Chapter 218: Huh, Poor Boss

A war report arrived: the Nanqi King and Prince Yanping had engaged the Yue Country in battle. Backed by cannons, they had retaken Taiping City in just three days.

The report briefly lifted the spirits of the court officials. No one wanted their country to lose a war.

Xiao Li offered a token smile. Once everyone had withdrawn, she kept Yang Jun behind. "How many sets of arms and armor can this batch produce?"

Yang Jun replied, "An estimated five hundred, six hundred at most."

Xiao Li was so disappointed by the number that she didn’t even want to speak.

Xiao Li had previously claimed Longxi Gully under the pretense of building a mountain villa, but she had actually turned it into a military factory.

She had secretly recruited over a dozen blacksmiths and gathered a group of strong, able-bodied commoners to cast iron, refine it into high-quality steel, and forge military sabers and armor. Originally, she had intended all this for her Silver Armor Guards.

But she never expected the struggle for the throne to begin before the site was even fully operational.

Now that she was the Emperor, the scale of the military factory was far too small. She had no choice but to recruit more blacksmiths and add more manpower.

All the iron ore in the National Treasury was put to use, and even the previous, substandard iron swords were melted down to be reforged.

But there was still too little time. Limited by the world’s current technology, everything had to be done by hand. If quality was the priority, then speed would inevitably suffer.

Five hundred sets of armor were enough to equip her Silver Armor Army, but it was a pitifully small number to send to a battlefield.

Xiao Li rubbed the bridge of her nose. ’Forget about drilling for oil in this world. I can’t build large machinery, either. Don’t tell me I have to invent the steam engine?’

At that thought, her eyelid began to twitch uncontrollably. ’Do I really have to build up this world’s infrastructure?’

’I want to leave, not use technology to launch this entire world into a new era.’

"How many men are in the Silver Armor Army now?"

Yang Jun answered, "There are three thousand men on the official roster, but one thousand three hundred of them still haven’t been equipped with silver armor."

In other words, even if all six hundred estimated sets were used, there would only be two thousand three hundred Silver Armor Guards. These were the Empress’s personal guards and couldn’t be deployed casually.

Although Xiao Li had sent those two brothers to lead the expedition, they were merely mascots for mobilizing the troops. The one truly commanding the battlefield was a hidden general appointed by Xiao Li.

But while Xiao Li knew this, the world did not. People would only think that the two Princes were brilliant for winning the battle.

As a result, their supporters would only grow in number.

For a woman to be Emperor, her enemies were never just a few competitors, but the entire world.

Xiao Li tapped the table. "Send another two hundred Silver Armor Guards to the border. Have them take five cannons."

Compared to armor, the cannons were actually easier to manufacture. But precisely because they were so easy to make, Xiao Li could only dispatch the Silver Armor Army to guard them to the death. She absolutely could not let the enemy obtain one and replicate it.

Even if the enemy couldn’t formulate a more powerful gunpowder than hers, the destructive power of even ordinary gunpowder was not to be underestimated.

"Take my personal directive. The moment they reach the border, implement the second phase of the plan immediately."

Yang Jun didn’t know what the second phase of the plan was, but he followed his orders. "As you command."

He took the directive and left. On his way out, he saw Lou Yan kneeling ramrod straight to the side. He had no idea how the man had offended Her Majesty, but he had been kneeling there since last night—for a full six or seven hours.

’But judging by his expression,’ Yang Jun thought, ’even though his face was blank, you just got the feeling he was rather pleased to be punished. Especially the way his back was held so perfectly straight. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was showing off.’

???

’Has he lost his mind?’

Yang Jun did not understand Lou Yan’s happiness.

Not long after Yang Jun left, Hong Yue came out to relay a message. "A verbal command from Her Majesty: ’Get lost.’"

Lou Yan turned his head to look inside. "This servant obeys."

He took a moment to ease his stiff legs, and it was a while before he could stand up. He wanted to go inside, but he was drenched in sweat and his feet were likely swollen. It wasn’t appropriate to enter.

In the end, he limped away.

Mu Bai, who took Lou Yan’s place standing before the hall, thought, ’Huh, the boss is in a really miserable state!’

’But he’s only this miserable because he peeked at Her Majesty while she was bathing. Heh. Serves him right!’

Lou Yan walked very slowly. Although he did his best to control it, the unnatural stiffness of his legs was impossible to hide.

But he held no resentment. His only thought was to quickly apply some medicine and return to his post at the Empress’s side.

He was the only one in the palace who knew the truth: that he had killed the late Emperor. It wasn’t that no one else had discovered it, but rather that anyone who had was already dead.

As long as he never spoke of it, the Empress would never know this secret.

’But he had told her. He wanted to see Her Majesty’s reaction. He knew she was cold and indifferent, uncaring about family. And just as he’d expected, she truly didn’t care, not even that the man had been her own father.’

’But now, the Empress was the only person who shared this secret with him.’

’The Empress’s father had killed his entire family, and he, in turn, had killed the late Emperor. Now, his life was in the Empress’s hands. She could take his life at any moment, and yet he clung to her, heedless of that very life.’

’The members of the Lou Family had been dead for many years, and he had avenged them. The bonds of kinship had long since faded from his life, becoming almost nonexistent.’

’Now, he wanted to use this tangled fate to bind himself to Her Majesty. He knew she was heartless and would never be moved by anyone, but he couldn’t stand the thought of her never truly seeing him.’

’Lovers or enemies, it didn’t matter. Their relationship should not be one of simple clarity.’

’What saddened him, however, was that Her Majesty hadn’t punished him because of the late Emperor, but because he had kissed her.’

The more Lou Yan thought about it, the more downcast he became, his face growing so grim it looked like it could drip with gloom. Combined with his limp, to any onlooker, it appeared as if he had been punished by the Empress and was now harboring deep resentment.

He had just returned to his quarters and was applying medicine when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

After a moment of silence from outside, a cautious female voice spoke. "Mr. Lou, it is I, Princess Wen Shan. I’ve come to bring you some medicine."

A flicker of confused malevolence crossed Lou Yan’s eyes. ’?’

’Princess Wen Shan came to bring medicine to him, a eunuch?’

’She clearly has ulterior motives.’

"Mr. Lou?"

Princess Wen Shan called out twice more, but Lou Yan didn’t answer.

A moment later, after applying the medicine and getting dressed, Lou Yan opened the door.

A slender young woman stood at the door. Her clothes were plain, and her hair was coiled in a simple bun adorned with only two delicate hairpins. She looked more like a palace maid than a princess.

Her face, however, bore a slight resemblance to Her Majesty’s, making her identity clear at a glance.

Seeing Lou Yan emerge, Princess Wen Shan cautiously took out the medicine she had prepared. "I heard that my Imperial Sister punished you. This is a balm I got from the Imperial Physician. It’s for improving circulation and healing bruises. For you."

Lou Yan didn’t take it. He looked down at her, his gaze sinister and cold.

"Thank you, Princess Wen Shan, but it’s not necessary. Please leave."

His tone was chilling, without a shred of extra courtesy just because she was a princess.

Wen Shan knew that she, as a princess, held little status; even a servant dared to look down on her. But she had thought Lou Yan would be different.

"Mr. Lou, you saved my life. If you hadn’t intervened, I’m afraid that matron would have tormented me to death long ago. I just want to repay you."

Lou Yan had almost forgotten about that.

"It was Her Majesty who ordered me to send someone to check on you back then. The one you should be repaying is Her Majesty."

Wen Shan was surprised and retorted in disbelief, "How could it be my Imperial Sister? She rejected me so heartlessly."

Lou Yan shut his door and walked away. He had stated a fact, not tried to convince her. She could believe it or not.

Wen Shan believed him. Lou Yan had no reason to lie to her.

She clutched the medicine bottle tightly, suddenly overcome with excitement.

’My Imperial Sister was willing to help me! That means she still cares about our sisterly bond.’

’My Imperial Sister was once a princess, and now she’s the Empress.’

’Instead of currying favor with a eunuch, if I could soften the Empress’s heart, wouldn’t I never have to be bullied again?’

She was so excited she hopped on the spot a few times. She glanced at the medicine in her hand, then toward Jinluan Hall, the ambition in her eyes momentarily impossible to conceal.