“What’s wrong with you?”
Luo Shangyu noticed that Qin Yu’s lips were pressed together, and a strange “gulu gulu” sound was coming from her throat.
She was very confused.
Upon hearing Luo Shangyu’s words, Qin Yu couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.
Luo Shangyu: (ー ー゛)
“What’s so funny about this? Watch me!” Luo Shangyu stopped trying to pick up the soup dumpling with her chopsticks and instead grabbed one directly with her hand and stuffed it into her mouth.
“So crude～” Qin Yu shot Luo Shangyu a look, shook off Luo Shangyu’s right hand with her left, picked up her chopsticks, and demonstrated how to pick up the soup dumpling with her left hand.
The chopsticks seemed to obey Qin Yu’s hands perfectly, and she easily picked up a soup dumpling.
“Uh……” Luo Shangyu hadn’t expected Qin Yu to be so adept at using chopsticks with her left hand, and it actually sparked her fighting spirit.
So, Luo Shangyu tried again to pick up a soup dumpling with her left hand.
However, practice makes perfect is not just an empty phrase.
Luo Shangyu still couldn’t pick up a whole soup dumpling, and her closest attempt ended with the dumpling falling apart, so she picked up a broken piece with her chopsticks.
‘How strange, how is Qin Yu so skilled…’ Luo Shangyu just couldn’t figure it out.
How could an old monster like herself, who’d lived for a thousand years, lose out to Qin Yu, who’d just passed her coming-of-age?
Watching Luo Shangyu’s repeated attempts, Qin Yu couldn’t help but recall her experiences from her previous life.
Back in elementary school in her previous life, her school had held a New Year’s garden party.
One of the activities was to use chopsticks to pick up glass marbles.
Qin Yu had practiced hard to win that contest, to the point where she could use chopsticks in both hands at the same time to pick up marbles.
She never expected that the skills she’d honed back then could be put on display here.
Seeing Luo Shangyu’s astonished expression, Qin Yu smiled faintly: “If you’re bad at it, just practice more.”
“Hmph, fine, I’ll practice, just you wait!” Luo Shangyu was not willing to admit defeat.
Amidst their laughter and playful bickering, breakfast ended quickly.
Now, it was time to tackle today’s discussion topics with Lysieltine.
According to the schedule Qin Ling had prepared in advance, today’s task was to discuss the joint research and development project for a new type of Magic Weaponry with Lysieltine.
“Are we leaving the Imperial Palace?” Qin Yu asked Luo Shangyu.
“Yes, we’re to meet Lysieltine at Zhengyang Gate at ten o’clock, then head to the Magic Weaponry factory together. We’ll tour it first, then discuss the cooperation plan.” Luo Shangyu replied, glancing at the itinerary in her hand.
This schedule had been meticulously organized by Luo Shangyu based on Qin Ling’s plan, detailing what matters needed to be discussed with Lysieltine and her delegation at every time slot.
“Then let’s go!” Qin Yu stood up first and strode toward the door.
Outside, a eunuch was already waiting with a sedan chair for the two of them.
The snow was still falling, the temperature had dropped below freezing, and Qin Yu tucked her hands into the wide sleeves of her dragon robe for warmth.
Once inside the sedan, a wave of warm air greeted her, shutting out the chill from outside.
“So comfortable!” Qin Yu sighed in delight.
The sedan was not large, with only a single row of seats—just enough for Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu to sit side by side.
In front of the seats was a small table, upon which sat a tea set and an incense burner.
Thin wisps of smoke rose from the incense burner, filling the compartment with a citrus fragrance, giving the warmth a hint of freshness.
One side of the sedan’s wall was a door, the other a window.
There was a small window set in the sedan door, letting in light from outside, while the other window was drawn shut with a curtain embroidered with dragons and phoenixes in flight.
The whole sedan glowed softly with the warm yellow light of Magitech lamps, exuding tranquility and comfort.
Qin Yu lifted a corner of the curtain; outside, the world was covered in snow.
White snowflakes settled on the golden roofs of the palace, the most perfect of decorations.
The main roads in the Imperial Palace were spotless, with the snow swept to the sides—thanks to the diligent Gong’e.
Beneath Zhengyang Gate, Lysieltine and Saint Lumia were already waiting.
Saint Lumia leaned against the city wall, gazing at the towering Weiyang Hall, while Lysieltine squatted bored at the base of the wall, drawing in the snow on the ground.
“They’re here!” Saint Lumia spotted the sedan of Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu from afar.
Lysieltine quickly stood up, brushing away the traces she’d left on the ground.
“What were you drawing?” Qin Yu hopped out of the sedan as soon as it stopped and asked Lysieltine.
“I… I wasn’t drawing anything.” Lysieltine looked a bit guilty as she nudged the marks on the ground with her foot.
Qin Yu eyed Lysieltine suspiciously, not believing her for a moment.
“We should focus on business, let’s get moving!” Lysieltine pushed Qin Yu from behind, steering her toward the two carriages waiting under Zhengyang Gate.
The four carriages bore the insignia of the Chengji Empire’s royal family—royal carriages with top-level security.
This security system had the full defensive strength of a Stage Seven quasi-divine artifact; only an eighth-tier Magitech shell could pierce this defense.
Stage Seven defense systems were currently the highest grade available, as Magitech development had hit a bottleneck.
For the defense systems, magitech scholars used a method of infusing Basic Magic to form defensive shields.
However, this required a massive amount of magic as a base.
So, when developing the Stage Seven defense system, magitech scholars adopted the method of “preemptive prediction, precise defense.”
Simply put, they predicted the attack’s impact point in advance and then deployed a localized shield in that area.
While this demanded very advanced prediction algorithms, it could fend off even Stage Seven quasi-divine attacks.
For now, though, Stage Seven was the upper limit.
The royal carriages were spacious, luxurious, and safe.
Each carriage could seat four people.
“Shall we ride together?” Qin Yu asked for Lysieltine’s opinion.
“Sure!”
The four of them boarded the same carriage, which had two rows of seats facing each other with a table in between.
On the table were pre-arranged pastries, tea, and another incense burner.
The carriage windows were large and bright, offering an unobstructed view of the scenery outside.
The carriage slowly rolled out of Zhengyang Gate.
Outside, the Imperial Guards had been waiting for some time, riding in formation ahead and behind the carriages to clear the way and guard the rear.
Qin Yu looked out the rear window at the carriage procession.
Of the other three carriages, one had been originally reserved for Lysieltine and Saint Lumia.
Now that they were sharing a carriage with Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu, that carriage sat empty.
Of the two remaining carriages, one carried members of the Imperial Secretariat, who would participate in today’s activities.
The last carriage was occupied by Ministry of Works officials.
The Ministry oversaw national construction, infrastructure, and magitech research.
As the supervising institution of today’s tour, they were required to attend.
In the warm comfort of the carriage, everyone chatted and tasted delicious pastries, completely unaffected by the cold winds outside.
Luo Shangyu picked up her teacup, taking a small sip of steaming hot black tea.
The heat slid down her throat and warmed her belly.
She gazed out at the scenery, lost in thought, not joining the others’ conversation.
This collaboration on Magitech Weaponry R&D was of vital importance to both countries.
Magitech Weaponry was now so powerful that it surpassed the usefulness of low-tier mages on the battlefield.
If both nations could maintain openness and deep exchange, it would greatly advance the development of their Magitech Weaponry, especially in the field of cutting-edge technology.
But…
Luo Shangyu could not be sure of the sincerity of the Saint Roppu Empire, represented by Lysieltine, in this exchange.
If they were truly sincere, then joint development of advanced weapons was possible.
If not, today’s visit would only show off outdated technology.
In Qin Yu’s opinion, Lysieltine was undoubtedly full of sincerity and there was no need to worry about anything else.
But Luo Shangyu carefully considered every possible situation and her responses, just in case.
The carriage slowly pulled into a courtyard in the southeast of the city.
At the gate, Guard Squad members stood on watch.
This was the National Academy of Research.
Once everyone disembarked, they headed to the research institute’s main hall, where all the research leaders and Ministry of Works officials had gathered.
Once everyone was present, Qin Yu gave an important speech, highlighting the great significance of the event and expressing hope for future cooperation between the two nations.
Lysieltine then gave a speech.
At first, Lysieltine merely offered some formal pleasantries.
Just as everyone was losing interest, her tone suddenly changed: “I think everyone knows what situation our two-nation alliance is currently facing, right?”
No one reacted for a moment.
“Our alliance is facing enormous external pressure. The Boermai Empire’s political situation is unstable and may soon turn against us; the other vassal states are stirring with rebellious intent; and the Eastern countries never cease coveting our destruction, seeking to invade us.”
Everyone’s eyes widened upon hearing this.
While it was no secret that the close alliance between Chengji and the Saint Roppu Empire made them the focus of suspicion—and even hostility—from the nations of the Illusory Realm, no one expected Lysieltine to state it so bluntly in public!
What did this mean?
“With the international situation so tense, our Saint Roppu Empire has come with utmost sincerity to exchange magitech weapon technology, so that we may develop and advance together. We hope your country will show the same level of sincerity.”
As they listened to Lysieltine, everyone became curious: just what did she mean by “sincerity”?
Lysieltine gestured for everyone to step back, and soon the crowd formed a large circle, leaving a wide space in the middle with only Lysieltine standing within.
Lysieltine extended her right hand.
There was a ring on her index finger, radiating a strong spatial element.
“That’s… a spatial storage magitech artifact?” Qin Yu whispered to Luo Shangyu.
“It should be…”
Lysieltine rubbed the ring, and immediately a large pile of items appeared out of nowhere, laid out in the empty space.
“These are…”
As everyone looked carefully at the items on the ground, they couldn’t help but suck in a breath: the latest computation magitech array; a half-completed magitech shell; the Magitech Power System that the Chengji Empire had long struggled to perfect…
Under everyone’s disbelieving gaze, Lysieltine said slowly, “These are our sincerity…”