Chapter 79
Firearms

Returning from Fuhe Hall to Xiu Yan Pavilion, Jiang Xingjian’s anger simmered within him, unable to dissipate.

Song Wan’s resistance was too obvious, making him extremely uneasy.

“Xingjian?” Lin Jiayue, weakly getting out of bed, put on her embroidered shoes and sat beside him. Seeing Jiang Xingjian’s serious expression, she cautiously asked, “Is something wrong?”

The deaths of Jiang Jing and Madam Zhou had a profound impact on her, causing Lin Jiayue to restrain her once flamboyant personality, but she had swung to the opposite extreme.

“Did I do something to upset you again?”

Jiang Xingjian pinched his brow and said flatly, “No.”

Lin Jiayue suddenly panicked. She could feel his coldness, and this distance made her shiver and feel empty inside. She didn’t dare to ask directly, only murmuring softly, repeating herself.

Annoyed by her words, Jiang Xingjian told her about Song Wan’s refusal to take over the household management, even injuring her own hand.

“But… but just hurting her hand doesn’t stop her from managing the household.”

Jiang Xingjian lowered his eyes, feeling disappointed. He didn’t want to discuss it further and asked about the firearms.

“I’ll take you to see the power of the firearms the day after tomorrow.”

Lin Jiayue lowered her head, hiding her guilt. “Shouldn’t we inform Consort Jiang? She might be eager to know.”

That was her only card left. Consort Jiang, having given birth to a prince, would value such a weapon more than Jiang Xingjian.

Lin Jiayue lowered her head, clutching her clothes, unable to speak.

“I’ll have someone send a message to the palace.”

Lin Jiayue exhaled deeply, feeling relieved.

Three days later, she got up early, dressed, and washed. After getting ready, Qian Bi handed her a light gauze veil. Lin Jiayue stared at the veil, which reached her waist, and after a long time, reluctantly put it on.

As the carriage left the Marquis Mansion, Lin Jiayue felt her eyes burn, almost crying. She had only been in the mansion for a little over a month, but it felt like half a lifetime.

The wind lifted the curtain slightly, and Jiang Xingjian saw Lin Jiayue bowing reverently to the window, inhaling the outside air.

Seeing her like this, he felt a pang of softness.

The man lifted the curtain, and Lin Jiayue couldn’t hold back, calling him “Brother Xingjian.”

“When we reach the barren mountain, we’ll get out and walk.”

Lin Jiayue pressed her lips together, finally saying, “Thank you.”

On the barren mountain stood several pale, beardless men, thin and with high-pitched voices. As soon as they saw the two, they came forward to greet them. Lin Jiayue stood behind Jiang Xingjian, afraid to speak and worried she might do something wrong or life-threatening.

“No need to avoid suspicion in front of these eunuchs.”

Jiang Xingjian had a large box brought from the carriage, and Lin Jiayue opened it, carefully examining the contents.

The items were custom-made by different people, each with a unique pattern that only she could understand.

After some thought, Lin Jiayue quickly assembled the pieces.

Jiang Xingjian and the eunuchs watched as she placed some unknown items into bamboo segments, wrapped them in yellow paper, and after half an hour of work, created two large, clumsy paper boxes.

Biting her lip, she said, “Without professional tools, I can’t make anything more refined. This is just a prototype for the Consort to see.”

Nervously wiping her sweaty palms, Lin Jiayue had the paper boxes carefully moved to a distance and stood aside, dazed.

She didn’t know if these things would explode.

Before meeting Jiang Xingjian, she lived in a remote, mountainous area where wolves occasionally appeared in the village.

To drive away the wolves, the village had a recipe for making firecrackers that had been passed down for generations. That month, it was her family’s turn to take the firecrackers to the mountains, but since her family worked in the fields every day, the task fell to her.

At that time, she had suddenly arrived in this godforsaken place where no one could hear her cries for help. She had no interest in dealing with firecrackers or wolves.

She lazily hid the firecrackers in the cellar.

One day, she heard from the villagers that a pack of wolves had entered the village and trapped a young outsider. Frightened, she grabbed the firecrackers she had saved and ran down the mountain.

When she saw Jiang Xingjian, she tied all the firecrackers together, lit them, and threw them.

The firecrackers in the village weren’t very powerful, but there were a lot of them. When she threw the whole bundle, there was a deafening explosion, as if the sky had been torn open.

A thick black smoke rolled through, scattering the wolves, and Jiang Xingjian was knocked unconscious.

She took care of him for a long time. When he woke up and asked what she had used, she casually lied, saying she came from a hidden clan in China and that the firecrackers were a powerful weapon she had made, capable of defeating thousands of enemies.

She never thought Jiang Xingjian would believe her, just as she never thought Jiang Jing would lose her life over reading a few romantic novels.

Lin Jiayue looked at the distant paper boxes, biting her lip. She had gathered the materials from several firecracker workshops. Although it was just a large firecracker with a modified gunpowder ratio, she had added a few bamboo segments filled with flour to one box and two barrels of tung oil to the other.

She didn’t know if it would explode, but she had to take the risk.

“It’s done, but it’s a bit rough, and the time was short. If the effect is poor, I’ll improve it later.”

Jiang Xingjian nodded, and the eunuchs watched with interest. When Lin Jiayue couldn’t stop them any longer, she said someone needed to ignite it with a fire arrow.

“Bring a bow.”

A eunuch brought a lit arrow, and Jiang Xingjian drew the bow and shot the arrow straight into the paper box.

The paper box caught fire but showed no change.

Just as Lin Jiayue was about to say something, there was a loud bang, and a rain of fire exploded in the sky. The tung oil burst into flames, burning fiercely wherever it landed. The tung oil ignited the other paper box, which soon exploded into a blaze.

“Fire! Fire!” A middle-aged eunuch shouted, and the barren mountain quickly caught fire.

Lin Jiayue watched the flames and suddenly laughed hysterically.

It took a long time for the fire to be extinguished by the nearby fire brigade.

Looking at the scorched mountain, Lin Jiayue couldn’t stop smiling.

“Congratulations, Marquis. You are truly like a god.”

A eunuch approached Jiang Xingjian, offering congratulations. Even though everyone knew the invention was Lin Jiayue’s, no one acknowledged her.

“If the Emperor learns of this powerful weapon, he will greatly reward the Marquis.”

“The Emperor?” Lin Jiayue murmured, and Jiang Xingjian said, “A noble family cannot control such a weapon. It must be reported to the Emperor.”

Helping Lin Jiayue into the carriage, he continued, “With this weapon, the Emperor will likely assign me to the Shen Shu Camp.”

Lin Jiayue stared at Jiang Xingjian, unsure of what to say.

This weapon was meant for her own protection in the inner courtyard. She had thought Consort Jiang would take it for herself, using it to secure the Fifth Prince’s future. As long as she held the recipe, she could live safely in the Marquis Mansion.

But now it involved the Emperor…

If the Emperor assigned Jiang Xingjian to the Shen Shu Camp, wouldn’t she have to give up her protective talisman?