"…I’ve long heard of Li Heng’s talent while at the Prince’s mansion, but unfortunately, Li Heng didn’t attend the last gathering, and I never had the chance to meet him, which I regretted. Today, upon seeing him, I realize Li Heng is truly a young and talented man, deserving of his reputation. Master Zhang and I originally intended to go to the East Market to find a good Duan inkstone, but I wonder where Li Heng and the Little Princess are heading…"

"It’s just that the Princess is almost of age, and it’s always somewhat inappropriate for her to be out and about like this…"

It was only the beginning of February, and Jin'er's shop had only been open for a few days, the business was quite booming. But thankfully, it was already past lunchtime, and there were still private rooms available on the second floor. When Ning Yi and Zhou Pei, Song Qian, and Master Zhang and Master Li came together, the hall downstairs appeared quite lively. He didn’t know if Yun Zhu and Jin'er were there, and since he had brought outsiders, Ning Yi didn't need to look for them. He just found a room upstairs to sit down, drink tea, and chat.

The room was beautifully decorated, and the location was originally good. Opening the rear window would offer a panoramic view of the Qinhuai scenery, but the weather was still cold, so the window could not be opened. Several potted plants were placed around the room, and several ink paintings and poem drafts on the walls created a very scholarly atmosphere. After everyone sat down in the room, the female attendants from the shop served tea and snacks, and Master Zhang and Master Li began to speak.

Li Tong, the slightly plump one, wore a warm smile. Among the two, he was basically playing the "good cop," warmly trying to win Ning Yi over. Zhang Rui, on the other hand, adopted the air of his position, and being older, directly questioned Ning Yi with a frown. In fact, these two may have felt some envy and jealousy in their hearts. Although Li Tong had some talent, he hadn't interacted much with Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu in the few years he'd been in the Prince's mansion. Zhang Rui, however, had taught the two siblings some things, having a teacher-student relationship with them. But in no way could he get the two siblings to attend classes at a certain academy like Ning Yi did, who reportedly often took them here and there. This kind of relationship was just too different.

Zhou Pei was an independent-minded girl. In the past, she would have likely been annoyed by Zhang Rui's statement that "the Princess is almost of age, and it’s somewhat inappropriate for her to be out and about." But today, things were different.

She had just argued with Ning Yi that morning, and they had seen her crying next to him. Now that the two teachers were clearly trying to challenge the master, Little Zhou Pei was secretly delighted. She didn't mind the old teacher saying she didn't have the freedom to go out. She was already a little hungry, and now her appetite increased even more. She took a pastry and sat next to him, nibbling on it, pretending to be a well-behaved child who respected her teacher and listened to his teachings, wishing she could nod vigorously. On the other hand, she was also looking forward to what fallacies Ning Yi would use to refute the two teachers. Of course, at this time, the topic was still brewing, and Ning Yi replied with a smile that he was going to the Prince Consort's mansion to deliver some things, so he was taking Zhou Pei along the way.

Li Tong nodded with a smile, "The Prince Consort's mansion… is that Lord Ming's residence? I heard that Li Heng has a good relationship with Lord Ming?"

"We are chess friends, you could say."

"Then Li Heng must be a skilled player. Coincidentally, I also have some insights. If there's time, perhaps we can arrange a game sometime."

While Li Tong was making polite conversation, Zhang Rui glanced at a corner of the room, "The things that Li Heng is going to send to Lord Ming's residence, could they be those?"

Ning Yi looked at him, "Master Zhang recognizes them?"

"This looks like the military's *tuhuoqiang* (突火枪, primitive firearm), I wonder where Li Heng obtained them?"

Zhang Rui frowned, and Ning Yi briefly explained. These few *tuhuoqiang* were originally obtained by him through Kang Xian for research. The technology of the *tuhuoqiang* was not high, and most of them had now been understood. Leaving too many in the small courtyard was useless. There were also two that had been broken. Although Kang Xian's hidden power was also great, these *tuhuoqiang* were, after all, military items. Ning Yi felt that it would be better to return some and have Lu Agui report them, so he took them and prepared to send them over.

At this time, everyone had said a few words, and the topic suddenly turned to the guns. Zhou Pei, chewing on a pastry, looked around, somewhat confused. Originally, the topic should have been directed to literary talent and poetry. The three of them would compete, first provoking, then the two teachers would engage Ning Liheng in a literary contest, reciting drinking games, writing poems, composing essays, and then it would become a good story, which was the development she had expected in her heart.

At this time, she heard Zhang and Li talking about some trivial matters related to Kang Xian. Zhang Rui said, "I have seen the *tuhuoqiang* a few times as well. This kind of object is really annoying. Placed in the military, it's like a chicken rib, a clever but useless skill, harmful rather than beneficial. I have heard a few times that Li Heng is interested in these things. This kind of thing is really inappropriate. Li Heng should focus on learning and put his mind on beneficial things, otherwise, I'm afraid he will inevitably mislead himself."

As if with a "thud," Zhou Pei's eyes widened into circles. She held the pastry with both hands, moved her buttocks back, sat upright, her eyes rolling around, paying attention to Ning Yi and the other's expressions. Pouting her lips, she looked like a rabbit, waiting for Ning Yi's rebuttal, but saw Ning Yi smile, cup his fist in the other hand, and say, "Master Zhang is right."

The fire wasn't lit, and the rabbit's ears drooped. She had heard Kang Xian talk about Ning Yi's temperament before. Her master was always the kind of person who could politely apologize a hundred times and nod a thousand times for one thing, but would never change his actions. If Grandpa Qin or Grandpa Prince Consort were here today, he might take out his sincerity to discuss with people, but the two people in front of him obviously couldn't arouse his desire to fight, and he actually nodded in agreement.

However, even if Ning Yi was willing to back down, the other side might not be willing to let him go. Zhang Rui shook his head, "Li Heng is young and vigorous, perhaps he doesn't agree with what I said. But what I'm referring to is not actually about the firearms themselves. In my opinion, these firearms are just loud when they are fired, they can only scare people. Their range is not as good as bows and arrows, their accuracy is also very low, the loading is extremely troublesome between each shot, and they may explode and injure themselves after firing a few times, and they cannot be used on rainy days. The only advantage is that because they are gunpowder-launched, even children and old people can aim them and use them. But… this is also the biggest drawback."

Although this old man clearly showed an attitude of challenging him, he was not a fool. He actually knew a lot about this firearm: "What's the benefit of putting a weapon that even a child can use in the military? What our Wu Dynasty soldiers lack is never these strange and bizarre objects, but military morale. Think about how the Jurchen people defeated the Liao army with fewer troops, but when our Wu Dynasty soldiers saw the Liao people, they collapsed at the mere sight of them. Is the difference between people really that big? I've also seen the Jurchens, they don't have three heads and six arms. Now our Wu Dynasty soldiers are greedy for life and afraid of death, only knowing how to enjoy themselves. We can only harshly criticize and strictly train them to awaken their courage and spirit to have hope of victory. They are now training lazily, unable to swing a knife or draw a bow, not because they lack strength, but because they lack courage and bloodiness. If these things are placed in the military, it will only make the army more useless, even if the power of these firearms is doubled, it will be harmful rather than beneficial!"

"That's the logic." Ning Yi nodded, this time not just perfunctorily. He did agree with some of what the other party said.

"As Heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman strives for self-improvement. These clever but useless skills can only make people lazy and degenerate. The words of the sages are all supreme truths. I heard that Li Heng is interested in these things, which is fine since he is young. But now that Li Heng is a teacher, I heard that you even let the Little Prince learn these things, which is a bit too much…"

Zhang Rui had a teacher-student relationship with Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu. Although they were not very close, he knew that the Little Prince had recently liked something called the Study of Things (格物之学, Gewu Zhi Xue), which might fool ordinary people, but in the eyes of these old people, it was really a clever but useless skill, the learning of craftsmen. The old man changed the subject and finally turned to this matter. Li Tong didn't know this and frowned, "With Li Heng's talent, he shouldn't be like this, right? I don't know what Master Zhang is referring to…"

The atmosphere in the room finally became strange at this time, but in a sense, it could be said that it had finally entered the main topic. Zhou Pei put the pastry to her mouth and took a bite, frowned and looked at Ning Yi, feeling that this matter was tricky. If a story spread in the Prince's mansion later that Old Man Zhang reprimanded Ning Liheng, she would also feel embarrassed. At this time, she was worried about what kind of words Ning Yi would use to argue.

Zhang Rui and Li Tong were talking to each other, when suddenly someone knocked on the door. After a while, a woman wearing a veil came in with a tea tray. She was not a servant from the restaurant. The woman had a very beautiful figure, and her eyes behind the veil were lively. It seemed that she was at least the manager of the restaurant or something. She said a few polite words with a smile, and added tea and pastries before turning to leave. Li Tong seemed to have remembered something, and stared at the woman's figure in a daze, forgetting to criticize Ning Yi for a while. Zhou Pei recognized her. She had seen her at the main branch of Bamboo Note. This was the courtesan named Yuan Jin'er. She had already redeemed herself and knew her master.

Sure enough, after the woman went out, Ning Yi also stood up with a smile: "You two chat first, I'll go out for a while."

After saying hello, Ning Yi left the room. Sure enough, Yuan Jin'er was sneakingly looking towards this side by the side of the corridor not far away. In the past, when she came here to direct workers, she didn't mind her appearance being seen. At this time, she regarded herself as the owner of Jin'er's shop, and became reserved, covering her face behind a gauze scarf to maintain a sense of mystery. When Ning Yi went over, she said, "It's been busy recently, why did you come over?"

"Passing by, where is Yun Zhu?"

"Sister Yun Zhu was upstairs just now, but I can't find her now. I don't know what happened, but someone called her out. I heard from Xiao Min that you seem to have come, so I came to see you. Who are the others who came with you, besides that little girl?"

"Talented debaters."

"Talented debaters?" Jin'er blinked her eyes. Ning Yi nodded, "Very famous."

"No wonder… I seem to have seen that fat guy before…"

While speaking, noisy sounds came from the hall on the first floor, mixed with the sound of musical performances. Jin'er probably also had something to do, and she looked out the window facing the street from the second floor several times. Ning Yi also leaned out to take a look. It was just a street with pedestrians coming and going: "What are you looking at?"

"Uh… it's nothing, it's not your business, go and debate with those two talented men." She thought for a while and hummed softly, "To be honest, it's not fun when you smelly men debate without women around. You're ultimately showing off in front of women. Otherwise, should I call someone in to watch you guys argue? Two sisters from Swallow Emerald Tower are here today, and they are beauties. You wouldn't want Sister Yun Zhu to accompany you, although she would definitely take your side…"

Men just want to show off in front of women. Yuan Jin'er's casual words really hit the nail on the head. In fact, there was nothing to argue about today. Zhang Rui and these people had their own logical system, which was flawless and impeccable. To talk about the impact of qualitative changes in technology, if it were someone like Old Man Qin,

everyone had known each other for quite some time, and he might seriously consider it, but these people would not.

Even if both parties were sincere, there was no possibility of persuading each other. There was no point in being sincere about this kind of thing. Ning Yi was planning to list some detailed data on clever but useless skills after going back to fool the two of them, since he was idle and bored anyway.

He went downstairs to use the restroom, wash his hands, and came back up. The data had already been listed in his mind. As soon as he entered the corridor on the second floor, unintentionally, something happened.

The noisy sounds mixed with music came from behind. Ning Yi was walking towards the room when footsteps came running from behind and pushed his shoulder.

The store of Bamboo Note Second Branch was spacious, and the corridor was not narrow either. The person pushing Ning Yi was obviously in a hurry. Ning Yi didn't mind this. The person was a burly and tall man, dressed like he was from the north. He went directly into a room with the door open to the side in front of him.

"It's that person…"

The man said such a sentence. When Ning Yi walked over, someone was closing the door. A few words of conversation faintly came out. Ning Yi didn't pay much attention to it. He looked at the corner of the corridor ahead. Yuan Jin'er's figure was no longer there. Seeing that she seemed to be in a good mood today, he didn't know why... As he was thinking this, his footsteps suddenly stopped. After a while, he tapped his fingers on his side a few times.

After learning the second-rate internal power taught by Lu Hongti, his physical fitness had improved a lot, and his hearing had also gotten better. When he walked past just now, he seemed to vaguely hear sentences like "that Qin Siyuan beside... guard..." but he couldn't be sure. At this time, he took two steps back, concentrated and listened, and faintly heard some incomplete sentences.

"…Sure you want to do it?"

"…Good opportunity…"

"…Too hasty…"

"Scout it out first, leave the city right after…"

What's going on?

Someone in the room had a louder voice, so he could hear them clearly. But he still couldn't get a complete picture. The people inside talked a few more sentences. Ning Yi walked forward, and then the door opened. The people who came out should have glanced at him before heading to the exit of the corridor. When Ning Yi looked back, he saw one person tall and thin, wearing a coat made of animal fur, and the other looked like a noble young man. Both of them had very steady steps.

Ning Yi thought for a while and turned back.

Leaving the corridor, there was a row of platforms connected to the stairs, where you could see the situation in the hall. The two people who came out of the room were standing here looking down. The hall was a little less lively at this time. The girls invited from Swallow Emerald Tower were performing on the stage. Ning Yi stood next to the two people, glanced down, then waved to a waiter, asked for the name of the girl performing on the stage, and left without looking any further.

At a table on one side of the hall, Nie Yunzhu was with Old Man Qin talking to a waiter. There was nothing on the table, indicating that Old Man Qin had just arrived and sat down not long ago. A few days earlier, he had heard the old man say that after Bamboo Note Second Branch opened, he would come to see it when he had time.

What the two people had been watching was precisely this direction.

*******************

In the room, Zhang Rui was talking to Zhou Pei. Zhang Rui and Li Tong's explanation for Ning Yi's departure just now was that Ning Yi had fled in panic. Zhou Pei knew that this was not the case. Ning Yi's departure with Yuan Jin'er made the gossip desire in her heart burn fiercely. She couldn't help but want to chase out and peek at it. After all, one was the number one talented man, and one was formerly one of the Four Top Courtesans (四大行首, Si Da Hangshou) of the brothel. Maybe there really was a touching love story. However, on the one hand, she didn't like Ning Yi losing face, and on the other hand, she was still a little angry about what happened in the morning, so she didn't follow him out, just waiting for Ning Yi to come back and regain a city—there was no doubt that the master could regain a city, but she didn't know what theory he would use.

Zhang Rui was talking happily about some of the remarks he had made against Ning Yi just now, and he was also teaching Zhou Pei in a earnest manner, mainly to let this smart Little Princess return to the right path and realize who was the better teacher. Li Tong was thinking that Ning Yi would be speechless when he came over later. However, this matter was a bit strange. Talented men always competed with each other to save face. If others said that they were wrong, they would never admit it, but today Ning Yi didn't get angry, and just said a few words with a smile, "You're right," which was really uncomfortable. When he came later, he would have to say it more seriously. In the future, people would have to realize that this Ning Liheng had lost face. He then thought of the fact that the shop was named Jin'er Shop, and the woman who looked very much like Yuan Jin'er. For a time, he focused his mind on it.

Before long, the door finally opened, and Ning Yi came back. First, he spoke a few words softly to Song Qian, the bodyguard of the Prince's mansion who was sitting on the side like an invisible man. Song Qian frowned and left with a serious expression. Ning Yi came over here. Li Tong said with a smile: "Li Heng, I and Master Zhang chatted for a while just now, and we have some ideas…"

Zhang Rui frowned: "It's not just ideas. Li Heng, I really think that this matter is very serious. It concerns the future of the Little Prince and cannot be neglected. These few days, you must give an explanation. Otherwise, it will not only spread in the Prince's mansion, but I will also make a suggestion to the Prince. This matter is not

targeted at you, but… but…"

The old man didn't finish his words and blinked his eyes. Li Tong also widened his eyes. Zhou Pei, who was shrinking her head and gnawing on pastries, had her mouth open and couldn't bite down for a moment. Ning Yi didn't answer the two people's words at this time. He turned to look at the door, but took the long package containing the five *tuhuoqiang* from the corner of the room. He put the package on the table, unwrapped it, picked up a gun, opened a small bag of gunpowder, poured the gunpowder into the barrel, and poked it with a long iron rod to fill it with pellets.

At this time, Ning Yi was standing there working on his hands. He had no interest in the boring debate. Zhang Rui and Li Tong were sitting across the round table, wondering what this guy was going to do. Ning Yi loaded a gun, thought about it, and loaded another one. When his eyes swept over the two people's faces, he smiled kindly at them, but his eyes glanced towards the door. Of course, the current Zhang Rui and Li Tong could not notice such actions.

"You… you…" Li Tong swallowed his saliva, "G-gentlemen use words, not fists…" After stuttering this sentence, he couldn't say anymore. How could there be such a debate? Because they said his clever but useless skills were useless, he was going to shoot them both dead…

Ning Yi took out a fire striker from his body, flicked it to light it up, waved it in his hand a few times, blew it out, then covered it and put it away. Then he packed up the two loaded *tuhuoqiang*, slung them over his back in a posture that allowed him to pull them out at any time, and then took a deep breath.

"Something is happening outside, you guys sit here for a while… Maybe it's a mistake…" He thought for a while and added, "I hope it's a mistake…"

******************

I generally feel like I'm getting the hang of it, and I hope it gets faster and faster… (To be continued.) Vote for recommendations and monthly tickets, your support is my biggest motivation.)

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