Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

After hearing Lin Zhong's words, Xiao Ce immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Isn't Yin Pan'er here to visit you?"

After hearing Xiao Ce's words, Lin Zhong's expression became even more puzzled: "Your Highness, you've come to our side? When did this happen?"

Looking at Lin Zhong's expression, it didn't seem like he was joking with him.

Xiao Ce then told Lin Zhong the news he had received at the Northern Desert King's Palace.

Yin Pan'er arrived here a few days ago, but Lin Zhong said with absolute certainty that she did not.

As he spoke, he then approached the guard commander on this side and, after confirming several times, confirmed that no one had come over.

"If they didn't come here, where did they go?" Xiao Ce muttered to himself.

Seeing Xiao Ce's expression, Lin Zhong quickly comforted him, "Your Highness, please don't be nervous... The security in our Mobei Prince's Mansion is quite good! Besides, if someone with ulterior motives had captured the Princess Consort, they would definitely come looking for you. The fact that there's no news now is actually good news!"

"Not only that, you said the princess might be trying to avoid you. So it's possible she's set up a smokescreen to make it impossible for you to find her..."

Xiao Ce, who was initially quite anxious, calmed down a bit after listening to Lin Zhong's words.

At this very moment, Lin Zhong was not idle either. He sent out some of his trusted guards to secretly inquire about the situation.

"Your Highness, these people are all trustworthy. They are very familiar with the people and various forces here... They will know about any disturbances!"

Xiao Ce nodded, though he was still somewhat worried.

However, he also knew very well that worrying about such things was useless.

Furthermore, I learned from those Slavic assassins that they were the last batch of assassins.

Once confirmed, they were the last group of suicide squad members.

If they weren't assassins, and given the skilled fighters accompanying Yin Pan'er, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you, Uncle Zhong."

Seeing Xiao Ce's words, Lin Zhong smiled helplessly and then said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, you're being too formal... So, you've come to see the Princess?"

Xiao Ce nodded: "I'm here to check things out too. Your progress here is incredibly fast!"

As Xiao Ce spoke, Lin Zhong's expression became awkward.

Seeing Lin Zhong's expression, Xiao Ce asked, "Uncle Zhong, what's wrong?"

Lin Zhong said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, aren't you insulting someone?"

Xiao Ce was taken aback for a moment, then said, "What do you mean? How did I scold you... I was genuinely praising you! Your progress is truly remarkable!"

Lin Zhong gave a wry smile: "Your Highness, we've seen the weapons of those Slavs at the front. We've also had our craftsmen study them. Our craftsmen say their manufacturing is clearly far superior to ours... I always thought our firearms were far ahead... Now it seems we've been slapped in the face..."

Xiao Ce waved his hand, his face serious: "Uncle Zhong, I don't agree with your point of view... I didn't mean to criticize you."

"Their weapons are indeed more advanced than ours, but do you know how long they've been developing these firearms? And how long have we been developing them? Two years? What if we were given another two years, or even five years... do you think we could surpass them?"

Seeing Xiao Ce's serious expression, Lin Zhong's expression softened slightly: "Your Highness, that's true... however, weakness invites aggression. Our..."

Seeing Lin Zhong's anxious expression, Xiao Ce finally understood why he had aged so much.

Xiao Ce then said to Lin Zhong, "Uncle Zhong, don't worry. Even if there is a gap in firearms, it's not to the point where we're at a disadvantage. At least they use firearms, and so do we. We can overcome those performance differences through tactics."

Lin Zhong smiled awkwardly after being comforted by Xiao Ce.

He then said, "Your Highness, I naturally know that, but you've entrusted me with such an important place. If I were to..."

Before Lin Zhong could finish speaking, Xiao Ce said with a smile, "Uncle Zhong, keep a calm mind... keep a calm mind. As long as we're making progress, it's okay if we go slowly. I'll handle things outside! If it weren't for you guys, we'd be the ones getting beaten right now. As long as we can make weapons, we won't be able to take any hits!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ce asked Lin Zhong to accompany him to ride the human-powered elevator.

Xiao Ce changed the subject and asked about the human elevator.

Lin Zhong said, "This human-powered elevator was discovered by some master craftsmen here when they were looking through the manuscripts left by Xiao Ce. It uses pulleys and gears to achieve rapid vertical movement."

"At that time, we needed to speed up shipments, and the manual labor model was too inefficient. So, master craftsmen came up with this modification plan. After all, doing this would not only improve efficiency, but also completely cut off the road up the mountain. Anyone who wants to go up the mountain must get the consent of the people on the mountain. Otherwise, it would be as difficult as climbing to heaven for them."

As they spoke, they boarded the manual elevator, which then began to slowly ascend.

It's very stable to sit in.

"Aren't you afraid that one day you'll be surrounded and killed?"

Lin Zhong shook his head: "Your Highness, with the introduction of several waves of people and the expansion on the mountain, we now have a population of 100,000 on this side of the mountain!"

Xiao Ce was genuinely surprised by Lin Zhong's words: "How much?"

Lin Zhong said, "One hundred thousand! We could have had more, but we have a strict review mechanism here. Although we have a large population, we have also made many reserves. For example, grain, livestock, vegetables, etc., we can be self-sufficient here."

"As for water sources, there are many mountain springs nearby! There were also several wells that existed before, and we dug a few of them. So, there are no safety issues here."

"Furthermore, we have a lot of grain reserves here! The Princess Consort previously stored all the large quantities of grain reserves that she purchased from the Xiao Kingdom here!"

Xiao Ce nodded: "This really is a paradise on earth."

As they were talking, the manual elevator slowly stopped at the Dragon Tiger Village location, and then they got off.

Hey!

Xiao Ce couldn't help but exclaim in surprise; the village had already expanded several times over...

Furthermore, the zoning is very strategic; some areas are residential, some are workshops, and some are for making parts and assembling...

There are also designated planting areas.

It's a town with very modern management.

Everyone here was busy, but Xiao Ce saw light in their eyes.

Lin Zhong then took Xiao Ce to the school.

Upon arriving at the school, Xiao Ce discovered that there were quite a few children.

Moreover, the lessons they took were not the classical Chinese texts taught in private schools.

Instead, they teach math, physics, chemistry, and patriotism...

Xiao Ce listened for a while and became somewhat dazed.

"Uncle Zhong, there are quite a few children here."

Lin Zhong nodded: "Your Highness, we don't just recruit adults. We also recruit children who are good at divination and have talent. If a child has talent, after we conduct a background check, we bring their whole family over!"

"There are indeed some geniuses among them. They mastered the knowledge you provided, Your Highness, in less than a few months, and were even able to raise some questions and come up with solutions on their own."

"Because people can only enter but not leave, the documents left by Xiao Ce are fully accessible to the masters in the workshop."

After listening, Xiao Ce went to visit those workshops and research institutes.

Lin Zhong continued, saying that after this period of development, things have changed here as well. At first, they were all ordinary master craftsmen, but some of them had strong learning abilities and gradually devoted themselves to research.

After all, what Xiao Ce had given us before was just a general direction, lacking many details. These masters were there to fill in those gaps.

Everyone in the research institute was busy writing and drawing, so focused that they didn't even notice Xiao Ce entering.

The knowledge Xiao Ce had written before was mostly limited to high school level math, physics, and chemistry.

Going any deeper, his writing becomes ambiguous.

Lin Zhonggang was about to call them when Xiao Ce stopped him.

"Let them do their thing, I won't bother them."

After Xiao Ce spoke, he took another stroll around the entire Dragon Tiger Stronghold.

After the tour, Xiao Ce was very satisfied.

Lin Zhong really made the right choice!

He managed this place very well, and the workshop was turned into an assembly line.

The speed has increased considerably.

In particular, I visited those laboratories, which looked like places where explosions had occurred.

However, the researchers there were not afraid at all...

Lin Zhong said that dozens of people had died in the explosion, all of whom were highly experienced masters in the area.

This made him very distressed.

After looking around, Xiao Ce went to the place where Lin Zhong was resting.

Lin Zhong patiently explained the situation to Xiao Ce.

Xiao Ce waved his hand gently: "Uncle Zhong, you've done a great job. It has far exceeded my expectations... Just continue with your plan."

Lin Zhong nodded, then asked, "Your Highness, did you bring any blueprints with you this time?"

Xiao Ce smiled bitterly: "All I can give you is that much knowledge... I wasn't a professional researcher in my past life either. It's not easy for me to understand these things."

Lin Zhong was visibly taken aback by Xiao Ce's words: "The previous life?"

Xiao Ce immediately realized he had blurted out the wrong thing.

"That's not important... By the way, Uncle Zhong, how did I get back? Aren't you going to ask me about the King of Zhen?"

Lin Zhong glanced at Xiao Ce, then said, "I've actually heard some rumors... The prince has apparently rebelled! Is it because of that woman?"

Xiao Ce was somewhat surprised to hear Lin Zhong's words: "Uncle Zhong, you know?"

Looking at Xiao Ce's expression, Lin Zhong gave a wry smile and waved his hand: "I don't know. I'm just guessing that the old prince was ruined by that woman... Is that really the case?"

Xiao Ce then recounted everything he knew to Lin Zhong.

Xiao Ce had nothing to hide from Lin Zhong.

In Xiao Ce's eyes, Lin Zhong was one of the few people he could treat as family.

After hearing this, Lin Zhong was surprised, but more than that, he felt it wasn't worth it.

"Your Highness, you've been controlled by this woman your whole life... But perhaps they're reunited in the underworld now."

Xiao Ce listened to Lin Zhong's words and asked, "Do you think that person is dead?"

Lin Zhong nodded and said, "That's right... very likely. According to that fake, if it were really in the Western Regions, it would have been found long ago... it's definitely in grave danger!"

Xiao Ce nodded to Lin Zhong, observing Lin Zhong's expression.

"Uncle Zhong, you're much calmer than I expected?"

Lin Zhong gave a bitter smile: "Actually, I've heard about many things! When the Prince first died, I really couldn't accept it. However, I knew you were in the capital. You certainly wouldn't let the Prince die in vain. You wouldn't let the Prince leave with regrets. Now, you've done it all!"

Xiao Ce waved his hand: "Not finding the body of his beloved and the child... it can't be said that he left without regrets."

Lin Zhong said helplessly, "Your Highness, it's not like that... Life is unpredictable. Just like Xiao Dingbang, he schemed his whole life, but in the end, he still died at the hands of his own child, putting the Xiao Kingdom in danger of collapse. Do you think, now that he sees this, if he were given the chance to do it all over again, would he do it again?"

Xiao Ce remained silent for a long time before saying to Lin Zhong, "I think it's still possible! That's just his nature!"

Just as the two were talking, a young man hurriedly walked to the door.

Although the young man was very anxious, he stood at the door, just worrying but not bothering anyone.

Upon seeing this, Lin Zhong immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

The young man didn't come in; instead, he stood at the doorway and respectfully said to Lin Zhong, "Lord Zhong, we have news of the Princess Consort that you asked us to inquire about her!"

Seeing this, Xiao Ce waved to him: "What are you doing at the door? Come in."

Despite Xiao Ce's words, the young man still looked at Lin Zhong questioningly.

Lin Zhong said to him, "The prince has already let you in, why are you still looking at me?"

Then, seemingly afraid that Xiao Ce would misunderstand, Lin Zhong explained, "Your Highness, I have a rule here: when I am talking to someone, no one is allowed to approach without my permission."

"Although this place is a closed system, many things are still kept strictly confidential!"

Seeing that Lin Zhong was about to explain, Xiao Ce waved his hand helplessly and said, "Uncle Zhong, it would be too formal for you to explain these things to me!"

Lin Zhong said with a smile, "I still have to say it, let's clear up any misunderstandings right away!"

As he spoke, he beckoned to the young man at the door to come in.