Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend
Chapter 122: The Stolen Iron Ore

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: The Stolen Iron Ore

As soon as Ye Lingyue entered the governor’s mansion, she felt that something was amiss with the atmosphere.

Inside the governor’s mansion, her grandfather Ye Gu, several male descendants of the Ye Family, the adviser Wen Ce, and even Ye Huangyu and Lan Cai’er were present.

It turns out that the iron ore supplied by the Ye Family for use by the military stationed in Li City had disappeared overnight?

Ever since the Ye Family had relocated to Li City, Ye Gu had established a cooperative relationship with the Alchemist Association at the cost of half of the Xuanyin Jade Vein.

President Liao had even dispatched several master alchemists from the Alchemist Association to help guide the Ye Family in forging Xuantie Ore.

As a result, the quality of the Xuantie Ore forged by the Ye Family improved by a lot. This time, more than ninety percent of the extracted Xuantie Ore was 70 percent Xuantie, and ten percent was 80 percent Xuantie.

Ye Lingyue had been busy learning the "Blink Shield" these past few days, and during that time, the Ye Family had already delivered to the governor’s mansion the first batch of military iron ore, approximately nine thousand pieces of 70 percent Xuantie and one thousand pieces of 80 percent Xuantie.

These Xuantie Ores had also smoothly passed the governor’s mansion inspection and, on the preceding days, were transported through waterways to the army stationed near Li City.

But an accident occurred in transit.

Ten thousand pieces of high-quality Xuantie Ore suddenly vanished.

Not only had the Xuantie Ore disappeared, but even the ships transporting the Xuantie Ore and the boatsmen had vanished into thin air overnight, leaving no trace.

"How could ten thousand pieces of Xuantie Ore disappear overnight? There’s something fishy about this," Ye Lingyue felt something was wrong as soon as she heard it.

"I find it strange too, and I even suspected the Mountain and Sea Gang was behind it. However, after some investigation, we found nothing," Governor Lan was deeply troubled.

Governor Lan also vaguely knew that the Mountain and Sea Gang’s predecessor were the pirates of the Lishui area, so on the second day after the incident, he led a search at the Mountain and Sea Gang’s headquarters but came up empty-handed.

The father and son duo Sha Zhan also insisted that they knew nothing about the iron ore and had alibis proving they weren’t there. It seemed that the incident genuinely had nothing to do with the Mountain and Sea Gang.

Ten thousand pieces of Xuantie Ore is not a small number, and it would be impossible for the Mountain and Sea Gang to hide it without leaving a trace.

"So you’re saying that if the Mountain and Sea Gang didn’t do it, who else could be targeting the Ye Family?" Lan Cai’er was also anxious. The Ye Family was the iron supplier recommended to the military by her father. This was the first time the Ye Family had delivered Xuantie, and if it qualified, the Ye Family’s status would be secured in the future.

But if the Ye Family couldn’t deliver the Xuantie Ore within the agreed time, it would mean defying military orders, which is a serious crime. The Ye Residence wouldn’t be able to escape prison, and Governor Lan would inevitably be implicated as well.

"There are only seven days left until the military’s required delivery date, and even if we join forces with the Alchemist Association, it is absolutely impossible to forge ten thousand pieces of top-grade Xuantie Ore," Ye Gu frowned, having not slept for two nights over this matter.

He led the Ye Family in a thorough search of the area where the ore disappeared but didn’t find a single clue.

The situation was extremely urgent, and the mood amongst both the Ye Family and the governor’s mansion personnel was low.

Upon hearing this, Ye Lingyue remained silent.

Seven days to produce ten thousand pieces of Xuantie was an impossible task, even with the use of Cauldron Breath forging.

After discussion, they could not come to a conclusive strategy.

"It seems we have no other choice but to have the Alchemist Association and the Ye Family work overtime through the night. We’ll produce as much as we can, and as for the military side, I will go and negotiate for a few extra days," Governor Lan and Ye Gu could only temporarily decide on this course of action.

After leaving the governor’s mansion, Ye Lingyue pulled Lan Cai’er aside.

"What? You want to buy Xuantie Ore? How could that be possible? 80 percent Xuantie is not common in the market, and even if it was, the price is astronomical. Where would we get that much money?" Lan Cai’er was alarmed by Ye Lingyue’s wild idea.

But she also admitted, Ye Lingyue’s idea was the most expedient method.

"The financial aspect, I will resolve. However, our true purpose isn’t really to buy up the Xuantie, but to lure the snake out of its hole. Don’t you want to help your foster father with his urgent problem?" Ye Lingyue whispered into Lan Cai’er’s ear, causing her to immediately switch from worry to joy.

That very afternoon, a disguised merchant from out of town arrived at Juqi Tower.

"I want the highest grade Xuantie, over 80 percent concentration. Ten taels of gold for one piece, and I’ll take as much as you have. This is the deposit. If the purchase is successful, I will pay a 20 percent commission to Juqi Tower. I’m staying at the Yuelai Inn in the city," said the out-of-town businessman, as he flamboyantly threw down several silver notes.

The denomination on the silver notes was a whopping one thousand taels of silver.

Take as much as you have? Even the shopkeeper of Juqi Tower was shocked by the bold spending of the out-of-town customer.

"Guest, 80 percent Xuantie isn’t commonly found in the market, but our establishment will do its best to help you procure the Xuantie," said the shopkeeper. Not long after the client left, notices were posted by Juqi Tower all over the city’s inns and taverns, seeking to buy high-quality Xuantie.

A day went by, and no one tore down the notices.

Another two days passed, and still, there was no movement.

Inside the Yuelai Inn, Lan Cai’er and Ye Lingyue sat in their private room, having waited there for three days now. The deadline for the Ye Family to deliver the first batch of Xuantie was drawing ever closer.

"Ling Yue, it’s been three days, and not a single person has come. Could it be that they’ve become suspicious of us?" Lan Cai’er grew restless and started to pace around the room.

Originally, a few days ago, after discussing with Ye Lingyue, Lan Cai’er had hired someone from out of town to pretend to be a wealthy customer to go to Juqi Tower and buy Xuantie.

"Don’t worry, we’ll soon have fish taking the bait," Ye Lingyue smiled.

Little did they know, Ye Lingyue’s words would soon come to fruition.

Not only did they catch a fish, but it was a big one at that.

When Sha Zhan, the Young Master of the Mountain and Sea Gang, walked into Yuelai Inn, both Ye Lingyue and Lan Cai’er, who had been quietly observing from upstairs, instantly felt invigorated.

It seemed that their earlier guess wasn’t wrong; this matter indeed related to the Mountain and Sea Gang.

In fact, Sha Zhan had already heard about the high-priced purchase of Xuantie.

However, with the recent issues involving the Ye Family, Sha Kuang had ordered that anyone in the gang related to the Xuantie Ore must not disclose anything regarding the Xuantie Ore.

Sha Kuang thought everything was going seamlessly, only to have his own son inadvertently cause trouble at this critical juncture.

Sha Zhan was a typical second-generation scion who preferred leisure over work. Recently, while gambling outside the city, he had inadvertently lost tens of thousands of taels of gold.

This wasn’t the first time Sha Zhan had lost money. In the past, his father was able to cover for him, but this time, he dared not tell his own father.

With little money on hand and just at this moment hearing that Juqi Tower was offering a high price for top-grade Xuantie, he had a crooked thought and came looking. He did not realize that the moment he stepped into the room of that out-of-town merchant, Ye Lingyue and Lan Cai’er were eagerly listening in from next door.