She adjusted her official hat and shouted as she chased after them, "I can't just ignore this! Even if you're going to fight, you'd better bring some weapons. What if you're all empty-handed and full of anger, and you can't beat them?"
This reverse persuasion was very effective; after hearing it, they seemed to wake up from their dream and stopped.
"Yes, we need to get our weapons."
Seeing that they had followed her advice and turned back to find weapons, Zheng Quchi took the opportunity to step forward and ask, "Can you tell me why you fought with the people from Nanlin Garden? I have manpower; if you can't beat them, I can call people to help you!"
Upon hearing this, they all looked at Zheng Quchi with a mixture of surprise and gratitude.
In today's cold and indifferent imperial palace, it is truly rare to encounter such a warm and righteous (gossipy and fond of joining in the fun) official.
The official before me was dressed in a dark blue official robe with blue stone trim. He was of medium height. I hadn't noticed him clearly at first glance, but now I realized that he had a small face and very delicate features, with red lips and white teeth, making him look like a woman.
But that's impossible. What woman wears official robes? He must just be a man with feminine features, looking like a woman.
However, judging from the fact that he was able to become a third-rank official at such a young age, he must be a nobleman from a wealthy family or with a powerful background.
"My lord, you don't know, we've been bullied to no avail. The people from Nanlin Garden are arrogant because they're palace craftsmen hired by the court from other countries at high salaries. They completely disregard the people from Hualin Garden."
Zheng Quchi nodded, indicating that she was listening attentively, and gave a timely response: "The people in Nanlin Garden are really wicked."
"So, the court originally agreed that our two gardens would be ordered to supervise the construction of the Cangling Dam. However, the design plan that we, Hualin Garden, painstakingly came up with, working day and night, was secretly submitted to the court by them. In the end, they even turned around and accused us of being lazy and enjoying their benefits for nothing, only following behind them and getting paid for nothing. They didn't want us to participate anymore."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Quchi realized that Hualin Garden and Nanlin Garden belonged to the same department, which meant that Nanlin Garden was also her subordinate unit.
"Then why don't you appeal to the imperial court and expose their lies?"
At this point, they were so angry that their eyes turned red, their nostrils flared, and they said angrily, "We filed a complaint, but nobody believed us! They said that the craftsmen of Ye Kingdom are completely incompetent and can't compare to those who have been trained by renowned craftsmen. That's not all; just now they even turned around and spread rumors everywhere, trying to sabotage the task His Highness assigned us to rebuild the Zichen Palace and Kunning Palace. This is simply intolerable!"
It does sound infuriating. When they shared tasks, Nanlinyuan took credit for them, and now they want to steal the orders when tasks are assigned, trying to make Hualinyuan a useless department with no achievements.
She thought it was one thing for outsiders to look down on the artisans of Ye, but she never expected that even the people of Ye looked down on their own people and helped outsiders bully them.
"...Who is in charge of these palace craftsmen in Nanlin Garden? Instead of arguing with them privately, why not have a proper discussion with their superiors?" Zheng Quchi suggested understandingly.
To their surprise, they sneered, "Chen Daohao is no good either. He's from Kucha, his family owns cargo ships and he's not short of money, but he's incompetent. He couldn't make it in Kucha, so he took some money to Ye to smooth things over and get into our Ye as a palace craftsman. I heard that he got to his current position as the Grand Master of the Imperial Workshops entirely through the skills and merits of others. What good can someone like that teach?"
After some conversation, Zheng Quchi understood Hualin Garden's current predicament, but she still wanted to avoid trouble: "What problem can you solve by fighting like this? Since His Highness has entrusted the reconstruction of Zichen Palace and Kunning Palace to Hualin Garden, I'm sure they can't take it away no matter how they try to obstruct it..."
Before she could finish speaking, the people from Hualin Garden interrupted, "Not only that, they also mocked our newly appointed Grand Master of Crafts for being a woman, a country bumpkin who only knows how to plan wood. They said she only became Grand Master of Crafts by using her charm to climb the social ladder through His Highness's connections. They also said we were just supposed to be bossed around by a woman who knows nothing, and that Hualin Garden would eventually be shut down and merged into their Nanlin Garden, where all of us would be made to work as their craftsmen!"
Zheng Quchi's expression froze instantly.
A rural woman planing wood?
Is she flaunting her charms to curry favor?
Are they all to be laborers for the people of Nanlin Garden? (Laborers are low-level, menial workers)
The next second, her teeth were clenched so hard they were grinding together, and her eyes were flashing with an uncontrollable rage. All thoughts of reason and irrationality, of trying to settle things peacefully, could go to hell.
"Outrageous! What's wrong with women? Can't women be Grand Master Craftsmen?" Zheng Quchi laughed angrily and said, "Let's go to Nanlin Garden right now. I want to see what kind of amazing abilities the people of Nanlin Garden have that they dare to fabricate and slander their superiors and make the people of Hualin Garden work as their laborers!"
Seeing the young official who had been so gentle and kind just moments before now looking so indignant, they were all quite puzzled.
"Aren't we going back to get our weapons?"
Zheng Quchi said, "What weapons are you going to use? If you're right, you can go anywhere in the world; if you're wrong, you can't even take a step."
"But even if they're unreasonable, they still have to be aggressive," someone muttered.
“Then…” Zheng Quchi’s eyes rolled, and she had an idea. She took out two small hammers from her sleeve pocket, then pulled out a miniature saw from her trouser leg, and two chisels from her crossbody bag. Finally, she gave one to each of them.
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