Chapter 26: Doing Things
The carriage moved quickly. A quarter of an hour later, Yu Huatang came down and was surprised to see Zhao Yan waiting for them at the door.
"I have prepared the room. Is there anything else you need?" He asked calmly, as if nothing had happened yesterday.
She replied, "I've brought all the materials and tools. The main thing is the experiment. I'll tell the adults if I need anything."
"Okay, follow me." Zhao Yan said.
Several people came to an empty room. Tea, pastries and snacks were all available. The table was tidy, as if someone had cleaned it carefully.
"You guys experiment here first. I have something else to do. I'll come back and talk to you in detail later."
The governor of the state has various responsibilities, and now he is able to develop lamps for use at sea and treat them with such courtesy. In Yu Huatang's mind, Zhao Yan is indeed qualified to be an official.
After Zhao Yan left, she hung the watertight lamp she had made last time on the hook and imitated the sea breeze and rainstorm, but in less than a moment, the lamp went out.
Xu Fu also looked at it for a long time. "Sister, most people think of starting from the inside, like removing the lamp oil. Now that you're changing the frame, are you trying to improve the hanging lamp?"
Yu Huatang replied, "Most folk artisans are reluctant to change their craft. Some even stick to it for over a decade, just to maintain a consistent look and gain recognition. But I don't have so many concerns. A lantern is a dead object. If it can't be used, it's useless. Why would I care who made it?"
Xu Fu also agreed, "Senior sister, please try it. I will make the skeleton. The sooner we can figure it out, the more happy you will be."
The two of them were busy for a while, and it was not until noon that Zhao Yan put down the canal diversion document in his hand and asked, "Miss Yu, have you eaten yet?"
Wang Zhubu didn't know what he meant and said blankly, "I don't know..."
She must be dedicated and responsible in her work, and if no one takes care of her food, housing and transportation, she probably won't care.
Thinking of this, he stood up and walked towards the side room. Before he entered, he saw her bending down to make a lampshade with glass through the window.
He slowly stopped walking. The peach blossom outside the window was in full bloom, and the green leaves of late spring were even more lush. A few flowers and plants leaked into the room through the window. Her face was hidden under the lush green, which made people's hearts ripple, and it also became the first green in his heart.
Yu Huatang was bending down to stick the last piece of glass when he suddenly noticed a shadow. He looked up and saw it was him. He didn't expect time to pass so quickly and it was already noon.
The two looked at each other through the window, neither of them knowing what to say. Zhao Yan finally broke the silence, "It's time to eat."
Xu Fu just remembered and hurriedly pushed his sister out and thanked the governor again.
After sitting down at the dinner table, Xu Fu was busy picking up dishes and pouring water.
Yu Huatang couldn't bear to watch it anymore and stopped him.
In the afternoon, Deng Shitang called Xu Fu back for something.
Zhao Yan saw the skeleton Xu Fu had made earlier and picked it up and asked, "Is it okay to just build the skeleton according to the blueprint? How can I help?"
Since it concerns the safety of people at sea, Yu Huatang did not hesitate. After informing the other party of some key points, he developed a new lampshade on his own.
After an hour, the glass lamp shattered and the plan failed.
Yu Huatang took over the lamp made by Zhao Yan and used oilproof cloth again, but the experiment failed again. Seawater was still able to seep in and the lamp oil would eventually get wet.
It was getting darker and darker. When the third lampshade shattered, Zhao Yan sat down beside her and said, "There's no need to rush this matter. There's so much material, we'll find it eventually."
"It's getting late, why not take a rest... I've already had the room at the back of the government office prepared."
Yu Huatang stood up and refused, "No, I'd better go back to sleep. I'll come early tomorrow."
Zhao Yan knew she wouldn't agree, "Wait a moment, I'll have someone drive."
Yu Huatang couldn't refuse at this time and got into the carriage with him.
When I returned to the courtyard, the moon had already risen high in the sky.
After the two of them got out of the car, Yu Huatang was about to say goodbye when Zhao Yan hurriedly grabbed her and said calmly, "I've asked Anfu to prepare some hot water. I'll have him bring it to you later... You've been tired today, so go to bed early."
"No, thank you for your kindness. I can do it myself." After saying that, he turned and left, opening and closing the door.
Zhao Yan was confused until smoke rose from the chimney in her yard, and then he walked back to his room unconsciously.
At this hour, she still has to boil water for herself, and she has to get up early tomorrow, so she doesn't know how many hours she can sleep.
At this time, Anfu had finished collecting the young master's changed clothes and placed the muddy ones in another basin. He was telling the story he had found out, "Young master, I've found out. Baili Yunzhou is the son of the chief merchant ship in Quanzhou. Three years ago, he fell deeply in love with Miss Yu and pursued her relentlessly. However, his family disliked her because she had been married before, so they always disagreed."
"But Baili Yunzhou refuses to listen to his family. For the past three years, rain or shine, he's been running to his husband... Miss Yu whenever he can. He's declared that he'll only marry her in this life, and if Miss Yu becomes a nun, he'll become a monk."
"Everyone used to discuss it, but now, three years later, we've become accustomed to it."
Zhao Yan did not answer.
Anfu wanted to leave with the basin but didn't dare to. The young master had told him before that he should be careful with his words and actions, especially about the former young lady's affairs, and not to talk nonsense.
But now, he was the only one who knew about their relationship, and the young master was not as aloof as before, and seemed to have some other intentions. He couldn't help but feel a little frivolous and started to talk about right and wrong.
Anfu waited nervously for the young master to criticize him seriously, but in the end, he only received a single sentence, "I know."
He was surprised, but didn't dare to ask.
The next day, Yu Huatang got up early and when he opened the door, he found Zhao Yan was already waiting outside the yard.
She said a little embarrassedly, "Thank you for waiting, my lord. It would be the same if I could just walk over."
Zhao Yan said gently, "We're going the same way, let's go together." He then gestured for An Fu to come forward and said, "I've prepared some breakfast for you."
Yu Huatang didn't want to take it, but she didn't want to embarrass him in public. Since they had already spoken, and she had to go to the government office to do some work, being hesitant would only draw attention to herself. She took it, got into the carriage, and stared calmly out the window.
Fortunately, Zhao Yan had been reading the relevant files, so she felt a lot more relaxed.
When we arrived at the government office, some officials came early and were walking around the road, glancing over here from time to time.
Yu Huatang felt that he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible and return to Dengshi Hall early.
When she arrived at the side room where she had stayed yesterday, Xu Fu was already waiting there. Seeing her coming, he smiled and said, "Senior Sister, I brought you breakfast."
In the blink of an eye, I saw that she had a copy in her hand, which made me feel strange.
Yu Huatang handed it to him, "I'm not hungry, you can eat both of them, don't waste them."
Xu Fu kept the portion he bought and finished the portion handed to him by his senior sister. He then asked, "How many times did you try it yesterday, senior sister?"
"three times."
After saying that, he started working again without waiting for Xu Fu's reaction.
Zhao Yan was also busy today. After sorting out the documents for the canal repair, he took over the trial of several cases involving the people.
The first thing was that the two families fought over the land occupied by the alley in front of their door.
The second thing was that Xu Youfu stole ten chickens from his neighbor Wang Dafu's house.
The third case involved Ding Gui, a wealthy lord from Quanzhou, offering a bribe of five hundred taels of silver to the governor of Zhaozhou to recapture his escaped concubine, Yu Huatang. He opened the back pages of the book and, sure enough, found another five hundred taels of silver note tucked among the documents.
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