Qin Yunuan didn’t know how long she had slept. She only felt that her whole body was soft. Her mind was in a whirl as if she had had a long dream. In the dream, her mother was still alive. Having been pregnant for eight months, she was working hard with needlework under a little lampion.
“Mother, have a rest. I can help you with the needlework.”
“The more needlework I do, the more cloth I can buy to make more beautiful clothes for your little brother in my belly. Yunuan, you are still young. It’s cold in the winter. Hurry to warm yourself in the quilt.”
“No. Mother, I want to learn to do needlework from you and make clothes for my little brother. Mother, please teach me.”
It was said that the Third Miss of the Qin Family was good at doing needlework. However, nobody knew that the old saying, “Children in poor families can become independent very early”, was the true portrayal of Qin Yunuan’s childhood.
Nobody knew it until Qin Yunuan was stopped by Leng Changxi when she was sewing a pair of white boots with golden rim for him not long after their wedding.
“You had already suffered so much in the past. Now that you’ve married me, you are not allowed to do needlework anymore.”
Qin Yunuan’s fingers trembled. It was her blessing to meet Leng Changxi.
Qin Yunuan was awakened by a burst of noise. She got up in a daze. Outside came the sound of Maner putting aside the curtain and stepping in.
“What’s wrong outside? Why is it so noisy?” Qin Yunuan wiped her face quickly with the water carried here by Maner and penciled her eyebrows lightly.
“General is testing the newly-made chariot.”
“But it is not supposed to have such a loud noise.” somehow, Qin Yunuan always felt a little uneasy.
Suddenly there was a huge clash, like thunder. Maner shivered with fright. Qin Yunuan frowned, “What happened?”
“It sounded like coming from the parade ground to test the chariots.”
At this time, Yuanyang ran from outside and reported, “Madam! It’s too bad! Somehow our chariots had lost control. They directly knocked down the sentry box in front of the camp. Now they are still out of control, rushing down the hillside straightly.”
“Is there anyone at the foot of the hill?” As she had expected, an accident happened, “How is the soldier guarding in the sentry box now?”
“It remains unknown,” Yuanyang came directly from the parade ground, gasping out, “It remains unknown. There are all wounded battalions under the hill. Now we still don’t know what the casualties are.”
Wounded battalions.
Qin Yunuan frowned more tightly. Hurrying to dress up, she rushed to the parade ground.
When she reached the parade ground, there was already a mess. Several wrist-wide iron chains used to lock the chariots had already been ripped off. This time 20 chariots were made in all through overtime work. However, now there were only 3 intact chariots and 7 broken ones scattering on the parade ground. Those broken ones either lost their wheels or thills. Others had already rushed down the hillside crazily.
Leng Changxi was dressed in a dark purple suit. It could be seen that there had been a thrilling rescue just now. His hemline had been ripped into pieces. And Leng Wu was even more seriously injured. There was a long cut on his arm by something unknown. Maner went straight up and bandaged his cut with her handkerchief lovingly.
“What happened? How did you become like this?” It could be seen that Maner really felt worried about Leng Wu as well as a little guilty. If she didn’t stop Qin Yunuan from going to the parade ground by asking her to have a rest first at the very beginning, maybe this could be prevented.
“The chariots were normal at first. However, when the general ordered them to stop, the brakes of the chariots all failed. They couldn’t stop.” Leng Wu closed his eyes slightly. It seemed that he could still recall the chaos of the scene just now. The chariots swept everywhere, some of which pressing directly over the soldiers. When clearing the corpses, there were four people crushed to death alive, whose internal organs and facial features had all been displaced. It was horrible to see them.
“Failed?” Qin Yunuan was confused. The blueprint of the chariots was written down by her from the roof of the stone room in the weapon factory. She remembered every single part of it. If the chariots were designed and manufactured exactly according to the blueprint, it could never go wrong.
Both Leng Changxi and she had researched the blueprint. It was logical, and there was no mistake in it. After that, a copy of the blueprint was handed over to the general craftsman who managed the manufacture of the chariots.
“General, the casualties are clear now,” Tuoba Wuyu hurriedly came over to report, sweating heavily, “The two soldiers in the sentry box and dozens of soldiers in the wounded battalion have been dead.” The tone of Tuoba Wuyu got deeper. The wounded soldiers were all warriors who had fought side by side with them. Dying in vain instead of on the battlefield was a pity to those black-armored soldiers.
“Where is the blueprint? How can such a terrible accident happen if chariots are produced according to the blueprint? Do all the brakes of the 20 chariots go wrong?” Qin Yunuan said while asking the general craftsman managing the manufacture of those chariots to bring the blueprint.
“There are still three chariots. Before the iron chains were untied for them, the other chariots had already had an accident. So we don’t know whether the rest three ones are good or not,” Leng Wu explained. Qin Yunuan had opened a pair of two-arm-long drawing, which was rather complicated. It was really difficult for Qin Yunuan to remember the drawing in the environment at that time. Later, it also took Leng Changxi and her a lot of time to understand it.
“There is no need to check them. The rest three chariots also have problems,” Qin Yunuan pointed to a very inconspicuous small accessory on the drawing, “Who has changed the length of the iron nail on the brake?”
In the end, it was the drawing that was wrong.
“Let me have a look,” Leng Changxi took over the drawing. There was a bit of worry and some terrible hostility in his cold eyes and brows.
Sure enough, as Qin Yunuan had said, this was a tiny detail, but it was extremely crucial on the brakes of the chariots. Changing the length of the iron nail would cause the brakes to fail to land, having no use of stopping the chariots at all.
It seemed that the one who had modified the drawing was also an expert.
Leng Changxi only took a glance at Mr. Xu, the general craftsman, who knelt down immediately, “General! General, I dare not to do that! I have always supervised the construction according to the drawing. During the whole process, I have been honest, daring not to use inferior materials and turn out sub-standard products. What’s more, I can only understand the drawing under the guidance of Madam. I never have the ability to modify it.”
“What are you afraid of?” Leng Changxi looked down upon such a timid person. Even though everything was alright, he would also make some trouble, “I just want to ask you something. Is there any newcomer in the casting camp? Or anyone looking strange?”
Mr. Xu was old. It took him some time before he said slowly, “The casting camp is responsible for making key weapons like chariots and arms, so it’s generally hard to join. This time, the original team set off from the West Liang city without changing midway. However…”
“However what?”
“However, there was a person in charge of the chariots’ wheels midway. His family name is Xu, and his name is Xu Sangui. He suddenly got sick some days ago, and his throat got burned out. Although he also worked overtime with us to build the chariots later, we had never heard him speak. Also, his craftsmanship seemed to be much better than in the past. At that time, we made jokes about him, saying that he must be learning skills secretly in the excuse of his sickness. Now when I think about it, it’s really weird.”
“Find Xu Sangui for me,” Leng Changxi clenched his fists so tightly that even his knuckles creaked.
Even though Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi knew in their mind that if it was really Xu Sangui that had created a disturbance here, he must have run away from the military camp of West Xia now.
However, since there were so many talents in the army, there must be someone who was able to catch up to the man. As expected, after the time of a tea break, Heiying came riding a horse. He was holding a string in his hand, behind which tied a lean man, staggering all the way and almost falling. With his hands tied tightly by the string, he had to follow Heiying’s horse. For several times, he was going to be dragged away.
“Go there,” Heiying looked solemn, dragging directly the lean man tied behind to the front, “Xu Sangui, hurry to kneel down when you see the general.”
Just in the blink of an eye, Xu Sangui, who had run away, was caught back by Heiying.
“That’s alright. He is not the real Xu Sangui,” Leng Changxi found out what was wrong with the man whose face was covered with dust simply through a glance, “Leng Wu, tear off the mask made of human skin on his face.”
Leng Wu stepped forward. He stroked along Xu Sangui’s sideburns, found out a small slit, and pulled with strength.
With the action, a layer of skin was ripped off from the lean man’s face immediately, revealing his original appearance. Xu Sangui’s figure was lean, but his face was even worse. There was hardly any muscle on his face.
“Are you the person changing the drawing secretly? Tell me, who has sent you here?” Leng Changxi stared at the lean man in front of him, “It’s surprising that you know how to disguise without being found out by me for such a time.” While saying, Leng Changxi thought, was he sent by that man…
“Is the man who disguised you a cripple?” Leng Changxi lowered his head to look at the thin man. Xu Sangui smiled. A trace of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. He opened his mouth and smiled, “Yes. And he asked me to tell you, even though he couldn’t beat you when you were apprentices and when you were back in the world competing for social position, he finally won over you this time in looking at the blueprint, modifying the blueprint and disguising people.”
The moment Xu Sangui finished his words, he died. Leng Changxi didn’t look at him. The drawing had been changed. The chariots had been destroyed. The people had been sacrificed. It was the future that was important. Hearing Xu Sangui’s words, Leng Changxi only doubted that Sima Ray had invited another helper, a rare man in the world who could make Leng Changxi feel a little tricky simply by mentioning his name. That was the big brother who learned polymorph from Dignitary Kongtong together with him.
It took a great deal of energy and time to sort out the loss and damage caused by the accident. While hurriedly listening to the report from his subordinates, Leng Changxi was also thinking deeply with a heavy heart about whether Baili Ai had really come back.
At night, the spy hiding in Luguan also reported that the rebellion there had already been cleared by Sima Ray. In the whole army, 3,000 people were beheaded, and 500 people were imprisoned. Chen Feng, along with his cronies and followers, all got hanged.
“What a coincidence,” Leng Changxi leaned back to his chair, “When Luguan was in chaos, our chariots here also had an accident, unable to go out to battle. Once we finished dealing with the accident, they are also in order now. It seems to be deliberately procrastinating. It’s too obvious.”
“I think so, too,” Qin Yunuan poured a cup of tea for Leng Changxi, “However, I’m confused. How come Sima Ray is able to do that?”
“Baili Ai,” Leng Changxi frowned while saying the name, looking worried. It was the first time for Qin Yunuan to see Leng Changxi become so disconsolate for someone.
