Marrying a White Snake Wife is Super Cool-Chapter 67: I Said Mortar

A large estate in Taiping City.

As the local emperors of Taiping City, it was no exaggeration to say that the Zhao Family owned well over half of the city’s businesses.

The old steward passed down Lu Yuan’s requests, and the items were procured in the blink of an eye.

BANG.

A gunshot rang out.

The old steward stood in place, staring in astonishment at the Flintlock Gun in his hand.

The old steward had witnessed the power of this thing that night.

However, Lu Yuan had put it away right after using it, so the old steward hadn’t gotten a close look.

Now, holding it and firing it himself, he couldn’t help but marvel at its power.

This was even more powerful than the Three-eyed Firearms used by the government soldiers!

From fifty meters away, a single shot had pierced straight through a hanging pig carcass.

"Nephew-Master, this device of yours... it’s truly incredible. Did you develop it yourself?"

The old steward marveled, examining the Flintlock Gun in his hand.

Lu Yuan was circling a lathe, a piece of paper in one hand and a charcoal pencil in the other, sketching and writing.

He spoke without looking up at the old steward.

"What do you think? Impressive, isn’t it?

How would it fare against a Xingzi, in your opinion?"

The old steward studied the Flintlock Gun in his hand, pondered for a moment, then gave his assessment.

"Against an ordinary Xingzi, even without a Traveler’s Technique, a single shot would surely scatter its soul.

For a more powerful Xingzi, we could soak the bullet in black dog’s blood, glutinous rice water, or even a mixture of egg and chicken blood beforehand.

I expect that would have a miraculous effect. After all, this thing is so fast, the Xingzi would have no time to react.

However..."

At this, the old steward paused. He dismissed the surrounding guards and then lowered his voice.

"But if we’re relying on this to deal with that two-hundred-year-old Xingzi, I’m afraid it won’t be enough.

From what I know, the Xingzi at Xilingzi seems to be a two-hundred-year-old White Corpse. A true White Corpse, one that has already cultivated itself to be impervious to blades and spears.

It’s a completely different matter from the Liu Family’s Son.

Although your device is powerful, Nephew-Master, we don’t know what effect it would have if it actually hit it.

If it’s useless, and we only manage to anger that Xingzi, I fear none of us will make it out alive."

’This thing looked powerful, no doubt. But no one had ever tested it before. What if it didn’t work? If I lead dozens of men there and it proves useless, the cost would be too great!’

After the old steward finished speaking, Lu Yuan glanced up, looking at him with some amusement.

"How did you know I was planning to go to Xilingzi?"

The old steward tried his best to coax a smile onto his normally expressionless, wooden face.

"It wasn’t hard to guess."

Lu Yuan nodded, then added,

"Xilingzi is very important to Aunt Zhao, right? If this isn’t resolved, she’ll lose a lot of money next year."

The old steward was silent for a moment before replying,

"It’s not just a matter of money. I’m afraid the entire Xilingzi will be repossessed by the Court."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Is it that serious?"

The old steward nodded slightly.

"The war in the North is already in its final stages.

Some of the troops conscripted from various regions have already returned to their original posts.

The Court’s control over the local regions is growing stronger by the day, and the Government Offices are better staffed than ever.

Before, they had no choice, which is why they had to cooperate with the Guild for large mining areas like this.

But things are different now. The Court wants to take back the Spirit Stone Mine and manage the mining directly, but they can’t just seize it outright.

With this trouble at Xilingzi, there’s no guarantee the Court won’t use it as a pretext to take it back next year.

Losing money and half of the Spirit Stone Mine at the same time... it would be very difficult for the Mistress."

Lu Yuan nodded slowly.

’This was exactly what I meant before about the inevitable tide of events. Spirit Stone Mines like this were bound to be reclaimed by the Court sooner or later. Still, another year is another year. At the very least, they couldn’t suffer a devastating loss this year only to have the mine taken away right after. How could they possibly carry on like that?’

"I suppose you can’t find any Celestial Masters in the Provincial City either?"

Lu Yuan asked, his eyes still on the lathe.

The old steward nodded.

"That must be the case. Even the Lord Soldiers from the Provincial City have come, so naturally, all the Celestial Masters from the Provincial City have been summoned as well."

After he spoke, the old steward seemed to understand what Lu Yuan was getting at. He glanced at the Flintlock Gun in his hand, fell silent for a few seconds, and then spoke again.

"We really do have to take the risk.

We don’t know what’s happened at Dou Shi Temple. If it can be resolved quickly, fine.

But if it can’t, the Mistress will be in danger.

How many of these can you make? We’ll need at least sixty.

How long will it take you to produce them?"

When the old steward finished, Lu Yuan looked at him, amused.

"Produce what?"

The old steward froze, then stared at him in bewilderment.

"Huh?

Nephew-Master, don’t you mean to use these... these... Flintlock Guns to fight the Xingzi?"

Lu Yuan grinned.

"Nope. When did I ever say I was going to use these things against the Xingzi at Xilingzi?

Besides, you said it yourself—they’re not a sure thing.

I can’t very well risk everyone’s lives just to test how powerful they are, can I?"

Lu Yuan’s words left the old steward completely baffled.

"Then, Nephew-Master, what you’re...?"

Lu Yuan continued sketching, his head still bowed.

"Cannons!"

Cannons?!

Hearing this, the old steward couldn’t help but gasp, feeling a headache coming on.

After taking a few seconds to compose himself, the old steward looked at Lu Yuan with a helpless expression.

"Nephew-Master, I must remind you of something.

Although our dynasty is different from others and is very tolerant of private weapon ownership...

...cannons are just like Armor.

If you’re caught with them in your private possession, it’s considered intent to rebel!

It’s a capital offense, punishable by the execution of your entire clan!

You’re a scholar. You should understand this better than I do."

’Of course, Lu Yuan knew this. It was the same in the history of the Great Ming. The Great Ming was the dynasty with the most lenient weapon regulations. Swords and blades were a given, but even crossbows, which were strictly forbidden to commoners in other dynasties, were things the people of the Great Ming could possess freely. Basically, as long as you didn’t mess with Armor in the Great Ming, you’d be fine. Some local chieftains even built their own cannons, and it wasn’t a big deal.’

However, Lu Yuan had no intention of building the Red Coat Cannons they had here.

’What use would that thing be now? A single Red Coat Cannon required over a thousand pounds of iron and would take at least one or two months to cast. Then you’d have to make the cannonballs and deal with all the other miscellaneous troubles. More importantly, a single Red Coat Cannon is useless on its own. You need a battery of three to five of them together for them to be effective! By the time I actually managed to produce three to five Red Coat Cannons, how much time would have passed? I’d be too late to even get a warm turd.’

Lu Yuan looked up slightly, a grin spreading across his face as he saw the old steward’s serious expression.

"I never said I was going to make a Red Coat Cannon."

The old steward: "????"

’Then what?’

"I’m talking about a Mortar!"