When everyone heard Chen Ying's promise, their eyes suddenly lit up.

Military merit and contribution points are two rewards, and they will be given when a silver mine is discovered. They had previously thought of dividing the contribution points, but they didn't expect that Chen Ying would even be willing to divide the military merits. Everyone was immediately even more excited.

Chen Ying wants to be granted a title, so naturally they want it too!

Even Chen Shang couldn't help but get excited at this moment.

Just as He Yunluan said, the rat tide caused the mountain to collapse, and the entrance to the cave where the base was located had long been blocked by rocks. Chen Ying had already opened a passage down from the top of the mountain some time ago. At this moment, he led everyone through the passage with ease, digging and exploring into the mountain.

………………

The fifth day of the eighth month in the third year of Daxia

As soon as August arrives, you can clearly feel that the atmosphere in Xiacheng is somewhat different.

Especially the inner city.

Today, the main building of the inner city has long been turned into an area where the seven ministries of Daxia handle official business. Except for the civil servants of the seven ministries, the senior hunting team under the hunting department, and the soldiers who take turns to garrison every day, no one else can enter at will.

Recently, whenever someone comes back from outside, before entering the main building, they will definitely look in the direction of the Star-Picking Palace, and then ask people in the main building for news.

The reason for this is that the lord’s wife, Li Xuanling, is about to give birth!
Those who can enter the main building now have a high status in Daxia, and most of them participated in the beast tide battle in Yanglu Realm last year.

Everyone was not stupid. Li Tiancheng had already said at that time that the fetus in Li Xuanling's belly was already two months old. So according to the calculations on fingers, the delivery time should be August this year.

Someone had already leaked the news, and now almost everyone in Xia City knows that Lord Xia Hong's child will be born this month.

If the birth of Xia Chuan's eldest son Xia Yuzong last year only impressed the high-level cold-resistant level officials, then the two children in Li Xuanling's belly at this moment were really receiving close attention from more than 500,000 people in Xia City.

"I guess the eighth day is a good day, and my wife will give birth on the eighth day."

"Good things take time. In my opinion, it will take until the end of the month."

"I heard it's twins. Madam is not only stunningly beautiful, but her belly is also much more fertile than that of an ordinary person. The lord must be very happy to have given birth to two sons at once."

"Don't yell at me like that. Si Cheng said last month that the son of the lord is a golden branch and jade leaf, and he carries the future of our Great Xia camp. His seat in the Council Hall is only below the lord. All of us have to address him as His Highness."

"Yes, yes, I was confused. It's the two princes."

………………

In the Zhaixing Palace, the maid adjutant Han Shuang walked into Li Xuanling's room carrying a basin of hot water. Seeing that Li Xuanling had woken up and was half lying on the bed, she hurried over and covered her with a blanket.

"Madam is about to give birth, be careful not to catch a cold!"

Seeing that Han Shuang's tone contained a hint of anger, Li Xuanling shook his head slightly.

She was already in the late stage of cold resistance and not far from breaking through to the peak. Even if she was pregnant, she couldn't be so weak. Moreover, the Hanxu Ding had been placed in her room all the time, so how could the wind make her catch a cold?

But after spending more than half a year with Han Shuang day and night, Li Xuanling has already figured out her temper. If he refutes her at this time, she will immediately become nervous and fearful, thinking that she has done something wrong.

So Li Xuanling did not continue the topic, but remembered something and asked, "The Lord hasn't come out yet?"

Han Shuang used a hot handkerchief to clean Li Xuanling's hands and replied softly:
"I heard from my sister that after returning from Beiyuan last month, the lord has been staying at the Star Picking Platform and has not come out. My sister sends him food every three days, and has done so twelve times so far."

When Li Xuanling heard this, he frowned slightly, obviously unhappy.

Seeing her expression, Han Shuang immediately understood, and remembered something. He hurried to the window, took a piece of blood-red jade from the windowsill, and said softly: "The lord is thinking about the lady, and when he came back from Beiyuan last month, he specially brought this blood-red jade for the lady.

This blood agate jade is a treasure unique to Beiyuan. It is nourished by a large amount of animal blood. Cold-resistant level warriors can use it to restore their blood and qi. Even ordinary people can use it to expand the tolerance of their skin membranes in advance. I heard that one ounce of it costs 500 contribution points in the camp supply department. Madam, this piece weighs more than four kilograms. It can be regarded as an extraordinary treasure, which shows how much the lord values ​​Madam. "

Hearing Han Shuang speaking so impatiently for Xia Hong, Li Xuanling looked up at her, his expression suddenly became a little strange, and he suddenly forgot about the unhappy things.

She discovered that not only Han Shuang, but also Nong Ying, Qiu Ru, Ming Yue, Hua Ling and Han Yue's large group of maids who were responsible for serving her, had an almost fanatical obsession with Lord Xia Hong. Not only did they protect his image in public, but they also would not allow anyone to slander him in private.

As long as he showed the slightest dissatisfaction with Xia Hong, people like Han Shuang would immediately speak up for Xia Hong. On the one hand, it was to protect his image, and on the other hand, they were obviously afraid that the two of them would have a rift in their relationship.

"Han Shuang, I remember that you and your sister Han Yue were both incorporated into Da Xia from Han Qiong. It shouldn't have been long, right?"

Han Shuang nodded first, then remembered something and said with a look of reverence on her face: "If the Lord had not rescued Han Qiong when she was in trouble, my sister and I would have died long ago, and we would not be able to live the life we ​​have now."

Li Xuanling's face froze, and then he recalled what happened in Hanqiong Hulu Valley. He immediately understood why the two sisters were so loyal to Xia Hong.

She suddenly felt a little bit of evil interest and asked Han Shuang in a low voice:

"Your basic strength is over 20,000 pounds. You should be able to go out and live a normal life. Are you willing to stay in the Star Picking Palace and serve me?"

As expected, when Han Shuang heard her question, his face turned pale, his eyes immediately turned red, and then he knelt down in front of her with a plop.

"Madam, did Han Shuang do something wrong? Please, madam, don't chase me away. I am willing to stay by your side forever. Han Shuang is absolutely willing to do this. Please, madam..."

"No, no, no, why are you so nervous? I'm just teasing you!"

Li Xuanling naturally did not let her kneel down. He reached out to support her and tried to comfort her softly. Seeing her nervous and fearful expression, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

In fact, it is understandable. Not to mention the Hanqiong Camp, even compared with the days he spent in Longshan, life in Daxia is definitely superior.

What's more, Han Shuang can live in the Zhaixing Palace. Not to mention anything else, living with Xia Hong, what Han Shuang wears, eats, and uses are basically unimaginable for most people in Daxia.

Moreover, her identity was also very special. Because she had served Xia Hong for a long time, she could even say a few words to Xia Chuan when she saw him. This privilege alone was probably an honor that many people in Da Xia could hardly imagine. Even the cold-resistant level in the camp would take the initiative to say hello to Han Shuang when they saw him, not to mention the ordinary people below.

Living an ordinary life is probably almost like a punishment for maids like Hanyue and Hanshuang.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Is there anything exciting happening in the city recently?"

Seeing that Han Shuang was still in a state of fear and trepidation, Li Xuanling was worried that she would overthink it, so he had to change the subject and asked about the excitement in Xiacheng.

Han Shuang stood up and wiped her tears, saying with a slightly sobbing voice, "The most exciting thing recently is, of course, the two princes in Madam's belly. I heard that everyone in Xiacheng is guessing when the two princes will be born. People who come to the main building ask about it every day. When Nong Ying and I go to the quartermaster department to get things every day, we are also asked several times."

Li Xuanling couldn't help but smile when she heard her crying, and then continued to ask: "Besides this matter?"

She was naturally aware that the baby in her belly was attracting a lot of attention. Her second uncle Li Tiancheng would ask her about it almost every few days, which made her very annoyed.

Han Shuang lowered her head and thought for a while, then her eyes lit up and she said, "Oh, there's one more thing I forgot to tell Madam. The second Madam of Si Cheng's family, Xiao Yu, seems to be giving birth this month. I heard from my sister last time that the Lord notified the people in the Quartermaster Department a few days ago to prepare a gift, which should be for the young master."

Xiao Yu is about to give birth!

Li Xuanling immediately recalled the slightly younger second wife Xiao Yu who was next to Xiao Ning when they arrived in Xiacheng at the beginning of last year.

“Also this month…”

Li Xuanling pondered for a moment, then saw the blood agate jade on the table. She gently broke off a small piece with her hands and handed it to Han Shuang, saying, "Send this piece of blood agate jade to the craftsmen department later and ask them to carve it into two jade rings for me. When Madam Xiao gives birth, I will send them over together. It will be a gift from my aunt to the two young masters."

"Frost obeys the order!"

Han Shuang took the blood agate jade and said with a smile: "My sister and I were guessing today that the two princes were not sure whether they would be brothers or brothers. Madam, do you want to have the baby later or earlier?"

Li Xuanling smiled upon hearing this, gently stroking her belly, her face full of maternal tenderness, and said, "Of course it's better to be a younger brother. I hope Yu'er can give birth before me, so that the two children can have another brother or sister."

Compared to other people's cautiousness, Li Xuanling is much more casual. She thinks it doesn't matter whether she has a boy or a girl, so she just says brother or sister.

Han Shuang naturally would not point out anything, and said with a smile: "Then Han Shuang also hopes that the two princes can come out a few days later, and Madam will definitely get what she wants."

Li Xuanling was about to speak when Xia Hong's voice suddenly came from outside.

"It's really a wish come true. Xia Chuan's daughter has been born. I'll go over and take a look first, and come back to see you later!"

Han Shuang suddenly turned around nervously, preparing to salute at the door, but when she turned around, she found that there was no one outside. Then she realized that Xia Hong had only come to deliver a message and he did not come.

"Mrs. Xiao has given birth to a daughter!"

Li Xuanling nodded. Her attention was focused on Xia Hong's last words. Her expression was obviously much more relaxed. Then she thought of something and hurriedly instructed Han Shuang, "Since it's a lady, let the craftsmen help me carve it into a jade ring and a jade bracelet."

Since it is confirmed that Xiao Yu is pregnant with a daughter, it would be more appropriate to change the gift to a bracelet. The title of "Young Master" does not refer specifically to a male, but more to an heir of noble status. Li Xuanling originally had the title of "Young Master" in Longshan.

"Got it, ma'am!"

"Daughter, I remember Xia Hong gave this little niece a name, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. I remember the name the lord gave it. It's Xia Yuning!"

"Yu Zong, Yu Ning, both sound nice. I wonder what name he will give to the baby in my belly?"

"The Lord is knowledgeable and knows everything. I remember that the children of Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Lin Kai and other adults were all named by the Lord, and they are all very nice! The Lord is so concerned about the names of other people's children, not to mention the two princes. The Lord will definitely give them a particularly nice name, Madam, don't worry!"

Hearing this, Li Xuanling nodded with a smile on his face.

………………

Unlike the last time Xia Yuzong was born, since Xiao Yu gave birth at night this time, the number of people surrounding Xia Chuan's residence at this moment was more than ten times that of last time, and it was almost completely filled with people.

Xia Hong would naturally not choose to walk in through the main entrance, otherwise it would take a long time just to greet the huge crowd.

He appeared quietly on the second floor of Xia Chuan's residence. When he saw Xiao Kangcheng and others gathered at the door of the room, he coughed twice.

Xiao Heng, who was at the outermost edge of the crowd, was the first to turn around and notice Xia Hong. His face immediately turned red with excitement. He originally wanted to salute Xia Hong, but when Xia Hong raised his hand to stop him, he immediately held back and turned around and shouted:
"The lord is here, the lord is here, Dad, brother-in-law, the lord is here!"

"Meet the lord!"

"Greetings, Lord..."

"Meet the lord!"

…………

"Okay, no need to be so polite, everyone stand up, I just came to see my little niece."

Xia Hong walked through the crowd and came to the door of Xiao Yu's room. Xia Chuan had already walked out holding his daughter, and Xiao Ning followed behind him, holding Xia Yuzong, an eight-month-old baby who could only babble.

“Dabai…Dabai…”

A strange scene happened. Xia Yuzong, who couldn't speak at first, stretched out his little hand towards Xia Hong after seeing him. He grabbed him vigorously while shouting "Dabai Dabai"...

"It's not Dabai, it's Dabo. Yu Zong is afraid that his younger sister will be born and he will lose favor in Dabo's heart, so he is so anxious that he calls for help."

Everyone was already amused by this scene, and when they heard Xia Chuan's mother-in-law Lin Lan's joke, they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, this kid is only eight months old, and he's already so cunning."

"You all know how to compete with your sister for affection, hahaha."

"This guy will definitely be a clever little guy in the future!"

"Hahahaha!"

………………

Xia Hong couldn't help but reach out and pinch Xia Yuzong's chubby face, and then slowly picked up his little niece Xia Yuning from Xia Chuan's hands.

Sure enough, the newly born little Yuning also had a holy pattern between his eyebrows.

Xia Hong stretched out his fingers and fiddled with her little palm, just like Xia Yuzong did at the beginning, and Xiao Yuning soon held his fingers impatiently.

"This strength is not much weaker than her brother's!"

Xia Chuan had a smile on his face, and it was obvious that he had known about it in advance.

"This is the first daughter of my Xia clan. Just like Emperor Yuzong did in the past, let's pardon 500 captives with outstanding performance to celebrate!"

When everyone heard Xia Hong say this, they were all shocked.

Considering the current basic situation of Da Xia, where men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs, favoring sons over daughters is an inevitable result. So after Xiao Yu gave birth to a daughter, although people did not say anything, they felt in their hearts that the lord would definitely not attach as much importance to it as he did when Xia Yuzong was born at the beginning of the year.

However, Xia Hong's decision to pardon another 500 prisoners immediately broke their inherent cognition.

"Don't be so surprised. Don't think women are useless. Li Xuanling is also a woman. Are any of you stronger than her?"

When Xia Hong asked this question, all the men present blushed, while the women immediately tilted their necks and nodded in agreement.

"It doesn't matter if you are male or female. Bingyuan's foundation of respecting strength will never change. Daxia does not have a rigid rule that men should be the breadwinners and women should be the homemakers. All lifestyles are your own choices. Even if there are female knights in the future, you don't need to be surprised."

Everyone present was shocked when they heard Xia Hong's words.

Female knight!
What the lord means is that women can also be granted titles?

Xiao Ning, and Xiao Yu, who was lying on the bed in the room at the moment, looked at their eldest brother Xia Hong with eyes full of respect;

Some of the young women in the Xiao family looked at Xia Hong with undisguised admiration and adoration in their eyes.

"Qiu Peng congratulates Si Cheng on having a daughter!"

When everyone was excited, Qiu Peng rushed in from the door with a look of surprise on his face. He first congratulated Xia Chuan, then rushed directly to Xia Hong and whispered:

"Lord, there is great news. The Iron Eagle Squad has found a small silver mine on the northern slope of the mountain wall. We have confirmed that there is only one group of gnats living in it. There are only over 2,000 of them, including a dozen high-level gnats, more than a hundred mid-level gnats, and the rest are low-level gnats."

After hearing Qiu Peng's words, before Xia Hong could say anything, Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng and others who had already searched the north slope of the mountain wall reacted strongly and exclaimed in surprise.

"What? We found a silver mine on the north slope of the mountain. How is that possible?"

"I led a team to search there for half a month but found nothing!"

"Yuwen Tao also searched there for more than a month and found nothing."

"The Tiger and Leopard, Falcon, Bone, and Xuanwu teams all went there, but found nothing. Iron Eagle? Whose team is that?"

"It belongs to Chen Ying. The cave under the north slope was their base in the past."

"No wonder, this kid Chen Ying, is he holding back?"

"Not really. If that were the case, he would have told me the location of the silver mine long ago. He wouldn't have waited until today. He must have found it himself."

………………

At this moment, Xia Hong's face was already full of joy.

In the past six months, Li Tiancheng and Hou Jing each found a new silver mine. The problem is that the strength of the cold beasts entrenched in those two silver mines must be no weaker than the two in Longshan, so there is no hope of mining.

Now, Chen Ying actually discovered another one!
"There are more than 2,000 rats, including more than a dozen high-quality ones. This is simply a silver mine sent by God. Where is Chen Ying? Take me to see it quickly."

"Chen Ying just came back from the north slope and is in the main building."

Xia Hong didn't care about anything else at this moment, and hurriedly handed his little niece to Xiao Kangcheng who had been waiting for a long time. Then he turned to Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng and instructed them, "Let the Yunjiao Army and the Tulong Army get ready, and send someone to Longshan to inform Yuwen Tao to bring the Longwu Army back first."

"I obey my orders!"

After Xia Hong finished speaking, he led Qiu Peng towards the main building.

"Ning'er, you entertain my father-in-law. I have to go to the Council Hall first!"

"Yes, husband."

When something happened, Xia Chuan had no time to stay at home with his wife and children. He simply gave Xiao Ning some instructions, said goodbye to his father-in-law and others, and pulled Yuan Cheng to rush to the main building.

………………

On the top floor of the main building, in the council hall, Chen Ying, with an excited look on his face, was standing respectfully in the middle, constantly looking out of the hall door, and it was obvious that he was very anxious.

Tap tap tap…

Soon, hurried footsteps were heard outside the hall.

Seeing Xia Hong and Qiu Peng walking in quickly, Chen Ying immediately leaned over and saluted them respectfully: "Chen Ying greets the Lord, and greets Qiu Sizheng!"

"No need to be polite, tell me, what's going on?"

Chen Ying calmed himself down first, then slowly explained the whole story.

On the 25th of last month, he brought more than 20 team members and started digging from the end of the secret passage in the north slope cave. They dug for nine days and found more than 20 red silver flowers along the way. It is estimated that they dug about three kilometers into the mountain of Shuanglong Mountain. Finally, at nightfall yesterday, they successfully dug through and reached an open valley.

"We dug upwards along the way, and after digging through, we reached another mountain wall. The mountain wall was about two thousand meters high, and below it was a valley area with a radius of about two kilometers. I guess that valley was caused by a collapse somewhere in Shuanglong Mountain. When I looked down, I saw a lot of silver exposed, and there was only a group of more than two thousand gnats living on it. There were no other species of cold beasts except gnats."

In the enclosed valley with a radius of two kilometers and a height of more than two thousand meters, there is only a group of more than two thousand rodents...

This is like a silver mine sent down from heaven!

Xia Hong looked extremely excited. He stood up and said, "Okay, okay, take me over now. If that's the case, you've done a great deed this time. Three hundred... No, I'll let Qiu Peng give you five hundred military merits, which is enough for you to be conferred a title!"

Chen Ying's expression froze, and his breathing suddenly became heavier.

He already has 320 military merit points, plus another 500, which makes 820 points. He is only 180 points away from the military merit requirement for the eighth-rank Viscount Chixiao!

"Lord, please follow me!"

Chen Ying also became impatient and led the way.

"Qiu Peng, take out all the intermediate and high-level Teng Jiao poison sacs in the quartermaster department's inventory and prepare them. They will be needed soon."

Xia Hong didn't say anything more. He gave an order to Qiu Peng and followed Chen Ying directly. He walked out of the hall quickly and headed towards the northern slope of the mountain.

"I obey my orders!"

When Qiu Peng heard Xia Hong asking him to prepare a mid- to high-level Tengjiao poison sac, he was unable to react and his expression suddenly became excited.

The silver mine was in a closed valley, and was inhabited by only a tribe of rats, so it was very easy to deal with.

"With the three thousand Yunjiao, Longwu, and Tulong troops, coupled with the Tengjiao poison sac, it will be effortless to deal with this group of gnawing rats. This silver mine came just in time!"

…………

Good things seem to come in pairs. Today, Xia Hong not only welcomed the birth of his little niece Xia Yuning, but also Chen Ying brought the good news about the silver mine.

However, what Xia Hong didn't know was that the third good thing also happened at the moment he left Xiacheng.

Right behind the Zhaixing Palace, Li Xuanling, who was sleeping soundly, was unaware that a transparent mist was suddenly emitted from his abdomen. The mist was obviously afraid of the high temperature of the Hanxu Cauldron, and soon condensed into drops of water-blue liquid on the edge of the bed, the ground, the table, the windowsill and even the roof.

When the water-blue liquid filled the entire room, Li Xuanling, who was originally sleeping soundly, seemed to have reached a critical point. She suddenly opened her eyes, covered her stomach and made a painful sound.

“Ah…ah…”

"Ma'am, what's wrong with you? What's on the ground?"

"I'm about to give birth, go get someone to come over, quickly!"

"Ah! Got it. Mingyue, Hualing, go to the quartermaster's office and notify the midwife to come over. Nongying, Qiuru, come in and clean up all the liquids in the room, quickly..."

(End of this chapter)