Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Spring of the 281st year of the Gregorian calendar.

Outside a mine on the west coast of the Cathode Domain, there stands a solitary ancient tree.

The young man in white squinted as he rested by the tree.

The boy looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old, with several ancient books beside him.

It was midday, and the warm spring sunshine filtered through the leaves, falling on the boy and making him sleep more comfortably.

If you listen carefully, you can even faintly hear a soft snoring sound.

Butterflies fluttered beneath the trees, caterpillars scurried among the leaves, and a boy slept soundly in the shade. Bathed in the perfect sunlight, it was a picture of tranquil beauty.

Just then, two ore-hauling trucks drove out of the nearby mine and sped along the main road, passing by the boy's location and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

As the spring breeze blew, the dust on the official road was carried all the way to the trees and into the boy's nostrils, causing him to sneeze several times.

The dream was abruptly interrupted. The boy under the tree yawned and looked towards the official road not far away.

In the hazy, blowing sand, two ore-hauling trucks disappeared into the distance.

After staring at the truck's shadow for a while, the boy looked away and turned to look at the mine a mile away.

Spring is the best season for outdoor work. The mine is bustling with activity. Under the supervision of the foreman, the workers endure their fatigue and move back and forth in the mine.

Every now and then you could hear the foreman's roar and see whips being lashed at the running workers.

Among the hunched crowd, there were also metal puppets moving back and forth in the mine.

Looking back down at the tree, we see the boy has woken up. A middle-aged man who looks like a manager walks over from a distance, holding an account book, and reports to the boy.

"Young Master Zhuang, an earthquake occurred in the mine yesterday afternoon, killing four workers. What do you think should be done about this?"

Upon hearing this, the boy's drowsiness vanished instantly. He stood up from under the tree and stared intently at the steward.

"An earthquake?"

The somewhat oppressive voice made the steward involuntarily tense up, instinctively wanting to kneel on the ground.

But the person in charge quickly recovered from his lapse in composure.

Standing before him was neither the imposing Marquis of Longyue nor any royal relative surnamed Mu, but merely a boy adopted by his master.

There's no need to adopt the attitude of a domestic dog towards someone on the margins of society like this.

To cover up his lapse in composure, the middle-aged manager coughed calmly and added.

"So that you may know, young master, that earthquakes are a very common phenomenon during mining. Such things often happen in mineral deposits all over the world, and they are unpredictable accidents."

Although he had many doubts about what the manager said, the boy did not comment much on things he did not understand.

When it comes to areas he doesn't understand, he prefers to make judgments after he has learned about them.

He glanced at the seemingly genuine manager, then at the mine not far away, and asked about the four victims.

"According to the regulations of the Longyue Mine, how should the deceased be compensated?"

Seeing that the young man did not press for details about the mine, but instead so "savvyly" brought up the matter of compensation, the middle-aged manager was overjoyed, thinking that the young master who came this time was just as easy to fool.

The middle-aged manager bowed even more deeply after already bending over, and then answered.

"Reporting back to you, young master, according to the mine's regulations, each deceased person will be compensated with fifty taels of silver."

Fifty taels of silver?

In the present day, a family of three needs about twenty taels of silver to live a normal life for a year. If they are frugal, they can live on ten taels of silver.

If you don't have many family members, you can save fifty taels of silver and use it for five years without any problem.

Not too low, not too high.

only……

The boy was well-versed in all kinds of books and had also read in detail the twelve current legal codes of the Great Spirit Empire.

The laws of the Great Ling Empire clearly stipulate that if a person dies during the course of employment, the family of the deceased must be paid a lump sum of money sufficient for ten years of use, depending on the specific circumstances of the deceased's family.

Fifty taels is undoubtedly too little, or at least illegal.

Thinking of this, the boy asked again.

"Manager Yun, what is the situation at the homes of these four victims?"

The middle-aged manager was stunned for a moment, seemingly not understanding why the young man asked such a question, but he quickly realized what was going on and answered truthfully.

"They all have elderly people and young children, with the largest family having six members to support."

"In this case, isn't fifty taels of silver a bit too little?" the boy murmured, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to the steward.

This time, the middle-aged manager did not comply as before, but lowered his voice and hinted to the boy.

"Young master, the fifty taels of silver is the young master's order. We servants dare not act recklessly. If you wish to intervene in this matter, you must discuss it with the young master."

Upon hearing the words "Crown Prince," the boy pictured a young man in his mind.

Compared to Marquis Longyue himself, the heir of the Marquis's mansion can barely be considered a person, but he is far from being kind and benevolent. Would such a person really provide such a large amount of compensation?

Even if the prince had a change of heart and provided sufficient compensation, given the state of the mine, how much of the money would actually reach the families of the victims?

Thinking of this, the young man's gaze sharpened slightly as he met the steward's eyes.

His imposing presence, though seemingly without anger, completely shattered the manager's mental preparations, leaving him drenched in a cold sweat.

"Don't lie. Tell me the truth: how much of the fifty taels of silver actually reached the deceased's family?"

After years of hard work and experience, the middle-aged manager had become a master at lying.

Normally, when faced with such questioning, he would readily tell his usual lies and perfectly cover up the matter.

The person in charge has a set of explanations for each person of different status.

In the eyes of the middle-aged manager, the worst outcome of this matter was that they, the managers of the mine, would have to bleed a little money to satisfy this young master from the Marquis's mansion.

Who in this world would turn down money?

The current attack is merely a prelude, allowing them to gain more leverage when demanding benefits later.

But at this moment, under the gaze of this young master Zhuang, the middle-aged manager's mind went blank. He forgot all his rhetoric and all his despicable thoughts, and unconsciously revealed the truth.

"The young master takes 50%, the officials of the Marquis's mansion take 15%, the managers in the mine take another 15%, and the people below take a little. In the end, the family members only receive about five taels of silver."

Fifty taels became five taels.

The middle-aged manager's words silenced the boy completely.

As expected, and as reasonable as it should be.

The boy found that he was not shocked at all, and even had the strange thought that this was normal.

In those days of youth, demanding bribes and kickbacks was a very normal thing, so normal that it was the case in almost every place.

But now, in the Great Ling Empire, in this country founded by Lord Mu and that kind girl, such a thing should not happen.