The box of broken silver lay on the table.
Three hundred and forty taels.
Xu Qinghuan held a crumpled system panel instruction sheet in her hand. Red numbers flashed on it, the figure of five hundred thousand taels glaringly large. Embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds, time limit one month, funds to be self-raised.
She slapped that piece of paper onto the table.
The county office's treasury was cleaner than her face. What little remained of the Xu family fortune had long been traded by her for grain and roadbeds. Where was she supposed to conjure five hundred thousand taels of ready silver now to embezzle? Rob someone?
Robbery wouldn't even be enough.
Xu Qinghuan paced around the room twice. The water clock outside struck three times. She felt like a Sisyphus pushing a rock up a mountain, having finally managed to grind down a bit of public goodwill and squander the money, only for the system to turn around and drop an even bigger mountain on her.
This wasn't being an unscrupulous rich person; this was forcing a decent person into crime.
She hadn't slept more than a few hours. Just as dawn was breaking, a frantic knocking came from outside the door.
"Young Mistress! Something terrible has happened!"
Li Sheng's voice carried a sob, sounding as if the sky had fallen.
Xu Qinghuan sat up, the tightly wound string in her mind loosening instead. Trouble was good. Best if Mount Niushou collapsed, or if the refugees revolted. As long as there was chaos, this five hundred thousand tael task might possibly be considered force majeure and get an extension.
She threw on her clothes and pulled open the door. Li Sheng knelt at the doorway, sweat beading on his forehead, clutching a wooden handle broken in two.
"Young Mistress, work has stopped at Mount Niushou." Li Sheng kowtowed, his head touching the ground. "The foundation for that 'Star Gazer Pavilion' was dug less than twenty feet down when we hit something hard. The workers' hoes broke several, saying they dug up... dug up the mountain god's bones."
Xu Qinghuan's eyes lit up.
Mountain god's bones. Feudal superstition. That meant the project had to stop, money had to keep being spent, and there was no way to complete the inspection and acceptance.
This was like a pillow delivered when sleepy.
"Prepare the carriage." Xu Qinghuan straightened her collar, the anxiety on her face swept away, replaced by an excitement born of going to cause trouble. "I'll go see just how hard these mountain god bones are."
The carriage left the county office and turned onto the main road leading west out of the city.
The wheels rolled over the layer of grayish-white road surface. No bumps. No mud. The carriage sped along, the tea inside not even spilling a drop.
Xu Qinghuan leaned against the soft cushion, feeling this outrageously smooth ride, cursing inwardly.
This road was built too well. Lime powder mixed with iron strips, plus that damn chemical reaction—this wasn't a waste of a road, it was a highway. Those refugees walking on it weren't suffering in the least; they were practically enjoying it.
A failure.
It was the biggest failure in her career of squandering the family fortune.
The carriage stopped at the mountaintop.
The wind was strong, whipping Xu Qinghuan's bright red cloak noisily.
Before her was a massive pit. Hundreds of refugees and craftsmen knelt by its edge, none daring to look up. Old Man Li knelt at the very front, holding that broken-handled hoe, trembling like a sieve.
"Young Mistress, please forgive us..." Old Man Li's voice quavered. "The ground beneath is all black stone, unbelievably hard. Fire won't crack it, water won't penetrate it. Everyone says we've disturbed the mountain god's bones. If we keep digging, we fear divine retribution."
Xu Qinghuan ignored him.
She walked to the edge of the pit.
The bottom had been cleared. A stretch of pitch black, unbroken. This black wasn't the black of soil; it carried the cold, hard luster unique to metal, gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
Xu Qinghuan's heart skipped a beat.
She jumped into the pit. Her boot soles struck the layer of rock with a crisp, clacking sound.
She bent down and picked up a piece of rubble that had been chipped off by a hoe. It felt heavy in her hand, weighty. The surface was rough, the broken face had a metallic sheen. She scratched it with another stone, leaving a reddish-brown mark.
Hematite.
Extremely high grade, open-pit mining, reserves unknown.
Xu Qinghuan clutched that stone, her hand trembling slightly.
This wasn't a mountain god's bones.
This was money.
This was a strategic resource explicitly prohibited from private mining by Great Qian law, one that must be reclaimed by the state.
The deadlock about embezzlement in her mind suddenly broke.
The county office had no money, but this mountain did.
This was government land. This mine was a government mine. As long as she dug up this ore and secretly sold it on the black market, or even sold it to the imperial Armaments Department, the silver exchanged for it would be public funds.
Then she could just pocket that public funds.
Illegal mining of a national resource, trafficking in strategic materials, embezzling a huge sum.
This whole package—forget five hundred thousand taels, even five million wouldn't be enough to stop it. This wouldn't just complete the task; this was a full-speed sprint down the road to rotting in prison.
Perfect.
Xu Qinghuan straightened up abruptly. Looking at the black stone in her hand, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. Her laughter echoed across the mountaintop, sending chills down the spines of those kneeling on the ground.
"Li Sheng."
Xu Qinghuan turned and tossed the ore to Li Sheng.
Li Sheng caught it frantically, almost dropping it on his foot.
"Seal the mountain." Xu Qinghuan pointed at the pit, her voice full of undisguised greed. "Block all the paths here. From today, this is no longer the Star Gazer Pavilion construction site."
She swept her gaze over the circle of kneeling refugees.
"This is the Xu family mine."
The refugees were stunned. Old Man Li looked up, his face blank.
"What mountain god's bones." Xu Qinghuan kicked the black rock. "This is iron! It's money! Dig! Strip off this whole layer! Anyone who stops, I'll throw them into this pit as an offering to the mountain god!"
"And if anyone dares leak even half a word of this news..." Xu Qinghuan narrowed her eyes, putting on her fiercest expression. "I'll make them stay on this mountain forever."
"For the stones dug up, I want every last pound! Keep an eye on each other. Anyone who dares to hoard any, or anyone who reports someone slacking off, gets a reward of one hundred taels!"
One hundred taels.
That number exploded like thunder, shattering the fear of ghosts and gods to pieces.
The refugees' eyes changed. From fear to fanaticism. They didn't know that illegal iron mining was a capital offense. They only knew this was the kind of stone that could be exchanged for money, and the Young Mistress wanted it.
"Dig!"
The one-armed man was the first to jump up, grabbing a shovel and charging into the pit.
"Dig up money for the Young Mistress!"
The scene instantly descended into chaos. Hoes, shovels, even bare hands. Hundreds of people threw themselves at the layer of black rock, the clanging and clattering sounds filling the valley.
Xu Qinghuan stood at the pit's edge, watching this fervent scene, feeling she had taken another step closer to that one billion retirement fund.
This was a true villain.
This was a true grand thief who steals from the nation.
Hurried footsteps and panting came from behind.
Xu Youde had been helped up by the county clerk. His old bones usually couldn't be bothered to stroll the county office's backyard, but today, hearing his daughter had dug up something incredible at Mount Niushou, he had forced himself to climb several hundred steps in one go.
He stood on the mountaintop, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.
His gaze went over Xu Qinghuan's shoulder, landing on the massive pit.
Black rock. Refugees digging frantically. Piles of ore like small mountains.
Xu Youde's pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Iron ore.
As an official of the court, he understood all too well what this meant. This was the lifeblood of the Ministry of War, contraband that could be used to forge weapons and armor. In the current climate of warlord separatism and unstable borders, whoever held iron held the power.
His hands trembled as he pointed into the pit.
"This... this..."
Xu Youde whipped his head around to look at Xu Qinghuan.
The young woman stood in the wind, her red clothes like fire. She was directing Li Sheng to load the freshly dug ore onto carts, shouting, "Hurry up and move it," and "Don't let anyone see."
It was all a cover.
Xu Youde's gaze fell again on the newly built cement road.
Smooth. Hard. Wide.
He had thought it odd on the way up the mountain—why was his daughter so insistent on spending a fortune on lime powder and iron rods to build a road, and why did it have to be so hard? Now he understood completely.
An ordinary dirt road simply couldn't bear the weight of the ore carts. Tens of thousands of pounds of ore would ruin the roadbed in a matter of days.
Only this kind of reinforced, miraculous road could continuously transport this black gold down the mountain.
So that's it.
So that's it!
Xu Youde felt his scalp tingle. He had thought his daughter was squandering the family fortune, building a garden to admire the scenery. Even when she built the road to settle refugees, he had only seen it as a means to quell unrest.
But this girl had known about the mine all along!
She bought lime powder to disguise the slag. She bought iron rods to reinforce the transport channel. She recruited refugees because their backgrounds were clean and easy to control. She even planned to build some "Star-Gazing Tower" as a front, to fence off this mining area.
This was no ordinary seventeen-year-old girl.
This was a prodigy who could see ten moves ahead with every step she took.
"Father."
Xu Qinghuan turned and saw Xu Youde. Her heart skipped a beat. After all, if her timid, safety-first father found out about privately mining iron ore, he would surely try to stop her.
She needed to cook up a story.
"This... it's just some black rocks," Xu Qinghuan said, blocking Xu Youde's view, her eyes darting. "I thought they looked nice, planning to dig some to build a rockery."
Xu Youde looked at her.
He looked at her clumsy attempt at concealment.
A rockery? A rockery made of tens of thousands of tons of iron ore?
This was true wisdom appearing as folly. This was profound skill concealed beneath a simple surface.
Xu Youde took a deep breath, suppressing his shock, and put on an expression that said, "Your father understands." He patted Xu Qinghuan's shoulder, his grip firm, carrying a weight of father-daughter solidarity.
"Nice."
Xu Youde nodded, his voice lowered. "They are indeed nice. These rocks are so black they gleam; they're good stuff. Dig more. Don't let outsiders see. This stuff... is only for our own family's appreciation."
Xu Qinghuan was taken aback.
Had the old man lost his mind? Did he actually believe that?
"Right," Xu Qinghuan quickly seized the opportunity to go along. "For our own family's enjoyment. I'll have Li Sheng transport it at night, no leaks."
"Good." Xu Youde's eyes grew slightly moist.
His daughter had grown up. Not only could she make money, but she was also preparing for war. With this mine and this road, they had the capital to secure their standing and livelihood.
"Li Sheng." Xu Youde suddenly spoke up, his voice regaining its official authority.
Li Sheng, who was moving rocks, hurried over.
"Relay my order," Xu Youde pointed to the mountain path's exit. "Dispatch the three shifts of yamen runners from the county office. Seal off Niushou Mountain. Not even a bird is to be let in. Say... the young mistress is building a tower here and doesn't like to be disturbed."
Li Sheng glanced at the young mistress, then at the master.
Got it.
Father and daughter were thinking the same thing. They were about to close the doors and make a fortune.
"Understood!"
The mountain wind howled.
Xu Qinghuan looked at the cart after cart loaded with ore, her mind filled with the sound of a notification for five hundred thousand taels of silver being credited.
Xu Youde looked at the cart after cart loaded with ore, his mind filled with visions of the Xu family standing firm and wielding immense power at court.
Father and daughter stood by the pit, facing the same pile of rocks, wearing smiles equally greedy, equally gratified.
