Chapter 62 Meng Ao: Qin's aesthetic sense is unmatched.
Wang He: ...
Wang He was thoroughly fooled by Meng Ao, but he didn't dare to make too much of a fuss, since ultimately it wasn't Meng Ao's decision.
Just as he was leaving in despair, he received a summons from King Zheng of Qin, and hope surged in Wang He's heart again.
However, after meeting the King of Qin, he received a health-preserving recipe from the Left Chancellor, Taishu Jiu, and was still somewhat dazed when he returned to his residence with the recipe in his arms.
Wait, what was he here for?
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The atmosphere lightened considerably when Meng Ao was mentioned. Meng Tian had been assigned by Meng Ao to be Ji Yu's personal bodyguard, while he himself spent his days hovering around the mysterious box that had been brought out of the research institute, eager to find out what good things were inside.
Qin, who was hanging around in the group, couldn't bear to look at Meng Ao like this.
Meng Tian must have inherited this trait from his grandfather, except one was surrounded by Ji Yu and the other by cannons.
Meng Ao glanced at Qin passing by and quickly stepped forward to greet him. After exchanging only a few words, he returned to the things Ji Yu had brought out.
Those boxes had never been opened since they were transported out of the research institute, which made him extremely curious, wondering if they had developed a more powerful gunpowder.
It makes sense. The more powerful the Qin state became, the more spies there were in Xianyang. Secret weapons, of course, had to be kept secret.
The last time he heard the King talk about this, he didn't get accurate information, which shows that the research institute's secrecy work is indeed top-notch.
But Qin definitely knew, so he stopped trying to open the box and just followed Qin around, jumping up and down and running around like a servant.
Since he was going to be with the army, it was also a way to relax. 'Qin' sat sideways on a phantom white deer, the colorful wisps of silk on the deer's antlers fluttering slowly, which was quite a beautiful sight.
In order to circle around Qin effectively, Meng Ao abandoned the chariot and rode a horse alone. At this time, there was no saddle on the horse's back, and even if a cushion was placed on it, it was not a comfortable ride.
Of course, even if the deer she was riding was illusory, all the necessary equipment was complete. She and the others had been asking for a long time, but Meng Ao kept changing the subject, as if he was embarrassed to speak.
Qin truly admired Meng Ao's perseverance; even while riding a horse, she still had time to chat with her.
She sighed, wondering why he was describing the scenery along the way. "Why are you describing the patterns on my clothes to me?"
Meng Ao: Oh no, I was careless and forgot about it.
This annoyed Qin, who looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Speak, what exactly do you want to say?"
"It is my greatest honor to serve you, and nothing could be better than serving you." Meng Ao decided to start by saying the nicest things.
"Serve? You should go ask Zheng for a job, not stay here," 'Qin' said with a light laugh, his words full of teasing. "Besides that?"
Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Meng Ao confessed: "Actually, I was just curious about what was in the box..."
"You'll know when the time comes. Asking now is useless. I'll just tell you that it's very useful for both siege and defense, but it probably won't be needed for siege..." 'Qin' looked at him and hinted, "You don't want to take a city and then have to figure out how to repair the walls, do you?"
Although the city was not captured, Qin had already regarded the target city as its own property. How could it bombard the city walls with cannons? If the walls collapsed, it would be a small matter, but the civilians inside would be killed, which would be a big loss for Qin.
Originally, we didn't plan to launch a full-scale attack. Since we're going to conduct a trial, we can't afford to provoke too much resistance from the other side. It would be best to persuade them to surrender if possible.
Meng Ao remembered the order, but he could glean some insight into the usefulness of the secret weapon from those words. While he was even more excited, he also made sure to follow slightly behind Qin.
After traveling for many days, they arrived at their campsite, where even Qin looked at Meng Ao with a strange gaze.
What kind of willpower is this? Riding all the way without a saddle, only with a cushion underneath. If anyone says Meng Ao is not as good as Bai Qi, she will be the first to disagree. Could Bai Qi ride all the way without a saddle?
After the army camp was set up, Meng Ao ordered the entire army to rest on the spot. Qin also dismounted from the deer. The white deer, which was not carrying anyone, cried out and then disappeared into specks of light.
Qin couldn't help but be curious about how Meng Ao was feeling, so she tentatively asked, "Are you... alright?"
Logically, it would be more convenient for her to scan, but that wouldn't detect a person's thoughts, so she chose to ask the person directly.
At first, Meng Ao didn't understand what 'Qin' meant, but after realizing it, he blushed and said, "It's alright..."
Meng Ao gave Qin a slight shock to humanity. She looked at Meng Ao in surprise, she really didn't expect Meng Ao to have such strength.
“However…” Meng Ao hesitated for a moment. He also noticed that what the white deer was carrying did not seem to be a simple cushion. He had been so focused on the gunpowder on the way that he forgot to ask. Now that he realized it, he naturally had to ask quietly, “It seems that what you are riding on the white deer is not a simple cushion.”
"This is something I saw people using when I passed through the northern grasslands. *1 Is it pretty?"
Qin's focus was on whether it looked good or not. After all, she was not human and could not appreciate the benefits of a saddle. She was not human and did not need to balance her body, so she simply regarded these saddles with beautiful patterns as decorations.
Only when she is unaware of something can she wait for someone to ask her, rather than her telling others what she doesn't know.
Meng Ao nodded wildly: "It looks amazing! Your aesthetic sense is unmatched."
Qin smiled and nodded, thank you. She also thought her taste was excellent; the decorations on the saddle were all modeled by her own hands.
This boast was clearly spot on. Qin happily shared with Meng Ao how to make a beautiful saddle, including the stirrups, and how to choose the most beautiful patterns.
Meng Ao listened attentively, but he didn't care how good it looked. He just vaguely felt the importance of a saddle, so he decided to make one for himself later.
Upon arriving at the front lines, no craftsman could fulfill this wish, so Meng Ao put it aside for the time being. His priority was to observe the situation on the other side in order to formulate a specific course of action.
The strategy set before departure doesn't necessarily mean he'll stick to it rigidly; flexibility and adaptability are his style.
In any case, none of the Qin kings had a penchant for micro-management; once they arrived at the front lines, the command of the generals was in charge.
When stationed near the Qin-Zhao border, Meng Ao immediately asked Ji Yu what exactly he had brought, as the secret weapon was crucial to his tactics.
Ji Yu readily agreed to take people to see it, but Meng Ao couldn't figure out what the hollow cylinder was for. It was quite large, but it didn't look like a catapult.
Can this thing project explosive charges?
Having used explosives a few times before, Meng Ao had become fascinated by the feeling of explosions and also agreed with what Ji Yu had once said: that explosions are the most beautiful sound bestowed by heaven.
Ji Yu: "There are plains around here. If Lord Meng is curious, I can demonstrate for you."
She glanced around discreetly, but didn't see Qin. She felt a little disappointed, like a child who had worked hard to achieve something but whose mother wasn't there.
"Good, great good!"
Meng Ao immediately agreed. Lu Buwei, who came upon hearing the commotion, had experienced the scene of the Left Chancellor roaring "Left zero, right fire, Thunder God help me!" years ago.
Now that he saw that the Left Prime Minister's disciple Ji Yu also had this trend, he was not surprised at all. He had expected it and led a group of people, including guards, to a suitable location not far away.
Just before they began their experiment, 'Qin' arrived. Almost everyone present had a copy of the new Qin Dictionary attached to them, so they could naturally see her.
Ji Yu ignored the cannons being tested and walked directly towards 'Qin'. She called out more affectionately than the others, "Mother, you've arrived."
The way she addressed him stunned everyone around her. Did they think she didn't want to call her "mother"? They were just afraid of overstepping her bounds!
Meng Ao wiped his face. His granddaughter-in-law was good in every way, but she was so engrossed in researching gunpowder that she occasionally forgot the rules she should remember.
Meng Ao coughed and loudly asked his eldest grandson, "How do you use this so-called cannon?"
"That's right, grandfather, this place should..."
Lü Buwei: ...There's no need for that. I didn't say I was going to complain to the King of Qin.
Qin looked at the pretentious conversation between the grandfather and grandson, feeling both helpless and amused. When he turned to face Ji Yu, he smiled gently and said, "Well, come and see the weapon you made for me."
"Yes!" Ji Yu responded excitedly, leading 'Qin' towards the cannon. She didn't take credit for others' work, saying, "The cannon barrel was made by the Mo family. They tried many times, and we don't know which of these designs will succeed."
'Qin': ...
You guys are really brave, not even afraid of your guns exploding.
Such barbaric research made her feel as if she saw the first person who wanted to go to heaven, daring to try to fly with firecrackers tied to a chair.
He deserves respect, but his life is more important.
She instructed, "In that case, have the ordinary guards spread out a bit more and not get so close."
If it really explodes, she can at least protect the people nearby, but according to the system, she can't protect those who are unseen.
Ji Yu gave orders to the leading guards as instructed, and they went to guard the outer perimeter, while the debugging on that side was almost complete.
The first cannon was dragged out, its muzzle pointing towards the opposite city gate. According to calculations, the cannonball would eventually land in the open space in front of the city gate.
Ji Yu lit the fuse himself, and after a breath, a couple of breaths... the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed, but there was still no movement.
Qin waved his hand and pulled out all the dangerous things inside, then covered them with a pile of dirt: "This won't do, try another one."
It's too much to ask someone else to risk checking on her; it would be best if she could just dismantle the things herself.
So they replaced it with another cannon, this time with a slightly larger caliber than the previous one, and the cannon barrel was equipped with devices that the previous one didn't have, making it look like a cannon 2.0 version.
Fortunately, this gun was powerful enough to save face for Ji Yu and the Mo family; it successfully fired a shot.
Apart from Ji Yu himself and 'Qin' who remained relatively calm, the rest of the people present were so surprised that their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
Meng Ao's eyes lit up, and he reached out to touch his precious cannon.
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Author's Note: *1 This is not a citation; I just wanted to say that saddles were invented by the Indo-European people of the Eurasian Steppes around 3000 years ago in what is now the eastern Russian steppes. For a detailed paper, search for "Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse".
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