Accidentally dressed as an empress

Mingxiao Mountain

Mingxiao Mountain is a towering, precipitous mountain with jagged rocks. Most of the mountain is made up of gray-black rocks, with tenacious thorns and weeds growing in the cracks. When the mountain wind blows past, the pine waves sound like the howling of ghosts and wolves.

At the foot of Mingxiao Mountain, there is a muddy stream flowing. The water is icy cold and carries mud and slag from the mountain.

On the mountainside, there are densely packed mines, and mountains of waste rock are piled up around the mines.

The narrow mine tunnel twists and turns deep into the mountain. It is dark and without light. Only a few weak oil lamps sway in the wind, barely illuminating the muddy and water-filled ground.

In the mine tunnel, the dim light flickered, reflecting the tired and desperate figures of the miners. In this dim light, they worked hard like ants.

After the arrival of winter, the biting cold wind blew across the earth like a knife, and the mine in Mingxiao Mountain was like an ice cellar.

In the dim mine tunnels, ragged miners struggled in the harsh environment. Their daily food intake was meager, consisting of only thin soups that could not withstand the severe cold.

Many miners gradually lost their vitality under the dual torture of hunger and cold. From time to time, miners fell in the corner of the mine, their bodies stiff, covered by ice and snow, and their eyes closed forever.

In the corner of the mine, a group of miners were sitting together, their faces blurred by dirt and sweat, their eyes full of fatigue and numbness.

One of the young miners had his hands shaking constantly. He had just witnessed a co-worker suddenly collapse during heavy work, and the gradually cooling body was casually dragged to an abandoned branch deep in the mine.

Life here is as light as an ant and not worth mentioning.

"When will this end?" the young miner's voice, choked with sobs, broke the silence. An old man slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with deep despair: "Perhaps, only death can bring relief."

"This is not a life for human beings. We can't just wait to die like this," said a man.

At this moment, the sound of the supervisor's whip rang out like thunder, accompanied by an angry roar: "You are all slacking off here! Hurry up and work!" The whip hit the ground mercilessly, splashing mud and water. The miners could only struggle to get up and drag their heavy steps to their respective work areas.

Deeper in the mine, in a newly excavated tunnel, the occasional dull thumping and clatter of falling rocks could be heard. Several miners were desperately wielding their crude tools, hammering away at the rocks on the mountain.

Suddenly, a violent tremor erupted from deep within the mine, followed by a huge roar. The mine collapsed, sending clouds of smoke and dust billowing into the air. The miners screamed in terror and fled in all directions.

In the chaos and despair, Yang Er relied on his familiarity with the terrain of the mine and tried hard to find a way to survive in the smoke and dust.

He shouted at his fellow workers to calm down, but panic had already spread among the crowd like a plague.

An injured miner was lying on the ground, his legs pinned by a boulder. He looked at Yang Er with pleading eyes: "Brother Yang, don't worry about me, just go away!" But Yang Er rushed over without hesitation and tried to move the boulder. The veins on his forehead bulged, and sweat mixed with dust kept flowing.

At this moment, the supervisors took the opportunity to escape. They rushed through the narrow passage without caring about the lives of the miners.

When Yang Er saw this scene, he roared angrily: "You beasts, you exploit us every day, and now you want to run away?" He threw down the boulder and rushed towards the supervisors.

The two sides wrestled with each other in the chaotic mine. Although Yang Er was brave, the supervisors were outnumbered.

Suddenly, another aftershock hit, and rocks continued to fall from the top of the mine, and the entire space seemed to be about to collapse completely.

Yang Er seized an opportunity, snatched a wooden stick from the supervisor, temporarily repelled them, and then turned around to continue rescuing the injured workers.

Fortunately, with the concerted efforts of Yang Er and several strong workers, the injured miner was finally rescued.

They supported each other and groped their way forward in the rickety mine tunnel, finally finding the way to the surface. As soon as they emerged, a cold and fresh air hit them, but their mood did not relax at all.

After going out, Yang Er discovered that no one outside was planning to dig a tunnel to rescue the people. His eyes widened instantly, his face filled with disbelief, and a chill surged in his heart, more biting than the winter wind.

Yang Er was furious and went straight to the foreman. The foreman was sitting by the warm fire, holding a wine jug in his hand. When he saw Yang Er rushing in, a look of displeasure flashed across his face.

Yang Er asked angrily, "There are still many brothers trapped inside. How could you not send people to rescue them?"

The foreman said nonchalantly, "Buried them? Just bury them. They're just cheap laborers. If one dies, there's always another."

Yang Er clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He wished he could rush up and beat up this cold-blooded foreman.

"Are you speaking human language? They are all living beings with flesh and blood, working hard for you, but you are so cruel!" Yang Er's voice trembled with anger.

The foreman sneered, stood up, and said arrogantly, "Humph, you ignorant brat, you have no right to interfere in the affairs of this mine. I only follow orders from above."

Yang Er's eyes were red. It was no use trying to reason with the foreman. He had to find another way.

He turned and left the foreman's house, secretly swearing in his heart that he must rescue the people buried underneath and escape from this hell.

Everyone responded, and although they were exhausted and wounded, they felt an unprecedented courage and strength in their hearts. The miners began to collect all available tools, simple iron picks, shovels, and even wooden sticks and ropes.

Yang Er left the foreman's office and hurried back to the miners' temporary gathering place. His eyes burned with anger and determination as he relayed the foreman's cold and heartless words to the others. The miners were filled with righteous indignation and outrage.

Yang Er stood up, his eyes blazing as he scanned the surrounding workers. He shouted, "Brothers, we have been oppressed and exploited for so long, and now they don't even care if we live or die. Instead of waiting here to die, why don't we unite and rescue our trapped brothers? Then we can demand justice from this dark world!"

"Brother Yang is right!"

"I listen to Brother Yang!"

Yang Er looked at these brothers who endured hardships silently on weekdays, and were so brave and united at this moment. He said, "Let's start digging near the collapsed entrance. Everyone must be careful not to cause a secondary collapse." Yang Er directed everyone and took the lead to walk towards the entrance of the mine.

During the excavation process, there were many difficulties, the soil and rocks kept sliding down, and it took a huge amount of effort to dig a little bit.

But no one complained, no one backed down. Their hands were scraped and bleeding, but they still struggled to wield the tools.

Meanwhile, the foreman felt uneasy as he saw the miners organizing their own rescue efforts.

He was worried that if the miners succeeded in rescuing the trapped people, it would cause greater trouble, so he sent people to stop them. But the miners were not afraid. They used their bodies to build a human wall and resolutely kept the foreman's minions away.

The burly foreman's face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm. Without saying a word, he grabbed the thick and cold iron whip in his hand, which flashed a ferocious light in the dim light.

He suddenly raised the iron whip high and lashed it down at Yang Er and the others fiercely. Each whip made a whistling sound as it fell on their bodies mercilessly, instantly leaving bloody marks on their tattered clothes. Yang Er and the others curled up on the ground in pain, but gritted their teeth and did not utter a word to beg for mercy.

"Hmph, you daring fellows, are you trying to rebel?" The foreman whipped and cursed them viciously, with a twisted and smug look on his face.

"Foreman, please have mercy on them and save them!" Yang Erqiang endured the pain, looked up and glared at the foreman, and shouted loudly.

"Stop talking nonsense! In Xiling, your lives are worthless and death is not a pity!" The foreman had no intention of stopping and whipped even harder with the iron whip.