New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Once everyone had boarded the ship, Zhao Yingluo and Wanyan Xi stood by the ship's railing, looking at Tang Qian, who was still confronting Wanyan Xun on the dock. Their faces were full of anxiety, but they dared not shout loudly. They could only whisper to Rong'er and Xiao Li beside them: "If Tang Qian can't get on the ship, we must get off too."

Compared to the tension of the two people on the boat, Tang Qian seemed quite calm. After their eyes met, Wanyan Xun spoke softly, "Now, can we complete our final deal?"

Tang Qian casually reached out and picked at his ear with his finger, then gently blew on it, looking incredibly irritating. At this point, he no longer needed to hide his true nature from anyone; his cynical attitude was his true self.

"If I hand it over now, I'm afraid I still won't be able to escape the prince's control, but if I don't hand it over, it seems I won't be able to leave today either."

Neither of them were fools, and of course they wouldn't trust each other. Tang Qian was worried that Wanyan Xun would break his promise, while Wanyan Xun was worried that Tang Qian would deceive him. However, as time went by, the balance between the two would be broken. For Tang Qian, the later he set off, the more disadvantageous it would be for him, so Wanyan Xun was not in a hurry.

"If I told you that what Your Highness wants is on the desk in my study, would Your Highness believe me?"

Seeing that the other party only smiled and remained silent, Tang Qian sighed softly: "Alright, words are not enough. If I don't let the prince witness the terrifying nature of this thing, I'm afraid my ship won't even be able to leave the dock."

Reaching into his robes again, Tang Qian took out a tinderbox and a firecracker. Under Wanyan Xun's furrowed brows and watchful gaze, Tang Qian blew on the tinderbox to light the firecracker. With a few crackling sounds, a wisp of blue smoke slowly rose up, only to be quickly dispersed by the early summer river breeze, and the dock returned to tranquility once more.

Sensing that nothing had changed around him, Wanyan Xun's lips curled into a sneer: "I wonder what Brother Tang intends to show me?"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang suddenly rang out, startling everyone present into crouching down. When they looked up, they were shocked to see thick smoke billowing from the dock not far from the pier, with bright red flames engulfing the surrounding timber. The houses in the dock had already collapsed under the loud bang, turning into ruins.

In the calm canal, a wave rushed in rapidly, the spray crashing against the hull and pushing the large boat, which was originally stationary in the waterway, to one side. The boatman was so startled that he scrambled to keep the boat steady and prevent it from capsizing.

This sudden scene stunned everyone present. In just a moment, a huge shipyard was reduced to nothing. What exactly did Tang Qian do?

"So, Your Highness, what do you think of the power of this thing I have? Can it be used to exchange for the freedom of my whole family?"

Still feeling a ringing in his ears from the loud bang, Wanyan Xun, who had finally recovered, was immediately replaced by a blush of ecstasy on his pale face. Tang Qian was right, the power of this thing was indeed enormous. If it were launched into the city by catapult during a siege, even the iron-solid city walls would probably not be able to withstand such a powerful explosion.

Is this Tang Qian's final trump card? After struggling with this kid for so long, she's finally forced him to use his ultimate weapon today.

"How could I possibly know whether the recipe you left at home is genuine or not?"

Tang Qian smiled and shook his head: "Your Highness is mistaken. How could I easily hand over something as crucial as the gunpowder formula, which could turn the tide of a war? What I left on my desk in the study is merely the most important ingredient in the formula."

"Gunpowder? Is that the black powder that your Great Song Dynasty uses to make fireworks and firecrackers?" Wanyan Xun was suspicious. He had seen firecrackers before, but the explosive power of those could not destroy such a large dock.

"That little bit of power is indeed not enough, so I mixed some special materials into the ordinary gunpowder. It's currently in my study at home. Doesn't Your Highness intend to mix some and try it out?"

Just then, a cloud of dust rose from the official road outside the dock, and a Jin soldier galloped up on horseback. He pulled the reins behind Wanyan Xun, jumped off the saddle, and presented a package with both hands: "This is what Tang Qian left on the desk in his study."

“Very good.” Wanyan Xun took the package with one hand, opened it amidst Tang Qian’s wry smile, and reached out to grab some crystalline powder. It looked similar to the mineral powder used to make glass, but Wanyan Xun couldn’t tell what it was.

Tang Qian cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards Wanyan Xun: "Your Highness's meticulousness is truly admirable."

"We're all in the same boat."

Tang Qian knew perfectly well that his negotiation terms were already in Tang Qian's hands, yet he could still talk and laugh without changing his expression. This showed that he had already guessed that Tang Qian had sent people back to the city to investigate. Clearly, Tang Qian was prepared for this and was not worried about this most important piece of information being exposed.

"Then, in front of me, prepare the same gunpowder that you just used to blow up the dock. If the effect truly satisfies me, your whole family can leave Youzhou immediately."

"A gentleman's word?" Tang Qian stretched out his right hand and raised it in mid-air.

"A swift horse, a whip." Wanyan Xun made the same gesture.

After the two exchanged high-fives, Tang Qian ordered someone to bring out two earthenware jars of the same size. He also had two paper packets prepared in advance handed to him. In front of Wanyan Xun, he opened the paper packets and poured the black gunpowder inside into the two earthenware jars. Finally, he took the package from Wanyan Xun, took out some crystalline powder, put it into one of the earthenware jars, and mixed it evenly with the gunpowder inside.

Tang Qian placed two fuses for igniting the gunpowder into the earthenware pot, leaving one end sticking out and the other end inserted into the gunpowder. He then filled the remaining space inside with paper and handed the pot to Wanyan Xun: "Let's see how it works?"

Wanyan Xun waved to a group of guards behind him, and two men immediately stepped forward, took the two earthenware jars from Tang Qian's hands, and placed them in different locations away from the crowd.

At Wanyan Xun's command, the earthenware jars without the mixed crystalline powder were the first to explode. Although everyone was standing in a safe position, the flying shards of the jars still made everyone's bodies tremble.

The next explosion made Wanyan Xun's pupils shrink.

Judging from the sound alone, the power of the two was absolutely incomparable, and the fragments of the second pot after it was shattered were almost completely broken, with the flying debris traveling more than three zhang (approximately 10 meters) further.

As Tang Qian predicted, the two were indeed different in power.