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

Xiao Ce hid to one side, where there was a hidden compartment.

Perhaps it was because Bao An was eavesdropping.

Listening to their words from here, I could hear them very clearly.

Nodding with satisfaction.

These family heads are quite capable to have stayed here for so long.

Although he looked down on them, he just needed to keep them calm for now.

Once we defeat the Turks, dealing with them will be a piece of cake.

As Xiao Ce walked out, Qian Lai looked preoccupied: "Your Highness, are you just going to let them go like this? Opportunities like this don't come often!"

Xiao Ce raised an eyebrow and said, "Let them go? This is nothing! I won't let them go unless I tie them to my side."

As Xiao Ce spoke, he walked toward the Divine Mechanism Hall.

Two days have passed, and they should have produced a batch of composite bows and repeating crossbows.

After arriving at the Divine Machine Hall.

The craftsmen saw Xiao Ce kneel and bow.

"Greetings, Your Highness. After working day and night for the past two days, we have completed the first batch of fifty composite bows and fifty repeating crossbows!" said a man who was about 1.5 meters tall but had a muscular build, bowing with his hands clasped.

Qian Lai introduced from the side: "Your Highness, his name is Lu Xiu, and he is in charge here."

Xiao Ce nodded: "Take me to see it."

Lu Xiu nodded and went to a room where finished composite bows and repeating crossbows were kept.

After seeing the composite bow, Xiao Ce nodded in satisfaction, stepped forward, picked one up, and weighed it in his hand.

It was heavier than bows of later generations, which was unavoidable because many lightweight materials could not be produced here.

However, it's still within an acceptable range.

Da Lei chimed in, "Your Highness, you call this bow a divine artifact? I see that apart from its unusual appearance, it has no other advantages."

"Da Lei, is your strength among the top of the Twelve Fiends?" Xiao Ce asked with a smile.

Da Lei didn't mince words, nodding and saying, "Of course!"

Xiao Ce asked, "How many kilograms of bow can you draw?"

Da Lei pondered for a moment: "I've drawn a 500-pound hard bow and shot it 300 meters!"

When Da Lei said this, a hint of arrogance flashed across his face.

Of course, he had every reason to be proud. After all, the requirement for an ordinary archer was to be able to draw a hard bow weighing around 80 jin (approximately 40 kg), while being able to draw a hard bow weighing over 100 jin (approximately 50 kg) was extremely rare in the army.

A person who can draw a 500-pound bow can definitely be called a god!

Xiao Ce said, "This compound bow is equivalent to a 500-pound bow, and thanks to the pulley system, even money can be drawn through it. Would you call this a divine artifact?"

Upon hearing this, Da Lei immediately exclaimed, "Impossible!"

Xiao Ce handed the composite bow in his hand to Qian Lai.

Qian Lai said awkwardly, "Your Highness, I don't know how... and besides, look at my health..."

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "Try it. I won't blame you if you can't pull me apart."

Upon seeing this, Qian Lai took the composite bow, then drew it and nocked an arrow, though his hand trembled slightly as he pulled the bow.

However, it's also clear that it didn't take much effort.

“They’re just some light bows, what’s the big deal?” Da Lei said.

Xiao Ce then said, "Let it go."

xiu...

With a sharp whistling sound, the arrow left the bow and shot straight out.

Finally, with a bang, it shot directly into the wall nearly 300 meters away.

Everyone present, including Lelouch, who was in charge of production, was astonished.

Even Qian Lai himself was shocked!

Although Qian Lai was chubby and looked quite fat, he didn't seem to have much strength.

The range alone, and the sound of the arrows hitting their targets and walls, are enough to prove the power of this bow!

It is important to know that the greater the force with which a bow is drawn, the greater its power.

The group jogged to the wall and saw that the arrows had completely embedded themselves in it...

Da Lei excitedly said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, may I give it a try?"

Xiao Ce nodded.

In Da Lei's hands, drawing the compound bow was as easy as playing with it; he didn't use the slightest bit of force...

xiu...xiu...xiu...

Da Lei could even fire in rapid succession!

Six arrows were fired in quick succession, and the task was completed in just a few seconds.

"A divine artifact! Your Highness...it's definitely a divine artifact!"

Xiao Ce then took out another repeating crossbow, which was also quite heavy.

It's still about using money to conduct experiments.

Although this repeating crossbow doesn't have as long a range as the compound bow, it looks like it can be fired with one hand, and its lethality at a distance of 100 meters is still terrifying.

Most importantly, he can fire twelve rounds at once, which is a continuous fire!

After seeing this scene, the entire room fell silent.

Da Lei said, "Your Highness, if we use this weapon, the Twelve Fiends will be caught completely off guard and suffer a defeat! What you said about divine weapons is absolutely true! Especially this repeating crossbow..."

Qian Lai chimed in, "Yes, if you didn't tell us, we wouldn't even know it's a weapon! Your Highness, you must strictly control the soldiers when you give them this weapon. Otherwise, if someone uses it to attack you, it will be impossible to defend against..."

Xiao Ce nodded. The repeating crossbow's lethality and portability far exceeded his expectations.

He used a repeating crossbow from later generations, but since many materials for it were unavailable, he used a copy of the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow recorded in a book called Tiangong Kaiwu that he had seen in later generations.

Aside from being a bit bulky, this crossbow is just as effective as a pistol.

"Lu Xiu, send someone to engrave a number on the safety of each crossbow, so that each crossbow has a unique number."

Lu Xiu clasped his hands in agreement.

Xiao Ce continued, "We need to speed up this process! Once we've produced a thousand repeating crossbows, we should switch to producing composite bows!"

"Your Highness, we can only say as quickly as possible. These things don't look complicated, but each part requires extremely fine polishing; even the slightest error can lead to disastrous results... All of these require manual polishing, so..."

Xiao Ce nodded as he listened. His thinking was still that of a modern person, and he suddenly remembered that everything here was made by hand.

"Qian Lai, go and take whatever arrowheads are here, and have them produced outside!"

He readily agreed to the offer of money.

Da Lei, rubbing his hands together, said, "Your Highness, could you equip the Twelve Fiends with these divine artifacts first?"

Xiao Ce readily agreed: "However, won't carrying these things affect your operations?"

Da Lei shook his head and said, "Your Highness, under the current circumstances, most of our missions are defensive. We rarely have stealth missions. Besides, even if we were to use stealth, it wouldn't hinder us!"

Xiao Ce naturally agreed when he heard him say that.

The stronger they are, the safer they are.

After looking around, everyone was very busy.

Although the efficiency was somewhat slow, according to Xiao Ce's plan, equipping a cavalry force of a thousand men was more than enough.

After leaving the Divine Mechanism Hall, Xiao Jiu ran over.

"Your Highness, Kan Zongye, Liu Xuan, and Lin Shou have already taken people to the execution platform. They are now asking if you want to go there!"

Xiao Ce was somewhat surprised: "Oh? It's so fast!"

Xiao Jiu nodded and said, "They have already announced Cai Tianming's crimes and are just waiting for your order."

Xiao Ce listened and said, "Let them do it. I won't go. After they've killed them, just hang the heads over there and let them settle down and rest."

Xiao Jiu cupped his hands and said yes!

"Then, those people from prestigious families all arranged for them to rest here!"

After giving the instructions, Xiao Jiu went off.

Qian Lai asked Xiao Ce with some confusion, "Your Highness, why are you leaving all these people here?"

Xiao Ce said with a smile, "You'll find out tomorrow!"

After returning home, Xiao Ce locked himself up again.

Nobody knows what they're doing.

However, they knew that if Xiao Ce locked himself up, he was definitely brewing some big move.

Needless to say, those powerful and prestigious families will be in for a rough time tomorrow.

...

The killing of Cai Tianming by the powerful clan heads caused a great shock among the prestigious families.

In particular, the prominent families under Cai Tianming's command terrified them.

After all, Cai Tianming was dead, so Xiao Ce wouldn't care about their lives.

Some people started writing their own 'information' overnight, trying to find a way to survive.

...

Among the Ashina tribe outside the four prefectures of northern desert.

The various tribes of the Turkic Kingdom gathered once again, after all, Ashina had never let them leave empty-handed when he came to them.

Despite their investigations over the past few days, they have not obtained any useful information.

In the area controlled by the four major clans, they didn't even know that Xiao Ce had arrived.

The only useful information was that Lingxiao City was under complete lockdown, and the official announcement was that they were holding a secret meeting.

Ashina sat in the main seat: "Gentlemen, this is the current situation in the four prefectures of the Northern Desert. We don't know if Xiao Ce has truly arrived, or if it's all a staged act by Bao An and those powerful clans of the Northern Desert... We have no idea..."

"Brother Ashina, since they're asking for a beating... let's gather again and give them a good beating, then they'll behave!"

“That’s right! As soon as our army is assembled, those cowards from Xiao Kingdom will be scared into surrendering... Since they dared to attack your eldest prince this time, surrendering will cost them a lot of money and supplies.”

“That’s right, Brother Ashina, let’s gather again! Who cares who comes? Aren’t those two-legged sheep from Xiao Kingdom all useless?”

Ashina, seeing the crowd's agitated state, nodded and said, "Very good! However, their actions this time have angered us greatly! Even if they wanted to surrender, I, the Khan, do not wish to give them that opportunity!"

A group of tribal leaders asked curiously and excitedly, "Brother Ashina, do you mean this is a formal attack?!"

Ashina nodded, his face flashing with a fierce light: "That's right! They dare to provoke us! This shows that they still harbor rebellious intentions! We've had enough time to recuperate and rebuild! Moreover, I've heard that the Central Plains are in chaos, with popular uprisings breaking out everywhere! Why don't we take this opportunity to occupy the four prefectures of the northern desert, slaughter all those two-legged sheep of the Xiao Kingdom, and then march south to strike at their heart!"