Luo Jiu didn't rub her stomach, and pulled her inside.

That posture just didn't look right no matter how you looked at it.

Qing Sui called out anxiously from behind, "Master Luo, that's our Ninth Prince's Consort, please don't hurt her."

At this moment, Luo Jiu had nothing else on his mind and couldn't hear what others were saying; his mind was completely focused on the mechanism.

He dragged Jiang Qingwan inside and slammed the door shut before Qinghui could follow.

If Qinghui hadn't dodged in time, she would have bumped her nose into it.

Just as she was about to push again, the little boy grabbed her skirt.

"We can't go in. Master's anger is terrifying."

Qinghui said urgently, "But it's my princess..."

The little boy patted her seriously.

"Don't worry! My master is very satisfied with her."

Qinghui's expression was blank.

Is that correct?

She called out through the door, still worried.

"Your Highness, I'm right outside. Call me if you need anything."

"good."

Jiang Qingwan responded.

Inside the room, Luo Jiu was talking incessantly to a table full of parts.

There was also an undisassembled golden hook scimitar lying to the side.

Jiang Qingwan picked it up and examined it carefully, then compared it with the various mechanical parts that Luo Jiu had placed on the table, and couldn't help but frown.

There are several parts with mechanisms and connecting buckles that are exactly the same as those made by his second senior brother.

The second senior brother once said that the most skilled mechanical masters have their own little habits when making top-tier mechanical boxes, which are impossible for others to learn.

He proudly boasted that there was only one master mechanic, Banlu, in the world, and no one could imitate him.

But how could my second senior brother be involved with the people of the Sui Dynasty?

She put down the golden hook dagger and reached for one of the mechanism's connecting latches.

He traced the curved shape with his fingertips, lost in thought.

Luo Jiu said urgently, "This matter is of great importance. If you help me, I will do whatever you ask."

Jiang Qingwan didn't nod, but instead asked a question.

"Mo Yunhan asked you to break this mechanism?"

Luo Jiu was stunned.

"You...you know about my relationship with the prince..."

His mind finally received the "Ninth Princess" that Qing Sui had called out earlier.

"You...you are the Ninth Prince's Consort?"

Before Jiang Qingwan could react, Luo Jiu suddenly knelt down, but not to Jiang Qingwan; instead, he knelt towards the window.

Over there are the graves of all the Luo family members who died in the great war of the Sui Dynasty.

"May Heaven bless the Great Zhou! May Heaven bless the Prince!"

He was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes, then turned to Jiang Qingwan, whose healthy eye was bloodshot and filled with a kind of obsessive madness.

"The Sui Dynasty's mechanical arts are renowned throughout the world. I thought that great war was over, but I never expected that the remnants of the Sui Dynasty would rise from the ashes. They have even evolved their mechanical arts into many different forms: double blades, triple blades, and I even saw a fusion of six blades. The killing range is extremely wide. If we cannot solve it, it will pose a great threat to our Great Zhou. His Highness will probably be requesting troops to fight soon. I ask His Highness to help me solve this mechanism before His Highness goes to war."

Jiang Qingwan sighed.

"Mo Yunhan has been gone for two days."

"What?"

Luo Jiu suddenly stood up. He was so engrossed in his research that he had long forgotten how long it had been since sunrise and sunset.

"They've already gone to suppress the rebels? What are we going to do? The prince is bound to suffer a great loss."

He picked up a small iron pipe, about the size of a little finger, and handed it to Jiang Qingwan.

"Take a look at this."

Jiang Qingwan took it and saw gunpowder residue on the edge of the iron pipe.

"They actually combined mechanical engineering and gunpowder together?"

Luo Jiu nodded.

"These knives I got are all empty; they don't contain gunpowder. Gunpowder is strictly controlled within the Great Zhou Dynasty, so I tested their power with a small iron ball. Look over there..."

He pointed to a suit of armor not far away.

"This is my latest mechanical armor design. The breastplate is made of the finest iron, but a small iron ball was able to damage it like this. This is terrifying."

As Jiang Qingwan approached, she indeed saw that the breastplate hidden inside the armor was dented. With that kind of impact, an ordinary soldier would be seriously injured even if he didn't die.

If gunpowder were added, it would definitely explode under a violent impact, leaving no chance of survival.

The unease that had gripped Mo Yunhan when he was sent off to war returned once more.

Luo Jiu anxiously urged from the side, "Does Your Highness have a way to break this deadlock?"

Jiang Qingwan just saw it.

The internal mechanisms of the Golden Hook Scimitar are intricately linked, a feat only a top-tier mechanical master could accomplish.

Moreover, many traces bear the mark of the second senior brother.

She had no way of knowing the reason behind it.

However, in a battle of wits, their chances of winning in the short term are almost zero.

Even if she could create more sophisticated mechanical weapons, it would be impossible to deliver them to soldiers in large quantities; it would be a drop in the ocean.

She did not give Luo Jiu any impossible hope.

"Give up, this situation is unbreakable."

Luo Jiu was stunned, but after a moment he became excited.

"Can't break it? How do you know it can't be broken if you haven't even tried? Do you know how many people die from the crushing force of weapons on the battlefield?"

He angrily rushed to the windowsill, pushed open the wooden window, pointed at the rows of tombstones outside, and shouted louder and louder.

"Look, buried here are the most elite soldiers of our Great Zhou's military unit. They were full of passion and devoted to their country, but they couldn't defeat the Sui Dynasty's military forces. Under the suppression of their weapons, they could only die. Do you understand? They could only die!"

Hearing the commotion, Qinghui rushed in anxiously.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, he quickly walked to Jiang Qingwan's side.

Although she respected Luo Jiu, the old man in front of her was really too frightening.

Jiang Qingwan looked at the lingering deathly aura surrounding the grave and sighed softly.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!