Chapter Twenty-One: The Extra Sixty Zhang

The moon hung high in the sky, and the once bustling mine had returned to silence. Under the cover of night, Wei Xiao leapt lightly onto the roof of the watchhouse.

Carefully removing a tile, the scene inside the room came into clear view.

“Princess, the eldest young master has been so anxious since hearing you took over the silver mine that he hasn’t eaten properly for days. If it weren’t for the long distance, he would have come back himself; managing affairs isn’t something I can just take over,” Li Leqi said, sitting at the lower end of Shen Jifeng’s seat, his face full of affection as he looked at her.

“Don’t say that. He couldn’t handle the mine’s matters anyway,” Shen Jifeng toyed with the silver beads refined that morning. “Besides, the trading company can’t do without him.”

Hearing the words “trading company” from the rooftop, Wei Xiao’s pupils contracted slightly; she indeed knew about the trading company.

“Princess, if I may speak frankly, you really shouldn’t have taken the silver mine without permission. The eldest young master even asked me to inquire if you could decline the emperor and have someone else take over.”

Shen Jifeng frowned; the words sounded oddly familiar. “Strange, his tone is just like my Fourth Uncle’s.”

“The eldest young master and Lord Han both truly care for the princess. May I ask, does the young prince know about your taking over the silver mine?” Li Leqi asked respectfully.

Shen Jifeng stopped playing with the silver beads, her expression somewhat uneasy. “Of course, he doesn’t know. I took advantage of his southern inspection tour to act, but he’ll probably find out soon enough. Fourth Uncle will definitely write to him.”

“Sigh, that means another round of scolding.”

Li Leqi knew Shen Jifeng’s reckless nature when it came to making money and reminded her, “Investing in the silver mine demands huge capital. You’ve kept the existence of the Shen Trading Company from the young prince until now, but after this, it’s unlikely to stay a secret.”

Shen Jifeng hugged her knees, pondering for a long time. “I understand what Apu is worried about. I’ll talk to him when he returns.”

The two chatted for a while longer until the late hours, when Shen Jifeng and Jin Chai returned to their home not far from the mine.

Wei Xiao called out to Fifteen. “The steward Li who came today is the one arranging the laborers to deliver the silver. He’s also from the Shen Trading Company. What have you found out about Shen Qiyun, the head of the Shen Trading Company?”

“This Shen Trading Company’s head is very low-key, unlike ordinary merchants with wide social circles. He stays secluded and only appears when necessary, and even then wears a mask,” Fifteen replied.

“A mask?” Wei Xiao found this strange. Someone who had donated military funds for three consecutive years was definitely no secretive coward. Choosing not to reveal his true face meant he needed to hide his identity.

Could the eldest young master of the Shen family be the princess? At this thought, Wei Xiao shook his head repeatedly. The princess and the eldest young master had just been mentioned, confirming his existence.

Li the steward said the eldest young master truly cared for the princess. One was a merchant, the other a princess of the current dynasty; no matter how you looked at it, the two shouldn’t be connected, and the young prince was unaware.

“See that?” Wei Xiao raised his chin, pointing to Shen Jifeng’s small courtyard. “This Princess of Chaoyang sure has many secrets.”

Fifteen, tired of sitting in the trees around the mine every day, asked, “I don’t understand. Since the silver was delivered by Li the steward, who is from the Shen Trading Company, and we remember Shen’s favor, why do we need to know the relationship between the princess and Shen Trading Company?”

“Well...” Wei Xiao was momentarily speechless, realizing that was a fair point.

“If the princess keeps it secret even from the young prince, it means she doesn’t want others to know. General, digging into someone’s secrets like this, don’t you think it’s kind of annoying?” Fifteen didn’t notice Wei Xiao’s gradually stiffening expression and continued talking.

“We’ve been away from the capital for almost a month now. You can’t keep avoiding the emperor forever. On the first day of the month, the letters of impeachment against you were already two feet thick.”

“Having people impeach me only means that I am still influential. If one day there’s no one impeaching me, that’s when I’d really be in trouble,” Wei Xiao said casually.

“Now that I hold no official position and have fought in wars for over ten years, I want to relax and spend more time with my foster mother. When I return to the capital and receive new appointments, many things won’t be up to me anymore.”

Fifteen sighed, looking up at the trees. “By the way, will the general’s mansion be repaired?”

“No,” Wei Xiao touched his money pouch, which was cleaner than his face. “We’ll wait until the emperor rewards me again.”

When Wei Xiao returned to the workers’ quarters, snores filled the room. He lived with the skinny monkey Zhang Laohan; Skinny Monkey and Jiang Cheng had not yet returned from the mine below. Zhang Laohan was sound asleep, his beard moving with each snore.

Wei Xiao climbed onto the simple bed and soon drifted into sleep.

Jiang Cheng and Skinny Monkey had searched all night without result. Ultimately, they had to resort to Qu Yifang’s original method to clear the mine passage.

The miners cleared silt and drained water ahead, while Luo Xian’er and her team reinforced the passage behind them. After a day’s work, progress was less than ten zhang—a pace far slower than expected. Fortunately, as the water level dropped, clearing the silt became easier. By May 25th, the previously collapsed and flooded mine tunnels were cleared and reinforced.

Zhang Laohan took out the blueprint again and drew a vertical line between two dots. “This is where the ore was found. I suspect the vein runs north, but the main tunnel runs east-west. So we need to open it up here.”

Jiang Cheng, unfamiliar with mining, asked, “How far do we need to dig through?”

“At least thirty zhang.”

Qu Yifang and Jiang Cheng both gasped. Digging a mine tunnel wide enough for an adult to pass for thirty zhang with the current workforce, even working six hours a day, would take at least a month. Ore veins were notoriously elusive; only excavation could confirm their presence, and many attempts ended empty.

“More than thirty zhang,” Luo Xian’er corrected with a drunken hiccup. “You can’t dig straight; otherwise, even immortals would have the tunnel collapse.”

The group shook their heads, overwhelmed by his breath. Jiang Cheng stepped back half a pace and asked, “Uncle Luo, then how should we dig?”

“Dig in a zigzag pattern and reinforce the corners.”

“That means the distance increases. At least we’ll need to dig...” Jiang Cheng calculated silently but didn’t finish.

Luo Xian’er blurted out, “Double it. Sixty zhang.”

Hearing this, Zhang Laohan, who had been confident about mining, panicked. With only two months and five days until August 9th, if they couldn’t even open the main vein, how could they refine silver?

“Master Zhang, how did you get through before? Can’t we just use the old tunnel? Is it really necessary to connect to the main tunnel?”

“The old tunnel collapsed, and the water leakage came from a spring. Now that area is flooded; we must dig through this spot and then drain the water.”

Everyone fell silent. After a moment, Qu Yifang was the first to speak. “Laohan, you have more contact with the princess than we do. Go tell her that completing this project is simply impossible. Ask her to petition the emperor for an extension—even a month would help. It’s not that we don’t want to do it; we just don’t have the strength.”

“Did you just say it would take two months to open the tunnel?” Shen Jifeng’s voice came from outside.