Chapter 11: The Crown Prince's Request

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  The prince learned from Yun Qi that everything was as usual in the south, and there were no major changes in the Yang family. In Yun Qi's words, they ate well, drank well, slept well, and all was well.

  When it came to the matter of Prince Yun Qi entering the palace this time, Yun Qi knew that what was meant to come would eventually catch up with him. He estimated that what the prince said was probably similar to what the emperor said yesterday. Sure enough, after some small talk, the prince got to the point and said: "Yun Qi, do you still remember what I told you when we parted ways outside the city?"

  Yun Qi didn't respond, but instead smiled and asked in return: "Your Highness, what makes you so sure I'm a person useful to the country?"

  "Do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

  The prince also smiled and looked at Yun Qi, with a hint of understanding in his expression, as if telling Yun Qi that if he didn't understand him, he wouldn't have summoned him to the palace today. With a "slap", the prince opened his folding fan and began fanning himself on his chest, regardless of whether it was hot or not. It seemed that young men of ancient times liked to hold a folding fan in their hands at all times, thinking that fanning themselves in front of people was a elegant gesture, and even the prince couldn't escape this habit. As he gently shook the paper fan, he said: "The first day I saw you, I found that you didn't panic like ordinary people when they see me, but instead were very calm, showing that you are a person with a calm mind."

  When the prince spoke to this point, Yun Qi couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame in his heart. He knew he wasn't that kind of person. It's just that in his concept, even if you're a prince, there isn't a deep awareness of hierarchy distinction. Just like being the country's second-in-command, Yun Qi had seen the most was to execute military etiquette, but without any feeling of inferiority.

  The crown prince continued: "This second point is about your teaching Yang Wenguang martial arts. Do you still remember what you privately told me? You said that practicing martial arts is not primarily for fighting and killing, but to learn the spirit of self-improvement through martial arts. To practice martial arts, one must first learn martial virtues. Only those who possess both virtue and talent can achieve great things. Yun Qi, if I'm not mistaken, these were your words to me? From this point alone, it's clear what kind of moral character you have."

  Yun Qi's face was covered in sweat, he had no way to respond to the prince's words. If he answered yes, the prince would be even more eager for Yun Qi to join him. If he answered no, the prince had clearly heard everything that day. Answering yes wasn't good, answering no wasn't good either, this put Yun Qi in a difficult situation.

  Kan Yun Qi fell silent, thinking that was the default. The prince continued: "Thirdly, when I asked you for cigarettes, you didn't take my money or goods. Don't think about why you did this, in short, you are not a greedy person."

  Oh no, it's so unfair! Yun Qi was secretly cursing his fate. This wasn't what he wanted at all. At the time, Yang Wenjin was standing by with a fierce gaze, and if he had accepted the prince's money, who knows how this little girl would have dealt with him later? Sometimes when you're under someone else's roof, you can't help but bow your head. Luckily, the prince gave him 200 taels of gold to make up for it, which also made up for the hurt he suffered as a child. Just thinking about that little girl, I wonder how she's doing now.

  Looking at Yun Qi's expression, which was a mix of crying and laughing, the prince continued with a pleased tone: "And this fourth point is also the most important one. Do you still remember the cigarettes you gave me that day? I looked at the pattern on the cigarette box and was shocked. In these days, I have repeatedly taken it out to admire it, and such an ingenious pattern, in our southern country, even in the entire continent of Qiankun, it is impossible to find any painter who can paint this kind of picture. Moreover, I have carefully studied it, and the painting on the cigarette box seems not to be painted on it. Although I don't know what method was used to put the pattern on the box, I can be sure that the technical level of your place is several levels higher than the overall level of this continent. I don't know if you think so too?"

  My god! This... this... is too amazing! Yun Qi's eyes widened in shock, he had thought that the prince was clever and cunning before, but after seeing him today, he felt that he had underestimated him. He didn't expect that based on these minor details, he could guess so much. And most importantly, his guesses were all correct. The pattern on the cigarette pack was indeed not painted, but printed using a printing press. His previous world was indeed more scientifically advanced than this one, after all, one was modern and the other was ancient.

  Regardless of the beads of sweat on his forehead, Yun Qi swallowed hard and said with difficulty: "Your Highness can say such things, Yun Qi really admires you from the bottom of my heart."

  The crown prince smiled and said: "Yun Qi, I hope you can help Nan Guo."

  "Huh? Your Highness, what virtue or ability does Yun Qi have? He has no ink in his belly, how dare he let you say such things." Yun Qi pushed back.

  After a brief silence, the prince wiped the smile off his face and stood up in front of Yun Qi, speaking in a serious tone: "Yun Qi, I know you're no ordinary person. Now that Shu is about to send troops to Nan, as the crown prince, can I just stand by and watch while tens of thousands of innocent people are thrown into the fire? Although I don't understand why your hometown would erupt in war, compared to that kind of war, I think this one is unprecedented. All I want to ask is for you to use your skills from back home to help Nan."

  Yun Qi took a deep breath, in his opinion, the prince had taken an interest in their era's technology, but he himself was just an ordinary soldier. He only understood weapons and even that knowledge was limited to the structure of those weapons. Although he knew the structure, looking at this era's backwardness, not to mention machine tools, even the materials used to manufacture firearms were nowhere to be found. It seemed like he could only help with cold weapons, but this era was already a cold weapon era. No matter what kind of grappling dagger or bayonet you created, it couldn't compare to the direct and effective impact of swords, guns, and clubs. Thinking about this, Yun Qi said with some difficulty: "Your Highness, I understand your thoughts, from your perspective, I can empathize with your inner thoughts. However, my abilities are truly limited, not because I don't want to help, but because I'm powerless to assist." At this moment, Yun Qi's hand in his pocket tightly grasped the bow and arrow inside, extremely tightly and forcefully. He was struggling with himself, still holding onto the idea of wanting a comfortable life, not wanting to go back to the kind of life he had as a soldier where you didn't know if you'd survive tomorrow.

  "Cloud Seven! I represent all the people of Nanguo, asking for your help to our country! The affairs of state are trivial, but the people are innocent. After Nanguo conquered Chuguo, you must have known that they burned, killed, looted and tyrannized without restraint. If we let them conquer Nanguo, where will the millions of people in Nanguo go? I do not want to see a tragic disaster happening under my father's rule, I represent all the people of Nanguo asking for your help!"

  The crown prince finished speaking and was already kneeling in front of Yun Qi. His tone was calm but left no room for doubt. This was the Eastern Palace, the crown prince's stronghold. To use Yun Qi's words: if this kid didn't listen, he would be dragged out by the guards. But now, the crown prince was kneeling in front of Yun Qi. A man who held a high position and had absolute power as the second-in-command of Nanchu, was kneeling in front of a man with only the status of a book boy.

  Silence...

  Extreme quietness...

  Yun Qi was the first to react, hastily getting up and helping the prince to his feet, then supporting him to his own chair. He turned around and knelt in front of the prince, loudly crying out: "Your Highness, Yun Qi deserves death, Yun Qi is guilty, please punish me!"

  The crown prince calmly said: "Yun Qi, can you understand what I am thinking in my heart?"

  Yun Qi looked at the prince in surprise, while the prince was calmly looking back at Yun Qi. The two just stared at each other like this.

  From the moment the prince knelt down, Yun Qi's heart was as if being pounded by a large hammer, making it hard for him to breathe. Now, looking into the prince's eyes with clarity and that unwavering hint of deep meaning, the pounding in Yun Qi's heart not only didn't subside but grew even more intense.

  "Huff...huff..." Yun Qi's rough and heavy breathing, enduring the pounding in his heart. The position where the large hammer was pounding was exactly where the two words "comfort" and "ease" existed in Yun Qi's heart for a short time, but were exceptionally fragile. Under the continuous pounding, those two words had already produced cracks that could shatter, and with each strike, they became increasingly blurred, while something that had been hidden deep within his heart, something he had always guarded at all times, slowly emerged.

  The crown prince also seemed to have seen a change in Yun Qi's eyes and turned to shout sincerely: "Yun Qi..."

  "Your Highness... I..." Yun Qi's mouth moved, but he couldn't get the words out. He didn't know how to say it. He now admired Prince Charming from the bottom of his heart. When he looked at the prince, he seemed to see himself when he first joined the Wolf Special Forces. His hands gripped his collar tightly, the veins on his arms bulging, and his face was even a bit ferocious. As the big hammer in his heart struck heavier and heavier, Yun Qi's mind became more and more chaotic.

  The grand hall fell silent once again...

  Yun Qi knew that if he agreed to the prince, he would go back to his old days. The comfort in Yang's house might never be had again, and the images of the two girls that occasionally flashed at the bottom of his heart would also fade away with the shattered comfort.

  After the last fierce blow of the big hammer in Yun Qi's heart, he no longer remembered what 'ease' was like. Instead, a kind of madness that had disappeared for a long time reappeared in his mind. He slowly took out a bow and arrow from his bosom, which already had five deep fingerprints on its end. He handed it to the prince: "Your Highness, this is a weapon made by Yun Qi based on his memory, called Bow and Arrow!"

  The result was that Qi Zhen brought seven bows and crossbows. The crown prince held them in his hand, examining them repeatedly, saying: "What a strange weapon! What is it used for?"

  Yun Qi said in a serious tone, "The crossbow is an evolution of the bow and arrow. Its power can't compare to hard work at long distances, but with some slight modifications, I guarantee that within 100 steps, it will hit its mark every time. Moreover, the force required is also unmatched by the bow and arrow. Even a child over ten years old can use it with ease!"

  "What! Is that really true? According to what you said, can't anyone cultivate the Hundred Steps Divine Arrow technique?" The crown prince asked in surprise.

  Yun Qi nodded definitely: "I dare not deceive Your Highness, it is indeed so!"

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  (PS: Lao Mo has a bit of a problem here, the crown prince under Lao Mo's pen is always the most difficult character for Lao Mo to make a judgment on. In the past when watching TV and reading books, the impression given by the crown prince was too deep, always inseparable from the struggle for power. But Lao Mo wants to create an unprecedented crown prince. The manuscript was torn up the other day because the part about the crown prince was not written well, and today's chapter is a rewritten version of the crown prince. Whether it's good or bad, Lao Mo doesn't dare to make a conclusion, please read it and give your feedback in the comments section! All discussions about the crown prince will be marked as excellent)