Two hundred cannons in total
While the Paolin and the Northern Kun share many similarities, they also have numerous differences. The Northern Kun is named so because of its enormous size; it could easily accommodate hundreds of people, who could then live comfortably within it for a hundred days. The original designer of the Northern Kun considered that it could not go ashore during naval battles, thus allowing it to remain at sea for three months without landing.
Therefore, Beikun's artillery reserves can last for three months.
However, compared to the Northern Kun, the Cannon Scale is much smaller, and the number of cannons inside is greatly reduced. Initially, the Cannon Scale could only accommodate three cannons.
Wu Qi was deeply troubled by this, and after several days of worry, she was enlightened by a few words from Wu Shanyun. Her father, Wu Shanyun, said, "Every weapon has a weakness. You should not worry about its weakness, but rather turn its strengths into a fatal blow."
Wu Qi suddenly understood. Looking at Wu Shanyun, he suddenly guessed that if he were not afraid of being too powerful and losing his life, there might be a weapon in the world that was even more deadly than Bei Kun.
Even though Wu Qi thought of a way to turn weakness into a decisive blow, she insisted on changing the three cannons in the cannon fin to ten cannons.
After the ten shots were fired, yellow sand filled the distance, and thick smoke billowed straight up to the sky. Fortunately, this was a deserted wasteland, so no one was killed and no trees or flowers were destroyed.
Wu Qi sat in the cannon, took a deep breath, and leaned back in her chair as she exhaled. The control room of the cannon was really small, and the control levers took up most of the space, leaving her only about the size of a seat to move around in.
"It's a success..."
After resting for a moment against the back of her chair, Wu Qi pushed a control lever upwards. A piece of iron and copper on the top of the cannon scale moved aside, and light poured down, falling upon her as if in praise.
The seat beneath her slowly and steadily rose, carrying her to a stop at the top.
The steps behind the cannon were already visible, but Wu Qi did not leave her seat. She remained seated, gazing at the lingering smoke in the distance, before finally descending the steps one by one after a long while.
In just a short moment, it was difficult for everyone to describe the emotions they felt as Wu Qi stepped down from the cannon unicorn. They were still immersed in shock and joy, but looking at Wu Qi, a sense of heaviness mingled with their surging emotions. They couldn't understand—Wu Qi had played a crucial role in the creation of the cannon unicorn, so why did she seem so unhappy…
"Your Majesty, the trial operation of the cannon is complete," Wu Qi said.
"Can ten cannon shots really defeat the enemy?" the Emperor asked.
Wu Qi honestly replied, "No."
Unlike naval battles, the number of enemy troops in land battles is greatly increased. Regardless of whether the enemy uses artillery, their sheer numbers make it difficult to defeat them with just ten cannon shots.
The Emperor asked, "Then what should we do?"
Wu Qi had long anticipated that the Emperor would ask her this question, and she calmly replied: "Although the number of cannons that the Paolin can hold is relatively small, it is small in size and easy to manufacture, so we can use sheer numbers to defeat the enemy."
One cannon scale equals ten cannons, and twenty cannon scales equal two hundred cannons.
His Majesty said, "That is true, but Paolin was developed for you. You absolutely trust it and are very familiar with it. But besides you, who else trusts it and is willing to operate it to fight the enemy?"
At this point, mentioning anyone's name would be wrong, so Wu Qi remained silent.
Suddenly, two voices rang out—"Your Majesty, I am willing to control the cannon and fight on the front lines."
It was the voice of a man and a woman. Wu Qi turned around and saw Yi Shen, whose face was veiled, and Song Yinxing, who was looking at him.
Then came Lin Kuo and Ning Xunxu—"Your Majesty, I also wish to control the cannon and fight on the front lines."
"Five, fifty cannons." The Emperor finished speaking and said no more.
After a moment of silence, Wu Yin suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I am also willing."
Six.
The other students from the pavilion school then realized what was happening and expressed their willingness to learn how to operate the cannon unicorn to fight the enemy and protect the country. The Emperor nodded slightly and said, "Twenty."
Wei Si said, "I can too."
The Emperor seemed not to hear him and casually replied, "Twenty."
Wei Si said helplessly to Wu Yin, "Alright then, Ying Chang, I'll just have to wait for you to come back at the manor."
The Emperor glanced at Wu Yin, seemingly considering something, and after a moment, said to Wu Qi, "The Moonfall Camp is at your command. You need to quickly build twenty cannons and teach them how to operate them."
"Time is running out, hurry up."
Wu Qi replied, "Yes."
His Majesty added, “Classes at Cizi Pavilion will be suspended starting today. You do not need to attend classes there. Just focus on learning how to play the Cannon Blade. Also, be careful.”
The crowd answered, "Yes."
Before leaving, the Emperor said to Wei Si, "Aren't you leaving yet?"
"How dare I..." Wei Si gave Wu Yin a few more instructions in front of everyone. The Emperor actually stood aside and waited for him to finish giving his instructions before leaving with Wei Si.
The students looked at the scene thoughtfully, wondering what they had figured out. They glanced at Wei Si, who was walking alongside the Emperor, and then gave up. They didn't press Wu Yin and Wei Si about what had happened between them. Li Jian said, "Last night, General Wei left the capital."
"With a major battle imminent and General Wei absent, the morale of the army is low."
"Is that so?" Ning Xunxu glanced at Pao Lin, who was still standing in the same spot. "Perhaps, General Wei isn't the one who rallies the morale of the army this time?"
Wu Qi didn't care about any of that. He frowned and looked at Yi Shen, saying, "Yi Shen, your veil looks familiar."
She had expected Yi Shen to be punished, but she hadn't anticipated that his punishment would be to cover his face. Noble families have always valued their reputation, preferring to endure ten lashes on their backs and grit their teeth to put on their clothes rather than cover their faces. Compared to being confined to their homes for five years and destroying their martial arts skills, covering their faces was already extremely fortunate.
Wu Qi circled around Yi Shen and affirmed, "He really looks familiar."
The veil was made of the finest material, without a single embroidery. It was unclear how Wu Qi came to recognize it.
Yi Shen said, "Yours."
"Huh?" Wu Qi exclaimed in surprise, "It's really mine?"
Yi Shen nodded.
"Okay, I admit I was just teasing you. I didn't recognize it as my own veil." Wu Qi said that just now purely to tease Yi Shen, never expecting that it really was his own veil.
Yi Shen suddenly laughed, his eyes full of amusement. In an instant, Wu Qi felt the thick smoke dissipate, the yellow sand fall to the ground, and the wasteland cease to exist, replaced by an endless forest.
Yi Shen was neither unhappy nor saddened by covering his face.
Wu Qi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease, before realizing why Yi Shen had laughed earlier. She said, "Yi Shen, I don't think I have a veil at all."
She only wore a veil after faking her death in Pingwu City, but your veil was lost somewhere during the fight.
Yi Shen said, "Just teasing you."
This is absolutely rare! Wu Qi said, "Why are you teasing me?"
Yi Shen said, "You were unhappy just now."
"Is Yi Shen just trying to fool me?"
Yi Shen nodded and said, "Mm."
"Yi Shen." Wu Qi smiled, her eyes crinkling, as she looked at the gaze Yi Shen cast at her. "You're so handsome."
"Although I really don't want to bother you, I have to..." A student from the Pavilion suddenly stood between the two, looking at Wu Qi and Yi Shen expectantly, "Could I go and take a look at Pao Lin's control pavilion?"
Wu Qi said, "Sure, but if you want to learn how to operate the Cannon Scales, we can go to the Moonfall Camp. There is a Cannon Scales Learning Pavilion that I have specially prepared there."
The man then asked, "When did you prepare this?"
Wu Qi replied: "After I realized that compared to Bei Kun, Pao Lin's ultimate victory was achieved through sheer numbers."
She had long anticipated this day, and she was prepared for either continuing to build cannons or leading the students of the Pavilion Middle School to learn how to operate them.
Now that things have come to this, whether she needs to go into battle to kill the enemy or teach others to operate the cannon, it's pretty much in line with her plan. The only thing that makes her feel a little off is Wei Si's attitude towards Wu Yin.
She didn't think Wei Si was truly in love with Wu Yin; on the contrary, she felt that Wei Si was using Wu Yin. Someone as intelligent as Wu Yin should have already realized that she was being used by Wei Si, but due to various reasons, she had no choice but to cooperate.
But what is Wei Si trying to do by using Wu Yin?
Wu Qi couldn't understand it, Wu Yin couldn't understand it, Li Jian couldn't understand it either, and even now, the students of the pavilion don't know why Wei Si did this.
Li Jian truly loved Wu Yin, and he believed that Wu Yin also harbored some affection for him. He was looking for an opportunity to express his feelings to her, but Wei Si and Wei Luanhua's sudden intrusion left him at a loss. He stood beside Wu Yin, watching her intently, wanting to ask her about her feelings, but fearing that the answer wouldn't be what he wanted to hear, he hesitated to speak.
As the other students from Gezhong Middle School rushed toward Paolin in the distance, and the cheers and praises grew fainter and fainter, the two of them remained standing in place, seemingly waiting for the other to speak.
Finally, Wu Yin sighed, looked at Li Jian, and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Li Jian asked, "Did you have insomnia last night?"
Wu Yin asked in surprise, "Huh?"
Wu Yin had anticipated that Wei Si's outburst would leave Li Jian heartbroken, prompting him to question her feelings. She had even prepared for everything, but she hadn't expected Li Jian to ask her—did she have insomnia last night…
Li Jian said, "You look very haggard and tired today. I think it must be because you didn't sleep well last night."
Wu Yin said, "I really couldn't sleep last night." Especially after her father persuaded her to accept Wei Si's marriage proposal and quietly told her that Wei Si was the emperor's nephew and the only son of Princess Pingyi and General Wei, she couldn't sleep all night and didn't know what to do.
To be fair, if she hadn't sought Wei Si's affections but only agreed to his marriage proposal because of his status and wealth, she would naturally be set for life. Although Wei Si was domineering and arrogant, he wouldn't allow her to be humiliated. Moreover, given his status and position, if she were to marry him, her father's career would proceed more smoothly.
Wu Yin did not seek Wei Si's affection, nor did she want to pretend she knew nothing, nor did she want to be indifferent to being used. She only wished for a wealthy and prosperous life for the rest of her life and for her father's career to be successful.
After all, whether it's her own wealth for the rest of her life or her father's successful career, she can achieve it all through her own efforts.
Wu Yin asked, "Don't you have any other questions?"
Li Jian shook his head: "No."
Wu Yin asked again, "Why?"
Li Jian replied, "I can see things clearly myself. Besides, you're so smart, you must have your own reasons. Yingchang, everything will be alright."
So, stop suffering from insomnia.
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