Chang Lili was extremely anxious at this moment. She watched as her mother-in-law locked herself in her room and didn't want to pay attention to anything else.
She asked casually, "Something for me?"
Her first thought was that it was the tonic that Meng Yuxiu had sent. However, Meng Yuxiu always delivered things directly into the courtyard and never sent anyone to inform her.
Sure enough, the servant said, "He said it's the material you requested."
Chang Lili immediately stopped in her tracks. Those were indeed the materials she needed, the materials she needed to make weapons.
Then she glanced at her mother-in-law's room door again, and her anxiety gradually subsided.
As she walked toward the gate, she muttered to herself, "Nothing will happen if I stay in my room alone. I'll go get my things and come right back. It won't take too long. It's not good to keep others waiting at the gate for too long."
At this moment, she felt that she was probably possessed, as if something she had been suppressing for a long time had suddenly burst forth, unstoppable. This thing was her love for making weapons and researching mechanical arts.
She had thought about giving up on these things altogether, but in the end she couldn't control herself.
However, the biggest reason she was so stubborn was probably that she thought her mother-in-law would eventually forgive her and stand by her side no matter what.
She still held onto the hope of persuading her mother-in-law.
As Chang Lili walked out of the courtyard to check the materials she needed, a figure appeared in the courtyard.
Meng Yuxiu slowly walked towards Chang Lili's room and saw the torn blueprints lying scattered on the floor.
He bent down and picked up the fragments one by one, carefully arranging them.
Chang Lili had told him long ago that her mother-in-law did not want her to make weapons, which was why she did not go to the blacksmith shop. She did not expect that her mother-in-law would really oppose it to such an extent.
He pieced the fragments back together, and as he looked at the blueprint, his deep gaze grew increasingly bright.
A soft smile appeared on his lips. She was so young, yet she was truly obsessed with weapons and possessed such talent.
Looking at the blueprints, Meng Yuxiu suddenly felt that Chang Lili was born to be a weapon maker.
The sound of cheerful footsteps approached, and Meng Yuxiu heard it from afar. Without any attempt to hide it, he looked up at the door and met Chang Lili's surprised gaze.
"Why are you here?" Chang Lili walked into the room and saw the newly pieced-together blueprint in Meng Yuxiu's hand. Her face lit up with surprise. "You've glued the blueprint back together!"
Looking at the complete blueprints in Meng Yuxiu's hand, Chang Lili suddenly felt that Meng Yuxiu was simply her benefactor and her mentor. If she hadn't met him, she probably would never have had the opportunity to manufacture weapons or learn mechanical arts in her entire life.
Now he has pieced together her blueprints, just as her shattered hopes have been pieced back together.
Her eyes sparkled with life, and suddenly she lunged at Meng Yuxiu.
He thought she was so happy because of the blueprints, but he never expected it was because of him.
Chang Lili felt the person she was being hugged seem to freeze. After she let go of him, she took the blueprints from Meng Yuxiu's hands as if nothing had happened and began to look at them with great interest.
Meng Yuxiu's face turned slightly red. Just a moment ago, Chang Lili hugged him, but she was mostly thinking about the blueprints.
He was different; the woman's soft, fragrant body stirred up a turmoil in his heart.
But looking at the blueprints, Chang Lili's expression darkened. After all, her mother-in-law was still against her and angry with her, which made her feel terrible.
Meng Yuxiu coughed twice and leaned over to look at the blueprints. He couldn't help but ponder, "I know this weapon. It should be called a bamboo whip. It was a weapon that the Great Shun Dynasty once had. But since the Great Shun Dynasty fell, the method of making bamboo whips has been lost."
"The Great Shun Dynasty?" Chang Lili couldn't help but ask.
Her little mind knew very little about the Great Shun Dynasty, and she was surprised to hear that this weapon really had a history.
The reason she came up with such a weapon was indeed because of the image that appeared in her mind: a majestic general-like figure, but who was actually a woman.
The woman was both heroic and beautiful, holding a nine-section whip and wearing armor, looking every bit like a female general.
Seeing Chang Lili in a daze, Meng Yuxiu couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Is this method lost? Are you scared?"
Chang Lili said with her head held high and chest puffed out, "Although I didn't come up with this out of thin air, since I chose it, I will definitely create it."
Meng Yuxiu smiled faintly: "I'll wait and see."
Because of what happened before, Meng Yuxiu felt it was too dangerous to go in and out of the blacksmith's forge again, as Xiao Shuer might take advantage of the situation.
Meng Yuxiu then took Chang Lili to the forging workshop in the general's mansion. It didn't look big, but it was small yet complete, enough for Chang Lili to use.
From then on, this forging workshop became a place where Chang Lili often lingered.
The mother-in-law had been sulking in her room for a long time. When Chang Lili didn't come to see her for a while, she finally couldn't hold back and opened the door herself, but Chang Lili was nowhere to be seen.
After that, Chang Lili seemed to have completely forgotten about the incident. When she was in the yard, she always smiled broadly and acted ingratiatingly towards her mother-in-law, but she never mentioned what happened that day.
She no longer hid it from her mother-in-law, but openly spent her days at the forging furnace. Meng Yuxiu also frequently went to the forging furnace.
Now the mother-in-law couldn't sit still. This general was indeed powerful, wealthy, and influential, but Chang Lili was also a good girl. The two of them were together so often, a man and a woman alone, without any status or relationship, yet they were always inseparable. How could anyone feel at ease with this?
Moreover, Meng Yuxiu's attentiveness made it impossible not to overthink things.
Seeing Chang Lili stay in the forging room for several hours at a time, sometimes not returning to her room until late at night, how could her mother-in-law not feel at ease?
So, the mother-in-law forgot about the things that made her angry. Every day when Chang Lili went to the forging furnace, she would secretly follow behind and guard outside the furnace.
She did see Chang Lili and Meng Yuxiu often seen together, but to her relief, the two did not overstep their bounds, and Meng Yuxiu respected Chang Lili very much.
But her mother-in-law was getting old and her health wasn't so good; she couldn't withstand the strain that Chang Lili did.
The old woman, who had been secretly hiding in the bushes and guarding the forge outside, had actually fallen asleep.
When she woke up again, the sky was full of stars, the forging furnace had been extinguished, and Chang Lili and Meng Yuxiu had left.
The old woman sighed, moved her stiff body, and prepared to get up and go back to the courtyard, but suddenly saw a figure flash by in the dim light.
She held her breath, rubbed her eyes in disbelief, and looked again. Sure enough, under the bright moonlight, a person was sneaking into the forge.
The old woman stood there, watching and waiting quietly, trying to figure out who this person was and what his purpose was.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
