Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Inside the mine shed, Zhou Qingfeng brewed tea and waited quietly, chatting with Xiao Ye and the other man. He appeared calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. This was the benefit of tempering one's willpower, enabling one to remain indifferent to whatever comes one's way.

After waiting a moment, Jin Wei brought over two miners and interrogated them in front of Zhou Qingfeng.

After confirming that what Steward Lian said was true, Zhou Qingfeng drank a cup of tea and waved his hand: "Prepare a clean room and give these two brothers a few days off, just to let them rest."

Upon hearing that they could rest and have a holiday, the two miners were overjoyed and thanked him profusely, saying, "Thank you very much, Commander Qiu."

Zhou Qingfeng nodded and gave Jin Wei a look.

Jin Wei immediately understood and beckoned his soldiers to take away the two mine slaves.

Zhou Qingfeng seemingly gave the two men a break, but in reality, he had placed them under house arrest. However, he made it sound good, which made the two miners not only unafraid but also grateful and allowed them to rest.

Xiao Hongyun spoke up at the right moment: "Old Zhou, this is troublesome. If what Steward Lian said is true, then the informant probably already knows that we learned about the existence of Zhuxian Village from Steward Lian."

"In this way, once our spies run off to report the news, Zhuxian Village will definitely become wary. They might run away, or they might take the opportunity to attack us, which would put us in a very passive position."

“Even if we take strict precautions against spies reporting information, we still don’t know where Zhuxian Village is located. My suggestion for the current plan is to lure the spies, then pry them open and find out the location of the thieves’ den.”

Ye Tingxiu stroked his chin, his meaning succinct: "Feasible!"

Zhou Qingfeng shook his head: "No need to lure them in. Don't worry, everything is still under my control."

Xiao Hongyun and Ye Tingxiu exchanged bewildered glances, wondering what Zhou Qingfeng was up to.

Zhou Qingfeng is not just someone who talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk.

The so-called plan is just a plan. Plans can never keep up with changes. I never thought that everything would evolve according to the plan.

It's normal for unexpected events to happen. The key is to steer the situation back on track and regain control of the course of events while keeping the overall plan intact.

Zhou Qingfeng tapped the table, pondered for a moment, and made a decision: "Jin Wei, go and invite Steward Lian."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei walked to the door and whispered a few words to the soldier on guard. The soldier quickly ran over and brought Manager Lian back to the mine shed. This time, when Manager Lian saw Zhou Qingfeng, he immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

"General Manager Qiu, I know I was wrong. Please, have mercy on me and let me go." Manager Lian truly felt that his future was bleak and begged for mercy repeatedly.

If this matter gets reported to higher authorities, the manager can forget about becoming the head of the department.

One hundred and fifty-five people, all running away together. After such a huge incident, they still dared to cover it up from their superiors and deceive their subordinates.

Anyone with a brain knows he'll be stripped of his job and sent to work as a mining slave.

Zhou Qingfeng reached out and helped Steward Lian up, saying with a smile, "Oh dear, Steward Lian, I didn't say I was going to do anything to you. Look how scared you are. Please sit down. Old Ye, make room for me."

Upon hearing this, Ye Tingxiu got up, walked to the side, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, and remained silent.

The head steward sat down tremblingly, pleadingly grabbing Zhou Qingfeng's arm: "General Manager Qiu, I beg you."

Zhou Qingfeng said with a smile, "Actually, the matter of the slaves escaping is neither a big deal nor a small one. I can turn a blind eye and pretend I didn't see anything. Whether they are bandits or not has nothing to do with me. That's not my business."

"I'm just short of money, it all depends on whether Manager Lian knows what he's doing."

The head steward was overjoyed. He wasn't afraid of encountering a greedy person, but rather a person who wasn't greedy. Clearly, this son of a powerful family was greedy. So he nodded frantically, "I understand, I understand completely, don't worry."

Zhou Qingfeng smiled slightly: "Then I'll wait for Steward Lian's good news."

The head steward excitedly said, "No problem, no problem."

Zhou Qingfeng gestured and said with a faint smile, "Go ahead, Steward Lian."

Since Steward Lian likes to deceive his superiors and subordinates, let him continue to play this role. There is no need to reveal the truth to him, because only a genuine performance from the heart can deceive others.

Since my current false identity is that of a privileged young man, I should play my role well.

He wanted his informants to believe he was just a cynical, spoiled military officer who used the opportunity to extort money.

Then his subsequent bandit suppression plan would not be affected.

……

Manager Lian thought he had gotten away with it by luck and quickly summoned two deputy managers of the mine.

"Chief Steward Lian, are you alright?" The Left and Right Deputy Chief Stewards asked with great concern.

The steward wiped away his cold sweat and quickly poured himself a cup of tea to calm down. However, he spat it out after taking a sip. He had just drunk too much water while "washing his face" in the well and really couldn't drink any more.

"It's alright. This Qiu Qianchi, the Chief of Staff, is just a greedy little devil."

"They're just trying to extort money from me."

The head steward recounted the events to his two deputy head stewards, then patted his chest with a look of trepidation.

"We're lucky; this time we've run into a cynical, greedy little devil."

"If we really encounter someone who acts impartially, we're afraid we won't escape this calamity."

Upon hearing the full story, both the left and right deputy chief stewards breathed a sigh of relief.

The Left Deputy Steward said, "Steward Lian, how much do you think it would cost to shut him up?"

The head steward held up two fingers with a pained expression: "At least two million coins. I'm afraid this brat will turn on me if I don't pay more."

Upon hearing this, the two deputy chief stewards gasped in shock: "Hiss, two million coins?"

The Left Deputy Steward said, "Steward Lian, isn't this a bit too much?"

The right deputy chief steward said, "Chief Steward Lian, we can easily send him away with a few hundred thousand coins. Two million coins is too much. This is not just cutting off our flesh, it's going to bankrupt us."

Even the head steward sighed helplessly when he saw the two men looking distressed. His group of people were just outsourced servants, with little pay, lots of work, and danger. The only advantage was that they could make some extra money by managing the businesses.

But how much extra money can one earn? It's nothing more than exploiting miners, skimming off a little here and a little there, embezzling a little here and a little there, slowly accumulating a meager fortune.

Having to return all the principal and interest this time would be worse than killing them.

The manager could only try to persuade them gently: "Don't worry about that little bit of money. Think about it, how big is this? One hundred and fifty-five miners have run away. It can be considered that we mismanaged them, so we can just demote them and fine them."

"But this is not just a simple case of miners escaping. These miners went up the mountain to join the bandits of Zhuxian Village. We watched the bandits grow stronger and stronger, but we knew about it and kept it a secret. This is a serious crime and will cost us our heads."

“That Qiu Qianchi is obviously a bad guy. He takes every opportunity to exploit us. I’ve seen plenty of people like him. Even if he knew about Zhuxian Village, he wouldn’t kill the bandits. Instead, he would just wipe us all out.”

“Killing bandits is so risky, but killing us is so easy.”

“Killing innocent people and claiming credit for it, these soldiers are capable of such things. They will definitely take our heads back to the city to collect their reward.”

"So now is not the time to be stingy with money. If we give him the money, we can survive, keep our positions, and make a comeback in the future. If he takes the money, he will be an accomplice to us, and this matter will be suppressed."

“If we don’t get the money, we’ll die, but the money will still be his. He can kill innocent people, claim credit, and go back to the city to receive the reward.”

"Do you understand? This is the situation now, we have no choice. Don't worry about the money!"

"Do you want your lives or your money? Give me an answer!"

The two deputy managers' faces turned red, and they finally managed to utter one sentence: "We need money. What's the point of risking our lives if we don't have money?"