boyutpedia Chapter 63 The True Tragic State of the Iron Mine
Chapter 63 The True Tragic State of the Iron Mine
"Your Majesty, now it's up to you how you handle this." With that, a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he gripped the teacup in his hand so tightly it made a cracking sound.
The two returned to Ningguta from the space and began to infiltrate the iron mine along the merchant's route to investigate the situation.
The merchant brought Jia Ming (Gu Liuli) to meet the second young master of the Zhou family. The arrogant second young master looked down on everyone, so Gu Liuli, disguised as a man, took out thousands of cartloads of gold, which finally made him back down.
The merchant assured them that Jia Ming would be fine, so they agreed to take Jia Ming to see the iron mine in person!
The moment Gu Liuli stepped into the iron mine, the scene before her broke her heart. The men were shirtless, their bodies covered in wounds of all sizes, toiling in the harsh conditions, their eyes filled with numbness and despair. Gu Liuli suppressed her grief and indignation, silently observing everything around her.
She noticed the iron mine was heavily guarded and seemed to have a strict patrol system. In a brief exchange of glances with the miners, Gu Liuli sensed their yearning for freedom. She secretly resolved to expose the truth and rescue these suffering people.
However, just as they were about to leave, an unexpected incident occurred. A patrolling guard seemed to suspect Gu Liuli and walked straight towards them. Gu Liuli's heart tightened, but she pretended to be calm on the surface.
The merchant sensed the tense atmosphere and quickly stepped forward to talk to the guards, claiming that Gu Liuli was a distinguished guest who had come from afar, was generous, and was very interested in the iron ore business.
The guard sized Gu Liuli up and down, his eyes filled with suspicion: "Hmph, he seems suspicious. Maybe he's here to spy on us." Gu Liuli smiled slightly, took out a gold ingot from her bosom, and stuffed it into the guard's hand: "Brother, this is just a small token. I hope you'll be lenient. I'm just looking for a profitable business; I have no interest in anything else."
The guard weighed the gold in his hand, a greedy look on his face, but he remained vigilant: "You'd better not try anything funny. This iron mine isn't a place you can just mess around in." Just then, the second young master of the Zhou family said impatiently, "Alright, he's one of my men. I'll take responsibility if anything happens." Only then did the guard leave reluctantly.
After escaping danger, Gu Liuli and the merchant hurriedly left the iron mine. Back at their lodgings, Gu Liuli recounted everything she had seen and heard to Xiao Jingchuan in detail. Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan frowned deeply: "I never imagined that Prince Duan would be so cruel. These miners are innocent civilians; we must find a way to rescue them as soon as possible."
After discussing it, the two decided that, on the one hand, they would continue to collect evidence of Prince Duan's illegal manufacturing of weapons, and on the other hand, they would try to contact the miners in the iron mine and encourage them to rebel at a critical moment, so that they could work together from within and without to thwart Prince Duan's conspiracy. However, they knew that every step from here on out was fraught with danger, and the slightest mistake could lead to failure.
So, when no one was around, Gu Liuli asked the system in her mind, "System, if we let the people inside cooperate with us from the inside, they won't be able to protect themselves. It will be very troublesome if something unexpected happens!"
The system's electronic voice quickly sounded in her mind: "Host, I can provide you with a stealthy protective item called 'Spiritual Shield'. This shield can be concealed under the skin and will automatically trigger to form a transparent protective barrier once attacked, blocking a certain degree of damage. However, the number of this item is limited, and each shield can only be used three times."
Gu Liuli was overjoyed and quickly asked, "How many can you provide? Is that enough for this operation?" The system replied, "With the current energy reserves, we can provide two hundred 'Spirit Rhinoceros Shields.' Whether that's enough depends on the actual number of miners participating in the inside-outside cooperation."
After a moment's thought, Gu Liuli realized that although two hundred shields weren't a lot, they could still play a crucial role in critical moments. After discussing it with Xiao Jingchuan, she decided to first select a group of stronger miners with a rebellious spirit and distribute the shields to them.
In the days that followed, Gu Liuli and Xiao Jingchuan secretly contacted several mining leaders at the iron mine through merchants. They met under the cover of night in a secluded cave. Gu Liuli explained their plan and the various crimes of Prince Duan to the miners in detail. Upon hearing this, the miners were filled with righteous indignation and expressed their willingness to join the resistance.
Gu Liuli distributed the "Lingxi Shield" to the miner foremen, instructing them to use it with extreme caution and explaining in detail how to use it. One of the miner foremen asked worriedly, "Miss, although we have this shield, Prince Duan's guards are numerous and well-equipped. Can we really succeed?"
Xiao Jingchuan stood up, his gaze resolute, and said, “Brothers, we are not fighting alone. The imperial court already knows of Prince Duan’s conspiracy. As long as we work together from within and without, we will surely bring him to justice. You have suffered greatly in the mines; now is the time for revenge. As long as we cooperate, we will definitely succeed!”
Hearing this, the crowd's morale soared. They then carefully discussed the specific time and action plan for the uprising. They decided that on the day Prince Duan transported a shipment of important weapons, the miners would create chaos in the mine to distract the guards, while Xiao Jingchuan would lead the soldiers who had been lying in ambush to launch a surprise attack on Prince Duan's residence and the iron mine, completely destroying Prince Duan's power.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the supreme emperor of the Western Jing Kingdom had successfully arrived in Ningguta. Just as he was resting briefly, a small, exquisite pigeon gracefully arrived, bringing a mysterious letter. The emperor gently took the letter, unfolded it, and saw four large characters written on the paper—"Cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!"
The Emperor of Xijing narrowed his eyes slightly, staring intently at the four words. He then snorted coldly and thought to himself, "This Prince Duan actually thinks I'm an ignorant fool? Perhaps he himself hasn't realized that the person he truly wants to get rid of is none other than Xiao Jingchuan, the one named Gu Liuli, whom he has never been able to get his hands on!" Thinking of this, the Emperor couldn't help but feel contempt.
Immediately afterward, Emperor Jiang Liu of Xijing Kingdom took a deep breath, secretly channeling his inner energy, which instantly gathered in his palm. With a wave of his hand, the letter burst into flames as if ignited, turning to ashes in the blink of an eye and scattering away with the wind. After doing all this, the emperor slowly withdrew his arm, a barely perceptible cold smile playing on his lips.
Although the emperor inwardly scoffed at Prince Duan's self-righteous cleverness, he then thought that if he could seize this opportunity to bring Gu Liuli under his command, it wouldn't be a bad thing. After all, such a clever, quick-witted, and beautiful woman was truly rare, and if she could be used by him, she would surely become a sharp sword in his hands.
With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Liushen eagerly awaited the moment he would meet Gu Liuli. However, when he finally saw Gu Liuli with his own eyes, all his thoughts vanished in an instant.
The reason was that Gu Liuli's stunningly beautiful face bore a striking resemblance to a woman deep in his memory, as if they were carved from the same mold. Gazing at the beauty before him, the emperor was involuntarily stunned. The murderous intent that had surged within him vanished instantly, replaced by an indescribable and complex emotion.