After much thought, all she could think about now was to make more weapons and earn more money, but she would have to wait until Situ Nanzhao arrived to discuss the rest.
Jiangbei City was in chaos at the moment, so Yan Xiao went straight back to Duobao Pavilion and had someone find her the materials needed to make bombs.
She originally wanted Mo Antong to help her research this, but he was too busy to spare the time. Since she had nothing else to do, she decided to study it first as a way to pass the time.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
"Sizzle~"
Upon hearing the servant's report, Mu Yunniang rushed over. She had heard the commotion from afar. When she arrived at the door, she and Wu Jian, who was guarding outside, looked at each other in bewilderment, wondering what Yan Xiao was up to this time.
She glanced towards the room and saw black smoke billowing from the cracks in the doors and windows, accompanied by a pungent odor. This worried her, so she tentatively asked:
"Miss Lou, what are you doing inside?"
Wu Jian was also completely bewildered. He wanted to go in and check, but Yan Xiao had given orders before entering the house that no one was allowed to enter without her permission, so he could only stand anxiously at the door.
"Cough cough~"
Just as the two were hesitating whether to knock on the door, Yan Xiao came out of the house, covering her mouth and nose and looking disheveled.
Along with her came plumes of black smoke billowing from the house, the smell even more pungent than before.
Upon seeing this, Mu Yunniang hurriedly went to greet her, looked Yan Xiao up and down, and found that apart from being a little dirty, she was fine, which relieved her.
He only asked with concern, "What happened?"
Yan Xiao waved his hand, coughed a few times, and then replied:
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I've just been researching some new gadgets and I've only made a little progress."
Upon hearing this, Mu Yunniang almost lost her composure. She thought to herself, "If this is all this progress, what if it gets too big and they tear the house down?"
Yan Xiao didn't notice Mu Yunniang's expression. She took a few deep breaths of fresh air before looking at Mu Yunniang and asking in confusion:
"Yunniang, did you need something from me?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Yunniang choked, thinking to herself, "Wasn't it because I was startled by the commotion you made?"
But she couldn't say it directly. Fortunately, she did have something to discuss with Yanxiao, so she said:
"Here's the thing, my husband wrote that he will arrive in Jiangbei City today. If you're interested, he would like to invite you to dinner. If you have other commitments, you can meet him when you have time."
Yan Xiao was waiting for Situ Nanzhao, and upon hearing this, he immediately nodded in agreement.
"I'm fine, just have someone call me when the time comes."
"good."
Mu Yunniang softly agreed, then her gaze drifted intentionally or unintentionally towards the house still billowing black smoke. After a moment's hesitation, she tentatively asked:
"Should I send someone over to tidy it up?"
Yan Xiao followed her gaze and looked towards the doorway, a rare look of embarrassment appearing on her face.
"I'm so sorry, I made such a mess of your place. I'll compensate you for the damage later."
What are you talking about?
Mu Yunniang quickly waved her hand and said anxiously, "This is nothing. As long as you are happy staying here, that's all that matters. How could I let you compensate me?"
Yan Xiao wanted to say more after hearing this, but Mu Yunniang hesitated for a moment before finally saying:
"This new research seems to be a bit dangerous, so please be careful. It's okay if the house is damaged, but please don't get hurt."
Yan Xiao could sense that Mu Yunniang genuinely cared about her, so her tone naturally softened considerably.
"It's alright, I know what I'm doing. As long as you don't mind me being noisy, it's fine."
While the two were talking, the black smoke in the room had almost completely dissipated.
It is said that failure is the mother of success, and Yanxiao believes that through her recent failures, she has gained new insights.
Eager to put her ideas into practice, she stopped chatting with Mu Yunniang.
"I'm going to get busy now. You don't need to worry about me. Just have someone call me when it's time for dinner."
Yan Xiao left those words behind and plunged back into the room, leaving Mu Yunniang and Wu Jian standing at the door, worried about her.
Mu Yunniang wanted to ask Wu Jian if he knew what new and interesting things Yan Xiao was up to.
But when she saw Wu Jian's eyes, which were even more worried and confused than her own, she knew that asking would be pointless. So she instructed two servants to wait at the door so that Yan Xiao could respond if needed.
She is now only grateful that, in order to avoid disturbing Yanxiao's rest, the room arranged for Yanxiao was the farthest and quietest place from the front yard.
Otherwise, with all this "bang bang bang" and "boom boom boom" noises, who knows how many people would notice?
Yan Xiao had no idea what Mu Yunniang was thinking at the moment. All she could think about was making bombs. If this thing succeeded, the world would be hers for the taking.
With each failure, she felt she was getting closer and closer to success.
Looking at the freshly baked product in her hands, she was full of confidence this time.
The previous ones all exploded at the crucial moment, this is the only one that successfully took shape.
Her gaze swept across the room, finding it in complete disarray; she figured she'd have to find somewhere else to sleep tonight.
Thinking this, she went straight out the door and saw two maids guarding the door, and Wu Jian standing straight in place with his sword in his arms.
When Wu Jian saw her come out, he immediately looked her up and down a few times. Seeing that she was alright, he quickly looked away and continued to stand in the stance dutifully.
The two young girls rushed forward to greet her, and seeing her disheveled appearance, they immediately asked:
"Miss Lou, would you like us to prepare some water?"
Yan Xiao was so focused on making the bombs that he didn't notice himself. When he heard this, he looked down and realized that he was covered in dirt.
She glanced at the darkening sky and, thinking that she would be having dinner with Situ Nanzhao later, realized that this was not appropriate, so she nodded to signal them to prepare.
After the two maids left, she quickly walked to the backyard, then went straight out of the yard and headed towards an empty, deserted place—a spot she had scouted out beforehand.
Seeing her actions, Wu Jian had some doubts but didn't ask any questions, and followed her at a distance.
After Yan Xiao arrived at the location, he first gestured for Wu Jian to stay away. Then, he put the small, dark iron bucket on the ground, took out a tinderbox, lit it, and ran away in one smooth motion with almost no pause.
Just in case, she made the fire line quite long, so she had plenty of time to run over.
Wu Jian watched her movements with a puzzled look in his eyes. Just as Yan Xiao ran to his side, a "whoosh" sounded, and a beam of light shot straight into the sky in his sight.
Then came a loud "bang!" and countless sparks burst into the air, falling like shooting stars against the dark sky, making them exceptionally dazzling and spectacular.
Wu Jian's eyes widened at the sight, and his usually serious expression showed a rare moment of blankness.
Yan Xiao, who had been full of anticipation, was dumbfounded, her brows furrowed so deeply they could have trapped a fly.
She was trying to make a bomb, the kind that could kill people, but after all that effort she made it turn into a firework, the kind that's so beautiful it's almost unbelievable.
With that "bang," it vanished into nothingness; there's no way she could be happy about that.
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