“Thank you, Third Miss!”
“You’re welcome, you’re welcome. Please drink quickly.”
Ning Qingran took a small sip of water before signaling the two guards to speak.
“Your Highness, this was taken from Magistrate Liu’s secret chamber.” It was a small box, not very large.
[Ahaha… it’s counterfeit silver. It seems Magistrate Liu is involved in the counterfeit silver case. It’s just that I haven’t seen the person, so I don’t know exactly how he’s connected.]
[What a pity. In the ten years I’ve been here, my system has never upgraded. Every time, I need to see a person’s face and name to “eat melons,” which means I’m getting fewer and fewer “melons” to eat.]
Ning Qingran had the guards open the box. Inside was indeed silver, though it was impossible to tell whether it was real or fake at a glance. He took it out for a closer look. If Ji Yingying hadn’t said it was counterfeit, he would have needed to examine it more carefully.
“It seems Liu An is in the know.”
Liu An.
Having obtained this name, Ji Yingying quietly pulled a handful of melon seeds from her sleeve pocket and began cracking them discreetly.
[Xiangxiang, bring up Liu An’s “melon.” Let me see how juicy it is.]
[Okay, Host.]
[Oh ho, the person behind Liu An is the Third Prince! The Third Prince wants to counterfeit silver to fund his private army. I wonder if he’s managed to raise it yet. But this Liu An is quite cautious. He only produces one chest of counterfeit silver each year and secretly transports the rest to the Third Prince’s residence via the river. That’s how the counterfeit silver gets circulated.]
[Let me see where Liu An is making the counterfeit silver.]
[In a cave upstream from Heju Village. Oh my, this Liu An is inhuman! He’s captured so many people to make counterfeit silver there and is secretly forging some jade pieces to make huge profits. Oh ho, he even massacred an entire village! No wonder Gushi Village is so strange. After he wiped out the village, he had bandits pose as villagers living there.]
[He’s also hidden a lot of real silver obtained by exchanging the counterfeit silver in Gushi Village, and he’s hidden it so openly! Well, when the sky is high and the emperor is far away, he’s practically a local tyrant. Good thing my father didn’t want to get involved with him, or else he’d be “rewarded” with a pair of silver bracelets and a separation of head from body.]
[Let me think about how to remind the Crown Prince that the evidence he wants is in this Gushi Village. If he just arrests everyone in Gushi Village, he can find the evidence right there in their village. Who knows, he might even make the Third Prince pay a heavy price.]
[Ah, wait—near the counterfeit silver operation, there’s actually a silver mine! A silver mine! I’m rich, I’m rich! Wait, no, it’s not me who’s rich. Discovered silver mines have to be handed over to the state. Sigh! I want gold…]
[Shiny, bright gold…]
Ning Qingran immediately signaled the two guards to leave and handle the matter.
“Your Highness, perhaps you should investigate Gushi Village. I… this subject feels that Gushi Village is very strange.”
“Is the Gushi Village the Third Miss mentioned the village upstream from Heju Village?”
“Yes. Previously, when I went on an outing with my mother, we passed by there. I always felt the water in that village wasn’t right—it had a rather unpleasant smell.”
[I hope the Crown Prince will believe this. Sigh, it’s hard to lie!]
“Indeed, it should be investigated. I will order someone to look into it.”
“That would be good. Also, Your Highness, could you do me a favor?”
“Third Miss, please speak.”
[Let me think… I’ve got it!]
“Wuwu… There was a grandaunt in my family who was very good to me. She went missing once when visiting Gushi Village. That grandaunt treated me so well, I’d like to ask Your Highness to help me look for her.”
Ning Qingran suppressed his laughter, never having found a young girl so amusing and interesting before.
“Then tell me, where exactly did she go missing? I’ll send someone to search.”
[Yes! He believed me! This Crown Prince is truly a good person! What a pity he’s destined to die young, otherwise he would have been a wise ruler.] Ji Yingying was delighted. She had been worried that Ning Qingran wouldn’t believe her and she’d have to expend more effort explaining.
Her speaking skills weren’t good, and she was always afraid she wouldn’t get to the point.
“It was on the big mountain next to Gushi Village, that area called White Jade Mountain. I heard there are bandits there. I was wondering if the bandits captured my grandaunt? I beg Your Highness to take charge and get justice for my grandaunt.”
[I’ve practically given him the exact address. His Highness should know where it is now, right? When they investigate, they’ll eventually discover the silver mine.]
“Alright, I’ll send people to investigate. It’s getting late now. Would Third Miss like to have lunch?”
Ji Yingying looked up at the sky. It should already be lunchtime. She reached out to pat her stomach, then said happily, “Thank you for reminding me, Your Highness. If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about eating.”
[This Crown Prince is really a good person, even reminding me to eat. I was still thinking about how to remind him to let me go eat.]
“Your Highness, I’m going to eat now. Bye-bye!”
After Ji Yingying left, Liu Yuanpan, who had been standing nearby, immediately wiped the sweat from his forehead. If what Third Miss Ji was thinking in her heart were to… it would mean beheading.
“You know what to do about today’s matters?”
“Your servant knows. Your servant absolutely won’t reveal a single word to outsiders.” How would he dare reveal anything now? This would require meeting The Great Ancestor.
“Mm, you may withdraw.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Liu Yuanpan left, Ning Qingran immediately summoned people. Since Gushi Village was full of bandits, he needed to bring more people.
“An Yi, go take control of Liu An and keep watch on the Liu residence secretly.”
“Yes.”
“An Er, An San, you two assist Peng Rong in taking troops to Gushi Village. First investigate the situation in Gushi Village thoroughly, don’t attack yet.”
“Yes.”
“An Si, An Wu, you two assist Xun Lin in searching for the silver mine at White Jade Mountain. Additionally, destroy the cave where they’re counterfeiting silver.”
“Yes.”
“An Liu, you protect Third Miss Ji secretly.”
“Yes.”
After arranging his people, Ning Qingran prepared to eat. His primary task now was to recover his health.
…………Three days later
An Si and An Wu found the silver mine in just two days, but they didn’t attack the cave where silver was being counterfeited.
The guards appeared to be from Gushi Village, and they changed shifts every half hour. If discovered, it would easily alert the enemy.
They had no choice but to return and report to Ning Qingran.
When they returned, Ji Yingying was nearby grinding ink for Ning Qingran.
[What kind of person is this? Such tiring work, why not have someone else do it? Who am I? I’m the Third Miss of the Ji family! This lady has never done any work since birth, wuwu… Child abuse! Police uncle, come arrest him quickly!]
Ning Qingran had already grown quite accustomed to hearing her mental screams. Strangely, Ji Yingying’s face showed no expression at all, even appearing quite pleased. He didn’t know who taught her such impressive duplicity.
He kept the person here simply because he wanted to know exactly how the Third Prince had killed his father.
He had previously heard her say that the emperor had been brutally treated by the Third Prince, but he didn’t know the specifics.
“Master.”
“You’re back. Any news about the Third Young Lady’s grand-aunt?”
“Reporting to you, Master, we haven’t found any leads. However, we discovered a silver mine nearby. Our men are guarding the location, and I returned to report.”