Chapter 309: The Wolves Are Here
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Sheng Huaixuan smiled. “Probably. Master Yu is very experienced and has a fixed caravan stronghold in the southern frontier. He knows the local culture well and can gather a portion of people in the southern frontier to be in charge of digging the mine in a short period of time. When Master Yu puts up a notice to recruit manpower in the Central Plains, many Central Plains citizens will take the initiative to come to the southern frontier because of the generous salary. The government only needs to send people to guard and maintain order.’
Bai Wutong knew that Sheng Huaixuan would definitely have a way. “Since more people has taken the initiative to come to the southern frontier to mine, there will be more Central Plains people in the southern frontier. With the continuous exchange of cultures, the southern frontier will be able to completely integrate into the Ling Kingdom. Emperor Linghui will definitely be happy to see this.”
Sheng Huaixuan nodded. “However, according to the previous rules, even if we want to hand over the mining rights of the mineral vein, we still need merchants to bid for it. There’s no lack of princes, kings, and monarchs who want to take one’s share of the loot.”
If the princes, kings, and monarchs wanted to be in charge of the mineral vein, it was obvious that they wanted to fill their pockets being the middleman. If Emperor Linghui had any brains, he would not have handed it to them.
It was impossible for Emperor Linghui to nurture specialized talents in this area for the time being. Cooperating with the merchants was a win-win situation.
Otherwise, if he forcefully ordered others around and did not give them any benefits, even if it was because of the emperor’s authority, it would only be treating the matter perfunctorily.
If the mining rights were handed over to the merchants, in order to maintain their benefits in front of the emperor, the merchants would continuously work hard to manage the jade business and bring it to greater heights. With high cultural development, all kinds of exquisite jade artifacts would be derived, presenting a prosperous scene.
Bai Wutong smiled and said, “Even if they bid, they definitely won’t have an advantage over Master Yu. After all, the largest caravan in the entire southern frontier belongs to Master Yu. This is an urgent matter. I think Lord You will definitely hand the jade mine to Master Yu.”
Sheng Huaixuan smiled. “l hope so.”
Not long after Bai Wutong said that, You Huaijie sent someone to look for Yu
Suisheng, indicating that he wanted to hand the jade mine to him to deal with.
You Huaijie was the governor of the southern frontier, so he still had this bit of authority. Moreover, there was indeed no better candidate than Yu Suisheng. Even if he reported it to Emperor Linghui, he would not be able to find any fault with him.
Although Yu Suisheng was nurtured by Sheng Huaixuan, he had never independently controlled the royal family’s mineral vein. He said excitedly to
You Huaijie, “Sir, I will definitely not let you down!”
You Huaijie nodded and discussed it carefully with Yu Suisheng.
Yu Suisheng decided to stay there to deal with the mine first. After everything was done, he would go to the southern frontier to look for Bai Wutong and the others.
After the matter of the jade mine was settled, there was no need to worry in the future. There would be an exceptionally huge source of income for the development of the southern frontier. Bai Wutong was very happy and looked forward to the southern frontier developing into a more beautiful place.
The team set off. Feng Xun and Feng Yue waited, but You Huaijie did not come to look for them.
After walking for more than two hours and not drinking a single drop of water, the siblings were so hungry that their stomachs were drumming in protest.
They walked too slowly, sp the soldier’s whip landed on Feng Yue’s back.
Feng Yue screamed and fell to the ground. She looked disheveled and did not look like a princess at all.
Feng Xun finally understood that even if they knew about the mineral vein, You Huaijie would not let them go.
In that case, he might as well tell them to make things better for himself and his sister.
Feng Xun shouted, “Call your lord over and tell him that I agree to tell him where the mineral vein is.’
After a while, they did not see You Huaijie. They only heard from the soldier,
“Sir asked me to tell you that the mineral vein is just ahead.”
Feng Xun and Feng Yue looked at each other and looked forward. The huge and majestic Sacred Mountain appeared in their line of sight.
You Huaijie already knew.
Feng Xun rolled his eyes and shouted again, “So what if you know? You Central Plains people are not familiar with the terrain. You definitely can’t dig up the rocks.
Feng Xun was telling the truth.
The terrain of the Sacred Mountain was steep. Mining ores was no different from tying one’s life to a belt.
This was also the reason why their tribe did not sell the ores wantonly even though they knew that there were Central Plains people who liked such beautiful stones.
Firstly, the journey was long and it was expensive to transport them. Secondly, it was difficult to dig.
However, they did not know that the Central Plains people liked jade. Yu Suisheng already had an extremely perfect method of mining and transporting jade.
As long as they secretly followed this method, they could successfully pick jade materials no matter how harsh the mining environment was.
The soldiers ignored them again. Feng Xun and Feng Yue did not get any food or water until the team set up camp at night.
At this moment, they finally understood how blissful it was to have dry rations.
It had been a day’s walk since they left the hidden river. When it was almost dark, they could just make out a green meadow.
After seeing so many endless deserts, everyone thought that they were seeing things.
Xiaobai rushed out and ran on the gra.s.s. Only then did everyone confirm that they had walked out of the desert.
Xiaobai had lost weight along the way. It raised its head and howled. Its agile figure was extremely valiant.
Bai Wutong was very satisfied with Xiaobai’s dieting outcome. She smiled and said, “1 wonder if Xiaobai can find a girlfriend here.
Most of the tribes in the southern frontiers worshipped wolves. There would definitely be wolves here, but they had never encountered a wolf along the way.
As soon as she finished speaking, a long-drawn-out howl came from the distant hills.
In an instant, everyone looked in that direction. Soon, they saw more than 20 black shadows on the hill.
Auntie Yang shouted in surprise, “Wolves?”
Xiaobai had been raised by Bai Wutong since it was young and did not know how to bite. However, the wolves in the wilderness were extremely ferocious and wild. Many commoners in the team shouted in fear, ‘The wolf pack is here! The wolf pack is here! Run
The parents hugged their children tightly in fear.
There were even people who complained softly that it was Bai Wutong raising a wolf that attracted the wolves.
However, most of them were still very calm. There were so many of them. As long as they were careful, the wolf pack would definitely not be able to hurt any of their team members.
This was the first time Xiaobai had heard a wolf respond to itself. It ran towards the hill like the wind.
Xiaobai ran towards the wolf pack as if it was never coming back. Bai Wutong’s heart tightened and she couldn’t help but call out, “Xiaobai.”
When Xiaobai heard Bai Wutong’s call, it turned around and ran towards her. The wolf pack on the hill also disappeared.
Xiaobai turned around and saw that the wolf pack was gone. Disappointment flashed across its ice- blue eyes.
Bai Wutong had always wondered if there would be a day when Xiaobai would return to nature. However, she was caught off guard that day, so she could not accept it for a while.
She was already mentally prepared. Bai Wutong stroked its head. Although she was reluctant, she still said, “You can still catch up to them if you chase after them now. Go.”
However, Xiaobai sensed the sadness in Bai Wutong’s eyes and refused to leave. Bai Wutong was happy that Xiaobai could not bear to part with them, but she was also sad that Xiaobai had lost the chance to be with her own kind.
Chu Tianbao glanced at Xiaobai, who was rolling around in her stomach, and comforted Bai Wutong. “It’s tainted with a human aura. The wolf pack might not be able to accept it. Moreover, Xiaobai might not be able to adapt to life in the wilderness. ‘
Bai Wutong sighed. “That’s true. ‘
She had watched enough doc.u.mentaries. If the wolves raised by humans wanted to integrate into the wolf pack again, they would often be bitten and expelled. They might even lose their lives..