Mo Yunjing, who was always calm and composed, changed his expression when he heard the news. “The dead are unarmed civilians?”
“That’s right.”
“Go.” Mo Yunjing turned and walked out without emotion. Yunliu quickly put Mo Yunjing’s cloak on, and followed him out.
Mo Yunjing even forgot to ask someone to tell An Xuetang. Right now, all he could think about was whether the incident at the city gate was a scheme by the imperial court or the work of enemy spies.
But in either case, he couldn’t tolerate anyone taking lives so lightly on his turf!
At this moment, An Xuetang was alone in the tent, drawing and writing. She didn’t even know when Mo Junyi came in.
Mo Junyi stealthily crept up behind her, wanting to give her a fright. Just then, An Xuetang calmly spoke, “Zilong, what are you still doing here?”
Mo Junyi curled his lips, “Mother, you didn’t even raise your head, how did you know it was me?”
An Xuetang smiled, “You have the medicinal sachet I made for you hanging on your body. In this world, apart from you and your fifth uncle, no one else has this scent.”
“I see. Mo Jun Yi looked down at the sachet of medicinal scent hanging from his waist, “Next time I must remember to hide this thing first.”
“Don’t.” An Xuetang put down the plum charcoal in her hand and looked at him, “You can’t open this sachet. Wherever you go, wear it with you.”
Mo Junyi blinked, “Why?”
He played with the sachet of incense, “Mother, this thing doesn’t smell very strong. If I didn’t put it to my nose, I wouldn’t even realize it had a scent. How is your nose so sensitive?”
“Of course, your mother’s nose is so good. Just listen to her, and always carry a sachet of medicine with you wherever you go.”
An Xuetang wouldn’t tell him, no matter what happened to them, as long as this sachet of scent was with her, she could find them.
Mo Junyi nodded slightly, “Oh.”
“By the way, why are you back again? Didn’t your Uncle Wu tell you to go find those gentlemen for lessons?”
“Mother, these days I have to go to the master’s place every day to listen to his teachings. I feel like I need some time to digest them.”
An Xuetang smiled and nodded at his forehead, “You, you, I think you just want to be lazy.”
Mo Junyi stuck out his tongue and didn’t bother to explain. He saw what An Xuetang had drawn with plum blossom charcoal and became curious, “Mother, what did you draw? Is it a bow? Each piece of paper is different.”
“Well, it is indeed a bow. Mother used to have a kind of bow with a long range and strong penetration. If we could make one ourselves, your fifth uncle would surely have a better chance of winning his battles!”
It’s a pity that the bow she used in her previous life was merely purchased for use. Such bows were very expensive, and of course, she wouldn’t have been willing to dismantle it to study it properly.
In their 21st century, almost everyone used guns. As an assassin, she mostly used silenced pistols and knew quite a bit about gun mechanics. However, there were no modern materials here, so she couldn’t build those kinds of guns at all.
So she can only draw a rough outline from memory now.
But no matter how many she drew, she always felt something was missing.
Mo Jun Yi carefully looked at her draft paper, pondered for a moment before saying, “Mother, these bows you drew all seem simple. How is their range and penetration?”
An Xuetang smiled, “Zilin, judging the quality of a bow isn’t about its appearance, but about the speed of the arrow it shoots. The initial speed of an arrow at the moment of release is what we call ‘initial velocity’. Initial velocity is a crucial factor in determining the quality of a bow. The higher the initial velocity, the farther the arrow can travel, and the greater its kinetic energy and power.”
Mo Jun Yi listened, confused. “Mother, what is initial speed? Doesn’t it mean the harder I pull back, the farther the arrow flies?”
“While the force you apply is somewhat related, it’s not a major factor. The initial velocity of an arrow depends not only on the quality of the bow but also on the weight of the arrow, its flex (softness or stiffness), and the draw length (the distance from the point where the bowstring is drawn to the point where the arrow is released).”
<<>>
“An Xue Tang rubbed his little head, “Someday, mother will personally take you to experience it for yourself. Then you’ll understand.”
Besides bows and arrows, her mind was filled with many other things, such as explosives. As a versatile assassin, she knew a lot. To protect herself as much as possible, in her past life she could build guns and bombs, but the bombs she made used modern materials.
…like nitroglycerin, but she was certain these things couldn’t be found here, so she had to come up with another way, making simple bombs.
But this bomb isn’t easy to make, after all she doesn’t even know the proportions very well, she has to try it little by little. These days she’s been thinking about how to bring it up with her family member ah Jing, asking him to prepare some sulfur, saltpeter, charcoal, and some hemp rope and scales etc.
But she hasn’t figured out how to explain it to Mo Yunjing yet, and if the ratio is wrong… it’s highly possible she’ll blow herself up!!
This is still a dangerous job, after all. If Mo Yunjing knew how dangerous it was, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to let her take the risk.
“Mother? Mother, what’s wrong?” Mo Junyi didn’t know what An Xue Tang was thinking. He called out to her several times but she didn’t respond.
“Hmm? Zi Ling, what did you say?”
“Mother, I didn’t say anything, but do you have something on your mind?”
“No.”
Mo Junyi didn’t believe it. He rarely saw An Xuetang looking so worried.
Then, he pondered for a moment before cautiously asking, “Mother, are you worried that my fifth uncle will have other women?”
“…”
An Xuetang raised an eyebrow. “Why would you ask that?”
“No, these days the gentlemen have been talking to me about managing their backyards. They say that women are jealous and whatnot. I listened in a daze, but I got the general idea. What they’re saying is that men with three or four wives need to marry wise women if they want peace in their harems, otherwise it’ll be like a battlefield. Even returning to the inner courtyard will leave one exhausted both physically and mentally.”
Anshi Tang instantly frowned, “Shouldn’t your husbands be the ones to teach and guide you? Why are they talking to you about backyard affairs?”
In her eyes, Mo Junyi was still a child. Why should she tell him these things now?
Mo Junyi, however, remained very calm. “Mother, actually I’m not that young. Though I may only be as tall as a six or seven-year-old, I’m ten years old. If I had grown up in a normal prince’s mansion, I should already know these things. The gentlemen are simply following orders.”
An Xuetang pondered for a moment, it was true after all. This world wasn’t like the 21st century she came from. Here, children could get married and have children at the age of 16.
And in the era she lived in, sixteen was still a high school student, and ten wasn’t even out of elementary school.
She subconsciously treated him as a child who needed to be protected everywhere, but now that she thinks about it, she was wrong.