Su Yujiao suddenly stood up, which seemed a bit abrupt, since all the people present who were giving gifts were men, and no lady or young lady from any family had personally presented a gift.
Although Lu Ziqian is not here, Zhou Shi is still here, so Zhou Shi should be the one to see him off.
The Emperor didn't seem to care about these details, and looked at Su Yujiao with a smile, seemingly in a very good mood.
"Bring it here."
"Your Majesty, the gift I am presenting is somewhat dangerous and should not be brought to the palace. May I ask Your Majesty to move to the city tower and view it from a distance?"
"Danger? What is it?"
"Could it be a rare and exotic beast?"
"You can't see it anyway. The city gate is so far from the palace gate. If you could see it clearly, what kind of rare and exotic beast would it be?"
"Could it be fireworks?"
"There is nothing more fitting than standing on the city tower to watch the fireworks outside the palace."
The crowd buzzed with discussion, and even the Emperor was intrigued.
The Empress smiled kindly: "What exactly is this Su family member?"
"Your Majesty, please allow me to keep you in suspense for a moment. This item will certainly not disappoint you and the Emperor."
The Empress smiled and glanced at the Emperor, asking for his opinion: "What does Your Majesty think?"
The Emperor rose, in high spirits: "All my beloved ministers, go and take a look."
"Thank you for your great favor, Your Majesty!" the officials kowtowed in gratitude.
In reality, everyone wanted to join in the fun, since the palace banquet was the same every year, with officials exchanging pleasantries and engaging in insincere formalities, which was quite boring.
Today is a little different, though; in short, all the officials have been aroused by Su Yujiao's curiosity.
The crowd marched up the city wall in a grand procession. From there, one could overlook the entire capital city, where thousands of lights shone brightly, creating a scene of great prosperity.
At this moment, everyone craned their necks to look at the palace gate, but they didn't see any enormous creatures or rare animals; instead, it was pitch black.
The officials speculated, could it be that fireworks were really going to be set off?
I've heard that fireworks now come in many new designs. Could they be able to transform into the shapes of dragons and phoenixes?
Su Yujiao took out a signal flare from her sleeve and fired it into the night sky.
"Your Majesty, please look over there."
Su Yujiao pointed to the north side of the palace. "There's just a barren mountain outside that palace wall. What's there to see?"
Following the direction Su Yujiao pointed, everyone looked towards the barren mountains to the north.
Time passed by, and the barren mountains to the north remained pitch black, showing nothing particularly special.
Some impatient people urged, "Mr. Su, stop being so mysterious. Just tell us what it is."
No sooner had the young official finished speaking than suddenly... a deafening roar shook the earth, and towering flames illuminated the North Mountain as bright as day, only to plunge it back into darkness in an instant.
Everyone was so frightened that they ran away with their heads in their hands, shouting "Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!" as the earth suddenly turned upside down...
Chaos erupted on the city wall, but the Emperor and Empress remained relatively calm. After all, they had built the empire with their own hands and had seen all kinds of storms.
The emperor stared at the dark northern mountains, a burning light flashing in his eyes.
Before becoming emperor, he was a warmonger and a brilliant strategist.
The moment the North Mountain shook, the Emperor had a bold guess in his mind: Could the gift that Su mentioned be a weapon that could cause the North Mountain to shake?
The Emperor could not hide his excitement: "Su, is this your congratulatory gift?"
"Exactly."
"I am fond of studying elixirs. I accidentally discovered that the explosion of the elixir furnace was extremely powerful. I wondered if it could be turned into a weapon. Fortunately, hard work pays off, and I managed to create this powerful gunpowder."
"Your Majesty, I am willing to present the gunpowder formula to you."
As Su Yujiao spoke, she took out a small notebook from her sleeve, held it high above her head, and presented it with both hands.
"Excellent, excellent, truly a woman from a military family!" The Emperor was overjoyed as he held the recipe.
"Just tell me what reward you want, and I will certainly grant it."
Su Yujiao remained kneeling on the ground, trembling with fear: "This humble woman dares not ask for a reward, but only hopes that this gunpowder can be used on the battlefield as soon as possible, so that my husband can return victorious."
The Emperor happily flipped through the pages: "Su, you have made such a great contribution, you must be rewarded, otherwise who would be willing to contribute to the court?"
"I have always been fair in rewarding and punishing. How about this, when General Lu returns victorious, I will bestow rewards upon you both, husband and wife. What do you say?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Su Yujiao thanked him while secretly relieved, as she was genuinely afraid that the Emperor would not reward her.
In fact, that was exactly what she was waiting for the emperor to say.
She cannot accept any reward now, because she has not yet decided what reward she wants.
The timing is wrong to bring up divorce!
He pleaded for his elder brother but was afraid the Third Prince would interfere!
Therefore, it's best to wait until the war ends so she can adapt to the outcome based on the situation.
If Lu Ziqian wins and proposes a general amnesty, her elder brother will be rescued, and she can then legitimately use her merits to exchange for an imperial decree for divorce.
If Lu Ziqian loses or dies, she can use her merits to exchange for her elder brother's freedom.
Just as the emperor was in high spirits, the palace gates suddenly opened, and a warhorse rushed in, shouting "Emergency dispatch!"
Everyone's expression changed; at this moment, urgent reports would either bring good news or bad news.
Otherwise, no one would dare disturb the emperor's enjoyment during the New Year.
The Emperor's smile froze, and he immediately went to the Imperial Study.
"Your Majesty, a plague has broken out at the front lines, causing countless casualties to our army. The enemy took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, and Longhai Pass has been completely lost."
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince and the cabinet ministers exclaimed in unison, "Plague?!"
"How could there be another plague?"
"Wasn't the smallpox outbreak brought under control last year? Didn't the people in the border regions get vaccinated against smallpox?"
The emperor looked at the memorial with a gloomy expression. This time it wasn't smallpox, but the even more deadly malaria.
Bang!
The Emperor angrily threw down the memorial: "Why is it Chen Yunniang again?"
"Who can tell me why a woman like her would appear on the battlefield?" The emperor's chest heaved with anger, and he breathed heavily, like a bellows.
The Crown Prince was taken aback. Chen Yunniang?
He never expected to see Chen Yunniang's name on an urgent report delivered by express courier.
"Father, what does the memorial say?"
See for yourself.
The crown prince picked up the memorial from the ground. It was written in the handwriting of the Prince of Cheng. There were no unnecessary words; it was concise and to the point, yet it explained the matter very clearly.
This plague was actually caused by that fool Chen Yunniang!
In his memorial, the Prince of Cheng was practically swearing, which shows he was quite angry.
The crown prince was furious. How could there be such a troublemaker in the world?
I never imagined that a woman as insignificant as a fly could cause such a huge upheaval.
"Father, the most urgent task is to send imperial physicians to control the plague."
"As for that criminal woman Chen Yunniang, we'll deal with her when we get back!"
The Emperor finally calmed down and stared at the Crown Prince, saying, "Since the Third Prince is not here, you should go this time. You must control the plague at Shanhaiguan Pass, as this concerns the lives of countless people!"
"The people of the Great Ming Kingdom can no longer withstand any more turmoil!"
The Crown Prince readily accepted the order: "Yes! Your subject will certainly not fail your father's trust."
"Your subject will go and prepare immediately!"
The Emperor waved his hand weakly, and the cabinet ministers filed out, all asking what exactly was written in the Crown Prince's memorial.
Why is it said that the plague was caused by Chen Yunniang?
Everyone was incredibly curious!
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