Chapter 613: How Did He Manage To Find Out?....
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying had already captured Xie Rui in the northern wilderness, yet those 1,000 men from the Chu State who were supposed to escort her were still on their way.
They hurried along the way and finally approached the border.
Su Ying had divided the 1,000-man convoy into several teams. They were not in contact with each other initially, but now that they were almost at the border, they began to contact each other.
The most important thing was to contact Su Ying. They wanted to know which team Su Ying was hiding in and what they were going to do next.
Previously, Su Ying had only told them to send her a letter when they arrived at the border city. The letter had been sent out the night before, but they had not received any reply yet.
Since they didn’t receive a reply from Su Ying, they could only secretly contact each other and look for a relatively secluded place to meet up.
After all the teams gathered in one place, they began probing around for Su Ying’s whereabouts. However, after one round of inquiries, they still didn’t know where she was.
One of the soldiers leading a team said softly, “I have a bold thought…”
All the other leaders looked at him.
“Tell us.”
“Do you think there’s a possibility that the Empress wasn’t in any team right from the beginning?” That leader asked slowly.
These words echoed the very same thoughts of a few people. It was just that they did not say it out loud. They had suspected before that the Empress wasn’t following them at all. It was all a bluff when she said that she would silently mix in with the team!
“What do we do now?”
“Let’s act according to the Empress’s earlier instructions first. We’ll wait and see when the Empress sends her reply.”
“Guess that’s the only way.”
Everyone rubbed their noses. They didn’t know how the Empress was able to fool the Emperor. The Emperor would send a letter to them every day to ask what was happening within the troops. They would answer in detail every day, but the content of the answer was never what the Emperor wanted because they had no idea where the Empress was at all.
Over at Sky Alpha City, Su Ying was listening to everyone discussing mining matters when a green-robed man walked in.
“City Lord, there’s a message from the eagle.”
Su Ying stood up and motioned for the people to carry on while she stood up to take the message and read it.
The message informed that the people Xiao Jin gave her had already reached the border. They were faster than she had imagined.
Su Ying put away the message and summoned Qiao Yang.
When Qiao Yang heard that Su Ying asked for him, he immediately ran over in a groveling fashion.
“City Lord, you asked for me?”
Su Ying nodded. “I need you to do something.”
Qiao Yang was delighted. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, City Lord.” “Go to the border of the Chu State and help me receive a group of people.” Qiao Yang’s face drooped when he heard that it was people from the Chu State. “City Lord, who do you want me to receive? Criminals from the Chu State?” “No, they are here to help us with the mining work. All you need to do is follow my instructions. Estimate the time so that by the time you reach the border, they should have more or less exited. Just bring them back to Sky Alpha City’ I’ll tell you the password.” This was in case he went to receive the wrong group. “Oh, okay.”
On the other side of the northern wilderness, the bandit leader and the others had been following closely behind the team from the Nan State. They did not step forward to attack but simply followed them silently.
Deputy General Wang looked at those people he couldn’t shake off and frowned deeply. Initially, he planned to find a relatively secluded place to hide so that they could observe the situation in the mine at any time. To his consternation, Su Ying sent people to tail them constantly.
It was obvious that these guys would not stop until they witnessed the Nan State’s people leave the northern wilderness.
“Sir, why don’t we go out and kill them?”
They had more people, and if they really fought, they might not be the ones at a disadvantage.
Deputy General Wang shook his head as he said, “That woman sent them to spy on us. If we kill them, how could she not know?”
“So what if she knows? The northern wilderness is so big. Can she search the entire place and find us?”
Deputy General Wang shot a glance at his subordinate. He honestly felt that Su Ying was really capable of doing such a thing.
The fact that she dared to take down Xie Rui proved that she was not afraid at all.
“It’s not that easy to dig out the ore. Even if they manage to dig it out, I don’t think the inhabitants of the northern wilderness will be able to use all of it by themselves. At that point, they will definitely find a way to sell the ore they dug out. As long as we send people to guard all the exits first, do we have to worry that the ore won’t end up in our hands?”
Although Deputy General Wang didn’t explain in detail, his meaning was clear.
He wanted to sit back and enjoy the fruits of other people’s labor.
“Let’s go back first. It’s not too late to make plans after reporting the situation to the General.”
The soldier felt that what Deputy General Wang said made some sense, but he still could not hide the apprehension on his face.
Su Ying didn’t stay in the mining area for too long. After listening to them confirm the mining procedures, she returned to the city.
She wasn’t a professional in this field, so it was good enough if she just left them the tools they might use.
As soon as Su Ying returned to the palace, Chu Yun heard the news and came to her.
“Greetings, City Lord.”
Su Ying frowned. “Your injuries haven’t healed yet. Why did you come out?”
Chu Yun’S face was still a little pale, but he was in much better spirits now. “Thank you for your concern, City Lord. My injuries are much better now.”
Su Ying gestured for him to sit down on a chair. “Speak then. What made you come over in such a hurry?”
“City Lord, I only wish to ask about the situation at the mine. I don’t have any major matters to discuss.”
“The Jin State’s people have either been killed or captured. The people of the Nan State should be out of the northern wilderness within the next two days. We have also started excavation works at the mine. Everything is going well.” Chu Yun nodded after hearing her. “That’s good. City Lord, you are amazing. This matter was resolved as soon as you returned.”
Su Ying’s almond-shaped eyes landed on Chu Yun. “You’re meticulous and always consider the big picture. However, thinking too much about many things will become a kind of restraint. The people from the Nan State and the Jin State have been guarding this place for so long, but they haven’t fought us head-on. This proves that they aren’t confident either. If they had fought head-on, they would have won. Otherwise, Xie Rui wouldn’t have used underhanded tactics against you.”
“I have indeed thought too much.” He hadn’t expected Su Ying to start attacking the moment she arrived. She even captured the prince of the Jin State. What was even more laughable was that the Nan State’s people had fled without even making any move. This truly surprised him.
“I know you’re worried about the two kingdoms that are backing them, but when it’s time to be tough, you have to be tough, even if there’s a possibility of losing. Otherwise, if you show weakness once, it won’t be so easy for you to stand up against them again in the future.”
The northern wilderness was not like those kingdoms that had been established for many years. The rules of governance could not be based on those of established kingdoms.
Chu Yun stood up and bowed deeply to Su Ying. “I was too foolish. Thank you for your guidance, City Lord. If it wasn’t for my incompetence, Your Imperial Highness wouldn’t have to be separated from His Majesty. I deserve to die.” Su Ying raised the corner of her eye. His words earlier sounded fine, but why did the last sentence sound a little off?
“Xiao Jin sent you a message?”
Chu Yun straightened his body but did not deny it.
“His Majesty said that it must have been hard on the City Lord to finish writing so many letters in one go.”
The corners of Su Ying’s mouth twitched. Before she left the capital city, she had promised Xiao Jin that she would send him a letter every day to reassure him no matter how busy she was.
She was in a hurry to reach her destination, so how could she have so much free time? Therefore, she simply wrote all the letters in one shot and had them delivered at regular intervals. She felt that she had done it flawlessly.. How did Xiao Jin manage to find out?