The Demon Prince

The Ordnance Bureau's Minor Equipment Workshop has finally officially opened its doors today.

This place is very remote, in the northwest corner of the Ordnance Bureau, separated by two low walls from an abandoned warehouse.

The brass lock on the door has been replaced with a new one, but the door frame is still the old one.

The wood had turned black from the dampness, and the door always creaked when pushed open.

Xiao Xingyue stood at the door and glanced at the newly hung sign – Xiaoqi Workshop.

Next to it was a new document: Princess Li Lingxi, temporarily in charge of the Minor Weapon Workshop, to inspect old weapons, repair machinery, and organize the archives of the Military Equipment Bureau.

Inside the gate, Yun Cheng led several veteran officials from the Military Equipment Bureau to greet them.

Yuncheng bows in resignation:

"Your Highness, the Sixth Prince is already waiting at the workshop."

Although the small workshop has been abandoned for many years, it still contains many old weapon blueprints. If the Crown Prince wants to inspect the old armory of the Military Equipment Bureau, the Sixth Prince can lead the way.

An older official behind him chuckled and chimed in:

"His Highness has been fond of mechanisms since childhood. These strange and unusual things would give others a headache, but His Highness would be fascinated by them."

"The Crown Prince will certainly have a good look to see today."

The old official's words were polite enough, but the tone was off.

His lowered eyes held a hint of sarcasm.

No matter how good you are at checking accounts or how eloquent you are, when it comes to the inner workings of government, you can only stand by and stare blankly.

You and the Sixth Princess are not on the same path. Realize this sooner rather than later and get out of here.

Xiao Xingyue didn't care at all:

"That's perfect, I love opening my eyes the most."

Yuncheng turned and led the way.

Inside the small workshop, the smell of dust was strong. When the window was opened, the sunlight slanted in, scattering dust into half the room.

There were old crossbows, bronze wheels, and several mechanical carts with half of their wooden shells missing, piled up against the wall.

On a large table in the middle, blueprints were spread out, and Li Lingxi squatted beside the table.

Today she wore a narrow-sleeved dress with a cloak over it, her hair was casually tied up, and her face was smudged with black ash.

Holding a small knife, he was prying open the belly of a mechanical bird.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and saw Xiao Xingyue. Her hand paused, her eyes lit up for a moment, then immediately darkened.

Her whole face was contorted with worry; her pretty face was a little wrinkled. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't want her uncle to notice that she wanted to talk to him.

Finally, after struggling for a long time, she only managed to utter one sentence:

"You've arrived."

Xiao Xingyue nodded:

"I am coming.

Let me see this haunted house that Father bestowed upon me; see what's so special about it.

Li Lingxi's face darkened:

"This is a small workshop, not a haunted house."

"That's a haunted house with hidden mechanisms."

Yuncheng watched the two of them go back and forth, his face turning ugly.

Li Lingxi was usually impatient with everyone, and she would only nod occasionally to her family members.

She seemed to dislike Xiao Xingyue, but her expression was vivid, a lively display of a young woman's affection.

Yuncheng felt uneasy and spoke:

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince wants to check the allocation of old weapons, so please take him to see them."

However, deep within the workshop lies a forbidden storage room, long neglected and unauthorized entry is strictly prohibited.

Li Lingxi nodded:

"I know."

She picked up a roll of blueprints, turned around, and walked inside:

"Xiao Xingyue, keep up."

Xiao Xingyue slowly caught up.

Once inside the workshop, Li Lingxi became a completely different person.

Just a moment ago it was acting all coy, but now it's like a cat that's gone back to its nest, its tail practically wagging up.

She pointed to a half-ruined repeating crossbow by the wall, speaking rapidly:

"This is an old-style repeating crossbow from twenty years ago."

See these teeth? Each rotation of the crossbow magazine will depress a short arrow.

The problem is that its rebound is too slow, making it prone to jamming on the battlefield.

She ran to the other side and lifted a gray cloth:

"This is a light motor vehicle that can carry two people."

Originally intended for scouts, but the wheels and axles were inadequate; they couldn't keep up with warhorses.

She spoke eloquently, her eyes shining, and the grime on her face, which she hadn't wiped off, actually made her delicate and pretty face look even more vivid.

Xiao Xingyue spoke very little, mostly just listening.

Li Lingxi spoke for half an incense stick's time before finally stopping. She turned to look at him, the light in her eyes slowly dimming:

"Don't you understand?"

"I can understand a little bit." From a modern perspective, Xiao Xingyue found these things to be anything but complicated.

Li Lingxi asked suspiciously, "How much is 'one point'?"

Xiao Xingyue walked to the repeating crossbow and pointed to the bottom of the crossbow magazine:

"If we changed the propulsion method from a single tooth to a double-tooth staggered tooth, would it make the downward pressure more stable and the rebound faster?"

Li Lingxi froze, then her eyes widened little by little.

She felt as if she had been hit on the head with a club, and she woke up completely:

"Did you really understand?"

"Otherwise what?"

"Aren't you from a family of military generals?"

"Perhaps it is because we come from a family of military generals, and our ancestors and fathers went to the battlefield, that we have firsthand experience with these things. I have been influenced by what I have seen and heard, and naturally I have some humble opinions."

Li Lingxi stared at him:

"No, they all say you're just being silly."

Xiao Xingyue said seriously, "That's because they haven't seen me seriously messing around."

Li Lingxi burst out laughing, but quickly tried to suppress it, it was too late, the surprise in her eyes was impossible to hide.

She picked up a drawing and spread it out directly in front of Xiao Xingyue:

"Look at this, this is the Holy Dragon Crossbow Casket I had in mind before."

If we use true qi to trigger it, could we eliminate the need for half the mechanism on the crossbow?

Xiao Xingyue looked at the picture and pondered:

"Yes, but the problem is that if the soldier's cultivation level is not high enough, he cannot trigger it with true qi, and the crossbow casket will become useless. Therefore, there must be two triggering methods."

One set was for the powerful warriors, and one set was for the ordinary soldiers.

Li Lingxi grew increasingly pleased with Xiao Xing:

"You think the same way I do."

Xiao Xingyue laughed:

"That means I'm pretty eccentric too."

"You've always been eccentric." Li Lingxi lowered her head to revise the blueprints, her words carrying a hint of disdain but also a smile.

In the distance, a minor official in gray robes hid behind a wooden frame; he was an informant planted by Yuncheng.

The original plan was simple: let Xiao Xingyue in, let him see the gap between himself and the Sixth Princess, make him unable to get a word in edgewise, embarrass him, and make him back down.

Who knew that the two not only started chatting, but also grew closer and closer. The Sixth Princess even smiled, and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with affection.

This is outrageous! If we keep talking like this, our little workshop might end up becoming the Prince's mansion.

The junior official gritted his teeth, turned around and backed away. Plan B had to be activated!

At the deepest part of the workshop, there is an old mechanical door that, once activated, can seal off the deepest compartment.

Then, if the officials from the Armory were to come, they would say that Xiao Xingyue had entered the forbidden warehouse without permission, touched the firearms, and had malicious intentions.

The Sixth Princess would at most be reprimanded for being careless, but Xiao Xingyue would be punished.

The clerk took out the key from his sleeve and inserted it into a hidden hole behind the wall.

Click, the first sound was very soft, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

But the gears didn't turn as expected.

Instead, a clicking sound rang out, and the clerk's expression changed drastically:

"broken."

The small workshop had been in disrepair for many years, and the emperor was willing to grant it to Li Lingxi because the military equipment bureau had long regarded it as a wasteland.

Of course, to put it nicely, this is one of the old warehouses, old but not useless.

Several gears inside the mechanism door were already misaligned. Once activated, it not only sealed off the forbidden vault but also locked the main compartment where Xiao Xingyue and Li Lingxi were located.

With a bang, the heavy mechanical door slammed down, sending dust crashing down from the beams.

Li Lingxi suddenly looked up:

"Who activated the mechanism?"

Xiao Xingyue grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the spot where the dust was most concentrated.

The mechanism door closed completely, leaving only the lingering sound of gears all around.

Outside, the clerk was terrified, his face turning pale. He rushed over to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge; the mechanism was locked shut.

His hands started shaking.

"The Sixth Prince is inside too. We're doomed, we're doomed."

Inside the cubicle, Li Lingxi shook off Xiao Xingyue's hand and rushed to the door of the mechanism.

She pressed her palm against the crack in the door and put her ear to listen; the gears made a jumbled noise, and the mechanism was completely wrong.

Her face looked pale.

"Someone tampered with the external control system."

Xiao Xingyue stood behind her:

"It seems someone doesn't want you to get too close to me."

Li Lingxi turned around.

"But they're doing it for your own good," Xiao Xingyue said with a smile.

Li Lingxi's expression changed. She was smart, but she was usually too lazy to figure out people's hearts.

Xiao Xingyue explained it to her, and she understood.

Knowing that she would take Xiao Xingyue to the Xiaoqi Workshop today, and knowing which trap could imprison people, they still dared to make a move right under her nose.

They're not outsiders, they're people close to us!

She recalled what her uncle had said the night before:

"Why should they make decisions for me?"

Xiao Xingyue smiled gently:

"Because in my eyes you are Li Lingxi."

But in their eyes, you are the sixth princess.

This is different.

Li Lingxi was stunned.

She is Li Lingxi, who likes mechanisms, voice changing, and strange and unusual things.

But in those people's eyes, she was the sixth princess, a bargaining chip that couldn't be allowed to run around, and a future that had to be developed discreetly.

She felt a little annoyed:

"I hate them."

As soon as he finished speaking, a pale blue smoke suddenly emerged from a small hole in the corner of the wall.

Li Lingxi's expression changed: "Anti-theft smoke."

The smoke wasn't thick, but it spread extremely quickly, carrying a foul smell of burnt vegetation.

Xiao Xingyue raised his hand to cover his nose and mouth, activated the Sacred Dragon Technique, and with a circulation of true energy, the discomfort in his chest was suppressed.

Li Lingxi also took out a small pill from her waist and put it into her mouth:

"The smoke isn't deadly, but it can make people drowsy."

"If we fall, the outsiders can say you trespassed into the armory and touched the firearms, and you're finished."