Many people in the capital know that Sun Wudi is a retainer of Prince Rong's mansion.

This empress must have known this as well.

Even though Sun Wudi's death cannot convict Prince Rong, everyone knows that Sun Wudi must have been sent by Prince Rong to assassinate Xiao Yu!

Therefore, even if the Empress knew that Sun Wudi had died at Xiao Yu's hands, and decided to favor her own brother, she would definitely not allow Prince Rong to appear here during this summons to Xiao Yu.

Based on the Empress's expression, Xiao Yu deduced that the Empress was unaware of the situation.

“That’s true. Her Majesty is extremely busy. Unless someone reports this to her, how would she know?”

Xiao Yu thought to himself.

However, he has no intention of revealing this matter for the time being. His immediate priority is to obtain the position of General of the Northern Garrison as soon as possible.

"Xiao Yu, I have already had the Imperial Guards test the Qi Family Knife you invented, and it has indeed lived up to my expectations."

The Empress made no attempt to conceal her admiration for Xiao Yu on her stunningly beautiful face, and said, "Tell me what you want."

Prince Rong, Chief Minister Zhao, and Prime Minister Murong listened quietly without saying a word.

"I want to fight the samurai from Japan."

Xiao Yu said without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, Prince Rong and the others were taken aback, clearly not expecting Xiao Yu to make this request.

The Empress and Eunuch Wei already knew Xiao Yu's intentions, and their faces showed no emotion...

The Empress asked, "Do you know the importance of this exercise?"

"Xiao Yu understands."

Xiao Yu nodded without hesitation and said seriously, "Since I made this request, I am naturally confident of winning. Just like when I proposed to help His Majesty solve his problems by forging a weapon that could counter samurai swords."

Previously, when Xiao Yu said he wanted to forge weapons, the Empress did not believe him.

It was only because of his outstanding poetic talent, the fact that he had shared his chicken essence and MSG recipes with him, and the loyalty and bravery of the Xiao family throughout the ages that Xiao Yu was allowed to give it a try.

Hearing Xiao Yu bring up the matter again, the Empress felt somewhat guilty.

"This matter is of great importance; it's not something you can accomplish simply by having confidence."

The chief minister Zhao spoke up, saying in a deep voice, "As far as I know, Prince Xiao has no experience in fighting battles or engaging the enemy, and he doesn't know how to deploy troops in formation... Although this is just a small performance competition, it concerns the face of our Great Xia Kingdom. If we fail, the consequences will be something Prince Xiao cannot afford."

Oh dear, so they're starting to trip me up now?

Xiao Yu glanced at Chief Minister Zhao but said nothing.

"What does the Prime Minister think?"

The Empress did not deny Chief Minister Zhao's words, but turned her head slightly and asked Prime Minister Murong.

"Your Majesty, I believe you are right."

Prime Minister Murong spoke in a flat tone, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Ouch, Father-in-law, how could you betray me like this and not say anything good about me...

Oh!

Prince Rong's lips curled into a faint smile. In front of His Majesty, he did not show any hostility towards Xiao Yu, but he was still very happy to see Xiao Yu humiliated.

"You two don't understand me."

Seeing that they all rejected him, Xiao Yu had no choice but to volunteer, saying, "Your Majesty, compared to Chief Minister Zhao and Prime Minister Murong, you know me a little better... Please trust me, or perhaps I can show Your Majesty something first!"

What is it?

The Empress still favored Xiao Yu and asked.

"Something even more lethal than the Qi Family Knife."

Xiao Yu said, "When I came, I entrusted this thing to Eunuch Chun for safekeeping... But I have one request: this thing is my invention, and unless there is war, I do not want to hand over the design drawings of this thing."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the imperial study was stunned.

Even the Empress couldn't help but become curious.

Judging from Xiao Yu's attitude, it seemed that this item was very powerful and he didn't want it to fall into the hands of others.

"Xiao Yu, are you trying to keep something from me?"

Chief Minister Zhao snorted coldly and said loudly, "As officials of the court, our first priority should be to serve the royal family wholeheartedly. If you have invented something useful, you should present it to His Majesty immediately, instead of hiding it!"

Given the precedent set by the Qi Family Saber, no one dared to underestimate Xiao Yu anymore.

Therefore, upon hearing that Xiao Yu had even more impressive inventions, not only Chief Minister Zhao, but also Prime Minister Murong and Prince Rong were all quite agitated.

Prince Rong, in particular, regarded Xiao Yu as a thorn in his side. When he heard Xiao Yu mention that he had invented an even more powerful weapon, his brows furrowed immediately.

"Haha, that's hilarious!"

Xiao Yu rolled his eyes at Chief Minister Zhao and said, "I didn't say I wouldn't present the design to His Majesty. It's just that if this weapon or the design falls into the hands of an enemy country, it would be a fatal loss for our Great Xia Kingdom."

"Therefore, once war breaks out, I will hand over these blueprints to His Majesty... and then we can rush to produce them."

With a blueprint, a craftsman can produce a repeating crossbow very quickly.

Another point is that Xiao Yu felt that before the production of muskets, the repeating crossbow was too powerful and intimidating. If Prince Rong got his hands on the blueprints, it would also be a threat to him.

"Once I invent the musket, the repeating crossbow will be a mere junior."

Xiao Yu thought to himself.

"Wouldn't it be too late to produce it by then?"

"It is Chief Minister Zhao who spoke," he said.

"Ha, all you do is spout nonsense. If you're so capable, why don't you invent an awesome weapon yourself? I invented the Qi Family Saber, and I also invented the Repeating Crossbow. What right do you have to babble here?"

After Xiao Yu finished cursing, he said to the Empress in a serious tone, "The weapon I invented is the repeating crossbow, which can fire ten bolts in a short period of time!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress's stunningly beautiful face finally revealed shock for the first time.

"What?!"

Prince Rong's voice changed, and he subconsciously asked, "How many can be fired in succession...?"

It wasn't that he didn't hear clearly, but that he refused to believe it.

Zhao, the chief minister, looked gloomy after being rebuked, but he was also extremely surprised and could hardly believe what Xiao Yu had said.

Even the usually silent Prime Minister Murong thought Xiao Yu was bragging!

The lethality of crossbows is well-known, and some craftsmen have tried to make breakthroughs in this area, hoping to invent a crossbow that can fire in rapid succession.

But in the end, only the triple-shot method was invented... Moreover, it was very prone to malfunction, troublesome to repair, and less effective than a regular crossbow.

Now, hearing that Xiao Yu invented the ten-repeating crossbow, how is that possible?!

At the same time, they also understood why Xiao Yu proposed to wait until the war began before handing over the design drawings.

With the repeating crossbow capable of firing ten shots in a row, even a grandmaster would be terrified... The repeating crossbow is easier to carry than a bow and arrow, and its lethality is no less than that of a bow and arrow. In that case, assassination will become a very simple and easy thing again.

"There couldn't possibly be such a repeating crossbow."

Chief Minister Zhao categorically denied it, saying, "Xiao Yu, if you can't produce a crossbow with ten consecutive shots, you're committing the crime of deceiving the emperor!"