Mo Li

Yes, let nature take its course.

If Ye Li had been reborn not into this completely unfamiliar era but into a certain dynasty from history, she would have undoubtedly brought these things out without hesitation. So what if it rashly accelerated the course of history? It couldn’t possibly be worse than the original timeline.

But now, in truth, Ye Li didn’t dwell on it for long. She wasn’t one to indulge in unnecessary hesitation. However, neither the former dynasty’s founding emperor nor she herself had much knowledge about military engineering. She didn’t know what the former emperor’s original identity had been, but even if Ye Li was intimately familiar with the performance and structure of the world’s most advanced weapons, it didn’t mean she could replicate them exactly. Just the issue of materials alone was insurmountable. Therefore, Ye Li didn’t regard this place as a site for mass-producing battlefield weapons. Instead, she provided the era’s most skilled craftsmen with the most fundamental knowledge they could comprehend, introducing concepts entirely different from those of the present.

Ye Li didn’t expect them to immediately create AK-47s or long-range missiles. As long as they strived toward that direction, whether it took a hundred years or several centuries, she believed that with these seeds of hope, this land would never have to endure the suffering her homeland once faced.

"Wang Fei..." A middle-aged man approached, his eyes lighting up with fervor as he rushed toward Ye Li.

Mo Xiuyao, holding Mo Xiaobao, coldly watched the man’s approach and narrowed his eyes in displeasure, stepping in front of Ye Li to block the way. The man barely managed to stop in time, realizing from Mo Xiuyao’s dark expression that his earlier behavior had been improper. He stood there awkwardly, at a loss for what to do.

Ye Li stepped out from behind Mo Xiuyao and smiled faintly. "Master Li, what is it?"

The middle-aged man quickly replied, "We’ve completed the item Wang Fei instructed us to make, but there are still some issues we’d like to consult you about." Ye Li nodded. "Then let’s go take a look together."

Before Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao lay a pistol. While Mo Xiuyao was entirely unfamiliar with the object, a trace of nostalgia and joy flashed in Ye Li’s eyes. She stepped forward and picked up the gun from the table. To be honest, compared to the advanced firearms of her past life, this crude and clumsy pistol was almost unbearable to look at—far more rudimentary than even the earliest automatic pistols like the Mauser C96.

But considering it had taken only five years to condense centuries of firearm evolution into this single creation, Ye Li believed the craftsmen had done their utmost. She weighed the pistol in her hand, then turned to Mo Xiaobao with a smile. "Xiao Bao, cover your ears." Curious about the object in his mother’s hand, Mo Xiaobao obediently pressed his small hands over his ears.The pistol twirled in Ye Li's hand as her expression shifted. She raised the gun and fired three consecutive shots at the target not far ahead. After three loud bangs, Ye Li frowned slightly at the target. The first shot had hit the bullseye, the second was around the fourth ring, while the third bullet had completely missed. This certainly wasn't due to her marksmanship—clearly, it was an issue with the gun itself.

Following behind her, Master Li's eyes still burned with enthusiasm, though this time his gaze wasn't fixed on Ye Li but on the gun in her hand. What she found somewhat unimpressive was, in his eyes, as precious as a peerless beauty.

Scratching his beard in frustration, Master Li said, "We made two of these. The other one exploded outright. This one works fine, but it's never been accurate—the more you shoot, the worse it gets. For Wang Fei to hit the bullseye on the first try is unheard of." However, the second and third shots were clearly off, the discrepancy so wide that he couldn't help but wonder if the first shot had been a fluke.

"It seems to be a material issue. As for improvements, I'll compile my thoughts for you later. The materials will be up to you—I'll have all the necessary minerals delivered, but beyond that, I can't help much." She wasn't a firearms expert, nor was she a specialist in military-grade materials. All she could offer were general concepts and theories—the rest would have to be explored step by step by them. Though disappointed, Master Li knew this couldn't be forced and nodded in agreement.

Deep in thought, Master Li left, but he left the gun behind. Though it was their first completed prototype, its performance was unsatisfactory, so he parted with it without hesitation, vowing internally to return with something better. Ye Li unloaded the remaining bullets before tossing the gun to Mo Xiaobao, who had been eyeing it eagerly. With his new toy in hand, Xiao Bao immediately focused on studying the object, no longer fussing about his father holding him and refusing to let him down to play.

"Is this what the founding emperor of the previous dynasty left behind?" Mo Xiuyao surveyed their surroundings and asked. Ye Li nodded, then inquired, "What do you think of this gun, Xiu Yao?"

Mo Xiuyao shook his head, glancing at the object in Xiao Bao's hands. "No practical value." Its range wasn't even as far as an expert archer's arrow. Though the first shot had briefly piqued his interest, the next two had dashed his expectations. "For now, it has no practical value."

Ye Li nodded in agreement, taking Mo Xiuyao's hand as they continued forward. The founding emperor of the previous dynasty had prepared more than just this. Even she herself knew more than just this—there were certainly things of practical value among them.Entering a spacious room, the pungent smell of sulfur immediately greeted them. In one corner stood neatly arranged wooden crates. Ye Li walked over and opened the topmost one, revealing several black spherical objects inside. After a moment of contemplation, Mo Xiuyao remarked, "This is... gunpowder?" This era was not unfamiliar with gunpowder, and it had long been used in warfare. However, gunpowder required an open flame to ignite and its destructive power was relatively limited, so even the Mo Family Army seldom employed it. Yet this didn't mean Mo Xiuyao was entirely ignorant of it.

Ye Li nodded, "Exactly, it is gunpowder. But... I prefer to call them bombs."

Mo Xiuyao raised an eyebrow, "How powerful are they?" Since A Li had specifically shown them to him, they surely weren't ordinary. Ye Li casually picked one up and smiled, "We'll know once we try them out elsewhere." While she couldn't vouch for other weapons, she had full confidence in the power of these bombs. After all, their manufacturing method wasn't inherited from the previous dynasty's founding emperor but was provided by Ye Li herself. True to her word, when a bomb was detonated in an empty chamber of the Underground Palace, the deafening explosion and its aftermath left even Mo Xiuyao visibly astonished.

Leaving the bomb storage area, Ye Li led Mo Xiuyao to the innermost secret chamber of the Underground Palace. The chamber was sparsely furnished, filled only with various scrolls and demonic weapons. Mo Xiuyao recognized a few items among them that he had seen earlier while passing through the outer rooms.

From a hidden compartment, Ye Li retrieved a thick manual and handed it to Mo Xiuyao with a smile, "This is the treasure left behind by the previous dynasty's emperor." Mo Xiuyao took it and flipped through the pages, which were filled with detailed drawings of various firearms accompanied by textual annotations. However, many of the annotations appeared to be in foreign scripts, making them partially incomprehensible to him. Nonetheless, he understood that this was a catalog of weapon designs, and the items currently producible here were merely the simplest among them. Many of the designs appeared far superior to the toys Mo Xiaobao cherished in his hands.

Gazing at the manual, Ye Li sighed softly, "If everything depicted here could truly be manufactured and mass-produced as he envisioned, any army possessing them would become utterly invincible."

Mo Xiuyao frowned slightly and asked, "A Li, do you like these things?"

Ye Li paused for a long moment before nodding, "Yes, I like them very much." How could she not? In her previous life, out of her brief twenty-some years, she had spent two decades surrounded by such things. She knew and loved them as intimately as her own family and comrades.

Mo Xiuyao declared, "Then let's have them all made." Ye Li chuckled, "Making them all... we likely won't live to see it completed. To truly manufacture everything here... it would take at least a century or two, wouldn't it?" The undertaking involved far more than just military engineering; every related field of technology would need to advance simultaneously to realize such futuristic weapon concepts.Mo Xiuyao frowned and said, "So, the founding emperor of the previous dynasty was truly a genius. It's a pity he didn’t actually create these things, or perhaps he intended to but didn’t have the time?" The founding emperor of the previous dynasty didn’t reign for very long after unifying the empire. Given the scale of this Underground Palace, it’s highly likely he passed away before its completion.

Ye Li smiled faintly. "A genius? Perhaps..." The blueprints left behind certainly didn’t qualify as the work of a genius. In fact, in Ye Li’s eyes, they weren’t even professional—at best, they were the level of an amateur military equipment enthusiast. But as a transmigrator born in turbulent times, it was indeed no small feat to unify the empire. After all, even the founding emperor of Great Chu couldn’t claim to have truly unified the land, since Western Liang and Great Chu were originally one.

Ye Li herself could be considered a transmigrator or reincarnated soul, so she naturally understood that people like them couldn’t really be said to be favored by heaven. While they were given a second chance at life, achieving the kind of dominance, loyal followers, and beautiful companions often depicted in novels wasn’t so easy. Her circumstances were already quite favorable, yet she had still gone through so much. One could only imagine the hardships and efforts that predecessor must have endured to establish an imperial dynasty.

"A Li, you seem very familiar with him?" Mo Xiuyao placed Mo Xiaobao on the nearby table and turned to look at Ye Li. Sensing that his parents were discussing something important, Mo Xiaobao wisely kept quiet, fiddling with a small toy in his hands. Earlier, Ye Li had unloaded the bullet too quickly, so the child hadn’t noticed anything missing from the gun. Now, he was utterly puzzled as to why he couldn’t shoot something powerful from it like his mother had.

Ye Li’s smile was faint, tinged with nostalgia as she gently traced the flamboyant calligraphy on the booklet. The person who had drawn it had flamboyantly left an English signature in ornate script—something people of this era would likely dismiss as mere decorative patterns.

After a moment of contemplation, Ye Li finally said, "I am somewhat familiar with this founding emperor of the previous dynasty. Perhaps no one in this world knows him better than I do." Mo Xiuyao remained silent. Ye Li smiled and asked, "Aren’t you suspicious of my connection to him?" Mo Xiuyao replied, "A Li is the granddaughter of the Xu Family." The descendants of the Xu Family couldn’t possibly have any ties to the previous dynasty’s emperor. Ye Li blinked and asked, "Then, is there nothing you want to ask?" After a pause, Mo Xiuyao finally inquired, "A Li… did you come from the same place as him?"

Ye Li froze. She truly hadn’t expected Mo Xiuyao to make such a conjecture. So close… no, this was the exact truth.

Mo Xiuyao gazed at her tenderly, his smile faint. "A Li has never hidden anything from me, has she? Despite being born into a scholarly family and never having interacted with outsiders, you possess such incredible skills. Your familiarity with the battlefield… and occasionally, those strange yet innovative ideas of yours. And the handwriting on that treasure map—even the previous dynasty’s royal family couldn’t decipher it, yet you seemed to recognize it effortlessly. Moreover, I feel… that the founding emperor of the previous dynasty and you share certain similarities."Ye Li smiled helplessly, "So I actually revealed so many flaws." Mo Xiuyao raised his hand to gently caress her cheek and chuckled, "A Li has never tried to hide anything from me."

Ye Li admitted that apart from the very beginning, she had never seriously attempted to conceal anything from Mo Xiuyao. Not only because he was too sharp-witted—deliberate concealment would backfire—but more importantly, because Mo Xiuyao was the most important person in her current life. If she had to hide things even from him, she might as well have remained a conventional, sheltered woman from the start. That would have been exhausting...

Gazing at Mo Xiuyao with some curiosity, Ye Li asked, "Xiu Yao, what do you think of me?"

Mo Xiuyao replied, "Both Buddhism and Taoism speak of past and present lives. Did A Li carry memories from a past life since birth?" A Li's personality hadn't changed much from childhood, and her memory was impeccable. She could recall even the smallest details from her early years, as well as the deep affection she shared with the Xu Family. Naturally, this wasn't some supernatural possession as depicted in ghost stories. The only plausible explanation was the concept of reincarnation.

Ye Li nodded, smiling playfully at Mo Xiuyao. "By that count, I'm actually over fifty years old now. I'm much older than you." Mo Xiuyao narrowed his eyes in displeasure, glaring warningly at her smug expression. If not for Mo Xiaobao sitting on the table watching them intently, he might not have been so restrained. He shot a disdainful glance at the chubby toddler on the table—children were truly the most troublesome. Seeing Mo Xiuyao remain silent, Ye Li's eyes sparkled mischievously as she added, "Actually... in my past life, I was a man. Are you really okay with that?"

"A man?" Mo Xiuyao's voice deepened. Ye Li nodded solemnly. "Yes, I was a soldier in my past life—one who died for my country. Otherwise, how do you think I managed to disguise myself so convincingly as a man?" In this era, soldiers were naturally assumed to be men. She studied Mo Xiuyao curiously. "Xiu Yao, are you really not bothered by this?" Suddenly seized by the urge to tease him, Ye Li grinned at the man whose expression had darkened.

Mo Xiuyao stared down at her for a long moment before abruptly grabbing her and fiercely capturing her rosy lips in a kiss.

"Mmph—" Ye Li's eyes widened in shock, only to accidentally catch sight of the chubby little boy behind Mo Xiuyao, staring at them with wide, curious eyes.

Heat instantly flooded her face, and she hastily pushed Mo Xiuyao away. As he gazed at her lips with lingering desire, she could only glare at him in retaliation. She deeply regretted provoking him—especially in front of their five-year-old son. Ye Li felt that in both her lifetimes, she had never been so embarrassed. She could only hope Xiao Bao was still young enough to forget this incident quickly. Otherwise... she would never be able to face her son again.

"Now do you see whether I mind or not?" Mo Xiuyao murmured with amusement, watching her flustered, blushing face.

Ye Li gritted her teeth. "Wang Ye's psychological adaptability is truly remarkable." Mo Xiuyao smiled without answering, enjoying her irritation. Silly girl—how could his elegant, graceful A Li, whose every movement enchanted him, possibly have been a man in her past life?"Daddy, Mommy..." Mo Xiaobao blinked his innocent big eyes at his parents and asked curiously, "Are Daddy and Mommy playing the kissing game? Xiao Bao wants to play too. Mommy, kiss kiss..." To emphasize his eagerness, Mo Xiaobao even tapped his chubby little finger against his rosy lips. Ye Li was shocked. "Chen'er, who told you Mommy and... were playing the kissing game?" Her son was only five—wasn't this too precocious? She was sure they had never behaved too intimately in front of Xiao Bao. Could it be because she often kissed him playfully?

Mo Xiaobao thought seriously and answered, "It was Daddy! Last time, I saw Daddy secretly kissing Mommy while she was asleep. Daddy said only people who love each other can play the kissing game. Xiao Bao loves Mommy too, so Xiao Bao wants kisses..."

"Mo Xiuyao!" Ye Li fumed, shooting him a furious glare. "You're sleeping in the study this month!" Without waiting for his explanation, she turned and stormed off.

Mo Xiuyao's face darkened as he stared at the little troublemaker on the table. Mo Xiaobao widened his innocent eyes and gazed back at his father guilelessly. "Daddy, why is Mommy angry? Why won’t she kiss Xiao Bao? Doesn’t Mommy love Xiao Bao anymore?"

"Don’t think acting innocent will save you! When did I ever sneak a kiss from your mother?" Even if he had, how could a five-year-old brat have caught him? Mo Xiuyao, a man who had dominated the world, had actually been outsmarted by his own son.

Seeing Mo Xiuyao reach out menacingly, Mo Xiaobao quickly scrambled up, turning his backside toward his father while fake-sobbing dramatically. "Waaah... Mommy doesn’t love Xiao Bao anymore... Xiao Bao is an unloved child..." Watching his son’s exaggerated crying with his little bottom sticking up, Mo Xiuyao was torn between laughter and exasperation. This kid was going to be a menace when he grew up!