Shao Yu was sitting on the edge of the cliff, with one hand leaning back on the ground and the other covering his eyebrows. His eyes were looking at the mirage leaving Songhai Port, with a very disappointed look on his face.
Thin footsteps sounded from behind Shao Yu, and Shi Lan slowly walked over.
"Are you worried about Tianming?"
Shaoyu sighed, "Yes, but not entirely."
"I've always wanted to get on the boat and go to sea with Tianming. Maybe I can help."
Shi Lan nodded silently, but immediately realized that the other party could not see him, so he still said, "I know..."
"But I can't leave!" Shao Yu interrupted Shi Lan with a slightly depressed tone, "I am the young master of the Xiang clan. I have my own responsibilities. I can't act like this...randomly."
Shaoyu is not afraid to accompany Tianming on adventures. They have gone through life and death many times for themselves, for their friends, or for other reasons.
During these processes, he could pass on the affairs of the Xiang family to his uncle and Master Fan, and concentrate on doing things with Tianming.
But he couldn't go to sea with Tianming - not because of danger, but because of time.
The current situation in the empire is unstable, and the situation may change at any time. As the young master of the Xiang family, the legitimate son and grandson of Xiang Yan, and the spiritual symbol of the Xiang family, he must always be prepared to lead the Xiang family to revolt and rebuild the world.
.
Neither Xiang Liang nor Fan Zeng could replace him in this matter.
The time when Mirage will go to sea is uncertain. If he goes with him, no one can tell when he will come back.
If he goes away for too long, the day lilies may be completely cold by the time he comes back.
Therefore, Shao Yu can take the lead, lead the charge, and always charge at the forefront of danger, but he cannot follow the mirage out to sea.
However, for Shao Yu, doing so is not only taking care of the overall interests of the Xiang family, but also betrayal and abandonment of his good brother.
Recently he has been feeling depressed about this matter.
Shi Lan probably understood Shao Yu's thoughts, but she didn't know how to solve the problem.
Because in fact, they did abandon Tianming.
If we were to change places, Tianming would definitely board the ship at all costs.
Of course, the account cannot be calculated like this.
Although Tianming has the reputation of being a giant, he is basically in a state where one person has enough to eat and the whole family is not hungry. The affairs of the Mo family are left to be taken care of by class master Gao Jianli. He can really be a completely hands-off shopkeeper.
But Shaoyu can't.
He is responsible for Tianming, his best friend, and also for hundreds of members of the Xiang family. It would be unkind and unjust to abandon either party.
After Shi Lan hesitated for a moment, he said, "Shao Yu, actually I also want to get on the boat."
"It's not only for Tianming, but also for Shushan, and for the Fusang sacred tree, but I also gave up."
Shao Yu gave up because of the Xiang family, and Shi Lan gave up because of her brother.
She wanted to go to sea with Mirage, and so did her brother Yu Ziqi.
She doesn't want her brother to go, and her brother doesn't want her to go, and they can't both go, otherwise the remaining Shushan people will be left alone - one of them is the most important among the survivors, and the other is the strongest.
Yes, it’s no good without anyone, let alone both.
Neither of them was willing to give in, so they both had to give up in the end.
Shi Lan looked at the behemoth that was gradually receding on the sea, and continued in a sad tone, "Life is like a road that keeps moving forward and cannot go back. Sometimes you encounter a fork in the road where you can't have both."
"We can only choose to go left or right, and what's even more helpless is that we often want to go left and right...or we don't want to go left or right."
"Unfortunately, life always has to move forward."
Shao Yu seemed to be touched by Shi Lan's words. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled bitterly:
"Yeah... I always didn't like being controlled by others. I always felt that Uncle Liang and Master Fan were too wordy. They just wanted to be able to make their own decisions, and they just wanted to be lawless."
"But when you can really make a decision, you realize that it might be better not to choose if you have a choice, and you can't be lawless and do whatever you want."
"This is... reality." Shi Lan comforted him, "I believe Tianming will understand us."
"Of course, Tianming will understand." Shao Yu sighed, "I'm just worried... forget it!"
Shao Yu changed the topic, stood up and turned to Shi Lan, "Shi Lan, what are your plans next?"
"Me..." Shi Lan hesitated for a moment and then replied, "My brother and I are planning to go back to Shushan to see what's going on there now..."
Shi Lan's words seemed to be unfinished, and it was obvious that they wanted to see more than just Shushan.
Shaoyu did not expose this, and replied with a smile, "It's okay to go back and take a look... If you need help, remember to contact me!"
Shi Lan pursed her lips and smiled, "I know that I won't be polite to you if necessary... You are the same, you need my help to contact you in time."
Shao Yu smiled and gestured, then walked down the cliff, "Let's go back."
………………
Inside the Mohist stronghold.
Thief Zhi once again broke into the main hall with great enthusiasm. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, "The mirage is gone again!"
However, there was no response from him in the room.
The room is empty.
Robber Zhi was stunned when he saw this.
Where is Master Ban?
At this time, Master Ben's voice sounded from behind him.
"Don't be stunned, get ready to leave."
"The mirage has left, and there is no need for us to stay any longer."
Thief Zhi turned around and was not surprised by what Master Ban said.
Once the mirage is gone, there will be nothing left for the Mo family to pay attention to in Songhai, so it is natural for them to leave.
"You're leaving in such a hurry?" Thief Zhi asked casually.
Master Ben stroked his beard and sighed, "Time waits for us. We have wasted too much unnecessary time. We must be more diligent next time."
"Speaking of which, why didn't you believe the new thing in the mirage after seeing it?" Thief Zhi thought of another incident and asked quickly.
"Well, it's a kind of mechanical giant crossbow, don't worry about it." Master Ban replied casually.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "A giant crossbow? This doesn't sound like something that can be ignored. Weren't you worried that that thing would be used against us in the future?" Thieves Zhi was a little confused.
asked rhetorically.
"That thing is flashy and can't be used as a serious weapon at all, so don't worry." Master Ban simply explained.
As a mechanism master, he just sat on the mechanism Suzaku and after a brief observation with a telescope (Mo technique), he saw clearly the essence of Poyun Crossbow.
This thing seems very technical at first glance, but when you really think about it...it's just like that.
Essentially, it’s a matter of adding more water to noodles and more noodles to water.
In order to enhance the shooting power as much as possible, it is necessary to add more transmission and energy storage structures. If there are more structures, the volume will be increased. If the volume is large, more structural components can be added.
In the end it became this thing.
Compared with a normal crossbow, it is like the difference between a six-story building and a bungalow.
From a technical perspective, there is a gap, but not much.
Naturally, Master Ben was well aware of the defects of such large pieces piled up by hard materials, so he didn't pay attention to it anymore.
Although Thief Zhi is confused, he absolutely trusts Master Ban in the field of mechanism art, so he doesn't question it in any way.
"Okay, then I'll go pack my things too."
………………
In a mansion somewhere in Songhai City.
Ayan stood neatly in the courtyard, wearing plain clothes, like a dignified young lady...if you didn't look at the two swords in her hands.
"Mom, the mirage has already set off."
The person Ayan was talking to was undoubtedly her mother, Jing Salamander.
Regarding this news that was not news, Jing Salamander nodded calmly, "The ship has set off, and it's time for me to go back."
"This trip, I have been away from home for a long time."
Ayan stood aside obediently and said nothing.
Jingyu didn't pay attention to his daughter, but looked at another person in the courtyard, "Alu, are you going to Xianyang with me?"
Yan Lu smiled and shook his head, "No, I won't disturb my sister anymore."
"Next, I plan to walk around alone."
"I've been staying at Little Saint's Villa for these years, it's time... to go out and see the world."
Faced with Yan Lu's rejection, Jing Salamander did not force himself, his expression remained as cold as ever, but there was concern in his tone:
"If you have a plan, I won't force you."
"Be careful, and don't forget you and your family if you get into trouble."
Yan Lu didn't say anything, just smiled at Jing Salamander, then raised his hands to the two of them, clasped his hands, and turned around to leave.
After Yan Lu left, Jingyu finally turned his attention to his daughter:
"What about you? What are you going to do next?"
Ayan lowered his head, looking like a good girl, and replied softly, "Farmer, we still need to wait for the opportunity."
"Do you know when is the right time?" Frightened Salamander asked again, neither salty nor cool.
"Maybe there are some clues."
"Then... do whatever you want, remember not to cause any trouble to your father." Jing salamander seemed to be completely free of Ayan and had no intention of intervening. Then he asked, "After I leave, where are you on the other side of the net?"
Can you handle it?"
Ayan immediately replied, "I'm sure I can fool him in a short time."
Once Jing Salamander returns to Xianyang, Ayan will have one less person to replace her in playing the role of Quexie.
Once Zhao Gao mobilizes the attributes of Lu and Quexie at the same time again, she will most likely be exposed.
But this situation is rare.
Shulu's actual identity is the leader of the peasant family, and she cannot leave the sight of the peasant family's senior officials at will. It is not a particularly important matter, and Zhao Gao is not willing to look for her.
Even if Zhao Gao needs to carry out the task for some reason, Ayan can take advantage of the peasant hero's refusal to carry out the task.
During this period, she has been very cooperative with Zhao Gao, and it's okay to put on airs appropriately.
In this way, it will not be difficult to fool him in a short time.
As time goes by, you can still think of ways to do it.
Seeing that his daughter had a solution, Jing Salamander stopped talking nonsense and left without even saying hello.
Ayan was used to his mother's "coldness", so he smiled calmly and turned around to leave.
………………
In the northern border of the empire, Shangjunjunzhifushi, the eldest son's mansion.
Fusu was sitting in his study room, with the desk in front of him filled with various files and slips.
These books are all about the Great Wall construction project and the straight road construction project.
He was sent to supervise the army in the county, and General Meng Tian was now responsible for supervising the construction of the Great Wall Project and the Straight Road Project, so these two epoch-making grand projects eventually fell to Fusu.
Of course, he could just ignore it, hang on to the empty title of military supervisor and not work, and let Meng Tian do all the work. No one would investigate whether a prince who was demoted from Xianyang worked or not.
But Fusu certainly didn't want to sit idly by.
But once you really get started, it's a mess and you're in trouble at every turn.
The Great Wall and the Straight Road are both important projects that have been under construction for a long time. However, time has changed and the difficulties and troubles faced by the same project today are completely different from those in the past.
Fusu rubbed his brows with a headache.
Meng Tian, who was dressed in casual clothes, walked in at this time and saluted first:
"Your Highness."
The fighting in the North has basically ceased, and the remaining remnants of the wolf tribe were handed over to Wang Li by Meng Tian.
Wang Li came to the north to show off his merits and was in urgent need of gaining military merits.
Since Meng Tian and Fu Su had taken the greatest share of the credit for expelling the wolves, of course they had to let Wang Li drink some soup.
In addition to the defeated remnants of the Wolf Clan, Wang Li will also temporarily take over the defense of the northern border.
It is not only to give face to the Wang family, but also to give face to the emperor - the emphasis is on the latter.
Wang Lilai, who was sent by the Yingzheng faction, made it clear that he wanted to check and balance Meng Tian to a certain extent.
Meng Tian can't let Wang Li live too well, otherwise he will suffer a loss, but he must also be given some room for development, otherwise the emperor may look down upon him.
Of course Ying Zheng doesn't care how well Wang Li fares, but his goal must be achieved.
If Wang Li was suffocated to death by Meng Tian without any chance of growing stronger, the emperor might have to take a follow-up move.
Both Meng Tian and Fu Su hope that Beidi will encounter as little forcible intervention from the emperor as possible. For this reason, it is acceptable to indulge Wang Li for the time being. Anyway, he will not be able to make waves in a short time.
"General Meng, no need to be polite, please take a seat." Fusu waved his hand, motioning for Meng Tian to sit down.
Meng Tian was not polite and said as he sat down, "Your Highness is worried about the construction of the Great Wall and Straight Road?"
"How difficult it is for the people!" Fusu sighed with a wry smile, "The war in Lingnan has started again, and the entire defense in the north needs to be strengthened. Winter is about to come, but these two major projects cannot be stopped for a moment..."
Yingzheng was anxious to restart the Lingnan war, so he recruited more civilians to build the Lingqu canal quickly.
But now it is approaching the New Year of the Imperial Calendar (the tenth month of the Zhuanxu calendar is Yuan Shuo), and winter is not far away.
Cold comes and summer comes, autumn harvests and winter stores.
At this time, regardless of the garrison service, we should at least stop collecting and issuing all corvee services as much as possible.
However, Yingzheng not only did not allow the people to cultivate themselves temporarily, but instead repeatedly urged the advancement of various projects.
Among them, the most critical projects are the Great Wall and the Straight Road.
The Ling Canal project is located in the south, so even in winter, the temperature can remain within an acceptable range for a long time.
Not to mention border defense, no matter how cold it is, you can't relax, and the nomadic tribesmen will stop when the temperature completely drops.
But the Great Wall and the Straight Road... are hard to describe.
When it comes to border defense, they are of course also very important, but Meng Tian has just severely damaged the wolf tribe, so there is no need to worry about a large-scale alien invasion in the short term. Both projects can be slowed down, and there is no need to rush.
Fusu repeatedly wrote to the emperor to request the emperor to suspend these two projects to alleviate the people's livelihood difficulties, but the results were all in vain and no news was heard from them.
Meng Tian didn't think as much as Fusu, he just completed the task.
But Fusu was so worried about the people's livelihood, so of course he had to say something to make the situation public.
