95. Chapter 95: Return to the Capital

The promise of wages no lower than those in the capital, plus a full month of New Year's leave, made many of the miners who had been preparing to give up their work here and return home to reunite with their families begin to hesitate as well.

"Lord! Please forgive this humble one for speaking boldly. The benefits you've described are indeed very tempting, and honestly, this lowly one is also quite moved! However, we are after all nothing but common folk — our puny arms can never twist against your mighty thigh. Therefore, this humble one worries that your lordship's promises may not be fulfilled in the future. Might I ask if you have any good method to set our minds at ease?!" From amidst the crowd of miners, a somewhat older middle-aged man stepped forward and called out loudly.

Clearly, his doubt was also the shared doubt of many miners beneath him. Until this question was resolved, it was estimated that although many miners coveted the generous treatment on offer, they would still have to consider their own skins and ultimately choose to leave.

After all, the various inhuman treatment they had suffered here before had long made many miners wish they could sprout wings and fly away from this hell on earth!

What good was earning gold coins if one had no life left to spend them? What if this lord had a kind face but a cruel heart — what if after a year he slaughtered every single miner and then snatched back all the gold coins he had handed out?!

"Hehe! I understand everyone's concerns. After all, the misfortunes you suffered here in the past were truly terrible! I believe it's only because you are not yet familiar with this lord's character that you harbor such worries!" Facing the expectant gazes of the many miners, Du Long replied with a nonchalant smile. "Before coming here, this lord executed twenty or thirty corrupt officials in Fengli Commandery, including the former prefect Qian Jinlong! Once you all get out of here in the future, you'll be able to verify this!"

"Furthermore, besides being the lord of Fengli Commandery, I am also the Imperial Consort of the current dynasty. The lady beside me is none other than the Fire Phoenix Princess, the jewel of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Haotian Empire — she is also my wife! You can all see that besides my personal troops surrounding us, there is also a far more elite unit of Imperial Guards. That's right! They are the ones sent by His Imperial Majesty to protect Her Highness the Fire Phoenix Princess!"

"Fengli Commandery is precisely the dowry that His Imperial Majesty bestowed upon Her Highness the Fire Phoenix Princess. If you all don't believe this lord's words, then surely with the Fire Phoenix Princess herself standing here, you can't possibly think she would deceive you over a paltry wage?!"

These words from Du Long immediately caused many miners who had still harbored doubts to brighten their eyes on the spot. The Fire Phoenix Princess was also a clever woman — she stepped gracefully to the front of the platform, raised a golden token, and called out in a clear, pleasant voice: "This is the genuine Princess Token, guaranteed authentic! I am the Fire Phoenix Princess, and the man beside me is indeed my husband, the Imperial Consort of the current dynasty, and the newly appointed lord of Fengli Commandery!"

With her help in explaining, how could the miners below harbor the slightest doubt any longer? They knelt down in a wave on the spot, and while loudly paying their respects to Her Highness the Princess, they also expressed their willingness to stay and serve the princess!

With that, the matter of pacifying the miners was essentially concluded. The remaining affairs could be left for Fu An to handle — he merely needed to register those willing to stay, and give each person who wished to leave five silver coins as travel expenses, letting them depart the Demon Beast Forest together with the lord's procession!

Inside the main hall of the mine stronghold, Du Long and the Fire Phoenix Princess sat in the seats of honor at the head, while below them a host of close friends and the newly confirmed management personnel of the mine stronghold were seated in two rows on either side.

"Everyone! Does anyone know what mineral deposits exist within the Fengli territories of the Demon Beast Forest, besides these three gold mines?" From the main seat, Du Long posed the question.

After waiting for quite a while, an elderly man finally spoke up respectfully: "My lord! This subordinate is a native of Fengli Commandery and has a certain understanding of the areas within the Demon Beast Forest that fall under Fengli's jurisdiction. Apart from the three major mines your lordship has now taken back, the other gold mines elsewhere are all small or poor ones — about a dozen or so in total. Mining gold from these small mines is time-consuming and laborious, and involves a great deal of luck. They are not suitable for large-scale extraction! Therefore, those places are merely where scattered adventuring parties go to try their luck!"

"Oh!" Du Long's eyes lit up as he continued asking: "What do you mean by luck?!"

"My lord! By luck, I mean that when mining gold in those small mines, everything depends on fortune. If luck is good, one might suddenly strike ore with a high gold content; if luck is bad, one could dig for a long time and still find nothing. One might say that those with good luck are still in the minority!"

"Very well then! Since those small mines aren't suitable for large-scale extraction, we'll leave them be for now. However, in the future, you must send people to scout out the conditions of each small mine, and when necessary, dispatch personnel to take over that mine! Beyond that, you must also continue to press forward with exploration within the territory, searching for new mineral veins, and also gain a thorough grasp of the distribution of demon beast strength throughout the various regions of the Demon Beast Forest. Xiao Anzi, you must handle all these matters with full effort!" Du Long nodded and continued his instructions.

"Yes, Young Master!" As a trusted subordinate brought out from the Du household, Fu An habitually addressed Du Long in this manner.

With these matters arranged, this expedition to reclaim the gold mines was successfully concluded. Du Long stayed an extra day at the third gold mine, and after dealing with everything, he began making preparations for the journey home!

First of all, there were those three little mountains of gold. After each of his close friends received a share of one hundred gold bars each, he swept all the rest into his own spatial ring!

Ever since his strength had risen from the Qi Gathering stage to the Qi Swirl stage, his Coiled Serpent Ring's space had expanded several times over — storing these gold bars was absolutely no problem at all!

The others naturally had no intention of carrying heavy gold bars on the road. One by one, they handed their gold bars over to Su Jinbao — this fellow possessed a spatial ring, and storing a mere few hundred gold bars was naturally no trouble for him.

He immediately pulled out a stack of bank notes on the spot, and every person who had handed him gold bars received notes to the value of ten thousand gold coins each. This fellow — he produced tens of thousands of gold coins' worth of bank notes without so much as batting an eye.

"Oho! Classmate Su, the walking treasure, is your family in the money-lending business or what?! Why do I get the feeling that the bank notes on you are as plentiful as sheets of paper?!" Du Caini, upon receiving her ten thousand gold coins' worth of bank notes, couldn't help but tease him with puzzlement.

"Indeed, indeed! Even this princess would find it no easy matter to suddenly produce bank notes worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Just who exactly are you, fellow?!" The Fire Phoenix Princess joined in the raillery. Previously, seeing that he possessed a spatial ring had already made even her, a princess, feel quite envious.

"Hehe, if I said the Starry Sky Bank was opened by my family, would you believe it or not?!" Su Jinbao laughed dryly, half in jest.

"Pfft!" All the beauties rolled their eyes on the spot, every face wearing an expression of utter disbelief. Even Du Long and the other young men felt the same. The origins of the Starry Sky Bank were extremely mysterious — everyone on the Starry Sky Continent only knew that the Starry Sky Bank was established by the Baolong Trading Company, yet who the grand boss behind the Baolong Trading Company was remained a mystery to this very day.

After everyone had made their preparations, they set out bright and early the next morning to begin the journey back. At the site of the third gold mine, they left behind a little over two hundred miners, along with management personnel and two hundred guards.

The main procession traveled safely through Twin Ditch Valley and headed straight for the second gold mine, where they left behind a little over two hundred miners and a hundred guards. After resting there for one night, they continued on toward the first gold mine.

As for the first gold mine, the number of miners was still around two hundred, but the guards were somewhat fewer — only a few dozen private troops of the territory. This place was much closer to Fengli Commandery City and comparatively safer as well; when the time came, they could simply dispatch additional personnel from the commandery city.

In the end, the only ones remaining by Du Long's side were one hundred Imperial Guards, several dozen Du family retainers, and fifty-some miners who were unwilling to stay any longer in the Demon Beast Forest and were anxious to hurry home to reunite with their families!

A procession of some two hundred people soon emerged from the Demon Beast Forest. It was only after arriving at Goldridge Town that all the miners finally took their leave of Du Long with profuse thanks. To be honest, before leaving the Demon Beast Forest, they had truly worried whether this lord might silence them by killing them!

Now they could finally put their minds at ease, and toward this lord who kept his word, they were naturally filled with gratitude and admiration!

After resting briefly in Goldridge Town for one night, Du Long and his party, now unburdened by the miners, swiftly rode at full speed back to Fengli Commandery City. There, they spent the following days arranging all the various affairs of Fengli Commandery — especially ensuring that the logistical support for the three gold mines was properly organized.

For instance, they immediately needed to reinforce the defensive forces at the three gold mines, dispatch grain and other daily necessities there, and recruit new miners from across the entire commandery. In short, it was only after busying themselves for two full days that Du Long managed to finish handling everything!

At last, these students of the Haotian Royal Academy finally set foot on the road back to the capital. To make haste, they traveled almost without pause — unless absolutely necessary, they passed by towns along the way without entering, going straight around them instead.

Even traveling at such a hurried pace, it still took them nearly three full days before they finally returned to the capital from which they had been away for so long!