Union

Chapter 111 Gold Mine
The sun was blazing, and the weather was so hot it felt like being on fire.

Yunying sat in the flower hall, fanning herself with a folding fan, and even then, she was constantly sweating.

Qiu Ning sat next to Yun Ying, munching on fruit and wiping her sweat as she complained, "Yun Gui County is nothing like the capital. In the capital, even people like us could try our best to use an ice basin to cool off. But here in Yun Gui County, even Second Master can't use an ice basin, so we can only suffer from the heat."

Yunying absentmindedly replied, "What else can we do? It doesn't snow here in winter, so there's no way to store ice. Even if we buy ice from afar and build ice cellars on a grand scale, by the time summer comes, there won't be much ice left in the ice cellars."

Qiu Ning also thought of how impoverished Yun Gui County was, and how Second Master had even used his own savings to cover the deficit. Hoping Second Master would build an ice cellar… well, forget about it.

Even the Second Master is enduring the heat, so let them continue to endure it too.

Qiu Ning shook her head and said, "It's so tragic, I'm so tragic. If I had known, I should have gone back to Beijing with Aunt Ding."

"Let's not even talk about whether you can get to the capital safely. Even if you do get there, do you think you can still live quietly in a courtyard and be so carefree every day? Qiu Ning, I believe you know better than I do whether it's better to stay in Yun Gui County or go back to the capital."

Qiu Ning pouted, "Of course I know. I was just venting, why are you being so mean to me? Speaking of which, Yun Ying, something's not right with you. You've been so anxious and irritable these past few days, and your temper is so bad. What, are you on your period?"

Yunying choked with anger, "What menstruation? My period is still several days away."

"That can't be right." Qiu Ning counted on her fingers. "I remember our periods were close together. Mine ended half a month ago, why haven't you come yet?"

Qiu Ning suddenly remembered a possibility, and her eyes widened. "Yun Ying, you wouldn't be... pregnant, would you?"

Yunying shuddered, and the fan in her hand fell to the ground.

She hurriedly picked up the fan, not forgetting to glare angrily at Qiu Ning, "You're the one who's pregnant. I'm not pregnant at all... how could I be pregnant?"

"You didn't have anything wrong? Didn't you drink the contraceptive soup? That's right! It's precisely because you didn't drink the contraceptive soup that you could get pregnant! Oh, Yunying, you really did something big without saying a word this time! But it's been quite a while, you've been serving the Second Master for several months now, if you still can't get pregnant, people in the manor will start gossiping."

Yunying clutched her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, as if her whole body was a mouth, but she just couldn't explain it.

She waved weakly at Qiu Ning, "Go away, go away quickly, just looking at you gives me a headache."

"Why would I have a headache? Shouldn't I be nauseous and vomiting during pregnancy? What's causing this headache? I've never heard of headaches during pregnancy..."

Yunying slumped weakly in the chair. Just then, Sui'er rushed in from outside.

Before she could say anything, Qiu Ning exclaimed, "Sui'er, quickly go and fetch a doctor! Your daughter is pregnant. But she's not nauseous or vomiting; she just has a headache."

Sui'er: "..." I was only gone out for a short while, but it feels like I haven't seen our girl for a hundred or eighty years.

That being said, the girl and the second master never slept together, so how could she be pregnant?
Or perhaps, when the young lady was alone with the second master in the study, she couldn't help but try it with him?
But how could the girl have kept it a secret so well?

She and Liu'er didn't even notice?

Sui'er's shock was palpable; her eyes were wide open, as if they were about to pop out.

Seeing this, Yunying quickly said, "Don't listen to Qiuning, she's talking nonsense. Sui'er, why did you come over in such a hurry? Did you find out something?"

Sui'er then remembered that she did indeed have something important to tell the young lady.

As for whether the girl is pregnant... we'll talk about that later.

Sui'er then put on an expression of excessive surprise, "Miss, do you know that those mountains you bought in Wutoushan, those tea mountains, actually have copper mines underneath them! Second Master has informed the Prefect about this, and the Prefect has actually come to our Yungui County in person."

Yunying stood up abruptly from her seat. "Sui'er, are you serious?"

"Isn't it true, miss? I heard that those tea mountains are now completely surrounded by soldiers. Oh, miss, a copper mine has been discovered in our Yun Gui County! Isn't this a great achievement for Second Master? Also, those tea mountains belong to you. If the government wants to mine them, will they give you a share, or will they buy them from you at a high price? And also, if they need miners, shouldn't the people from our Xi Wang Mu Niang Niang Village be selected? Oh, miss, I'm so surprised and delighted! This is such a wonderful thing! It's all thanks to you!"

Sui'er was so excited that she couldn't speak coherently.

She jumped and danced with excitement, even starting to tug at her clothes and hair.

Liu'er came in from outside the door, and Sui'er hugged Liu'er tightly, looking extremely excited.

But neither Yunying nor Qiuning had time to lecture her at that moment.

Yunying felt a mix of anxiety and relief, as if everything had finally settled down. After a week of battling anxiety, she felt a slight sense of calm.

Actually, she already knew about the mine on Wutou Mountain. And she knew even more details—it wasn't a copper mine, but a genuine gold mine!
It's a gold mine!

Although there are only three mountains with gold mines, the remaining two mountains contain associated minerals that are very difficult to refine. But even a small amount is still valuable, and even the most difficult-to-refine minerals are still minerals!

Not to mention, although the gold mine has a small amount of reserves, its purity is very, very high!

When the Second Master told her about this, she was so excited that she jumped and danced in his study, causing quite a embarrassment.

But the second master told her not to be too happy yet.

Because the Great Xia Dynasty had a clear rule that once mineral deposits were discovered, they should be nationalized.

This nationalization has two meanings: one of them is aimed at ownerless mineral deposits, which naturally need to be brought under the control of the Xia Dynasty government.

Secondly, if the location of the mineral deposit is owned, there are two solutions: one is for the government to purchase the ownership of the mine from a private buyer; the other is for the government and the mine owner to share the profits.

The Second Master had previously told Yunying that whether to acquire ownership or share the profits depended entirely on the value of the mine. If it was a small mine with little value, and the mine owner had connections in the court, the government would be happy to add a layer of "benevolence" to the facade and share the profits with the people.

If the mine is too large and the profits too great, then the first option will definitely be chosen: the government will purchase the mine from private individuals, and the mineral resources of the mine will belong to the government.

Of course, this "purchase" was mandatory; whether you, the private mine owner, liked it or not, it was inevitable. The only difference was that if you were proactive and had a good attitude, the government would give you more money; but if you passively resisted, well, in the end, they might not even bother to give you a few taels of silver.

Of course, these things have nothing to do with Yunying right now.

After all, just in case, the land deeds for several tea mountains were registered in Suiyun's name.

Suiyun is the Second Master's personal guard. If those mountains truly belong to him, at this critical juncture, Suiyun would definitely donate the tea mountains free of charge, which would be more beneficial to the Second Master.

However, the actual buyer of the tea plantation was Yunying, and Second Master said he would try to get her a favorable price. But Second Master also said that if Prefect Zhang made the final decision and set the price directly, he wouldn't be able to negotiate much more; but if Prefect Zhang was willing to come to Yungui County, the price would be easier to negotiate and would definitely be much higher than expected. That sum of money would be enough for Yunying to live comfortably for the rest of her life.

Now that Sui'er said that the prefect had actually rushed to Yun Gui County, Yun Ying's heart was immediately at ease.

But thinking of Second Master's future, and remembering that when she bought the tea plantation, Sui Yu had gone to the prefectural city to pawn her jewelry and ornaments and hadn't returned yet, and that she had borrowed Second Master's money to buy the tea plantation, and now that the tea plantation had become a mine, donating it free of charge would definitely greatly benefit Second Master's political achievements, Yunying's heart was filled with anxiety and conflict.

Now let's talk about Qiu Ning.

Qiu Ning was completely dumbfounded. Had Yun Ying bought the tea plantation?
When did this happen?

Why didn't she receive any news?
Furthermore, copper ore has been discovered beneath her tea plantations! The Second Master has already reported it, and even the Prefect has been summoned!
Ahhhh, she hangs out with Yunying every day, and Yunying is keeping it a secret so well!

Qiu Ning shook Yun Ying frantically, "Yun Ying, you're so lucky! Yun Ying, tell me what you want to buy next time, and we'll buy it together! Yun Ying, are you going to become rich? Don't forget me when you're rich and powerful!"

Yunying was almost shaken to death by Qiu Ning. She yelled at Qiu Ning, "Calm down! Qiu Ning, let go!"

Qiu Ning finally let go, her expression still blank, muttering to herself, "Yun Ying, you're so lucky! Yun Ying, you must be a celestial being reincarnated!"

These words really hit Sui'er right on the head!
Sui'er nodded frantically!
See? Another person has broken through the illusion and seen the truth!
Isn't this girl the reincarnation of the Queen Mother of the West from heaven? Otherwise, why would such a great thing be waiting for her!
The ore has been buried underground for quite some time, but has anyone, including the people of Wutou Mountain and even Changshun, the original owner of the tea plantation, discovered the mineral deposits on the mountain?

No!

No one!
But the girls were different!

The girl had barely taken over when a torrential downpour extinguished the fire on the tea plantation. The ore on the plantation had changed color from the fire, and the rainstorm washed away the ore buried underground, exposing another portion that hadn't changed color. The girl immediately recognized it as chalcopyrite.

It really has to be their girls!

Because of this discovery by the girl, the people of Wutou Mountain and its surrounding areas will benefit!

Their village, Xiwangmu Niangniang Village, is closest to Wutou Mountain, so the able-bodied men in the village will definitely be recruited to work as miners. With workers and stable incomes in their households, Xiwangmu Niangniang Village's path to prosperity is just around the corner!
Sui'er excitedly hugged Yunying again, "Miss, the prefect and the second master went to Wutou Village. They should be able to finalize the mining deal this time, right? Miss, the government will give you a large sum of money, right? Miss, will you still be working as a stewardess in the county government office? Let me make this clear, Miss, no matter where you go, I will follow you. I will serve you for the rest of my life, and I will never leave you."

Qiu Ning squeezed through the crowd, her steps unsteady, and asked, "Yun Ying, did you really buy that tea plantation? Do you have that much money?"

Just as Sui'er was about to nod, Yunying said, "I didn't buy it. Suiyun bought the tea plantation."

"Huh?" Qiu Ning was stunned, and Sui'er was also stunned.

When she came to her senses, she remembered that the land deed for the tea plantation did indeed bear Suiyun's name, and Sui'er panicked.

She wanted to ask Yunying if Suiyun had embezzled her tea plantation.

What should the girl do if she embezzles the money?

Should we seek justice from the Second Master?

Would the Second Master favor his subordinates who grew up with him, or would he favor the girl?

Sui'er's mind was in complete turmoil.

Even Liu'er clutched her handkerchief tightly, worried for Yunying.

Yunying told Qiu Ning the truth, "Although it was bought by Suiyun, the money for buying the tea plantation was borrowed from Second Master and me."

Qiu Ning waved her hand, "Wait a moment, let me catch my breath."

After a while, Qiu Ning sorted out the relationship and was speechless. "You mean, you didn't have any money on you, but you still wanted to buy the tea plantation, so you lent Second Master some silver?"

Yunying nodded, "Yes."

"Have you paid back that money?"

Yunying was taken aback. Qiu Ning had really hit the nail on the head this time. "I returned it, but Second Master didn't want it."

"what?"

"what?"

"what?"

These three "Ah" sounds came from three equally astonished people.

Qiu Ning, Sui'er, and Liu'er are all completely bewildered.

After a moment of stunned silence, Qiu Ning's hands grew heavy. "Let's put aside the money for now and talk about the tea plantation. The land deed for the tea plantation is in Sui Yun's name?"

"Yes."

Qiu Ning pointed at Yun Ying, "Is your name presentable? How could you let the officials write Sui Yun's name on it?"

Yunying glanced at Qiuning, "Have you forgotten? We are slaves. Our indentures are in the hands of the Second Madam. In principle, slaves cannot have large amounts of private property under their names, otherwise the master has every reason to confiscate it."

Qiu Ning's trembling hands suddenly stopped shaking.

Yunying continued, "I don't want to do the work for someone else. Although I don't know what kind of person the Second Madam is, we definitely can't afford to offend a noble lady like her. That's why I'd rather put the land deed in Suiyun's name than in my own."

Yunying added, "I'm actually glad I put the land deed in Suiyun's name."

Otherwise, the matter of this tea plantation, which is essentially a gold mine, would inevitably involve the Second Madam.

That second wife, she was by the second master's side and never heard the second master or Suiyun and the others mention her at all.

Is this normal?

This is definitely not normal.

Therefore, there must have been some discord between the Second Master and the Second Madam, and this discord was quite deep; in fact, they probably disliked each other.

From Aunt Ding's inscrutable expression when mentioning the Second Madam, and Ruizhu's overly domineering and arrogant words and actions, it can be seen that the Second Madam is not a kind person.

In her heart, she also didn't want the Second Master and Second Madam to be involved any further.

Call her hypocritical, call her malicious, call her two-faced, she admits it.

But she just didn't want the bond between the Second Master and the Second Madam to deepen, and she didn't want them to be all lovey-dovey in front of her.

She's gone bad.

She admits it!
One update today, as usual.

(End of this chapter)