Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

The words fell.

Li Chengqian put away the lazy smile on his face.

He ignored Lu Dongzan, whose face clearly showed disbelief, and slowly raised his right hand, which had been resting on the edge of the car window, high into the air.

This action is extremely simple.

There were no drums, no horns, and no desperate war mobilization.

But the instant he raised his right hand, the entire position of the Tang Dynasty's Western Expeditionary Army seemed to be silenced by a switch.

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The sounds of warhorses snorting, armor rubbing together, and even the whistling of the wind blowing across the Gobi Desert were all suppressed by some invisible force at this moment.

Tens of thousands of eyes, from the snow dragon riders at the forefront to the laborers escorting the goods at the rear, were all staring fervently at that delicate white hand.

As deep as an abyss, as majestic as a mountain, as if standing on the edge of a deep abyss.

This is the prestige of the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty.

Orders must be obeyed without question, and one must remain steadfast as a mountain.

Lu Dongzan stood on the viewing platform, the cold smile that had been on his lips suddenly freezing.

He swallowed.

For some reason, the extremely oppressive silence around him made him feel a sudden, inexplicable panic.

It's like the brief, suffocating stillness before a storm.

"Playing tricks!"

Lu Dongzan gritted his teeth inwardly, trying to bolster his spirits. "A few broken iron pipes can't possibly turn the world upside down! The walls of Gaochang were built with glutinous rice juice. Even if a meteorite were to fall on them, it would only leave a crater at most!"

He stiffened his neck and stared intently ahead.

He wanted to see how this arrogant Tang Dynasty crown prince would use these few iron lumps to end things!

"Your Highness!"

At the forefront of the position, Mo Ju, the commander of the Shenji Battalion, held aloft a burning torch.

The old man was so excited that his face turned red, and his fat body trembled along with the flames.

"Shenji Battalion, gun positions one through ten!"

"Gunpowder loading complete!"

"Explosive shell loaded!"

"Fuse in place!"

Mo Ju, his voice hoarse and strained, roared, "Please give your instructions, Your Highness!"

Li Chengqian sat in the panda carriage, looking through the glass window at the ten dark red cannons, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

He turned his head and looked at Lu Dongzan, who was standing outside with an ever-changing expression.

"Prime Minister."

Li Chengqian suddenly spoke, his tone unusually gentle.

Lu Dongzan was taken aback: "What are your orders, Your Highness?"

"Here's a friendly reminder."

Li Chengqian picked up two soft balls of cotton from the table next to him and threw them out the carriage window, where they landed right at Lu Dongzan's feet.

"Pull your ears."

"Or, open your mouth wide."

Lu Dongzan glanced down at the two clumps of cotton, his brows furrowing tightly.

What does this mean?

Humiliate me?

Do you think my Tibetan Grand Minister is scared out of his wits by this little show of force?

"Your Highness is joking."

Lu Dongzan proudly puffed out his chest, kicked the cotton on the ground aside, and spoke with a hint of the arrogance of a grassland man.

"We, the warriors of Tibet, were born in the snowy land and grew up on the plateau."

"I've grown accustomed to the roar of avalanches and the fiercest gales."

"A mere commotion like this won't frighten my foreign ministers, and there's no need to plug my ears!"

"Oh?"

Li Chengqian raised an eyebrow, not angry at all, but instead gave a bright smile that said, "Whatever makes you happy."

"Alright."

"Since the Grand Chancellor is so adamant, then I will not force him."

As the saying goes, it's hard to persuade a damned ghost with kind words.

"If anything goes wrong from the shock later, the Tang Dynasty will not be responsible, and don't even think about claiming it as a workplace injury from me."

After saying that, Li Chengqian stopped looking at him.

He leaned back on the soft couch, picked up the chilled grape wine, and gently swirled it.

The purplish-red liquid swirled in the glass, refracting an eerie light.

Then.

The right hand, raised high in the air, suddenly swung forward!

"put!"

One word.

Light and airy.

There was no shouting or hysteria.

It was as casual as ordering a servant to bring a plate of snacks.

But it was precisely the moment that word was written.

"ignition--!!!"

Mo Ju let out a howl that sounded like a wolf.

Ten bare-chested gunners from the Shenji Battalion, holding burning torches, unhesitatingly thrust the fuses at the rear of the red-coated cannons.

"Sizzle sizzle—!"

The fuse was lit.

Sparks flew everywhere.

The piercing sound of burning was amplified infinitely on the deathly silent battlefield.

Like fiery serpents flicking their tongues, they darted madly into the dark depths of the cannon barrel at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lu Dongzan stared intently at the fire snakes.

For some reason, his heart began to pound uncontrollably.

An unprecedented, instinctive sense of deadly crisis instantly enveloped his entire body.

Get out of the way!

Danger!

Every cell in his brain was sending him frantic warnings, but his legs felt like they were made of lead, rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch.

Take a breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths!

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at that moment.

The moment the fuse burns out and disappears deep into the cannon barrel.

"boom--!!!"

"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!!!"

Ten loud bangs.

Almost at the same time, it exploded!

That's not a sound a human could make.

That's not the kind of sound that could be produced by the clash of cold weapons in this era.

That was the Thunder God from the heavens, who swung his giant hammer and smashed it hard onto the earth!

The earth was trembling violently!

It was as if a magnitude 10 earthquake had occurred; the Gobi Desert beneath our feet instantly cracked open with fine fissures.

A terrifying, semi-transparent shockwave, visible to the naked eye, spread wildly outwards in a ring shape from the ten red-coated cannons as the center!

"Buzz—!"

The shockwave swept past.

The yellow sand in front of the Shenji Battalion's position was instantly blown into the air, forming a sand wall several meters high.

The enormous reaction force caused the ten red-coated cannons, each weighing several thousand kilograms, to be thrown backward a full half meter, carving ten deep furrows in the ground.

Thick, acrid smoke, mixed with blinding flames, instantly engulfed the entire artillery position!

And amidst this earth-shattering roar...

Ten dark iron balls, carrying the kinetic energy to destroy everything, tore through the smoke and dust!

"call out--!!!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!"

A piercing, ear-piercing sound echoed through the sky!

Those ten iron balls were moving too fast!

They were so fast that the naked eye could not capture their trajectory; only ten faint, distorted ripples caused by friction with the air could be seen in the sky.

They were like ten black shooting stars that had fallen to earth.

It carries the fury of the Tang Dynasty and the rage of the Industrial Revolution.

Crossing the death distance of eight hundred steps.

Heading straight for the impregnable city walls of the Gaochang royal city!

"ah!!!"

The observation platform closest to the artillery.

Lu Dongzan let out an extremely shrill scream.

He finally understood why Li Chengqian had given him cotton earlier.

The moment those ten cannons fired simultaneously, the terrifying sound was like two steel needles piercing his ears.

The eardrum ruptured instantly.

Two streams of bright red blood flowed down his ear canals and dripped onto his dark red Tibetan robe.

A loud "buzz" went off in my head.

The sounds of the entire world faded away from him at that moment.

He couldn't hear anything anymore.

All that remained was an endless buzzing.

Lu Dongzan clutched his ears in pain, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.

But he ignored the excruciating pain in his ears and the blood on his face.

He looked as if he were possessed, his head held high, his bloodshot eyes wide open, staring intently into the distance.

Staring at the ten black dots speeding through the air.

The walls of Gaochang City were densely packed with guards.

The deafening thunder just now had terrified them.

Before they could figure out what kind of sorcery the Tang Dynasty had used...

The ten black meteors, accompanied by a deathly roar, crashed down on their heads!

Nearly.

closer.

The black iron ball in my line of sight grew larger and larger!

Inside the panda carriage.

Li Chengqian swirled the grape wine in his glass, watching the impending collision in the distance, a smile as radiant as a summer flower blooming on his lips.

He gently raised his wine cup to the Tibetan Grand Minister outside, who could no longer hear anything and could only kneel on the ground trembling.

"Watch closely, Prime Minister."

"This shot..."

"Call it the truth of the Tang Dynasty!"