Chapter 213
Chapter 213
“Eunuch, what do you mean by that? Are you perhaps cursing His Majesty the King?”
The eunuch who had delivered the edict spoke in a sharp voice.
“Who do you think you are? Do you think a mere live-in son-in-law of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate has the right to speak up?”
“Did you say it is almost time for dinner? Who is dining? His Highness the Crown Prince? His Majesty the King is in his prime and will live to be over a hundred, so why would you say it’s almost time to eat? That’s no different from cursing His Majesty the King. Oh, I must make sure the King hears of what was said today.”
Startled by Shen Lang's accusation, the eunuch’s face changed, and he snapped.
“That’s not what I meant. Don’t you dare twist my words.”
“Whether you meant it or not is for His Majesty to judge. In any case, I simply believe the King must be made aware of your words.”
The hair on the back of the eunuch's neck stood on end. If those words reached the King's ears, although he wouldn't be sentenced to death or dismissed, he wouldn't be able to avoid kneeling in apology for hours and slapping his own face a few times. Moreover, if Shen Lang's slander reached the King, his rivals in the palace would surely follow up with slanders ten, or even a hundred times worse.
‘It's true what they say—most troubles come from the mouth. The rumors were also true—that this vile man, Shen Lang, has the tongue of a viper and the cunning of a fox. He bites the moment he finds an opportunity.’
At that, the grand eunuch who delivered the edict stopped bickering and promptly led his entourage away from the estate. From his carriage, Jin Mucong shouted loudly.
“Brother-in-law, I won’t disappoint you when I get to the Imperial Academy. Just wait for the day my name becomes famous throughout the capital!”
* * *
Jin Mucong was gone. Mulan was heartbroken, and her mother, Su Peipei, was in a daze, as if in a dream. Sometimes, she would instinctively call out, “Fatty,” then pick up the ruler and chicken-feather duster she used to hit him with, staring blankly into space as tears streamed down her face. Jin Mucong's presence had carried that much weight in the daily life of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. Whether they were teasing him, talking with him, or shaking their heads at his foolishness, everything was related to Jin Mucong. Now that he was gone, it was only natural to feel heartbroken. Even Shen Lang began to miss the fatty Jin Mucong not long after he left. Seeing his dazed mother-in-law, Shen Lang offered words of comfort.
“Mother-in-law, please don't worry. Before long, I will go to the capital myself and bring my brother-in-law back home.”
* * *
Shen Lang couldn't stay long at the Count of Xuanwu's Estate either. Jin Mucong's departure was just an unexpected interlude; now, a much grander performance had to continue. The performance known as the Golden Island strategy was about to reach its climax. Shen Lang had to be the one to reel in the net he had cast on Sorrow's End Island. After the fatty left, Shen Lang stayed home for a day to be with his wife and mother-in-law. Early the next morning, Shen Lang left the estate and headed for Sorrow's End Island under Huang Feng's protection.
Mulan wanted to stay by Shen Lang's side and protect him, but she couldn't. She had to stay and guard the estate, protecting the Count of Xuanwu's Estate and the entire fiefdom. With four thousand soldiers moved to Sorrow's End Island, only a thousand elite troops and two thousand militia remained at the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. Her duty to defend all their lands with only these forces was incredibly important.
Shen Lang embraced his wife, kissing her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips, and her chin before turning to leave the estate. He hesitated for a moment, then turned back and gave the small of her back a playful bite.
* * *
Qiu Xiao and his two thousand pirates had landed on Sorrow's End Island and were receiving lavish treatment. The Count of Xuanwu's Estate clearly couldn't lay a finger on him. Most of the barracks the Jin Clan had built on the island were now occupied not by the Jin Clan's private soldiers, but by Qiu Xiao's pirates. Although Qiu Xiao had brought plenty of provisions and meat, he had his men demand more from the Count of Xuanwu's Estate, and they didn't just ask—they practically seized them by force. Countless conflicts had erupted between the Count's men and Qiu Xiao's over the past two days. Yet each time, the Count of Xuanwu swallowed his anger and yielded. This reaction only made Qiu Xiao grow even more smug.
‘Hahahaha! It's incredible what having Raging Tide City and my father, the Pirate King, behind me can do. To think the Jin Clan doesn't dare harm me and has to desperately flatter me! This is just too amusing. Hahahaha!’
Before long, Qiu Xiao's greed became insatiable, and he began making increasingly outrageous demands. He demanded that the Count of Xuanwu immediately summon Jin Mulan to Sorrow's End Island to pour his wine. Furthermore, he claimed his pirate brothers couldn't live without women and demanded that the women of the estate be brought over at once to entertain them. The most outrageous of these demands was when Qiu Xiao declared he had taken a liking to Jin Jianniang, Mulan’s trusted aide, and that for the sake of friendship between the Count of Xuanwu's Estate and Raging Tide City, she should be gifted to him.
For several days, Qiu Xiao trampled on the dignity of the Count of Xuanwu's Estate with his excessive demands, flaunting his power, but he never forgot his true mission. That is, they were constantly scouting the surroundings, trying to uncover the truth of Sorrow's End Island. All over the island, construction was in full swing. A full ten thousand laborers were constantly logging trees and quarrying stone. They were not only expanding the docks but had also begun building a fortress and watchtowers. The work of laying the foundation was nearly complete. The fortress to be built here was on a massive scale, covering an area of a hundred *mu*. Over the past few days, countless provisions and various supplies had been continuously transported to Sorrow's End Island. At that point, Qiu Xiao was certain.
‘There's definitely a gold mine on this island. A massive one at that.’
The Count of Xuanwu's Estate had strategically moved the majority of its forces to Sorrow's End Island, looking as if they regretted not being able to move the entire estate there. Moreover, while the Count had recently yielded in every conflict over Qiu Xiao's outrageous demands, he had adamantly refused to take Qiu Xiao to the gold mine. The Count simply repeated that the mine was not yet complete, making it extremely dangerous and not worth seeing.
Then one day, Qiu Xiao secretly disguised himself as a miner and slipped into the mining area. What he saw left him utterly speechless.
‘Such a massive mine pit. It's… it's staggering.’
The pit was one to two hundred *zhang* in diameter and so deep that the bottom was not visible; it looked to be at least a dozen *zhang* deep. But what was even more peculiar were the houses built in neat rows at the bottom of the pit. Security was extremely tight, with four private soldiers standing guard outside each house.
Every miner had to present a pass to enter or exit. Furthermore, deep inside the mine, miners were forbidden from speaking to one another; they could only work in silence. Something was clearly afoot. There would be no need for such measures at an ordinary iron mine. Soon, Qiu Xiao ventured deeper. At an opportune moment, he ambushed a miner, changed into his clothes, took his pass, and infiltrated the depths of the mine pit. He was filled with anticipation.
‘Is there really a gold mine on Sorrow's End Island? The truth will soon be revealed.’
Qiu Xiao opened the door of a house at the bottom of the pit and stepped inside, and his mind went completely blank. The room was filled entirely with gold. It was a sight he had never seen in his life. Countless piles of gold dust were stacked like mountains. In the room was a large furnace where the gold dust was being smelted and cast into gold ingots—massive gold ingots, each weighing what looked to be a hundred *jin*. These large, hundred-*jin* ingots were piled up beside them like a small mountain. How much gold was in this small mountain? There had to be at least ten thousand *jin*.
Qiu Xiao left that house and entered another. Inside, there was something like a flowing river, where dozens of miners were panning for gold dust. The gold dust was obtained by washing the ore-rich soil clean and then sifting it out. The pile of dirt on the left was freshly excavated ore, and the concentration of gold within it was extremely high.
From what Qiu Xiao observed, this had to be a colossal gold mine with reserves unlike any he had ever seen. Even at a glance, he could see glittering golden sand in the pile of dirt. To the right was another small mountain of freshly panned gold dust, weighing at least several hundred *jin*.
Qiu Xiao was so thrilled he could barely breathe. This was the source that had allowed the Count of Xuanwu's Estate to produce eight hundred thousand gold coins in one go. It was only possible because they had discovered such a massive gold mine. He then went from house to house, finding them all filled with gold. Gold dust, gold ingots, gold bars, gold coins. The gold in these houses alone amounted to several hundred thousand gold coins' worth. How much more gold, then, was in the mine itself? Only the heavens knew. He had never seen or even heard of such a massive gold mine.
‘The Qiu Clan is going to strike it rich, strike it rich! This gold mine is mine. It belongs to the Qiu Clan.’
Qiu Xiao decided he would write to his father and tell him to seize Sorrow's End Island, no matter the cost.
‘Fifty percent of the island? No, we have to take it all. How can we share such a massive gold mine with someone else? Raging Tide City must mobilize its full force, tens of thousands of troops at once, and wipe out the entire Jin Clan.’
At dusk, Shen Lang landed on Sorrow's End Island.
“Has Qiu Xiao arrived?”
“He's been here for days, acting high and mighty and committing all sorts of villainy, earning everyone's resentment.”
“Did he go to the mine pit?”
“He went and saw everything.”
Shen Lang had used all his gold for this play, this performance. Qiu Xiao must have been thrilled, feeling as if he were surrounded by mountains of gold.
“He has already sent a dozen warriors to Raging Tide City. The pirates swam a few miles from Sorrow's End Island before boarding a boat, so they must think they acted in secret. Before long, Qiu Tianwei will receive his son's secret letter.”
Shen Lang was delighted.
“Tonight, we must treat Qiu Xiao to some wine. The pig has been fattened, so it's finally time for the slaughter.”
The Count of Xuanwu asked him, “Should we just kill him, or…”
“We must kill them all. We will kill all two thousand pirates and send their two thousand heads to Qiu Tianwei. He will tremble with fear, anger, and shock.”
Just one day later, the secret letter sent by Qiu Xiao reached the hands of the Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei. The letter contained only a few simple lines.
The handwriting, the special seal, and even the unique misspellings proved that the letter was indeed from Qiu Xiao. But was there really fifty thousand *jin* of gold in the Sorrow's End Island mine? In truth, there wasn't nearly that much. Even after melting down all four hundred thousand of Shen Lang's gold coins into ingots, it amounted to only about twenty-eight thousand *jin*. The rest was copper. The massive, hundred-*jin* ingots Qiu Xiao saw were, in fact, filled with copper.