Outside the windows, the roads on both sides blurred into streaks, vanishing swiftly behind them. Emperor Xuanwu, caught between amazement and discomfort, lifted a hand to rub his wind-chilled cheek.
"This carriage is indeed impressive, but it is clearly ill-suited for winter or rainy days. Once it picks up speed, the wind becomes unbearable. Sitting in it for long is no easy feat."
"If Your Daughter refines the design further, that problem will be resolved."
Yun Shu also tucked her chin deeper into the collar of her cloak, fingers lifting to point at the empty space where a front windshield should have been.
"Your Daughter has already discussed it with Zheng Daren and Jiang Daren. We plan to test whether glazed crystal can be improved, made tougher and clearer—and cheaper as well.
If successful, we will install it right here. It will not obstruct visibility but should shield against both wind and rain."
"Tougher and clearer glazed crystal?"
Glazed crystal was already an expensive material. A stronger and clearer version would be even more refined by nature. How could it possibly be made cheaper?
Emperor Xuanwu found the claim doubtful.
Yet he thought back to the many wonders his daughter had created over the past two years—things that would have once seemed equally impossible. In the end, he refrained from dismissing the notion outright.
Instead, he probed gently.
"And if it cannot be made? Or if the result falls short of expectation?"
"Then we keep working on it!"
She already had the recipe for glass in her hands—how could it possibly fail?
Pity she could not say that aloud.
Yun Shu pondered for a moment, then lightly tapped the wheel in her hands.
"In any case, that glass would simply improve the carriage further. Even without it for now, Your Daughter believes this vehicle will sell easily."
That was true indeed.
Emperor Xuanwu suddenly realized he had become too focused on how the carriage might be improved, and forgot that even this current version—the so-called 'simplified rush-job' steam carriage Yun Shu described—was something that had stunned even an emperor.
At its first appearance, it had shaken him.
With that in mind, Emperor Xuanwu no longer dwelled on whether it could be perfected further. He began instead to inspect the vehicle with growing curiosity.
"That spinning disk in your hands—what is it? How does it control the direction of the carriage?"
"How is this thing started? How is its speed managed? And how does it stop?"
"That large boiler in the front, does it need water constantly? I overheard Zheng Qiaozhang mention something earlier. This carriage runs by boiling water, does it not?"
"If boiling water is required, must firewood or coal be added constantly as well?"
"…"
All along the road, Emperor Xuanwu became like an eager child, brimming with questions about everything.
Fortunately, Yun Shu had recently stayed at the manor for days, poring over blueprints with Zheng Qiaozhang and Jiang Yuanbao. She had thoroughly studied every part of this most rudimentary steam-powered carriage.
Now, her answers came smoothly and confidently.
Compared to Zheng Qiaozhang's earlier enthusiastic barrage of technical terms, Yun Shu's explanations were far more digestible.
By the time they returned to the gates of Linde Hall, Emperor Xuanwu had not only grasped the basics of steam power, he had even begun drawing inferences of his own.
"If this steam engine can be applied to a carriage, could it also power a ship?"
"Indeed, Father Emperor."
Yun Shu brought the vehicle to a steady stop.
"In fact, the first time Zheng Daren considered applying steam power, it was during a discussion with Your Son regarding naval warships.
Just a few days ago, while working on this carriage's design with Zheng Daren, we also ran a preliminary estimate of what building a steam-powered warship might entail.
The result is…"
She turned to meet Emperor Xuanwu's expectant gaze, her voice light and brimming with delight.
"A massive steam-powered warship, at the current estimate, would cost no less than eighty thousand taels."
"How much?"
The look of anticipation on Emperor Xuanwu's face froze completely.
How should one put it…
Currently, Tian Sheng's navy used standard warships that carried ten men and cost around eight hundred taels apiece.
Now a single steam warship would cost eighty thousand?
Even if it was "massive," could it really hold one thousand men?
The national treasury had indeed become far more abundant lately, but still—this price was rather…
"It is admittedly a bit expensive," Yun Shu said, understanding his expression all too well.
She nodded in agreement.
"However, this one ship can carry up to three hundred soldiers and can be outfitted with catapults.
Most importantly, its speed surpasses manpower-rowed vessels by at least twentyfold."
Twenty times faster!
If the earlier details—three hundred men, onboard catapults—had still seemed abstract to Emperor Xuanwu, that final point struck him directly in the heart.
"If this is true, then Tian Sheng could launch a swift campaign against a land like Wa Kingdom and return within mere days, striking before the enemy even reacts!"
Behind them, the envoy from Wa Kingdom, who had just alighted with the others, faltered.
"…?"
Envoys from other small nations, already overwhelmed with anxiety, stiffened visibly.
"…!!!"
What did he mean by "launch another campaign against places like Wa Kingdom"? Was that not referring to them?
Each felt as though they had been singled out and marked. The gloom in their hearts grew heavier still.
In stark contrast, the generals led by Great General Wei Yuan became visibly excited.
"What is this about striking and returning in mere days? Your Majesty, is there another campaign soon?
This subject is ready to lead the troops!"
"…It is over."
The small-nation envoys, squeezed to the back of the crowd, grew more despondent by the moment.
"Tian Sheng's Crown Princess is firm and unyielding in diplomacy, and every one of their generals is brave and eager for war. Now they even possess this formidable divine vehicle, and their military coffers are brimming…"
Our countries are doomed!
Had they known Tian Sheng was this powerful, and so quick to protect its own, they would never have disguised pirates to raid Tian Sheng's coastal regions in pursuit of a few scattered goods.
Now… would groveling on their knees still be in time?
Or perhaps—
While the envoys panicked in silence, the matter outside was already spiraling into legend.
That very night, word spread like wildfire beyond the palace walls: At the Wanshou Festival banquet, Her Highness the Crown Princess had gifted His Majesty a miraculous carriage.
It required no horses to pull it, yet could outrun them by several times over.
By the time the sun rose the next day, the tale had already swept through every alley and marketplace.
None in the capital remained unaware.
"I told you all! Her Highness the Crown Princess must be a deity sent down to the mortal realm—none of you believed me!
Now look! A carriage that doesn't need horses and still outruns them—if that's not divine power, what is it?"