Chapter 239: National Weapon
Li Cheng raised his head, wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, met Song Yanxi's eyes, and said firmly, "My father would never commit treason. The people of Liang are dreaming of getting the mechanism map!"
He asked, "Where is the paper and pen?"
*
General's Mansion.
In the reception room, several people surrounded an old man with white hair and beard in the middle, and their expressions were more serious than each other.
"As expected of the Bai family, known for their exquisite craftsmanship, such exquisite drawings are beyond my imagination..."
Xu Xiao couldn't wait to interrupt the craftsman and asked, "Master Zhu, are you sure you can make the thing depicted in this picture?"
Zhu Gong looked embarrassed. "General, you've really stumped me. The Bai family is the foremost in the world of mechanical devices, and then the other families. The intricacies between their mechanisms are truly difficult to control."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere around them suddenly became solemn.
Thinking about what she promised Li Cheng before coming out, Song Yanxi lowered her voice and asked, "Engineer Zhu, could you please excuse me for a moment and talk?"
"Convenient, of course it's convenient."
Zhu Gong originally felt that the atmosphere in the room was depressing and was eager to go out and get some fresh air.
But the smile on his face stopped abruptly when he heard Song Yanxi's first words.
Because she said, "How confident would Zhu Gong be if he had the Bai family to guide him?"
Zhu Gong's eyes suddenly widened, and he blurted out, "Did the princess bring the Bai family with her when she came?"
Thinking of something, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Since the princess brought the Bai family with her, why not ask the Bai family to forge it? Why let General Xu invite me to come all this way? Isn't that just asking for humiliation?"
Isn't this obviously a joke?
Seeing him turn around and leave, Song Yanxi hurriedly explained: "Mr. Zhu misunderstood, I was talking about the young boy of the Bai family."
"What could a child possibly know?" Zhu Gong said disapprovingly. "If we forge a mechanism according to this diagram, the Liang cavalry will be stopped at least a hundred meters away. If we can get the instructions of the craftsman who drew this diagram, we can forge it in a few days."
"The artist has passed away, and this painting was copied from memory by his son."
"Is your Majesty serious?"
"With such a powerful enemy at hand, how dare Yan Xi joke?"
Zhu Gong instantly became excited and blurted out, "This boy is a prodigy. He can restore the details so accurately just by relying on his memory. With him, I will definitely get twice the result with half the effort!"
He quickly turned around and walked back, muttering as he walked: "With this weapon, why worry about the border city being difficult to defend?"
Upon meeting Xu Xiao, Zhu Gong vowed, "Give me ten days, and I will present the sharp weapon depicted in the diagram to you, General."
"Ten days?" Xu Xiao, Cheng Duan and others all looked unhappy.
Although they didn't say anything, their expressions said it all.
Zhu Gong felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over his head. He asked tentatively, "How many days does General Xu plan to give me?"
Xu Xiao frowned, the word "seven" on the tip of his tongue, but then he changed his tone and said, "Of course, the sooner the better."
Although he was not familiar with forging, he knew that this was a very delicate job and that there was no room for haste. Even the slightest mistake would result in failure.
Today's border town can't wait.
Hearing that something was wrong, Mr. Zhu was about to ask something when he heard Song Yanxi's voice coming from the door.
"Master Zhu, do you think eight days is enough?"
"Eight days? If I can tighten my grip on my men, it shouldn't be a problem."
Before Zhu Gong could breathe a sigh of relief, she continued, "I don't just want it made, but something that can be sent directly to the front line and used to stop the enemy's 8,000 cavalry."
"This..." Mr. Zhu suddenly burst into tears.
Fortunately, he thought that the princess was a girl and would be easier to talk to than General Xu. Now he saw that she was even more cruel.
Xu Xiao patted Zhu Gong's shoulder and said, "The safety of the border town is in my hands, Zhu Gong."
As he spoke, he looked at Song Yanxi and said, "Princess, please accompany me."
After entering the next room, Song Yanxi took the initiative to say without Xu Xiao asking, "Uncle Xu's guess is correct. The prince is indeed outside the city now."
"Confused!"
Xu Xiao paced anxiously, subconsciously questioning, "The prince is seriously injured and hasn't recovered yet. Since the princess knew about it, why didn't she stop him?"
Song Yanxi just looked at him silently without saying anything.
That helpless look said it all.
If Mo Jinchuan had said goodbye to her before leaving, she would never have let him leave the city no matter how soft or hard the means were, even if it meant committing treason and knocking someone unconscious.
It is true that the border troops need him, but the prerequisite is that he must be alive.
Xu Xiao sighed and said, "I was just in a hurry just now, please don't blame me, Princess."
"Uncle is also worried about the prince's safety, which is understandable."
After hearing what Song Yanxi said, Xu Xiao felt no comfort at all, especially when he thought that there had been no news from outside the city since the Liang army's night attack last night, he felt even more anxious.
He said, "If I had known that the prince would take such a risk, I would have left the city early and left him in the city to stabilize the people's hearts."
Song Yanxi asked, "Besides Uncle Xu, does anyone else in the General's Mansion know that the Prince is not at home right now?"
"Of course not. How could such an important matter be known to others?"
After Xu Xiao finished speaking, he realized what Song Yanxi meant and frowned, saying, "Even if I try to stop them, this matter won't be concealed for a few days. The rumors outside that the prince was assassinated are getting more and more intense, and it's inevitable that the people below will have other thoughts."
Song Yanxi said bluntly: "This may not be a bad thing for uncle."
"The princess means that someone under my command has died..."
Xu Xiao stopped himself from saying anything, his eyes becoming more alert. "Do you have any evidence?"
Song Yanxi shook her head and said, "If there is evidence, I will ask my uncle to arrest the person directly. Why bother with so much trouble?"
Xu Xiao's expression eased slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "My Lady, there's no need to worry about this matter anymore. Leave it to me."
Hearing the displeasure in his tone, Song Yanxi knew he was blaming her for meddling too much in the border troops' affairs. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "This place is quite far from Huichun Hall. Uncle Xu, could you lend me a horse?"
Xu Xiao's brows relaxed upon hearing this, and he said with a smile, "It's my fault for not thinking carefully. It's just a horse, and I have to trouble the county lord to speak."
He made an inviting gesture and said, "Princess, please follow me to the backyard to pick one."
Song Yanxi politely declined, "I'll just wait here. Uncle can just send someone to bring one over."
Xu Xiao nodded, turned and walked out, then suddenly turned around as if he thought of something and looked at him, with a scrutinizing look in his hawk-like eyes.
"The princess can actually ride a horse?"
The ladies from the noble families in Beijing seldom went out on weekdays. When they went to banquets at various houses, they either rode in a carriage or a sedan chair. It was absolutely impossible for them to show their faces in public by riding a horse.
When did this person, who had been claiming to be sick and unable to go out in recent years, learn horse riding?
Meeting his gaze, Song Yanxi said without a trace of guilt, "I learned this from my aunt when I was accompanying my grandfather at the Yan family. My aunt said that when Uncle Xu was young, he loved to compete with her and my uncle in riding.
Uncle Xu is two years older than them, so he always gives in on purpose."
Thinking of the past, a trace of regret flashed in Xu Xiao's eyes. He said in a deep voice, "Time makes people grow old. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed, and you have grown so big."
He sighed softly, his eyes softening considerably, "Let's go, pick one you like, and your uncle will give it to you."
Song Yanxi thanked him and followed him to the stables in the backyard. Looking at the dozen or so spirited horses tied inside, she asked casually, "They look so spirited, they look like military horses, don't they?"
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