Ming Yi’s voice was a mixture of desolation and resentment, anger and grievance. Her body swayed delicately, trembling in the wind, even her skirt hem curled weakly—she looked as pitiful as one could be.
Even if she hadn’t been personally appointed by him, the Grand Minister felt compassion. He frowned at Sun Liao, “How dare you do such a thing in broad daylight?”
“I didn’t!” Sun Liao panicked, no longer caring about anything else. He said resentfully, “This person came to my mansion to deliver goods. When they arrived, they were in male form. In the blink of an eye, they turned into a girl. It’s Lord Ji who sent her to frame me!”
“You keep saying Lord Ji is framing you, but why would he frame you?” Situ Ling shook his head. “Without sufficient evidence, it’s slander.”
“What more evidence do you need? He’s jealous that I can forge divine weapons. In the future, if anyone needs divine weapons, they’ll have to look to me. He’s unwilling, so he wants to get rid of me early!” Sun Liao was still unwilling to give up. “During the selection meeting that day, I was one move away from striking his vital point, but he forcibly knocked me out of the arena. He knows how formidable I am and fears my rise to power, hmph.”
Ji Bozai: “…”
He couldn’t even remember this person’s full name, let alone any selection meeting—at such events, he usually fought casually and had never encountered anyone formidable. Where did this person’s confidence come from?
Qin Shangwu finally showed some displeasure: “Bozai isn’t that kind of person.”
“He barged into my mansion, injured me, and sent his woman to frame me. Everyone witnessed it,” Sun Liao sneered. “What more is there to say?”
Ming Yi elegantly wiped the moisture from the corner of her eye and looked up to ask him, “Lord Ji’s mansion is fully equipped. What item would I need to deliver that could enter the mansion without arousing suspicion?”
Sun Liao was stunned and averted his gaze guiltily. “Who knows? I was injured and didn’t handle such trivial matters.”
“Then how did you know I was dressed as a man when I arrived?”
“…”
Situ Ling, observing his expression, said coldly, “How dare you lie in front of the Grand Minister!”
“I…” Sun Liao glared fiercely at Ming Yi, intending to threaten her not to reveal the matter of the divine weapons. However, when he looked at her, he found her gaze to be like the sharpest icicle hanging from winter eaves, with a keen blade frozen within the ice, making his scalp tingle.
His heart trembled, and Sun Liao lowered his head, frantically darting his eyes around.
Ming Yi took out “Starry River Sunset” from her sleeve pocket and, in front of everyone, skillfully disassembled it into over a hundred parts, then placed them in front of Sun Liao.
“I want to report to the Grand Minister that you’re impersonating an Artificer and deceiving the Yuan Shi Academy. If you disagree, just restore this divine weapon to its original state, and I’ll apologize to you.”
Sun Liao was sweating profusely. He pretended to pick up a few parts but didn’t make any move to repair it for a long time.
Qin Shangwu’s eyes had brightened when Ming Yi was disassembling the divine weapon. Seeing this scene, he drew in a sharp breath: “Those previous divine weapons weren’t made by Sun Liao?”
Ming Yi hesitated for a moment, then stiffly took out a stack of shell currency notes: “Sun Liao bought them from me. I originally came today to deliver the newly forged divine weapons to him, but unexpectedly, he forcibly imprisoned me in his mansion. I don’t know what he intended, it was so frightening, boo-hoo-hoo.”
The enormous amount on the shell currency notes stunned both the Grand Minister and Situ Ling.
Qin Shangwu pushed others aside, not caring about anything else, and crouched down to ask Ming Yi, “You can forge divine weapons?”
Ming Yi lowered her head: “I secretly learned a bit from someone.”
“Were ‘Today I Come’ and ‘Thunder of Ten Thousand Bolts’ both made by you?”
“Yes.”
Qin Shangwu was elated for a moment, then became somewhat worried, fearing she might also be a charlatan showing off here. He turned to the Grand Minister and said, “I’ll take her back to the Yuan Shi Academy.”
Knowing he was concerned about the Six Cities Tournament, the Grand Minister immediately nodded, then met Ji Bozai’s gaze. He said solemnly, “Sun Liao is low, slandering a high-ranking Warrior and attempting to kidnap a Golden Hairpin Warrior. Minister Situ, punish him severely according to the law.”
“I obey the command!” Situ Ling waved his hand, and Fu Yue immediately grabbed Sun Liao.
Losing the protection of his Artificer status and being ordered to be dealt with so sternly by the Grand Minister, Sun Liao finally became frightened. He cried out repeatedly, “I have talent, I can do it! What can a woman know? Those were made by me!”
However, this time no one believed him. Fu Yue covered his mouth and threw him, tightly bound, onto a carriage. After Situ Ling verified that the shell currency notes were fake, he led people to seal off the mansion and began investigating the Sun family’s hidden dealings.
While he was busy with that, Ji Bozai accompanied the Grand Minister out of the Sun mansion, but his expression was somewhat displeased.
“What’s troubling you, my dear minister?” the Grand Minister asked considerately. “If you have any worries, tell me, and I’ll resolve them for you.”
“I didn’t know Ming Yi could forge weapons,” he lowered his eyes. “She never breathed a word of it to me.”
The Grand Minister thought he was afraid of being blamed for concealing this, and quickly said, “Ming Yi comes from a humble background and doesn’t know how valuable the art of weapon forging is. Understandably, she kept it from you. I don’t blame you.”
Ji Bozai remained silent, his gaze fixed heavily on the distant clouds.
The feeling of learning her secret at the same time as others, or even later than some, was truly awful. It was as if he were just an outsider—although now there wasn’t much difference from being an outsider, they had once been the most intimate.
He thought he knew everything about her, that he had her completely figured out, but in the end, he discovered that from the beginning, she had only intended to stay by his side briefly, to feign compliance, never truly opening her heart.
Something gripped his chest uncomfortably. Ji Bozai bowed to the Grand Minister to take his leave and boarded his beast carriage to pursue her to the Yuan Shi Academy.
The Yuan Shi Academy was in an uproar, all because Ming Yi had reassembled “Starry River Sunset” on the forging platform in front of everyone, and then repaired “Thunder of Ten Thousand Bolts,” which had just been damaged by Fan Yao, using readily available soft iron.
Her technique was skilled and proficient, and her craftsmanship was superb. When installing some special components, her fingertips even faintly glowed with Yuan Power.
Although the color of the Yuan Power wasn’t clear, this was enough to prove that Ming Yi was a highly skilled Artificer.
Qin Shangwu was so delighted he couldn’t close his mouth. He quickly had someone bring the Sky Blue Misty Rain Robe.
However, Ming Yi raised her hand to block it, smiling awkwardly, “There’s no precedent for women entering the Yuan Shi Academy in the Azure Cloud Realm. Please reconsider, Master.”
Only then did everyone come to their senses.
Such a formidable Artificer was a woman?! How could it be a woman? Where would the countless men of Muxing City hide their faces?
They could accept a Golden Hairpin Warrior, after all, that was just like a vase to them, only for serving tea and chatting. But if the only young Artificer was also a woman, wouldn’t that make other cities laugh at Muxing City for having no useful men?
The atmosphere became awkward. Luo Jiaoyang spoke up from the side, “What does it matter if it’s a man or a woman? As long as the divine weapons made are useful.”
“What do you know?” Chu He smacked him on the head and frowned, “Every city’s honor is important and can’t tolerate even a speck of blemish.”