Chapter 293: Yan Lingji: When will you accept my disciple? Making explosives!
Jing Ni is already in the later stages of her pregnancy.
Her belly’s curve is noticeably larger than last month.
When Li Mo returned, she was lounging on a deck chair in the yard, soaking up the sun.
The deck chair was custom-made by Li Mo; this era didn’t have such things.
Rocking gently, lying on it was quite comfortable.
Duanmu Rong was sitting beside her, intently reading medical books.
The reason outstanding individuals in the industry are exceptional is that they always maintain a keen desire to learn.
Li Mo helped her move many rare medical texts from the palace, which Duanmu Rong has been studying recently.
In addition to keeping Fei Yan company, she has also developed a medicine garden.
It is several times larger than the one at the Mirror Lake Medical Villa.
Seeing Li Mo approach, Duanmu Rong put down her medical book and softly said, “I’m going to check the medicine garden; you stay with the lady.”
With that, she stood up.
She took a small hoe from the room and walked out of the yard with a basket.
In broad daylight, she was not worried about Li Mo going to see his child.
Jing Ni was awakened by the sound of Duanmu Rong’s voice and slowly opened her eyes.
“My husband is back! How’s the Astrology Tower coming along?”
Jing Ni smiled, instinctively touching her belly.
“It’s finished. The craftsmanship of the Gongshu family is quite good; let me touch it.”
Li Mo squatted beside Jing Ni, carefully feeling her protruding belly.
As soon as he got close, Jing Ni sniffed.
Then, she shot an exasperated look at Li Mo.
“Does Fei Yan know?”
Li Mo knew exactly what she was referring to.
His body was full of the Moon Goddess’s scent; he hadn’t even had time to take a bath before returning.
“I haven’t told her yet, but I think she’ll agree.”
Fei Yan had brought it up when they were in Yan State.
Jing Ni’s expression relaxed a bit, and she spoke softly, “You should at least let her know. Although they are sisters, they don’t seem to get along well.”
Li Mo chuckled, “It’s not that they don’t get along; it’s just that the Moon Goddess can’t accept that Fei Yan is better than her. Fei Yan doesn’t even bother to engage with her.”
Jing Ni nodded thoughtfully.
The Moon Goddess had been living here for over a month, so how could she not see it?
To put it bluntly, the Moon Goddess was like a little bird lingering around Fei Yan.
Whenever Fei Yan ignored her, she would peck at her.
After annoying Fei Yan and getting pushed back a bit, she’d behave for a few days before going back to peck at her again.
In Li Mo’s words, that Moon Goddess was quite annoying.
If Fei Yan was the pure and radiant moonlight, then the Moon Goddess was just a green tea bitch.
“Sister is really happy, huh? The National Advisor treats you well.”
“Younger Sister is so envious of you.”
“Is the National Advisor staying tonight? Oh, with so many women around him, he probably won’t come, right?”
“Is the National Advisor staying tonight? But Younger Sister wants to sleep with Sister too. Sister won’t abandon Younger Sister when you have a man, right?”
These words reflected exactly what was on her mind and what she did.
It caused Fei Yan not to share a room with Li Mo since they returned.
Now that she was sent to the Astrology Tower, it coincided perfectly with Fei Yan’s wishes.
“By the way, the things you had prepared were delivered this afternoon. Why did you have so much charcoal sent over? Winter hasn’t even arrived yet.”
Jing Ni suddenly remembered this and spoke up.
Hearing her mention it, Li Mo then recalled that he still had important tasks to attend to.
“It’s not for warming up; where did you put it? No one touched it, right?”
Those things cannot be handled carelessly by others.
If mishandled, his mountain villa could be ruined.
“I had someone move it to the backyard; Yan Lingji and Hong Liang should be there. I’ve already informed them; they won’t let anyone else touch it.”
Jing Ni was somewhat surprised at why Li Mo regarded those charcoal and stones with such importance.
Before leaving, he had even specifically told her not to let anyone get close to them.
Li Mo slapped his forehead.
It seems that the things you fear the most come to pass.
Everyone at home can touch those items, but those two fire-manipulating troublemakers are off-limits!
In the backyard, a big and a small beauty were lying on the neatly trimmed lawn basking in the sun.
The master didn’t teach with devotion, and the disciple also didn’t learn with enthusiasm.
Three days of fishing, two days of drying the nets.
Over this long period, aside from learning to wiggle her bottom like Yan Lingji when walking, Hong Liang hadn’t really learned anything else.
What she learned about the Fire Charm Technique could only be described as pitiful.
At most, she could only produce a tiny flame.
The master and disciple lay head to head.
With their legs intertwined, they rested their hands on their bellies, fidgeting their feet uneasily.
They enjoyed the delightful autumn sunshine.
Their movements were unexpectedly synchronized; they truly were master and disciple.
“Hey? Why is there no sun anymore?”
Suddenly, Hong Liang felt her closed eyelids darkening, and the sunlight on her face was instantly blocked by something.
Yan Lingji, with her head against hers, felt it too.
The two opened their eyes simultaneously.
Both startled and sprang up as if something spring-loaded was attached to their backsides.
“You, you, you, how come you’re walking without making a sound?”
Hong Liang, patting her increasingly plump belly, complained to Li Mo angrily.
Li Mo scoffed with a disdainful laugh, “Can’t hear your own footsteps and blame me? Lazing around here every day, is this how you learn martial arts?”
Hong Liang tilted her head, defiantly saying, “My master said to combine work and rest; practicing all day without break will exhaust a person.”
“Right, Master?”
Yan Lingji crossed her arms, glancing sideways with her water-blue eyes, an expression of unspeakable disdain in her gaze.
“Exactly, teaching all day can be really tiresome.”
She claimed to be a princess, but never had she seen such a foolish one.
With Hong Liang’s intelligence, if she wandered the jianghu, she would be sold by others without even realizing it.
She had thought her own IQ was already quite low compared to Li Mo and Sister Zi, but she found someone even dumber than herself.
“Did you hear that? My master said so!”
Hong Liang completely missed the disdain in Yan Lingji’s words, playfully flaunting to Li Mo with her hands on her waist.
Li Mo couldn’t be bothered to lecture her.
If she didn’t want to learn, that was fine; after all, with so many experts at home, they didn’t need a half-hearted one like her.
“How about I find you some fun?”
Both master and disciple’s eyes brightened instantly.
In the blue and black of their large eyes, excitement sparkled.
“What fun?”
Li Mo pointed to several sacks stacked aside, speaking mysteriously, “Just that.”
It seemed like Jing Ni had informed them not to mess with it.
After the materials were moved over, they hadn’t touched them at all.
They might not listen to others, but they usually obeyed Jing Ni.
There was no helping it; this was the dual pressure from her status as a senior woman and her strength.
“These? A pair of carbon and broken stones?”
The two turned to look at the several sacks, filled with confusion.
Li Mo nudged Hong Liang, instructing, “Go, bring a balance scale. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Hong Liang instantly pouted, her mouth turning up high, grumbling without enthusiasm, “Why do I have to go?”
“You young ones need to exercise more, hurry up,”
Li Mo lightly kicked Hong Liang’s buttocks.
Her little face flushed bright red immediately.
With her willow-like brows furrowed, she shouted fiercely, “Fine, I’ll go!”
Then she dashed off as if escaping.
Yan Lingji raised her brow and teased Li Mo, saying softly, “Tsk tsk, getting a bit hands-on with my disciple, are we?”
They had become this intimate with each other.
Still saying you have no thoughts about her?
Li Mo shook his head and walked towards a pile of materials.
As he walked, he said, “It’s still a bit small.”
Yan Lingji’s eyes darted around.
She muttered, “Not small at all, almost rivals me.”
Who knows if Hong Liang secretly ate some supplements at night or blew some air into them.
The scale was such that one would fear she might lose her balance while standing.
The key point is that she’s only fifteen or sixteen years old.
At this rate of development, she will catch up to Mingzhu, that big cow, sooner or later.
“I didn’t say she was small; you shouldn’t be idle either. Help me find a few jars.”
Li Mo tore open the sealed burlap sack and reached in to grab a piece of white stone.
This is called nitre, also known as potassium nitrate.
Such minerals exist in nature.
Li Mo specifically arranged for someone to gather it.
Then, he walked to the other side and opened another burlap sack.
He pulled out a piece of yellow solid.
A strong, foul odor like rotten eggs immediately assaulted his senses.
Yan Lingji immediately pinched her nose in disgust and complained, “What is this stuff? It stinks!”
Li Mo pinched a piece of the edge and rubbed it between his fingers.
Then he nodded in satisfaction.
“This is sulfur, a good thing.”
Used externally, it can kill insects and relieve itching; taken internally, it can tonify fire and assist yang.
Alchemists often add sulfur when concocting yang-enhancing medicines.
But this stuff is poisonous.
If the dosage is not precise, it could very well kill someone.
Sulfur was originally discovered by alchemists by accident.
Alchemists make medicines by mixing various strange things together and burning them.
Sulfur is obtained from the combustion of pyrite and charcoal.
Yan Lingji was clearly smarter than Hong Liang.
She waved over a few passing maids and instructed them to get the jars.
After giving her orders, she looked at Li Mo with curiosity and asked, “Are you going to refine pills? Preparing to become an immortal?”
She was one of the few who knew that Li Mo was seeking immortality.
This whole pile of things seems to be the materials needed for alchemy.
“It would be great if refining an immortal pill were really that easy.”
Li Mo let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head as he continued, “I want to refine something that won’t make people immortal, but could send them to their graves instead.”
“What exactly are you trying to do? If you don’t tell me, I’m going to burn all this junk of yours,”
Yan Lingji said, pointing a delicate finger.
A little flame suddenly flickered at the tip of her finger.
Li Mo quickly grabbed her finger, his expression serious, “If you let that fire go, we’ll all be finished.”
With all these raw materials piled up here, if she ignited them, it could likely blow the entire villa apart.
“Then tell me what you want to do?”
Worried that he might get burned, the flame at her fingertip extinguished as if the lighter had run out of fuel.
She withdrew her hand and draped her arms around his neck, tilting her chin and blinking innocently as she asked.
Li Mo discarded the sulfur in his hand and reached out to wrap around her serpentine waist.
He casually wiped his hands on his backside before saying, “I’m making explosives!”
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