At the entrance of the small courtyard where Jin Feng was temporarily staying, several guards immediately went on high alert.
Two of them gripped their crossbows tightly.
If anything seemed wrong, they would fire a signal arrow at once.
“It is me!”
Qin stepped out from the darkness.
Recognising Qin, the guards relaxed.
But the ones holding crossbows still kept their fingers on the triggers.
“Miss Qin, why have you come so late?”
The guard captain asked.
“Her Highness has something to discuss with sir.”
“Her Highness?”
The guards turned and indeed saw the ninth princess approaching together with Zhu Er.
Leaving aside the ninth princess’s status, just considering her relationship with Jin Feng, the guards could not possibly block her.
But the guard captain thought for a moment and said, “Your Highness, please forgive us. It is really very late. Allow me to check if sir is asleep?”
Only then did the guards step aside to let them in.
“You all wait at the entrance.”
Qin was about to lose her temper when the door behind them opened.
Jin Feng walked out. He gave the ninth princess a puzzled glance first, then said to the guards, “Brother Wei, let them in.”
Qin and Zhu Er both responded and closed the door for Jin Feng. Then the two of them walked out of the small courtyard together and stood guard at the gate with the other escorts.
The wooden houses were all temporary structures and quite simple.
The ninth princess turned back to give an instruction, then walked into the room herself.
“Yes!”
Before the ninth princess could sit down, Jin Feng anxiously asked.
In his view, the ninth princess must have something extremely urgent. Otherwise she would not visit in the middle of the night.
Upon entering was a reception and office hall. Inside was a bedroom less than ten square metres. That was all.
“Your Highness came so late. Is there some urgent matter?”
Jin Feng could not help but be stunned.
Great Kang had strict etiquette. Not to mention a princess, even an ordinary girl visiting a man at night to chat was improper.
But the ninth princess was unhurried. She casually sat at the table and smiled. “There is no urgent matter. I simply could not sleep. I saw the light still on in sir’s room and wanted to come chat with sir.”
“Come chat with me?”
The ninth princess pulled out a sheet of paper from the table.
The paper was densely covered with drawings and various markings. Unfortunately the ninth princess could not understand any of it.
Jin Feng did not say much either. He casually found a topic. “It really was quite noisy outside earlier. I could not sleep at all, so I simply got up to draw some plans.”
“What is sir drawing?”
“Wait a moment. I will show you something!”
As Jin Feng spoke, he moved over the small stove used for boiling water, then placed the small kettle on it.
When it came to the drawings, Jin Feng immediately became energetic. He pulled over a stool and sat to the left of the ninth princess. Excitedly he said, “Your Highness, let me tell you, this is something extremely powerful!”
“How powerful is it?”
The ninth princess had been somewhat listless at first, but hearing about “witnessing a miracle”, she could not help but perk up. She followed Jin Feng’s finger and looked at the kettle lid.
Puff!
He pulled open the vent. The water in the kettle soon boiled.
Jin Feng found a wooden stopper and plugged the spout. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Your Highness, the moment to witness the miracle has arrived!”
Jin Feng rubbed his hands excitedly.
“Quite interesting.”
The kettle lid was pushed up by the steam.
“Haha, interesting, right?”
Compared to the kettle lid, the ninth princess more wanted to open Jin Feng’s skull and see if there was iron inside his brain.
Even though Jin Feng was quite dense, he could tell the ninth princess was being perfunctory. He quickly explained, “Your Highness, do not underestimate this thing. If used properly, it can change the entire pattern of the world!”
The ninth princess nodded cooperatively, but her face was full of disappointment.
After all this fuss, the miracle Jin Feng spoke of was this…
“Your Highness, this is a physical phenomenon. Once I make the real thing, you will understand!”
Jin Feng said, “When the time comes, install this on a ship. It will only take three or four days to return from the East Sea to Sichuan!”
“A small kettle can change the pattern of the world?”
The ninth princess felt Jin Feng was talking even more nonsense.
Jin Feng said to install this kettle on a ship and return in three or four days. Was that not pure fabrication?
But she knew Jin Feng’s character. If he said such words, it meant he already had great confidence.
The ninth princess’s expression became serious again.
The distance from the East Sea to Sichuan was thousands of miles, and the entire route was against the current. Salt merchants usually took several months to transport salt back once.
Jin Feng pulled out one sheet from the pile of drawings and pointed while explaining to the ninth princess.
This sheet was a conceptual diagram, quite vivid. Combined with Jin Feng’s explanation, the ninth princess quickly understood the basic principle of the steam engine.
“Sir, is this kettle really that powerful?”
“Of course this kettle is not enough. It needs to be enlarged and improved…”
In his previous life, in the 18th century, European steam engines were still in the exploratory stage. Ships equipped with steam engines could reach speeds of over ten knots per hour.
With Jin Feng’s mechanical knowledge, he could absolutely surpass the engineers of that time.
“This thing has immense power and never tires. Use it to propel a ship, and it can easily cover dozens of miles in one hour. In a day, that would be hundreds of miles, even over a thousand!”
Jin Feng said, “When I say three or four days to return, that is already conservative. If there is an urgent matter, two days and two nights might be enough!”
“It really is too miraculous!”
After listening, the ninth princess sighed in admiration. “I truly hope to see sir create such a divine object!”
The steam engine he produced would definitely be more advanced than those in Europe at the time.
If he only pursued speed, Jin Feng could even make faster ones.
“By this time next year…”
A trace of disappointment appeared on the ninth princess’s face.
“Do not worry. I have already asked Man Cang to improve the machine tools. At the latest, by this time next year, I can produce the steam engine!”
Jin Feng said confidently.
Deep in the night, with a man and a woman alone, Jin Feng’s heart beat uncontrollably faster by two beats.
Perhaps to cover his embarrassment, he asked without thinking, “Why are you staring at me like that? In the middle of the night, it is a bit creepy.”
But Jin Feng was looking at the drawings and did not notice.
When Jin Feng looked up, the disappointment on the ninth princess’s face had already vanished. She was simply staring blankly at Jin Feng.
At this point, even someone as dense as Jin Feng finally understood what the ninth princess meant.
But he did not move.
As a result, just as his words fell, his hand was grabbed by the ninth princess again.
The ninth princess stood up with her head lowered and pulled Jin Feng towards the inner bedroom.
He believed that the ninth princess would eventually be his.
But he had not expected this day to come so quickly, so suddenly.
His relationship with the ninth princess had never crossed the final boundary. Every time they reached the last moment, the ninth princess would stop him.
Jin Feng did not want to force her, so he never insisted.
The ninth princess saw that Jin Feng did not move and pulled harder twice. But Jin Feng still stood motionless in place.
“Sir, what do you mean by this?” The ninth princess turned her head, both shy and angry.
“Wuyang, are you hiding something from me?”
