Ever since the bandit suppression campaign ended, Jin Feng had been searching for Mr Feng, but he never found him.
Later, Mr Feng orchestrated the encirclement at Wulang Mountain, luring Jin Feng, the main force of the escort agency, and the prefectural troops from Jinchuan Prefecture all to Wulang Mountain.
All the elaborate effort was solely to assassinate the Ninth Princess.
Yet he had not expected the bandits in Qingshan County to be so feeble. Several thousand bandits failed to hold out even for a single day before Jin Feng routed them, allowing Jin Feng and Qing Muluan to reach the Ninth Princess in time.
Even so, Mr Feng still refused to give up.
To ensure nothing could go wrong, he had prepared several backup plans. If the river bandits failed, there would be wave after wave of further assassination attempts.
The battle at Little Mountain Peak was merely one of them.
With the main escort force and the prefectural troops from Guangyuan and Jinchuan all drawn away, even if Jin Feng collected the Ninth Princess, it would be difficult for them to reach Xihe Bay alive.
Who would have thought Jin Feng would take the Ninth Princess to the saltworks, waiting there until the main escort force rejoined them before setting off again.
In fact, right up until Mr Feng sent men to besiege Qing Muluan, Jin Feng had not imagined he would be bold enough to attempt to assassinate a princess.
After piecing together all the threads, Jin Feng was stunned.
Mr Feng’s scheming ran far too deep, with plan within plan.
The Ninth Princess had survived until now purely by luck.
Had they not happened to meet Guan Zhuzi, had the Qingshan County bandits held out for just one more day, had the escorts not recognised the spy, had Jin Feng, after collecting her, chosen to return directly to Xihe Bay instead of going to the saltworks, the Ninth Princess would already be dead.
Afterwards, the intelligence teams of Zhong Ming, the Ninth Princess, and Qing Xinyao all operated at full stretch, trying to locate Mr Feng.
Unfortunately, Mr Feng had the protection of the Dangxiang people, and they could not find even the slightest clue.
With no other choice, Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess devised the current ploy.
They not only sent escorts disguised as labourers, but also mobilised a large number of undercover agents, completely sealing all routes leading to the Dangxiang territory.
Qing Xinyao even dispatched a river navy to blockade the Jialing River. As long as Mr Feng remained in Xichuan, he would sooner or later be flushed out.
After tidying up the battlefield, night had already fallen. It was too late to reach the post station, so the Ninth Princess ordered the troops to camp on the spot.
While the prefectural soldiers were setting up camp, Zhuer returned.
“Your Highness, the captives are all Dangxiang pawns. They only knew they were to ambush Your Highness here. They have no idea where the warhorses came from,” Zhuer reported, then added, “Also, the escorts who searched the woods discovered two trebuchets.”
“They really spared no expense!”
The Ninth Princess had already guessed the captives were Dangxiang expendables, but she had not expected the enemy to bring trebuchets. “Did they build the trebuchets themselves?”
The Ninth Princess had always been furious about trebuchet technology leaking to the Dangxiang.
But what was done was done. Once technology leaked, it could never be taken back.
“No, when they reached the woods, the trebuchets were already there,” Zhuer answered.
“Thank goodness the scouts spotted them in time. If we had walked within range of those trebuchets, we would have been in real danger this time,” Qing Muluan said, still feeling a lingering fear.
“They certainly know how to pick a spot. This wood lies on our only route, and after just coming down from the mountains, everyone would naturally lower their guard and be utterly exhausted. It is the perfect place for an ambush,” the Ninth Princess observed, looking around. “I actually thought they would strike while we were still in the mountains.”
On the way down, she had deliberately ordered a one-hour rest at the foot of the mountain, precisely to invite an attack.
Yet the Dangxiang had not ambushed them there, choosing this place instead.
This area belonged to Mianzhu Commandery. That very night, the prefect of Mianzhu Commandery hurried over with five hundred prefectural troops.
The Ninth Princess could no longer trust the Guangyuan prefectural troops, so the next morning she replaced them, ordering Captain Xiao to lead them back to await punishment.
The official road was muddy, and the Ninth Princess’s column moved very slowly.
Fortunately, the prefect of Mianzhu had brought more troops, who could help the labourers push the carts. Otherwise, they would not have been able to move at all.
While the Ninth Princess and her party struggled forward, Jin Feng was not idle back in Xihe Bay.
After more than ten days of effort, Jin Feng finally settled on the raw material ratios for several common types of glass and successfully produced flat glass.
Having lived and eaten in the glass workshop for the past fortnight, he could at last take a break.
He went home, enjoyed a thorough bath, slept beautifully, and early the next morning strolled over to the smelting workshop.
The moment he entered, he noticed a new iron frame inside the workshop.
He saw a female worker turning a winch arm on one side of the frame, moving a piece of iron ore.
The ore weighed at least several hundred jin, yet the woman lifted it effortlessly.
Once she had positioned the ore, Jin Feng quickly walked over and examined the iron frame from all sides.
Normally, the iron ore bought for the smelting workshop came in small pieces of a few dozen jin. Large chunks like this were rare.
The finished products were also generally not very heavy, so Jin Feng had never built lifting equipment. When something heavy needed moving, a few people simply lifted it together.
But the iron frame the woman was using not only had a winch arm, it was fitted with a gear train. Though very basic, it was already the prototype of a hoist. With very little force, heavy objects could be raised.
“Who made this?” Jin Feng asked, pointing at the frame. “Was it Man Cang?”
Man Cang had suffered hardship and was disabled, so he felt deep gratitude for his current life. He worked extremely diligently, always completing whatever Jin Feng asked to the best of his ability.
He managed the smelting workshop and trained the female apprentices with great care.
Unfortunately, Man Cang’s talent was limited. He learned quickly enough, but he lacked creativity. He absorbed what Jin Feng taught and did exactly what he was told, rarely showing initiative.
Nobody is perfect, and Jin Feng was already very satisfied with Man Cang.
Of course, it would be even better if he ever had a breakthrough.
“Replying to Master, it was not Master Man Cang. It… it was my younger brother who showed me how to make it!”
The woman feared Jin Feng would be angry that she had wasted iron, so she hurriedly explained, “Master, these iron pipes can still be taken apart and reused. As for these gears… you can deduct them from my wages later.”
“Why would we dismantle something so useful?”
Jin Feng reassured her. “Don’t worry, we won’t deduct anything from your wages. On the contrary, your brother deserves a reward!”
“Thank you, Master!”
The woman had worked with Jin Feng many times and knew he kept his word, so her worries vanished at once.
“Your brother must be very capable to build this.”
“Yes, my brother is really clever.”
Hearing Jin Feng praise her brother made her happier than being praised herself. She smiled and said, “When he was three, he could already read characters. By five, he was reading books. He’s just very quiet and doesn’t like talking. All day long he holds a stick and draws and writes on the ground. None of us know what he’s drawing.”
“A little genius, then. Where is your brother? Bring him here so I can meet him.”
Jin Feng asked with a smile.
This lad sounded exactly like an engineering type. If his character was good, Jin Feng could consider taking him on as an apprentice.
“My brother is at Iron Pot Mountain. I’ll ask Master Man Cang for leave right now and bring him over.”
The woman said happily.
