A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

Chu Hanchuan's face turned ashen; the turn of events had exceeded his expectations, leaving him speechless.

After a moment of silence, Chu Hanchuan came to his senses and said in a deep voice, "Zhao Daxuan, I know you don't want others to know about the gold mine!"

"Leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future. I won't reveal your gold mine affair. How about we each take a step back?"

"Let me tell you, I have powerful backers in the capital; you can't touch me!"

Zhao Daxuan shook his head firmly.

"Chu Hanchuan, you're a smart man. If you dare mention the gold mine, then you're not just 'colluding with bandits and murdering government prisoners,' but rather 'knowingly failing to report a private mine and instead conspiring to seize profits!'"

"At that time, your backers in the capital will be the first to sever ties with you, and they will even take the initiative to write a letter to kill you to silence you, so as not to be implicated by you."

"If you obediently confess your guilt, I will put all the blame on Leng Wuye and say that you were bewitched by him and made a mistake in a moment."

"Perhaps we can still plead with the imperial court to spare your life, preventing the execution of your entire clan! Otherwise..."

As Zhao Daxuan spoke, he held up the wet wipes and showed them to Chu Hanchuan, who couldn't help but shiver.

Seeing Chu Hanchuan's hesitant expression, Zhao Daxuan pretended to slap a wet tissue on his face. Chu Hanchuan then hurriedly shouted, "I'll sign! I'll sign, okay?!"

After Chu Hanchuan signed the confession word by word, Zhao Daxuan followed the same procedure and interrogated Leng Wuye, forcing him to sign a confession as well.

Zhao Daxuan picked up the confession that Leng Wuye had just finished writing, blew on the ink, and carefully read it over. Finding no problems, he nodded in satisfaction.

Li Erlong chuckled from the side, saying, "Leng Wuye, you've been very cooperative. According to military law, at most you'll be executed, and you'll at least have enough money for your mother's coffin. You should thank Lord Zhao!"

Leng Wuye glanced up at Li Erlong, sneered, and said nothing more.

Zhao Daxuan waved his hand dismissively and said indifferently, "Take him away and await the court's decision."

He then turned and left the dungeon, found Zhang Yong, and handed him the confessions of Leng Wuye and Chu Hanchuan to review.

"Brother Zhang, now that these two traitors have confessed, we can head to Zhenbei City this afternoon and report the news to the general as soon as possible."

Zhang Yong took the two confessions, read them carefully, and was immediately impressed, looking at Zhao Daxuan with admiration.

"Lord Zhao, you are indeed skilled. It hasn't been long, and you've already gotten them to confess. I thought they were very stubborn last night."

"But you didn't torture them, did you? Although they committed serious crimes, they are still captains appointed by the imperial court. If you use torture to extract confessions, and they later recant, that would be troublesome."

Zhao Daxuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Zhang, I've already spoken with them properly, there won't be any problems."

Zhang Yong nodded and handed the two confessions back to Zhao Daxuan. "That's good. Lord Zhao, you should keep this evidence yourself."

He then glanced at the sky and, seeing that there was still time, said, "Lord Zhao, it's still early. Why don't we set off now and return to Zhenbei City?"

Zhao Daxuan nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking!"

Then Zhang Yong took out a token from his person and handed it to Zhao Daxuan, saying, "Lord Zhao, please take this token. With it, you can command the remaining eight thousand city guards outside the city, which can help defend the Black Mountain Pass."

"This was also instructed by General Yue. He said that if anything unexpected happens, the city guards outside the city can be temporarily placed under your command."

A hint of joy flashed across Zhao Daxuan's face. He solemnly accepted the token handed to him by Zhang Yong with both hands, and then bowed in the direction of Zhenbei City.

"General Xie Yue has placed his trust in me, and I, Da Xuan, will certainly not fail in my duty!"

After saying that, Zhao Daxuan handed the token in his hand to Li Erlong behind him.

"Erlong, you shall keep this token for now. During my absence, keep a close eye on the direction of the Tartars. If there are any unusual movements, immediately mobilize the army outside the city to assist."

After receiving the token, Li Erlong patted his chest and made a promise, his face full of confidence.

Zhao Daxuan returned to the residence of the general in charge of the pass. After briefly explaining things to Shen Qingci and the woman, he followed Zhang Yong and the others and sped off towards Zhenbei City.

Along the way, the group did not linger for long. In addition, Zhao Daxuan led them to avoid many obstacles and took many shortcuts. They arrived at Zhenbei City on the afternoon of the second day.

After finding Yue Zhenyuan, Zhao Daxuan handed him two confessions and then explained the whole story in detail.

He didn't hide anything and told Yue Zhenyuan everything about the gold mine, including all the mine's account books. Then he waited quietly for Yue Zhenyuan's reaction.

After listening, Yue Zhenyuan couldn't help but sigh, "I really didn't expect that you would discover this gold mine in such a remote place."

"I've glanced through these ledgers, and there's nothing wrong with them. The records are very complete, and even the details of which items were given to the families of fallen soldiers are signed and sealed by the person in charge. They're all accurate to the smallest detail."

"As expected, wealth can move people's hearts. No wonder even a dignified captain couldn't resist the temptation of a gold mine. Your gold mine can produce over a hundred taels of gold a month, which is enough to feed thousands of soldiers for a month!"

Zhao Daxuan sighed, "A gold mine is indeed no small matter, which is why we didn't report it immediately. We thought that if we had reported it along with the iron mine, we probably wouldn't have gotten involved."

"Now that we are mining the iron ore, it's understandable that we would have accidentally discovered the gold mine."

In front of Yue Zhenyuan, Zhao Daxuan even revealed his own little thoughts.

After all, the gold mine matter had already been discussed, and given his relationship with Yue Zhenyuan, there was no need to hide it anymore.

Yue Zhenyuan did not blame Zhao Daxuan for his previous concealment. Instead, he nodded and said, "I will handle this matter. Go back and immediately change the name of the gold mine to 'Zhenbei Military Officer-Run Mine'!"

"And all the output was registered in the military funds account. I will submit a memorial to the court, saying that 'the Heishan Pass iron mine has a small amount of gold ore as an adjunct, which has been used entirely for military expenses and border defense.'"

Zhao Daxuan bowed gratefully to Yue Zhenyuan and said, "Thank you, General! I will certainly do as you say upon my return and will not embezzle a single penny!"

Yue Zhenyuan waved his hand and smiled, "I believe you, but if anything similar happens in the future, you should tell me as soon as possible, and don't keep it from me anymore."

Zhao Daxuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said awkwardly with a smile, "Yes, yes, this humble general will keep it in mind!"

Yue Zhenyuan nodded and said, "I will report Leng Wuye and Chu Hanchuan's crimes truthfully, and everything will be handled according to procedure. But there is something more important now."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Daxuan looked puzzled and asked, "General, please speak."

Yue Zhenyuan's expression was solemn as he said, word by word, "The procession issuing the imperial edict of rewards will arrive in Zhenbei City in two days!"