sbdcsierra Chapter 351 Could he be a deserter?
Chapter 351 Could he be a deserter?
In that instant, all was silent.
Lu Yangyang extended her hand to Jiang Zhiyi, "Okay."
Jiang Zhiyi grasped Lu Yangyang's outstretched hand. From this moment on, their legendary future would begin.
Jiang Zhiyi's eyes were bright: "Jiang Zhiyi greets Your Majesty."
Lu Yangyang shook her head: "It's not good if others hear this, it will only cause suspicion. You should just call me by my name."
Jiang Zhiyi smiled and said, "In that case, I'll still call you 'Miss' from now on."
Lu Yangyang nodded.
Then he pulled Jiang Zhiyi up and said, "I want to go and see the salt mines in Ning County. Can you help me find information about the Ning County salt mines and a list of people who have been in charge of the salt mines in recent years?"
Jiang Zhiyi quickly realized: "Does the young lady suspect that the Yang family is secretly selling smuggled salt?"
“Salt is the most profitable commodity. Yang Chengfeng, a mere scholar, can casually spend 100,000 taels of silver to support famous courtesans. How much silver does he spend elsewhere? Besides that, 80,000 taels of that 100,000 taels of silver is spent on the Red Sleeve Pavilion. Who is behind the Red Sleeve Pavilion? Is that 80,000 taels of silver really used to support Liu Xiang?” Lu Yangyang voiced her questions.
Lu Yangyang was unfamiliar with officialdom, so she didn't think much of it at first. However, when Liu Xiang mentioned the salt mines, which were controlled by the Yang family, would the Yang family simply want to embezzle that small amount of labor fees? When this matter wasn't connected, no one would think it had anything to do with salt. But when it was connected, and when looking at Yang Chengfeng spending 100,000 taels of silver to keep a famous courtesan, it became much more complicated.
“Yang Chengfeng is from the second branch of the Yang family in the capital. Consort Yang comes from the first branch of the Yang family in the capital. She is Yang Chengfeng’s aunt and the Fifth Prince’s birth mother. It is said that the Fifth Prince and the Third Prince are inseparable, presumably because she supports the Third Prince. I don’t know much about these things, but when I was in the Yang family, I noticed that Madam Zhang seemed particularly proud when she mentioned the Fifth Prince to Yang Chengfeng. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but now it seems that the Yang family also has their own ambitions for the position of Crown Prince,” Jiang Zhiyi said after thinking for a moment.
Lu Yangyang frowned slightly when she thought of the Fifth Prince. In terms of resources, the Fifth Prince was definitely no match for the Third Prince. But even if we take a step back, if someone like the Fifth Prince really entered the Eastern Palace, who knows what kind of mess the Great Zhao would be in the future?
"Let's go to the salt mine in Ning County first. No matter what, we need to rescue those sick women. I may not be able to handle other things, but I must take care of this!" Lu Yangyang said.
Jiang Zhiyi nodded, then remembered something.
“By the way, speaking of the salt mines in Ning County, there is something,” Jiang Zhiyi said with a slightly serious expression. “I asked my elder brother the other day, and the verdicts for those people from Wangshan Village were handed down a few days ago. The women and children have been placed in the charity hall, and the laborers have been sentenced to different terms of imprisonment based on their years of service in the village and the things they have done. A large portion of them have been sent to repair roads and dig canals, but some of those who received heavier sentences have been sent to the salt mines in Ning County. The labor in the salt mines is heavier than elsewhere, and the labor can replace the prison sentence, so they can get a few years less. The chief is among them.”
"The chief?" Lu Yangyang then remembered the people from Wangshan Village. These days she had been busy exchanging medical knowledge with Wen Qingqing and hadn't had time to ask about the people from Wangshan Village. She was planning to ask them when she had time. Besides, she was also curious about the chief's identity: "Do you know where he is from?"
"He said he fled from the famine in the north. He used to work for a security escort agency, but his family was killed by the government, so he hates the government and became a bandit in the mountains. He said his name is Luo Da and he is thirty-nine years old. Since he doesn't have a household registration certificate, we don't know if what he said is true or false," Jiang Zhiyi replied.
“No, he couldn’t possibly be a镖师 (bodyguard/escort). I know those镖师 very well, and they are different from that leader.” Lu Yangyang said with certainty, “I know those镖师 very well, and they are different from that leader.”
Lu Yangyang couldn't quite put her finger on how they were different. She had been hanging out with the people from the escort agency since she was a child. She didn't know them perfectly, but she could recognize them at a glance. Although the leader looked like a镖师 (escort/escort) in terms of his aura, his temperament was different.
"Could it be because he has been a bandit for many years and has changed?" Jiang Zhiyi guessed.
Lu Yangyang shook her head: "It's hard to say, but it's hard to change a person's habits. It's a good opportunity to meet him. Maybe he can help us rescue those women."
Lu Yangyang paused here, then asked Jiang Zhiyi, "Do you mind?"
Jiang Zhiyi thought for a moment and said, "What I was bothered about wasn't him. He saved me out of kindness. It just shows that he's not a bad person at heart, but rather that he has a somewhat extreme personality. He wanted to save those persecuted by the government, but he ignored humanity. The fact that he was able to manage a mountain stronghold for so many years shows that he is not incapable of managing his subordinates, but rather that he has something he cares about too much, which has blinded him."
Lu Yangyang's heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, a possibility occurred to her. She looked at Jiang Zhiyi, who moved his lips.
The two immediately understood each other's meaning.
Jiang Zhiyi lowered her voice: "Could they be deserters?"
Only in this way, because they had no household registration and could not possibly register their residence, would they go up the mountain to become bandits.
"Perhaps so, more than ten years ago..." Lu Yangyang recalled the great battle more than ten years ago, and suddenly thought of what His Highness had told her about the Chenzhou case fifteen years ago. At that time, the Rong family army of 100,000 men all died in Chenzhou, and the people of Chenzhou were all slaughtered. That should be the most tragic battle since the founding of the Great Zhao Kingdom. In addition to Chenzhou, countless people in nearby counties and towns were displaced, and many people fled south to escape famine.
Could it be that the boss is connected to the Chenzhou case from back then?
If that's the case, then she really needs to meet him.
His Highness told her to go find her aunt, because only her aunt could gather the old troops of the Rong family army and obtain the evidence from the Chenzhou case.
It is evident how brutal and tragic that battle was for the Rong family army and the people at the time; they could not possibly trust anyone.
"We shouldn't delay. Go find the information on the Ning County salt mine, and we'll set off immediately. Have Liu Xiang help us find someone to guide us. I plan to infiltrate the salt mine first to check out the situation," Lu Yangyang said.
Jiang Zhiyi replied, "Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away."
Jiang Zhiyi left, and Lu Yangyang went to find Wen Qingqing and Liu Xiang.
……
In a remote fishing village near Ning County.
In an inconspicuous little house, Pei Ji entered carrying a bowl of medicine. "Young Master, it's time to take your medicine."
Zong Que struggled to sit up, his face pale and looking much thinner than when he left the capital.
He coughed a few times, suppressing the itch in his throat, took the medicine bowl, and drank it all in one gulp.
Has Sheng Junyi returned?