“Your Majesty, this thing isn’t suitable for demonstration in the imperial palace. Please be patient and wait until tomorrow. How about we demonstrate it in the Southern Mountains?”
Li Er didn’t know how formidable this thing was, but Yun Ye naturally understood how much energy five pounds of granular black powder could produce. Moreover, worried that the saltpeter wasn’t pure, he had specially refined it. This was already quasi-military grade material. Demonstrating it in the imperial palace would scare the beauties in the rear palace to death.
“I don’t believe a small bamboo section can make that much noise. Burning firecrackers during New Year’s—you think I haven’t seen that before? Just light the fuse, right? Simple. Duan Hong, set off two at once. It’s been a long time since I heard the sound of firecrackers.”
Yun Ye was about to speak but was dragged aside by guards. Li Er was enthusiastically preparing to watch this relatively large firecracker. He never believed in any mountain god beating drums. He thought Yun Ye just burned firecrackers that made a loud noise with many people involved, driving beasts into a fixed passage just like his autumn hunts—same principle. Moreover, having just suffered a loss at Yun Ye’s hands today, he naturally wanted to regain face. Just moments ago he was praised for listening to advice, but in the blink of an eye he became completely unreasonable.
“Your Majesty, I beg you—set them off one at a time, or people will die. Otherwise even Taiji Palace will be in danger.”
Li Tai looked at Yun Ye strangely. This was too exaggerated. Even lightning didn’t have the ability to topple Taiji Palace in one strike.
“Really?” Li Er looked at Yun Ye sideways. Seeing his face full of anxious urgency that didn’t seem fake, he waved his hand to have the guards release Yun Ye. Scratching his nose, he said to Duan Hong: “Then bury it in the ground. Bury it under that ginkgo tree I really like. With the tree blocking, there won’t be any problems.”
Duan Hong was much more obedient than Wu She. He quickly dug a pit and buried the two huge firecrackers in it. As soon as Li Er gave the order, he was ready to light them.
That fellow waving the torch around was truly frightening. Not even if given a thousand guts would Yun Ye dare to wave a torch around near ten pounds of black powder.
He tried to drag Li Er to the back. Twenty meters distance would definitely kill people, but he couldn’t drag him. Li Er’s feet were planted firmly, and Yun Ye’s strength wasn’t enough.
“Duan Hong, if you fucking dare light that fire, I’ll definitely tear you into ten thousand pieces.” Yun Ye couldn’t care about etiquette anymore. He desperately tried to push Li Er backward. Li Er became interested and stood there with a grin, unmoving, as if Yun Ye’s anxiety made him very happy.
“Li Tai, quickly come help me.” If Duan Hong’s hand so much as trembled, disaster would strike. Moreover, this fellow was grinning maliciously while waving the torch back and forth over the fuses.
Li Tai believed Yun Ye’s words more. Seeing him speak with a crying tone, he gritted his teeth. The two of them together pushed Li Er behind the palace wall.
“Not bad, not bad. Both you boys have grown stronger. You didn’t have this kind of strength before. Good, you’ve grown up. Yun Ye, is this thing really dangerous?” Li Er still thought the two juniors were joking. He enjoyed this kind of familial concern very much.
Li Er was safe. Whether Duan Hong died or not, no one cared. But thinking of the two explosive packages, Yun Ye wanted to cry. The fuse speeds weren’t the same. If one exploded and blew the other one away, only heaven knew where it would fly to. Trembling, he said to Li Er: “Your Majesty, how about lighting one at a time? After this one is lit, if the sound doesn’t satisfy you, then we’ll light two more—how about that?”
“For the sake of your filial hearts, I retreated here. Back in the day, even facing thousands upon thousands of troops, I never retreated. A small firecracker—what’s there to fear?”
“This isn’t a firecracker. This is a lethal weapon. I’ve also set off firecrackers. This thing was created by me. Although it hasn’t reached its best, it still shouldn’t be underestimated. It and firecrackers have no comparability. Your Majesty, let’s experiment in the Southern Mountains tomorrow. If you test it in the imperial palace, there will be casualties.”
Li Er became serious for the first time. He looked at Duan Hong in the distance, then at Yun Ye. The words just now made his heart itch. He very much wanted to see it right now.
“Since that’s the case, this thing must not be known to outsiders. We’ll test it in the imperial palace. Duan Hong, light it!” Very impolitely, Yun Ye asked Li Er to open his mouth and cover his ears. Li Tai was given the same treatment. He himself closed his eyes and blocked Li Er’s front. It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid of death—but if something happened to Li Er, the Yun Family would have no way to survive.
Watching the fuse hissing with sparks as it drilled into the earth, Duan Hong was actually still swaggering back, occasionally turning to glance at the place where the gunpowder was buried.
Yun Ye didn’t dare blink as he stared at the mound of earth, preparing to see if the other one would be blown away.
Even “thunder from a clear sky” couldn’t describe that tremendous explosion. Duan Hong was pushed up and sent flying by the blast wave. The bowl-thick ginkgo tree Li Er loved also broke in half. All the surrounding guards dropped the swords in their hands. Blood seeped from their ear canals.
Yun Ye’s ears were ringing. He had only clearly heard one explosion. Not good—there was still another one! His eyes darted toward the sky to check. There was only dust all over the sky mixed with earth and stones falling from above. Li Er, worthy of being a commander who had weathered many battlefields, had composure abilities that were superior to others. With one hand each, he grabbed Yun Ye and Li Tai, who had collapsed on the ground, and dragged them to the corner of the wall.
The three of them widened their eyes searching for the other bomb. Seeing no trace of it, they only heard earth and stones hitting the wall with crackling sounds. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. Still in shock, they heard another tremendous explosion from the rear palace. A cloud of dust shot into the sky. The three of them sat together on the ground, covering their heads, extremely dejected.
Li Tai suddenly jumped up and let out a tragic cry: “Mother Empress!” After saying this, he took off running toward the rear palace. Yun Ye followed closely. Li Er froze for a moment, then also ran toward the rear palace.
Thank heavens, Empress Zhangsun’s Lizheng Hall was fine. The Grand Emperor’s Da’an Hall was also fine. What suffered disaster was Li Er’s bedchamber, Ganlu Hall. Daji Hall, Baifu Hall, Wude Hall, Chengqing Hall, Wanchun Hall—these halls where the consorts lived were also fine. It was just that everywhere were eunuchs and palace maids running around like headless flies. Those who had fainted were countless.
Half of Ganlu Hall had collapsed. Empress Zhangsun, holding a sword in her hand, wore only a cloak over her nightclothes. Her phoenix eyes were wide open. Yun Ye saw blood on her sword—who knew which unlucky ghost it belonged to. She was loudly ordering eunuchs and palace maids to move the bricks and tiles of Ganlu Hall. For the first time, he discovered Empress Zhangsun’s murderous appearance—it was very frightening.
“Yun Ye, what happened?” Empress Zhangsun’s eyes were shooting fire. Going forward at this moment to take a sword blow would be too unworthy. He could only pretend his ears couldn’t hear and shake his head blankly, indicating he couldn’t hear.
Li Tai wailed and embraced Empress Zhangsun. His crying voice was extremely aggrieved. Li Er appeared, scratching his chin. Clearly seeing Empress Zhangsun breathe a sigh of relief, her body swayed unsteadily. The sword in her hand also fell. Tears flowed freely. Today at Li Xiaogong’s house she had already shed many tears, and now there were still many more.
Many consorts and palace maids in the rear palace were disheveled. Some were even completely naked with decent figures—probably they’d been bathing just now. This wasn’t a place for Yun Ye and Li Tai to stay. They quickly retreated.
Dragging Li Tai’s arm, they finally got out of the inner palace with great difficulty. Throwing Li Tai on a flower bed, Yun Ye hurried to check on the remaining four firecrackers. The scene was too tragic. Duan Hong was hanging in a tree, groaning. From the broken branch stuck in his flesh, fortunately Duan Hong was a eunuch—otherwise even if he didn’t die, he would have become a eunuch again. The commander of guards who had been showing off his power just moments ago was now disheveled, crawling on the ground. The rest of the guards were also a chorus of wails.
Never mind them. Yun Ye righted the overturned box and saw that the remaining four firecrackers inside were intact—even the oiled paper wasn’t broken. He lovingly took them out one by one. When the commander of guards saw these things again, he kicked his legs backward to scoot away—his movements much faster than before.
Looking at the Great Tang imperial palace as if it had suffered a terrorist attack, Yun Ye contentedly moved the four firecrackers to the steps of Taiji Palace. He thought to himself that this was actually good. Li Er had fully witnessed the power of the firecrackers and would make great determination and perseverance to develop this thing. If what he’d worked so hard to develop really became some kind of medicinal puppet or something, that would truly be heartbreaking. From now on in warfare, we won’t need to use knives to slash—we’ll switch to explosives. Guaranteed to kill a whole bunch at once. Having tasted the sweetness, research would continue. Who knows, ammonium nitrate explosives and picric acid explosives might appear. Continuing this fantasy further, even atomic bombs appearing wouldn’t take more than a few hundred years. By then everyone could set them off back and forth, and finally the earth would return to silence. How wonderful!
The English black powder conspiracy didn’t succeed; otherwise Westminster Palace wouldn’t have been in later generations’ travel guides. Today, two had exploded in the Great Tang imperial palace, and it was the Emperor who personally gave the order. Not even one was acceptable. The English just had narrow vision, lacking any bearing of a great nation.
Li Tai recovered his breath and handed Yun Ye a jar of grape wine. From the looks of it, he’d also drunk quite a bit. Pointing at the chaotic Chang’an filled with people and horses crying out, he said: “Ye Zi, once this thing came into the world, it claimed over two hundred lives in Lingnan. Now it’s exploded here again. Chang’an thinks it’s the end of days. This thing isn’t auspicious.”
“I never said this was a good thing. But even the most terrifying weapon, used for good brings endless benefits; used for evil brings continuous disasters. The knife in our hands can kill people or be used as a tool. This thing is the same. Used for road building and mining, it’s a good thing. Used to kill people, it’s also extremely sharp. The wonder of its application lies in the heart.”
“I’m a person of the Great Tang. With this thing, of course I won’t watch soldiers use flesh and blood to fill enemy ramparts. Whether good or bad, it was made by our own people. Whether doing evil or doing good, it’s all a guarantee we leave to our descendants. Ten thousand sins—what of it if they all fall upon me?”
Li Tai raised his head and said to Yun Ye: “I must have a share of this thing’s merit. In the future when we’re cursed by ten thousand people, we two will be cursed together, so you won’t be lonely by yourself.”
“Screw off. I’m not dead yet. When has this kind of thing that goes down in history ever been your turn, you two brats? The imperial palace was bombed on my order. I’ve long found Ganlu Hall displeasing—good that it’s bombed. Yun Ye, teach everything you know to Qing Que, then forget about this matter. Be your teacher for ten thousand generations properly. These murderous deeds—let me do them. Hahahahaha.”