"So it's just a wooden frame, and it's this heavy? You're telling me it can make someone fly? It looks more like a tool to make someone fall off a cliff faster."
"Whether it can fly or not, we'll only know after we try."
Yun Shu patted the glider beside her, the corner of her brow lifting with a hint of amusement.
"If you're truly worried, you can always fetch a few death-row prisoners to try it first.
Of course, best if you find those with stronger mental fortitude, decent physical condition, and a little skill in martial arts. Most importantly, they must be clever and quick to react.
After all, this contraption does require a measure of manual control. If the person can't handle it properly and ends up wrecking the glider, we'll need time to rebuild it."
The General of Wei Yuan fell silent.
This wretched corner of Yongzhou was too poor. Anyone with any capability would have long left for better prospects.
The prisoners rotting in the local prison were mostly old men who had killed over land disputes or ruffians who had gotten women killed through violence.
Where would they find someone with the kind of psychological strength, combat skill, and nimble wits that Yun Shu described?
Anyone like that wouldn't have ended up on death row in the first place.
"Can't find any?"
Perhaps seeing the general's hesitation, Yun Shu offered another solution with practiced ease.
"No matter. The blueprint for this glider was drawn by This Princess herself.
In terms of familiarity, none of you could possibly surpass This Princess.
This model can carry two. I shall take someone up myself and teach them firsthand—"
"Absolutely not!"
The General of Wei Yuan's expression changed drastically.
"Your Highness must not risk yourself so!"
There were things His Majesty had never said aloud, but the Crown Princess had been entrusted to his care during this campaign to Yongzhou.
Her safety was his responsibility.
If His Majesty were to learn that he had let Her Highness leap off a cliff to 'fly through the skies'...
He did not even dare to imagine what would happen if it failed. Even if it succeeded, His Majesty would likely still lash him to a firework and send him skyward to fly a round himself.
Compared to that, the loss of one or two gliders was nothing at all.
"In that case, perhaps we should..."
The general braced himself, about to order someone to select a few slightly decent-looking prisoners from the jail.
But before he could finish speaking, a young soldier came running in, breathless.
"Reporting to the Crown Princess, reporting to the General! A team has just arrived outside the camp claiming to be sent by His Majesty to serve Her Highness. Their leader identifies himself as the Sixth Prince!"
"The Sixth Prince?!"
General Wei Yuan was dumbfounded. He instinctively turned to Yun Shu, only to see that she too looked utterly confused.
"Yun Chuhuan… had come?
Was this real?
What in the world had Father Emperor been thinking, to actually send that boy into the field?
Was this… a joke?"
Of course, she had no idea that Emperor Xuanwu had long consulted the Simulation Life Selection System and seen the eventual outcome of this campaign. That was why he was so unbothered.
Yun Shu, unaware of this, could only find His Majesty's move baffling beyond reason.
She even began to suspect that some opposing faction, hopelessly behind on intelligence, had tried to send an imposter pretending to be Yun Chuhuan, planning to stir up trouble from within.
And yet… that was not the case.
Even from a distance, Yun Shu could already hear a voice—familiar, energetic, and unmistakably genuine.
"Fifth Sister! Fifth Sister! I'm here!"
Yun Shu stood still.
So he really came.
With a calm step to the side, she neatly dodged the human cannonball heading toward her. Lifting a brow, she asked,
"You didn't sneak out of the palace on your own, did you?"
"As if I could!"
If he had that kind of skill, he wouldn't have spent the entire journey under the hawk-eyed watch of Imperial Father's Dragon Shadow Guard. He hadn't dared to slack for even a moment. Every single day was nothing but travel, more travel, and still more travel. Dry, crumbly flatbread along the way had nearly ground his teeth down to stumps. He'd even lost weight.
Just thinking of it made Yun Chuhuan want to collapse into his Fifth Sister's arms and sob his heart out.
"Fifth Sister, you have no idea how bitter this journey has been for me.
Every day, I was up before the sun rose, and when the sun went to sleep, I was still awake.
People always say someone is 'working like a dog,' but that day, when I was half-dead in the carriage, I happened to see a dog lounging on the roadside, tail wagging in total bliss. That's when I realized—dogs aren't tired at all.
The one who's exhausted is me!"
Pfft—
Nearby soldiers, unable to contain themselves, let out snorts of laughter.
Yun Shu, too, could not help but let her lips curl faintly.
"Shall I have someone escort you to the tent for a proper rest?"
"No need for now."
He was still a child, after all. Though he collapsed with fatigue every night, by the time morning came, he'd bounce back as lively as ever.
It was still not yet midday. They'd only marched through the morning hours. For now, Yun Chuhuan was full of energy.
After venting his grievances to Yun Shu, his eyes quickly landed on the large wooden frames arranged not far away.
"Fifth Sister, what are those? They look... strange."
"That?"
Yun Shu answered casually in the simplest terms.
"Just think of them as wings."
"Wings?"
Yun Chuhuan paused, then walked over to examine the wooden contraption curiously. After picturing it for a moment, he scratched his head with a troubled look.
"If someone has to wear that, I don't see how they'd fly. More like they'd get crushed."
"Who said you're the one carrying it? It's meant to carry you!"
Seeing Yun Chuhuan so intrigued, the craftsmen from the Ministry of Works—though restrained by the hawk-like stares of the surrounding soldiers—couldn't help stretching their necks, trying to get a better look at the glider that was supposedly capable of lifting a person into the air.
Yun Shu waved her hand decisively.
"As it happens, we're testing whether these gliders can truly take someone aloft today. If you're curious, you're welcome to come and watch."
"Then can I fly too?"
At those words, Yun Chuhuan's eyes lit up, practically sparkling.
"I missed my chance with the steam-powered carriage last time. Surely I can be the first to try these wings?"
"Absolutely not!"
General Wei Yuan's scalp was nearly about to split.
"Flying off a cliff is still far too dangerous. No one has ever done such a thing before.
For Your Highness's safety, it would be best to let someone else attempt it first."
"Flying off a cliff?!"
Yun Chuhuan had assumed they'd be taking off from flat ground and gliding low.
Now that he heard it actually involved leaping from a cliff… he couldn't help hesitating.