The dark green peaks are stacked on top of each other, the peaks are towering into the clouds, and the figure of Xiao Yunjiao and his entourage, I don't know when, quietly disappeared in the continuous peaks, gradually covered by the lush vegetation in the mountains, only the sound of horses' hooves can still be heard from the gaps in the branches and leaves.

The deeper she went into the mountains, the tighter Xiao Yunjiao's brows wrinkled, and she thought of everything she had experienced in this mountain, and felt that she had just touched the edge of a little whirlpool.

Passing through the familiar hidden cave, the familiar village reappeared.

The furnishings in this village have not changed at all, but the atmosphere in them has changed very differently.

The women with children who worked in the fields changed to the men who had killed people and sold goods outside, and there were several armed soldiers guarding each ridge.

Liu Meng led people to guard the entrance of the village to welcome their arrival, and the sound was like a bell reporting the situation of these days.

"Master Hou, we have trained these people for a few days by training prisoners, and now they are all in order. I saw that the fields here were not bad, so I let them take turns cultivating them, and the province was deserted. ”

Shen Yuzhou nodded, very relieved of Liu Meng's methods, "Where are Wu Da and his wife imprisoned?" ”

Liu Meng said: "They were all locked up in their own homes, and six people were sent to guard them in two shifts. ”

Shen Yuzhou: "Take us to see them." ”

Liu Meng took a few people to several huts in Wu University.

The courtyard was still the same as when they left, but there were no children playing in the yard. Xiao Yunjiao glanced at it twice and said to Shen Yuzhou: "You guys wait for me outside, I want to talk to Chunxia alone." ”

Chunxia was not imprisoned with Wu Da, and now lives alone in the same room where Xiao Yunjiao and the others once lived.

The guard guarding the door opened the door for Xiao Yunjiao, and she saw Chunxia grinding herbs at a glance.

Seeing someone coming in, Chunxia calmly glanced up, and when she saw who was coming, she stood up suddenly, and even the bamboo basket containing the medicinal herbs fell to the ground.

"Why are you here?" She opened her mouth in a panic, looking uncertain, "Is it my children ......?"

"They're good." Xiao Yunjiao interrupted her speculation and slowly sat down at the table.

She said again, "Wu Chou and Wu Wei are doing well in their grandfather's house, you don't have to worry." ”

Chunxia breathed a sigh of relief, and as soon as she sat down, she suddenly thought of something, stood up again, and saluted Xiao Yunjiao unfamiliarly but upright-

"I've seen the eldest princess."

It seems that she has learned from Liu Meng who she has kidnapped.

Xiao Yunjiao said lightly: "No need to be polite, I didn't come here today to ask the teacher for sin. ”

Chunxia looked up at her with a complicated expression, "Then you are back again, what do you want to do?" ”

Xiao Yunjiao said bluntly: "I want to know the situation in the mine not far behind the village. ”

Chunxia's face changed drastically, looking at Xiao Yunjiao's eyes as if she was looking for death, her eyes flickered a few times before she found the focus, and sat down on the table.

"Princess, if you believe me, don't go."

Xiao Yunjiao smiled, "If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't be here today." Is there any mountain spirit in the mine that can't go? ”

Chunxia swallowed her saliva, and the hand on the table clenched into a fist hard, and even the bone joints were white.

"The Mine Cave...... It's a man-eating cave. ”

She was short of breath, and there was uncontrollable fear in her tone, "Wu Da picked up a life from there." Those who go there can only work day and night, and if they can't do it, they will be thrown into a deep pit and wait for death. Anyone who wants to escape will be caught by the guards who came out of nowhere, and those who are beaten alive will be light...... They will even ...... Peel the skin and make a domain. ”

Peel the skin and make a domain.

Sounds like something a cult believer would do.

Xiao Yunjiao thought for a while and said, "I understand your kindness, but I brought a lot of people with me on this trip, and it will be fine." ”

"No!" Chunxia hurriedly stopped: "People can't bring too much!" ”

She added: "If there are too many people in the mine, it will collapse!" ”

This news shocked Xiao Yunjiao, she was secretly glad that she came to find Chunxia first today, if she rashly led someone to attack it, she was afraid of adding more lives.

"Do you know who owns the mine?" Xiao Yunjiao asked.

Chunxia shook her head, "The person in charge is also an obedient person, looking at the scenery, but if you want to talk about the owner, it's still far away." ”

As she spoke, she suddenly thought of something, "But my Wu Da has done a good job once, and they gave the ingot silver, and there seems to be something engraved on it." ”

She was about to go out to get it, but was stopped by the guards outside the door. Chunxia was stunned for a moment, and then realized that she was now a prisoner.

"Let her out."

Xiao Yunjiao stood behind Chunxia and said lightly.

The guards immediately got out of the way, and Chunxia went directly to the house where Wu Da was kept, and after a while, she came out again with a gray cloth bag in her hand.

She went back to the house, put the gray cloth burden in front of Xiao Yunjiao and opened it, and inside was a silver ingot and some loose pieces of silver.

"We've been in the mountains, and there's nothing to spend money on, so I'll keep this thing all the time, and see if it can be of any use."

Xiao Yunjiao picked up the silver ingot, it was very well preserved, only a slight blackening in the corners.

She turned the silver ingot over, and the dent at the bottom was not the year name, but the pattern of an eagle flying with wings spread.

All the world, all the official silver ingots have the kiln site of the engraved year, and the only ones that are replaced by totems like this are privately cast silver ingots.

She buckled the silver ingot, took off the red gold pearl nine-turn exquisite bracelet on her hand, and took Chunxia's hand to bring it to her personally, "Thank you." ”

Chunxia retracted her hand again and again, "I'm not here for this ......"

Xiao Yunjiao patted her, "Take it, when the matter passes, you want to make a living, take it with you, no one will embarrass you." ”

Chunxia's shirk action stopped, her eyes looked at Xiao Yunjiao with gratitude, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, and finally just said, "Thank you, princess, you have to take care." ”

Xiao Yunjiao got up and walked out of the room, this time he really won't come back.

She told Shen Yuzhou the news she got from Chunxia, and after discussing it, they decided to go to the mine first, and it would be better if they could catch a few stewards and torture them.

Before leaving, Shen Yuzhou called Liu Meng again and instructed him, which made people set off.

After walking for more than an hour, they came to the mine not far away, Shen Yuzhou ordered the convoy to disperse, and the group scattered into the mountains and forests.

Looking around, Shen Yuzhou reached out and grabbed Xiao Yunjiao's waist, lifted his breath and jumped up, tapping his toes on a few tree trunks, and in a blink of an eye, he put her on a thick branch.

The action was so fast that Xiao Yunjiao didn't react, and the person had already left the ground. Shen Yuzhou made sure that the leaves hid her well before he said, "Don't move here, I'll take someone to the front to take a look." ”

Without waiting for her to protest, Shen Yuzhou flew back to the ground again, not knowing what to say to Fu Gongzi, and after a while he ran to the tree to be her companion.

Xiao Yunjiao and Fu Mingyuan stared at each other for a while before they spoke, "What did he tell you?" ”

Fu Mingyuan was honest, "Let me protect you." ”

Xiao Yunjiao knew very well in her heart that among all the people here, her strength was undoubtedly the worst, but Fu Mingyuan ...... It can only be ranked second-to-last, right?

So Master Fu was sent to the tree, it might as well be said to relieve her boredom.

Without debunking Shen Yuzhou's white lie, Xiao Yunjiao took out the ingot of silver and showed it to Fu Mingyuan, "You have been wandering around in Beijing all day, have you seen this totem anywhere?" ”

Fu Mingyuan just heard them mention it, and because he was in a hurry, he didn't elaborate, so he had nothing to do at the moment, so he took it over and checked it carefully.

"It's familiar." He muttered.

"If you think about it, where have you seen it? Tea Restaurant? Green House Music Place? Liyuan bookstall? Xiao Yunjiao was eager to know the answer.

Fu Mingyuan thought for a long time, and finally opened his mouth, "I remember seeing such an eagle on Yue Ziwei's fan, and there seems to be one on his palanquin, but I don't know if it's not exactly the same." ”

"Yuezi for? Is it Yue Minshan's grandchild? Xiao Yunjiao has some impressions of this name, that is, he had children with people during the national filial piety period.

Fu Mingyuan nodded, "I usually don't pay attention to it, but at this time, I think this totem is quite common, and the Yue family has many things." ”

"So...... This mine can't be opened by Yue's family, right? His eyes widened.

Before the two of them could discuss the results, Shen Yuzhou took the two of them silently bypassing the guards and entering the mine.

The dark cave was very quiet, they didn't light the lamp, they only touched the mountain wall with their hands and walked slowly.

After walking a pillar of incense, Shen Yuzhou heard the sound of tinkling in the distance, understood that this was the place where the mining was working, and whispered behind him, "It's almost there, be careful." ”

A few hundred more paces towards the sound, they saw a turn, faintly glowing, mixed with a not very friendly voice—

"Don't be lazy, hurry up! Hurry up! ”

With a little bit of light coming through, Shen Yuzhou gestured a few gestures to the two people behind him, and the three of them touched forward with their waists bent over, silently releasing a puff of smoke in the dark.

After a few breaths, Shen Yuzhou heard the sound of heavy objects falling one after another, and after waiting for a while, he and his men bypassed the last shelter together.

Only then did he see the inside of the mine. It was a beehive, and every other section there was a multi-sided cavern like the one they were, now filled with coolies who had been knocked down by his smoke and a few overseers who were noticeably better dressed.

Shen Yuzhou took a few steps forward to check on the condition of the ragged coolies who had fallen to the ground.

They were all young and vigorous men, but they were afraid that they had exhausted their physical strength after many days of hard work, and most of them had poor complexions and a sense of depression.

Looking at it, his eyes must have stayed on a certain person in the crowd......

Then he pointed to the man and whispered, "Take him out." ”