Chapter 483: Capture the Leader First
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yu Niaoniao asked.
“Where did you get this information?”
Wei Liao deliberately kept them in suspense. “We, the Sky Wolf Guards, have our own channels of information. There’s no need to tell you this.”
Xiao Juan suggested in a low voice, “If there’s really an iron mine in Liangzhou, it will definitely require a large number of people to mine it. Coincidentally, Eldest Princess Ni Yang captured many commoners to serve as laborers under the excuse of searching for gigolos.”
Wei Liao said lazily, “In my opinion, snatching men is just an illusion used by Princess Ni Yang to confuse the public. Her real goal is to gather enough people to mine iron ore for herself.”
Realization dawned on Yu Niaoniao.
“If that’s the case, the family of Ling Hai and Ling Miao should have been captured to mine iron ore. As long as we can find the iron ore, we can help them find their family.”
Wei Liao unceremoniously poured cold water on her.
“It’s not that simple! What we just said is just a guess. At the moment, we’re not even sure if the iron mine really exists. How can we find the exact address?” Xiao Juan was deep in thought. ‘What’s their goal in mining iron ore?”
Wei Liao leaned back and said mockingly, “It can’t be that she’s forging iron to sell pots, right?”
Yu Niaoniao recalled that she had spent a large sum of money to buy the iron pot and kitchen knife. It could be seen that iron ore was an extremely precious resource in this era.
Having an iron mine was no different from having a golden mountain.
She asked Wei Liao, “You just said that Princess Ni Yang wants to rebel. What’s going on?”
Wei Liao spread his hands and analyzed slowly, “Isn’t it obvious? Princess Ni Yang used Wang Jun to control Wang Jianan and forced him to turn a blind eye.”
“What she did was equivalent to separating Liangzhou from the Imperial Court, preventing the Imperial Court from knowing about the change in the situation in Liangzhou.”
“She had also killed the Prince Consort and hidden the iron mine. Perhaps she had even pocketed the stolen silver.
“As a princess, she does not lack food or clothes. She could live in luxury for the rest of her life. However, she had to take such a huge risk. She must have a huge plan.”
“Doesn’t she love reading your Record of the Phoenix Cry Nation? I guessed she was envious of the princess in the book.”
“She also wants to be like the female lead in the book and stand at the peak of power, trampling all those men who think highly of themselves.”
Actually, the reason why he suspected Princess Ni Yang was because of an imperial edict secretly sent to him by his adoptive father, Wei Huai’en, before he left the Imperial Capital.
The emperor asked him to keep an eye on Xiao Juan. Once Xiao Juan and Princess Ni Yang did anything unusual, he would kill them without mercy!
At first, he did not understand the emperor’s decree.
It was when he came to Jinwu City and met Princess Ni Yang that he gradually understood the meaning behind the decree.
Perhaps the emperor had long been suspicious of Princess Ni Yang. He was worried that his half-sister would plot to usurp the throne, but because Liangzhou was too far from the Imperial Capital, he could not do anything about this matter. He could only let Wei Liao go to Liangzhou in his place.
What Wei Liao found out later further confirmed his guess.
These words were reasonable. Yu Niaoniao believed them.
She had not interacted with Princess Ni Yang for long, but she could feel that Princess Ni Yang was the kind of person who did not want to submit to others.
Her strength was even greater than that of many men.
Ordinary people would not dare to think about rebelling, but it was hard to say if it was Princess Ni Yang.
Xiao Juan said expressionlessly, “These are just your guesses.”
Wei Liao smiled. “They’re indeed just guesses, but you already believe them, don’t you?”
Xiao Juan was silent.
Yu Niaoniao was very worried. If Princess Ni Yang really wanted to rebel, what would Xiao Juan do?
Even though everyone knew that the mother and son did not have a good relationship, it was still impossible to erase their blood relationship in this era of filial piety.
Once Princess Ni Yang rebelled, regardless of whether she succeeded in the end, Xiao Juan would fall into a predicament.
She reached under the table and placed her hand on the back of Xiao Juan’s.
Xiao Juan looked sideways at her.
He saw worry and concern in her eyes.
Wei Liao spoke again, drawing their attention to him, “What are your plans next?”
Xiao Juan was still silent.
Wei Liao was helpless. “Do you still want to fight alone at a time like this?”
Under the table, Yu Niaoniao held Xiao Juan’s hand bit by bit, silently telling him—
Whatever his choice was, she would always support him.
Xiao Juan felt the warmth from the back of his hand, and his silent attitude melted bit by bit.
“I already met Wang Jianan last night. He said that Princess Ni Yang and Yuan Gui had already colluded. That batch of missing dirty money might have fallen into their hands.”
Wei Liao clicked his tongue. “Tsk, as expected!”
Yu Niaoniao’s heart was heavy.
“They captured innocent people wantonly and secretly mined iron ore. This will allow them to continuously forge weapons.”
“In addition, there is the dirty silver worth tens of millions of taels and the military power in the city guard captain’s hands.”
“They have already taken advantage of the right time, place, and people.” A rare solemn expression appeared on Wei Liao’s face.
“They’re prepared and only lack the east wind. What about us? Even if we add up all the people in our hands, there are less than two thousand. If we want to stop them from rebelling, it’s no different from a mantis trying to stop a cart.
We’re courting death.”
Yu Niaoniao hesitated. “Let’s leave this place first. We’ll attack when the Imperial Court’s reinforcements arrive.”
Wei Liao laughed.
“You’re naive. Do you think we’ll ever leave Liangzhou safely?”
Yu Niaoniao immediately fell silent.
She actually knew that with Princess Ni Yang’s style of doing things, it was impossible for her to let them leave safely.
Now that Princess Ni Yang had yet to fall out with them, she probably felt that the time was not ripe.
And this was all they had.
Wei Liao fiddled with the chopsticks on the table and looked between Xiao Juan and Yu Niaoniao.
“I have an idea, but I wonder if you can accept it?”
Yu Niaoniao refused without thinking. “No!”
Wei Liao raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t even said what it is, and you’re already saying no?”
Yu Niaoniao said almost shamelessly.
“I don’t care. You just can’t!”
Wei Liao looked at her angry face and suddenly laughed.
“Have you guessed what I’m going to say?” Yu Niaoniao looked away, ignoring him.
She had indeed guessed.
But she couldn’t accept that solution.
At this moment, Xiao Juan suddenly spoke.
“What’s your solution?”
Yu Niaoniao held his hand. “Ignore him. He likes to talk nonsense!”
Xiao Juan held her hand. “I know what to do.”
Wei Liao spoke slowly.
“I’m sure Duke Lang knows the principle of capturing the leader first, right?”
Xiao Juan asked, “You want to kill Princess Ni Yang?”
Wei Liao corrected him, “We will kill Princess Ni Yang and Yuan Gui together.
As long as the two of them die, the people below will be leaderless and will naturally collapse.. “