Chapter 700 - Finding a Mine
With Zhu Junyang’s special ability, he naturally could tell that there was something bothering his second brother for all this time, causing the rift between them. In the past, he didn’t wish to investigate further. Perhaps they now had the opportunity to repair these misunderstandings.
Zhu Junxi patted his shoulder and grinned, “After arriving in the army, I’ve encountered more people from all walks of life and my views of the world have gradually broadened. From that, I’ve become more understanding. Now, you have your own career and family and I have my own direction to work hard at. If I still act like a child, striving for the favoritism and love of our parents, wouldn’t that be silly?”
“Second Brother, as parents, it’s hard not to spend more time and attention on the weaker and more troublesome child. In actuality, I have always envied you and Eldest Brother the most. If I had the choice, I would rather be like all of the other children and have a carefree and happy childhood. I’d be able to act spoiled and willful in front of our parents.” Zhu Junyang looked at the young lady who was smiling as brightly as the flowers around her. His eyes gentled considerably——Thank the Heavens for allowing him to meet the only hope he had in this lifetime.
Zhu Junxi also looked in the same direction as his younger brother and saw two young ladies, laughing loudly. His lips curved up into a smile as he said, “Let’s go! I know where the wild pigs here like to hide. Your archery skills are good, so let’s bring a wild pig back. Didn’t Younger Sister-in-law say that she knows how to make meat floss and jerky ah? Without any meat, how can she make any?”
“The two of you sure know how to order people around! My wife and I just arrived here and we’re being pushed into hunting wild pigs and making jerky.” Although complaints flowed out of his mouth, Zhu Junyang didn’t stop walking forward. The two brothers headed deeper within the jungle.
In the mottled darkness of the forest, the sound of Zhu Junxi’s laughter could be heard, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling bad for your wife? Don’t worry ah, we won’t have your wife do a thing. General Mu has several female soldiers under her command who are more than capable. Your wife only needs to flap her lips and it’ll get done.”
By the time Han Xiaomu finished eating half a box of meat floss and devoured the few remaining dried apricots that Xiaocao had left, the two brothers came back carrying a large wild pig that weighed around three hundred to four hundred catties. For lunch, the meat from the wild pig had been divided up. Half of it had gone to add on a dish to the high ranking soldiers and Zhu Junxi’s personal aides. The rest had been allocated for preservation. A large portion was going to be used to make jerky while a smaller portion was going to be made into meat floss.
The next morning, Xiaocao followed up on her promise and used some simple tools and ingredients to make some meat floss bread and meat floss pastries. The southwest was hot and humid, making it difficult to keep food for long. Han Xiaomu finished devouring these new goodies in the span of two meals. She even begged Xiaocao shamelessly, asking her for the method to create these breads and pastries. She was planning on having one of her female soldiers who was good at cooking learn these recipes. As for herself, she was someone who even needed molds to make acceptable looking cookies, so she knew that she wasn’t up to par for this.
Zhu Junyang and his wife rested at the army camp for two days before they left for the border next to Myanmar. Over there, Wisdom Jade Pavilion’s Manager Zhang had come to an agreement with one of the princes there and he was able to buy a jadeite mine. The jadeite mined from that spot was quite good. However, the mine was on the smaller side and had been previously used before Wisdom Jade Pavilion bought it. Thus, the supply of jadeite coming out of there was gradually not enough to fulfill the shop’s needs in the capital.
Currently, the jadeite ore gambling business required the most raw ore from the store. Wisdom Jade Pavilion’s jewelry business, on the other hand, had fallen second. The prospect of becoming rich overnight not only attracted the people from noble and wealthy families but also became popular with people from middle class families. There were some who would save up a bunch of money in order to buy an ore to gamble, and there were truly some lucky customers. There was one who had selected an ore that produced jadeite that was of crystal ice quality and above. Wisdom Jade Pavilion bought that specimen off the lucky customer at a very high price. After Manager Zhang spread the news about this, the gambling side of the business became even more popular.
The reason why Zhu Junyang came over this time wasn’t just to satisfy his wife’s curiosity. He had another motive as he wanted to see if he could buy another jadeite mine.
After touring his wife around their current jadeite mine, Zhu Junyang had a middleman send a message off to the prince and proposed buying another mine from him. With Wisdom Jade Pavilion’s booming business as an example, the vast majority of jewelry merchants in the Great Ming’s capital had all set their eyes on this slab of fat meat. Thus, the people mining jadeite ore no longer had to worry about not being able to sell.
The prince of Myanmar naturally wouldn’t allow a foreigner to get all of the profits here. However, he also knew of the identity of the person in front of him. It was the Great Ming’s Empire famous God of War——Imperial Prince Xu. Having a connection to this impressive personage would increase his bargaining chips at gaining the throne in the future. Thus, if he openly refused this man’s request, it would damage the relationship between them. The prince, instead, decided to go about this in a roundabout manner.
“Within these mountains, there are a lot of untapped jadeite veins. How about Your Highness choose to buy an untouched mountain instead? Perhaps you may even come across a large jadeite ore in there that is way better than the mines we currently have! If Your Highness doesn’t have any experienced people in finding mines, this humble prince can lend you a few people.” The prince from Myanmar was very sincere in his conduct.
Not all of the mountains in this area bordering Myanmar had jadeite ores. Clearly, buying a mountain to find mines was also a big gamble.
When he saw that Imperial Prince Xu’s face remained cold and aloof, as if he was displeased by this suggestion, the prince hurriedly added, “Your Highness, please don’t worry. This humble prince has several jadeite experts under me. With them working together, I’m sure seven to eight times out of ten, the mountain they identify will have a good jadeite vein. The mountain that you propose to buy will also be sold to you at a very reasonable price by me.”
Zhu Junyang stayed silent, ‘...this prince hasn’t even said anything yet you are already making the terms a bit sweeter for me. It looks like having a cold poker face has its advantages too.’
Yu Xiaocao remembered that the little divine stone had once said that naturally occurring mines of precious materials would all harbor a thick concentration of spiritual energy. Didn’t that mean she could use the little divine stone as a cheat item and be able to easily find any unearthed jadeite mines?
When she thought of this, she tampered down the excitement in her heart with great difficulty and pulled at her husband’s sleeve as she quietly said, “How about...we look around these mountains first and take it as a beautiful tour of the scenery?”
Zhu Junyang would never refuse a request from his wife. He immediately made the decision: buying a mountain was just buying a mountain ah!
When the young prince from Myanmar saw that the young lady next to Imperial Prince Xu had merely said a few words and the esteemed personage immediately changed his mind (Zhu Junyang: I hadn’t even made a decision. Why are you saying I changed my mind?), he knew then that the woman was highly regarded by the imperial prince. Thus, he immediately became a few fractions warmer towards her.
As a giant vinegar jar of jealousy, Zhu Junyang naturally wasn’t happy about this. Why was an adult prince who was around twenty years old treating his wife so politely? What were his intentions? Did he think that he, the husband, was dead ah?
The Myanmar prince didn’t know that his attempt at flattery had gone flat and he had almost felt his face go numb from the sudden cold aura coming off of Imperial Prince Xu. His Highness’s personality was truly as the rumors said: temperamental to the extreme! The imperial prince was just fine earlier, so why did he suddenly change his demeanor?
For the next few days, with the company of the young Myanmar prince and his jadeite experts, Zhu Junyang and his wife, along with a giant third wheel——Chief Steward Su Ran, leisurely toured around the few mountains in the area.
These mountains were blanketed densely with thick vegetation and weren't the type of scenic and beautiful mountains that were touted in poetry. Other than poisonous snakes and insects, there were also vicious beasts and poisonous miasma to contend with. Xiaocao had consulted with the little divine stone to create some special medicine that repelled insects and snakes. When it was placed in their scent satchels, the poisonous creatures voluntarily avoided them like the plague. As for vicious beasts, with Zhu Junyang and Su Ran around, who were both killing machines, there was nothing to be afraid of. As for poisonous miasma, a single all purpose detoxification pill was more than enough to protect them.
The group of people strolled around the no man’s land of the deep mountains without a single issue. This made the Myanmar’s prince’s group feel quite flabbergasted. They all said that the ruler of the Great Ming Dynasty was the true born son of the heavens. As one of the imperial relatives, was Imperial Prince Xu also blessed by the heavens?
The young Myanmar prince was superstitious so he was even more respectful and polite towards Imperial Prince Xu.
‘Little Glutinous Dumpling, have you found anything in these past ten days?’ One night, Xiaocao, who was resting in a cozy cave, was simultaneously roasting a snake as thick as a person’s wrist as she conversed mentally with the little divine stone.
[I did detect some mines but the amount of spiritual energy coming off of them was too little. These veins absolutely don’t have a lot of jadeite in them, so buying them would be a venture that loses money.] The little divine stone had transformed into its golden little kitten form. It stretched lazily and hid behind Xiaocao after being eyed fervently by the prince from Myanmar.
The young prince reached out a hand to pet the little divine stone’s golden fur but ended up getting clawed for his attempt. A long red line appeared on the back of his hand. However, he merely grinned and said, “Your Highness, your pet’s fur is bright and it’s very spirited. It’s not like an ordinary cat.”
Yu Xiaocao enjoyed herself as her husband fed her a piece of roasted meat. She savored the food with her mouth before she gently wiped the corner of her lips and played teasingly with the little cat’s front paws. Only when the little divine stone looked at her resentfully did she place it down and smile, “Is that so ah? This princess didn’t think it had any special in particular.”
She continued to mentally converse with the little divine stone, ‘There are so many mountains and hills here. Just how long will it take for us to walk through them all? How about you exert yourself at night and speed around the immediate area to see if there is anything interesting around?’
[You sure know how to order people around!] The little divine stone complained for a bit yet still gracefully exited the cave.
The prince from Myanmar asked worriedly, “There are a lot of fierce beasts in the mountains, would it get into trouble from wandering around outside? Should you send a few people to keep guard?”
“No need!” She was pretty sure that the stone had transformed into a beam of light and had gone off into the forest as soon as it exited the cave. Yu Xiaocao came up with an excuse, “Little Glutinous Dumpling is very clever and most animals can’t possibly catch it.”
That night, Xiaocao snuggled deeply within her sleeping bag, which she had sewn herself, and slept peacefully next to her husband. The young Myanmar prince saw this and felt quite puzzled inside, ‘Didn’t they all say that the noblewomen from the Great Ming Empire were delicate and squeamish ah? Princess Consort Xu, on the other hand, seems to be an exception. She’s followed along with us, a bunch of men, for all these days but didn’t complain a single bit. The trails here are hard to work and even an experienced hunter would feel tired after an entire day. Why did Princess Consort Xu seem fine? Is it possible that...Her Highness is also an expert at martial arts?’
The prince suddenly felt like the temperature in the cave had gone down by several degrees and couldn’t help but shiver a few times. He discovered that Imperial Prince Xu was staring at him in an unfriendly manner. Only then did he realize that he had been looking at Princess Consort Xu for a bit of a while and had caused a certain vinegar jar to get angry. Imperial Prince Xu was a bit too protective of his wife. Even looking at her too long wasn’t okay with him!
This couple was truly too odd. It didn't seem right that they were going on a trip to improve their relationship as they had brought along an unrelated person (Su Ran, the third wheel). Could it be that the emperor of the Great Ming Empire wanted to do something to Myanmar and sent them over to investigate? That also didn’t seem right. This couple had been in the mountains for several days. Other than hunting and gathering some medicinal herbs, they hadn’t done anything else! Furthermore, they never seemed to be interested in asking him and his group about the jadeite mines. Argh! He needed to observe them more!