“Apologize!” Zhao Yuanxi’s tone was extremely stern.
Ziying pouted with grievance, but he didn’t dare disobey Da Mu’s words. Reluctantly, he apologized to Shu.
Shu waved his hands fearfully, not daring to speak a word. Chu stepped forward, pulling at Shu’s collar, “Madam, please don’t be angry. It’s just an inexpensive little trinket. If the young master likes it, he can have it.”
Everyone was watching Zhao Yuanxi at that moment, unable to understand why she was so angry.
Zhao Yuanxi’s face darkened. A grass horse indeed wasn’t anything valuable, but seeing Ziying, at such a young age, already learning to snatch others’ belongings made her envision what he might become over a decade later – a grown man bullying the weak while flaunting his status.
Although Ziying was still just a child, this made Zhao Yuanxi even angrier, even stirring a faint sense of disgust within her.
It was disgust toward this era.
But when she saw Ziying’s frightened expression, Zhao Yuanxi reined in her anger.
She picked up the grass horse from the ground and returned it to Shu, speaking gently, “Although the item isn’t valuable, it still belongs to Shu. Ziying has been somewhat spoiled. If he ever tries to take your things again, don’t hesitate to tell me, and I will punish him.”
Teach children while they’re young, otherwise it’ll be troublesome once they’ve grown crooked.
Ziying felt a chill run through his body, shrinking his neck as he fearfully clutched at Da Mu’s sleeve, as if begging for her forgiveness.
But Zhao Yuanxi didn’t look at him again, though she still took his hand when they left.
After all, she couldn’t just abandon her own misbehaving child.
Ziying felt his nose tingling, wanting to cry but unable to. Yet with his hand held by Da Mu, the fear in his heart gradually subsided, finally allowing him to clear his mind and analyze the situation.
He had always lived within Yongcheng’s inner city, where he could naturally take whatever he wanted. Even if the palace attendants had objections, they wouldn’t dare oppose him.
But now he wasn’t in Yongcheng, and these people weren’t his slaves.
“Da Mu, I know I was wrong!” He turned and solemnly apologized to Shu, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have taken your thing.”
Zhao Yuanxi’s expression softened somewhat as she patted Ziying’s head.
“It’s… it’s alright. If you like this grass horse, I can give it to you.” Shu’s face flushed red. This grass horse was something he had planned to bring home for his younger siblings, which was why he had been reluctant to part with it earlier.
But seeing the child being scolded by Da Mu for taking his grass horse, Shu actually regretted not having offered it to him when the child had been eyeing it so eagerly.
Ziying didn’t dare accept it, instead looking at his Da Mu.
Zhao Yuanxi sighed deeply, wondering if she had been too strict. After all, Ziying was still just a child!
She couldn’t help but massage her forehead, feeling she had the potential to become one of those parents with misbehaving children.
“If you like it, you can accept it. Now it’s a gift from Shu to you, so you may take it.”
Only then did Ziying accept the grass horse. After hesitating for a moment, he bowed to Shu with cupped hands, saying, “Thank you.”
Zhao Yuanxi was amused by Ziying’s mannerisms – he really was still just a child.
Hearing Da Mu’s laughter, Ziying didn’t understand, tilting his head as he looked at her in confusion.
Once again, Zhao Yuanxi found herself struck by his cuteness.
The minor educational crisis was temporarily resolved in this manner.
Chu Residence.
After finishing the field guidance work, Zhao Yuanxi followed Chu back to the Chu residence. Upon entering, she immediately saw He standing in the courtyard, while a man had appeared on the other side of the yard.
The man appeared to be in his thirties or forties, sporting a thick beard and an exceptionally robust build. His muscles bulged prominently, making him look more like a butcher than a carpenter.
Chu introduced him, “This is my elder brother, Li. Brother, this is Lady Zhao, whom I mentioned to you yesterday.”
“I wanted to meet you yesterday but couldn’t. I thought I’d have to wait a few more days, but fortunately, luck is on my side,” Zhao Yuanxi said with a smile.
Li showed no trace of delight, his expression stern as he asked, “I dare not presume, but may I ask why you sought me out, my lady?”
“Did you personally make this waterwheel?” Zhao Yuanxi inquired directly.
“Yes.”
“Was someone teaching you? As far as I know, this is a common device in the Chu region. You shouldn’t have encountered it in the Qin state.”
Li’s expression grew colder, his brows furrowing tightly. “I once traveled to Chu and found this device useful for drawing water, so I made one for my household.”
“And you modified it yourself as well?”
“Yes!”
A true talent! Wasn’t this a hidden artisan among the common folk?
“Gao Sheng, fetch the silk cloth from the box in the carriage,” Zhao Yuanxi concealed her inner excitement and promptly instructed Gao Sheng.
Upon receiving the drawings she had painstakingly sketched the night before, Zhao Yuanxi unrolled them. “I need you to make two items for me. If you can produce them, I will reward you handsomely.”
Hearing the promise of a generous reward, Li’s expression remained unchanged, but when he looked down at the drawings in his hands, his eyes widened in astonishment.
He licked his dry lips and asked with difficulty, “My lady, why do you wish to make these?”
“As someone who has worked in the fields for years, you should be able to discern the purpose of these two items. This is the Quyuan Plow, designed for easier plowing—it’s lighter and more labor-saving than the straight-shaft plow. The other is a waterwheel, which can be used for irrigating fields.”
“From whom did you obtain these designs, my lady?” Li was so agitated that, were it not for the propriety between men and women, he might have grabbed Zhao Yuanxi’s hands to demand an answer.
Zhao Yuanxi cleared her throat lightly. “I drew these myself, but the concepts were inspired by ancient texts I’ve read.”
After all, who could argue that books from after the Qin dynasty weren’t considered ancient texts from the perspective of the 21st century?
“Could you tell me where those ancient texts are now, my lady?”
“They were burned!” Zhao Yuanxi lied without batting an eye.
While drawing the designs, she had already prepared her explanation. In this era, countless books had been destroyed by fire, and it was entirely plausible that some of them contained such ingenious ideas.
Gao Sheng, however, was taken aback by her words. Although the King of Qin’s palace indeed housed a vast collection of ancient texts, the Queen Dowager never involved herself in governance—why would she read books related to agriculture and sericulture?
Having cleaned the library for an extended period, Gao Sheng was arguably more familiar with the Qin palace’s collection than anyone except the chief steward. He could confidently assert that these designs were definitely not among the palace’s books.
Why would the Queen Dowager lie? Gao Sheng was puzzled.
A flicker of disappointment crossed Li’s eyes before he composed himself and said solemnly, “Rest assured, my lady. I will work diligently to create these items as soon as possible.”
Zhao Yuanxi nodded in approval.
Li, engrossed in studying the new designs, retreated to the backyard.
Finally, Zhao Yuanxi had time to attend to another matter. She winked at He.
Understanding her cue, He brought out a wooden basin from the house, filled with soaked beans.
“Yesterday, when I saw the stone mill in your courtyard, I recalled a food I once tasted in the northern regions. By grinding these soaked beans into a slurry and adding a little something I brought with me, we can make delicious tofu.”
The process of making tofu wasn’t particularly difficult. Zhao Yuanxi had a friend from food science college who specialized in food research, with soybean products being a major focus. Through him, Zhao Yuanxi learned various ways to prepare beans.
Currently, the primary method of consuming beans was steaming them and mixing them with other foods – this was how bean rice and bean-leaf soup came about.
Although bean rice could fill one’s stomach, excessive consumption often led to adverse reactions like indigestion and bloating.
Zhao Yuanxi even strongly suspected that it was precisely because beans caused bloating when eaten in large quantities that the nobility never considered bean rice as aristocratic food.
Zhao Yuanxi described the tofu-making process in detail.
Following her method, Chu and He ground the beans into pulp. As the stone mill turned, milky-white liquid flowed out.
Ziying and Chu’s other two children squatted together, watching the continuously increasing soybean milk in the wooden basin.
“Da Mu, this looks very much like goat’s milk. Can we drink it?” Ziying gazed at her eagerly, looking like a greedy little cat – nowhere to be seen was the demeanor of a Qin noble scion.
“Of course! I’ll make some for you later!”
After the soybean milk was ready and strained through cheesecloth several times, it was brought to the kitchen to simmer over low heat.
Zhao Yuanxi took several wooden bowls, placed pieces of malt sugar in each, then poured the simmered soybean milk into the bowls.
When she carried the soybean milk out to give to the children, she saw the three children who had been squatting obediently earlier now imitating Chu’s movements, pulling the millstone.
Initially, Ziying had only been directing from the side, but seeing the other two struggling to push, he finally couldn’t resist joining in.
One pulled from the front while the other two pushed from behind. The stone mill finally began turning reluctantly, and the three children cheered excitedly as if they had won a great battle.
The children’s laughter was so radiant that the surrounding adults couldn’t help but smile along.