Chapter 251: Chapter 251: Struck It Rich, It’s a Jade Mine

The day of departure.

Although King Yong didn’t take away Xiang Ying’s position as Commander, in light of the epidemic medicine prescription she submitted, he let her continue to help manage the entire team.

Xiang Ying knew that it was thanks to Jie Chen speaking up for her.

King Yong turned a blind eye as well, because everyone was clear that once they reached Shangjing City, things were out of their hands.

When the Exile Team left Bai City, the townspeople crowded densely on both sides of the city gate.

They dared not speak, only watching the Exile Team leave with reluctance in their eyes.

These days, not only had Xiang Ying cured their illnesses, but she also allowed them to taste the joy of earning more by working more.

The things they usually couldn’t afford, the Silver they could never earn no matter what, but now by working harder, they had hopes of buying a fur-lined large cloak.

Unfortunately, the good days didn’t last long, and the Exile Team was leaving.

The townspeople pitied themselves, and also pitied the team.

They all knew too well what the fate of prisoners from enemy nations was.

Leaving the borders of Bai City, they followed the official road up the mountain path, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, advancing neither too quickly nor too slowly.

Fortunately, Xiang Ying had managed to obtain fifteen horse-drawn carriages for the Exiled Criminals, one for herself, carrying the children with her.

The remaining fourteen carriages were shared among everyone, with people taking turns to rest when they were tired.

Each carriage was equipped with firewood and ready-to-eat beef jerky.

Just now, Xiang Ying had invited Mr. Lin to rest in her carriage.

The three little ones clung obediently to the old man’s side, calling him “Grandpa Lin” endearingly, making Mr. Lin’s face beam with joy and glow with a healthy flush.

He drew back the curtains and slowly passed on the knowledge of his entire life to the little ones.

“Do you see the mountain ahead? It’s as if it’s cut by a knife, straight and rising into the clouds, yet there is no snow accumulated underneath. This indicates there is ground energy; places with ground energy often produce essences and spirits.”

The three little ones immediately widened their eyes: “What are essences and spirits? Monsters?”

Mr. Lin stroked his beard and laughed heartily: “Essence refers to the condensation of the essence of the sun and the moon, and spirit means that these substances are sculpted by time into treasures, such as iron and gold, which belong to this category. However, in my opinion, there should be jade underneath.”

Xiang Ying, who was dozing off at the side, suddenly pricked up her ears at this.

Jade was good! She needed Jade!

“Mr. Lin, are you saying that there might be a mineral vein underneath?”

Mr. Lin chuckled: “This old official is only speculating. Whether there is a jade vein or not is unclear, but there must be a small deposit.”

At these words, Xiang Ying became restless.

She first entered her space, opened the barter system, and found an auxiliary function called geological exploration thermal imaging, which needed to be used with a drone.

It was what Xiang Ying needed, but it was very expensive!

It actually cost two hundred thousand units of food.

And that was already a discounted price.

Fortunately, Xiang Ying had done nothing else these days but focus on increasing the production of crops.

Now she had plenty of food!

Biting her lip and closing her eyes, she bought it in one go, determinedly.

Instantly, half of the food stored on the fourth floor disappeared.

But her drone became wider and larger.

After briefly understanding the functions, Xiang Ying immediately released the drone.

Their team was continuously moving forward, so it was convenient for Xiang Ying to use the drone for positioning and prospecting.

Once the thermal imaging was activated, the dense and white expanse of the Forest instantly seemed to be laid bare, exposed to Xiang Ying’s eyes without any cover.

She not only saw hibernating bears but also wild boars running around searching for food.

The new technology was very useful; living creatures showed up in red on the thermal image, while mineral veins showed as bright white.

Xiang Ying saw a faint bright white light not far from a small river in the middle of a dense forest. The farther forward, the wider and thicker the light grew.

This signified the depth of the Jade Mine!

Finally, Xiang Ying used the drone for positioning and surveying and measured out the distance.

It’s done, this jade mine feels as big as a basketball court, and nearly a hundred meters deep.

By herself, she certainly couldn’t mine and explore it.

King Yong and the others would definitely not allow her to stay in this place alone.

But since Xiang Ying had found the jade mine, of course, she didn’t want to just leave like that.

Otherwise, it would be such a waste!

She sat up and peered out of the carriage.

Jie Chen was following not too far away on horseback.

Xiang Ying waved at him, and he immediately urged his horse to come over.

“What’s the matter?”

Xiang Ying stretched out her arm: “Pull me over.”

Jie Chen blinked, raising his eyebrows: “Over where?”

The three little ones gathered around, their young voices teasing and laughing.

“Of course to your horseback!”

“Yes, yes, mother is restless in the carriage, she must be thinking of Uncle Jie!”

Teased by the children, Jie Chen’s ears turned red again.

He said to Xiang Ying in a deep voice: “It’s too dangerous this way, I will have the carriage stop, then you can get on.”

“It’s not that troublesome.” Xiang Ying braced herself against the window, ready to jump out.

Fearing she might tumble down, Jie Chen quickly reached out to catch her and pulled her directly onto the horse, sitting securely in front of him.

Skinny Monkey and others nearby started clapping, teasing with a shout.

“Vice General’s moves are really good!”

“That’s because our sister-in-law is light on her feet.”

King Yong poked his head out from the carriage, and those people promptly shut their mouths.

Jie Chen, with Xiang Ying in his arms and holding the reins with one hand, gently squeezed the horse’s belly, and the two darted forward.

When there were no longer prying eyes around them, he lowered his head and whispered in Xiang Ying’s ear: “With so many people around, you still dare to mess around, hmm?”

Xiang Ying took out a piece of paper from her sleeve with a snap.

The amorous Jie Chen paused for a moment, then his sword-like eyebrows rose slightly: “What are you planning to do this time?”

Xiang Ying smiled more cunningly than a little fox.

“Jie Chen, let’s go mine jade together.” She briefly shared her plan with him.

Jie Chen’s eyes lit up with amusement: “So you’re looking for me just for this? To have me cover for you, so we can both leave the exile team?”

Xiang Ying nodded honestly: “Yeah, what else?”

Jie Chen stopped himself from saying more.

Yeah, what else? He was overthinking it again.

He shook his head slightly: “It’s mostly impossible, King Yong is with us, we can’t leave for too long.”

Xiang Ying looked a bit disheartened: “Then what should we do, there is so much jade, my Qiankun Bag really needs it.”

Jie Chen looked down at her: “Do you really want it?”

“Yes.”

“Give me a kiss, and I’ll figure out a way for you.”

As he spoke, he leaned his head closer, Xiang Ying skillfully wrapped her hand around his neck, their breaths intertwined, Jie Chen’s heart felt as if it had been infused with nectar.

It couldn’t be helped, Xiang Ying had thoroughly captivated him; now if she asked for his life, he would find a way to give it to her without letting her bear the sin of murder.

“Give me the location of the jade mine, I’ll find people to mine it for you.”

Xiang Ying blinked, her red lips glistening: “How many people can you find?”

Jie Chen actually started laughing.

“A Fallen Prince always has more usable people than you’d imagine.”