Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 114 Gathering
Otherwise, the spirit here wouldn't be so different from other mines.

Sure enough, not long after she landed, she spotted Ying Jiuque busily working in the crowd. Seeing the energetic and, although somewhat thin, seemingly unharmed person, Cui Zhufeng smiled genuinely. Thank goodness, the child was alright, or she would have been filled with regret.

Meanwhile, Jiu Que, who was in the crowd, was still wondering if Senior Cui could understand the signal he had sent out. He felt as if someone was watching him closely. He turned around suddenly and saw Senior Cui gracefully stepping on the flagpole.

Upon their long-awaited reunion, Jiu Que suddenly let out a joyful scream and took off running. Those around her, who had been listening to her, were stunned.

Good heavens! What's wrong with Xiao Jiu? However, when they looked in the direction Jiu Que was rushing, they were shocked to find an immortal with flowing robes standing on one leg on a flagpole, looking down at them. Everyone's jaws nearly dropped.

Is that... could it be a deity? Otherwise, how could someone stand so lightly on the flagpole without moving an inch? The flagpole is only as thick as a child's arm, and it gets thinner as it goes up. How could a person's weight on it not bend at all? That's truly amazing.

"Senior Cui, you found me! I've missed you so much!"

Cui Zhufeng landed lightly, his cheeks slightly flushed. Although they had known each other for a long time, Cui Zhufeng still couldn't quite get used to Jiu Que's passionate and unrestrained nature. People in this era valued restraint and humility. Who would be like Jiu Que, who liked something so much that he would say it loud enough for everyone to hear?
But it must be admitted that seeing Jiu Que like this, Cui Zhufeng couldn't help but smile.

"I knew it was you the moment I saw that plume of red smoke rising into the sky. You've been suffering these past few days, haven't you? Look at you, you've even lost weight. It's all my fault, I couldn't find you for so long, Jiu Que, this time it was my fault..."

Cui Zhufeng felt a little ashamed. She couldn't possibly tell the children that she lost them because she went to the outhouse, could she? If word got out, she, the number one expert in the world, would be secretly ridiculed to death.

Fortunately, Jiu Que, understanding her situation, stopped her from speaking at that moment.

"Senior, it's alright. It's thanks to being kidnapped this time that we were able to find firsthand evidence. Look, now we have all the witnesses and physical evidence. As long as we catch that guy surnamed Liang, our mission will be complete. This is a pleasant surprise."

Cui Zhufeng knew, of course, that Jiu Que was trying to comfort her, but that didn't stop her gaze towards Jiu Que from becoming increasingly gentle. Just as the two continued their conversation, a voice suddenly broke in from the side.

It was Wei Yuan who had just arrived.

“Princess Ying, not only that, I have also found evidence of Liang Heng’s crimes of harming his subordinates, switching urgent memorials, and even mining gold!”

"Huh?! Liang Heng is so arrogant, he even dared to switch the memorials presented to His Majesty?! Wait, you said gold mine? Isn't there only cinnabar mine here? Where did he get it... I understand, a few years ago, there was a sudden report from Qianzhou that the cinnabar mine had collapsed and could no longer produce cinnabar. It seems that a gold mine was found around that time. To be able to hide it at the risk of being executed along with nine generations of one's family, it seems that the gold mine is quite productive."

"That's true. The mine collapsed, it seems that the collapse exposed the gold mine hidden under the rocks. It was a rich gold mine that could be mined in the open. After years of unrestrained mining, there is still a lot of gold under the cave. It's just that each mining operation requires people to go down into the mine, so the mining efficiency is extremely low."

"hiss--"

Originally, the old emperor only sent them to investigate the cinnabar matter. Unexpectedly, they not only found clear evidence of Liang Heng's crimes, the prefect of Qianzhou, but also found a rich gold mine by following the clues. Could this be considered an unexpected surprise for His Majesty?
But then again, Liang Heng was just a prefect. Where would he get the power to stop a memorial that was specifically meant for His Majesty? Besides, he wasn't planning to rebel. He wouldn't use all that gold mined and all the money from selling cinnabar and elixirs to build a golden palace, would he? He might have colluded with some royal relative or nobleman in the court.

Thinking about it this way, it might not be a good thing for His Majesty. Oh well, she's already completed the task His Majesty assigned her; let His Majesty handle the rest of the headaches.

Now there's a tricky matter that I need Senior Cui's help with, and Jiu Que pitifully begs for help.

"Senior, our combat strength is still too low. Could you please help us take over these eight mines? It will be easier to cause trouble for Liang Heng if we control them all."

"can."

Cui Zhufeng agreed without hesitation, and Jiu Que was overjoyed. He immediately had Xie Mingchen and Chunyu Shuang summoned to sit down and discuss the matter, as it would be a good opportunity to treat Wei Yuan's injuries.

It has to be said that Xie Mingchen couldn't help but frown when he saw Wei Yuan's injuries.

"How did you get injured so badly? Your bones are cracked. You'll need at least a month to recover."

"I don't have time right now. You should help me suppress my injuries first. It's not too late to rest after we've dealt with things here."

Wei Yuan gave a wry smile. He had come here to make a name for himself, and if he were to be stopped because of this injury, it would be a wasted trip and all the suffering he had endured. Fortunately, Xie Mingchen understood, so he took out silver needles and quickly sealed Wei Yuan's injuries, allowing him to move around freely.

Jiu Que glanced at Wei Yuan, seeing that he seemed to know what he was doing, and didn't stop him. She pondered for a moment at the rudimentary map drawn on the ground, then smiled with interest. This was her first time commanding an invasion, and she felt a strange sense of excitement. Remembering the inhumane acts committed by the overseers, Jiu Que felt a surge of bloodlust.

Have you ever heard of the cicada shedding its shell?

That night.

One of the mines had fallen into slumber, but a commotion could be heard coming from the heavily guarded entrance.

The person in charge got out of bed, furious.

"What time is it? Why is it so noisy? Does it need a good beating?!"

"Boss, it's not one of those laborers down there. It seems to be Yang Hui from the mine next door. He's making a fuss about someone running away from his mine. He said he saw them run over here and is blocking the entrance now, trying to catch them and bring them back."

"What the hell? Someone ran away from Yang Hui's mine. Isn't that kid always cautious? Hahaha, I never thought he would make a mistake."

The person in charge clearly didn't like Yang Hui. After all, that brat had climbed up from a lowly laborer to their equal in just two or three years, and now he was doing better and better, even gaining favor from above, and was about to climb over them. How could the person in charge not be happy to see him in trouble?
(End of this chapter)