Meeting Again

The salon holds a regular gathering once a month. The theme, cost, and setup of the gathering are all hosted by members on a rotating basis. Whoever's turn it is, that's who they are. If anyone wants to add an extra session and is willing to organize and host it, everyone says they are available and it's no problem at all.

Following a vote, the salon was named the "Northern Painting School".

The capital city is located in the north, and according to the classification of the Great Jin, they belonged to the northern faction. In addition, the meeting place was the Painting Academy, which was located in Beining. They were more or less influenced by sketching and Zhao Ruxi's new painting methods, and thus formed their own school, hence the name.

The Northern Painting School initially consisted of only fourteen people. Among these fourteen were not only extremely famous masters such as Kang Shilin, Zhao Ruxi, and Zhou Wenbai, but the others also made significant contributions, leaving their own indelible mark on the history of painting. Of course, that's another story.

After receiving the letter that Zhao Ruxi had received, Zhao Qingfeng went to a house that Xiao Lingyan had temporarily rented after school the next day.

Xiao Lingyan a treasure, pushed the pastries he had brought from the palace towards Zhao Ruxi, and thoughtfully poured Zhao Ruxi a cup of tea, asking, "How have you been lately?"

Zhao Ruxi ate her snacks and drank her tea, but gave Xiao Lingyan a disdainful look. "I don't believe you didn't have someone watching me."

Although it is true, Xiao Lingyan would never admit it.

He gave Zhao Ruxi a serious sidelong glance. "Why am I staring at you? I absolutely trust you."

"Really not?" Zhao Ruxi stared at him.

"Really not!" Xiao Lingyan shook his head firmly.

Zhao Ruxi looked at him for a while, then looked away and sighed, "Then it's all for nothing. I risked so much, working so hard to earn money for you, and you don't care about me at all. If I encounter any danger, get bullied, or ambushed, by the time you find out, it'll be too late. I'll die in vain."

Xiao Lingyan: "..." A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

He rubbed his face. "My dear aunt, do you want me to keep an eye on things, or not? Just tell me, and I'll do exactly as you say."

Zhao Ruxi raised an eyebrow.

In the past, if she said something like that, Xiao Lingyan would definitely argue with her for several rounds. But now that he doesn't talk back, she feels a little uneasy.

She waved her hand. "Forget it, let's not keep an eye on it then. As long as I don't get involved with you, I'm pretty safe for now."

I knew this would happen.

Xiao Lingyan sighed softly, "Half a year has passed since we transmigrated. Danger is getting closer and closer."

"Leaving you doesn't mean leaving me," Zhao Ruxi corrected.

"Yes, it's Li Me." He looked at Zhao Ruxi pitifully, "Xu Xi, you can't just stand by and watch me die!"

His appearance was truly remarkable; the way he was acting now left Zhao Ruxi momentarily stunned.

But only for a moment, Zhao Ruxi withdrew her gaze, coldly refusing, "That's all I can do. I can't help you with anything else."

Xiao Lingyan touched his face.

He's quite handsome, so why didn't my charm work at all? Women's hearts are truly made of iron.

He pulled a diagram from his pocket and handed it to Zhao Ruxi: "Have your blacksmith make two parts for me, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Zhao Ruxi took the blueprints and looked at them, then asked, "What are these parts for?"

"The crossbow with its extended reach and the small crossbow."

Zhao Ruxi knew about crossbows, but she had never even heard of these two unfamiliar names.

She couldn't help but glance at him. "You're also proficient with weapons?"

"I consider myself a military enthusiast in modern times, often spending time on forums, so I know a little bit about it. I've been researching the weapons of this era lately, and I've found they're not very good. Invent a few crossbows, improve the catapult, and fighting would be almost effortless."

He pointed to the blueprints in Zhao Ruxi's hand. "However, I don't trust anyone but you, so I still need you to make the most crucial parts for each type of crossbow."

That's not a problem. To prevent leaks, Zhao Ruxi made her blacksmith and carpenter's workshops by mixing parts from several different items together. Even if a craftsman learned how to make all the parts, he still couldn't put them together properly.

To maintain secrecy, she didn't give out the blueprints all at once. Instead, she would collect the blueprints and parts after each part was completed, and then give out the blueprints for the next part. As this happened repeatedly, even those who could remember the initial steps of making the parts would become confused later on.

For example, Li Laosi was assigned to make a single part because of his skill. He has now completed four or five different parts. He probably doesn't remember which part he made first.

As for secretly copying the blueprints, firstly, these craftsmen were not highly educated, and few of them could even read; secondly, although Zhao Ruxi's blueprints were understandable to the craftsmen, drawing them was extremely difficult.

Only a specially sent undercover agent could have the ability to completely replicate Zhao Ruxi's complex blueprints.

When she started her workshop, she was just a nobody, and nobody knew what she was going to do there. Nobody would have been watching her back then and gone to great lengths to send someone to infiltrate her. Therefore, the possibility of her being an undercover agent was almost entirely ruled out.

Because of this processing mechanism, asking craftsmen to make a few more parts now goes completely unnoticed.

When the topic of catapults came up, Zhao Ruxi immediately thought of the thunderbolt cannon. She knew about it; it was a type of firearm used in the Song Dynasty.

She asked curiously, "Then why don't you just build wooden guns?"

The steel that Xiao Lingyan gave her was all of good quality and should meet the requirements for making firearms.

Xiao Lingyan shook his head. "I don't want to disrupt the balance. Once that thing is built, its destructive power will be too great. I believe that with these, plus our calculated attack on their surprise, we should be able to reverse the outcome of that war."

He recounted his suspicions about Guo Jitong and his subsequent investigation into him.

"Although he acts extremely cautiously, I can't produce any evidence to prove he's Xiao Lingheng's man. But intuitively, I feel he is. I'll have people keeping an eye on him, and at the same time, I'll have people keeping an eye on the people in the Ministry of Revenue."

Zhao Ruxi frowned.

She asked, "So much time has passed, do you have a plan for what will happen in a year and a half and two years?"

Before Xiao Lingyan speak, she waved her hand and said, "You don't need to tell me the specifics. Just tell me if you're confident or not."

Xiao Lingyan, who had been sitting quite relaxed, sat up straight now, his expression very serious. "But in this world, the person I trust most is you. And you're so smart. Besides you, I have no one else to consult. What if my plan goes wrong? You'll suffer too, won't you? At least your life won't be as easy as when I'm around, right?"