Chapter 472: Chapter 440: Yuanbao’s Proposal (3rd Update)

When Zhao Xi tried to get Song Yuanbao out, Eunuch Sanbao saw that he was too drunk to recognize anyone and exclaimed, “Oh my, if you can’t handle drinking, then don’t. Getting this drunk, who are you troubling now?”

“Mind your own business,” Song Yuanbao mumbled with his eyes closed.

Sanbao was about to say more, but Zhao Xi interrupted, “Let’s go back to the palace first.”

Hearing that they were going back to the palace, Song Yuanbao frowned and protested, “No~ not going back to the palace, going home, I want to go home!”

Zhao Xi asked him, “What do you want to do at home?”

Song Yuanbao wanted to say that His Highness was too strict, but unfortunately, before he could open his mouth, he had already fallen asleep again.

Sanbao looked at Zhao Xi, “How much did Young Master Song drink?”

“Two cups.”

To Sanbao’s dumbfounded reaction, Zhao Xi half-dragged, half-carried Song Yuanbao onto another carriage and set off back to the palace.

…

When Song Yuanbao woke up again, he found it was daylight. He dressed and opened the door to see the little palace maid Zhi Xia outside Yutang Palace, asking her, “What time is it?”

Zhi Xia replied, “The second quarter of the hour of Si.”

Song Yuanbao calculated with his fingers and was surprised, “Hour of Si, is it morning?”

Zhi Xia nodded, “Young master has been sleeping since he came back yesterday.”

“Oh no, oh no, why didn’t anyone wake me up…” Song Yuanbao slapped his forehead and asked, “Is His Highness in the Study Room?”

The little palace maid shook her head, “He was supposed to go to the Study Room but was called to the Qianqing Palace by Mr. Cui.”

“He hasn’t come back yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, that’s good, that’s good.” Song Yuanbao sighed in relief, quickly washed up and dressed, and just as he stepped out, he saw Zhao Xi returning from outside.

Song Yuanbao stood at the side hall entrance, stammering slightly, “Your, Your Highness.”

Zhao Xi nodded indifferently and asked him, “Sobered up?”

Song Yuanbao didn’t expect his drinking tolerance to be so poor. He coughed to cover it up, avoiding Zhao Xi’s gaze, and said quietly, “Sobered up.”

“Then come with me to the Divine Soldier Bureau.”

Song Yuanbao agreed, only realizing later, “What did you say? Divine Soldier Bureau?”

“Father just called me over. He seemed to think I have a talent for designing weapons and wants me to oversee the Divine Soldier Bureau, to learn properly from the elders.”

Song Yuanbao was stunned, “Is the Emperor planning for you to take over the government office work?”

“Sort of.” Zhao Xi nodded, “Starting with the Divine Soldier Bureau, which happens to be my favorite office, let’s go take a look first.”

Song Yuanbao had long wanted to see a real mechanical beast. Hearing he had the chance, he immediately perked up and before leaving, didn’t forget to grab two pieces of pastry from the table, handing one to Zhao Xi.

Zhao Xi didn’t take it, telling him to eat quickly and not bring those things into the government office.

…

Emperor Guangxi tasked the Eldest Prince Zhao Xi with overseeing the Divine Soldier Bureau, and by the time he arrived, they had already received the documentation.

Knowing His Highness would visit, Old Marquis Lu wasn’t available, leaving Song Wei to welcome them.

The two got off the carriage and met with Song Wei.

Song Yuanbao gazed at the plaque above the entrance of the Divine Soldier Bureau, finding it more pleasing than before, and smiled at Song Wei, “Yesterday I wanted to have father take me inside for a look, and today I got the chance. Looks like I have great affinity with the Divine Soldier Bureau.”

Song Wei smiled and asked him, “Have you sobered up?”

At his words, Song Yuanbao thought about his poor drinking capacity and was embarrassed to ask if he made a fool of himself after getting drunk yesterday, muttering, “Of course I’ve sobered up, otherwise I wouldn’t be here at the Divine Soldier Bureau.”

“Good that you’re sober.” Song Wei said, “From now on, you can’t indulge in drinking too much, or you’ll risk making trouble when drunk.”

“Hmm, I know.” Song Yuanbao nodded gloomily and quickly changed the subject, “Dad, can we go in now?”

Song Wei nodded and said to Zhao Xi, “Your Highness, please come inside.”

Zhao Xi stepped forward, followed by Song Yuanbao, with Song Wei bringing up the rear. They soon entered the main entrance.

Along the way, Song Wei introduced the government’s situation to Zhao Xi.

At present, the Divine Soldier Bureau was still in the material preparation stage and hadn’t started formally constructing the mechanical beasts yet.

“Some materials from the Jin Dynasty era are no longer available now, or are scarce, requiring experimentation to find alternatives with similar properties.” Song Wei said, “The Emperor requires the mechanical beasts to be enlarged by two times, but Mr. Liu’s pattern did not specify exact proportions, so we need repeated testing to determine the material and weight for each part.

The Divine Soldier Bureau is newly established, and manpower is far from sufficient. At present, our workload is very heavy on a daily basis.”

Zhao Xi asked, “Have you recruited externally?”

“Recruitment is ongoing,” Song Wei replied, “However, there are very few who meet the criteria, and they must undergo a period of training and sign confidentiality agreements, leaving very few who can finally join.”

Zhao Xi inquired further, “Has Father set a deadline?”

Song Wei hesitated, “The war with West Yue is ongoing, and the Emperor wants them finished as soon as possible, but it’s very difficult. Cutting corners would result in mechanical beasts that only resemble the look and would quickly fall apart in battle. We want durable and maneuverable mechanical beasts that fear neither fire nor water, not a heap of waste material.”

Zhao Xi understood his concerns, “No worries, you focus on the research, I’ll talk to Father personally, and he will understand.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Song Wei expressed his gratitude and took the two for a tour of the warehouse.

Before leaving, Zhao Xi asked to see the pattern.

As the Eldest Prince now in charge of the Divine Soldier Bureau, Song Wei couldn’t refuse his request.

Inviting Zhao Xi and Song Yuanbao into an empty tea room, he fetched the patterns, three in total, each illustrating four sets of mechanical beasts.

From outward appearance to internal structure, even the details of each joint were meticulously recorded.

While Zhao Xi was flipping through the patterns, Song Yuanbao stood alongside and was immediately stunned by what he saw.

Not just him, even the usually composed Zhao Xi displayed a look of astonishment.

He said, “I always thought what I saw at Elder Qi’s residence that day was ingenious enough, but I never expected past designs to be so incomparable, to combine numerous mechanisms into what ’awakes’ as a ’beast,’ what kind of extraordinary person could think of it?”

Song Wei said, “Mr. Liu is just the inheritor of the pattern, the true genius was the Liu Family Head. All the mechanical beasts their Monarch used on the battlefield were his creations.”

Song Yuanbao was still in a state of shock, “This isn’t human, it’s divine, right?”

He’d seen mechanisms, and the mechanical beasts that could walk he saw at Elder Qi’s residence were just a little one.

However, the patterns depicted ones with more and larger mechanisms, and even those that could fly in the sky.

Song Yuanbao pointed at the bird-shaped mechanical beast, “If this thing was designed properly, could it fly straight into the enemy camp to cause trouble?”

Song Wei nodded, “If the distance isn’t too far and the wind is favorable, it should be able to.”

“That’s amazing!” Song Yuanbao was full of admiration, “If that predecessor were still around, I’d definitely take him as a master.”

Zhao Xi closed the pattern, “You’re not cut out for designing mechanisms, even if you want to apprentice, you’d have to see if they’d be willing to take you in.”

Song Yuanbao was very indignant, “I wasn’t interested in this before, but after seeing the pattern today, I’ve suddenly grown fond of mechanical beasts, and inspiration struck me. If you don’t believe me, Your Highness, open all three patterns and take a good look, what’s missing?”

Zhao Xi didn’t understand what he meant, but still followed his request and opened the patterns. There were twelve mechanical beasts in total, each exquisitely designed to perfection, nothing that seemed missing. He looked at Song Yuanbao, puzzled.

Song Yuanbao asked him, “These mechanisms are quite large, right?”

“Yes.”

“How can they all be big?” Song Yuanbao expressed his view, “Being too big draws too much attention and can only attack head-on. Why not design some small ones for sneak attacks?”

Zhao Xi’s eyes flickered, signaling him, “Go on.”

Song Yuanbao thought for a moment, “I think small ones, although they can’t fight in war, are flexible. Just imagine, like snakes or centipedes in the grass, aren’t they especially agile and hard to catch?”

Prompted by his words, a flash of inspiration hit Zhao Xi, “I understand now. Indeed, Liu’s Divine Weapon has a flaw after all, not sure if the designer didn’t think of it, or if it wasn’t passed down in the pattern.”

“They certainly didn’t think of it.” Song Yuanbao said proudly, “Looks like I’m much smarter than that Liu Family Head.”

Song Wei also found his son’s suggestion very ingenious, helping to compensate for the large mechanical beasts’ lack of agility.

Nonetheless, he had to remind, “You’re merely extending different views from standing on the shoulders of predecessors; claiming to be smarter than the Liu Family Head is not necessarily true.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep