She had seen with her own eyes Qi Jue's pain when he learned that his sister was dead, and she had also seen his confusion when he got drunk every night. But even so, what could he do, her sister didn't love him.

He was paranoid and tyrannical, and even fought with General Gu even at the cost of being criticized, but he couldn't get a look from his sister.

"Give it to you and return it to him when the time comes."

Tang Ningning handed the celadon bottle to Xiao Chuhan, sighed, and walked back slowly. Seeing this, Xiao Chuhan put away the medicine bottle and followed.

"Sister-in-law, can you please take a day off?"

Gu Bei and Ye Qi came over, with a flattering smile on Gu Bei's charming face.

Ye Qi hit him, "What are you doing? The general has said that you must stay by your sister-in-law's side."

"You idiot, how would the general know if you didn't tell me?"

Ye Qi sneered, "Haha!"

"Why are you asking for leave?"

Tang Ningning asked as she walked back.

Gu Bei chuckled, "This is not a heart-gnawing antidote. It requires a lot of things. I'll go out and look for it."

"Come on, who are you lying to?" Ye Qi snorted.

"Talk less and do more." Gu Bei pushed Ye Qi away and moved closer to Tang Ningning.

Tang Ningning didn't know what Gu Bei was thinking. She took out a letter from her sleeve and said, "If you send this letter back to Lashan House in Da'an Town and give it to Gu Han, you will be allowed three days' leave."

"Ah, it's so far to go to Da'an Town." It would take a day to ride a horse back and forth. He also wanted to go to the Canine Tooth Mountain to find someone, but I was afraid there wouldn't be enough time.

"Ah, if you don't want to, then don't go, just stay in Guancheng."

Gu Bei was anxious, "Don't, don't bother me, I'll go. Isn't it okay to go?"

At this time, a chuckle came suddenly, and Gu Bei looked in the direction of Xiao Chuhan, wondering what was so funny.

Seeing Gu Beixin reluctantly accepting the letter, Tang Ningning said softly, "By the way, could you help me ask Gu Han how the exam went this time?"

When Gu Bei heard this, he shrank his head. The general had previously ordered Zi Dan to destroy Gu Han's exam papers. He must have failed the exam.

"What's wrong?" Tang Ningning asked, raising her eyebrows when she saw Gu Bei was acting weird.

Gu Bei immediately shook his head and said to Tang Ningning, "I understand, sister-in-law, I'll leave first."

After saying that, he ran away quickly.

Because Gu Fengtuo left Guancheng and before leaving, he told Li Mu to be more vigilant, so Li Mu guarded the city tower every day for fear of being accidentally attacked by the Mobei tribe.

But it had been two days in a row, and there was no movement outside the customs. Tang Ningning's tense nerves also relaxed a little.

She was about to see the gunpowder being prepared when she saw Cao Han walking in carrying two big axes.

Tang Ningning got a headache when she saw him.

"Cao---Han, why are you here?"

She couldn't blame her for this. Cao Han was born with brute strength. If he didn't let it out for a few times, he would feel weak all over. When he woke up that day, he found out that Gu Fengtuo had led his troops to the northern expedition to Liangzhou and was angry that he was not with him.

It almost knocked down the roof beams.

She is easy to talk and talk, so she can stabilize people.

"No, no, I'm not interested in that stuff, let Lao Qi do it." Cao Han walked in.

Tang Ningning gave up her position and let him go in to get the steamed buns. Cao Han thought about fighting every day, so she wanted to give him something to do so that he wouldn't make trouble.

So he also gave him part of the matter of refining gunpowder.

But it didn’t take long for him to quit.

"Lao Qi can't do it alone."

Cao Han scooped up a large ladle of water and drank it. He looked back at Tang Ningning and said, "It's too boring. I won't do it."

While talking, Xiao Qing walked in slowly with a basket in her hand. When she saw Tang Ningning, although she was a little awkward, she smiled and nodded, "Madam, I'm going to buy groceries. Let's eat together later."

She won't leave. She has lived here for so many years and she doesn't want to leave.

But those things from the past are all gone.

"What did you buy?" Tang Ningning asked with a smile.

Xiaoqing took out everything in the basket, "Chinese cabbage is much cheaper, so I bought some more. I also went to the pier and bought two fish. I'll eat these for lunch."

In the past two days, Xiaoqing has been learning to cook, and her cooking skills are not bad at all. The food is much more delicious than Aunt Zheng's cooking.

"By the way, sister-in-law, when I came back, Lao Qi asked you to take a look, but it still doesn't work."

Cao Han said it boldly.

Tang Ningning quickly gave him a wink, saying that you shouldn't talk about such head-turning things casually.

But Cao Han couldn't understand it at all, and asked, "What's wrong with your eyes?"

‘-----’ Tang Ningning.

"Come out for a moment."

Cao Han followed him out without knowing why. When he arrived at the door, Tang Ningning whispered, "Don't talk nonsense about gunpowder."

Cao Han realized it later and patted his head, "I know, I know."

There was a small courtyard in the General's Mansion, which was specially used to store gunpowder refining materials. There was a large open space behind the courtyard. When Tang Ningning passed by, she saw Ye Qi on the ground, not knowing what to keep.

‘Ye Qi.’

"Sister-in-law, you are finally here." Ye Qi saw Tang Ningning and said excitedly, "I just lit it up."

'Really?' Tang Ningning rushed over immediately and saw that the ground was filled with gunpowder and next to it was a fire stick. Seeing her looking over, Ye Qi immediately asked her to step back, then lit the fire candle and put it on the

With a small poke on the black crystal, almost instantly, a raging fire ignited on the ground.

The fire was very big.

Tang Ningning smiled and said, "It's done."

'Ye Qi, what a great skill.'

Ye Qi put out the fire and said with a smile, "Madam's tips are all effective and detailed, but what should we do next?"

"There is a trebuchet, right? I asked you to get it last time. Have you got it?"

Ye Qi nodded immediately, "Yes, over here."

There are so many in the army that no one can be found even if they move into the palace. Who dares to find the general?

Tang Ningning walked around and saw that under the platform beam, the trebuchet was placed there quietly like a giant heavy object. There was a fixed horizontal axis between the two pillars of the wooden frame, and there was a lever perpendicular to the axis.

, can rotate freely around the axis.

A weight is fixed on the short arm of the lever, and there is a sleeve at the end of the long arm, which is used to hold stones.

Unexpectedly, the technology at this time was still too poor. The trebuchet was so heavy that it would be too laborious to move it to the mine.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong? Why are you frowning?"

Tang Ningning sighed, "The trebuchet is too big and heavy. I originally thought of making an iron cannon and using the trebuchet to project it. Now it seems that it is a bit troublesome."

"I think that if it is used in a war, using a trebuchet to throw bombs will not only enhance our country's prestige, but also reduce the casualties of our army and the best way to end the war as soon as possible."

After saying that, Ye Qi saw Tang Ningning's face sink.

"Oh, sister-in-law, I know you can't use bombs in war. I'm just having fun and imagining the scene. Don't be angry."

Tang Ningning walked closer with her hands behind her back and said, "I'm not angry. I just want you to know that bombs are extremely powerful. Once used in a war, other countries will work hard to develop such explosives. By then, during the war,

More people will die, and you all should know what the consequences will be if His Majesty learns that such a powerful weapon has been developed."

The age of cold weapons must not turn into the age of hot weapons because of her.

She couldn't bear the consequences either.

"I know." Ye Qi asked, "What should we do next?"

Tang Ningning pursed her lips and said, "Make thunderballs."

“What is a thunderball?”

"It is made of pig iron, shaped like a large ripe pomegranate, with a hole at the top for not only gunpowder but also poison."

"Fill most of the gunpowder, put it in a wine glass, ignite fire in the glass, and plug the mouth of the pomegranate cannon tightly with an iron cover. The outer shell of the cannon is painted white with colorful flowers and plants painted on it. It can be thrown directly by hand to explode the mouth of the mine.

"

"Moreover, this kind of bomb is so powerful that it may blow up the entire mine."

Originally, she wanted to just block the entrance to the mine, but now---

After hearing what Tang Ningning said, Ye Qi was beyond shocked. He had traveled all over the country for so many years, but he had never heard of such a thing. It was so scary.

"Sister-in-law, can you measure the explosives and seal only the entrance to the mine?"

"It's more complicated." Tang Ningning recalled the several openings in the quarry before, frowning slightly, and said, "The mine is so big, I'm worried about causing landslides."
To be continued...