HLnovel Chapter 336 What’s the crime?
Chapter 336 What’s the crime?
Zhong Ning only asked Liu Changming to bring two craftsmen with the best iron smelting skills, and then he took out a piece of origami about smelting iron into steel from his sleeve and handed it over.
"This is something I accidentally discovered from an ancient recipe. Masters, please take a look and see if you can try to make it!"
The two craftsmen were named Li and Feng.
After paying his respects to Zhong Ning, he carefully unfolded the origami and observed the iron-making technique contained therein attentively.
After looking at it for a moment, Feng Jiang hesitated to speak. Zhong Ning said bluntly, "Master Feng, please feel free to speak!"
"Although I've never seen this technique before, I think it's worth a try. However, I'm afraid that the temperature mentioned in it is not achievable in my current situation..."
"This is fine," Zhong Ning handed over another piece of origami. "I just left it behind. It actually comes with a blueprint for making a bellows. If we add this, I think the temperature will increase significantly."
Carpenter Feng took the blueprint and his eyes lit up.
Liu Changming could no longer suppress his curiosity and snatched the blueprint away, then burst into laughter: "Your Highness, don't worry. Within ten days at most, our Military Equipment Supervisor will give you a satisfactory answer!"
"That's great," Zhong Ning nodded slightly. "I'll be waiting for good news from Supervisor Liu. When the time comes, I'll definitely commend the Military Equipment Supervisor in front of my father!"
"Besides that..." Zhong Ning looked around the Arsenal, then looked at the two master craftsmen Feng and Li, who looked pale and thin, and sighed helplessly.
Then she took out two silver notes worth one hundred taels from her sleeve.
"Ironmaking is strenuous work, and we must ensure that the workers are well fed and well fed... Without their hard work, our country's national defense would be greatly compromised."
"Liu Jianzheng, this is a small token of my appreciation. I'm donating a canteen to the Military Equipment Bureau. All the masters working there can enjoy two meals here for free!"
"I will report to the palace and have all the food, fruits and vegetables go through the palace's vegetable department, and a portion will be allocated to supply the Military Equipment Bureau!"
When Liu Changming heard this, he was immediately excited.
He had long heard that Princess Zhaohua was the most compassionate to her subordinates, and now seeing it with his own eyes, he was truly moved.
He also knew that these craftsmen worked hard, but the court was unwilling to allocate money to set up more food offices. After all, it was because these craftsmen had low status. How could they be compared with the court officials?
Therefore, these craftsmen had to eat at home before they could come to work.
But most of the work they did was hard labor, and they soon became hungry. However, craftsmen were paid low wages, and many had to support families. Two meals a day was already a luxury, so how could they dare to ask for more?
Now, Princess Zhaohua is willing to plead for the craftsmen, which is really great.
"Your Highness, please rest assured. I, an old minister, will never let you down!" Liu Changming bowed deeply to Zhong Ning.
The two craftsmen even knelt on the ground to express their gratitude.
Zhong Ning immediately declined the greeting, knowing that if he stayed any longer, he would definitely disturb other people's normal work, so he took his people and left.
As soon as I returned to the mansion, I heard from the palace servants that Ying Jibo was here to visit, and he was accompanied by a guard who looked very unfamiliar.
Why mention guards?
This was because Shen Yan always came to her princess mansion alone, and at most he would bring a coachman to help him drive the carriage, and he would always wait at the side door.
But today Shen Yan came with guards, which shows that this person must be different.
Zhong Ning thought for a moment and knew the answer.
What Shen Yan brought should be the ones he told her last time, a group of assassins left behind by the Duke of Xianying. They had once followed Fu Lin's orders and cooperated with Prince Cheng of Fujun to assassinate her princess's mansion.
At that time, because of Qi Yu's Black Dragon Guards, their group suffered countless casualties, but similarly, several people in her mansion were also injured.
At that time, Zhong Ning really hated everyone and wanted to kill them all, but now, as if she had matured overnight, she suddenly realized that many things cannot be viewed from a single level.
For example, this group of death warriors have never had their own choices. They have been controlled by others since childhood, controlled by poison, and raised and taught, so they have to obey the orders of their master.
Now, this group of people have suffered countless casualties due to being robbed and killed by the Black Dragon Guards many times, and only about thirty people are left.
After Fu Lin's death, he placed his last hope on Shen Yan.
The reason is simple, because no one can provide them with the antidote anymore. Even if no one targets them to kill them, they will not survive for more than a month.
In other words, it has been less than a month now.
After all, it had been many days since they last took the antidote.
Zhong Ning stepped into the hall and saw Shen Yan. Before he could speak, he saw the guards beside him kneel on the ground first, with two clangs, and shouted loudly: "Sinner, pay your respects to Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
"Oh?" Zhong Ning sat on the phoenix chair and said calmly, "What crime have you committed?"
"I, the criminal, was once a secret guard under the Duke of Ying's mansion. Later, I was ordered by Master Fu to assassinate the princess... I come here to plead guilty and am willing to die. I only ask Your Highness to save the lives of my other brothers!"
"You plead for your brothers, but do they know you're coming?"
"The criminal is their leader, and he is willing to die. They don't need to know that from now on, they will be the most loyal dogs in front of Your Highness, and they are willing to go through fire and water for Your Highness without hesitation!" The guard was still crawling on the ground and replied in a deep voice.
His voice was firm and his eyes were honest. He never hid the mistakes he had made and was willing to sacrifice his life just to ask Zhong Ning to spare the other brothers.
Zhong Ning was silent for a moment, "What's your name?"
The man shook his head slightly. "I don't have a name, only a code name. Seventy-one!"
Zhong Ning flipped his palm over, and a pill appeared on his hand. He used the internal force of his fingertips to bounce it in front of the man, "Eat it, and I will agree to your request!"
The man swallowed the pill without hesitation. After just a moment, he felt his scalp go numb, the energy in his body rushed backwards, and he fainted.
Shen Yan stood aside and couldn't help asking, "What did you give him to eat?"
"poison!"
"Are you serious?" Shen Yan confirmed again.
"Just kidding, it's not poison, but a kind of elixir that can control others and use it for your own benefit. It's the good stuff left behind by that alien spirit last time. There are only ten of them. I think he has some sense of friendship, so I'll give them to him as a reward. He will help you and me manage those assassins!"
In fact, there are about a hundred more, but I can’t tell him!
The reason why she mentioned the name of this elixir was mainly because the alien soul was originally discovered from Shen Yan. Even if she didn't say it herself, there was no guarantee that Shen Yan would still retain the memory of that time.
If the system was not completely removed and left some traces on Shen Yan, he would know whether she said it or not.
As expected, Shen Yan flipped his palm and a small porcelain bottle appeared in his hand. "Is this what you are talking about?"