The day of the grand wedding.
Xianyang was deserted as thousands emptied the streets.
On the second floor of a teahouse by the roadside, several richly dressed young nobles raised their wine cups, pointing and discussing the scene below.
“Just wait—today’s going to be a good show.”
“A blacksmith’s girl? Even if she puts on phoenix robes, she’s still a blacksmith. I bet she’ll trip over her dress during the ceremony.”
“Hahaha! I’m more curious whether the Ninth Prince has gone mad—rejecting the Chancellor’s daughter for this thing instead.”
Their words triggered a wave of laughter.
News of what happened in the imperial garden had spread, but they refused to believe it.
One’s origin and bloodline were something carved into the bones.
A wedding was the peak of ritual and propriety.
At a place like this, that wild girl would surely reveal her true nature.
……
The auspicious hour arrived.
The wedding procession slowly appeared at the street corner.
The entire Vermilion Bird Avenue fell instantly silent.
No—
That wasn’t right.
The sound was wrong.
There were no earth-shaking drums, no noisy suonas.
Instead, there was a crisp, melodic, almost otherworldly sound.
Ding-dong… ding-dong…
Like spring water dripping onto jade plates, or countless small bronze bells ringing in unison.
The melody repeated and flowed, carrying an indescribable magic that drilled straight into everyone’s ears.
“What… what sound is that?”
“Immortal music… is this immortal music?”
The common people stretched their necks, faces filled with confusion.
Even the nobles in the teahouse leaned forward, setting down their cups.
The music grew closer.
At the front of the procession was Ying Ziye, riding a tall horse.
He wore a bright red wedding robe, looking imposing and extraordinary.
But everyone’s gaze passed over him and focused behind him.
There was no sedan chair.
Instead… a carriage they had never seen before.
It was drawn by six pure white horses, and the carriage itself was completely transparent on all sides.
Under the glow of the setting sun, its walls reflected a glass-like brilliance, as if carved from a giant crystal.
Through those crystal-clear walls, everyone could clearly see the figure seated inside.
Gongshu Wan wore an elaborate red wedding gown and phoenix coronet.
She sat quietly there, and the light outside made her seem as though she was glowing.
Thud.
Someone was the first to kneel.
Then, one after another, the streets on both sides collapsed into a sea of kneeling figures.
“Immortal!”
“It’s an immortal maiden descending to earth!”
“I see a crystal palace!”
The crowd frantically kowtowed, worshipping the “crystal carriage” like divine beings.
In the teahouse—
Clatter.
A noble’s wine cup slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground.
His mouth hung open—unable to utter a single word.
The others were equally frozen in place.
All their prepared ridicule, all their mockery, had become a colossal joke in this moment.
……
The procession moved forward slowly.
The sky gradually darkened.
On the highest tower of the Xianyang palace, Qin Shi Huang stood by the railing.
Behind him were Wang Jian, Meng Tian, Li Si, and the entire court.
Li Si looked at the dazzling carriage below, his face pale.
He knew his daughter had lost completely.
Wang Jian and Meng Tian exchanged a glance, both seeing the same word in each other’s eyes:
Shock.
This was not a wedding.
It was a declaration—to the entire world—that a new power had risen.
“Night is falling.”
A court official muttered softly.
“No matter how beautiful the glass is, once night falls, you can’t see it anymore.”
As soon as he spoke—
Below on the long street, Ying Ziye raised his right hand.
He snapped his fingers.
“Whoosh.”
“Whoosh, whoosh.”
On both sides of the streets, rooftops of civilian houses suddenly lit up with clusters of firelight.
Immediately after, hundreds of enormous lanterns rose into the sky, dragging long trails of flame behind them.
They climbed higher and higher, like stars being pulled upward in reverse.
The entire Vermilion Bird Avenue was illuminated as brightly as daylight by these hundreds of “suns.”
“What is that!”
“Sky lanterns! They’re sky lanterns!”
“The sky lanterns are guiding the Crown Princess!”
The kneeling commoners became even more devout.
On the city tower, the officials stood in dead silence.
Watching the sea of lanterns slowly rise, they felt their understanding of reality being shattered again and again.
……
Eastern Palace Residence.
At the banquet.
Ying Ziye and Gongshu Wan stood side by side in the center of the hall.
Beneath them was a massive circular wooden platform.
With a faint mechanical sound…
The platform began to rotate slowly.
Not only rotate—it was also rising.
The two stood as if on a lotus flower, slowly ascending under the gaze of all guests, receiving the court’s homage.
Another unprecedented sight.
Gongshu Wan looked at the blank, stunned faces of the nobles below, then turned to look at Ying Ziye beside her.
She understood.
From the crystal carriage, to the sky filled with lanterns, to this rotating ceremonial platform—
Everything was Ying Ziye’s way of telling the world:
Her status was unshakable.
Gongshu Wan’s hand, hidden within her wide sleeve, tightened slightly.
……
Late into the night.
No one in Xianyang could sleep.
Everyone looked up at the magnificent sea of lanterns in the sky.
At that moment—
When the lanterns reached their highest point…
Whoosh—!
A sharp whistle tore through the night sky.
Then—
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Hundreds of points of light exploded simultaneously across the sky!
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple…
Countless dazzling streaks of light poured down like a grand meteor shower.
In that instant, Xianyang was brighter than midday!
On the city tower—
Clang!
Qin Shi Huang’s bronze wine cup slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground.
He gripped the wall, leaning forward slightly, staring at the night sky that looked more divine than divinity itself.
Behind him, all the ministers stood frozen, mouths agape like stone statues.
【Ding!】
A mechanical voice exploded wildly in Ying Ziye’s mind.
【Detected: Host’s unprecedented grand wedding triggers technological worship, unites the people’s hearts, national fortune surges!】
【Tenfold National Fortune Critical Triggered!】
【Reward: Complete blueprint set for a power generator!】
……
Inside the bridal chamber.
Red candles flickered.
The attendants had already withdrawn.
Gongshu Wan sat slightly nervously at the edge of the bed.
Ying Ziye walked over.
He did not lift her veil.
Instead, he stopped in front of her.
Then he took out a scroll of parchment from his robes.
On the other side of the bed, he slowly spread it open.
On it was a device composed of countless coils and magnets—more complex by a hundred times than the trebuchet.
“Wife.”
Ying Ziye pointed at the blueprint, his voice carrying a hint of excitement.
“Let’s start by studying this one first.”
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