Xiao Miao was a very persevering person who never failed to bring food to those children because she was too busy. On this day, as usual, she went out carrying a basket. After distributing food to those children, she prepared to go outside the city to inspect her army.
Before she could enter, an arrow shot toward her from behind. Xiao Miao didn’t care about this kind of assassination attempt. She casually used her basket to swat the arrow away, then turned around angrily, planning to see who was so blind.
A young boy holding a bow was desperately fleeing toward the alley entrance.
It was that little bastard again. Xiao Miao instantly became furious. This boy always came to cause trouble. First, he pretended to be pitiful and asked her for food. After getting it, he didn’t eat it but turned around and gave it to other children. Seeing that Xiao Miao wouldn’t give him anything anymore, he then bought flatbread and mutton from vendors and also distributed them there. As a result, those children took his food but still crowded around Xiao Miao without a single word of thanks.
Watching that boy’s exasperated appearance had made Xiao Miao happy for two whole days.
Today he had actually progressed to shooting people with bow and arrow. That arrow had no arrowhead—Xiao Miao could tell—but such deplorable behavior made Xiao Miao believe she should still teach this fellow a lesson.
Breaking off a clod of earth from the wall, she threw it with a whooshing sound. It struck precisely at the bend of the boy’s leg. The fellow cried out miserably and fell to the ground.
Xiao Miao, carrying her basket, picked up that arrow from the ground and slowly walked to the boy’s side. Imitating Xinyue’s manner, she struck the boy’s buttocks with the arrow shaft while saying, “Who gave you such nerve to casually shoot arrows at people? What if you injured someone? This is the consequence of fooling around!”
This was exactly how Xinyue disciplined children at home. Xiao Miao hadn’t escaped it either. Thinking carefully, Xiao Ya, Xiao Wu, plus herself—they all seemed to have experienced this. Now, beating someone else, she discovered it was really quite satisfying. She wanted to strike a few more times, but that boy angrily turned around and shouted at Xiao Miao, “Liar!”
“What did I lie to you about? Explain it clearly to me. If you can’t explain clearly, today I’ll beat your buttocks into four pieces!” Xiao Miao felt baffled. This little brat shooting people with arrows actually had the audacity to act justified.
“Liar!” The youth tried to get up but found Xiao Miao’s foot pressing on his buttocks so he couldn’t move. He could only turn his head and curse “liar” again.
“Speak! What exactly did I lie to you about? Why aren’t you talking?” Xiao Miao suddenly felt that reprimanding others this way gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
At the alley entrance, a white carriage still stood. The mountain-like strong man asked the person inside the carriage with concern, “Elder, what if the young master is injured?”
“He won’t be. You’re overthinking it, Bo Ma. Helu won’t be in any danger. Although this girl’s origins are mysterious, she is fundamentally a kind person. This won’t be wrong. Helu likes this girl—he doesn’t know how much hardship he’ll suffer in the future. It’s all trouble he’s found for himself. Let him be. If Helu can win this girl’s heart, the Ashina family’s growth is something we can already anticipate.” The Elder spoke very clearly. He rather supported Helu’s association with this girl.
“Elder, who knows the survival of the Xiongnu people better than we do? Attila is at least a legend in our world, yet this woman dares to falsely claim she’s a descendant of Attila. It’s simply the height of arrogance. Those fierce warriors only exist in legends—there are simply no such warriors in the world, they simply don’t exist. Although Anqi’s martial prowess is excellent, she’s a woman, naturally unsuited for the battlefield.” Bo Ma still didn’t trust Anqi.
The youth struggled on the ground, trying to break free from Xiao Miao’s foot. No matter how hard he tried, it was useless. Xiao Miao cheerfully allowed Helu to writhe like a maggot under her foot, while two maidservants clapped their hands and laughed at the side.
“A few days ago you still had flaxen-colored hair, about the same as mine. These past few days you’ve turned black-haired, exactly like those Tang people who drove us from the grasslands. You’re my enemy.”
The exasperated Helu spoke his mind without choosing his words carefully.
Xiao Miao’s eyes shifted twice, then she withdrew her foot, crouched down, and looked into Helu’s eyes, saying, “Fool, I’m Xiongnu, not Turkic. As a descendant of Attila, we must return to our land of glory, so I’m preparing an army. When the time comes, I’ll lead them to cross the grasslands and deserts like my ancestors did, going to the west of the earth. I’ll make all those city-states submit at my feet. Boy, you just huddle here and continue being your sheep.”
After Xiao Miao finished speaking, she pitifully patted Helu’s face, then prepared to go home with her maidservants.
“I’m a descendant of the Golden Wolf God, Anqi! I won’t lose to you. I’ll also prepare my army and see who conquers more territory. When that time comes, I’ll come with thousands of troops to marry you!”
“Little brat! Keep dreaming!” Xiao Miao’s voice came from the distance. By the time Helu stood up, the gate of Xiao Miao’s house had already closed tightly.
Returning to the carriage dejectedly, Helu found Bo Ma looking at him with a smile. Bo Ma had seen all of Helu’s embarrassment just now. What made Bo Ma happiest was precisely the last thing Helu had said.
“Well done, Helu! As long as you become a true king, all the women in the world will be yours. Whether fierce or beautiful, when they see a king, they all need to untie their belts and welcome you to spend the night in their tents.”
Helu nodded heavily, thinking Bo Ma was absolutely right. He inserted the bow in his hand back behind his back and said to Bo Ma, “Uncle Bo Ma, Anqi is preparing her army. I must also prepare my army. A descendant of the Golden Wolf King won’t lose to a woman.”
The Elder in the carriage laughed very brilliantly, patting the carriage window and saying to Helu, “The young colt finally wants to gallop. Bo Ma, take our young colt to see his army. Anqi’s family has money, and our Ashina family’s wealth is not insignificant either. Now it’s a chaotic world in turmoil—we indeed need to expand our army.”
Bo Ma threw Helu onto the carriage, then wielded his whip to drive the carriage out of the city. Just beyond the mountain, his army was preparing for battle.
Yun Ye’s first small camel city had been completed. Thick wooden frames were mounted on the camels’ backs. On each camel’s back was a universal joint that could control the camel’s walking direction. Yun Ye sat in this small camel city as soldiers drove the camels to walk randomly across the wilderness.
“It still doesn’t work, Gongshu. The weight of the wooden frame hasn’t been distributed to every camel’s back. Left and right are very unbalanced. The camels on the left almost feel no weight, while the camels on the right are being pressed until they cry out. The worst are those in the middle—a row of camels fell into a pit. After walking less than five li, it’s become like this. In the future, we’ll need to travel several thousand li.”
Gongshu Jia listened to Yun Ye’s complaints angrily, saying with a dark face to Yun Ye, “Other people’s camel cities basically use camels as city walls. What about your camel city? It’s a real city, a large grid with five hundred points underneath. To make every point bear force evenly requires camels of the same height and flat ground. Have you created these two conditions for me?”
An academy student who was working suddenly stood up and said to Yun Ye in a daze, “Having camels all the same height is impossible, and requiring absolutely flat ground is also unrealistic. But can’t we work on the connection points? For example, adjust the iron rods on the saddle seats—this might work.”
After speaking, he crouched down on his own initiative and dismantled the rod on one camel’s back. He also brought over a finger-thick spring, stuffed it into the tube, stepped on it to test it, and was quite satisfied. Only after installing it did he say to Yun Ye, “Teacher, look—this spring only needs the force of one dan to be compressed. For the camel to completely straighten its body, it must apply one dan of force to the spring, and this one dan of force is exactly the force each camel needs to bear. This way, by adjusting the height of the springs, we can achieve the goal of making these camels bear one dan of weight.”
Yun Ye smugly stuffed a piece of milk tofu into his mouth, looked mockingly at Gongshu Jia, then lavishly praised this student, even stuffing his bag of milk tofu into the fellow’s bosom.
Gongshu Jia personally examined the student’s design and nodded helplessly, saying, “It is indeed feasible. I seem to be old. Now the academy has many new materials—iron wire, steel wire, springs. I only know how to use old materials and know nothing about these new materials, or rather, have only superficial knowledge. The title of master is almost becoming a joke.”
“Hehe…” Yun Ye laughed heartlessly, pointing at Gongshu Jia and saying, “The rear waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves forward, and the front waves die on the beach. You guard such an enormous Yushan Academy without utilizing it, indulging in self-pity—what for? You deserve to be slapped to death.”
Gongshu Jia trembled all over with anger. He wanted to speak but felt he had nothing to say, so he sat in the wooden grid sulking. Who knew whether he was angry at himself or blaming Yun Ye for his immoderate speech.
“Gongshu, your family has held the leading position in mechanism manufacturing for a thousand years. If you don’t want to be surpassed, the best method is to rely on the young descendants in your family. They’re young and have strong ability to accept new things. Perhaps they can still turn the tide. You should just do some repair and maintenance work.” Yun Ye didn’t plan to let Gongshu Jia off. If he didn’t say these truths now, there wouldn’t be a good opportunity later.
Gongshu Jia shook his head and said, “These students have a long way to go before they can replace me. It’s not too late for this old man to start learning now. It’s just the application of new materials—it’s not a difficult matter. The Gongshu family’s thousand-year inheritance isn’t so easily surpassed.”
Yun Ye nodded. Gongshu Jia was right. Seeing that this large wooden grid had returned to its original position, he jumped down from the grid and said, “Dan Ying has arrived. Don’t you plan to go over for a drink?”
Gongshu Jia shook his head and continued looking at the blueprint in his hands. He planned to further perfect that student’s idea.
Yun Ye rode Wang Cai back to the garrison city. As soon as he entered, he saw Wu She boasting to Dan Ying about his divine light, strongly suggesting that Dan Ying go with him to the cellar tonight to experience it. He praised the divine light’s effects as miraculous beyond compare, making Dan Ying yearn for it endlessly.