People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Li Ji pursed her red lips and lowered her head, not daring to look at her grandfather's aged face.

She bit her lip hard, feeling utterly powerless.

This enemy is too strong; it is far beyond what Weiguo can withstand.

She resented that she and her grandfather were in the State of Wei, and not in the State of Zhao.

If they were in the Zhao state, even if the Qin army attacked, they wouldn't be in such a life-or-death situation with her grandfather.

Cao Ze sighed inwardly; anyone could see that Gongsun Yu was determined to die.

People in this era did not value life as much as people in later generations.

Many sacrificed their lives for righteousness, and rulers and ministers died for their country.

Gongsun Yu knew that Li Ji was like him, sometimes stubborn and inflexible. He said, "Li Ji, your grandfather will never allow you to die in Puyang because of your grandfather. If you insist on dying with your grandfather, then your grandfather will die in front of you right now!"

"You forced Grandpa to commit suicide!"

"choke--"

Gongsun Yu drew the sword from the scabbard hanging at Li Ji's waist.

Li Ji suddenly looked up, her big eyes completely red.

She hissed at Gongsun Yu, "Grandpa, no!"

Gongsun Yu held Li Ji's sword to his neck and gritted his teeth, saying, "You promise your grandfather!"

Li Ji's eyes were blurred with tears as she murmured, "Why did you force me? Why did you force me? Why..."

Unable to withstand the pressure, Li Ji turned and ran out of the hall. Cao Ze gave Jing Ni a look.

A complex look appeared in Jingni's originally indifferent eyes. She couldn't understand why Liji would stay even though she knew she was going to die.

If it were her, if it were Xiao Yan'er...

Jingni's heart skipped a beat as she stepped out of the council hall to find Liji.

Gongsun Yu put down his sword and calmed himself down.

He looked at Cao Ze and said, "Mr. Cao Ze, I have rarely asked for favors in my life."

"If this time..."

Before Gongsun Yu could finish speaking, Cao Ze said, "General, there's no need for further words. I will keep a close eye on Li Ji."

Gongsun Yu sighed deeply, his already aged face looking even older.

"I can tell that Li Ji has feelings for you, sir."

"Originally, I wanted to use this to coerce you, but I was too narrow-minded."

Cao Ze remained unfazed.

Fortunately, Gongsun Yu was unaware that he had taken Li Ji's body; otherwise, the sword would not have been sheathed but would have been used to strike him.

"The old general also loves his granddaughter, I can understand that."

He paused for a moment and said, "Does the old general really intend to live and die with Puyang City?"

"With the old general's strength, where in the world can't he go?"

"Is it merely to repay the kindness shown to him by the Lord of Wei?"

Is it worth it?

Gongsun Yu smiled and said, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I don't have many years left to live, and I no longer have the heart to think about whether it's worth it or not."

"Yes, by the way, I've always heard that you are a descendant of military strategists. I've also read your essay 'On the Six States,' and it is indeed very good."

"I wonder what Mr. Cao Ze thinks of the Qin army's divine crossbow? Does he have any ideas on how to counter it?"

As he spoke, he returned to his seat at the head of the table.

The combined physical and mental exhaustion made him want to rest for a while.

Cao Ze pondered for a moment and said, "It's very difficult to crack."

Gongsun Yu was not disappointed.

Ever since the Qin army deployed their divine crossbows during the day, he had been searching for a way to counter them.

I learned from the leader of the Mohist school that the mechanical flying birds were merely a stopgap measure.

The number of mechanical birds was limited, while the Qin army carried a large number of divine crossbows, which, even from a distance, far exceeded the number of mechanical birds.

If it weren't for the observation and analysis by the leader of the Mohist school, who knew that the Divine Crossbow couldn't be used indefinitely and needed time to develop, he would probably already be engaged in close combat with the Qin army.

Just as Gongsun Yu waved for Cao Ze to go and rest, Cao Ze continued, "But it's not without hope."

Gongsun Yu paused for a moment, and after realizing what was happening, he stared at Cao Ze with wide eyes, suppressing his excitement, and asked, "Sir, do you have a good plan?"

Cao Ze shook his head and said, "I don't have a good plan, but we can take the risk and try it."

"How do I do it?"

“Open… well, the Mo family has a flying machine called Vermilion Bird. If we gather all our experts and airdrop to destroy those divine crossbows, we will naturally crack the code.”

Cao Ze swallowed the three words "fly a plane" back down his throat.

He loves driving cars and flying planes, but clearly, the person in front of him doesn't know what an airplane is...

Chapter 209 Art is Patrick Star

For the next three days, the Qin army continued its probing attacks on the city, but tightened its blockade of Puyang.

Cao Ze watched the Qin army being driven back from the city wall, and swung his sword, as if he had returned to the days when he fought desperately in the grassland royal court, which was also the time when his strength improved the most.

Jing Ni stood behind Cao Ze, holding the Jing Ni Sword.

Jing Ke laughed loudly, "Brother Cao Ze's thunder magic is very practical!"

Can a swordsman and a mage be the same...? Cao Ze muttered to himself.

Duanmu Rong led the physicians and quickly carried the wounded soldiers down from the city wall.

As she passed Cao Ze, she smiled gently and said, "Thanks to your distilled spirits, sir, otherwise..."

At this point, Duanmu Rong sighed.

Even if distilled liquor is very effective at cleaning wounds, it cannot save everyone from death.

Cao Ze offered Duanmu Rong a few words of comfort.

"When will there be no more fighting..." Duanmu Rong said wistfully.

As a doctor, she had witnessed far too much death.

Cao Ze glanced at the hundreds of Qin soldiers' corpses outside the city.

Some were killed by arrows, some by stones, and some by swords...

No matter what kind of death it is, in the end it all turns into silence.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and gave Duanmu Rong an answer.

"Perhaps it will be soon."

After he finished speaking, he gazed wistfully towards the west.

Only through unification can wars be reduced to a less frequent occurrence.

Otherwise, war between nations will be the eternal theme.

In the context of an era, even a grandmaster or great grandmaster is ultimately too insignificant.

……

As night fell, Gongsun Yu secretly summoned Cao Ze and others to the council hall.

"For the past three days, the Qin army has not used the Divine Crossbow. However, after the Grand Master observed from mid-air aboard the Vermilion Bird, he has basically pinpointed the approximate location of the Divine Crossbow."

After Gongsun Yu finished speaking, Cao Ze asked, "General, are you planning to take action tonight?"

He nodded and said, "That's right."

"The city's logistics are limited. If the Qin army continues to blockade it, the fighting capacity of the soldiers in the city will drop by half within ten days."

"If the Qin army uses the Divine Crossbow again during this period, it will probably collapse without a fight in just a few days."

At this point, Gongsun Yu said in a deep voice, "Therefore, taking advantage of the dark and windy night, we need to rush straight into the heart of the Qin army and destroy the Divine Crossbow!"

Cao Ze neither confirmed nor denied it; he had also observed these phenomena.

Or rather, Gongsun Yu's assessment was somewhat optimistic.

“I do not object to the old general’s actions tonight, but the old general should know that the commander on the other side is Meng Ao, a great general of Qin.”

“I’m worried that he might take this opportunity to set a trap and lure us into it.”

"After all, the Divine Crossbow is a powerful weapon of war. If I were Meng Ao, I would definitely store it carefully and even move it regularly. How could I have kept it the same way even knowing that there was a Mo family mechanism called Vermilion Bird?"

The Six-Fingered Black Knight calmly replied, "I can answer this question."

"The Qin army stored the divine crossbows in three places, and each place stored a batch of divine crossbows."

"Moreover, these three places are not close to each other."

Jing Ke opened his mouth and said, "A cunning rabbit has three burrows, indeed!"

He was somewhat pleased with himself for spotting the problem so accurately.

Cao Ze frowned and asked, "Are we going to split up?"

The dispersed actions foreshadow a significant increase in risk, and there is only one Vermilion Bird in the organization.

Gongsun Yu said, "That's right."

"I will openly draw the Qin army's attention with the Grand Master. You will take this opportunity to infiltrate the Qin camp from other directions. Divide your forces into two groups and destroy the other two locations of the Divine Crossbows."

Cao Ze was slightly taken aback.

Upon closer examination, it turns out to be the best solution available now.

With the combined efforts of the two grandmasters and the mechanical Vermilion Bird, they could at least keep most of the Qin soldiers' attention occupied.