Chapter 128
“These! These rocks can actually burn?”
The two bandits could scarcely believe it. They prodded the lumps of coal with their sabers, only for the influx of air to make them burn even more fiercely.
Sheng Yiren stared, dumbfounded. She rubbed her eyes, almost convinced they were deceiving her. “Your Highness, is this what you were looking for?”
“That’s right.” Xie Chengze crouched and held his hand near the flames. The intense heat against his skin brought a smile to his eyes. “These few lumps of coal can burn for at least six to twelve hours.”
Sheng Yiren, the Second Chief, and the bandits: !!!
Six to twelve hours!
Pieces of firewood the same size would burn away very quickly. Could these unremarkable black rocks really last so long?
Sheng Yiren immediately sensed a business opportunity. This material was clearly far rarer and longer-lasting than firewood. High officials and nobles would surely favor it. The coal was also much more brittle than ordinary stone. If it could be made into suitably sized pieces to serve as hand warmers, the price it commanded would certainly delight merchants.
If she could also claim a coal mine like this…
No.
Sheng Yiren shook her head again, feeling a trace of regret.
These coal mines probably couldn’t become private property. The coal burned so long that it was an ideal fuel for smelting iron ore. Once the court learned of it, it would surely attach great importance to it –
Like salt and iron, coal would become a major source of revenue supporting the court’s finances.
Still, Sheng Yiren wasn’t discouraged. Even if she couldn’t own the mines, she could make products related to coal. For instance, the little hand-warming stoves she’d just imagined. If she found a suitable blacksmith, she could surely make luxury items to sell to high-ranking patrons in the palace.
After all, she was the capital’s foremost beauty, setting trends in designs and styles throughout the capital and even the surrounding prefectures.
Whatever she used, plenty of people would buy in imitation. She needn’t worry about making money.
Gathering her thoughts, Sheng Yiren quickly understood how it all connected.
Back then, His Highness had anonymously asked her to persuade northern merchants to sell grain in Yizhou, so that refugees suffering from floods and famine could have food. Later, he’d asked her to find mountains that could burn on their own. So…
She said with certainty, “You sought these coal mines to help the northern people survive the snow disaster and never fear the bitter winters again, didn’t you, Your Highness? And perhaps there’s more to it than that.”
If there were coal deposits beneath all of Mount Qiantai, Sheng Yiren could hardly imagine how much silver the court would earn, how rapidly ironworking would develop, and how Jian’an’s depleted military strength would expand, ultimately leading to a wealthy nation and a strong people.
Xie Chengze looked at her with a smile. “You trust me that much? Perhaps I want to smelt weapons and rebel.”
Sheng Yiren shook her head. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have brought me along.”
Besides, she believed that even if the Second Prince stormed the palace and rebelled, an emperor who recognized women’s worth, who made good use of their abilities rather than belittling them, couldn’t be too bad.
Perhaps, if His Highness really rebelled someday, she might even stand on his side…
Beside them, the Second Chief and the two bandits blinked, filled with emotion.
Who’d have thought this Second Prince cared so much for the people? Not only that, he had an eye for hidden value. They’d lived on this mountain for years without discovering the black coal. He’d found it as soon as he arrived!
The Second Chief thought to himself that it was a pity His Highness had so little time left. In that case, he would definitely help fulfill his last wish for those hundred ice sculptures!
–
With the Second Prince’s identity revealed, Hu Lai’s standing had risen along with it.
He strolled about the stronghold, his eyes narrowed to slits as he inspected the brothers training in Qianjin Stronghold. Occasionally, he stopped to squeeze someone’s muscles, offering admiring exclamations. “Excellent! Young man, excellent muscles!”
Every one of them was tall and well built, perfectly suited to be trained into His Highness’s “death-sworn retainers”!
The bandits he praised were both a little shy and a little proud. After all, their Chief was a formidable fighter. To stay alive, they had learned some martial arts from him too. Though they weren’t as skilled as he was, they were far stronger than ordinary armed escorts.
Not to mention that, under his influence, they were exceptionally disciplined.
They had no idea that, in Hu Lai’s eyes, they had already become lackeys who would be stripped of their freedom and individuality. They all replied modestly, “Oh, not at all. Our Chief is the truly formidable one.”
Hu Lai was naturally very pleased with the Chief as well. A warrior like that ought to charge into battle for the Second Prince. Perhaps he could even subdue the Xiongnu for His Highness and achieve another feat worthy of the history books.
But a tall tree drew the wind. His Highness had been making too many moves lately, which could easily arouse suspicion. This matter could wait for now.
After strolling around the training ground, Hu Lai put his little hands behind his back and wandered over to Shen Yuan’s quarters.
He still remembered the plan to pursue both targets at once. Now that Su Qinghe belonged to the Second Prince, all that remained was to recruit Shen Yuan, whom Emperor Jian admired so much.
His Highness was simply too shy. Old Hu would have to step in and bring them together.
At Shen Yuan’s room, Hu Lai stood by the door and leaned close to listen.
He could hear Shen Yuan and the Chief talking inside, though not clearly. He caught only words like “amnesty” and “encirclement,” so he simply knocked.
The voices stopped. After a moment, the door opened. Shen Yuan looked at Hu Lai standing outside and raised an eyebrow. “You’re… Hu Lai, His Highness’s household retainer?”
“Oh? You’ve heard of me, Lord Shen?” Hu Lai’s eyes lit up. He always acted sneakily – no, discreetly – and wasn’t particularly renowned among the retainers. Where had Shen Yuan heard of him? Had His Highness mentioned him?
“Official Hu is… very resourceful. His Highness often praises you in front of me.”
Looking at Hu Lai’s eyes, which eagerly awaited appreciation, the corners of Shen Yuan’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
In his previous life, this fellow Hu had tripped him up time and again, using nothing but underhanded, ruthless tactics. He was also extremely vigilant, slippery as a loach and hard to catch.
Just after being reborn, Shen Yuan had been considering how to capture Hu Lai and kill him without anyone knowing, to keep him from becoming the Second Prince’s ally again.
Then Xie Chengze had arrived in this life, and that enormous problem had instantly become an ally.
The reversal left Shen Yuan unsure whether to laugh or cry.
At his words, Hu Lai brightened. “So His Highness thinks so highly of me. When I return to the capital, perhaps I can ask him to raise my monthly pay!”
“What brings you here, Official Hu?” Shen Yuan prompted him with a look.
Hu Lai looked left and right, then leaned close to Shen Yuan’s ear and whispered, “Are you troubled about recruiting the bandits, Lord Shen?”
Shen Yuan’s pupils contracted. Apparently, Hu Lai had heard the conversation inside just now.
“Lord Shen, I have a plan…” Hu Lai began looking very mysterious.
Shen Yuan: …
Shen Yuan didn’t want to hear it. He knew Hu Lai’s ideas would inevitably be monstrous, or at least disgracefully underhanded.
So he rested a hand on Hu Lai’s shoulder and said meaningfully, “Official Hu, isn’t it nice to take paid leave at Chenghuan Hall? Why involve yourself in all this trouble?”
Hu Lai froze. Why was Shen Yuan just like His Highness, wanting him to stay in Chenghuan Hall on paid leave without doing any work?
But forty was just the age for a strategist to make his mark. How could he lie around?
He felt he could keep working another twenty years!