The dramatic rebellion led by Wang Chuzhong was quelled in an equally dramatic reversal.
Although the official report stated that Wang Chuzhong retreated due to defeat and subsequently died of illness, the aristocrats all knew the truth about when Wang Chuzhong actually died.
Not to mention, the wreckage of the Jingwei Mothership was still not cleared from the southern suburbs of Jiankang City!
The most popular theory among the aristocrats was that Princess Nankang deployed a newly developed strategic weapon from the Sima family, emerging from a secret underground military base in Jiangning District. She then launched a devastating electromagnetic harpoon missile that took down the Jingwei Mothership.
The cost was that one-third of Jiangning District was leveled. However, since this area had already been a war zone, most residents had fled, and the damage mainly affected the attacking Longxiang Army and the defending Shenwu Army.
Thus, rumors about the unfathomable depths of the Sima family's resources grew even more rampant.
Some even claimed that Emperor Xuan, Sima Yi, had foreseen future crises and had hidden countless treasures, technological equipment, and technical documents in a mysterious underground vault.
Su Zigao, who had organized the refugee army and stayed in the north for many years, was said to be searching for this "Sima Vault."
In reality, the Sima Vault remained securely in the hands of the Emperor. In times of national crisis, a super strategic weapon would be taken out to destroy any rebellion or foreign enemy.
The steel giant that appeared over Jiangning District that day was one such super strategic weapon.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Cheng Jinyang, sitting in a wheelchair and playing with his phone, chuckled as he looked at various speculations on the forum. "Is there really such a thing as the Sima Vault?"
"No," replied Princess Nankang, who was pushing the wheelchair.
Although the wheelchair was fully intelligent, capable of walking, running, and climbing stairs, his princess sister insisted on pushing him—no one knew why.
Perhaps she found this interaction heartwarming?
Nearly two months had passed since the steel giant destroyed the warship. It was now late November.
Cheng Jinyang had spent over two months in the hospital and had just recovered enough to leave. He had completed his discharge procedures and was being accompanied back to his clan's residence by his princess sister.
"Sister Xinnan," Cheng Jinyang said softly, looking at the rows of bare street trees as the wheelchair rolled along. "I've reached the seventh grade."
"When?" Princess Nankang was surprised.
"Just last week," Cheng Jinyang replied.
Though his physical body was still recovering, his dream self was as healthy as ever. With the help of the girls taking turns to watch over him, he continued to fight demons and grow stronger every day.
Since teaming up with Qingqing and Xiao Wangshu to clear the Wujing Town dungeon, his nightly dream environment had updated to the Songjiang Ruins dungeon.
The more complex map design, denser puppet soldiers, and larger, craftier monsters provided a new combat experience. Of course, it also increased his bloodline concentration absorption efficiency.
In Wujing Town, he killed about 40 monsters each night, each increasing his bloodline concentration by about 0.05 Ma, totaling about 2 Ma per night.
In the Songjiang Ruins, killing a puppet soldier increased his bloodline concentration by about 0.0025 Ma. Unlike the monsters, these soldiers were everywhere, making them easy to kill like mowing grass.
Cheng Jinyang calculated that his iron shooting could wipe out about 3000 puppet soldiers per hour, equating to 7.5 Ma.
Assuming 10 hours of sleep per day, that's 75 Ma. Adding the sporadic monster waves (at least 8 per wave), it totaled about 140 Ma daily.
Thus, in less than two months, Cheng Jinyang smoothly reached the seventh grade, ranking first among all the girls.
The others, taking turns to look after him (and gain experience), were mostly at the eighth grade. Latecomers like Xiao Wangshu and Cui Xiaoniang were still at the ninth grade.
Cheng Jinyang was very satisfied with this. As long as he maintained his lead, he wouldn't have to worry about losing his leadership in the future—or rather, he wouldn't have to worry about losing his authority.
"After you fell unconscious that day, Xing Yuanzhi organized the Cheng and Xing families to leave the ancestral land to take refuge, luckily avoiding an attack by a division of the Longxiang Army," Princess Nankang said as she pushed his wheelchair, walking slowly along the path. "However, the buildings in the clan territory were all burned down. When you go back this time, you might see many newly built houses. By the way, the head of the Xing family, Xing Shuhe, wants to discuss your marriage."
"The Fufeng Xie family came to visit last week to thank you for saving their young lady, Xie Lingjiang. Since you were not here, Wang Wanrou received her on your behalf. They got along quite well over the few days, composing poetry together and enjoying themselves."
"Qingqing and Cui Jinqi argue every day, but from what I see, it's mostly just bickering. They actually have a pretty good relationship in their own way. But what's up with that little girl Yang Wangshu? She wears a mask all the time and communicates through typing. It's very rude."
"Wait a minute." Cheng Jinyang raised one hand. "Sister Xinnan, what are you saying? They all live in my house now?"
"Yes," Princess Nankang said mischievously. "Did you really think that the noble families, like commoners, believed it was me who shot down the Jingwei Mothership that day?"
Cheng Jinyang was stunned for a moment before he finally realized:
So, these aristocratic families discovered that I've been hiding my exceptional strength, and now they're scrambling to marry off their daughters to me?
Great! I don't even need to propose. I'll gladly accept them all!
"If you were really that strong, it'd be a different story," Princess Nankang said, as if she could see the hidden joy in his heart. "With your current mediocre ability, transforming into a giant leaves you paralyzed for two months, not to mention the damage it does to your body—there is a cost to this power."
"Will it shorten my lifespan?" Cheng Jinyang asked hurriedly. "Like, using it once takes away a quarter of my life?"
"No," Princess Nankang replied. "According to Wang Wanrou's explanation, this power is similar to adrenaline, only usable in times of great crisis, and followed by a long recovery period where your body becomes extremely fragile."
"This is your trump card, Jinyang. The reason a trump card is valuable is that you must never easily expose it to your opponents."
"I understand," Cheng Jinyang knew that his princess sister was warning him not to reveal this secret while facing the flattery and probing of the noble families.
He nodded solemnly in agreement.