Chapter 18: Sister, open your eyes and look at me
With any normal emperor, he would probably have collapsed to the floor by now, his face drained of color as he frantically summoned the Imperial Guard to protect him.
But Su Zhen was not normal.
The Tyrant of Dayuan rose calmly to his feet and smoothed the wrinkles from his robe.
He rubbed his clean-shaven chin, and an indescribable excitement flashed through his deep-set eyes.
Blow up the Hall of Supreme Polarity?
Would this finally give those civil officials who argued in court every day and gave him a headache a change of scenery?
Su Zhen looked at the Crown Prince, who was doing a full split on the floor, then at Su Yaoyao, who sat by the bed with an expression of utter calm.
“Ten carts of black powder. That’s quite a lot.”
Su Zhen spoke in a deep, steady voice.
“If it went off inside the hall, at least half the imperial palace would collapse.”
He turned his head toward Su Yaoyao, his eyes asking a question.
The moment Su Yaoyao heard “ten carts of black powder,” her entire being perked up.
Her bright, sparkling peach-blossom eyes lit up like tiny lightbulbs, blazing with greed.
[Holy crap! Ten carts of black powder?!]
[I wasn’t hearing things, was I? When you’re sleepy, someone really does send you a pillow!]
Su Yaoyao screamed inwardly, while the abacus beads in her mind clicked furiously, throwing off sparks.
[I was just worrying that the ancient steelmaking process was progressing too slowly, and I still couldn’t get the propellant for my Gatling gun worked out!]
[These villains are actually amazing. Wow, they’re being so considerate.]
[If I can get my hands on all ten carts of black powder, then I’ll have more than enough of the raw materials needed to build a hand-cranked Gatling gun, won’t I?!]
[By then, I won’t have just one gun. I’ll be able to assemble an entire mobile artillery position!]
[Forget one Hall of Supreme Polarity—even blasting a hole through the city wall would be a piece of cake!]
Hearing Su Yaoyao’s passionate battle plans, the smile on Su Zhen’s face grew even wider.
His usually cold features now held a trace of something else...
The satisfaction of a proud father.
His precious daughter truly had lofty ambitions.
A heaven-sent military supplies gift pack—refusing it would be inviting a lightning strike.
Su Zhen strode over to Su Jin, who was still stuck in his split, and looked down at him.
“You heard her.”
“Since they’ve prepared so many wonderful things for us, wouldn’t it be rude of us, as the hosts, not to go inspect the delivery? We’d be letting all their hard work go to waste.”
Su Jin remained kneeling on the floor, questioning his entire existence.
He looked at his glowing pink hands, then at this father-and-daughter pair who refused to follow any normal script.
He wondered if he was still dreaming—or if the poison had damaged his brain.
Was this how a family was supposed to react?
This was treason!
A crime punishable by the extermination of the entire clan!
Why were they acting so excited?!
“Wait... Father, Little Sister...”
Su Jin clawed at his hair in despair, his normally icy voice weak and listless.
“That’s ten carts of gunpowder! There are also countless flammable arrows and barrels of oil mixed in!”
“Once it goes off, forget the imperial palace—the entire capital will suffer!”
Su Yaoyao had no time for this sheltered brother who had clearly never seen the world.
She hopped down from the bed, ran over barefoot, and generously patted Su Jin’s stiff shoulder.
“Brother, your perspective is too narrow.”
Su Yaoyao shook her head with complete seriousness. Her little-adult expression made the corner of Su Jin’s eye twitch violently.
“When it comes to life, the most important thing is to broaden your horizons.”
“They’re preparing to blow us up, which means they’re delivering materials to us.”
“Not only are we going to accept the entire shipment, we’re going to teach them a lesson in return.”
Su Yaoyao turned to Su Zhen. The two exchanged a glance.
Their eyes held exactly the same expression—
the greedy excitement of predators.
Father and daughter reached a tacit understanding without saying a word.
It was benevolent to the point of being terrifying.
Su Yaoyao turned back and flashed her foolish brother a dazzling smile.
“Brother, instead of standing here looking like someone died, why don’t we go rob a road together?”
“Don’t worry. As long as you stick with your little sister, I guarantee you’ll see enough gunpowder, steel, and rare ores to make your eyes spin.”
“And I still have plenty of good stuff in my laboratory.”
“Powders that make people dance, candies that make people tell the truth, incense that makes people repeat themselves on the spot—I guarantee every day will be thrilling!”
The corner of Su Jin’s mouth twitched even harder.
Stick with her?
Test poisons every day?
He looked at Su Yaoyao’s adorable, delicately sculpted face, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head.
He was a pervert! A killer! A living King of Hell!
He was not a lab rat!
He wanted to refuse. He wanted to preserve the last scraps of his stubborn dignity.
But when he met Su Zhen’s intensely warning gaze and Su Yaoyao’s expectant eyes, Su Jin lowered his head tearfully.
His voice was barely louder than a mosquito’s.
“...Fine.”
The moment her brother agreed, Su Yaoyao’s smile blossomed.
She charged back to the space beneath the bed and rummaged through the pile of miscellaneous junk.
Before long, she dragged out two sets of black, gleaming night clothes.
The fabric was of exceptional quality, giving off a faint, nonslip, antistatic sheen.
Su Yaoyao flung the larger set of night clothes at Su Jin’s face, which was still glowing Barbie pink.
“Put it on.”
Her command was crisp and decisive.
Su Jin caught the clothes and stared at the night outfit with his sparkling pink eyes.
His dignity, already shattered into dust, let out one final wail.
“Change clothes?!”
Su Jin clutched the outfit.
“Little Sister, open your eyes and look at me!”
“I’m glowing from head to toe!”
“No matter what kind of night clothes I put on, it won’t make any difference!”
Su Jin was almost laughing from sheer exasperation.
If he went outside like this, every rat within a ten-mile radius would be dazzled into hibernating early.
Seeing that Su Jin was on the verge of breaking down, a mischievous glint flashed through Su Yaoyao’s eyes.
She slowly bent down and pulled another incredibly sturdy black sack from beneath the bed.
Inside it, she had stuffed thick layers of specially made light-blocking fabric.
“If you’re glowing, then just cover it up.”
Without changing expression, Su Yaoyao pulled the enormous black sack over Su Jin’s head.
She considerately adjusted the two eyeholes she had cut into it.
“It’s fine. Once you put the sack on, no one will be able to see you.”
“As long as you don’t speak, no one will know who you are.”
Su Jin stared at the large black sack in front of him, which smelled faintly of mildew.
Somewhere deep inside him, he heard something snap.
That something was called dignity.
That something was called the dignity of the imperial family.
He, the dignified Crown Prince, was actually going to wear a torn sack over his head one day?
Su Yaoyao gave Su Jin no time to refuse. She changed into her night clothes and fastened a homemade grenade to her waist.
“Stop dawdling, my dear brother.”
She dragged another handcart out from beneath the bed. It was neatly stacked with all kinds of bizarre equipment.
“Our target tonight is the Black Wind Stronghold, reputed to have defenses as solid as a fortress.”
“If we’re late, they’ll have moved all the gunpowder away.”
“Then not only will you fail to earn any credit, you won’t even get the chance to assist me!”
Su Yaoyao expertly pushed the handcart and strode toward the door.
She left Su Jin with only a resolute back to look at.
Su Jin drew a deep breath. Even though he desperately wanted to bash his head against the wall and end it all, he could only resign himself to fate and tug at the black sack over his head.
He staggered to his feet, the pink glow covering his body following him like a shadow in the night.
“Tonight’s target... the Black Wind Stronghold...”
Su Jin muttered to himself, his voice filled with deep helplessness and despair.
Then he lifted his leg, which was still doing the moonwalk.
One step, two steps, a sidestep, a turn.
Draped in dazzling Barbie pink, she stepped resolutely into the howling darkness.
Outside the main hall, the gale still raged.
Countless dead branches whipped wildly in the wind, their scraping and rubbing producing one heart-pounding sound after another.
Su Yaoyao pushed the little cart at the very front, her steps light and brisk, as if she were heading off on a spring outing.
Su Jin followed behind. With every step, he had to struggle against his uncooperative body.
Bathed in a pink glow, he looked like a moving Milky Way in the darkness.
Pushing the cart, Su Yaoyao waved to Lightbulb Brother behind her without even turning her head.
“Let’s go!”