TNIBFT -Chapter 281 Do You Know Gunpowder?

The murmuring crowd suddenly fell silent, their surprised gazes shifting toward Ye Tian and Zhu Zhongyi.

Zhu Zhongyi, who had originally stayed out of the matter, felt everyone’s eyes on him. His already dark complexion flushed an even deeper shade of red. Expressionless, he said, “I’ll go take a look later.”

Ye Tian nodded. “Today, or tomorrow at the latest—you must get it done!”

“This concerns our very survival. With that thing in hand, even if the Liang army arrives, we can at least bluff them for a while.”

“Got it.”

Zhu Zhongyi’s tone remained lukewarm, neither respectful nor cold.

At a time like this, Ye Tian was still thinking about these strange, bizarre things. Zhu Zhongyi had always felt that Ye Tian was useless—no matter what he did, there were always people willing to risk their lives to help him.

And Ye Tian himself? He couldn’t even truss a chicken, yet he enjoyed the fruits of everyone else’s labor.

If not for his father, he wouldn’t have continued following Ye Tian at all.

Standing nearby, Zhu Heyu frowned deeply. With everyone present, it wasn’t appropriate to scold his son openly, but seeing his son’s attitude toward the young lord made him itch to beat him.

Zhu Heyu shot Zhu Zhongyi a glare, then stepped forward and clasped his fists. “Your Highness, this child has always been like this. I’ll make sure to discipline him later!”

“In my opinion, since he’s idle all day, we might as well send Zhongyi to the Liang military camps. I know that some of the Ye family’s former personal guards have already become commanders in various places. Perhaps, out of gratitude to the Great General, they won’t stand by and watch us die.”

The moment he said this, hope lit up on everyone’s faces.

Fang Shenghu said, “I’ll go with Zhongyi. We can look out for each other on the way.”

Zhao Kang let out a breath of relief and looked at Ye Tian. “This might be our only option.”

“I’ll go back and take inventory of the provisions, but the situation isn’t optimistic. The grain in the warehouse will only last the entire city—on strict rations—for a little over ten days,” Tao Lichun said helplessly.

The atmosphere in the hall grew heavy.

Ye Tian looked toward Feng Jiaojiao. In the original story, there was definitely more than an ordinary relationship between Feng Jiaojiao and Lin Xianzhong. But where exactly the issue lay, Ye Tian still didn’t know. From the moment he became city lord, he had understood the storm that awaited him. To deal with Lin Xianzhong, he had already made two preparations.

“Sister Feng, you should go rest first,” Ye Tian said.

Feng Jiaojiao put down the rag in her hand and stood up. “I was just about to leave anyway. You said it was fine before, but now that you’re discussing serious matters, a woman like me can’t be of much help.”

She wiped her hands on her apron and turned to head into the kitchen.

Now only Ye Tian’s trusted aides remained in the hall.

Ye Tian looked at them. “The fact that those Ye family guards left back then means they already made their choice.”

“They won’t come back now just to die.”

His words turned everyone’s faces grim. It was a reality they had to accept—though in desperate times, they still clung to a sliver of hope.

“To forge iron, one must be strong oneself.”

“Zhongyi doesn’t need to go anywhere. Just focus on completing the task I assigned.”

“As for provisions—once we take down Lin Xianzhong, the grain in Lindong City will be enough to last us a year or more.”

Ye Tian casually leaned back into his reclining chair, gently rocking. The chair creaked rhythmically—creak, creak.

Everyone exchanged uncertain glances.

Was Ye Tian being too optimistic?

Even if Sun Wuji was unrivaled under heaven, he couldn’t fight sixty thousand men alone!

“Do you know what gunpowder is?” Ye Tian asked tentatively.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, completely baffled.

This was a world of cold weapons. Some even cultivated internal energy—true qi, protective force—pursuing the limits of the human body to become stronger. Never had there been any weapon of massive destructive power.

Tao Lichun swallowed hard, suddenly realizing something. He looked at Ye Tian and said, “So… the reason you had Zhu Zhongyi take all the weapons from the armory… was to make this ‘gunpowder’?”

“And as for Xie Jinnan—he’s been staying indoors and refusing to meet anyone these past days. Could it also be related to this gunpowder?”

Ye Tian nodded.

Tao Lichun nodded in relief. “Ever since you became city lord, you’ve been buying ironware at high prices. So you were preparing for this all along.”

“I was overthinking it.”

In Sifang City, to prevent unrest among criminals, ordinary citizens were not allowed to use iron tools. Iron was rarely seen in the city. Shi Shanxiang and his son had been traveling all over Great Liang—partly to expand their pharmacies, and partly to procure ironware for Ye Tian.

The others looked at Tao Lichun, still confused and unable to piece things together.

Ye Tian said, “As long as the gunpowder succeeds, you’ll understand what real warfare means. We have fewer people and weaker strength, so we have no choice but to rely on these things.”

“Tomorrow—everything will be revealed tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded with full confidence and said nothing more.

Only Zhu Zhongyi remained indifferent, standing among the crowd like an outsider.

…

At that moment, on the snowy plains—

A biting north wind swept across the land, lifting snow into the air. Fine grains of snow fell steadily onto a woman’s head.

She had already been waiting here for half a day.

When she saw a large troop slowly advancing from the distance, the woman reached up and tousled her hair, making it appear messy. Someone behind her said, “Young Palace Master, with your beauty, you’re even more stunning than Feng Jiaojiao. That brute Lin Xianzhong would definitely obey your every word once he sees you.”

Jiang Yunxi’s eyes were filled with disdain as a faint smile curved her lips. “That’s why you’ll never become a top assassin.”

“Know your enemy and know yourself, and you’ll win every battle.”

“Get ready!”

“He’s coming!”

Her voice dropped low. Seizing the moment, Jiang Yunxi—now dressed in tattered, patch-covered clothes—ran across the snow, with several vicious Sifang City guards chasing after her.

The snow was deep. With every step, her foot sank down to her knees, making her frail body appear even more pitiful. Her face was filled with terror, tears streaming down her cheeks as she cried out for help:

“Help me!”

“Soldiers, please save me! If they catch me, I’ll surely die!”

Her delicate face was streaked with tears and fear. Clutching one soldier’s arm like it was her last lifeline, she refused to let go.

“Let go!”

“Who are you? How dare you!”

Someone shouted angrily.

Jiang Yunxi shrank back, trembling and sobbing. She was mercilessly kicked away, curling up on the snowy ground. The Sifang City guards approached with lecherous grins. One of them said:

“Many thanks, officers!”

“This woman is wanted by our city lord. If she escapes, we brothers won’t be able to answer for it!”

“But you… are you the army of Great Zhou?”

The guards in dark red uniforms grew wary as they spoke, drawing their blades and preparing to flee.

Whoosh!
Whoosh!

Arrows suddenly cut through the air. The fleeing guards collapsed onto the ground, their blood staining the snow beneath them.

Jiang Yunxi, still in her ragged clothes, knelt on the ground. “Thank you, officers, for saving my life!”

“I have no way to repay such kindness…”

The middle-aged man on horseback, clad in armor and exuding the aura of a fierce tiger, narrowed his eyes as he looked at her and said in a booming voice:

“Unknown origin. Execute her.”

“Yes, sir!”

At once, someone stepped forward and looped a riding whip tightly around Jiang Yunxi’s slender neck.