Chapter 28 The Crown Prince's Invitation

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  Eunuch Zhu Ran entered the palace at a young age to serve the crown prince, and later the crown prince found him clever and let him often handle some matters on his behalf.

  Yun Qi dragged the eunuch to a deserted place and curiously asked, "How did Zhu Gonggong have time to come here? Is it that the Crown Prince is looking for me?"

  "Haha......" Zhu Ran's laughter sent chills down people's spines: "Still, Young Master Yun is clever, oh no... look at my mouth now, it's General Yun. Haha......"

  "Heh heh heh......" Yun Qi could only smile awkwardly, but was speechless.

  Zhu Ran said with a straight face: "Indeed it was the Prince who asked for you, but our family is just a messenger, so we don't know what it's about either. Don't blame us, General Yun."

  Yun Qi hastily replied with humility: "Hehe, Yun Qi doesn't dare."

  Zhu Ran continued: "Your Highness just sent a small general, Yun General, to invite him into the East Palace, saying that there is an important matter to discuss. How about it? Follow me on a trip?"

  Yun Qi was stunned, and this sentence sounds just like what the police uncles in later generations would say when arresting suspects. He said, "Since Your Highness has invited me, please ask Zhu Gonggong to wait for a moment, I'll go and tell General Liao."

  Zhu Ran waved his hand and said, "No need, I've already spoken to General Liao on your behalf when I saw you training the soldiers earlier. This weather is terribly hot, let's head into the palace early, the prince is waiting for you to have a meal."

  As soon as he heard that they were going to eat, Yun Qi's stomach growled a few times. He hadn't eaten all morning and was so hungry his belly was stuck to his back. When he heard the prince invite him to lunch, his physical reaction naturally came out.

  Zhu Ran covered his mouth and smiled, saying in a somewhat effeminate tone: "Hehe, General Yun must be hungry, the horse carriage is waiting at the door, please go ahead."

  Yun Qi heard that Zhu Ran was calling him "General" and thought to himself, "I'm no match for this." He was just a captain in charge of a hundred men, how could he be considered a general? Even the rank of captain didn't have any grade or level. He didn't know why Zhu Ran kept addressing him as "General", so he hastily said: "Sir, please don't address me as General anymore, it's too much for Yun Qi."

  Zhu Ran smiled again, but didn't respond to Yun Qi. He simply furrowed his brow, raised his hand to shield the sun with his sleeve, and walked towards the carriage with a look of impatience. Yun Qi followed behind him, and when they reached the gate, he said something to the guard before they both boarded the carriage.

  Before long, the carriage arrived at the East Palace. Yun Qi got off the carriage and saw that a group of palace maids were already holding trays, each with a dish on it, covered with an inverted food cover. Roughly counting, there were at least twenty palace maids, which meant that this table had at least twenty dishes! This unintentionally reminded him of the scene where the Emperor invited him to have a meal in the Imperial Study last time. Those dishes were indeed exquisite and delicious. Thinking of this, Yun Qi swallowed hard, feeling really hungry.

  Zhu Ran took a step forward and went in to report. Before long, he walked out of the palace gate and said softly to Yun Qi outside: "General Yun, the Crown Prince has feelings."

  Yun Qi's heart was speechless for a moment, they all said not to call him General, but it was all in vain.

  Upon entering the hall, the prince was not in the main hall. Following Zhu Ran inside, a curtain was lifted, and a large table appeared before them. The prince sat at the head of the table, smiling as he stared at Yun Qi, who was savoring the delicious food on the table. "Brother Yun must be hungry," he said with a smile. "Please take a seat and join me for a meal. I'm also famished."

  The prince originally wanted to talk to Yun Qi about some things, but the naturally empathetic prince found that as soon as Yun Qi entered, he focused his attention on the dishes, and knew in his heart that he must be hungry, so he went along with it and showed some personal affection.

  Yun Qi wanted to be polite, but his stomach was empty and his body couldn't help itself, so he sat down with a thud. He picked up his chopsticks just as the prince smiled and watched him, not having started eating yet. Yun Qi's face turned red with embarrassment as he said, "Please, Your Highness, go ahead and eat first."

  "Haha! Yun Qi, I didn't expect that after just a few days in the military camp, you'd become so timid and weak-willed. You're not like the Yun Qi I knew at Shi Nan Gu!" The prince teased.

  He heard Yun Qi's words, but he couldn't lift his head even more, secretly scolding himself for being useless. He hastily apologized and said respectfully: "Your Highness, please don't blame me. In the past, Yun Qi only understood comfort and was used to a carefree life. It wasn't until these past few days when I entered the military camp that I realized my previous life was simply wasted, so..."

  Yun Qi's words were not yet finished, when he was interrupted by the Crown Prince: "You and I needn't speak of these things, grandiose polite phrases, I don't want to hear them from your mouth again. Come, come... let's dine."

  The prince finished speaking and, fearing that Yun Qi would be embarrassed, took the lead in picking up a piece of meat and putting it into his bowl. Seeing that the prince had started eating, Yun Qi naturally didn't care about those so-called rules either, rolled up her sleeves, and began to devour the delicious dishes on the table with gusto.

  After dinner, the prince ordered the big table to be removed and had fragrant tea served. He then pulled Yun Qi to sit down in front of the soft couch and said: "Yun Qi, I have some good news for you. The 300 workers you asked me to find, I've already found them all, we can start work at any time."

  "Really?" Yun Qi's excitement caused him to stand up, but he was pulled back down by the Crown Prince, who tugged on his sleeve.

  After waiting for the seventh seat to sit down, the prince said: "Today, I invited you here, also hoping that you can draw out the drawings as soon as possible, and we can start manufacturing earlier. Recently, the border of Wei State is not very peaceful, according to the scouts' report, the Shu army has assembled 200,000 troops in three places stationed at the Shu-Wei border, and the war will break out at any moment. If we don't prepare early, once Wei State falls, next will be my Southern State."

  Yun Qi furrowed his brow after hearing this, recalling that he had read "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" before. The Shu and Wei states were always countries within the three kingdoms, yet here they also shared the same names, but with the Wei state being smaller and the Shu state being larger. It was indeed a strange coincidence. After thinking for a moment, Yun Qi slowly said: "Your Highness, I can draw out this bow and crossbow diagram at any time, however..."

  "But what?" The prince asked.

  "But I worry that these craftsmen can't be trusted, if just one of them passes on the method for making this crossbow to Shu, then this secret weapon will lose its value."

  The prince thought about what Yun Qi said and it wasn't unreasonable. In this era, there's no way to keep secrets, even if you're not intentional, the consequences of accidentally mentioning something can be unpredictable. Thinking of this, the prince also slowed down his tone, put away his smile and asked: "Then according to you, how should we do?"

  Yun Qi thought for a moment and said after half a day: "Your Highness, you are a wise lord, Yun Qi's method is probably..."

  The crown prince saw Yun Qi's hesitant expression, and his heart felt a sense of urgency. He urged: "Yun Qi, the people are more important than I am. Even if they misunderstand me, as long as they are protected, I am willing to do so."

  Yun Qi listened and was truly moved, sighed, and slowly expressed his intention: "Your Highness can bring the families of these craftsmen to a place under your control, and then order them to make bows and crossbows until the crisis in the southern country is resolved. During this time, the crown prince will also be responsible for their living needs, and even allow their children to read and write as an exception. However, all of this is just compensation, and anyone with discerning eyes can see that what Your Highness is doing is actually imprisonment."

  The crown prince sucked in a breath of cold air upon hearing this, he had never had such thoughts before. By nature kind and gentle, he had always treated others with courtesy since childhood, let alone doing something like this, even thinking about it was out of the question. But now things were not as they used to be, and thus the crown prince found himself in a dilemma.

  Yun Qi didn't interrupt either, just sipped tea on the side and quietly observed the prince's reaction.

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  I've finally finished writing the fourth update, and I'm still stuck on this crown prince... Sigh... Good people don't live long, haha! I didn't say anything.