Steam trains in ancient times (12): Gunshots

On the day when the Fourth Prince ascended the throne, Si Qi had not yet arrived in Wengcheng.

When Xiu Xiu reminded him that [the world power of the daughter of the world has increased], Si Qi frowned slightly and quickly deduced the cause and effect, guessing that the emperor of Chu was most likely dead. The identity of the daughter of the world had changed, which was why the small world entrusted her with more world power.

Now it had been five days since the Fourth Prince took over the imperial power.

After arriving at the battlefield, Si Qi helped the border cities to resolve the threat from the enemy as quickly as possible. Only in this way could Chu Feng safely return to the capital to inherit the throne that should have belonged to him.

Chu Feng understood what Si Qi meant, but did not respond in a hurry.

He stayed here for another day, ensuring that the food captured from the enemy was sufficient for the soldiers to survive the long hours and to withstand further battles.

He also asked Si Qi to teach the soldiers various methods that seemed magical in the eyes of people of this era, so as to improve their self-defense capabilities as much as possible.

Afterwards, he led a team of no more than 10,000 people and rushed back to the capital.

General Huang and others actually tried their best to ask Chu Feng to bring back a few tens of thousands of more men. No one knew what kind of assassins the Fourth Prince would plant in the capital. After returning, both sides were bound to fight to the death. Bringing more people would increase the chances of winning by a few points.

But Chu Feng refused with the reason that “I have Si Qi who can defeat ten thousand enemies alone”.

Compared with his own safety, Chu Feng paid more attention to the safety of the border. That was where the troops were more needed to guard, and they protected the millions of ordinary people in the rear.

“Since I am the crown prince, I should put the country first and make the world peaceful and the people happy. Otherwise, what is the point of being the crown prince?”

General Huang felt helpless after hearing this and had to look to Si Qi for help.

Si Qi was staring at Chu Feng’s handsome profile in a daze. For a moment, he couldn’t help but be moved by Chu Feng’s indomitable aura of determination.

This feeling seemed to be a heartbeat, or excitement, and it was hard to tell what it was. Before he could think carefully, General Huang called him several times and he came back to his senses. He asked embarrassedly, “What are you talking about, General?”

General Huang was puzzled and said, “I would like to say that it is too dangerous for His Highness to return to the capital like this. It would be better to bring more people with you.”

Si Qi understood and said comfortingly: “General, rest assured, I will protect your highness and prevent him from getting hurt.”

Even Si Qi said so… General Huang wanted to cry but had no tears. After struggling again and again, he finally compromised helplessly.

Si Qi invited Chu Feng to get on the carriage, checked the composite armor that no one outside the carriage dared to laugh at and say was ugly, and then got on the carriage and asked the leader to ride back as fast as possible.

Because the number of troops was reduced, mobility was improved, and there was no burden of baggage, so the journey that took twelve days here only took seven or eight days to go back.

He took out the ironware he had kept in his arms and used cotton cloth and lubricating oil to maintain it. The prince saw this and asked him, “What is this?”

Si Qi: “GLock G19 pistol.”

Small in size and light in weight, it was suitable for concealed carrying. The 9mm caliber was extremely thin but had a capacity of 15 rounds. In the last world, it was a very popular weapon among the military and police.

Of course, it was still a simplified version.

The prince looked at the pile of delicate parts and continued to ask, “What can it do?”

Si Qi: “Well… it can be used to protect you.”

The prince’s reaction was a little subtle, and he said uncomfortably: “I hope you can use it to protect yourself…”

Si Qi smiled casually: “All the same.”

He lowered his head and assembled the gun carefully, occasionally wiping the details with a cotton swab dipped in lubricating oil.

Chu Feng admired the young man’s focused look and felt indescribably satisfied.

This kind of satisfaction was a bit like an apple hanging in front of you. You can see it and smell it, but you can’t touch it no matter how hard you try. It makes you feel helpless and at a loss.

He had thought more than once that if he could get the young man, even for just one day, he would be willing to shorten his life by ten years.

But……

But it didn’t work.

Chu Feng subconsciously clenched the palm he put into his sleeve.

Si Qi was a man of extraordinary talent and deserved the best things in the world. How could he, a man…

Chu Feng asked casually, “My dear Si, have you ever considered when to get married?”

Si Qi put on the last clip, put the gun in his sleeve, and said with a smile: “Your Highness, are you going to find a good marriage for me?”

Chu Feng looked natural, and his tone was indescribably gentle: “As long as it’s someone you like, even if it’s a princess, I will issue an order to arrange a marriage for you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. If I meet someone I like, I will be the first to tell Your Highness.” Si Qi smiled and said, “However, I have a sister. I will talk about other things after I have arranged a marriage for her.”

Chu Feng’s eyes flickered slightly: “Is that so? That’s good. You are still young, you can take your time to choose and search.”

“Hmm~”

Si Qi stretched his body. He had been sitting in the carriage for so long that he couldn’t stand up straight and his bones were almost stiff.

The prince subconsciously looked at the boy’s waist, then after a moment he turned his head away hastily, at a loss, and coughed twice.

He even took the initiative to avoid the boy’s open arms and tried not to touch the boy’s body.

Just at this moment, when he was about to say something to divert his attention, a deafening roar came from below without warning, like a thunderclap exploding beside his ear, shaking Chu Feng’s body and making his ears buzz.

He reacted instantly when the change occurred, threw himself on the boy, and protected him tightly under his body to resist the impact from the outside.

Si Qi looked in amazement at Chu Feng who suddenly pounced on him. This scene was too familiar, so familiar that Si Qi almost had his memory confused and reacted a little slowly.

Then, there was an explosion, and the horses uttered a very short wail, and then there was no sound. The carriage shook violently and tilted to the side. The rubble on the ground flew up into the sky, and then hit the carriage one after another, making a sound like raindrops.

The soldiers around were stunned by this scene and fell silent for a moment, and then they all started shouting like crazy the next second.

As the world spun around him, Si Qi felt Chu Feng’s strong arms hugging him tightly, and saw Chu Feng’s eyes that seemed to be determined to protect him at all costs, and his heart trembled slightly.

He subconsciously grabbed the clothes on Chu Feng’s back and held on to it tightly.

After a while, the carriage flipped half a circle and landed on the ground. Si Qi put his palm on Chu Feng’s chest and reacted quickly. He pushed Chu Feng away and sat up, looking around the carriage.

The next second, the carriage door was suddenly opened. Si Qi pulled Chu Feng away without saying a word, took out his gun and pointed it at the head of the person outside the car.

His finger was on the trigger, about to be pulled. Si Qi found that the man looked anxious, and his facial features were particularly familiar. His cold and bloodthirsty expression relaxed slightly, and he released his index finger that was about to pull the trigger in the next second, and slowly stood up.

The soldiers cried with joy: “Your Highness! Lord! You are all fine!!”

Chu Feng sat up and said calmly, “What happened?”

The general took a few steps back, revealing the pitted land outside that looked like it had been plowed a hundred or eighty times, and the horse that had been broken into countless pieces of rotten meat. He was angry and scared: “I don’t know what happened just now, the place where Your Highness was, was suddenly struck by lightning!!”

Si Qi:?

If Si Qi had not been in the car, everyone would probably have focused their suspicion on Si Qi. However, Si Qi was also attacked, so no one suspected Si Qi. Instead, they suspected that someone had stolen Si Qi’s artifact and intended to harm His Highness and him.

Si Qi got out of the car, looked at the wheels that were blown to pieces, and then looked at the composite armor under the car. He found that the power of the explosion was far less than that of the bomb he made, but it just took advantage of the close distance to produce the greatest effect, and blew the carriage up.

He bent down, touched the devastated ground, and picked up a handful of black gunpowder residue from the ground.

Si Qi and Xiu Xiu had said before that black gunpowder was so weak that it could only be used to set off fireworks. Although there was a bit of exaggeration in it, it also indirectly showed that Si Qi really didn’t think highly of weapons of that level.

But for the Daughter of the World, perhaps she felt that if she could master the power of hot weapons in this era of cold weapons, she would be invincible.

Indeed, if there were no composite armor, Si Qi and Chu Feng would have been dead like the innocent horse that couldn’t even fight with its head full of corpses.

Just like the world line that was tampered with by the Daughter of the World, the original owner and hundreds of thousands of enemy troops were sent to the west by explosives.

But man proposes, God disposes. The Daughter of the World could never have imagined that when she had finally invented black gunpowder, her “fellow countryman” who came to this era a few years later than her had already manufactured composite armor for tanks.

The killer who was hiding in the dark and observing the situation must have been stunned to see Si Qi and Chu Feng safe and sound. Si Qi asked the team to continue to set off, and came to Chu Feng’s carriage with various experimental instruments. With Chu Feng’s enthusiastic attitude of willing to help, he worked hard for half an hour before coming out with an ugly horse armor.

Amid the incomprehensible looks of the crowd, Si Qi installed the armor on the new horse. Now, it would be difficult for a small bomb to kill the horse even if he wanted to.

Amid the soldiers’ excited and sad expressions, he announced that he would try his best to equip all soldiers with these equipment. The soldiers forced themselves to smile and said they were very happy.

Si Qi replied contentedly that everything was done to serve His Highness.

His Highness: “…………”

A few days later, in the capital of Chu State.

The Regent Prince sat leisurely on the dragon chair, waiting for good news to come.

The good news might be that the prince died in battle at the border and he “had to” formally inherit the throne, or that the enemy was blocked outside the border and the battle would continue until the soldiers at the border starved to death in the city due to the prince’s involvement. Or maybe the prince’s atrocities angered the will of heaven and he was punished by the Thunder God to be killed without a complete body…

Everything was developing in the best direction. The regent was in an extremely happy mood. A few days ago, he selected many concubines to be included in the harem under the earnest recommendation of his ministers, which caused Zhao Er to quarrel with him loudly and directly drove him out of the concubine’s bedroom.

Despite Zhao Er’s cold treatment, he just sneered a few times and turned around to go to the palace of other concubines.

So the “jealous” Zhao Er’s eyes turned red when she heard the news. She took the palace maids and eunuchs to catch the adulterer and smashed the concubine’s bedroom. Then she gritted her teeth in humiliation and said that she could forgive the emperor’s extramarital affair. As long as he banished these women to the cold palace and stopped making mistakes in the future, she would still support her husband to sit firmly on the throne.

But the Prince Regent was already the emperor tacitly recognized by all the civil and military officials in the court. Why did he still need Zhao Er’s support?

After all, this era valued ​​boys over girls and emphasized orthodox family background. Zhao Er was a woman with no achievements, and had been notorious for her dissolute behavior for many years. Even her only positive image was obtained by plagiarism. She suffered a series of defeats at the hands of Si Qi some time ago, and people had long seen through her nature of being strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Now as a concubine in the harem, she didn’t even have the qualifications to govern the country. How could she, as usual, order the prince regent around and say “I can help you to sit on the throne firmly”?

No matter how angry and resentful Zhao Er was inside, the news that she was ignored by the Regent quickly spread throughout the harem and reached the court.

Many people secretly laughed at Zhao Er’s reckless behavior and ended up like this. Which emperor would allow a concubine to behave indecently and interfere in his private life? Zhao Er was able to live to this day thanks to her novel skills that occasionally made people’s eyes light up. If she didn’t have that last bit of value, she would have disappeared from the world for various reasons.

At this moment, Zhao Er ignored the guards’ obstruction and forced her way into the hall noisily. She saw the emperor sitting on the dragon throne whom she had not seen for several days.

Regardless of the subtle looks from the ministers around him, Zhao Er questioned the Regent: “I ask you, is Si Qi dead?”

As soon as she came to ask about such an unpresentable matter, the regent’s face darkened and he rebuked unhappily: “What a disgrace to make such a fuss! Come, take Concubine Zhao back to the harem and confine her to house arrest for three months! No idle people are allowed to enter the palace, and those who violate the rules will be executed immediately!”

Zhao Er folded her arms around her shoulders and sneered, “Why? If this is not a place I can come to. Who can come? That bitch named Lan?”

Zhao Er was talking about Concubine Lan, whose bedroom she smashed and who was caught cheating with her husband a while ago. She was the daughter of the current Minister of Personnel, a beautiful and dignified lady from a prominent family.

Hearing Zhao Er utter such inappropriate and vulgar words in front of so many ministers, the Regent looked at Zhao Er with even more disgust, and was sure in his heart that this crazy woman was here to cause trouble again.

The Minister of Personnel’s face turned livid. He stepped forward and mocked Zhao Er, accusing her of disrespecting His Majesty, not knowing the rules of being a lady, and being fickle and corrupt. He ridiculed her from head to toe, saying that she was as dirty and vile as those brothel prostitutes.

Zhao Er was so angry that she jumped up and down. She was already extremely irritable because of her husband’s betrayal, and she couldn’t control herself and started to curse at the Minister of Personnel in court. Her voice was sharp and piercing. After she finished yelling, there was silence all around, and everyone looked at her as if they were looking at a madman.

Isolated and helpless, Zhao Er subconsciously looked up at her husband, but received an extremely cold look from him.

Zhao Er felt chilled to the bone in an instant, and her heart was chilled beyond words.

She was so upset that her eyes were red. In fact, she had already realized in her heart that her husband was not as gentle as he was portrayed on TV. She also understood that her husband was dissatisfied with her and felt that he was ready to give up on her.

She just didn’t want to admit it.

Holding back the loss and humiliation in his heart, Zhao Er asked in a hoarse voice: “Forget it, I won’t argue with you about the dirty things you did. I just want to ask you, is Si Qi dead? Did you send anyone to use the things I gave you?”

What did “I won’t bother with you” mean? After hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the court were filled with disdain.

The Regent recalled the powerful divine punishment weapon, and his resentment towards Zhao Er was somewhat alleviated. He even said with some relief: “Of course, it was put to good use.”

“It’s no use using him properly! He must die!!” Zhao Er was so flustered and almost crazy when he thought of those steel beasts. He roared angrily and glared at the Regent, “You don’t know how powerful he is! You don’t know at all! If he were alive, no one in the world could stop him except me!”

When the people around heard this, they burst into laughter and looked at Zhao Er’s pretentious appearance with contempt.

The Regent Prince also thought that Zhao Er was just trying to scare people and was trying to improve her own status by exaggerating Si Qi’s ability. He said disdainfully: “What kind of storm can a mere commoner cause?”

These days, the emperor was everything. If the emperor wanted his subjects to die, they had to die. This was no joke.

Zhao Er frowned, recalling the historical records of the current battle, and asked directly: “Did you cut off their food supply? Did you send people to stop them and let them die there?”

The ministers all frowned, thinking that Zhao Er was too careless in her words. Such matters should be kept secret by everyone, but how could she bring them up in public? What if the historian nearby recorded it?

The historian beside him had cold sweat on his forehead and trembled as he stopped reading the emperor’s daily records. The regent said unhappily, “This is not something you should worry about.”

Zhao Er looked anxious and said without caring: “Give me a definite answer!”

The Regent was silent for a moment, and could only say: “…the border crisis, the situation is probably not good.”

Zhao Er frowned. “Are you sure? Is there any concrete evidence that they are in trouble? What is the latest intelligence? I don’t believe your analysis. Bring the document over. I want to see it myself! If something goes wrong, everyone will be finished!”

Everyone would be doomed? The Regent Prince became more and more certain that Zhao Er was deliberately scaring him, and said coldly: “That is not something that a concubine like you can interfere with. Don’t push it too far, otherwise don’t blame me for not caring about our past friendship!”

The ministers around all sneered with disdain, mocking Zhao Er one after another, telling her to leave quickly and not to delay His Majesty from discussing important matters with everyone.

Zhao Er was so angry that her whole body was shaking. At this moment, the military intelligence sent from the border at full speed finally arrived after several days. The soldiers, exhausted by the wind and dust, presented the intelligence in a panic and terrified manner, and couldn’t wait to shout hoarsely: “Your Majesty – it’s not good!!”

Upon hearing this, the ministers could not wait to ask, “Were we defeated by the enemy at the border and invaded our territory? Or did the prince ignore the war situation and lead his troops back?”

“No! None of them!” The soldier recalled the horrific scene he witnessed that day. His face turned pale and his body trembled uncontrollably as he knelt on the ground. He said in fear and shock, “It was the divine thunder!! It was the divine thunder!! Lord Si summoned the divine thunder and wiped out 100,000 enemy troops in an instant without using a single soldier!! I saw it with my own eyes, and there is absolutely no falsehood in my words!!”

In the court, apart from the heavy and panicked breathing of the soldiers, the silence was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

After a while, the ministers came to their senses and shouted angrily: “You are misleading people with your lies!”

“What kind of divine thunder can be driven by humans to kill the enemy?”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

The ministers did not believe this overly bizarre information, and only a small number of people who had witnessed the bomb with their own eyes felt cold and began to feel uneasy.

The Regent above frowned and quickly read the report handed over, his face livid.

Zhao Er scolded, “I told you but you didn’t listen,” and asked the Regent to show her the details of the military situation.

The Regent stared at Zhao Er for several seconds with a stern look before handing the item to Zhao Er. He said in a stern voice, “Did you leak the secret of the Divine Thunder? Or did you steal the method of making the Divine Thunder from Si Qi and then lied that it was your own creation?!”

Zhao Er rolled his eyes in anger and swore, “Do I need to learn this from him?” Then she looked at the intelligence, which showed how Si Qi destroyed the enemy’s position with just a few arrows, as well as the exaggerated artifact “Turtle Shell”, and instantly felt that something was wrong.

She shouted to the Regent above, “So, where’s the killer you sent? Where is he now?!”

The regent had a grim expression on his face. Under the anxious gaze of the ministers around him, he said, “Maybe we can reach the border today.”

Zhao Er cursed him and said, “Si Qi resolved the border war in one day. Now that several days have passed, how could he still be at the border? He should have returned long ago!”

He and the killer probably met on the road, and the killer didn’t know that Si Qi had the means to deal with bombs, and didn’t know how to avoid the “turtle shell” in advance to attack and kill people. The so-called assassination was most likely to have failed.

As soon as Zhao Er said this, everyone in the court was shocked – Si Qi and the prince had returned?

The Regent Prince realized this and his face darkened. He looked at Zhao Er with dissatisfaction and said, “What’s your plan?”

Zhao Er bit her nails, frowned, and was very anxious. She couldn’t help thinking of the steam engines in the workshop, and the more she thought about it, the more scared she felt.

She looked up at her husband and blurted out, “Run! The farther the better!”

The regent and the ministers around him immediately showed disdain on their faces and looked at Zhao Er with dissatisfaction.

Escape? Why? Just because of the description in the intelligence?

It was just divine thunder. They also had divine thunder.

After knowing the principle of the so-called divine thunder, they naturally would not be as frightened as those crude soldiers who were frightened by a small explosion.

The exaggerated descriptions in the intelligence were merely rhetoric used by this group of people to more accurately depict the horror of the explosion.

Zhao Er’s reaction was simply because she didn’t want to share her husband with others and was jealous. After knowing that the fourth prince became emperor, her situation was even worse than that of a princess from a prefecture, so she urged the regent prince to abdicate and give the throne to the crown prince.

Haha, what a short-sighted, selfish and ridiculous woman.

The Regent asked Zhao Er several times if she had any way to deal with Si Qi, but Zhao Er collapsed and said no.

The Regent Prince became more and more certain that Zhao Er was determined not to let him continue to be the emperor, so he had Zhao Er dragged out of the hall and discussed with the ministers how to kill him before the prince entered the capital.

Zhao Er kept yelling all the way, asking the Regent to believe her, saying that they must escape quickly. But the Regent and his ministers ignored her, looking at her as if she were a mad dog, which made her feel cold. She was detained by the guards and thrown back to the bedroom, lying on the bed and crying in despair.

When she thought about her own grievances and the powerful enemy she was about to face, she felt that the whole world was against her.

Thinking back to that unfathomable man, Zhao Er felt cold all over and had no desire to confront him.

She cried for a long time in despair. In the evening, the Regent did not come to her to comfort her or apologize to her.

She was completely disappointed and called the maid over, choking with sobs and ordering, “Pack my luggage for me.”

There was no reason to stay here any longer.

That person had the weapons she made and so many soldiers protecting him, so he should be able to protect himself better than a weak woman like her.

What else could she do!!

–

Two days later, the Crown Prince entered the capital and faced the Regent from afar in the palace.

The prince who was once famous for his benevolence now sat firmly on the throne with an arrogant look on his face, and had no intention of getting up at all.

The ministers around him turned a blind eye to this, and even an eunuch raised his shrill voice and coldly said to the prince below: “Your Highness Prince Feng, why don’t you kneel when you see the emperor?”

The soldiers who had followed the prince back from a long journey of thousands of miles were stopped outside the door by a group of guards with swords drawn.

Only the unarmed Chu Feng and Si Qi were allowed to enter here.

Chu Feng looked around and said calmly, “It seems that you all have chosen him. Is there anyone else willing to submit to me?”

The surroundings were silent and quiet, as if no one could hear Chu Feng’s question at all.

The regent sneered and ignored the former crown prince who still couldn’t see the situation clearly. He waved his hand and a group of ministers who had been planning for a long time stood up and righteously advised the crown prince of all the evil deeds he had committed, saying that he had no merits and no virtues and was not worthy of being the emperor of Chu.

The content was described in great detail, and many ministers followed suit and cited countless ridiculous and solid pieces of evidence, all of which implied that Chu Feng must be put to death.

Everyone thought that Si Qi and Chu Feng might be extremely angry about the current situation, and would angrily refute and resist with all their might, but in the end they would be suppressed by the guards around them and thrown into prison to be executed on a later date.

However, Si Qi just exchanged glances with Chu Feng, who said, “The Regent colluded with other ministers to seize power and usurp the throne, and sent assassins to kill me. He deserves death.”

Si Qi nodded in understanding, indicating that His Highness’s will was the will of heaven. He raised his hand, pointed at the man on the throne, and said, “Prince Lin disregarded the emperor’s order and sought power to usurp the throne. He will surely be punished by heaven and die on the spot.”

After hearing this, the people around laughed in unison, thinking that Si Qi might have gone insane. When he entered the palace, he was searched for weapons. Not to mention gunpowder, he didn’t even have an embroidery needle. What kind of heavenly punishment could he conjure? It was just a pretense. Did everyone really believe that he could summon divine thunder out of thin air?

He sneered as Si Qi raised the ugly iron ornament and pointed it at the Regent’s forehead. He smiled as he gently opened his lips and uttered a syllable:

“Bang!”

The trigger was pulled, and the sound of gunfire erupted along with his words. Along with the piercing screams of the eunuchs beside him, the Regent’s body suddenly froze, and his body swayed a few times before falling softly to the ground a moment later.

The ministers standing below realized belatedly that blood was bursting out from the back of the Regent’s head, and the red and white substance was spilled all over half of the dragon throne.

The whole court was silent and everyone stared at the scene in front of them in a daze, as if they were dreaming.

Si Qi raised his eyebrows slightly and casually withdrew his hand.

Political struggle? Undercurrent?

No problem.

Within the range of artillery fire, he was the truth.