Li Qing constantly chimed in, "The Princess Consort is right. Furthermore, this intelligence bears the mark of the Boundless Palace, yet it was placed in Miss Chi's lunchbox. It's not necessarily Nie Wuming who put it there.
The source of the intelligence is unknown, so indeed we cannot fully believe it."
Lu Qingwan nodded, signaling him to go and send a message to Feng Xiwu, then turned and entered the warm pavilion.
Wu Ying and Tie Shou were waiting in the warm pavilion. Upon seeing Lu Qingwan arrive, they bowed respectfully.
Tie Shou was one thing, but Wu Ying practically had "guilty" written all over his face. Lu Qingwan glanced at him suspiciously, "What trouble have you gotten yourself into? Why do you look so guilty?"
Wu Ying awkwardly scratched his head, "Mistress, this subordinate might have caused a huge disaster this time!"
Lu Qingwan didn't act, but her eyes gestured for her to continue.
Wu Ying said dryly, "That day at Bai Xing Lin, wasn't it Ying Yi who had people smash all the equipment at Bai Xing Lin?
He smashed the equipment, and I verified the numbers. While checking, my subordinates got flustered and counted incorrectly in the chaos.
I only received news this morning that Xie Shiyu's people stole a stethoscope, and it has already passed the Beixiao Pass."
"Just one stethoscope?"
Wu Ying shook his head, "Because the remains of the equipment were burned, I have no way to re-verify.
However, it is certain that only one stethoscope was lost."
"No, there should also be a large box of heart-protective pills."
Ying Yi followed in and immediately knelt before Lu Qingwan, "I re-examined the scene. The scene where all the equipment wreckage was burned left some traces.
But on the shelf in the large pharmacy where that box of heart-protective pills was placed, there isn't even a shred of paper. If I'm not mistaken, that box of heart-protective pills was also stolen.
I know who appeared that night. The one who stole the heart-protective pills and the stethoscope is likely the same person."
Wu Ying stood there, unsure what to do. The equipment was one thing; those people wouldn't know how to use it if they took it. But if these heart-protective pills were developed, Lu Qingwan's losses would be immense.
He decisively knelt beside Ying Yi and pleaded guilty to Lu Qingwan, "This subordinate is negligent, please punish me, Mistress."
"Punishment, of course, there will be punishment. Ying Yi, go back to the Dark Hall and train for ten days.
As for you, go find Wen Jiting yourself. Don't come back until you've defeated ten martial arts experts of your level."
These punishments were not severe, and both of them accepted their orders.
Wu Ying got up to leave, but Lu Qingwan tapped her fingers on the table, "Ying Yi can go. Wu Ying, stay."
Ying Yi hurried away. Wu Ying and Tie Shou looked at Lu Qingwan, completely bewildered.
Lu Qingwan beckoned to the two, "Come look."
As they leaned in, Lu Qingwan handed the design drawings for a cannon to Tie Shou, "The drawings and specific production processes are all here. See if you can build it?"
Tie Shou's greatest ambition was to challenge the most complex mechanisms in the world, and the things Lu Qingwan gave him always surprised him greatly.
However, this time he was mistaken.
"May I ask, Princess Consort, what is this...?"
He didn't even dare to say that he couldn't understand the drawings.
"This thing is called a 'huo pao' (cannon). Its principle is similar to a trebuchet, but instead of stones, it throws gunpowder, the same thing Xie Shiyu used to bomb the Prince's estate and Bai Xing Lin.
I can't explain it clearly to you for now. This book has a comprehensive analysis of cannons. You can take it back and study it slowly."
Not understanding it didn't mean he wasn't interested.
Seeing that Lu Qingwan was not disappointed and did not mock him, Tie Shou excitedly took the booklet and repeatedly assured her.
"Princess Consort, please rest assured, I will definitely figure out how to build this cannon for you."
Lu Qingwan smiled faintly, not in a hurry.
Then she turned to Wu Ying and said, "The production of cannons requires countless experiments. This thing has a range of a hundred zhang and immense destructive power. Find a suitable place for it.
Make sure that it is not discovered by anyone before the official production begins."
Wu Ying tentatively asked, "May I ask, Princess Consort, when this thing explodes, will it make that deafening sound like the gunpowder explosion?"
Lu Qingwan grinned, "Trust me, the destructive power of Xie Shiyu's explosives is less than one or two-tenths of a cannon."
Wu Ying instantly despaired, "Such a huge commotion, and it can't be discovered? Where am I supposed to find such a place?"
Lu Qingwan smiled very gently, "Perhaps I should look?"
Wu Ying decisively shook his head, "Forget it. I'll think of a way. I'll definitely find one."
Lu Qingwan maintained her gentle smile, "Don't forget to go receive your punishment."
Wu Ying cried, but still remembered the important matters, "Then, Princess Consort, what about the stethoscope and the heart-protective pills?"
Lu Qingwan glared at her annoyedly, "Let them be."
Wu Ying retreated dejectedly, and Tie Shou followed.
As for Lu Qingwan, although she punished Ying Yi and Wu Ying, it was purely for their incompetence.
Regarding the stethoscope and the quick-acting heart-protective pills, she was actually not worried at all.
Even if Xie Shiyu obtained them, if she told the whole world that Lu Qingwan was a transmigrator, the world would have to believe her.
As for the quick-acting heart-protective pills, Xie Shiyu wouldn't consume all of them herself. Once she used them to curry favor, when the quick-acting heart-protective pills ran out, she would face backlash.
At worst, she would reactivate the defensive system of her spatial laboratory. At most, she would sacrifice some of her own vested interests, and the world would forget about things that did not belong to this era.
By then, it would be none of her business how Xie Shiyu explained herself.
She dangled her feet and looked out the window. The sky was dark, as if about to fall, gloomy and making one feel unhappy.
Having greeted them, she decisively entered her spatial laboratory to practice. Inner strength, plant-based abilities, beast taming – she had so many things to do and couldn't afford to be negligent.
For several consecutive days, Lu Qingwan spent most of her time in her spatial laboratory. There were no reports from the imperial court, so quiet that Lu Qingwan was even unaccustomed to it.
It wasn't until half a month later that Lu Qingwan heard a piece of news that stunned her.
"Say that again, what happened in Saibei?"
She looked at Li Qing, who had a solemn expression, and couldn't believe her ears.
Li Qing sighed helplessly and repeated, "The seven prefectures of Saibei have fallen. Marquis Lu has been poisoned by a rare poison from Bei Wei. Cheng Jiuxiao is boasting on the front lines, forcing the Prince to make a choice between two.
If the Prince wants to save Marquis Lu, he will slaughter all the people in the seven prefectures of Saibei. If the Prince wants to save the people of the seven prefectures of Saibei, he will kill Marquis Lu.
He also vowed to give the Prince three days to consider. If the Prince does not make a choice by the end of the three days, he will begin slaughtering the people."
This was a no-win situation. If Feng Xiwu chose Lu Zhenting, even if Cheng Jiuxiao couldn't slaughter all the people in the seven prefectures of Saibei, his image as the God of War of Da Qian would be ruined.
If Feng Xiwu chose the people of the seven prefectures of Saibei, with normal thinking, Lu Qingwan would no longer be able to be his loving wife.
Such a malicious counter-espionage plot made Lu Qingwan inexplicably think of the current emperor—Feng Qingheng.
Besides him, no one in this world hated her and Feng Xiwu so much.