Chapter 43 Having gotten soaked in the rain myself, I now want to hold an umbrella for others.

"Ah, right, the channel!" Duan Wu responded, his smile suddenly freezing. "Your...Your Majesty? What's wrong..."

"Come to the city gate," Xiao Qidi said coldly.

"Yes, yes!" Duan Wuren was dumbfounded, only feeling a chill on the back of his neck.

That's it, I'm doomed...

The person making the joke overheard it.

He rushed to the city gate as if he had lost his soul, only to find Li Yao there as well. He then realized that the emperor had overheard the conversation through Li Yao's walkie-talkie.

It's all my fault for being so sharp-tongued!

"Your Majesty...this humble general..." Duan Wu knelt on both knees, "This humble general knows—"

He hadn't even finished saying the three words "I know I was wrong".

Xiao Qidi acted as if nothing had happened and said calmly, "Get up and speak. General Li just brought news that the explosives have been successfully prepared."

"It's done?" Duan Wu was overjoyed; such good news dispelled his fear.

After that explosion in the cave, everyone witnessed the power of explosives.

Immediately afterwards, Fairy Jinli delivered the raw materials for explosives and gave the Lord a device called a cell phone, which showed how to use the raw materials to prepare explosives.

The fairy said that this item is extremely dangerous and must be handled with caution. Only after you have thoroughly figured it out will you send more raw materials.

“Not only did it succeed, but someone also made this, which is similar in principle to the explosive box used by the fairy to blast the cave,” Li Yao showed Duan Wu a small round pottery jar about half the size of a palm. “The gunpowder made is sealed inside, leaving a hemp thread outside. The hemp thread is soaked in lint water, making it strong and not easy to break, and it is also easy to ignite.”

Duan Wu scratched his head, "If it's so much trouble, why not just ask the fairy to give it to us ready-made..."

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” Li Yao said. “It must be the fairy who wants to teach us. Moreover, the emperor also learned from the fairy that we can find the raw materials for explosives here. In the future, once the fairy teaches us how to refine the raw materials, we won’t have to trouble the fairy anymore.”

Duan Wu realized, "So that's how it is! The fairy is not only bestowing things upon us, but also guiding us!"

Li Yao said, "Your Majesty, because the fairy gave us limited materials, we only made two. One of them has already been used to test its power. Don't underestimate this small thing; it's very powerful. Would Your Majesty like to see it?"

Xiao Qidi naturally wanted to see it, so the three of them went to an open space outside.

Li Yao lit the fuse and quickly threw it into the distance.

The small earthenware jar exploded with a loud bang shortly after it hit the ground.

Thick smoke rose, leaving a shallow pit about ten feet wide on the dry, hard ground.

"Not bad." Xiao Qidi nodded approvingly.

Li Yao clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Your Majesty, although this is far inferior to what the fairy used to blast open the cave, it is already very powerful. If there is enough gunpowder, we can make this thing bigger and throw it into the enemy ranks during battle, or even use catapults. The effect of killing the enemy is unimaginable."

Duan Wu added, "They can also be buried on the enemy's route. Just make the fuse long enough, and detonate it when the enemy passes by! It will definitely catch them off guard!"

The two quickly came up with a way to use it.

Xiao Qidi nodded. "General Li, reward the person who prepared the explosives and made this. I'll go tell Fairy the news and ask her to send more raw materials."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Li Yao immediately left.

Duan Wu scratched his head, his face beaming, "Your Majesty, this humble general..."

Xiao Qidi glanced at him and said, "Go and fix the latrine. Don't ask anyone else for help."

"Repair...repair the latrines?" Duan Wu's face froze. "Does Your Majesty mean...all the latrines in the Tunxi Pass city gate?"

Xiao Qidi's lips curled slightly. "Since General Duan has taken on the task, let's renovate the whole thing."

Duan Wu: ...

After seeing the emperor off, he looked miserable and slapped himself twice, lamenting, "My damned mouth! Ugh!"

...

When Xiao Qidi arrived at the factory through the time tunnel, Ning Jinli was having breakfast in her dormitory.

He knew the route from the back door of the small warehouse to Ning Jinli's dormitory like the back of his hand, and he even managed to snag a free breakfast along the way.

"I wonder when all the people of my Great Xuan will be able to afford breakfast like this," Xiao Qidi remarked casually.

In fact, not to mention the common people, even the kings and nobles in the royal cities of various countries had never seen such exquisite food.

From the materials to the production methods, everything he lived in was beyond the reach of the productivity of his time.

“I’ll send you seeds and fertilizer later. Take it slow, and you can grow good crops.” Ning Jinli said softly, “Actually, most ordinary people in our country have only been able to afford this kind of breakfast in recent decades.”

Xiao Qidi was incredulous. "From my time until now, China has developed for more than two thousand years, yet it is only in recent decades that people have been able to eat breakfast like this?"

Ning Jinli smiled wryly, "Yes, and it's not that 'everyone can eat.' There are still some very remote and impoverished mountainous areas... where such conditions are not available."

Xiao Qidi frowned and remained silent.

Ning Jinli teased him on purpose, "This is your fault."

"Is it my fault?" Xiao Qidi frowned even more. "What do you mean, Miss Ning?"

Ning Jinli took a bite of the fried dough stick. "Figure it out yourself."

Xiao Qidi: ...

Well, this proves once again that even after more than two thousand years, a woman's mind remains as unpredictable as the gods.

“Miss Ning,” Xiao Qidi said seriously after wiping his mouth after finishing his meal, “the villagers of Linxian Village have already prepared explosives and made something that can be detonated.”

"That's amazing! How did you do that?" Ning Jinli asked in surprise.

Xiao Qidi then gave a brief description.

She also told her about Li Yao and Duan Wu's ideas.

"Isn't this just the most basic and simplest bomb?" Ning Jinli's eyes suddenly lit up. "Why bother with a clay pot? I happen to have a bunch of gas cylinders in my warehouse!"

"A gas cylinder?" Xiao Qidi looked puzzled.

Ning Jinli's eyebrows danced with excitement. "Although I can't provide you with firearms directly right now, I can provide you with raw materials for explosives and gas cylinders. Wouldn't that be perfect for you to make your own bombs?"

"I remember now, I think I saw it on the news. In some places abroad, where conditions are not good enough to produce proper bombs, they use modified gas cylinders!"

She skipped breakfast and rushed to a warehouse in another production area to move gas cylinders!

Driving the factory's transport vehicle, it took her two hours to finally move the accumulated gas cylinders to the warehouse within her telepathic range.

Not many, maybe seven or eight hundred.

But it will definitely be enough in the short term.

Xiao Qidi went over first to arrange for people to receive them, and then she also transported the gas cylinders and more than ten tons of explosive raw materials over.

The goods had just been delivered when a scout came to report.

It is said that important information has been discovered: the Yu Kingdom's 200,000 elite troops have been stationed more than 100 miles away, and 30,000 fully armed soldiers have been dispatched and are heading towards Xitun Pass.

Some generals analyzed that this should be the vanguard force sent to test the strength of the troops at Xitun Pass.

Xiao Qidi made a decisive decision and ordered that some bombs be made as soon as possible using gas cylinders, and then these bombs be used to ambush the 30,000 enemy vanguard.

Whether they're here to test us or have ulterior motives, catching them off guard is always the best course of action.

——

Ning Jinli received a notification that the property certificate for the villa in Lanyue Mountain Villa had been issued.

She took advantage of the remaining time in the morning to pick up the property certificate and also went to check out the villa.

Having experienced being kidnapped a few days ago, Ning Jinli hired four bodyguards: two to protect her and two to stay with Aunt Su at the hospital.

The perpetrator is dead, and the identity of his employer remains unknown.

But since the mastermind failed that time, they will most likely strike again, and might even harm Aunt Su.

Ning Jinli had to be on guard against everything.

At 10 a.m., she drove to Lanyue Villa and parked her car near her villa.

According to the lease agreement left to her by the previous landlord, the lease was about to expire in a few days.

The tenant who signed the contract was her ex-boyfriend, Zhao Bin.

The law stipulates that a sale does not break a lease.

Zhao Bin will have to continue living here until the lease expires.

However, renewing the lease is not an option.

She came here not only to look at the house, but also to explain to Zhao Bin that she would not be renewing the lease.

Ning Jinli, carrying her old schoolbag, was about to get off the bus when she saw Zhao Bin seeing a young girl off at the door, where the two were still cuddling together.

"Huh? If I remember correctly... isn't this his girlfriend?"

Ning Jinli recalled seeing photos of Zhao Bin showing off his love for the villa on his WeChat Moments.

The woman in the photo is in her thirties, dressed maturely, with big wavy hair, while this one is clearly only eighteen or nineteen years old, probably a recent college student.

It has to be said that Zhao Bin, that scumbag, is indeed cunning.

He has such a terrible character, yet he always manages to fool women.

"Scumbag!" Ning Jinli took out her phone, recorded a video, and then opened an editing app to blur the girl's face in the video.

Based on Ning Jinli's judgment, neither the wealthy woman Zhao Bin was showing off his relationship on social media nor this girl who is about the same age as her now likely knows that Zhao Bin is cheating on her.

If she has the chance in the future, she wants to give this evidence to that rich woman so that she won't be fooled by this scumbag anymore.

After the girl finished being affectionate with Zhao Bin, Zhao Bin turned around and went back into the house.

Ning Jinli left the two bodyguards in the car, got out herself, and stopped the girl.

"Hello, beautiful lady." Ning Jinli greeted the person politely.

The other person asked suspiciously, "Hello...do we know each other?"

Ning Jinli said, "I don't know him, but I know Zhao Bin. He's my ex-boyfriend."

The girl's eyes immediately lit up with wariness. "What do you want? He's with me now, you're not allowed to harass him."

Ning Jinli took out her phone and opened Zhao Bin's WeChat Moments in front of her, scrolling to the posts where he had flaunted his wealth and shown off his love recently. "Here, take a look for yourself."

"This..." The girl's pupils dilated on the spot, tears welled up in her eyes, and she froze on the spot, at a loss for what to do.

Ning Jinli's heart ached as well. At that moment, she seemed to see herself when she first entered university.

However, at that time, I did not discover Zhao Bin's true nature.

No one reminded me...

Ning Jinli had been caught in the rain before, and now she wanted to hold an umbrella for someone else.

"How long have you been with him?" she asked softly.

"Two...two months..." the girl said between sobs, "He was the one who pursued me, he promised me that he would only love me, how...how could he do this?"

"Fortunately, it didn't last long." Ning Jinli smiled bitterly. "I've been with him since college. He dumped me after graduation a while ago, and that's when I realized he was a scumbag."

Four years...

All those beautiful romances he created, all that love that once captivated her, turned out to be fake.

The sweeter the memories, the more painful the truth will be when it is revealed.

"No... I have to ask him!" The girl picked up her phone to make a call, but after thinking for a moment, she simply turned around and prepared to go back to knock on the door and confront him face to face.

Ning Jinli grabbed her hand, "There's no need for that. While you've only been dating him for a short time, you should cut ties with him as soon as possible and stay away from scumbags."

After being reminded, the girl immediately blocked and deleted all of Zhao Bin's contact information.

"Thank you, sister!" the girl said, wiping away her tears and bowing.

“It’s alright,” Ning Jinli said with a smile. “Just focus on your university studies, and you’ll have plenty of good men in the future.”

"Okay! I understand." The girl nodded seriously.

After the girl left, Ning Jinli went to the front door and pressed the doorbell.

A few minutes later, Zhao Bin came out.

"Ning Jinli?" Zhao Bin looked surprised, even somewhat astonished. "What are you doing at my house?"

"I need to talk to you about something," Ning Jinli said with a smile.

A strange, almost imperceptible look flashed across Zhao Bin's eyes as he peered out the door and glanced at the Mercedes-Benz G-Class parked more than ten meters away.

However, he did not notice that there was anyone else in Ning Jinli's car.

"Talk business?" Zhao Bin frowned, his tone wary. "What business?"

"About this house." Ning Jinli didn't intend to beat around the bush. As she spoke, she prepared to take out the property certificate and the lease agreement given to her by the original owner from her bag.

"Hehe, what do you mean?" Zhao Binlu smirked. "You saw how nicely I live on social media and are thinking about... getting back together with me?"

Ning Jinli was immediately filled with questions.

Where does this inexplicable confidence of a scumbag come from?

Zhao Bin looked you up and down, then smiled and said, "You're still carrying this backpack? I gave it to you when you first went to university. You really don't want to part with me."

He subconsciously wanted to ask if being kept by an older man wasn't a pleasant experience, so she came to him for comfort.

However, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, and pulled Ning Jinli's arm, "I'm in a good mood today, let me show you around first."

This morning, behind his wealthy girlfriend's back, he brought over another young girl he had seduce.

I was planning to sleep with him, but he was hesitant and didn't agree. So, just as I was seeing him off, he used sweet words to kiss and hug me.

This feeling is not pleasant.

This left him with a bellyful of evil thoughts with nowhere to release them.

Perfect timing! Ning Jinli has delivered herself right to my doorstep. Maybe... I can make up for the regret of not being able to sleep with her during my four years of university!

"No need for a tour." Ning Jinli decisively shook off his hand and took a few steps back. "I'll just look at it from the doorway. Let's get down to business. This house—"

"Come in!" Zhao Bin couldn't hold back any longer. He rushed forward, grabbed Ning Jinli tightly, and forcibly dragged her into the villa without saying a word!