The Demonic Crown Prince

"Your Highness, the Yuanzi Battalion has a total of 305 men, and all 305 men are present. Not a single one has fallen behind. Please give us your instructions."

Scarface Three, also known as Zhao Qinghuai, strode over. He was also the temporary battalion commander of the Yuanzi Battalion.

When he reached Li Yuan, he pounded his chest and said.

However, remembering that the military salute had been changed, he quickly raised his right hand and awkwardly gave a less-than-standard military salute.

All the other members of the Yuanzi Battalion looked at Li Yuan with excited eyes.

"You all stayed? Looks like none of you want to go home?"

Li Yuan asked jokingly.

"Your Highness, from this moment forward, this is our home. We are willing to protect this home and Your Highness with our lives!"

Zhao Qinghuai knelt down, cupped his hands above his head, and said excitedly.

"I'm willing to protect the prince with my life!"

Everyone knelt down and shouted loudly.

"Then stay! Remember, from this moment on, we are brothers, bound together in life and death, through thick and thin!"

If I successfully establish myself as a prince in Yanbei, each and every one of you will become an important minister in that region!

Li Yuan shouted.

"We are willing to follow the Prince, fearless of life and death!" all the fighting slaves roared.

Oh, I was wrong.

They were once fighting slaves.

But now, they are the most glorious, the warriors of the Far East Battalion!

"I hereby declare the Yuanzi Battalion officially established, and you are its first founders!"

Li Yuan waved his hand and shouted.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" All the soldiers pounded their chests excitedly and roared.

Behind Li Yuan's large tent in the distance, a pair of large, dark eyes appeared; it was Xu Shuying.

She carefully lifted the tent flap and watched in the distance as all the soldiers of the Yuan Battalion swore allegiance to Li Yuan.

This scene actually made her, a girl, feel a surge of excitement.

"I never expected that this big bastard would be so good at stirring people up."

Xu Shuying murmured to herself softly.

"Your Highness, that's not about inciting people, that's called personal charisma."

Xiao Guizi said with a smile from behind.

"Tch, he's just a big conman." Xu Shuying scoffed and lowered the curtain.

But the scene from just now kept replaying in her mind.

Those fighting slaves were all tall, strong, and fierce-looking, but who would have thought they could be subdued by him so easily? He really does have some skills.

This guy seems pretty good?

After walking around the room with her hands behind her back, Xu Shuying couldn't help but lift the curtain to look outside again. She saw that Li Yuan hadn't returned to the main tent, but instead walked towards the crafts camp next door.

"Damn it, am I really that worthless? You come back but won't even bother to look at me?"

Xu Shuying gritted her teeth and cursed inwardly.

He impatiently lowered the curtain and turned to glare at Xiao Guizi.

"Oh dear, Your Highness, why are you looking at me like that? I'm a little scared."

Xiao Gui Zi pretended to shrink back—actually, he was teasing Xu Shu Ying. After spending a few days together, he found that Xu Shu Ying was gentle, beautiful, kind-hearted, and very good to people. Having such a master was a servant's good fortune.

"Go ask him if he's coming back... Have you eaten? I cooked for myself."

Xu Shuying snorted angrily.

"Who...is he?" Xiao Gui asked with a knowing smile.

"Are you asking for a beating?" Xu Shuying stared at him with wide eyes, pretending to raise her hands.

"I understand, I understand. You mean His Highness, right? I'll go right away and tell him that His Highness the Princess Consort cooked for His Highness and asked him to come back for dinner."

Xiao Gui ran outside with a big smile.

"No, it's just that I cook for myself and bring out his portion too. And yours as well."

You little bastard, just as much of a bastard as your master.

Xu Shuying blushed and stomped her foot, cursing.

……

At this moment, Li Yuan had already arrived at the crafts camp.

Upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised.

The people Zhang Cheng brought were truly skilled craftsmen, and they even managed to learn assembly line operations without any formal instruction.

Following the established procedures, some people modified the bow, some made the idler wheel, and some made the crossbow stock...

The seventy-odd people were divided into three production lines. Each production line could assemble a crossbow in less than half an hour, and the speed increased tenfold.

In addition, Cui Dayong and his colleagues are skilled soldiers with extensive experience in the practical use of weapons, which makes them even more efficient in manufacturing weapons and allows the performance of the weapons to be tuned to the best.

In just one morning, they actually produced twelve crossbows, and the yield rate was greatly improved. Only one bow was ruined.

If things continue like this, their efficiency will improve again once they become more proficient.

It's only a matter of time before the entire army is equipped with it.

I picked up a crossbow and tested it a few times. Its rate of fire, range, and power were all excellent.

The arrows were fitted with thin wooden fins, greatly improving their accuracy. Within eighty ren (a unit of length), they could penetrate heavy armor, and within one hundred ren, they were accurate and precise, almost as accurate as feathered arrows shot from a longbow.

"Well done, I'm counting on you all. If possible, let's work overtime these next few days to prioritize equipping the entire Yuanzi Battalion!"

Li Yuan said.

"No problem!" Zhang Cheng and a group of craftsmen nodded emphatically, full of energy.

Just then, Xiao Guizi ran over and said, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort is asking if you're going back for dinner later. She's planning to cook for you."

"Did the sun rise in the west?"

Li Yuan was somewhat surprised.

"What the princess means is that, no matter what, you are husband and wife in name only... It's not good for you if word gets out that you never eat together."

Xiao Gui chuckled.

"She's actually starting to be understanding? Tsk tsk, alright, let's go back and eat. I want to try her cooking."

Li Yuan laughed heartily, knowing that the little girl had been tamed enough and was starting to learn to behave, but it still needed some more time to warm her up.

……

Half an hour later, Li Yuan sat at the table, looking at the two dishes and soup laid out on it, his eyes somewhat solemn.

He looked up at Xu Shuying and said slowly, "If you want to harm me, you can do it directly. There's no need to use such an obvious method."

"This is my first time cooking, please don't be so picky, okay?"

Xu Shuying twisted her two small hands together, looking at him with a mixture of shame and anger.

"Your first time is a little scary... What is this?"

Li Yuan looked at the charred black dish on the left, took a deep breath, and asked.

"This is stir-fried okra. I just didn't control the heat well and it burned a bit. But it's still delicious, it'll definitely taste good."

Xu Shuying's pretty face flushed slightly as she spoke softly.

From a young age, Xu Rui raised her as a beauty to be used in a political marriage. She was trained in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but she was never allowed to cook or do any manual labor. This was the first time she had ever cooked.

"What about this?" Li Yuan pointed to the dish on the right, which was a sticky, large dumpling that was completely unrecognizable.

"This is shredded pork with garlic sauce. I followed the instructions of the cooks brought by the artisans, and I even added a cornstarch slurry. However, I added too much cornstarch, and it didn't break up properly. It turned into a meat and vegetable dumpling, but it should still taste good."

Xu Shuying blushed even more.

"...And what about this?" Li Yuan asked again, looking at the four whole boiled eggs in their shells and a few scattered spinach leaves in the bowl.

"Yes, it's egg and spinach soup. I didn't know that before; you have to peel and beat the eggs..."

Xu Shuying almost dared not look up.

That's so embarrassing.

But if she didn't cook, she couldn't find any other reason to see Li Yuan.

Huh, why do I have to see that damn person?