Chapter 442: There’s Iron Ore

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

She carefully swallowed the second half of her sentence.

“From the looks of it, Noble Consort Ji is indeed a trustworthy person.” “It’s just a pity that she has completely fallen out with the Third Prince like this. I originally wanted to use her to make an issue out of the imperial examination.”

The Empress was still very happy to remove Rong Yan as a threat.

She was happy, but the Emperor was not.

As the ruler of a country, he wasn’t so muddle-headed as to lose his rationality because of a dragon robe. However, he was indeed shocked by Noble Consort

Ji’s actions.

“Does she hate me that much?”

Eunuch De was deaf and mute. He was like an emotionless wooden statue. His presence was so weak that no one could feel him even breathing.

After a while, the Emperor said to Eunuch De, “I want to go to the Xiao Family

for a meal.”

Eunuch De:…

It sounded like an order.

Knowing that the Emperor was coming, Xiaoxiao and Gu Chang’an quickly changed the dishes.

The Emperor did not expect himself to be very popular in the Xiao Family, nor did he expect to enjoy delicacies. However, wasn’t it a little too much to let him, a dignified person, eat plain porridge?

No one in the Xiao Family felt that it was too much. They even restricted him from eating more than one bowl. He was only given a limited amount of pickled vegetables. After dinner, Xiaoxiao memorized the scriptures.

The Emperor’s head hurt.

When he left, he was very emotional. “Look, aren’t her parents avenging him?” After saying that, he realized that he had been hinted at, so he was even more unhappy.

After he left, Xiaoxiao quickly put down the small bowl of porridge and served the dishes that were still hot in the kitchen. As she ate, she asked Xiao Ran, “Why didn’t he ask anything?”

Xiao Ran added a piece of meat to her daughter. “He knows everything.”

He just pretended to be blind sometimes.

Xiaoxiao asked again, “Mother, when do you think it’s better for us to tell His

Majesty the truth?”

Xiao Ran deliberated for a moment. “I wanted to wait for Xiongnu to leave, but we’re all unhappy now. How can I let them go back happily?”

“It’s just that Ah Yan suffered for no reason.”

Xiaoxiao sighed. It was a secret that she had secretly met Rong Yan, so she couldn’t show that she knew everything now. However, she slipped into the palace that night and even brought a lot of delicious food for Rong Yan.

She did not know how to comfort others. In the past, she felt that her life would be complete if she could eat and drink to her heart’s content. Hence, when she liked someone, she first thought of making the best food in the world

for him.

On the other hand, Rong Yan had seen all kinds of deception. On the other hand, Xiaoxiao’s sincerity moved him the most.

It was impossible to say that he did not care. Being hated by his biological mother to this extent, he had wondered many times if he should have been born.

Since she hated him so much, why did she have to give birth to him back then? However, those pessimistic thoughts seemed to gradually disappear after eating Xiaoxiao’s delicious food.

Xiaoxiao looked at Rong Yan’s dark eyes and wanted him to sleep in space for a while. However, looking at his sleeping face, she realized that she was also sleepy.

Xiaoxiao had a dream. In the dream, the Xiao Family did not find their daughter, Xiao Ran could not treat her old injuries, and when Xiongnu attacked Great Xia and caused the people to die, the Imperial Capital’s palace suddenly became ablaze.

The Emperor had passed away. The first order given by the new Emperor after he ascended the throne was to confiscate the Yan Family’s assets. All the officials objected. The new Emperor beheaded a few imperial censors, including Imperial Censor Zuo. Then, he personally brought the former Crown Prince and let him watch the Yan Family collapse.

The large amount of weapons and money found in the Yan Family was quickly thrown into the military camp. All the troops that could be gathered from all directions were gathered in the Imperial Capital. At this moment, the menacing Xiongnu army and the Southern Barbarian soldiers, who suddenly joined in, gathered and pressed down on the city.

The two armies faced each other. At the moment when a huge battle was about to break out, the new emperor did something that made people dumbfounded.

He had personally killed the former Crown Prince in front of the array.

As a bystander, Xiaoxiao also saw that blood-stained face clearly at this moment.

Rong Yan.

After waking up from her dream, Xiaoxiao could still feel her intense heartbeat. She wasn’t sure if Great Xia would win or lose after that, but she thought that even if they won by luck, it would probably be a tragic victory.

Vaguely, she seemed to know the meaning of her coming to this alternate world.

Not only was it for the promotion of delicious food, but it was also for the peace and prosperity of the rivers and mountains.

On the first day of Rong Yan’s house arrest, the Crown Prince set up a deal for dehydrated vegetables with Xiongnu’s envoys under the witness and bragging of the officials. Half of the officials praised him for keeping the iron mine and deliberately ignored the subsequent patent medicine business.

Gongsun Zhongjing did not care about the running of business. He only cared about making medicine, so he still left the negotiation of the price to Lu Chen. Dean Lu had also been given a third rank title by the Emperor. It was mainly because he felt that there were too many things to do and that it was too troublesome to be given an even higher rank. Lu Chen led the imperial envoys and insisted that they would not accept any payment other than iron ore. The Xiongnu said that the transportation was difficult. Lu Chen sneered and asked, “If the iron ore is hard to transport, how easy can the transportation of cows, sheep, and jewelry be?”

The Xiongnu people said that the iron ore was related to weapons and there were more people coveting it. Lu Chen waved his hand and said, “You don’t have to worry about that. As long as you send a letter back, our escort can immediately set off with the iron ore.”

in any case, Xiongnu could only do as Lu Chen said obediently. Then, they realized gloomily that their old friend, the escorts from the Great Wall, were already waiting at the door before they could gather the iron ore in the capital. They even asked kindly, “Do you need help?”

Chernan was actually quite happy to have obtained what he wanted. They, the Xiongnu, were born brave and good at fighting. It was just that they were unlucky and were born in that cold place.

It was fine if they died on the battlefield. Many of their clansmen were frozen to death in the winter and died of illness. As long as Great Xia’s patent medicine worked, there would be fewer children who would freeze to death every winter in the future. Then, there would be even more warriors who could grow up. How difficult would it be to take down Great Xia again?

He understood this logic, and so did Chercha and Cheryan. Otherwise, why would they listen to him obediently and hand over the reserve iron ore?

Thinking about it, once the inventory was cleared, it might not be convenient to mobilize troops in the next three to five years. But so what? Great Xia would definitely not be able to retaliate the next time they made a comeback!

It was a beautiful thought. However, just as they were about to leave the Imperial Capital and the people in the Capital were still discussing the Third Prince’s collusion with outsiders, a bolt from the blue struck them. They were in so much pain that they wished they were dead and regretted their actions…

“What?”

The Emperor didn’t even care about his image and stood up from the dragon throne.

“What did you just say?”

Xiao Ran pursed her lips and repeated slowly amidst the dumbfounded crowd.

“I said that there are iron mines on the two pieces of land that Xiongnu gave

us.”

The Emperor walked two rounds on the spot. “Are you sure?

Xiao Ran crossed her arms. “The Third Prince left a mark at a place suspected to be a mineral source when he was fighting. I got someone to investigate these few days. It’s about right.”

The Emperor paused. “You’re saying that the Third Prince already knew?” Xiao Ran sneered.. “Otherwise, why would he convince Official Lu to agree to Xiongnu’s request?”