The tyrannical father was so intimidated when his own daughter was found during the raid.

The workmanship of this thing is so rough it's unbearable to look at!

The edges and burrs on the wood were not properly sanded off.

The copper pipes were rough, crooked, and protruding.

The brass gears embedded in the middle are of different sizes, and there are visible gaps at the meshing points.

That's it?

This shabby wooden box is more elaborate than even a kindergarten craft project!

[Is this the ultimate mechanism? Do they have some kind of misunderstanding about the word "treasure"?]

Lin Wan'er carefully picked up the wooden box, as if she were holding a fragile, rare piece of glass.

She reached out and pinched the brass crank on the side of the wooden box.

"Your Majesties, please look, this item is called the Ruyi Music Box."

Lin Wan'er turned the crank with a proud expression.

"Crunch, crunch."

As the crank was turned, the wooden box emitted an unpleasant metallic scraping sound.

A series of intermittent, tinkling, and harsh sounds came from the wooden box.

To Su Yaoyao, it sounded like two rusty iron sheets scraping against each other—it was pure torture for her ears!

but!

The surrounding concubines and noble ladies, however, seemed to hear heavenly music!

Everyone stared wide-eyed, covered their mouths, and let out a series of incredulous gasps.

"My God! This wooden box can actually make a sound by itself!"

"It's amazing! How can it produce such beautiful celestial music without a musician playing?"

"Miss Lin, such a divine object is probably beyond the capabilities of even the Imperial Workshops!"

The concubines formed a circle, their eyes filled with fervent reverence as they gazed at the wooden box.

Lin Wan'er could hardly hide the smug look on her face.

She forcibly suppressed the upward curve of her lips, feigning a calm, humble, and gentle demeanor.

"Your Majesties are too kind. The Ruyi Music Box was created by the most outstanding mechanical master of our time, who devoted his entire life to its creation."

"My father acquired this item from a merchant from a neighboring country by sheer chance, spending a full 100,000 taels of silver."

"I'm sharing this today just to get the ball rolling and make everyone laugh."

One hundred thousand taels of silver!

The gasps from the pavilion grew even louder as soon as the numbers were announced.

After enjoying everyone's praise, Lin Wan'er turned her attention back to Su Yaoyao.

Seeing Su Yaoyao staring blankly at the music box, Lin Wan'er sneered inwardly.

A country bumpkin is a country bumpkin.

Have you ever seen such an elegant object before?

Are you stunned by my wealth and talent?

Lin Wan'er bowed slightly and spoke the most hurtful words in the gentlest tone.

"Young lady, you've been staring at this music box for so long; you must be amazed by its ingenious mechanisms, right?"

Lin Wan'er deliberately emphasized the word "younger sister".

"Wan'er knows that her younger sister was orphaned at a young age and grew up in the black market, a place of fighting and killing."

"It's only natural that people haven't seen such rare treasures before; everyone can understand."

Upon hearing this, the women around understood immediately, covered their mouths with their handkerchiefs, and let out bursts of contemptuous laughter.

"That's right. Although Her Highness the Crown Princess is rich, it's all money stained with blood."

"She probably hasn't even touched such an elegant and divine object."

Lin Wan'er sighed, putting on the appearance of a reasonable and understanding older sister.

"If the Crown Princess really can't come up with anything decent to donate, there's no need to force her."

"If my sister feels embarrassed, Wan'er is willing to contribute a sum of money on her behalf to donate to the soldiers on the frontier."

"Consider it as saving face for my sister, the Crown Princess of the Great Yuan Kingdom."

At this point, Lin Wan'er changed the subject, deliberately revealing worry and defensiveness in her eyes.

"only……"

"This music box is extremely precious and fragile, with incredibly sophisticated internal mechanisms."

"I only ask that you step back, my dear sister, and please don't use your hands, which are used to holding swords and spears, to damage this precious item."

"If even one of the small gears is damaged, I'm afraid my sister would have to lose her entire fortune in the black market to make up for it."

Hearing the overly blatantly manipulative remarks, Su Yaoyao didn't even have the energy to roll her eyes.

She crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze passing over Lin Wan'er's face and fixed on the creaking, broken wooden box.

[That's it? It dares to call its internal mechanisms incredibly sophisticated?]

Su Yaoyao mentally ranted, her professional instincts kicking in.

The meshing of several transmission gears is all crooked, with an error margin large enough to fit a cow inside!

[They didn't even calculate the most basic reduction ratio correctly, no wonder it sounds like they're sawing a bed leg when it's turning!]

The wind-up can is as brittle as a cookie; it'll collapse after a couple more spins!

Su Yaoyao's eyes are like a ruler.

The internal structure of the music box is disassembled in detail.

However…

Su Yaoyao's eyes lit up with excitement, and a brilliant idea flashed in her mind.

[Although the mechanical structure is poorly designed, the retaining spring used to control the release of the spring is quite interesting.]

The brass gears form a time-delay linkage mechanism.

[If I just slightly adjust the meshing angle of these gears and adjust the rebound force of the retaining circlip...]

Su Yaoyao became more and more excited as she thought about it, and couldn't help but swallow.

[Stuff a handful of gunpowder under the base!]

Add a few nails and pieces of broken porcelain!

[Broken music box?]

[With just a twist of the crank, the countdown ends, and it becomes a powerful miniature timed landmine!]

[Truly an excellent weapon for murder, robbery, assassination, and demolition!]

at the same time.

Less than ten zhang away from the pavilion, behind a huge Taihu stone rockery.

Su Zhen sat imposingly on a small stool.

Holding a handful of freshly roasted caramelized melon seeds from the imperial kitchen, he skillfully cracked them open while watching the farce unfold in the distance with great interest.

Upon learning that his daughter had come to the Imperial Garden to collect protection money, the Emperor dismissed all his memorials and went to the front row to secretly watch the drama unfold.

Watching his daughter make a fool of those foolish palace women, Su Zhen felt incredibly pleased.

However, as he leisurely listened to his daughter's thoughts while munching on sunflower seeds...

One second the tyrannical father was gloating, the next second he froze completely.

Miniature timed landmines?!

Su Zhen's mind went blank for a moment, as if he could see the devastation of the Imperial Garden being bombed flat.

He had personally witnessed how this girl handled those dangerous powders!

She said that if they could turn that broken wooden box into a landmine, they could definitely blow this Imperial Garden to smithereens!

"Clatter".

Startled, Su Zhen's hand trembled, and the fragrant caramelized melon seeds in his hand spilled all over the ground.

"Retreat immediately!"

Ignoring the eunuch beside him, Su Zhen bent over and retreated into the shadow of the artificial hill.

Three steps in two.

The mighty emperor, a god of war who shook the world, skillfully located the thickest white marble pillar in the imperial garden.

He plunged in headfirst, hiding his massive body behind a pillar, covering his head with his hands as cover.

Inside the pavilion.

Faced with Lin Wan'er's mockery.

Su Yaoyao's lips curled into a cold, ruthless smile.

Take a step forward and extend your hand.

Amidst the stunned and speechless gazes of the group of women, he snatched the priceless treasure from Lin Wan'er's hand!