Heirs of the Seven Swords of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 1955: The Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon (Part )

Outside Sanghai City, on the cliff by the sea.

Shao Yu sat on the edge of the cliff, one hand leaning on the ground, the other hand covering his brow, his eyes staring at the mirage that was leaving Sanghai Port, his face looking lost.

The sound of footsteps came from behind Shao Yu, and Shi Lan walked over slowly.

"Are you worried about Tianming?"

Shao Yu sighed, "Yes, but not completely."

"I've always wanted to get on the boat and go out to sea with Tianming. Maybe I can help."

Shi Lan nodded silently, but immediately realized that the other party couldn't see her, so she said, "I know..."

"But I can't leave!" Shao Yu interrupted Shi Lan in a slightly depressed tone, "I am the young master of the Xiang family. I have my own responsibilities. I can't do this... recklessly."

Shao Yu is not afraid to accompany Tian Ming on adventures. They have gone through life and death many times for themselves, for their friends, or for other reasons.

During this process, he could push the affairs of the Xiang family to his uncle and Master Fan, and concentrate on working with Tianming.

But he couldn't go out to sea with Tianming - not because of danger, but because of time.

The current situation in the empire is unstable and the situation may change at any time. As the young master of the Xiang clan, the legitimate son and grandson of Xiang Yan, and the spiritual symbol of the Xiang clan, he must always be ready to lead the Xiang clan in uprising and rebuild the world.

In this matter, neither Xiang Liang nor Fan Zeng could replace him.

The time that Mirage goes out to sea is uncertain. If he goes with it, no one can tell when he will come back.

If he is gone for too long, the day lilies might be cold by the time he comes back.

Therefore, Shao Yu can lead the way, be the first to take the lead, and always charge to the forefront of danger, but he cannot follow Mirage out to sea.

However, for Shao Yu, doing so is not only taking into account the overall interests of the Xiang family, but also a betrayal and abandonment of his good brother.

He has been feeling depressed about this matter lately.

Shi Lan roughly understood Shao Yu's thoughts, but she didn't know how to comfort him.

Because in fact, it was they who abandoned Tianming.

If the situation were reversed, Tianming would definitely get on the boat at all costs.

Of course, the account cannot be calculated like this.

Although Tianming has the title of a great man, he is basically in a state where one person's food feeds the whole family. The affairs of the Mohist school are taken care of by Master Gao Jianli, so he can really be a complete hands-off boss.

But Shao Yu can't.

He has to be responsible to Tianming, his best friend, and also to the hundreds of people in the Xiang family. Abandoning either side would be unkind and unjust.

After Shi Lan hesitated for a moment, she said, "Shao Yu, I actually want to get on board too."

"It's for Tianming, for Shushan, and for the sacred Fusang tree, but I gave up."

Shao Yu gave up for the sake of the Xiang family, and Shi Lan gave up because of her brother.

She wanted to go out to sea with Mirage, and so did her brother Yu Ziqi.

She didn't want her brother to go, and her brother didn't want her to go, but they couldn't both go, otherwise the remaining Shushan people would be left unattended - one of them was the most important among the survivors, and the other was the strongest. It would be bad if either of them was missing, and it would be even worse if both of them were gone.

Neither of them was willing to give in, and in the end, they both gave up.

Shi Lan looked at the huge monster gradually going away on the sea, and continued with a sigh, "Life is like a road that keeps moving forward and cannot be turned back. Sometimes you will encounter a fork in the road where you cannot have both."

"We can only choose to go left or right, but what's even more helpless is that we often want to go both left and right... or we don't want to go either left or right."

"Unfortunately, life always has to move forward."

Shao Yu seemed to be touched by Shi Lan's words. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled bitterly:
"Yeah... I used to dislike being controlled by others. I always felt that Uncle Liang and Master Fan were too nagging. I wanted to make all the decisions on my own and be lawless."

"But when you can really make a decision, you realize that it might be better not to make a choice, and it's even more impossible to be lawless and do whatever you want."

"This is...reality." Shi Lan comforted him, "I believe Tianming will understand us."

"Of course, Tianming will understand." Shao Yu sighed and said, "I'm just worried... Forget it!"

Shao Yu changed the subject, stood up and turned to Shi Lan, "Shi Lan, what are your plans next?"

"Me..." Shi Lan hesitated for a moment and replied, "My brother and I are planning to go back to Shushan to see what's going on there..."

Shi Lan seemed to have more to say, and it was obvious that they wanted to see more than just Shushan.

Shao Yu did not expose this point, and replied with a smile, "It's good to go back and have a look... If you need any help, remember to contact me!"

Shi Lan smiled and said, "I know that if I need anything, I won't be polite to you... The same goes for you. If you need my help, I will contact you in time."

Shao Yu smiled and gestured, then walked down the cliff, "Let's go back."

………………

Inside the Mohist stronghold.

Dao Zhi rushed into the main hall again and shouted as soon as he entered the door, "Mirage is leaving again!"

But there was no response from inside the house.

The room is empty.

Dao Zhi was stunned when he saw this.

Where is Master Ban?
At this time, Master Ban's voice sounded from behind him.

"Don't just stand there, get ready to evacuate."

"Mirage has left, so there's no need for us to stay any longer."

Dao Zhi turned around and was not surprised by what Master Ban said.

Once the mirage left, there was nothing left in Sanghai that was worthy of the Mohists' attention, so it was natural for them to leave.

"Are you in such a hurry?" Dao Zhi asked casually.

Master Ban stroked his beard and sighed, "Time is running out. We have already wasted too much time. We need to be more diligent next time."

"By the way, how come you don't believe in that new thing on Mirage after you saw it?" Dao Zhi remembered something else and asked quickly.

"That one is a giant mechanical crossbow. Don't worry about it." Master Ban replied casually.

"A giant mechanical crossbow? This doesn't sound like something that can be ignored. Weren't you worried before that it would be used against us in the future?" Dao Zhi asked in confusion.

"That thing is flashy and cannot be used as a serious weapon at all, so don't worry." Master Ban explained simply.

As a master of mechanisms, he just sat on the mechanism Suzaku and after a simple observation with a telescope (Mohist technology), he saw the essence of the Poyun Crossbow.

This thing looks very technical at first glance, but when you really think about it... it's just so-so.

In essence, it is a matter of adding more water to noodles and more noodles to water.

In order to increase the shooting power as much as possible, more transmission and energy storage structures must be added. More structures will increase the volume, and a larger volume will allow more structural components to be added.

In the end, it became something like this.

Compared with a normal crossbow, it is like the difference between a six-story building and a bungalow.

From a technical perspective, there is a gap, but it is not much.

Master Ban was naturally well aware of the defects of this large piece made of hard-stacked materials, so he no longer paid attention to it.

Although Dao Zhi was completely confused, he had absolute trust in Master Ban in the field of mechanical engineering, so he did not question it. "Okay, I'll go pack my things too."

………………

In a house somewhere in Sanghai City.

A Yan stood in the yard in a proper manner, wearing plain clothes, like a dignified young lady... if you didn't look at the two swords in her hands.

"Mom, Mirage has already set off."

The person Ayan was talking to was undoubtedly her mother, Jingwei.

Regarding this news, which was not considered news, Jingwei nodded calmly, "The ship has set off, and I should go back too."

"I've been away from home for a long time this time."

A Yan stood aside obediently and said nothing.

Jingwei ignored his daughter and looked at another person in the courtyard, "Alu, will you go to Xianyang with me?"

Yan Lu smiled and shook his head, "No, I won't bother you anymore."

"Next, I plan to walk around alone."

"I've been staying in Xiaoshengxian Manor for all these years. It's time to go out and see the world."

Facing Yan Lu's rejection, Jing Wei did not force it. His expression was as cold as ever, but his tone was filled with concern:
"If you have plans, I won't force you."

"Be careful. If you get into trouble, don't forget that you still have family."

Yan Lu didn't say anything, just smiled at Jingwei, then raised his hand and bowed to the two of them, then turned around and left.

After Yan Lu left, Jingwei finally turned his attention to his daughter:
"What about you? What are you going to do next?"

Ah Yan lowered her head, looking like a good girl, and replied softly, "Farmer, we still need to wait for the right time."

"Do you know when is the right time?" Jingwei asked indifferently.

"Maybe there are some clues."

"Well... it's up to you. Remember not to cause trouble for your father." Jingwei seemed to have completely let Ah Yan do what he wanted, and had no intention of interfering. He then asked, "After I leave, can you handle Luowang?"

Ah Yan immediately replied, "I'm sure I can fool them in a short period of time."

Once Jingwei returned to Xianyang, A Yan lost someone who could replace her to play the role of Quexie.

Once Zhao Gao mobilized Shulou and Quexie at the same time again, she would most likely be exposed.

However, this situation is rare.

Shulou's actual identity is the leader of the farming clan. She cannot easily leave the sight of the farming clan's top leaders. Unless it is a particularly important matter, Zhao Gao is unwilling to look for her.

Even if Zhao Gao needed his subordinates to carry out the mission for some reason, A Yan could take advantage of the fact that the leader of the peasant family refused to carry out the mission.

During this period of time, she has been cooperating with Zhao Gao, and it is okay for her to put on airs appropriately.

In this way, it is not difficult to fool them for a short period of time.

After a long time, you can think of other solutions.

Seeing that his daughter had a solution, Jingwei stopped talking and left without even saying goodbye.

Ah Yan was used to his mother's "coldness", so he smiled calmly and turned away.

………………

In the northern border of the empire, the capital of Shangjun County was Fushi, the residence of the eldest prince.

Fusu sat in his study, the desk in front of him filled with various files and letters.

These scrolls are all about the Great Wall construction project and the straight road construction project.

He was sent to Shangjun to supervise the army, and General Meng Tian was now responsible for supervising the construction of the Great Wall project and the Straight Road project, so these two epoch-making grand projects ultimately fell on Fusu's head.

Of course, he could just hold the empty title of military supervisor and not do any work, and let Meng Tian do all the work. No one would care whether a prince who was exiled from Xianyang did any work.

But Fusu certainly didn't want to stand idly by.

But when you really start to work, you'll find yourself overwhelmed and overwhelmed at every turn.

The Great Wall and the Straight Road are both important projects that were built a long time ago, but times have changed and the same projects are facing very different difficulties and troubles today than in the past.

Fusu rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.

Meng Tian, ​​dressed in casual clothes, came in at this time and saluted first:
"Your Highness."

The war in the north has basically ceased, and the remaining few wolf remnants were handed over by Meng Tian to Wang Li to deal with.

Wang Li came to the north to atone for his sins and was in urgent need of gaining military merit.

Since Meng Tian and Fusu had already taken the lion's share of the credit for expelling the wolves, they must of course let Wang Li have some credit as well.

Apart from the remnants of the Wolf Clan, the defense of the northern border will be temporarily taken over by Wang Li.

It is both giving face to the Wang family and to the emperor - the emphasis is on the latter.

It was obvious that Ying Zheng sent Wang Li to check and balance Meng Tian to a certain extent.

Meng Tian cannot let Wang Li live too comfortably, otherwise he will suffer, but he also has to give him some room for development, otherwise the emperor may not be pleased.

Of course, Ying Zheng didn't care how Wang Li was doing, but his goal had to be achieved.

If Wang Li was suffocated to death by Meng Tian and had no chance of growing stronger, the emperor might have to take a backup plan.

Both Meng Tian and Fusu hoped that the North would encounter as little forced intervention from the emperor as possible. For this reason, it was acceptable to indulge Wang Li temporarily. Anyway, he would not be able to make any waves in the short term.

"General Meng, there's no need to be so polite. Please take a seat." Fusu waved his hand, motioning Meng Tian to sit down.

Meng Tian didn't say much politely. As he sat down, he said, "Your Highness, are you worried about the Great Wall and the Straight Road project?"

"The people are having a hard time!" Fusu said with a wry smile, "The war in Lingnan has started again, and the defense along the entire northern border needs to be strengthened urgently. Winter is coming soon, and these two major projects cannot be stopped for even a moment..."

Ying Zheng was anxious to restart the war in Lingnan, so he recruited more civilians to speed up the construction of the Lingqu Canal.

But now it is approaching the New Year of the imperial calendar (the tenth month of the Zhuanxu calendar is Yuanshuo), and winter is not far away.

The cold comes and goes, the autumn is harvested and winter is hidden.

At this time, leaving aside garrison service, at least all corvee labor should be stopped as much as possible.

However, instead of allowing the people to recuperate temporarily, Ying Zheng repeatedly urged the advancement of various projects.

The most serious of these are the Great Wall and the Straight Road.

The Lingqu Project is located in the south, and even in winter, the temperature can be maintained within an acceptable range for a long time.

Not to mention the border defense, which cannot be relaxed no matter how cold it is, and the nomadic tribes will also calm down once the temperature drops completely.

But the Great Wall and the straight road...it’s hard to describe in a few words.

As it concerns border defense, they are of course very important, but Meng Tian has just dealt a heavy blow to the wolf tribe, so there is no need to worry about a large-scale invasion by foreign races in the short term. These two projects can be slowed down and there is no need to rush.

Fusu repeatedly wrote to the emperor requesting that these two projects be suspended to alleviate the difficulties faced by the people, but all his requests fell on deaf ears and there was no response.

Meng Tian didn't think as much as Fusu, he just focused on completing the task.

However, since Fusu was so worried about the people's livelihood, he certainly had to say some polite words.