Liang Zhe considered carefully: “I… barely count as one, I suppose. Shuying, do you know why His Majesty had me serve at the imperial presence after I returned to the capital?”

Qin Shuying tensed, “Why?”

Liang Zhe hesitated for a moment, then said: “I swore an oath before His Majesty that day that I couldn’t tell a third person about this matter. But you’re not a third person—you’re my wife.”

Qin Shuying didn’t stop him from continuing. “Six years ago, when His Majesty personally led the campaign, do you remember?”

Qin Shuying nodded, “Of course I remember. At that time, Ziyu should have been only thirteen or fourteen years old.”

“Yes. It was August then. His Majesty fell ill during the march. To confuse the enemy, he found a body double to accompany the army while His Majesty was secretly escorted back to You City by a team of warriors. By then, I had already distinguished myself in the army and could be considered a warrior.”

Liang Zhe fell into reminiscence.

On the return journey, they encountered a band of scattered soldiers—over a thousand of them, while their own side had only eight hundred. A fierce battle ensued, and Emperor Delong nearly got killed several times. Each time, it was he who blocked the attacks, consecutively killing three of the enemy’s warriors.

Both sides fought for a day and night. In the end, the enemy was exhausted, and the Great Zhou forces were equally exhausted.

The enemy had only dozens left, as did the Great Zhou side.

Everyone was too tired to even stand, lying or sprawling about, waiting to see who could outlast the others.

Emperor Delong was quite ill at the time. Though he hadn’t expended much physical energy, he could barely stand steady.

Seeing that most of his men were dead and the survivors had little fighting capacity left, he quietly gave his personal jade pendant to Liang Zhe.

At that time, Emperor Delong said: “If the brave warrior survives, please deliver this jade pendant to the Empress.”

He was making his final arrangements.

Liang Zhe didn’t hold much hope for survival either, but being young, he thought he might still have a chance to escape with his life, so he accepted it without ceremony.

After enduring for another half day, reinforcements finally appeared. By then, Emperor Delong had already lost consciousness.

Liang Zhe could no longer hold on and finally collapsed.

After returning, Liang Zhe was ill for a long time, bedridden for over a month before he could barely get up.

At that time, Emperor Delong had already returned to the capital.

The jade pendant remained with Liang Zhe.

After Emperor Delong returned to the capital, he searched for this jade pendant and thus learned of Liang Zhe.

Upon returning to the capital, Emperor Delong directly made him an imperial guard.

After hearing this account, Qin Shuying smiled, “So Ziyu has shown grace to His Majesty.”

At this moment, Qin Shuying sat on a stool below the bed, almost at eye level with Liang Zhe. He only needed to lift his head slightly to see her face.

Her pretty face was as delicate as white porcelain, and even her faint smile appeared extraordinarily gentle. Liang Zhe unconsciously reached out and scraped her nose, “Always teasing me.”

Qin Shuying was slightly stunned and felt somewhat awkward.

Here it comes again.

But having thought things through, she no longer felt such psychological burden and said: “Ziyu, although you’ve shown grace to His Majesty, he is still the ruler of a nation. You must be even more careful in your actions. Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger—this is an eternal dilemma.”

“Exactly so. If not for today’s convenient opportunity with Princess Qin An’s matter, I wouldn’t dare act so boldly—it would be too obvious and deliberate. Well, things have come to this point. We should celebrate happily—we’ve won one round for now.”

Qin Shuying smiled with pursed lips, “They’re probably all impatient waiting. If we don’t eat, they’ll have to go hungry.”

At Qin Shuying’s word, the small kitchen had long prepared the meal. Everything was now properly arranged. They sat according to master and servant hierarchy, closed the main door, and everyone ate together merrily.

In Liang Jie’s courtyard, Xingyui Garden.

Luo Meixiang looked at Liang Jie and Liang Yuan, both burning with high fever, tears streaming down her face until her eyes were swollen from crying.

Liang Yuan’s injuries had been much lighter at the time—the copper tube had only grazed him diagonally, with a small portion embedded in his flesh. However, because Liang Yuan had received the imperial edict twice and moved vigorously, he too was now running a high fever.

For easier care, Liang Yuan had been moved to Liang Jie’s courtyard. The two brothers lay—one on the bed, one on the couch—both awaiting heaven’s judgment. How could Luo Meixiang not be heartbroken?

Imperial Physician Shu was highly skilled and had already extracted the copper tubes from both brothers’ bodies. Liang Yunshan recognized them, saying they were ammunition from firearms and similar weapons.

Luo Meixiang knew something about firearms.

Men used them when hunting—extremely powerful and formidable, capable of bringing down a fierce tiger.

How could her two sons endure such suffering?

Moreover, Imperial Physician Shu had said that judging from the current situation, even if Liang Jie’s right hand healed, it would basically be useless. From now on, forget about writing or drawing a bow—he wouldn’t even be able to lift anything heavy. It would only be slightly better than having a severed arm.

As for Liang Yuan, he might recover better, but it would still require a long time.

Luo Meixiang’s eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted.

Liang Yunshan had people carefully search that pine and cypress grove. Together with the copper tubes extracted from the brothers’ bodies, there were three in total. This matched the three sounds Liang Yuan had heard.

This meant someone had used weapons similar to firearms against the brothers, firing three rounds of ammunition.

Liang Yunshan looked at the bullets before him, his expression grave.

Not only because of Imperial Physician Shu’s words, but also because of these projectiles, only the size of a child’s little finger.

If such weapons could be used on battlefields, combat power would shift like a tidal wave.

Whoever possessed such weapons would inevitably achieve victory.

Liang Yuan said he had heard three sounds at the time, with intervals of barely a blink.

This suggested two possibilities.

One possibility was that at least three people had fired consecutively, with intervals of barely a blink between shots.

Another possibility was that these weapons could fire continuously, not requiring refilling of ammunition after each shot like traditional firearms.

If it were the second possibility…

As a great general commanding thousands of troops, he was naturally an enthusiastic weapons enthusiast. Knowing such weapons existed in the world, how could he not let his imagination run wild?

If one possessed such weapons…

“Marquis… Yunshan, you must find the culprit! You must have that murderer cut into a thousand pieces!”

Luo Meixiang wept inconsolably, overwhelmed with grief.

Liang Yunshan was pulled back to reality by her words, his heart extremely heavy.

Both Liang Jie and Liang Yuan were running high fevers. Imperial Physician Shu had said that if they survived tonight, their lives would be saved.

If they couldn’t survive… then prepare for their funeral!

The copper tubes contained not only copper but other metals as well. Though extracted, there were fears of inflammation and tetanus. Once the latter occurred, even immortals would be powerless.

Looking at his two sons whose lives hung in the balance, and at Luo Meixiang crying like a person made of tears, Liang Yunshan felt deep helplessness and sorrow.

Equally shocked and incredulous was Old Madam Liang.

She sat in her armchair, staring at the flickering candlelight, her eyes red.

What exactly was this weapon Liang Yunshan spoke of that was so formidable?