Long Heng could feel his heart go soft at the sight, "Quickly help the madame back to her room."
"No need. Bring me to the workshop. The place where you stored the materials."
"Men, escort the madame to the workshop."
"Understood." These soldiers were filled with respect for Bai Xiangxiu. After all, she was still trying to create the bombs despite her "illness". Bai Xiangxiu felt very embarrassed when she saw the reverence in their eyes. This was all their general's fault alright? She'd been nearly split into half by him!
Her embarrassment didn't stop the soldiers from escorting her to a slightly remote location. This was actually by her request. If the worst happened, she would rather she be the only fatality in the explosion. Honestly, there was no need for her to make a powerful explosive; the enemy's explosives were not that strong either. Her hands would be stained with a lot of blood if the explosives were to be used for the wrong purposes.
With about a dozen people carefully watching over her, she prepared the ingredients and the required utensils from memory. It'd taken her the whole day just to prepare all that. After toiling tirelessly, she dragged her exhausted body back to her room, only to find Long Heng and many others also coming up with their own countermeasures. They were trying out a metal shield, made specially to shield them from the explosives. Cavalry would be temporarily removed from the battlefields. They would go on an all out assault with soldiers who were equipped with those hopefully blast-proof shields.
That is a good idea too! My husband is surprisingly clever! Bai Xiangxiu learned more about the manufacturing process in her dreams that night. She also continued to insist that she'd learned it all from books. Long Heng didn't have time to suspect anything because he knew that Commander Lu would soon assemble a team for another ambush.
There was nothing much Long Heng could do about it. Because of their unique weapons, Long Heng was worried that he might fall into the enemy's trap if he led his soldiers into battle. Bai Xiangxiu would really have to do her part well in order to break the deadlock.
She was being extremely careful as every ingredient was rather special. The slightest miscalculation or slip could lead to disaster. It was fortunate that she'd seen the manufacturing process with her own eyes. By the end, she'd successfully created ten bombs with ease. These bombs were like hand grenades, or rather ball firecrackers that children in modern times played with. Her bombs were quieter than those firecrackers, but much more powerful.
"Why don't you let me do it!" Long Heng had seen the way Bai Xiangxiu was shaking, and was afraid that she'd hurt herself. Bai Xiangxiu was looking a little bedraggled at the moment. Her experiments had caused her long silky hair to be burnt right up to her waist. While it might not have sullied her beauty in any way, Long Heng still felt extremely apologetic.
However, she didn't seem to mind it one bit. She smiled gently when she saw Long Heng standing in front of her, holding a metal shield. Song Jiaoyue and Yu Kuang didn't leave the scene; they were simply too engrossed in whether her experiment had succeeded or not. Bai Xiangxiu took one of the bombs and threw it at a small tree, immediately shrinking behind a shield. Her movements were very swift. It didn't take very long before she'd crouched into a ball. She actually seemed quite playful.
Song Jiaoyue shook his head with a smile. This lady is hilariously eccentric. BOOM! His face immediately turned ghastly white. Song Jiaoyue instinctively raised his hands to cover his face with his sleeves and quietly took back everything cute he'd ever thought about the bombs.
"So dangerous," Yu Kuang's reaction was even faster than his. He'd already retreated almost ten steps away.
"She'd been fiddling with such a dangerous thing this entire time?" Song Jiaoyue was still white with horror.
"Success! It's a success!" Bai Xiangxiu leapt into Long Heng's embrace in her excitement. The soldiers all turned their heads to look away. The scene before their eyes was very heart-warming but was also rather embarrassing too.
"Ouch! It hurts!" Bai Xiangxiu's impulsivity had brought her great pain. After all, Long Heng was in a full suit of armor.
"..." Long Heng was somewhat speechless as he helped her up. "This thing is way too dangerous. You should teach someone else how to make it and manufacture it outside the city."
"Someone else? Long Heng, it's better if I do it myself!"
"You..."
"I just don't want the formula to land in the wrong hands. It's unimaginable what they could do with it." Bai Xiangxiu was right. If a weapon as powerful as this were to land in the wrong hands, it could fill many people's hearts with desire, and plunge this world into chaos.
"Alright. As you wish. A hundred of these should be enough for us to deal a significant blow to the enemy and make them think twice before attacking us again."
"Mm." Bai Xiangxiu understood the meaning behind Long Heng's words. He was worried that she'd be in danger.
Bai Xiangxiu was still curious about one thing. Was there really another transmigrator helping the enemy? If that were the case, what was that person like?
Long Heng used a few days to scout the location of the enemy camp and headed into battle, bringing Bai Xiangxiu's bombs along with him. He also left behind a brigade of shielded soldiers to protect Tranquil City. Bai Xiangxiu was quite worried. This wasn't just a one or two days' skirmish. It was fortunate that Song Jiaoyue and Yu Kuang had gone with him as well. They were both hot-blooded men and wouldn't sit around to watch their country lose a war they could fight in. Before anyone had realized, autumn had crept across the fields. The weather had gotten colder and the leaves were turning yellow. I wonder how Xiao Lin is right now. He's probably spoken his first words by now, right?
Bai Xiangxiu suddenly felt a sharp pain on her neck while she was still caught up in her thoughts. Somebody's ambushing me! Unfortunately, Bai Xiangxiu realized that fact a beat too late. She tumbled to the floor in a dead faint.
"Huo'er, who's kidnapping me?" Bai Xiangxiu was still conscious even though she'd fainted. She could talk with Huo'er in her sleep as long as she'd formed a connection with Huo'er beforehand.
"Two men. They can fly around."
"Fly? How far am I now from Tranquil City? Which direction are they taking me? Who's behind this?"
"Mistress, talk slowly. Huo'er has to try to sense it one by one."
"Alright, take your time. Just do it before I wake up."
"They're flying south. You're now one, two, three, four... five miles away from the city. Also, there's nobody but you behind them."
"Uhh..." Bai Xiangxiu was a little speechless. She'd meant who's behind this, not who's behind them! To think that she'd just praised Huo'er for being a little more knowledgeable! She suddenly heard a loud splash. It was almost like she'd taken a cold shower.
"What happened?"
"Mistress, someone is pouring water for me."
"Oh. By the way, I meant behin-" Bai Xiangxiu awoke before she could finish talking because someone had thrown her roughly onto the ground. She couldn't help but grimace in pain. It almost felt like her bones had fractured.
"You're awake?" A stone-cold voice asked.
Bai Xiangxiu didn't trying to pretend. She slowly got up and retorted. "Why did you throw me? Even a dead person would wake up if they were thrown lik-" The person grabbed Bai Xiangxiu's hair before she could finish speaking and threw her onto a wooden bed.
The man slowly inched towards her while undressing themselves. Your mother! Am I about to be raped?
"Who are you? Don't you know that I'm Prince Li's concubine?" She had no doubt that these men already knew her identity. For what other reason would they kidnap her?
"A concubine. You're nothing a but a toy for men." That man's voice sounded very cold and ruthless. He didn't even give her a chance to retort. He used one hand to grab hold of Bai Xiangxiu, who was trying to escape, and slapped her twice across the face.