Chapter 87 Those high-ranking officials and nobles, the emperor himself…
The atmosphere was faint and ethereal.
The smell that Ji Chengning was used to was mixed with the scent of medicine, a bittersweet aroma that lingered heavily around his nose.
He instinctively held his breath, but forgot that his mouth was still open, and the fragrance snaked around his tongue, penetrating deep inside.
Therefore, he naturally felt a tingling sensation in his throat, as if insects and snakes had crawled over it.
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
Cui Yao looked at Ji Chengning.
A few strands of hair fell down; he must have been sweating, for his jet-black hair clung to his forehead, thick and bluish like seaweed, and beneath that dense hair were a pair of clear and gentle eyes.
Water ghost.
Ji Chengning suddenly thought of something.
The resentful spirits, with their eyes wide open in death, wear exquisite and beautiful skins, bewitching the living to willingly drown themselves.
Ji Chengnin's heart skipped a beat.
He had always known that his cousin was beautiful, but at first glance he only thought she was pretty and gentle. The more time he spent with her, the more he felt that her appearance was as cold as jade, which made him feel uneasy.
“Ah Yao”.
Cui Yao stared at him without blinking.
Ji Chengnin coughed lightly, "What kind of incense are you using?"
So rich, so full of presence, it smells almost unsettling.
Cui Yao said softly, "If Your Highness likes it, I will give it to you when I get back."
"Thank you, cousin," the young marquis smiled, though his neck still tingled. "But I am accustomed to using ambergris, so I am afraid I cannot accept your kindness." He was about to get up when he said, "A-Yao, it's time to go."
Before he could finish speaking, a hand pressed down on his shoulder.
Cold and hard.
Ji Chengning was suddenly startled.
"Ah Yao," he asked dryly, "what's wrong?"
Cui Yao's fingers traced the line of his collarbone. "Clothes."
Ji Chengning suddenly felt a burning sensation in the tips of his ears.
It wasn't shyness, but genuine embarrassment.
Has he gone mad? How could he forget such a small thing, making Ah Yao a laughingstock for no reason?
Ji Chengning cursed inwardly, gave Cui Yao an embarrassed smile, and bent down to retrieve the outer robe placed on the table.
One hand was faster than him.
He placed his palm on the outer robe, gripped the entire garment tightly with his five fingers.
The finger bones were distinct and strikingly white, with a sharpness like a thin knife blade.
The pain that had just calmed Ji Chengning's heart began to pound wildly again.
Cui Yao deftly unfolded his robes and gestured for Ji Chengning to come over, "Your Highness."
The fearless young master Ji felt as if he had taken root in the ground.
He didn't want to go.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but his cousin's attitude towards him was becoming increasingly strange.
He was decisive in matters of the heart, but the instinctive stiffness and numbness rising in the back of his neck made him hesitate.
Cui Yao looked at him.
He stared intently, his gaze as serene as springtime glass.
Ji Chengnin gritted his teeth and stepped forward.
The next second, the robe gently fell onto his shoulder. Cui Yao seemed to sense Ji Chengnin's discomfort, so she considerately went behind him.
The two didn't face each other, so the atmosphere wasn't as eerie as before—or so it seemed.
In an instant, Ji Chengning regretted it.
Cui Yao wanted to help him tie his belt, so she put her hands under his ribs and slowly tightened the belt along his waistline.
Ji Chengning's breathing tightened.
He stiffly lowered his head, just in time to see the hands moving on his body, their fingers deftly threading through the straps to bind him tightly.
Young Master Ji felt as if he were a crab about to be steamed, while Cui Yao was tying a straw rope around his neck.
He turned his head.
Cui Yao lowered her eyes, her gaze calm and focused, completely undistracted, appearing open and honest.
He felt his ear tips burning inexplicably.
The main hall is drafty on three sides, but it is still too cramped.
The breeze did not make Ji Chengning feel cool; on the contrary, it made the wind feel hotter.
"Clatter."
A drop of sweat rolled down.
But it wasn't Ji Chengnin.
He had already turned his head away, so he naturally couldn't see that his dear cousin, who seemed to have the virtue of being an upright gentleman etched on her forehead, was sweating profusely.
Ji Chengnin was in front of him.
She stood there unprepared and somewhat bewildered, but because she trusted him, she suppressed her doubts and exposed her entire back to him.
The young general's waistline became increasingly defined as he exerted force.
Thus, there is no defense.
The lines of his neck were taut, rising and falling with his owner's barely suppressed breathing, and the veins attached to it twitched spasmodically, one after another.
His gaze traveled from her slender neck to her lean waist. Every part of her body was vulnerable, and with just a little force, he could... make her Adam's apple bob wildly, and she would lose consciousness and collapse limply into his arms.
How could Cheng Ning be so careless?
Cui Yao almost felt a bit guilty.
Thankfully, thankfully the person with their back to him was him; if it had been someone with ulterior motives, how dangerous it would have been.
A finger gently hooks a stray strand of hair.
With a slight exertion.
"Hiss?" Ji Chengning turned his head in confusion.
Cui Yao's eyes were clear. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," he muttered, turning his head away.
Strands of hair were tucked under long sleeves, slowly and deliberately wrapped around fingertips.
"alright."
Cui Yao slowly withdrew her hand.
The muscles beneath his palms were supple and firm, and even through his clean clothes, they seemed to be coated with a layer of bone glue, making Cui Yao unable to move his hand away.
His voice was slightly hoarse.
Ji Chengnin stood up straight abruptly, and in the blink of an eye, he had already taken several steps.
Before long, the two rode back side by side.
The young marquis injured his arm, but continued to carry out his official duties as usual. However—"I'm fine, I'm really fine. Look, I didn't even bleed a drop."
"You rushed here just to check on my injuries? Do you think such a trivial matter could hurt me? Hmph, you don't trust me at all."
"Within three days, this general will surely take Xiao Dingguan's head. Ouch, that hurts! Don't touch it!"
Visitors came in waves. Some were genuinely concerned about Ji Chengnin's injuries, such as his absolute confidants Li Bi and Chen Jian; others were more concerned about the overall situation, such as generals like Ruan Min; and still others were just hoping to see Ji Chengnin catch someone who hadn't been out of breath recently, such as...
In short, that afternoon, Young Master Ji's study was like a bustling market, with people coming and going and the room filled with noise.
Ji Chengning was overwhelmed with other matters, but fortunately his cousin was considerate. She willingly offended people and politely yet coldly delivered the message for him, pretending not to understand the hints.
Ji Chengning stared at Cui Yao, his earlier wariness completely gone. He longed to hold his cousin's hands and express his gratitude with tears in his eyes.
He was genuinely grateful, his peach blossom eyes sparkling as he stared intently at Cui Yao's face. "Cousin, thank you so much."
He loves to stare at people too intently.
Tender and affectionate, charming and alluring, yet detestable.
Cui Yao lowered his head, about to give a virtuous smile, when he suddenly heard someone outside shout, "General, I have something important to report!"
It is Meng Qi.
The smile on Cui Yao's face immediately faded.
Upon hearing this, Ji Chengnin sprang to his feet as if he were a carp leaping out of its shell, and sat upright. "Meng Qi? Come in and talk."
Cui Yao nodded to Ji Chengning, "General, I still have some matters concerning provisions to sort out. Please allow me to take my leave."
Ji Chengnin gave him a helpless smile and waved his hand.
Meng Qi strode in.
He was covered in charcoal ash, and his face was so smoky that his original color was unrecognizable. In his left hand, he was holding a long, thin black object, and in his right hand, he was holding something similar in size to the one on the left, but grayish-blue in color, like frost-covered wood ash.
Ji Chengnin looked astonished. "What is this?"
iron?
Meng Qi was not good with words, so he only said, "Please take a look, sir."
As he spoke, he gripped the two iron bars, and with both hands he struck them together as if slashing with a sword. With a crack, the jet-black iron broke in two.
"Clang!"
It crashed to the ground.
The bluish-gray iron bar, however, remained unchanged, as clean and new as ever.
Ji Chengnin suddenly stood up.
Facing Ji Chengning's intense gaze, Meng Qi took a deep breath and stammered as he spoke, "My lord, both of the iron pieces I have are cast from iron ore in Yan County, but the casting methods are different."
Ji Chengning grabbed Meng Qi and gestured for him to sit facing him. "What's the difference? Please teach me, Young Master Meng."
Meng Qi's hand trembled as he was pulled, and he almost lost his grip on the iron bar.
“Yes, yes, General, you may not know this, but previously casting iron involved winding wrought iron into a coil and then stuffing pig iron into it. But,” he pointed to the bluish iron bar in his hand, “waste iron was hammered into thin sheets, pig iron was placed on top of the wrought iron, and after the pig iron seeped into the wrought iron, it was forged into shape, which made it sharp but not brittle.”
The more he spoke, the brighter General Ji's eyes shone, as if he were a starving wolf eyeing a piece of meat. Meng Qi couldn't help but shiver, as if he were a hungry wolf eyeing a piece of meat.
"General?"
Ji Chengning suppressed his excitement.
But it couldn't be suppressed.
The cannon blueprints given to him by the Ministry of Works were still gathering dust in his study, but now the raw materials for making the cannons were within reach. If this could be accomplished, the fighting power of the Central Plains Army would be more than just a step up. Perhaps, Ji Chengnin took a deep breath, enduring it, and could still feel the scalding breath overflowing from his throat. Perhaps he could take Luanyang without bloodshed!
Moreover, it's not just Luanyang.
And then there are the barbarians eyeing Changyang Pass with predatory intent!
Ji Chengnin's lips were tightly closed. A strong smell of blood mixed with a rapid heat made it difficult for him to breathe.
He grabbed Meng Qi, "Come with me!"
...
At this moment, inside the military camp prison.
"Splash!"
A bucket of water was poured over his head.
The man, who lay on the ground like a dead dog, convulsed violently a few times, his chest heaving and making a "hoarse" sound. A few seconds later, he suddenly vomited a mouthful of foul blood.
The thick stench of blood instantly filled the dungeon.
The soldiers' expressions changed drastically, not because the man was seriously injured, but because among what he vomited was a long, thin piece of bone and flesh covered with a thin layer of skin, which had been mostly digested in his stomach. At the very top of the bone and flesh, a small, translucent piece was teetering on the verge of falling.
Everyone could see clearly that it was a human finger!
The youngest soldier among them couldn't stand it any longer and kicked him hard, yelling, "You beast, you actually ate people!"
The man was suddenly struck hard and coughed up black blood.
But he seemed to feel no pain anymore, and grinned at everyone, with a bit of pink meat stuck between his teeth.
"So what if we eat people?" he chuckled.
His once pristine official robes were now torn to shreds, covered in muddy handprints. He was covered in wounds, his calves a bloody mess, crisscrossed with buttons of varying depths. But compared to the wounds caused by weapons, the injuries on his body looked more like those inflicted by human bites.
This person was Zhang Rang.
The soldier who rescued him didn't know who he was. Just as he was about to treat him, the man saw him and the first thing he did was bite his arm hard.
It so happened that there were former officials from Luanyang in the military camp. Upon seeing this man, they were shocked and exclaimed, "He is Xiao Dingguan's close follower!"
They then took the man into the dungeon.
"In this world, who doesn't eat people?" He clutched his stomach. "Ouch, it hurts so much, hehehe, I eat people, hehe, you don't eat people, those fat, bloated officials don't eat people, the emperor doesn't eat people?"
However, he devoured the corpse whole, cutting it into pieces while it was still fresh. In the highest palaces and mansions, the high-ranking officials and emperors ate in a much more refined manner, sucking the marrow from the bones, their cuts leaving no blood!
Before anyone could react, Zhang Rang groaned and rolled to the side.
"Eating people grants immortality! Hehehehehe, after eating human flesh, one will live forever, with divine power surging through every limb and bone. The younger the human, the tastier they are, with tender flesh and no poison. Humph, once a person grows up, they are full of poison. Women are tastier than men, soft and tender. The hardest to eat are big, burly men, whose skin and flesh are too tough to bite. However, they will be cooked after steaming them for a while."
Before he could finish speaking...
The prison was instantly illuminated by bright light.
Zhang Rang squinted uncomfortably, and after seeing who it was, a deep resentment flashed in his eyes.
"It's you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been rejected by the general..." Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly slurped his saliva.
Young man, fair-skinned and delicate, I wonder what it tastes like, whether it can compare to dragon liver and phoenix marrow.
He stared intently at Ji Chengnin.
The latter looked down at him, his face expressionless.
"Pfft!"
He numbly lowered his head, then was instantly replaced by terror.
Fresh blood gushed out.
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The author notes: The two iron smelting methods mentioned in the article are the pig iron immersion method and the pig iron covering method, but I don't understand the specific operations.
My usual keyboard broke, and since I don't like using the other keyboards at home, I ordered the same model that I usually use.
As a result, after I hit the keyboard hard today, it's working again.
It actually healed.
[Fear][Fear]
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