latelenovela Chapter 174 The Time Traveler’s Ex-fiancé (6)
Chapter 174 The Time Traveler’s Ex-fiancé (6)
"Your Majesty, if you only send me skilled craftsmen and have them make more gunpowder, we will surely win the war and make sure that the barbarians will never dare to invade again."
Ning Meng quickly calmed down and said, "Okay, you can join the Ministry of Industry. I will assign more craftsmen to you and let you lead them to produce more gunpowder."
"Father, Yaoer presented such a powerful weapon and made a great contribution. Is our engagement..."
Ning Ning stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, you are wrong. She didn't even offer the recipe. She just wanted to lead the craftsmen to make more gunpowder. This can't be considered a great achievement, so how can she be rewarded?"
Ning Chao glared at him, "Ning Ning, you——"
Ning Ning didn't even look at him. Ning Meng also said, "An Ning's words make sense. Why don't you wait until the gunpowder is made and help our dynasty win this battle, and then I will reward you. By the way, gunpowder is of great importance. During the production period, Zhong Liyao should live in the Ministry of Works. Don't go out unless necessary to ensure that the production of gunpowder is foolproof."
Since he said so, Ning Chao and Zhong Li Yao had no choice but to obey. Zhong Li Yao had no choice but to go to the Ministry of Works, and was reluctant to leave Ning Chao before leaving.
Ning Chao bid her farewell with tears in his eyes, and then he was busy squeezing Ning Ning, "Humph, Yao'er is so talented, it's useless for you to be jealous. You can only allocate food and grass, purchase military equipment, and lead the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works to do useless work. Apart from this, what other contributions have you made?! You can't even dream of such a great achievement as Yao'er."
But Ning Ning just looked at him with caring eyes for the mentally retarded, shook her head at him, and left.
A punch hit cotton, and Ning Chao was so angry that he almost bit his teeth off.
The war went smoothly. Gunpowder was produced and used with miraculous effects on the battlefield.
The barbarians had never seen gunpowder. At first, when the gunpowder exploded, they were so scared that they knelt on the ground and kowtowed, shouting "The God is coming", so they quickly surrendered and paid tribute.
Zhong Li Yao and Ning Chao thought they had made unprecedented contributions. Ning Chao even boasted about Zhong Li Yao everywhere, as if the victory of the war was all hers.
He couldn't wait to prove that the woman he loved was indeed an extraordinary person.
Since he said so, there were naturally people who wanted to curry favor with him and tried their best to praise him.
At first he was complacent, but gradually he realized that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. These people were spreading the rumor more and more. Some people were already saying that Zhong Li Yao was born with a phoenix fate, so she and the prince would definitely be a perfect match in the future.
After all, the royal family had been infected for many years, so Ning Chao felt something was not right when he heard it. He thought the talk was too much, so he quickly sent people to stop it.
But this news has already spread everywhere, and rumors can never be stopped.
Ning Chao was anxious, and hurriedly ordered his secret guards to investigate, "Could it be that someone is not happy with Yao'er's great achievement and wants to praise her to death! Go and investigate quickly, and pay special attention to the movements of Prince Qing!"
The secret guard took the order and went forward, but the result he found was completely different from his guess!
Ning Ning has been working hard to assist Ning Meng in handling court affairs. He is neither too close nor too distant from the court officials. He does not form a clique nor is he aloof. He is very much like a wise king. This rumor has nothing to do with him. Instead, it was spread by Zhong Li Yao and her secret guards.
"They used the same method as us, so it was easy to detect."
The secret guard who reported to Ning Chao felt a little embarrassed.
Ning Chao's eyes went dark, "Hurry up and stop her!"
"Your Highness, those brothers only obey Miss Zhong. We can't send them to do anything. They said that they can't stop without Miss Zhong's order."
"Nonsense! I'll go find her right now!"
"Your Highness, Miss Zhong is still in the Ministry of Works. It's not convenient for you to see her."
Because gunpowder is a matter of great importance, Zhong Li Yao is under strict protection in the Ministry of Works. Conversely, she is also under house arrest. Except for a few secret guards with excellent skills, who come and go without a trace and have her permission to go to her for orders, no one else can contact her at all.
"Well, how about you take me in?"
Ning Chao was at a loss as to what to do when suddenly an imperial decree came, Ning Meng summoning him into the palace, along with Zhong Li Yao.
Now he didn't have to go through the trouble of looking for Zhong Li Yao, as they could just meet in the palace.
When they arrived, Ning Meng was still discussing matters with court officials, and asked Zhong Li Yao and Ning Chao to wait for him in a side hall first.
Zhong Liyao was delighted to see Ning Chao, "Brother Crown Prince, we haven't seen each other for a long time. You have lost weight."
Ning Chao: ...You still have time to worry about this!
"Yao'er, were you the one who spread the rumor about 'born with the fate of a phoenix'?"
"Yeah, you heard about it too?"
"You are so confused. How can you say such things casually?"
Ning Chao lowered his voice and said, "The only one born with the fate of a phoenix can be a queen. How can you say that you have such a fate?"
"But you are the future emperor, and I am your woman. I will be the mother of the country, and that is my destiny."
"You also said that that is 'in the future'. Right now, the throne still belongs to father. What would father think if you spread such a rumor?"
Ning Chao was so angry that he almost lost his temper. Zhong Liyao looked at his expression and realized belatedly that something was wrong. "But, but I am also anxious. The emperor clearly promised that I would be rewarded if I won, but the reward has not come yet, and he did not even mention resuming our engagement. I can only build momentum for myself. You and the emperor are father and son, he won't care about these things, right?"
Looking at Zhong Liyao's innocent big eyes, Ning Chao almost fainted.
The position of crown prince is not an easy one. The emperor will be pleased with your growth but at the same time wary of you.
If you just confront the emperor on the issue of choosing a crown princess, he may tolerate it. But if he thinks you can't wait and are coveting the throne, it will be very dangerous.
Zhong Liyao seemed unaware of such a sensitive matter.
In the past, he liked Zhong Li Yao's unrestrained and uninvolved personality the most, but now he truly realized that this shortcoming was too fatal and was definitely not the quality that a princess should have.
Ning Chao was speechless, not knowing how to explain to Zhong Li Yao, when he heard someone snorting coldly outside the door, and then Ning Meng and Ning Ning walked in.
Ning Meng's face was as gloomy as water. "So, you admit that you were the one who spread the rumor?!"
"Your Highness, Your Highness is just..."
Ning Meng didn't have time to listen to her "just", "Come here, pass the order down, this witch's lies are misleading the people, causing chaos in the government, put her in jail, and execute her today, according to the law!"
"Your Majesty! I don't accept it! You clearly said you would reward me!"
"Haven't I already rewarded you? Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the Emperor. Rewarding you to death is also a reward! Besides, you have done some good deeds, don't you know it in your heart?"
"I didn't do anything bad. I made gunpowder and helped the court win the war. I clearly played a great role!"
Zhong Liyao hurriedly defended herself, and Ning Chao also spoke for her, saying that Zhong Liyao was just deeply in love with him and wanted to revive the engagement, and she had no intention of coveting the position of queen.