ATPnovel Chapter 115 What if I take your life?
Chapter 115 What if I take your life?
Chapter 115 What if I take your life?
With a loud boom, the preheated steel furnace exploded after the torch was thrown in. The ten strong men turned the huge blower, which, driven by gears, produced a whooshing sound and instantly turned the furnace red-hot.
A wave of heat burst forth with a "poof," causing the Vice Minister to stagger. However, he was not displeased; instead, he clapped his hands and laughed, "What a powerful heat wave! Excellent, excellent!"
At this moment, the workers shouted slogans and pushed the wooden shaft with all their might. The crucible on the blast furnace turned red in the naked eye. At this moment, Shen Gai stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "Minister, let's go down first."
Why?
Shen Gai glanced at Lin Zhou somewhat embarrassedly. Lin Zhou chuckled and said, "The workers can't keep up. This thing was originally pulled by donkeys, but we switched to people for the sake of making it more exciting."
The Vice Minister immediately understood, burst into laughter, lifted his long robe and walked down to the riverbank. He looked up again at the smoking chimney and the red-hot stove that could be seen from afar.
The group watched the dragon and lion dance from below, a lively and exciting spectacle, and chatted happily. However, they didn't talk about ideals or the future; they simply discussed some technical aspects. Lin Zhou wasn't particularly interested in this stuff and was completely lost in thought. When the Vice Minister and Shen Gai were chatting, his only role was to create a lively atmosphere, nodding and agreeing with them.
"Two steel mills, producing 400,000 catties of refined steel per month, this is a blessing for our Great Song Dynasty."
"Mmm." At this moment, Lin Zhou was thinking about how to solve the most important problem after he met Xiao'e.
"Minister Xue, the best use of refined steel right now is to make armor and forge powerful crossbows. This refined steel has excellent toughness, is not easy to rust, and is far more reliable than refined iron. If it is cast into armor, not only will the protection be better, but it will also be 30% lighter."
"Oh? Is that really so?" Minister Xue turned to look at Lin Zhou. "Young Master Lin, is that truly the case?"
"Uh-huh."
Lin Zhou was looking around, trying to see if anyone in the crowd would come and give him a heads-up, and he didn't seriously answer the Vice Minister's question.
Just then, Xu Shang quickly walked through the crowd and came to Lin Zhou, lowering his voice to a whisper: "General Niu's men brought them here, but they were intercepted by Qin Hui's men seven miles away. The two groups are currently facing off."
Upon hearing this, Lin Zhou glanced at Lu You, who nodded. Then Lin Zhou cupped his hands to the Vice Minister and said, "Your Excellency, I'm going to take a look at the workshop over there. Please excuse me."
"Go ahead. You seemed distracted from the start. If you have something to do, just go and take care of it. A young man should prioritize his career."
Lin Zhou ignored his rambling and quickly turned to leave. Once they were far away from the crowd, he and Xu Shang boarded the carriage. In the carriage, Xu Shang asked, "Are you really going to stop them? Aren't you afraid Qin Hui will blame you?"
"There's no other way. I definitely have to step in now. It wouldn't work if it were anyone else. I just need to stall for time and wait for Han Shizhong to come and help."
"Wouldn't that mean we'd offend Qin Hui to the core?"
"We'll talk about it later. We can't worry about that now. We can't just watch my dear sister get taken away by Qin Hui's men. Once she's taken away, even the Emperor himself won't be able to save her."
Xu Shang pursed his lips and remained silent, only watching the desperate look on Lin Zhou's face.
"Is there really no other way?"
"That's it." Lin Zhou said decisively, "We have no choice but to take a hard line, but it's not like there's no chance. I'll just use some sophistry later."
The carriage sped along and arrived at the Shili Pavilion. From afar, they could see a row of people from the Palace Guard standing there, with dozens of knights in Jianghuai Army armor in front of them, and behind these knights a group of children of all ages.
Among the group of people blocking his way, Lin Zhou spotted Zhang Caihu, the man who had investigated him earlier.
He wasn't surprised at all, just silently sighed, "As expected, it's him." This guy is like he's sick. Cao Wenda once said that this grandson had served in Yue Fei's army for a while, and Yue Fei even spent money to redeem his wife and daughter from the warlord's den. Yet now this guy has become the vanguard of the anti-Yue Fei movement.
Someone who even looks down on people like Cao Wenda must have some merit.
However, Lin Zhou's carriage was stopped by the guards of the Palace Guard before it could go any further. They got off the carriage, and Lin Zhou didn't waste any words. He simply shook off those people and walked forward.
The imperial guards were originally going to make the arrest, but the commotion attracted Zhang Caihu's attention. He walked up expressionlessly and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Is it any of your business?"
Lin Zhou was about to rush forward when Zhang Caihu grabbed him: "Do you know who's over there?"
"I don't care who it is, I just know my dear sister is over there."
At this moment, Xiao'e had already spotted Lin Zhou struggling with Zhang Caihu amidst the crowd, but she dared not shout, for any unusual noise they made could escalate into a chaotic battle.
"Boy! Do you know whose orders I'm here on? Don't think that just because the Prime Minister is being polite to you, you can take advantage of his favor!"
Lin Zhou stopped, turned around, and stared at Zhang Caihu: "What did you say?"
"I told you to step back. I can tolerate your usual antics, but today—"
But who knew that the next moment Lin Zhou's pistol was already pressed against his forehead? Zhang Caihu was frozen in place before he could finish his sentence. He had test-fired this thing before and knew its power. Although the accuracy was poor, the power was considerable. The key point was that at this distance, it was not a matter of accuracy. The shot would end the game.
"You want me to step back?" Lin Zhou's voice was cold. "Who are you to tell me to step back?"
Zhang Caihu raised his hands slightly, looking flustered. He didn't even dare to make a sound and could only be forced back little by little by Lin Zhou.
"What did I just say to you? I said I wanted to see my dear sister, why are you putting on airs with me? Huh? Speak up!"
'
"Calm down! We're colleagues, why turn against each other!"
Lin Zhou raised the gun butt and smacked him on the head: "Where the hell was your arrogance just now? When I was trying to reason with you nicely, didn't you think about turning against your own family? Fuck you, do you have no shame?"
At this moment, the Palace Guard had already surrounded Lin Zhou, but Zhang Caihu was even more panicked. He had already investigated Lin Zhou thoroughly and found that this guy was a complete mad dog. If he were provoked, Zhang Caihu's head would be blown off in one fell swoop.
"Brother Lin, calm down—please calm down, I'll let you pass! Please calm down."
Blood trickled from Zhang Caihu's forehead, but he didn't even dare to meet Lin Zhou's eyes directly, because back in the countryside, everyone knew that if you encountered a rabid dog on the road, you should never make eye contact with it.
Now, Lin Zhou is that mad dog.
"Brother Lin, how are you going to explain this to the Prime Minister?"
"I just want to ask my dear sister whether she is a descendant of Yue Fei, and why she kept it from me!"
Why are you blocking my way!
Lin Zhou shouted loudly, his voice even cracking, perfectly portraying a broken person who had been deceived and hurt.
Zhang Caihu's heart pounded. He glanced at Lin Zhou's bloodshot eyes and his swollen head. This was Lin Zhou's special skill: holding his breath to make his face flush red for a short time, making him look just like someone who was hot-blooded. Even the veins on his temples were clearly visible.
"Brother Lin, I'm telling you to go, go now—don't get agitated, don't get agitated, okay?"
Lin Zhou then moved the gun away from his head, but his hand was still on it. He moved backward little by little with his back to him until he was next to the cavalrymen.
The children all started calling him "brother," and Lin Zhou put his pistol away, turned around, and subtly gestured for them to be quiet.
Then he found Xiao'e in the crowd, quickly stepped forward and hugged her tightly.
"Don't rush, Commander Han's men will be here soon. Push me away now, slap me, and then call me a traitor and a lackey."
O
"Huh? Brother————"
"Do as instructed!"
Xiao'e shoved Lin Zhou away, causing him to stumble and nearly fall. Lin Zhou shouted, "Xiao'e, don't you know how I've treated you? Why didn't you tell me you were Yue Fei's daughter! You've been lying to me all along!"
"Yes!" Xiao'e's eyes were also filled with tears. She shouted in a broken voice, "I lied to you! So what? You traitorous lackey, you dare to lay a hand on me? My father was a great hero, what kind of person are you!?"
As she spoke, Xiao'e's heart was breaking. How could she bear to curse Lin Zhou? He was the only one who brought them hope when they were on the verge of collapse, the one who had struggled tirelessly to protect them. How could he be a traitor, a lackey, a villain?
"Furthermore, I am not some Xiao'e. I am Yue Fei's second daughter. After my father's death, I became Yue Yinping, the Second Miss Yue!"
Lin Zhou sat there dejectedly, while the Palace Guard's target had clearly shifted to Xiao'e. Everyone was eyeing her covetously, just waiting for Zhang Caihu's order.
"Arrest them!"
But in the blink of an eye, Lin Zhou felt a rumbling sound from the ground, and then saw two hundred cavalry rushing towards him from afar, led by Han Shizhong and an elderly general whom Lin Zhou did not recognize.
"Uncle Han—Uncle Niu—" Xiao'e burst into tears upon seeing the person who had come.
As she shouted, the children around her joined in.
At that moment, Han Shizhong was indeed shrewd and calculating, but Niu Gao couldn't hold back. As someone who came from Yue Fei's army, the faces in front of him were clearly the heroic souls of his comrades who had been persecuted in that turmoil. This old general, who was nearly sixty years old, was in tears in an instant.
"Who dares to step forward!"
Niu Gao's spear drew a line on the ground: "I'd like to see who has the guts!"
At this moment, Han Shizhong spurred his horse to Lin Zhou, looked down at him, and then calmly looked at Xiao'e and the other children: "You all come with me. With Uncle Han here, no one can touch you today."
>