Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

The villagers dispersed and went back to discuss who from their families would go. The women and girls in their families who were not pregnant were also eager to go, wanting to learn some martial arts so that they wouldn't be bullied and helpless in the future.

Liu Siyue also got up very early in the morning. Breakfast had been prepared in the kitchen. She asked Qingwu to send some to the princess. When Qingwu went there, the princess had not yet gotten up.

She handed the items to Shadow, saying, "This is breakfast my master prepared for Miss Xia. We should be setting off soon."

The princess had already heard Qingwu's voice. She quickly got up, dressed, and pushed open the door. "Bring the things in."

An Ying carried the food box in and first helped the princess wash up. Then she took out the food from the box one by one and placed it on the table. An Ying was a little embarrassed. "My lady, you have been wronged these days. The meals we have prepared are really much worse than those served by Madam Liu. Why don't you ask Madam Liu to send a cook over?"

"No need, you've done a great job, thank you for your hard work." The princess thought to herself, "She eats so well every day, but she never even comes to see what I eat. She's so heartless."

First, try a small steamed bun, then have a sip of meat congee, and some pickled vegetables. It's really delicious. There's also a fried egg, a soft egg pancake with vegetables inside, which looks very appetizing.

The princess ate quite a lot today, which was unusual for her, and gave the rest to Shadow.

Shadow took the food downstairs and handed it to the bodyguard who cooked every day. "Try it and try your best to make it taste like this. Try to make a variety of dishes."

"Yes, boss."

Liu Siyue had Qingwu take five finished bombs, wrapped them in a bundle, and then went to find the princess. "Miss Xia, are you ready? We can set off now."

The princess smiled and shook her head. This Liu Siyue, one minute she's calling me "Princess," the next she's calling me "Miss Xia," there's just no way to deal with her, she's so careless.

"Ready."

Shadow, take two people up the mountain.

Princess and her entourage went up the mountain. Liu Siyue pointed to a place not far away and said to the princess, "Princess, look, that's where our village burns charcoal. The charcoal we burn is all sold to the capital. Maybe the princess has even used it."

"Perhaps! Your charcoal yard is a bit small. You should expand it. You have to guard one charcoal kiln, and you'll have to guard several anyway. Why waste manpower and time? You should maximize production and profits. That way, your income will be more substantial, and the village can get rich sooner."

"You're absolutely right. Last year was far too rushed, and there wasn't enough time to make adequate preparations. This year, we can start preparing in advance."

As they walked, Liu Siyue recounted some interesting stories from her trip up the mountain to collect herbs. When she mentioned the wild boar, the princess breathed a long sigh of relief, relieved that she had escaped unharmed.

"Liu Siyue, you're really brave! You weren't scared to tears or your legs went weak in that situation, and you were able to run so fast."

"Oh, that's just human nature's instinct for survival!"

"Princess, there was something even more dangerous. There's a huge snake in these mountains, it's terrifying! It scared me so much my legs went weak." Liu Siyue gestured with her hand to show how thick the snake was. "Later, when I went back to that place, I couldn't even remember the exact location."

"Princess, you don't know, after I went up the mountain to collect herbs and sold them, the villagers said I'd struck gold. A group of us sneaked up the mountain, but we encountered a pack of wolves. Most of us died, and those who survived were all crippled. Among them were my own father and my second brother. My father lost a leg, and my second brother died."

"I know what happened to you, they deserved it!"

Qingwu pointed to a depression in front of her, "Master, let's do it here. It's far from the village, so the princess can see clearly."

The group stopped simultaneously. Qingwu placed the bundle on the ground, untied it, and took out the bombs inside. The princess squatted down, picked one up, and examined it closely, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. "How much power can such a small, square lump have? Are you kidding me?"

"Princess, whether I'm teasing you or not, let's see for ourselves."

"Princess, plug your ears, or you'll damage them and won't be able to hear, like I am."

Seeing that everyone was ready, Qingwu pulled the fuse and quickly threw it out. She immediately squatted down and covered her ears. There was a loud bang, and birds in the forest flew everywhere. Some small animals that couldn't run away in time were either killed or stunned. A big crater appeared on the ground.

The princess stood up, looked at the large pit below the depression, and opened her mouth in surprise, unable to recover for a long time. "This effect is comparable to an earth dragon turning over."

Can I try it myself?

"Princess, you should probably give up. It takes a lot of force to throw that thing, be careful of your wound." The princess was a little disappointed, but she looked at Liu Siyue and said, "Let Shadow try one, then we'll go back. There's no need to try the others, it's too wasteful. Good things should be used where they're needed most."

Following Qingwu's instructions, Shadow pulled the fuse and threw the bomb with force. Another loud bang followed. Clearly, Shadow hadn't thrown it as far as Qingwu, and the impact on them was much stronger, causing the ground beneath their feet to visibly shake.

With a flick of her wrist, she pulled at the shadows, "Come with me!"

Shadow pointed at the other two guards and said, "Protect our master." He then quickly ran off with them.

The princess turned to Liu Siyue and asked, "Where did they go?"

"They went to hunt, and they'll have some wild game to eat when they get back tonight."

"Do you like to eat wild game?"

"Yeah, I like barbecue."

"barbecue?"

"Barbecue is simply grilling meat and eating it."

"Isn't that just like roasting chicken or rabbit outside?"

"Hmm, almost the same, but there's one difference. Mine tastes better. I'll make it for you sometime."

"How about tonight?"

"You really want to eat this?"

"Hmm, I'd love to try what your grilled meat tastes like."

"Alright, then I'll grant you this small request."

Light Dance and Shadow filled up their hands and strung them together with rope. When the princess looked, she saw that they had indeed collected quite a few: pheasants, rabbits, birds, and even a roe deer.

She exclaimed, "Looks like we're in for a big meal tonight."

"Let's go down the mountain. Aren't you still going to your ex-husband's village?"

"Don't mention your ex-husband; that village is called Bainiwan."

"Fine, I won't bring it up if you want."

The villagers heard two loud bangs in succession, which frightened them so much that they ran out of their houses. After a long time, there was no more noise. They had heard it several times before, and thankfully, the noise stopped after a while. But today they heard it again, so some people rushed home to set up incense tables, offer sacrifices, and kneel on the ground to pray to heaven that there would be no disaster and that everyone would be safe and sound.

On her way down the mountain, the princess asked Liu Siyue, "This bomb is so small, yet it's so powerful. If it were made bigger, I can't even imagine how powerful it would be."

Can this be scaled up?

"sure."

"From now on, we'll use this to deal with foreign barbarians, to let them know the power of our Celestial Empire. If we build something bigger in the future, we'll use catapults to launch it, so it can travel farther and cover a wider area."

"Yes, in the future we will also research new types of weapons, so that those barbarians who dare to offend our land will be terrified at the mere mention of our name, and will be scared out of their wits at the mere mention of the name of the Celestial Empire. We will make them all bow down and submit to us, come to pay tribute every year, and if they don't obey, we will make them obey."

"Very well, I have been waiting for this day. From now on, we will never again have to sacrifice women for marriage alliances to maintain this short-lived peace."

Once home, Qingwu told Anying and the others to process the prey first, and wait for them to return from Baini Bay.