My Father in Law is Lu Bu

“Protect the Lord! Where did this guy come from?” Guan Hai and Zhou Cang readied their weapons as they stepped in front of Liu Mang. The dark skinned stranger in front of them was too scary.

“Arrest him!” Guan Hai ordered the other bodyguards and they began to move.

“Milord! It’s me!” The stranger shouted loudly.

“Wait!” Liu Mang suddenly said as he recognized the voice.

“Ziyang? Is that you?” Xu Shu asked skeptically.

“Yes it’s me! Military Advisor, I mean, Interior Minister. I am Liu Ye Liu Ziyang!” The stranger said to Liu Mang and the others.

“You are Liu Ye? What a joke! Even if Brother Liu is not that handsome, his skin is not uglier than Brother Guan’s!” Zhou Cang spoke. Guan Hai furrowed his brows as he was insulted. Fortunately Guan Hai knew what kind of mouth Zhou Cang had. Otherwise, Zhou Cang would have already been beaten up.

“I really am Liu Ye! Zhou Cang! I haven’t even held you accountable for eating the tortoise my family raised for ten years yet!” Liu Ye pointed at Zhou Cang and shouted. Last time, Zhou Cang was ordered to go to Liu Ye’s house and tell Liu Ye to visit Liu Mang. At that time, Zhou Cang stole away Liu Ye’s tortoise. If not for the fact that the chef had served the wrong food, Liu Ye would not have realized that Zhou Cang caused his turtle to turn into soup.

“Huh! How did you know this?” Zhou Cang was shocked.

“Hmph! If I did not give face to the Lord, I would have already settled accounts with you! Today, you even showed suspicion of me!” Liu Ye replied reprimandingly.

“You really are Ziyang!” Liu Mang confirmed this when he saw Zhou Cang look away guiltily.

“Brother Liu! What happened to you?” Zhou Cang could only laugh. Initially, Guan Hai could be on his side but now he had offended both people. Guan Hai simply stood aside and watch Zhou Cang get scolded.

“Hmph!” Liu Ye reached for his face with his sleeves wanting to wipe the ashes off. However, his clothes were already full of ashes so his face only turned darker. Zhou Cang laughed at this.

Liu Ye glared back for a while and then thought of something. He walked towards Zhou Cang and wiped his face on Zhou Cang’s body.

“Brother Liu! What are you doing? Don’t do this!” Zhou Cang screamed.

Liu Mang watched until Liu Ye wiped away the ashes from his face on Zhou Cang’s clothes.

“Brother Liu! You owe me new clothes!” Zhou Cang shouted.

“Enough!” Liu Mang quickly stopped the two as it would not end otherwise.

“Ziyang. What happened here?” Liu Mang asked. Liu Ye had arrived seemingly excited. However, the surrounding was in such a mess that Liu Mang was apprehensive.

“Milord! Nothing bad happened! I have simply manufactured that thing you call gunpowder!” Liu Ye replied calmly.

“Gunpowder? You made it?” Liu Mang’s eyes grew wide.

“Yes. Milord, take a look. This is gunpowder.” Liu Ye replied. Liu Ye’s subordinates then appeared from behind him and took out something for Liu Mang.

“It is black in color.” Liu Mang said as he received it. It was just like black powder.1

Everyone thinks that gunpowder is easy to make. It is just saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur. However, if they were to mix these three things together normally, all they would get are small fireworks. Also without the right ratio, they might not even result in fireworks.

Liu Mang wanted Liu Ye to make ordinary gunpowder. Naturally, it was not for fireworks. Though fireworks could appease his wives, Liu Mang wanted to use this for war more than fireworks. Guns, and cannons all these things need gunpowder. Even if Liu Mang had a rough idea of what to do, a liberal arts student like Liu Mang would still need an inventor like Liu Ye to invent it.

“This is gunpowder? Isn’t this just dust?” Zhou Cang could not help but offend someone every time he opened his mouth.

“What do you know? This gunpowder is our…” Liu Ye immediately wanted to retort but was stopped by Liu Mang.

“Zhou Cang. Do not underestimate this black powder. This thing caused this place to turn into this state.” Liu Mang said and pointed.

“This black powder caused this? Haha, Milord. You really know how to lie to me. Isn’t this caused by divine lightning?” Zhou Cang did not believe Liu Mang.

“Lie to you? Haha! Zhou Cang. There is another barrel of gunpowder over there. Why not you go and take a look while I light it up for you?” Liu Mang laughed as he replied to Zhou Cang.

Zhou Cang quickly shook his head when he saw Liu Mang’s smile. This was the smile Liu Mang usually had right before someone suffers from bad luck. “I believe you! I believe you!” Zhou Cang then looked around to see that the fire was still being put out. There were also some casualties.

“Milord. You already know?” Liu Ye smiled bitterly.

“Of course I do!” Liu Mang replied. He did not believe in things like divine lightning. A lightning strike could kill but it would never be so terrifying that it could burn down several houses. While Liu Mang had never seen a real explosion before, he knew it had to be more terrifying than the special effects explosions he sees on television.

“Didn’t I tell you to show it to me first?” Liu Mang criticized.

“Milord. This is not Lord Liu Ye’s fault. It is mine!” One young man stepped forward.

“Hm?” Liu Mang thought that this man was nervous from seeing him. That was why his explanation wasn’t clear. However, after listening for a while, he found out that this man stuttered naturally.

“Milord. This is because I did not listen to your orders. It is not the fault of Assistant Minister Ma! If you must punish someone, punish me alone.” Liu Ye knelt down.

“Hm?” Liu Mang did not know who the young man is that Liu Ye would beg for him. “Assistant Minister Ma?” On top of that, this young man was the deputy leader of the Ministry of Works?

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1. Earliest known chemical explosive are called black powder while the modern ones are smokeless powder.