’On the bright side, at least being a County Magistrate isn’t a death sentence.’

After all, even if you worked yourself to death in this position, a quick promotion was out of the question.

Even if you gave it your all, it would take at least ten or twenty years to enter the Court and become a high-ranking official.

And that was especially true for someone like Lu Yuan, who had no desire to climb the ladder.

He could make a few mistakes here and there or just slack off occasionally.

Getting promoted that way would be a real pain.

By the time Lu Yuan actually managed to get promoted, Old Zhu would probably be long dead.

From Lu Yuan’s perspective,

it was currently around the 15th year of Hongwu.

Empress Ma was already in very poor health.

She would likely pass away soon...

After all, in the history of the Ming Dynasty back on Earth, Empress Ma had died in the 15th year of Hongwu.

If the timelines matched up, that meant it would happen this year.

By that calculation, there were basically sixteen years of the Hongwu era left.

The problem wasn’t too big.

’Alright, what’s done is done.

Besides looking on the bright side,

what else could he do?’

With that, Lu Yuan stood up, wrapped an arm around Song Meiqin, and said with a smile,

"Come on. It’s not every day we get to visit the Provincial City. Let’s have a good look around.

We can pick up a few things for Liyan and Aunt Zhao to take back."

Just a moment ago, Lu Yuan had been a little downcast.

Now, he was suddenly cheerful again.

This struck Song Meiqin as odd, and she inwardly sighed. ’This young man of mine really changes his mood on a dime.’

’But it’s good that he’s happy~’

’When my young man is happy, I’m happy too~’

At once, Song Meiqin pursed her lips into a smile, hugged Lu Yuan’s arm, and said sweetly,

"Let’s go~"

As Lu Yuan and a cheerful Song Meiqin began to stroll through the streets,

a lively scene was unfolding inside Prince Yan’s Mansion in Yandu.

It was a truly lively scene.

And it was truly a commotion.

Gu Gaoxu had returned this morning and caused a huge uproar.

In the past, whenever Gu Gaoxu made a mistake,

and King Yan decided to punish him,

Gu Gaoxu would take it without a word of protest.

If his father wanted to beat him, he’d let him.

After all, Gu Gaoxu was always well aware of what he’d done wrong.

He never felt he was wronged.

When he did things that earned him a beating, he knew a good thrashing was coming.

But today was different.

After returning to the Prince’s Mansion today, Gu Gaoxu hadn’t been beaten at all.

Not only did he avoid a beating,

but he had also brought back a pile of strange and curious items, making everyone in the mansion crane their necks for a better look.

"What do you think, Father? This thing is amazing, isn’t it?

One person riding this thing can easily pull several hundred catties of cargo!"

Gu Gaoxu was currently pedaling a tricycle around the courtyard.

In front of the main house of Prince Yan’s Mansion, King Yan, the Princess Consort Yan, and his two legitimate sons were all watching.

King Yan stood with his hands on his hips, a look of astonishment on his face as he stared at the contraption.

At this moment, King Yan had completely forgotten what Gu Gaoxu had done earlier.

He’d also forgotten how he had been planning to punish the boy before he returned.

Originally, King Yan had it all planned out.

Once that boy got back, if he didn’t give him a severe punishment, he’d eat his hat!

After all, the things the boy had done lately were getting more and more outrageous.

The other things were tolerable, but most importantly,

the Emperor had summoned the Crown Princes of the four kings—Qin, Jin, Yan, and Zhou—to the Imperial City for their studies.

He had thought the boy was clever,

so even though Gu Gaoxu wasn’t a Crown Prince, he had let him accompany his older brother to the Imperial City.

What a wonderful opportunity, right?

It was a special honor reserved only for the Crown Princes!

He wasn’t even qualified to go originally!

King Yan himself had insisted on squeezing him into the convoy!

’So once you got there, shouldn’t you have put in your best effort?’

But what happened? After arriving, the boy refused to study and acted with flippant words and deeds.

This caused the Emperor—his own father—to become extremely disgusted with him.

What a complete disgrace!

And before King Yan could even punish him,

the boy had vanished without a trace.

He was absolutely lawless!!

These past few days, the more King Yan thought about it, the angrier he got. He had imagined punishing the boy a thousand different ways.

He had resolved that when the boy returned, he would, if not skin him alive and pull out his tendons, at least break one of his legs.

But, unexpectedly,

as soon as the boy returned, he started pulling out all sorts of novel gadgets.

This made King Yan completely forget what he had been thinking earlier.

And upon seeing the tricycle, the thoughts that ran through King Yan’s mind were almost identical to what Gu Gaoxu had thought when he first saw it.

’If this thing were used for military logistics...’

’how much loss could be prevented?’

King Yan couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement as he watched.

Aside from King Yan, the rest of the family was also present today.

The Princess Consort Yan, the Crown Prince of Yan, and the third son were all there.

After all, everyone knew what kind of temper King Yan had.

They all knew that Gu Gaoxu was going to be dragged back today.

With King Yan’s temper, how could things possibly go well for Gu Gaoxu once he was caught?

The trouble he had caused this time was truly no small matter!

If he didn’t get a leg broken, he’d at least be in for a world of hurt.

So, here they were, waiting at home to try and talk the King down.

However, they hadn’t expected

that Gu Gaoxu would actually bring back so many things.

Of course, even if these were good things,

truly amazing things,

the trouble Gu Gaoxu had caused before was still a serious matter.

It couldn’t just be forgotten!

Snapping back to his senses, King Yan suppressed the look of astonishment on his face, then turned to Gu Gaoxu with a frown and began,

"You brat..."

How could Gu Gaoxu not see the look on his father’s face?

Before King Yan could finish, Gu Gaoxu hurriedly cut in,

"This is nothing!!

There’s a two-wheeled one too!!"

With that, Gu Gaoxu had someone bring over the bicycle.

He then rode it in a circle in front of everyone.

King Yan could naturally see the genius of this device at a single glance.

He didn’t even have to ask.

Gu Gaoxu, shaking his head smugly, began explaining the bicycle’s advantages while he rode.

Things like how it was equivalent to a horse.

The key was that it didn’t need to be fed.

And especially that it was cheap, only costing two taels and two.

He was basically just repeating everything Lu Yuan had told him before,

passing it all off as his own discovery.

To this, King Yan could only think, ’Impressive.’ 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

However...

’It’s still the same problem. You didn’t invent this thing!’

’So what?’

’You show me a few novelties and think I won’t punish you?’

At once, King Yan frowned and said,

"You brat..."

The next second, Gu Gaoxu quickly interjected again,

"Father!!

There’s something even more amazing than these!!"

King Yan: "..."

"What else is there..."

Then, Gu Gaoxu immediately had someone bring over the Flintlock Gun.

What man doesn’t love a gun?

Especially one like this.

After Gu Gaoxu fired a shot and shattered a glazed tile on top of the courtyard wall,

King Yan’s curiosity was piqued, and he immediately took the Flintlock Gun in his hands.

Gu Gaoxu promptly demonstrated to his father how to load it.

Then he guided him step-by-step.

Finally, King Yan stood in the main hall of the front courtyard, raised the Flintlock Gun, and aimed at a nearby tree branch.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The branch shattered and fell.

The power and accuracy made many of those present click their tongues in amazement.

"How about that, Father? Amazing, right?!"

Gu Gaoxu gloated, looking smugly at his father.

At this, King Yan’s face was wooden. He mulled it over for a moment, but still said,

"You brat..."

Before King Yan could finish, Gu Gaoxu jumped in again,

"Father!!

There’s more!!!"

King Yan: "..."

After that, Gu Gaoxu had someone bring out the Mortar.

Of course, a thing like that couldn’t be used at home.

Would the mansion even be standing afterward??

Gu Gaoxu then explained to his father how the weapon worked.

It wasn’t hard for King Yan to understand.

It was a cannon, after all.

Like a two-kick firecracker.

Especially since the troops the Court had recently sent to suppress the bandits...

’Were they using this thing too?’

’Otherwise...’

’...how could they take down a whole mountain stronghold in a single day?’

After thinking for a moment, King Yan cleared his throat and looked at Gu Gaoxu, saying,

"You... you bra..."

For a moment, King Yan didn’t dare to finish the sentence.

He was afraid that as soon as the words "you brat" left his mouth,

the boy would pull out something else.

But, just as King Yan feared,

the two words had barely left his lips

when Gu Gaoxu immediately shouted,

"Father!!

There’s more!!!"

King Yan: "..."

’Is there no end to this?!’

Then Gu Gaoxu put his hands on his hips, looked around at everyone in Prince Yan’s Mansion with a triumphant expression, and declared loudly,

"We can even solve Yandu’s refugee problem!!"

Everyone: "????"

King Yan: "????"

’If you can solve that, you little brat, then you really are a genius!’