Chapter 47: The Gap – Even at the Last Moment, They Couldn't Let Go.
The two of them had just pushed open the door when they were covered in dust. Guan Ye covered her face and coughed from the fumes. A Jiu brushed the dust off and stepped in front of her.
"Father, all the ironware in the world looks pretty much the same, so how come the major workshops in Rongdu are so famous?"
"Keep your voice down." Guan Xiaotian hurriedly covered his daughter's mouth. Children speak without thinking, and she blurted out Rongdu and several major districts. She was really tired of living.
"You dare to call yourself the best blacksmith in the world?" Guan Ye pouted. "The saddle you made today looks almost the same as the one that blacksmith made himself. Dad, you're just bragging."
Guan Xiaotian would brag to his daughter? He only regretted not having the right tools, otherwise he would have forged a few good things for his daughter to see. "The blacksmith's furnace is half collapsed, it's weak, I'm already doing well if I can melt the iron stone for him."
"Then why doesn't Dad build a stove for them?" Guan Ye asked, resting her chin on her hand.
"He only gave your father a few coins?" Mother interjected while mending clothes. "The world's number one blacksmith, back then, you couldn't even get a weapon he forged by hand for ten taels of silver. Now, ten coins is nothing, and he's even building a furnace for his family?"
"Can't you forge good things without a good furnace?" Guan Ye asked.
"The purpose of a stove is to gather fire and heat, but it's not enough to do that alone," Guan Xiaotian said, squinting his eyes and deliberately speaking slowly. "You just said your dad was bragging, aren't you afraid he'll blow his own horn?"
“I want to hear it, and I want to learn it.” Guan Ye straightened her thin back. “Father will teach me.”
"Mixing coal with slag and refining it into fine charcoal can increase the heat of the fire several times over; concentrating the fire in the furnace and building it with red bricks and sand can further increase the fire temperature; blowing air can ensure that the fine charcoal burns fully, greatly improving the fire temperature; the iron ore must be pure. If it contains impurities, it will not only greatly affect the melting speed, but also affect the quality of the casting, which can ruin the reputation of the foundry master. Remember this, remember this."
“I understand.” Guan Ye leaned on her father’s shoulder. “To make a good saddle today, we need to burn the raw materials first, refine the coal, fill the furnace with sand, and fan it to raise the temperature. Their iron ore is not pure, so we need to burn off the impurities first… Mother is right, it’s only ten coins, we don’t need to do so much.”
Guan Xiaotian flicked his finger, causing Guan Ye to wince in pain, unaware of what he had said wrong.
"Ten coins mean you're not worthy of good things?" Guan Xiaotian said firmly, startling the lady so much that she almost pricked her hand with a needle.
"That's what Mother said too..." Guan Ye said, looking aggrieved.
Guan Xiaotian softened his voice, "Can you compare to your mother? Everything your mother says is right."
“But…” Guan Ye fiddled with her fingers, “Ten coins… to make so much, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?”
Father said that skills are constantly being improved. For example, in charcoal making, ordinary charcoal makers only know how to use a large pot, and can only make a few dozen kilograms at most at a time, and they are exhausted. But if the water washing and drying method is used, thousands of kilograms of refined charcoal can be extracted at a time. As for blowing, Guan Ye said to use a fan. How much can you blow with your hands? In ancient times, livestock were used to make wind by grinding pens. Nowadays, livestock can also be replaced. Paddle wheels can drive fans, and leather can be used to make fans. But although these methods are useful, their efficiency is limited. Tianhu Workshop gathered the strength of various workshops in the countryside, combined the ancient and the modern, and came up with the idea of using a propeller to brake, which greatly enhanced the wind power. One propeller is better than a hundred livestock grinding pens.
Unfortunately... this method had only just been tested and hadn't been promoted to various places when Tianhufang was completely wiped out.
Guan Ye listened to her father repeatedly mention "Tianhufang" and opened her mouth to retort, "Are you afraid that others won't know our origins?" But after thinking about it, she swallowed her words back. Whatever her mother said was right, so whatever her father said was naturally right too. The only one who could make a mistake was herself, and Guan Ye didn't want to get another scolding.
“Speaking of this method,” Guan Xiaotian said with a sorrowful expression, “it was something that Miss and I came up with together. That spiral blower is still at the foundry; I’m afraid it’s already been confiscated.”
"You wish." Mother scratched her hair with an embroidery needle. "What good things could those good-for-nothings possibly recognize? All the hard work you and Miss have put in has probably been trampled to pieces by the soldiers who ransacked the house, and burned to ashes."
"What a pity." Guan Xiaotian clenched his fist and slapped his thigh. "If Tianhu Workshop were still around, would this blacksmith shop in the back all need to use this half-broken furnace?"
“Father…” Guan Ye finally couldn’t help but say, “Are you shouting so loudly because you’re afraid others won’t know where we come from?”
Before he could finish speaking, sure enough, he received another slap on the forehead, and his father's brow furrowed. "So you know how to poke people now? Shut up and go to sleep."
Recalling the past, the old stories are vivid in her mind, and the voices of her parents seem to still linger in her ears. She stands on her homeland, but no one she used to know is there. People she used to know? Guan Ye shook her head self-deprecatingly. She had never seen any of her old friends, and they probably didn't recognize her either.
Ajiu lit the oil lamp in the woodshed and rummaged through the piled-up items. Most of the things inside were broken and discarded, many slowly rotting and emitting a pungent, putrid stench. The slightest touch produced a creaking sound, a testament to the decay of time. Each broken object in this desolate place was like a pair of eyes that had endured hardship, witnessing past glories and watching the intruder, becoming fragments of memory.
After searching for a long time, Ajiu turned to look for Guan Ye, shook her head at her. Many years had passed, and all the valuable and useful things had been taken away. The rest... could only be burned.
Guan Ye stared intently, her eyes sparkling as if they were being suffocated by a stench of decay, or as if she had discovered some extraordinary old object that could help them get through this ordeal.
Guan Ye saw the spiral bellows her father had mentioned. It was placed in the corner of the woodshed. Her mother guessed correctly; no one could tell that it was something special. The spiral was broken, probably because some good-for-nothing had stepped on it. Fortunately, no one set it on fire, which allowed it to lie dormant until now, finally seeing the light of day.
“That’s…” A-Jiu looked in that direction, “Could it be used?”
Guan Ye nodded, and A Jiu carefully took it out without hesitation, wiping away the half-inch of dust that had accumulated on it with his large hand. "If you say it can be used, then it definitely can."
Just as she was about to turn around, Guan Ye noticed something else. Through the gaps in the clutter, half of a scabbard was visible. Guan Ye drew it out for a closer look and saw that it was an unfinished short sword, about seven inches long, with a narrow hilt that was too loose for an adult to hold. When she drew the sword out of its sheath again, she saw that the blade was not sharpened and the sharp corners had been rounded off... Guan Ye closed her eyes and stroked it, and suddenly two lines of tears fell down her cheeks.
Ah Jiu could confirm that Guan Ye's eyes weren't blinded by the stench; she was crying. Ah Jiu picked up his sleeve, afraid of splashing dust on her face, and hesitated, at a loss. He took her hand and examined it closely, finding no signs of injury from the sword blade... Ah Jiu drew the short sword and examined it inch by inch. He was an experienced swordsman, and the short sword in his hand was clearly forged for a child. A child... Guan Ye wasn't even born when Tianhu Workshop was raided; it couldn't possibly be hers.
Ah Jiu held the sword, turning it over and over. She drew the scabbard and saw a bird leaning against bamboo engraved in the indentation. Tianhufang used birds as its logo. What was the meaning of the bird leaning against bamboo? Ah Jiu looked at Guan Ye with suspicion, wanting to ask but not speaking.
"Lu Xiaojun, the young master of Tianhu Workshop, was only seven years old that year. He said that when he grew up, he would become my apprentice, inherit the art of casting, and benefit the world."
"—The young master is so young, yet he has to practice swordsmanship just like the young lady. He's so short, how could he possibly wield a real sword? So your father forged him a short one, similar to the one you have in your hand. It's made of bamboo, symbolizing purity and resilience. I even specially engraved bamboo patterns representing his name inside. When the young master discovered it, he was overjoyed. I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to let go of it until the very last moment..."
"This is... your father's cooking?" Ah Jiu vaguely guessed.
Guan Ye wiped away her tears, hid the short sword, and tugged at A Jiu's sleeve. "Let's go."
"I'm leaving." A-Jiu responded softly, blowing out the light in the woodshed. As she turned her back, those silent eyes finally closed peacefully. The cool moonlight shone through the window cracks, making the dark night lonely, yet exceptionally gentle.
Royal Palace Villa
In the lakeside pavilion, Mu Chenbi had been waiting alone for over an hour. A gentle breeze caressed his face, lifting the gauze curtains around the pavilion. The lake water shimmered, and he could vaguely see a figure approaching him. Mu Chenbi stood up and lifted the gauze curtain—"Mr. Cui."
Seeing that the food and wine were prepared, Cui Jin knew that Mu Chenbi had come to visit. He sat down leisurely without saying a word. Mu Chenbi smiled and picked up the wine pot to fill his cup. "Thank you for conveying the message, Mr. Cui. I will pour you some wine."
"How dare I?" Cui Jin said, but did not stop Mu Chenbi. The two looked at each other and laughed.
"What did Xingguo Ward and Inner Ward say about the half-month deadline?"
Cui Jin gently swirled his cup, "Could we really refuse? The inner court agreed so readily. It's rare to see the Imperial Brother-in-law so ambitious."
"What about Xingguo Ward?" Mu Chenbi asked, his voice tinged with an urgency he himself didn't realize.
Cui Jin said slowly, "Pei Yuan is worried and has many concerns about testing the sword, fearing that he will follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. On the other hand, a few young people in the workshop are fearless and eager to try their skills."
With a two-week deadline, Mu Chenbi had expected both families to object, but to his surprise, they both agreed. A glint appeared in Mu Chenbi's eyes, and Cui Jin finished his drink. "Does Your Highness think they can do it?"
"How will we know if we don't try?" Mu Chenbi said with a delighted expression. "I wonder which company Mr. Cui favors?"
Cui Jin closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, "Today I went to Xingguo Ward, and their sword servant actually managed to buy diamond sand. Not many people can recognize this substance, so Xingguo Ward is not to be underestimated. However... when I went to the inner ward, the newly recruited swordsmen there... were studying what His Highness brought..."
"Kunwu Stone!" Mu Chenbi's eyes gleamed. "The inner workshop is finally no longer just full of useless people."
"The inner workshop still has the diamond powder His Highness sent today. It seems... His Highness also went to the Ghost Market today?"
Mu Chenbi sheathed his sharp edge, glancing sideways at the koi in the lake, seemingly unwilling to answer Cui Jin's question. Cui Jin chuckled softly, "If things go smoothly, Your Highness might also meet the people from Xingguo Ward..."
“I saw them.” Mu Chenbi avoided Cui Jin’s sharp, one-eyed gaze. “A man and a woman…”
“They are no ordinary people.” Cui Jin deliberately spoke slowly. Mu Chenbi remained calm, and the two of them remained expressionless as they exchanged cups. “The woman’s name is Guan Ye. She was personally taught by Pei Chu, the young master of the Pei family. She has a certain air about her and looks extraordinary.”
Her name was Guan Ye. Mu Chenbi's heart stirred. The girl with radiant cheeks and a smile as radiant as the night sky was named Guan Ye.
"The man's name is Ajiu. He is a swordsman from Xingguofang. He was the one who tested the Meteor Sword."
—A-Jiu? The A-Jiu that Guan Ye mistook twice is that young swordsman. Mu Chenbi heard this but remained calm and composed. “I see. It’s a pity that you have to wear a mask to enter and leave the Ghost Market. I have seen these two people, but I have never seen their faces.”
“It’s strange, really.” Cui Jin touched his blind left eye. “That A-Jiu looks a lot like His Highness.”
"Oh?" Mu Chenbi asked doubtfully, "How similar?"
Cui Jin lowered his hand, savoring the moment, and said, "The form is similar, but the spirit is different. At first glance, they seem to be the same person, but upon closer inspection, they are completely different. Your Highness is a dragon among men. How can a mere swordsman be compared to you? It can only be said that nature is truly amazing."
"It's enough that they resemble each other in appearance but not in spirit." Mu Chenbi smiled. "If I have the chance, I would also like to meet these two and see how much this girl named Ajiu looks like me."
Although Mu Chenbi was in the small building, his mind was already wandering. The name "Guan Ye" lingered in his mind, and he repeatedly recalled the day she lifted her mask, like a rainbow that dazzled his eyes.
Mu Chenbi originally thought that she was just one of the people in Rongdu City who wanted to get close to him. The girl was frank and open, and he had misunderstood her. Mu Chenbi felt very ashamed and even sighed softly.
She entwined her hands... Mu Chenbi couldn't help but grasp her palms, where the girl's gentle warmth seemed to linger. Mu Chenbi's heart fluttered; she had mistaken him for A-Jiu... A-Jiu... Why had she gone hand in hand with A-Jiu...?
Mu Chenbi was lost in thought, a flutter rising in his heart. He didn't even know how he left the lakeside cottage. He himself was unaware that a crack had appeared in his heart, which was as hard as iron.
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