After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

"...Aci!"

Mo Yan's eyes widened in fury, his body frozen in place: "Put it down immediately!"

The arrowheads were sharp, and he even had them coated with a potent poison during the initial design phase, just in case they injured Aci…

"I won't go over there, just put the arrow down!"

Chu Junci didn't reply, his gaze still fixed on him: "Mo Yan, go back."

"..."

His lips trembled as Mo Yan gripped the reins tightly, "Aci..."

The two stared at each other silently, and in the end, Mo Yan gave in.

He pushed himself back a few steps in the snow, moving further away from the boundary line.

Ahead of him, Aci sheathed the arrow, turned and rode away without looking back, just like that day...

The image of that person's back overlapped with the one he saw today, causing Mo Yan's throat to itch, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

His wound reopened, and his clothes were stained red with blood. His obsession of many days vanished overnight, and he suddenly fell off his horse.

He fell heavily to the ground, his ears ringing and his vision going black, but he refused to close his eyes.

A tear slid down his cheek, stained with blood, and he silently uttered: "Aci..."

"His Majesty!"

It seemed like many people were calling him, but Mo Yan couldn't hear them clearly. His eyelids felt unusually heavy, and he couldn't help but close his eyes.

Blood stained the soil beneath him, and he lay there lifeless.

Inside the city of Yong, King Chu dismounted, and Yuan Jin murmured beside him, "Your Majesty, you've finally returned."

"A-Li misses you very much."

"I know."

Patting Yuan Jin on the shoulder, Chu Junci chuckled, "You and A Li..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Jin's face instantly turned red. "Your Majesty, please don't tease me."

"We will rest in the city tonight, and tomorrow I will escort Your Majesty back to the capital."

"it is good."

Chu Junci had no objection and instructed, "Ajin, you must take good care of the soldiers who followed me back to Yong from Zhao."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The two then exchanged a few more words. Seeing that Chu Junci looked tired, Yuan Jin led him to a side room: "The border is poor and harsh, Your Majesty has suffered."

"It's alright."

The side room was extremely clean and was the best room in the city.

Sitting at the table, Chu Junci made himself a cup of tea. "Go ahead and do your work. You don't need to stay here all the time."

"But A-Li instructed me to stay by Your Majesty's side at all times."

"..."

Chu Junci glanced at him: "It seems that my decree carries less weight than A Li's words."

"...Brother Ci, please stop scaring me."

Yuan Jin scratched his head, he was bad at talking, "You know that's not what I meant."

Chu Junci smiled and said, "Alright, keep watch."

Pushing a cup of tea towards Yuan Jin, Chu Junci spoke like a friendly older brother: "Has anything happened in the capital lately?"

"It's just the same few senior officials who rely on their age and status."

Yuan Jin curled his lip: "Although A Li kept the news of Ci Ge's disappearance a secret, some people are still making trouble."

"But they're almost dead anyway, so they can't cause any more trouble."

"Ah Li, you've had a tough time these past few days," Chu Junci sighed.

A-Li was pampered and carefree since childhood. His biggest worry every day was what to eat for dinner. Suddenly, he was asked to shoulder such a big responsibility, and Chu Junci felt guilty.

His expression was too obvious, so Yuan Jin comforted him, "Brother Ci, don't think like that. Blame Mo Yan. If it weren't for him, Brother Ci wouldn't have been gone for so long."

Mentioning Mo Yan, Yuan Jin said indignantly, "Brother Ci, you have no idea, that bastard Mo Yan even threatened A Li!"

"Huh? What happened?"

Chu Junci only knew that Mo Yan had sent troops to press on the border, but he did not know the specifics of what had happened.

Yuan Jin got angry just thinking about it, and he drank several cups of tea before standing up, still indignant.

"More than half a month ago, Mo Yan suddenly sent an envoy, saying that A Li had to hand over the Snow Lotus, or he would attack us."

"But the Snow Lotus was left to Ci-ge by the late Emperor and the Regent! How can it be given to that scoundrel Mo Yan?"

"A-Li originally wanted to stall for time, but he never expected that Mo Yan would directly send troops to garrison the border, which was clearly a threat to us."

"Left with no other choice, A-Li had to ask Zhao Kingdom to exchange it for treasures of equal value and agree to let us participate in the hunt."

"Of course, A-Li gave him a fake snow lotus, so Brother Ci doesn't need to worry."

"..."

Chu Junci listened silently, then asked, "What treasure did the Zhao Kingdom use to exchange for the snow lotus?"

"It's a blueprint for a crossbow, supposedly a newly improved version from the Zhao Kingdom."

"show me."

"Brother Ci, please wait a moment, I'll go get it now."

"Um."

While waiting for Yuan Jin, Chu Junci got up and went to the window. Red plum blossoms were planted outside the courtyard. Looking at the plum blossoms, he vaguely remembered the green plum tree.

Green plum blossoms are rare, which gives them a unique charm.

"Brother Ci".

Yuan Jin appeared with the blueprints. "This was sent by A Li a few days ago. The original is still in Kyoto."

"It's alright."

Unfolding the blueprints, Chu Junci examined them closely and quickly noticed something amiss.

He had seen the blueprints in Mo Yan's study and later touched the actual object in the training ground, so he discovered the error in the blueprints almost at a glance.

Pointing to one of the mechanisms, he said, "This isn't right."

"Um?"

Yuan Jin also glanced sideways: "When the blueprints were first delivered, I also felt something was wrong, but I just couldn't pinpoint what was wrong."

"After all, how could Mo Yan be so kind?"

Yuan Jin was extremely dissatisfied with Mo Yan, and almost every word he said was laced with barbs. Chu Junci listened silently without saying anything.

After a while, he corrected the mistakes, and then put down his brush.

"Send the new blueprints back to the palace and have A-Li give them to the craftsmen so that a batch can be made as soon as possible."

"Yes."

"besides……"

He continued, "Keep searching for skilled craftsmen and pool everyone's resources. One day, we will be able to develop new types of weapons."

The State of Zhao surpassed the State of Yong in weapon development. After ascending the throne, Chu Junci secretly sent people to find skilled craftsmen. However, the State of Yong valued literature, and there were far more people who read classical Chinese texts than those who studied mechanical arts.

Once upon a time, their Yong Kingdom was also the most powerful nation, but later...

Recalling the past, Chu Junci's face showed displeasure, and he did not want to think about it anymore.

Yuan Jin left with his orders. Chu Junci drank another cup of tea and was about to get up when he suddenly stopped.

His gaze fixed on one spot, his pupils contracted sharply, and his heart raced.

No, it's not possible...

He thought to himself.

One breath, two breaths later, the strange feeling finally subsided, but Chu Junci remained unable to recover for a long time.

He stood there, his breathing becoming heavier.

"...Brother Ci?"

He didn't know how much time had passed when he heard Yuan Jin's voice, "Brother Ci, what's wrong?"

"...It's alright."

Sitting down in the chair, Chu Junci tried his best to calm himself down. "Have you given all the instructions?"

"Yes, as instructed by Brother Ci, I have sent two teams. I expect to hear back in a few days."