Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

Almost all the villagers came out of their homes, and a group of children ran and jumped excitedly under the fireworks.

Unfortunately, the beautiful fireworks were fleeting, and soon the sky was dark again, with only a sliver of moonlight remaining.

The little princess hadn't had enough of the fireworks yet.

"Little Nangjun~ Fafa~" The little princess looked at Xiao Ran with expectant eyes.

Xiao Ran gestured for someone to bring over a few more fireworks.

The only difference is that this time the fireworks are much bigger than before.

The servant lit the fuse, and the fireworks soared into the sky once more.

This was a very large firework, illuminating half of the starlight.

Fireworks shot into the sky one after another, and the little princess below clapped her hands excitedly.

However, there were only so many fireworks, and it's a pity they're all gone now.

Xiao Ran originally planned to make a firework that could fly into the sky and leave a message, but this thing was too difficult. He and Sun Simiao studied it for a long time but still couldn't make it work.

Or rather, being able to turn gunpowder into fireworks was already the best result of their months of painstaking research.

After the fireworks ended, Xiao Ran and the others returned to their house, while the villagers at the foot of the mountain were still excitedly discussing the fireworks.

Even villagers from other surrounding villages saw the fireworks, and they all looked like they wanted more.

inside the house.

Li Shimin was also discussing the fireworks they had just seen.

"Are there any fireworks left? Give me some." Li Shimin asked without any hesitation.

Xiao Ran shrugged. "That's all. Everything we made was released tonight."

Li Shimin looked regretful and asked, "How were these fireworks made? Are they rare?"

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "It's made with gunpowder."

"Gunpowder?" Li Shimin asked, puzzled.

Xiao Ran said, "This gunpowder was also developed by my grandfather and me, and it can be used not only for fireworks but also for explosives."

The power of the explosives goes without saying, but it's impossible to imagine just by talking about it, so Xiao Ran didn't say much. He simply said, "This explosive can be described as a divine weapon with tremendous power. After the New Year, we'll find a place to test it out, and you'll know for sure."

Hearing Xiao Ran describe it as a "divine weapon" and "immensely powerful," Li Shimin couldn't wait any longer.

"Why wait until after the New Year? Can't we do it tomorrow?"

Hearing Li Shimin's impatient words, Xiao Ran said helplessly, "Although we have made improvements to gunpowder in order to make fireworks, judging from the current situation, if we want to make cannons or the like, we still have to make cannonballs first."

"Even if we don't make shells, just black powder, we can't just scatter it on the ground. So we have to wait until we can make an explosive charge first."

Hearing Xiao Ran say this, Li Shimin didn't quite understand, but he got the gist: it wasn't something he could use right now. So he clicked his tongue and said, "Since it's so troublesome, I'll wait a few days."

Since it's Chinese New Year these few days, Li Shimin has naturally taken a holiday for himself, so he doesn't plan to leave and has decided to stay at Xiao Ran's place for the next couple of days.

As for where he sleeps, he naturally sleeps with Empress Zhangsun.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Xiao Ran got up early and ate dumplings.

The little princess hadn't even opened her eyes yet when she ate the dumplings.

Li Lizhi held her and fed her dumplings little by little. After she finished eating one, she let her go back to sleep.

Princess Chengyang, Princess Gaoyang, and Third Sister all received the same treatment: they couldn't sleep in without eating, but they could eat before going to sleep.

Li Shimin also got up and ate dumplings, but after taking a bite, he seemed a little puzzled.

"What kind of meat is this? It doesn't taste like beef to me."

Xiao Ran picked up another dumpling and ate it.

"This is made of pork, isn't it delicious?"

Li Shimin looked at the dumplings in the bowl and nodded, "Delicious."

When we finished eating the dumplings, it was just getting light outside.

Li Shimin followed Xiao Ran and his entourage into the living room, where he finally saw the large mirror.

It was too late yesterday, so Li Shimin didn't notice it. Now that he saw it, he asked, "What is that?"

Xiao Ran pulled Li Shimin to the mirror and said, "This is a mirror."

Li Shimin looked at himself in the mirror from left to right and reached out to straighten his clothes.

"Hmm, not bad, it reflects very clearly. I'll have one of these mirrors too."

Li Shimin is now showing no mercy to Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran didn't mind; actually, making this mirror wasn't that difficult.

"Alright, I'll bring one for you when you leave, Uncle."

In addition, Xiao Ran also plans to make a few small mirrors to sell in his general store.

"By the way, where is His Highness the Crown Prince?" Xiao Ran asked.

Li Shimin touched his nose.

"He's still in the palace."

Although the palace was supposed to be closed during the Lunar New Year, what if something happened? So Li Shimin came out, and Li Chengqian had to stay in the palace.

Xiao Ran felt sorry for Li Chengqian for a second.

At this moment, Cheng Yaojin asked, "Young master, how long will it take to make the explosives you mentioned yesterday? Do you need my help?"

Li Shimin also looked at Xiao Ran and said, "If you need any skilled craftsmen, just say so."

Xiao Ran could tell that these two couldn't wait even a day, but no matter how anxious they were, it definitely wouldn't work today.

But looking into their eyes, Xiao Ran sighed.

"Let's go, I'll take you to find the old man."

With that, Xiao Ran got up and went to find Sun Simiao.

The explosive charge was easy to make; when they arrived, Sun Simiao had already made one.

Cheng Yaojin picked it up and weighed it in his hand.

"Is this what you call explosive?"

Seeing his reckless actions, Xiao Ran and Sun Simiao were terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

"Uncle!" Xiao Ran called out, quickly taking the explosive pack from Cheng Yaojin's hand and placing it on the table.

Sun Simiao carefully examined the area and, finding nothing amiss, was relieved.

Seeing their tense demeanor, Cheng Yaojin also panicked a little.

"Is this something I can't touch?"

Xiao Ran shook his head. "It's not that you can't touch it, but what you did just now was too dangerous. Although nothing should have happened in theory, it's still better to be careful."

After all, even if you don't pull the pin on a grenade, it won't explode, but I've never heard of anyone throwing grenades around like that.

Cheng Yaojin touched the tip of his nose.

"I won't touch that again!"

Seeing Cheng Yaojin's helpless expression, Xiao Ran said, "It doesn't have to be like this."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran pointed to the fuse and said, "This is the fuse. In theory, it will only explode when the fuse is lit and the fire touches the gunpowder inside. Simply tossing it up and down should not cause any problems."

"However, this gunpowder is not very stable now. I'm afraid that if it's accidentally struck back and forth, the metal powder inside will ignite due to friction. If that happens, this one explosive charge could send us all to our deaths."

It's not actually that serious. After all, the technology isn't that mature yet, and the probability of friction causing a fire is probably one in ten thousand. But it's always better to be cautious. Hearing Xiao Ran say this, Cheng Yaojin became even more determined to stay far away from the gunpowder.

Even Li Shimin said, "Since this place is so dangerous, Doctor Sun must be careful when making it."

Sun Simiao nodded. "I will be careful."

Afterwards, Xiao Ran, Li Shimin, and Cheng Yaojin withdrew and returned to the living room.

Not long after arriving in the living room, Xiao Ran heard a commotion outside.

It turned out that the children from the village had come to wish us a Happy New Year.

Xiao Ran smiled and took out a basket of chestnuts and candy, giving each child a handful, along with some copper coins.

Li Shimin looked at the eunuch he had brought with him. The eunuch took out a pouch from his waist, which contained some gold and silver melon seeds.

A child had two melon seeds, one of which was given to Cheng Yaojin because he hadn't brought anything with him.

After the children thanked them, they went home to put their things away. When their families saw the golden melon seeds, they were dumbfounded.

"Where did this come from?" the parent asked seriously.

The child who was asked the question shrank back.

"It was given to me by a father-in-law who looked very wealthy when I went to pay New Year's respects to the young master in the mountains."

The villagers all knew that Li Lizhi and her family were princesses. When they heard their children say this, they immediately realized what was going on and knelt down on the mountain.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!"

It wasn't just one family that did this; every household that received the golden melon seeds knelt down.

However, Xiao Ran and Li Shimin, who were on the mountain, were naturally unaware of these matters.

They are giving red envelopes to the three little princesses and their third aunt.

Xiao Ran was not short of money, so he gave each of the three little princesses a gold ingot.

Li Shimin's items were much more exquisite than Xiao Ran's; they were gold leaves in various shapes, looking just like the real thing, and were very beautiful.

Not only the three little princesses, but Li Shimin also gave Xiao Ran a gift.

Xiao Ran opened the red paper package and saw that it contained a hand-held piece made of top-grade mutton fat jade, which was warm to the touch and had a delicate feel.

After sending the red envelope, the little princess kept pestering Xiao Ran for some delicious food.

"Little Nangjun~ So good~"

The little princess blinked as she looked at Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran smiled and pinched the little princess's cheek.

"Okay, let's eat something delicious."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran simply had someone bring over a large glass plate and put beef jerky, biscuits, candy, and various snacks and pastries on it.

Li Shimin picked up a piece of beef jerky.

"This beef jerky tastes good. If you have any extra, remember to give me some when I leave."

Cheng Yaojin then winked at Xiao Ran and said, "Young master, there's a cow on my estate that's about to die. I wonder if you know anything about it?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran covered her mouth and chuckled.

"It's almost over. Do you think you can predict when a cow will die? This is such a ridiculous lie."

Li Shimin was also helpless.

"Zhijie!" Li Shimin called out to Cheng Yaojin.

Cheng Yaojin looked away, pretending he hadn't said anything.

Li Shimin sighed, "That's enough. People have already complained to me about the cows you slaughtered every few days."

Cheng Yaojin retorted, "The ox died on its own, how can you blame me!"

Li Shimin was also helpless with Cheng Yaojin, saying, "Fine, fine, you can handle it yourself, but don't go too far!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin immediately became happy.

"Hehe, I know, I know, it's definitely not excessive."

After saying that, he winked at Xiao Ran, who felt a little helpless but also wanted to laugh.

"Don't worry, Uncle Cheng, I'll definitely give it to you once I make the beef jerky."

Cheng Yaojin was satisfied now.

After chatting for a while, the little princess and the others went outside to play, so Xiao Ran and the others also went out for a stroll.

The air on the mountain was very fresh. Cheng Yaojin and Li Shimin followed Xiao Ran around and arrived at the pool.

The ice hole made yesterday hadn't completely frozen over yet, but Cheng Yaojin picked up a large rock and smashed it open.

Because fishing nets were used yesterday, the hole was quite large. The three of them each held a fishing rod and fished inside the ice hole.

In winter, the water surface freezes over, and there is little oxygen below. So when the ice hole is opened, fish can be seen surfacing to breathe.

Cheng Yaojin chuckled, "Hehe, this time we're sure to catch a lot of fish!"

Xiao Ran and Li Shimin smiled but didn't say anything, and continued fishing.

Fishing is actually quite addictive. Xiao Ran and his friends fished for an entire morning before heading back because it was time to eat.

And just as Cheng Yaojin said, they did indeed catch several fish.

However, we haven't finished eating the fish from last night, so we can save it for tomorrow.

Today's lunch was no different from yesterday's dinner; it was quite a feast.

The little princess was happily munching on a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs.

After lunch, Cheng Yaojin scratched his head and asked, "Young master, what are your thoughts on opening a restaurant?"

Xiao Ran nodded, "I think it's a good idea. After the New Year, Uncle, you can go and renovate the restaurant first. As for the recipe, I'll have the cook go and teach the head chef of the restaurant."

Cheng Yaojin readily agreed.

"Good, good, that's perfect!"

Everything was settled. The glass workshop was closed for the Chinese New Year, but they still had ready-made glass. So in the afternoon, Xiao Ran and the others went to make mirrors again.

However, unlike last time, this time Li Shimin, Cheng Yaojin, and the little princess also went along.

Li Shimin would ask what these things were for from time to time, and even tried them out himself.

Cheng Yaojin looked at the glass products on the shelf, most of which were plates and the like. They weren't very refined, but they were still very beautiful.

There was even a glass tea set.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin staring at the glass tea set, Xiao Ran smiled and said, "Uncle, if you like it, take it."

Cheng Yaojin hesitated for a moment. He did like it, but seeing that Xiao Ran only had this one, he felt embarrassed to take it.

Seeing Cheng Yaojin's hesitation, Xiao Ran said, "Uncle, don't worry. This tea set is not that difficult to make. The reason there is only one set is because I prefer purple clay and ceramic, so I didn't make any."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Yaojin was completely relieved.

"Then thank you very much, young man."

The polished mirror still needed to be dried and cooled, so Xiao Ran led Li Shimin and his entourage to the classroom.

Looking at the window above, Xiao Ran said, "This was pieced together using the broken glass from before. Isn't it beautiful?"

Although it's not as clear as finished glass, the green and yellow shards of glass pieced together look very nice.

"This glass window is really nice." Cheng Yaojin touched it and then asked, "When can I get one too?" (End of Chapter)