Chapter 99 Pretending You Died Is Deserved

"Ah Jiu," Huangpu Yingchao called out to Guan Ye, "If you have time, come and lend a hand."

"I'm here..." Guan Ye was about to stop him when Mu Chenbi, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly replied, "What do you need me to do?"

Huangpu Ying pulled off a handkerchief from his shoulder to wipe his forehead. "Master Guan asked us to take inventory of the warehouse materials. The quenching process is at a critical stage and we can't leave anyone behind. Manager Pei said that all the swordsmen can read and do arithmetic. If you have some free time..."

"Checking the supplies?" Mu Chenbi glanced at Guan Ye with phoenix-like eyelashes, raising his voice, "Master Guan, right? I can read and do math. Please... Master Guan, lead the way..."

"Ah Jiu, I'm entrusting this to you." Huangpu Yingchao and Mu Chenbi cupped their fists in a respectful gesture. "I'll toast you a few more times tonight."

Mu Chenbi mimicked Huangpu Ying's gesture and bowed slightly. Turning his head, he saw Guan Ye standing there in a daze, and nudged her with his elbow, "Master Guan? Aren't you leaving?"

Guan Ye lightly stamped her foot, and had no choice but to lead Mu Chenbi to the backyard storeroom. Mu Chenbi couldn't hide his smugness, and could even chuckle to himself. Guan Ye suddenly turned around, and that smug smile froze on Mu Chenbi's usually composed face. The two looked at each other for a moment, both unable to suppress their laughter.

"Even His Highness the Crown Prince is teasing us." Guan Ye bit her lip. "If the shop owner finds out, he'll punish us again."

Mu Chenbi stole a glance at Guan Ye, "Then... don't let him know."

Guan Ye suddenly stopped and pointed to the old house in front of her. "Look, the warehouse is over there. Go there."

"Aren't you going?" Mu Chenbi felt a chill in his heart. Could it be that Guan Ye was going to leave him alone inside?

Guan Ye pulled a bunch of keys from her sleeve as if by magic and strode forward, saying, "Without me, you can't get in."

In an instant, Mu Chenbi felt a pang of envy for Ajiu. Ajiu lived under the same roof as Guan Ye every day and could see her smile all the time. Even working with her must have been a joyful experience. It was just like herself now. Even if there was endless work in the warehouse, Mu Chenbi would be happy to be with Guan Ye.

"What are you standing there for?" Seeing Mu Chenbi frozen in place, staring blankly at her, Guan Ye shouted, "What's wrong, scared?"

Mu Chenbi composed himself and stepped into the doorway. He looked around at the private treasury of Xingguo Ward, which was no less impressive than that of the inner ward, and secretly admired it.

"Stunned again?" Guan Ye held up five fingers and waved them in front of his eyes. "How does it compare to the inner palace?"

Mu Chenbi nodded and chuckled, "The inner workshop is nothing special, do you really want to compare yourself to them?"

Guan Ye was not to be outdone and blurted out without thinking, "You tell me, what other workshops in the world are still worth mentioning?"

Mu Chenbi was speechless for a moment, and could only helplessly face the stubborn face in front of him. Mu Chenbi carefully examined the warehouse, picked up a piece of ore and rubbed it with his fingertip, "Sparrow stone? Even the inner workshop cannot find an item of such quality. Master Guan, you have a good eye."

Guan Ye pursed her lips and didn't look at him, as if she couldn't hear his praise. She took out a notebook for recording materials and stuffed it into Mu Chenbi's hand. She rolled up her sleeves and got into a working position. "I'll count, you write it down."

"Me, remember?" Mu Chenbi shook his head. "Don't underestimate me. I recognize many kinds of ores and iron ore. I'll point them out, and you can remember them."

Guan Ye frowned slightly. "You talk too much. Are you going to remember this or not?"

Mu Chenbi wanted to say a few more words in his defense, but Guan Ye's big, almond-shaped eyes and stubborn tone left no room for argument. If he said anything more, he was afraid she would really kick him out of the storeroom. Although he was unwilling, he could only do as she said.

Guan Ye gave a satisfied hum, her movements as nimble as a deer's. She quickly calculated the quantities with a few strokes of her fingers: "Five baskets of iron ore, three hundred catties; one and a half baskets of brass, one hundred and twenty catties; ten catties of cinnabar; fifty catties of tin..."

Every time Guan Ye mentioned something, Mu Chenbi would look at it. The warehouse was filled with ore, with hundreds of baskets of various sizes. At first glance, they all looked similar, all dark and black. Although he was familiar with ore, he couldn't be sure he could tell the correct type of ore just by looking at it. Guan Ye, on the other hand, could accurately identify the type of ore in the basket with just one glance, and even tell the exact weight. Such ability meant that either she had been immersed in it every day and already knew it by heart, or she had an amazing talent and an innate sensitivity to ore. Her eyes were like rulers and her hands were like scales.

Such a genius in casting has vanished into the long river of time, and Mu Chenbi never imagined that he would be able to witness it with his own eyes.

"Did you write it down?" Guan Ye turned to look at Mu Chenbi, and seeing his hand holding the pen frozen on the book, Guan Ye suddenly realized something, "Was it... that I spoke too quickly?"

Mu Chenbi didn't respond, but slowly turned the book to Guan Ye. Seeing that the items she had counted were recorded clearly, Guan Ye was also a little surprised. She leaned closer and checked it over, and it was exactly the same as what she had said. Guan Ye looked up at Mu Chenbi's confident face and gave him a thumbs up with heartfelt admiration.

"It seems..." Mu Chenbi smiled meaningfully, "You thought I was a good-for-nothing, and assumed I couldn't remember everything, right?"

Guan Ye blushed. "Who would dare underestimate you? You are... His Highness the Crown Prince." Then, her youthful spirit returned, and she looked up and asked, "You only record things in the book. Let me ask you one more question: Is there any error in my counting?"

Mu Chenbi, of course, knew that Guan Ye wanted to test his abilities further. Without saying much, he approached the mountain of materials, rolled up the books into a ball, and pointed to the dark, black stones in the bamboo basket in front of him, "Tin, fifty catties." Before Guan Ye could react, he raised his arm and pointed higher up, "One and a half baskets of copper, one hundred and twenty catties. There's a small box in the basket containing ten catties of cinnabar... and over there..."

"That's enough." Guan Ye spread her arms to block Mu Chenbi. "The Crown Prince is an expert in casting. It was my mistake. There's no need to try again."

Mu Chenbi stared intently at the blush rising on her cheeks, reluctant to look away for a long time. Guan Ye noticed the strangeness in his eyes, pulled the book from his hand, turned around and said, "It's all been counted, aren't you leaving?"

Mu Chenbi blushed, realizing he'd been seen through, and silently followed Guan Ye out of the storeroom. He noticed a seemingly abandoned old house next door and couldn't help but glance at it a few more times. Guan Ye followed his gaze. "That's not a storeroom; it's a place to store miscellaneous items. Old things from the workshop are all piled up inside."

"Old workshop? You mean, Tianhu workshop?" Mu Chenbi asked thoughtfully.

Guan Ye nodded. She knew that Mu Chenbi was obsessed with casting and would definitely be itching to see old objects. Now that they were so close, there was no reason not to go in and take a look. Guan Ye took out the key to the old house, and Mu Chenbi smiled knowingly. People who love casting all think the same way.

The door was pushed open, raising a cloud of dust. Guan Ye turned to look at Mu Chenbi. "Your noble physique has never eaten dirt before, has it?" But to her surprise, Mu Chenbi strode forward, facing the flying dust without even coughing. Guan Ye was secretly amazed. Just as she was about to open her mouth, she was choked by the dust and couldn't speak.

Hearing Guan Ye cough a few times, Mu Chenbi hurriedly waved his sleeve to dust himself off. His movements were clumsy and awkward, clearly indicating that he had never experienced such a scene before. Perhaps realizing that his actions were useless, Mu Chenbi's face turned red with embarrassment. He simply stood in front of Guan Ye and took a few breaths. His chest itched as he did so. Not wanting Guan Ye to laugh at him for being so precious, he had no choice but to hold it in, his handsome face turning as red as a pig's liver.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Guan Ye tilted her head and looked at her.

Mu Chenbi couldn't open his mouth. He hurriedly shook his head to indicate that he was fine. Suddenly, he couldn't help but gasp out. This was like a flood that had been released, causing him to cough violently. He could only push Guan Yan away and ask her to stay away from him.

This cough... Mu Chenbi suddenly thought of the young master of the Mei family. That day, he coughed like a bowstring about to break. Looking at himself now... Guan Ye must think that he also has tuberculosis.

After a long while, the room finally fell silent again. Guan Ye hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and nudged Mu Chenbi's back with her fist. "All done?"

"Hmm." Mu Chenbi replied weakly, his body stiffening as if he were somewhat embarrassed.

"It's nothing." Guan Ye walked around Mu Chenbi. "The Crown Prince is also a person, and besides..." Guan Ye lowered her voice, "There are only the two of us here, I won't tell anyone."

Her voice brushed past his ears, like the swaying willow branches in the spring, melodious and pleasant, bringing a sense of comfort. Mu Chenbi followed behind her, the corners of his lips involuntarily curving upwards.

Mu Chenbi had visited Tianhu Workshop many times before. Tianhu Workshop suffered a calamity, and all the valuables and weapons in the workshop were confiscated. All that was left were seemingly useless objects, such as broken kilns, pots missing most of their parts, and some other things that Mu Chenbi did not recognize. However, anything that could appear in Tianhu Workshop must be related to weapon forging. Just because he did not know it now did not mean he would not know it in the future.

Seeing that the old items in the room were neatly arranged but not messy, and placed in an orderly manner according to their categories, and noticing the faint hint of pride on Guan Ye's face, Mu Chenbi already had his answer.

Guan Ye had been listening intently for a while, but Mu Chenbi was only busy fiddling with various objects, completely ignoring the results of her efforts over the past few days. He didn't praise her or even ask her a question. Guan Ye snorted inwardly and deliberately brought out the spiral fan, squatting down to the side and fiddling with it by herself.

"This is..." Mu Chenbi was clearly attracted by the object and leaned forward to ask, "What are you holding?"

Guan Ye pretended to be deaf, making even more noise with her mouth creaking, and deliberately pursed her lips to keep them closed.

Mu Chenbi squatted down beside her and reached out to touch it, but Guan Ye stopped him and held it carefully in front of her, saying, "You're clumsy, don't break my things."

"Your things?" Mu Chenbi, instantly understanding the girl's thoughts, lowered his head and chuckled. "Isn't it an old item from Tianhu Workshop?"

Guan Ye lowered her eyes. "It's from Tianhu Workshop, but when I found it, it had already been trampled to pieces. I repaired it."

"Oh." Mu Chenbi responded emphatically, "It's already rare to recognize something from Tianhu Workshop, let alone be able to repair it? Guan Ye, you're amazing." He then gave Guan Ye a thumbs up.

Guan Ye was delighted to finally receive praise, but her expression remained calm and indifferent. "Is it that difficult? In such a large city as Rongdu, no one recognizes this thing?"

“Of course it’s difficult.” Mu Chenbi raised his voice. “I’ve sneaked into Tianhu Workshop countless times. I’ve seen the things you have. If I recognized them, would I have left them to you? Guan Ye, no, I mean Master Guan the Caster, you’re truly remarkable.”

Guan Ye recalled her first meeting with Mu Chenbi. That night, Mu Chenbi was indeed fiddling with something in the foundry of Tianhu Workshop. It seemed that... he wasn't flattering her; his words came from the bottom of his heart.

Guan Ye presented the spiral blower to Mu Chenbi. Mu Chenbi examined it closely and found that it was indeed very different from the one he had seen at Tianhu Workshop. He had felt that this thing was not simple back then, but unfortunately, it had been trampled in half and he couldn't figure it out. He never expected that Guan Ye would recognize it and repair it so well that the spiral pieces were intact and it started to spin with a whoosh when pulled gently.

"Have you ever used this?" Mu Chenbi asked in a low voice.

Guan Ye nodded and said, "The sword that Lou Cangyu tested was made from diamond sand melted with it. The spiral wind is small in shape, but its power is ten times stronger than other winds. It's just a pity that the one left by Tianhu Workshop is too small..." Guan Ye's eyes showed regret, "If it is to forge a large number of military weapons or tools, it is willing but unable to do so."

Judging from Guan Ye's tone, it was as if she treated the object as a living person. Mu Chenbi nodded and chuckled, his eyes still fixed on the spiral blower in his hand. "I'm asking, have you seen this before? It's something that other people wouldn't even pick up. How do you know it's so useful?"

"Oh no!" Guan Ye thought to herself, realizing something was wrong. Had he seen through her? Guan Ye wanted to slap herself. She blamed her own damned competitiveness. Guan Ye, Guan Ye, what were you doing bringing Mu Chenbi here just to check the materials? And with that spiral wind machine... You deserve to die someday.