Chapter 83: The first round of infrastructure construction tasks has been successfully completed...
"I didn't go... Youzi led the team!" Commander Mao explained, patting his waist and abdomen.
With his build, it's unrealistic for him to secretly climb over someone's wall at night and be monitored without being detected.
Qi Chengming gave a subtle, complex expression, suppressing the urge to retort: "...Never mind, you can continue."
"The brothers kept watch all night and heard him muttering, 'This shouldn't be happening. Not a single one of them is interested. How am I supposed to make a move?'" Commander Mao recounted, but for some reason, his eyes quickly glanced at Chief Eunuch Song, who was listening in. "He also said something like, 'Chief Eunuch Song won't accept my bribe either. I heard that eunuchs are very greedy. What's wrong with him?'"
Qi Chengming: "?"
He turned to look at Chief Steward Song and found it somewhat amusing: "Does every chief steward have to have some reputation?"
Qi Chengming roughly guessed how the newly arrived prefect had misunderstood. In the previous personnel changes in the Prince's mansion, Song Gu, as the steward, couldn't refuse some gifts. He would always share the spoils with Qi Chengming, including normal festival gifts from wealthy families in the city and "special products" brought by relevant officials from the recent prefectures.
Song Gu accepted some things with composure because Qi Chengming instructed him behind the scenes. But if these things fell into the public eye, wouldn't they just solidify his bad reputation? Well, that's fine too; a greedy prince and a wicked steward, quite a good match.
Song Gu's expression remained unchanged, but his heart skipped a beat, and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion: "..."
His heart sank heavily, pounding rapidly.
This is bad.
He now suspects...
It's just an unbelievable suspicion, not a guarantee, but it's possible: could this guy have had a similar extraordinary experience and been reborn?
Because those who don't know the truth might misunderstand and make connections, just like the new emperor. But Song Gu would think of another aspect—
Who exactly is being referred to as "the greedy Steward Song"?
When he arrived in Liuzhou, he was bribed by the previous prefect and his men, including several wealthy families; there was something unspeakable about it. Song Gu was furious at the time, guessing how difficult the new emperor's early days in Liuzhou would have been in his previous life.
Such tactics were actually used repeatedly; the flattering words and the dazzling array of silver and rare treasures could dazzle anyone. He told the new emperor about the less outrageous things and how he would share the spoils, but as for the truly secretive and sinister thoughts, he wouldn't engage in them:
Wealthy families would bribe the steward of the prince's mansion, either to gain his favor or because they had daughters of marriageable age.
What about those two greedy parasites, the prefect and the governor? What could possibly make them so willing to spit out their wealth? Was that old Chief Steward Song, who followed us in our past lives, considered a man of the new emperor or a local of Liuzhou?
As mentioned before, the chief steward, personally appointed by His Majesty and brought from the palace, is an important figure under the Prince's jurisdiction, and replacing him would be very troublesome. The new emperor's previous life in Liuzhou was probably fraught with internal and external troubles; I dare not even think about it.
Every time Song Gu thought about this speculation, and how timely his actions in replacing Old Steward Song were, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep. In the middle of the night, he would get up, put on his clothes, and continue to look at the county government records and archives...
Now, Commander Mao repeated Prefect Lu's words, and Song Gu understood the underlying meaning as if enlightened.
He took a slight breath to maintain his composure, and then, as if to tacitly agree, explained to the young prince, "The prefect first gave me a jade thumb ring, but I refused his attempt to subtly reveal information about the Prince's residence, and I also politely declined his offer to give me a gold teapot as well."
The thumb ring was merely a trial balloon, something Song Gu could keep for himself without even informing the prince. The real bribe was the gold teapot, along with a series of subsequent actions after receiving it.
Song Gu was already very adept at handling these matters. He needed to express goodwill towards the new prefect on behalf of the Prince's Mansion, so he could accept the thumb ring. However, he wouldn't reveal any information about the Prince, and he couldn't accept the gold teapot; he had to stop there.
Qi Chengming frowned thoughtfully, pondering, "Is that so? Why do I feel... that Prefect Lu doesn't seem like someone with bad intentions?"
Listen to Prefect Lu's mutterings to himself, 'Not a single one is interested; how am I supposed to take action?'
What are you going to do?
It looks like they're entrapping law enforcement.
Prefect Lu sounded like the kind of person who was looking for a way to curry favor with him, someone who had arrived in Liuzhou eager to find fault and gain merit...
Qi Chengming was unaware that he had inadvertently stumbled upon the truth.
"...We should know by continuing to observe." Song Gu said innocently and calmly, pretending not to understand, but he understood in his heart.
If Prefect Lu has also been reborn, then his current behavior makes him seem like a supporter of the new emperor:
After all… the excessively wealthy families in the city and the greedy steward of the royal palace were all part of the difficult period the new emperor endured in his early years as a prince. These things were no longer a secret after the new emperor ascended the throne. Although the details were completely unclear, and only the general outline was known, it should be enough for those who wanted to settle scores.
Aside from being greedy, having the appearance of a treacherous villain, and being unlucky, this prefect currently has no major blemishes. In his previous life, he was unknown and obscure, which is probably why he hasn't been purged by the new emperor.
So, setting aside prejudice, why can't we conclude that he is one of the new ruler's men?
Even with these thoughts in mind, Song Gu lowered his eyes and made no move, just as he had said. He would continue to observe very cautiously and would never deliberately reveal anything unusual until he had truly confirmed the background of this Prefect Lu.
—At least Prefect Lu was unaware of the difference between him and Chief Steward Song.
It's also possible that his earlier guesses were just his overreaction. The unlucky Prefect Lu was simply trying to curry favor with the prince and had misunderstood the rumors he heard.
"Then let's take another look," Qi Chengming decided.
Another week passed, and finally all the drinking wells in Liuzhou were put into use—because no cement or bamboo reinforcement was used, the settling time didn't need to be too long. People laughed and joked as if it were New Year's Day, and began to fetch water to irrigate their fields. On this day, everywhere was crowded with busy figures, carrying the unique earthy smell of new well water.
The water reward is about to be credited to my account.
—The complete renovation of the Prince's Mansion was completed when Mr. Huang led a team to dig a well for drinking water.
This major infrastructure project is rewarded in stages. The previous rewards, such as points, toilet blueprints, and sewage pipe lines, have already been credited to Qi Chengming's account and even used by him. Now, only the rewards for the final stage and the total reward upon completion of the [Prince's Mansion] remain.
If I save them up... I can open three rewards today!
Aside from the total reward for building the Prince's Mansion being unknown, the rewards for the other two side quests are fixed: completing the water-fed quest rewards 'all volumes of elementary school Chinese, math, and English textbooks for each grade'; the final stage of building the Prince's Mansion rewards the book 'New Book of Military Tactics: Modern Annotations'.
"..." Qi Chengming looked at it, puzzled, feeling that this reward was nothing special.
Actually, he was quite grateful for the various books awarded by the infrastructure system. Almost every book he received was either annotated or a modern re-edited version, which was a huge help! Otherwise, given Qi Chengming's limited understanding of classical Chinese after transmigrating into the book, he would have struggled to understand those things. The rewards had always been more books than physical items, as if the infrastructure system encouraged him to create things based on his own research and acquired system knowledge.
Qi Chengming specifically chose a daytime day to stay alone in his study, took out both sets of books, and roughly flipped through them, already having made up his mind.
Besides having the estate managers and children study the physics book, Qi Chengming also made copies for his trusted teachers and confidants, trying to expose them to his new ideas. Unfortunately, apart from a few who entered officialdom, even Wen Er, Xiao Dezi, and Xiao Chengzi struggled at first, while Song Gu progressed quite well, much to Qi Chengming's surprise.
Bishu is indeed the most talented.
She was Qi Chengming's most important scientific talent. Apart from occasionally reviewing the accounts of the entire mansion with Xiao Dezi and managing the finances, she was given a very relaxed and free life. She was allowed to freely go to the houses along the street to observe and learn, and to think about whatever she wanted. However, she was required to submit her reflection reports every once in a while, and her studies were also the most closely monitored.
Hmm... this time we can give them the Chinese and math textbooks, but not the English ones.
Qi Chengming had suffered greatly, and now he could finally vent his anger. Yes, he planned to put the English textbooks in the system space to gather dust.
"etc……!"
Qi Chengming looked at the childlike and adorable elementary school textbook and quickly flipped back a few pages. Although he foresaw how important basic math was, and that he could start learning Arabic numerals, how could he forget that first-grade Chinese also taught pinyin! Luckily, this was an old version of the textbook… Before Qi Chengming transmigrated, he had sent his younger sister to school and heard that the textbooks had been reformed a few years ago, causing many parents to complain.
Pinyin, as a method of learning characters, would have been much more convenient in ancient times.
Fortunately, he transmigrated into a novel about a struggle for the throne, not into real ancient times. The regional accents here are just as absurd as they are in modern times, but this makes it easier for him to promote pinyin within his inner circle...
The literacy rate in the royal palace and the estate will increase!
Qi Chengming couldn't contain his joy; the corners of his mouth were turned up in a smile as he pushed open the door and went out to call for someone.
He waited until he had collected all the rewards before patiently copying out the textbook. Now, only the final prize from the lottery remained: "Where's Song Gu?"
"Ah... Steward Song went to inspect the estate today, and it will take him two hours to return." The passing servant who was stopped by him calculated the time and visibly became fearful and restrained. This kind of servant had never spoken to the prince alone before.
"..." Qi Chengming hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the sky.
He can hold it in until he gets home, but waiting another four hours for Song Gu's sake... he can't hold it in any longer.
Qi Chengming's mind raced, and he began searching for his next lucky target.
...Cousin!
He survived the battlefield by sheer luck and has now regained his memory, living a very good life. Go find him!
Qi Chengming stepped over the two thresholds with great interest. Thank goodness, his cousin wasn't in the orchard with his wife; he was teaching his son in the backyard. Zhong'er's halting reading made even the usually mild-mannered cousin furious.
Qi Chengming was still shaken: "..."
No matter the era, tutoring children is a job that can cause high blood pressure.
Zhong'er's talent in martial arts is remarkable, but his academic performance is disastrous. Qi Chengming now feels that the elementary school Chinese textbook is incredibly timely and necessary! He's determined to go back and copy a copy for Zhong'er later—
Well, consider it a token of his appreciation as an uncle, and I hope Zhong'er likes it.
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Author's Note: The kitten I rescued in the middle of the night suddenly escaped!! I got up to catch it and couldn't sleep well afterward. I felt groggy all day. I had planned to continue with double updates today, but now I don't have time to write anymore, so I'll stop here, which doesn't quite feel like an ending...
(The cat I rescued last time has already been adopted. Wait, did I mention that in the post? I've been sick lately and my memory is severely impaired, so please forgive me whether I mentioned it or not.)
(This time it's a stray kitten only two months old named Hatsume, an adorable orange and white kitten, but both of its eyes are injured, so I have to keep it and care for it myself. Last night the wind blew the door open, and the kitten, which is only the size of two palms, clearly couldn't reach the doorknob, but who knew it could still escape!)
In short, I'll continue to work hard and update twice tomorrow!
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