Pampered Consort of the Fragrant Orchard

Du Xiaoli’s behavior teased Ying Ge’s curiosity, but she knew that even if she asked now, Du Xiaoli wouldn’t say anything. So she could only look forward to seeing the finished product soon.

After Du Xiaoli finished drawing the general rendering, she meticulously drew diagrams of each part so the craftsmen could understand and construct the bow according to the drawings. She believed that even if others couldn’t, Blacksmith Wang would definitely be able to.

“Mistress, Prince Ding has come down,” Xia Yuan entered and said.

Han Mingyi entered, and seeing Du Xiaoli lying on the table as she wrote and drew, he remembered that little doll-like girl lying on the table, writing contracts in that hut, years ago.

“Xiaoyi-gege, you’re here? Wait a moment, I’m almost done.” Du Xiaoli waved at Han Mingyi.

“What are you drawing?” Han Mingyi walked over and picked up the papers on the table, scanning them. His expression grew increasingly grave when he saw what Du Xiaoli had drawn.

Du Xiaoli finished the last bit and stood. Seeing Han Mingyi’s expression, she asked, “How is it, decent, right?”

“Are you the one who came up with this?” Han Mingyi asked, gazing at Du Xiaoli’s small face.

“Kind of. Anyway, I am the one who drew it." Du Xiaoli said, "I was just thinking about whether to give this to His Majesty the Emperor or to you!"

“To His Majesty the Emperor?” Han Mingyi looked at Du Xiaoli, puzzled.

Du Xiaoli took the drawings from Han Mingyi's hand and placed it with what she had just finished, saying, "After I went to the palace today, I was called by His Majesty the Emperor, and we..."

Du Xiaoli gave a rough account of her agreement with the Emperor. Han Mingyi didn't have much of a reaction to anything else, but when he heard that Han Mingze had intended to include Du Xiaoli in his harem, he frowned, only regaining his composure when he heard that this intention had been let go of.

"I'm going to start with the military, arming the military first so that even if an unexpected situation occurs, it’ll be easier to address it." Du Xiaoli said, "This is the first step I’ve thought of: weaponization. This crossbow looks simple, but it's very powerful. I’ll find someone to try and build it, hmm, I’ll find Blacksmith Wang, I think he can grasp my ideas. I’m unsure how much this will cost, but I don't have time to calculate it right now. If it's costly, we can arm a specialized team, and then later equip the rest of the soldiers."

Han Mingyi listened to Du Xiaoli chattering her head off. The more he heard, the greater the sense of novelty. He couldn't help but kiss her on the cheek, "How does this little head of yours think of all this?!"

Du Xiaoli pretended to wipe saliva off her face, saying, “I still know a lot more. If His Majesty the Emperor bestowed me as General, I bet I’d be better than you!”

“Hahaha, I believe you’d be better than me too. In that case, it’ll be up to you to lead the military and fight– I’ll just sit prettily at home, how does that sound?” Han Mingyi said, laughing.

Saying this again!

She just knew, the instant they touched on this conversation, he always went on and on forever.

She glared at Han Mingyi, “Who wants to provide for you! Okay, let’s not talk about this anymore. You must keep these safe, I’m not redrawing them if you lose these.”

“Yes, I’ll follow your command!” Han Mingyi tucked the drawings away with a solemn expression.

"Pfft–" Du Xiaoli burst out laughing and said, "In the future, you have to be this obedient all the time, got it?"

"In the future, whether you want me to look as beautiful as a flower, or to lead soldiers into battle, it'll all be up to you," Han Mingyi said.

“You're a bother!" Du Xiaoli said. Thinking of the next day, she asked, "By the way, is it you seeing off the bride tomorrow?"

"I'm sending her to the border with you, and then someone else will send her to Northern Yuan." Han Mingyi shook his head.

"Is it Liufeng?" Du Xiaoli asked.

Han Mingyi nodded.

"Why is he doing this to himself," Du Xiaoli sighed.

"He himself said he wanted to go." Han Mingyi shrugged, "That kid, just let him send her off."

“But Changle will be upset,” Du Xiaoli said.

"Perhaps she wants him to send her off too,” Han Mingyi pointed out.

“Perhaps…”

Because the crossbow needed to be built, Han Mingyi didn't stay at Du Xiaoli's place for long before leaving.

Originally, it seemed that the two would meet tomorrow, but who would have known that in just one night, the two nearly lost the chance to ever see each other again.

As night fell, and Du Xiaoli was preparing to go to bed, a palace maid came to Du Xiaoli's residence and said, "Princess, Her Majesty the Empress is asking Princess to go over, saying that there are some things to explain about tomorrow's marriage sendoff. The Empress said for Princess to go over alone, and asked the two serving girls to wait here."

The Empress summoned her over this late? And, for her to go alone!

She would have thought someone was pretending to use the Empress’ name, but this palace maid was indeed the one she had seen by the Empress's side in the morning. She had Xia Yuan bring her a sable fur cloak to don, and said, "Let's go."

MoonWhisperer, skyrise's Thoughts

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