Firearms Join the Battle
Having gotten away with a grand heist of the Sheng Palace, Feng Yu Heng had become addicted to stealing. This person’s style had always been to get revenge for just a sideways glance. She had never believed in letting off anyone that she viewed as an enemy easily. But to go and whip people like she had in the past was a little too lacking in refinement. Now that she thought about it, there were some people that just don’t learn. If you beat them, they might forget about the pain after a little period of time, but if you touch their money, that would be the same as taking their life. They definitely would definitely suffer far more than if they were physically beaten. The Lu family was an example. Under the Yao family’s suppression, all of their businesses had collapsed, and they fell to their current situation. What was the point of having an empty position as the left prime minister? The salary of a prime minister was not enough to raise a large family.
Feng Yu Heng pondered. Although she could not steal it all, as she could not steal things like deeds, emptying a few warehouses was quite easy. In the past few days, she had wanted to try and get a list of names belonging to the officials in the eighth prince’s faction, especially those that had caused a disturbance during the banquet. Before she left, she had to tidy up every single one of them. It would be used as the fare for getting her to her fief.
The Sheng Palace’s vault had been emptied out; however, word of this did not get out. Unless there were people that were interested in inquiring about it, like Xuan Tian Ming, nobody else knew what had happened. As for Xuan Tian Mo, he did not want to announce it publically. After all, it was not a good thing. For someone to have been able to empty out a treasure vault under their watch, all that could be said was that his Sheng Palace’s security was no good. From stealing to having it taken out, the information was at his side, yet he never perceived it. If this sort of information was discovered by the officials, it would be a huge problem for him. It would also create a feeling of insecurity among the officials. He could only investigate in secret, but after investigating for a few days, plenty of people had died, but he still did not know anything about what he wished to know about.
That night, Feng Yu Heng went to work inside her space. The main focus was on Lu Yan and Lu Ping’s blood samples and the bird nest. The result of the testing showed that her speculation was accurate. The bird nests had indeed been poisoned very blatantly.
Feng Yu Heng thought that for the poison to have been applied so aggressively, it should mean that there was no fear of it being uncovered because there was very little bird nest in circulation. At present, it could only come from inside the imperial palace. For the doctors on the outside, those that have persevered, none dared to reveal such a thing; however, who knew that the Lu family would look for Feng Yu Heng, who had once been an enemy, and Feng Yu Heng had also entered the Lu manor to examine Lu Yan.
But Feng Yu Heng did not want to startle the snake lurking in the grass. First, Xuan Tian Ming was certain that the Empress did not have any malicious intent. Second, she also wanted to see what the Empress’ end goal was. It was impossible that she would take action against Lu Yan for no reason at all and ruin this marriage that she had helped along. Put plainly, this was slightly opposing her. Based on the Empress’ position, it was something that invited some thought.
On the fifth day of the new year, Feng Yu Heng had arranged to visit the Lu manor. Going to see Lu Yan once more was just an excuse. She had already arranged for a female doctor to go and give Lu Yan her infusion each day. For her to visit personally would just be a cover. Her real goal was to go and give Lu Ping her injection.
In truth, the best method for treating Lu Ping would be to undergo surgery, but she did not have a particularly deep bond with Lu Ping. It was just a bit of interaction during the banquet. There was no need to put in so much effort. Also, Lu Ping did not want for the Lu family to know about her having her hidden illness treated. If the surgery required a few days to recover, perhaps it could not be hidden.
In regards to Feng Yu Heng’s arrival, the Lu manor was still very respectful in welcoming her. Ge shi definitely would not bring up the past situation between the two families. It was as though it had never happened. It was very clear that they viewed her as a benefactor. The female doctor did not come today, and she personally took care of giving Lu Yan her injection and infusion. She then found some time to go and give Lu Ping her injection. After she had finished taking care of things and began preparing to leave, Lu Yan asked: “The person that harmed me, has imperial daughter found any clues?”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head, “I have not been able to worry about that matter too much. There were some things that had happened during the banquet, such that I can no longer enter the palace. Even the Hundred Herb Hall in the capital is being forced to close. Before the 15th, I will need to leave the capital for Ji An Prefecture. Hah, Young Miss Lu, I was intending to investigate it, but these things have piled up. I’m busy from morning until late at night. I fear that I will be unable to do it.” She curled her lips into a faint smile and pushed the responsibility to the side. Although the Lu family did not participate in the banquet because of Lu Yan’s illness, they must have heard about it over the past few days. Although she did not say who it was that caused her trouble, Lu Song had been an official for many years. He should have been able to get a clear grasp of the situation.
Sure enough, just after Feng Yu Heng left, Lu Yan immediately asked Lu Song what exactly had happened. Lu Song helplessly recounted the matter of the eighth prince’s faction causing trouble for Feng Yu Heng. The anger that Lu Yan felt caused her to cough up a mouthful of blood and pass out. Later on, the members of the Lu family analyzed that this matter ought to have been the result of Noble Lady Yuan acting in the shadows. As for the cause of Lu Yan’s poisoning, it was most likely the bird nest, but nobody dared to say it. As for the things that had been sent by the Empress, they had come from the palace, and Noble Lady Yuan was also inside the palace. It was possible that she had bribed one of the Empress’ servants in Jing Ci Palace, which led to Lu Yan being poisoned.
Ge shi gritted her teeth and repeatedly urged Lu Song to cut ties with Noble Lady Yuan and the eighth prince’s faction while also looking for a chance to get revenge for their daughter. As for Lu Song, he was thinking that Lu Yan could no longer be preserved, thus the Lu family’s only hope was Lu Ping; however, he did not know if her illness could be treated.
The Lu family’s matter was just a path for Feng Yu Heng to discover the hidden mastermind inside the palace. In addition to this, she had fulfilled the promise that she had made to Lu Ping during the banquet, thus there was no longer any need for her to enter that manor again. The next day would be the sixth. It was the day that she had agreed to visit the military camp outside the capital with Xuan Tian Ming. When she returned to her manor, she immediately entered the medicine storage room then entered her pharmacy. Moving the chests of treasures on the first floor, she pulled out the stored firearms and began to take inventory of the firearms inside.
If it really was as Xuan Tian Ming had predicted, and a situation arose in the South after the first month, a battle would definitely begin. When the army set out, it would be impossible for them to carry all of the food supplies. Although the army over there also had supplies, Xuan Tian Ming would be bringing his own troops. A portion of the troops outside the capital had been left in Qian Zhou. Those remaining would be heading out for battle. Adding on Feng Zhao Lian’s 100 thousand troops, quite a few people would be brought along. The supplies stored over there did not appear to be enough. also, those soldiers had been following the eighth prince for many years. If they did not cause trouble for Xuan Tian Ming, that would be good enough. Absolutely no hope could be placed in them. Since it was Xuan Tian Ming that had the tiger tally, they could not afford to not put in any effort. If something else happened to the supply line in the back, that battle would be extremely difficult.
She had thought about it carefully before. If Xuan Tian Ming could only rely on the troops that he brought over for the battle, the difference in numbers when compared to the coalition of small desert countries was far too great. Like that, there needed to be a guarantee from the weapons. In the past, she always thought that she did not want firearms to appear in this world too soon, but her ideals were just one aspect. Reality had pushed her to this point, and she had no choice but to begin reconsidering. She could not allow for her people to suffer a loss, nor could she watch Xuan Tian Ming lead his troops to fight a battle with inferior numbers and get hurt or die.
She sat cross-legged on the ground next to the weapons’ storage. Looking at the guns and ammunition, she developed some thoughts. Suited to this sort of large-scale battle were submachine guns. Handguns could be given to Xuan Tian Ming for self-defense. In the past, she had given one to him, but he never brought it along. It was kept inside her space. This time, she had to have him bring it with him. She would also need to prepare the ammunition beforehand. She needed to keep a close eye on the amount and send it over to the military camp. She would be setting out before Xuan Tian Ming, and there was still a bit of time. The soldiers would need to train.
Guns did not need to be provided to every soldier. That would also be inconvenient when it came to managing them. She decided to only provide them to the Divine Archery Group of the Divine Intent Army. Although there were only 500 people in the Divine Archery Group, in this era of cold weapons, 500 machine guns suddenly appearing was quite awe-inspiring. Moreover, aside from the 500 guns, she would also prepare bombs for the Support Group. They would be used to aid in the defense of cities and to support their formations.
Feng Yu Heng firmly believed that with these preparations, although she could not boast that everything would be perfectly fine, the many countries of the desert wanting to obtain victory in this sort of situation really would be considered idiotic nonsense. At the same time, Xuan Tian Ming’s side would be able to conserve quite a great deal of energy and limit casualties and fatalities.
Of course, the management of guns and ammunition was of the utmost importance. At present, aside from Xuan Tian Ming and the Divine Intent Army, she was not prepared to allow anyone else to come into contact with these things. It would be considered a secret weapon of the Divine Intent Army. This was a matter that she would definitely need to repeatedly stress to Xi Fang and He Gan.
That night, she slept well. The next morning, she got up just as the sky began to turn light. After getting washed up, she chose some clothes that were easy to move in. It was of her own design. It was a bit similar to equestrian clothing, and a fur cloak was added on the back. Skipping the valiant appearance for the time being, it was not a burden, and it was very suitable for a girl to wear in a place like a military camp.
After having some congee and pickled vegetables for breakfast, Huang Quan said: “This new year’s doesn’t feel like a celebration. It doesn’t have that feeling. It’s already the sixth, yet young miss has not eaten anything oily recently.”
Wang Chuan also chimed in, saying: “Now, she’s going to be going to the military camp. That side will be even more lacking when it comes to food.”
Feng Yu Heng laughed, “That’s right. I’m also craving some the food from Refined Deity Building. How about we bring along the manor’s chef when we go to the fief. That way, we won’t run into the problem of not having delicious food to eat when we get there.”
This suggestion received the endorsement of the two servants. Huang Quan even began to discuss whether or not they should go to the best pastry shop in the capital to buy out their master and bring them along. Feng Yu Heng very helplessly said: “In your mind, is the Ji An Prefecture just a wasteland that is completely barren? Will we need to bring some well water from the capital along with us?”
Huang Quan very seriously replied to her: “Although there won’t be a need for us to bring water from the capital, we will definitely need to have wells constructed over there, and it won’t just be one.”
Feng Yu Heng shook her head in great disagreement with Huang Quan’s thoughts; however, Wang Chuan was equally pessimistic, as she told Feng Yu Heng: “Young Miss doesn’t know, but Da Shun very rarely sees anyone receive a fief. In our current era, you are the first. Even Palace Princess Wu Yang doesn’t have a fief of her own. Of course, His Majesty has the power to hand out fiefs, but handing out fiefs means giving away power. To say something offensive to the ruler, in the fief’s territory, you are the ruler. That’s why, if think about it, how could His Majesty hand over a prosperous area? Even if His Majesty has that desire, the officials would definitely not agree to it. That you obtained your fief so smoothly goes to show that it is a barren land.”