"I..." Meng Shiwan could find no words to refute it and could only say dryly.
"Don't spit blood at people!"
Meng Liangmiao frowned and asked Meng Anli, "Why are you slandering Wanwan?"
Meng Anli wiped away her tears and opened the bundle.
Inside were several pieces of clothing, a dried-up water pouch, crumbling rations, and several pairs of worn-through, bloodstained shoes.
Her round little face was filled with stubbornness and forbearance. "Yes! I trekked a thousand miles to come here just to slander Wanwan."
Meng Liangmiao froze, and pity gradually appeared in his eyes.
The Crown Prince even grabbed her wrist and said with heartache, "You have suffered."
Meng Shiwan grew anxious. "It's a bitter ruse! It's all a bitter ruse!"
The Crown Prince raised his eyes to look at her, his gaze full of disgust. "I saw all your arrogance and rudeness just now. You speak of 'equality for all,' yet your words and deeds do not match. Your mouth is full of lies."
"I'm not, I only..."
"Your Highness," Meng Liangmiao stepped before her to protect her, cutting off her sophistry as well.
"It was merely a spat between young sisters. Let us go see Wanwan's explosives."
Meng Shiwan stepped out from behind him, somewhat proudly. "That's right. I developed explosives. Their power is tremendous!"
The Crown Prince showed little interest. "Then let us have a look."
Meng Anli bowed at the proper moment. "This humble girl will take her leave."
"Wait," the Crown Prince said, supporting her shoulder. "Watch with us."
Meng Anli looked timidly toward Meng Shiwan.
Meng Shiwan gritted her teeth. "Stay if you want to. Why are you looking at me?"
After walking some distance ahead, she muttered under her breath, "Dead green tea."
She thought no one could hear her, but everyone present was a cultivator with exceptionally sharp hearing.
Though they did not understand what "green tea" meant, with the word "dead" added before it, it certainly was not anything nice.
The Crown Prince's brows furrowed again.
Raised among commoners, she truly has no manners.
Then he looked at Miss Xiao Ying, who followed one step behind him. She moved with lotus-like steps, and when she accidentally met his gaze, she immediately lowered her head, blushing shyly.
The Crown Prince dismissed that thought.
The elder sister she had grown up with was so courteous. It must simply be Meng Shiwan herself who was ill-mannered.
Meng Anli cursed the Crown Prince viciously in her heart.
Why had he suddenly turned around? She had nearly failed to hold back her smile.
Showing weakness really was effective.
The Crown Prince was starting to find Meng Shiwan annoying.
Next, she would find an opportunity to do in advance the special things Meng Shiwan had done to the Crown Prince in her previous life.
She wanted to see what sort of tricks Meng Shiwan could still pull then.
They arrived at an open area of the academy.
Meng Shiwan tapped her ring.
Meng Anli subconsciously touched her finger.
That was her storage ring.
Meng Zhao had refined it for her, and Meng Zhao had also personally yanked it off her finger. He had been so rough that her finger had split and bled, yet he had not stopped.
Meng Anli gently exhaled and suppressed the resentment in her heart.
She watched Meng Shiwan take out a large black object from the ring, with a long fuse on top.
It really was just like a firecracker, only much bigger.
Meng Shiwan proudly lifted her chin again. "Stand farther away. Its power is immense, so be careful not to get hurt in the explosion."
Meng Anli shrank back and pretended to casually grab the Crown Prince's robe.
The Crown Prince chuckled and patted her hand reassuringly.
"It's all right. Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Meng Anli looked at him with a face full of admiration.
The Crown Prince became even more pleased with himself. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he carried her thirty feet away.
Meng Shiwan watched their interaction and nearly ground her silver teeth to pieces.
Meng Ying, you will not be smug for much longer.
Once my explosives go off, the Crown Prince will be drawn to me.
She set the fuse in place, took out a torch and lit it, then flew toward the Crown Prince as well.
She would use the "suspension bridge effect" to make the Crown Prince mistakenly believe his heart had stirred for her.
The so-called suspension bridge effect was when someone crossed a swaying suspension bridge in fear and anxiety, and another person approached from the opposite side. He would attribute the fluttering unease caused by the bridge to his feelings upon seeing that person.
When the sudden explosion came, the Crown Prince would surely panic, and his heart and mind would tremble.
She would fly toward the Crown Prince amid flames filling the sky.
It would surely be breathtakingly beautiful.
But the Crown Prince had no time to look at her, because the instant it went off, Meng Anli covered her ears and threw herself into his arms.
He heard his own heartbeat pounding like drums.
And the feeling of sudden emptiness being filled again.
He could not help pulling Meng Anli tightly into his embrace.
Meng Anli felt utterly disgusted.
He really knew how to take advantage. She had merely wanted to display her weakness.
"Crown Prince!"
Meng Shiwan landed before them and accused the Crown Prince, "How could you hold her?"
Meng Anli took the opportunity to retreat.
The Crown Prince's arms suddenly felt empty. He raised his eyes toward the culprit.
Meng Shiwan's messy hair was plastered haphazardly across her face. Debris covered her head, her face was slick with oil, and she had no appearance to speak of.
Meng Liangmiao also felt that Wanwan was acting strangely today.
How could she be so unable to recognize when to advance and when to retreat?
He pulled her over and apologized to the Crown Prince. "Wanwan was overjoyed after developing these explosives of incomparable power and offended Your Highness in her excitement."
The Crown Prince's expression eased somewhat. These explosives truly were formidable.
Meng Anli weakly clutched the Crown Prince's sleeve. "So this is what explosives are. They are like firecrackers, only louder than firecrackers."
"That is not a firecracker!" Meng Shiwan roared in anger.
Meng Anli trembled in fright.
"Don't be afraid~" The Crown Prince patted her hand, then raised his head and rebuked Meng Shiwan again. "What exactly is wrong with you?"
Meng Liangmiao pulled her behind him. "Please quell your anger, Your Highness. Shiwan may simply feel that the explosives she worked so hard to develop have been slandered, which is why she is angry."
Meng Anli looked up at the Crown Prince, her eyes rimmed red as she stubbornly refused to let her tears fall.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
"You did nothing wrong." The Crown Prince comforted her softly, then looked coldly at Meng Liangmiao and the indignant Meng Shiwan behind him.
"Developed explosives? Xiao Ying has reminded me that this is no different from a firecracker, merely somewhat more powerful. If we are speaking of power, I fear it cannot even compare to Heavenly Lightning. Your third brother ought to know that well."
Meng Anli nearly failed to hold back her laughter.
Meng Liangmiao's face abruptly darkened, and he hurriedly lowered his head so the Crown Prince would not see.
The Crown Prince snorted. "If there is nothing else in the future, do not come looking for me."
"It truly is different from a firecracker! With better proportions, it could be developed to have enough power to destroy an entire city."
Meng Shiwan anxiously took out the formula. "I added many more things than a firecracker has."
Meng Anli was delighted.
She was panicking enough to take out the formula. Then the thing she relied on to survive would be gone.
Meng Anli looked up and happened to see the faint curl of the Crown Prince's lips.
Understanding suddenly dawned on her. So the Crown Prince had deliberately mentioned Heavenly Lightning, deliberately belittled these explosives as worthless, deliberately provoked Meng Shiwan into taking out the formula?
The Crown Prince accepted the secret formula and examined it carefully.
Meng Anli rose on tiptoe to look at it.
Meng Shiwan did not stop her either.
That idiot Meng Ying definitely would not understand it.
Before you continue