More and More Questions

Chapter 114: More and More Questions →:

When he had studied the language, writing, and martial arts of the Great Zhou Dynasty before, he had needed to memorize the material repeatedly and understand it in depth.

In that situation, to make sure the material he learned didn't contain any errors, he had to record it with a camera.

But if he only wanted to eavesdrop on some information in the moment, there was no need to go to all that trouble. He could simply open the Gates to Heavens and listen from nearby.

And as long as he didn't open the gate right in someone's face, there was no chance of being discovered.

Behind the curtains in Sixth Princess Ji Qingyan's bedroom, the Gates to Heavens opened a hole the size of a fist.

After making a slight adjustment to the coordinates, Lin Ze could see the entire room directly from behind the hidden gate in the curtains.

He saw the Sixth Princess sitting where she had just chatted with him. Her beautiful, cool expression was thoughtful, and she wasn't speaking with anyone.

That was perfectly normal. Less than fifteen minutes had passed since Lin Ze had left the Sixth Princess's bedroom. She was perhaps sorting through the information from their conversation, and it was only natural that she didn't feel like talking for the moment.

Lin Ze wasn't in a hurry. He waited patiently.

About another fifteen minutes later, the distinct sound of footsteps approached from afar. Soon, a voice broke the room's silence. "Qing Yan, how did things go with that Lin Ziyi?"

As the voice rang out, East Sea King Ji Kan came into Lin Ze's view.

"It went very smoothly. After Your Highness acted coldly toward him, I only had to be a little courteous, and his favorable impression of me increased considerably."

"I've confirmed that he does have a unique firearm far more powerful than the ones currently in use. The problem is that it's very expensive to use: the materials are costly, and making the firearms takes a long time. Equipping an army of ten thousand would probably cost over a million taels of silver."

"If we wanted to arm a hundred thousand soldiers to attack the Foreign Races, even ten million taels might not be enough."

Ji Qingyan spoke in a calm voice.

"When I saw Lin Ziyi today, his vitality and spirit seemed weak, and his internal energy was meager. Yet he'd traveled hundreds of miles through the Distant Moon Mountain Range in a single night and swept away every enemy in his path. I imagine he'd used all his strength and Inner Breath to make the journey. His ability to sweep through the Distant Moon Mountain Range must have depended entirely on the firearms."

"Firearms that useful are naturally expensive."

"A mere ten million taels of silver is nothing to Your Majesty's Imperial Treasury. But if we can save some money, that will be our contribution. When the time comes, you and I can split the savings between us and use them to buy Spiritual Medicine to advance our cultivation. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

East Sea King thought this was perfectly reasonable. What weapon in the world could be both cheap and highly lethal?

Ji Qingyan nodded, agreeing with her elder brother.

Her cultivation was also formidable. Her Inner Breath was a hundred times more abundant than Lin Ziyi's, yet even she didn't believe she could travel hundreds of miles in one night and sweep through the entire Distant Moon Mountain Range, killing thousands of bandits. Traveling and killing both consumed a great deal of strength and Inner Breath.

That only highlighted the value of firearms from another angle. They were an important part of the Combat Power that made Lin Ze a Super-Class Expert.

Then she nodded and said, "In that case, let's invite Lin Ziyi to meet again tomorrow. We'll first try to bring him closer to us, then ask him to offer up the techniques behind his unique firearms. That way, the request won't seem too abrupt."

After thinking for a moment, Ji Kan said, "Lin Ziyi's internal energy is so weak. He's either been too busy researching firearms to cultivate, or the internal cultivation method he practices is of a low grade. Tomorrow, let's give him a recipe for the Cultivation Secret Medicine and a peerless martial art."

"That should also put his concerns to rest. Otherwise, he may think that offering up his unique firearm techniques will leave him less able to protect himself, and refuse our request."

"Cultivating to become a Super-Class Expert in his own right, and perhaps even a Peerless Expert who can extend his life, would feel far more reliable than relying on external tools to possess the Combat Power of a Super-Class Expert."

Ji Qingyan nodded, raising no objections.

Their conversation ended there, and they each went their own way.

Neither of them had noticed Lin Ze eavesdropping from nearby.

Lin Ze closed the Gates to Heavens as well.

Back in his study, Lin Ze murmured to himself with an amused smile, They're being so secretive and going through all these twists and turns. I thought they were planning something huge. Turns out they're just helping the emperor buy firearms to put down the Foreign Races?

Earlier, Lin Ze had said that the Great Zhou court wasn't interested in firearms.

As it turned out, ordinary officials and ordinary members of the imperial family weren't interested, but the emperor, the head of the entire court, was exceptionally keen on them. He wanted to use firearms to attack the Foreign Races.

For now, Lin Ze was sure that the East Sea King's visit was a good thing for him.

But he still didn't understand the details behind it. To fill in the gaps, he went to visit his father-in-law.

His father-in-law had spent a considerable amount of time in the Great Zhou Capital before and after passing the Presented Scholar examinations. He knew some of the imperial family's public affairs, and attacking the Foreign Races was a major national matter that officials had to keep an eye on at all times.

After asking around, Lin Ze learned a great deal from Li He and managed to piece together the full story behind the East Sea King's visit.

The current emperor, Ji Yuan, the East Sea King, Ji Kan, and the Sixth Princess, Ji Qingyan, were full siblings born of the same mother. Ji Yuan was five or six years older than his younger siblings, so there was no struggle for the throne between them.

Their interests were entirely aligned. Only if Ji Yuan ruled well as emperor could Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan enjoy comfortable lives.

With that as their foundation, Ji Kan and his sister had earned Ji Yuan's trust and could take on a major task like preparing to purchase firearms.

The Foreign Races the emperor wanted to attack were the unruly small states surrounding the Great Zhou Dynasty.

These small states were poor, and the lands they occupied were not rich in resources. Every so often, they would raid the Great Zhou's border regions. The trouble was, they came and went freely on horseback, had no fixed settlements, and scattered into the grasslands and mountains after each raid.

Even though the Great Zhou Dynasty was powerful and had many experts, it couldn't do anything about them when it couldn't even find them.

The current emperor was a man of great ambition. He wanted to form a Firearms Army and send it on an expedition, using overwhelming numbers to wipe out all these bandits and eliminate the threat on the borders.

That was Lin Ze's deduction, based on what he had heard from the siblings Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan, as well as what he had learned from Li He about the current state of the world.

But there were flaws in this deduction.

First, Lin Ze already had some understanding of the Combat Power of Peerless Experts.

The shockwaves from their every move struck like cannon fire, and their maximum movement speed already exceeded the speed of sound. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that experts of this level were armies unto themselves.

If left unchecked, one of them could slaughter hundreds of thousands of people across an entire commandery. It would only be a matter of time.

Bright Moon Pavilion had more than ten Peerless Experts. There were four Martial Arts Holy Lands of the same level around the Great Zhou Dynasty, with at least fifty Peerless Experts between them.

And the Ji Family of the Great Zhou Imperial Family could suppress the four Martial Arts Holy Lands and rule over the realm. Their Peerless Experts numbered at least a hundred, and perhaps even two or three hundred.

The Main World suffered border troubles because, before entering the industrial age, the Central Plains dynasties couldn't effectively deal with the small states around them.

Things were different here in Great Zhou. The strength and mobility of Peerless Experts were no less than those of mechanized armored forces. They only needed to send a few Peerless Experts abroad now and then to clear out the uncivilized savages. Those people wouldn't amount to anything even if given ten thousand years.

The second flaw was that, if Ji Yuan was interested in firearms, there was no need for him to go around in circles like this and send Ji Kan to approach Lin Ze.

He could simply summon Lin Ze to the capital to help make firearms, then compensate him with a high official post and generous rewards. Lin Ze wouldn't object.

After all, he still had to make his way in Great Zhou. If he didn't want to offend the emperor, he would probably accept the request.

One reasonable possibility is that the surrounding small states also have Peerless Experts, making the Peerless Experts of the Great Zhou Dynasty wary of acting rashly. After all, they already stand at the peak of the world. Most of the time, there's no need for them to risk their lives.

Or perhaps the surrounding small states don't have any major experts, but something is keeping the Peerless Experts of the Great Zhou Dynasty tied down, so they can't leave easily.

And Ji Yuan is going around in circles because someone is competing with him. He doesn't want his intentions exposed before he gets the job done.

Lin Ze thought about the truth hidden beneath the surface, but in the end, he found no answers.

He knew too little. For now, he could only reason things out this far. Perhaps he would learn something new when he met Ji Kan and his sister tomorrow.

I'd better keep an eye on my safety these next few days. If someone else is competing for the rights to the firearm-making techniques, they might not play fair.

Generally speaking, when a faction encountered someone talented, it would try to win them over with benefits and earn their loyalty, so they would willingly continue to serve.

Threats and beatings were a poor approach. Someone with a fiery temperament might fight to the death.

Then both sides would lose everything, and all their effort would be for nothing.

Lin Ze might now be caught between people fighting to claim him, so he had to be careful.

Once he'd made up his mind, Lin Ze decided that for the time being, he would sleep in the Main World every night, just in case something happened.

While awake, Lin Ze wasn't afraid of anyone ambushing him.

But sleeping was another matter. His sensors could keep ordinary experts at bay, but they couldn't stop a Peerless Expert.

The following day, early in the morning.

A eunuch arrived at the entrance to the Lin Residence and delivered an invitation from the East Sea King.

It invited Lin Ze to meet him for morning tea, then go together to see the Wooden Railcar.

Lin Ze had just finished his morning exercises and gladly accepted.

He changed clothes, then set off with the eunuch.

When he returned to the East Sea King's great ship, Ji Kan had dropped his cool demeanor from the previous day and was waiting at the parlor entrance to greet Lin Ze. With a smile, he said, "Zi Yi, you've arrived. I was caught up with trivial matters yesterday and didn't treat you properly. I hope you won't take offense. Today, I'll make it up to you."

"Come and taste the breakfast prepared by the head chef of my princely residence. A seasoning called 'Umami Essence' has been added to the dishes. It's a little expensive—five hundred taels of silver for just one tael of Umami Essence—but it's delicious beyond compare, far better than ordinary flavors."

Lin Ze felt a little strange.

It seemed the East Sea King didn't know that he was the one who made this MSG.

That made sense. Lin Ze had once thought about opening a shop to sell MSG, but then he'd gotten busy with too many other things and forgotten about it. At present, his only distribution channel was Dan Xuliang.

It was perfectly normal for outsiders not to know where the MSG came from, since they hadn't looked into it closely.

Though he found it strange, Lin Ze didn't show it. He cupped his hands and said, "You're too kind, Your Highness. Thank you for the hospitality."

With that, the East Sea King led the way and soon brought Lin Ze to the viewing platform atop the ship.

It stood dozens of meters above the river, and the view from above was magnificent.

Three tables had been set up on the platform.

Ji Qingyan, dressed in a moon-white palace gown, was gazing into the distance over the railing. Her cool, beautiful demeanor gave her a transcendent air, as if she were about to ascend to immortality.

At the sound of footsteps, Ji Qingyan turned and nodded slightly in greeting. "Greetings, Young Master Lin."

"Good morning, Your Highness."

Lin Ze returned the greeting and glanced at Ji Qingyan's dress, which was the same color as the one she had worn yesterday but had a slightly different pattern.

Could her wardrobe be full of moon-white skirts like this? She really likes that color.

"Serve the meal," Ji Kan ordered the eunuch beside him.

It wasn't long before numerous palace dishes were brought out and placed on the three tables.

In front of their two hosts and their guest, the eunuchs each took a small taste of the dishes to confirm they weren't poisoned. Then a eunuch skilled in the fiery Yang attribute of Inner Breath circulated his True Qi to heat the food, which had already cooled a little, to the proper temperature.

Only then did Ji Kan raise his cup and invite Lin Ze, saying, "Please."

Lin Ze returned the gesture.

Afterward, they ate as they chatted casually about the river scenery, and the atmosphere was warm and friendly.

After the meal, Lin Ze took the two princes to have a close look at the Wooden Railcar and personally explained how it worked.

Along the way, numerous armored soldiers accompanied them to ensure their safety.

By the time the group returned to the royal carriage, it was already afternoon. They had eaten pastries on the way for lunch.

Even so, Ji Kan didn't let Lin Ze leave. He invited him to drink tea and play chess.

Ji Qingyan sat beside them, keeping her brother company as she watched him play against Lin Ze.

Over the course of the day, the two Heavenly Nobles had been gentle and approachable. By then, Lin Ze and the siblings Ji Kan and Ji Qingyan had grown comfortable with each other, and none of the awkwardness of their first meeting remained.

Their discussion of serious business began while they were playing chess.