The red candles were burning brightly.
That sheet of parchment covered in coils and magnets was spread across the crimson wedding quilt.
Ying Ziye smoothed out the blueprint.
Then he turned to look at Gongshu Wan, who was still wearing the red bridal veil.
“First, take that inconvenient thing off.”
He reached out and pulled down the red cloth embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in water.
Clang.
A crisp sound rang out.
A heavy metal object slid out from Gongshu Wan’s wide sleeve and fell onto the footrest.
It was a bronze wrench.
Still marked with dents and wear.
Ying Ziye picked it up and weighed it in his hand.
Not light.
A blow from this thing to the head would definitely cause serious injury—if not death.
He looked at Gongshu Wan.
Her face, usually smudged with oil, was now clean and lightly made up.
She looked a bit uneasy, gripping her clothes tightly, knuckles white.
“I… I’m used to carrying it,” she said softly.
“Afraid someone might mess with the wedding chamber?”
Ying Ziye placed the wrench back into her hand.
Holding her familiar tool, her shoulders relaxed slightly.
“Mhm.”
“If anyone dares mess with our wedding night, use this to smash their knees.”
He pointed at the blueprint on the bed.
“But right now, I’ve got something with harder bones for you to chew on.”
Gongshu Wan’s gaze fell onto the blueprint.
Just one glance.
Her slightly hesitant eyes straightened instantly.
She threw herself onto the bed, her face almost pressed against the paper.
She completely forgot this was a wedding chamber—and even forgot the etiquette the palace matrons had taught her.
“What… what is this?”
Her fingers traced along the lines.
“Here is a magnetic stone… this is a copper coil in the middle… if it rotates…”
She suddenly looked up at Ying Ziye.
“This thing can generate thunder?!”
She didn’t need explanation—she already understood.
This was genius at work.
Ying Ziye placed another sheet of parchment onto the bed.
“This is called a lathe.”
“With power, it can drive this.”
He pointed at the main shaft.
“You spent three days grinding that axle and bearings by hand, didn’t you?”
“With this, you can produce a perfect circle in thirty breaths.”
Gongshu Wan’s breathing quickened.
She grabbed a brush from the bedside, didn’t even grind ink, and dipped it directly into the leftover ink to start drawing on the wedding quilt.
“No.”
She shook her head while drawing.
“This transmission rod is too thin—it can’t handle this much force.”
“Make it thicker! Use refined steel!”
“And here… the gear meshing…”
Ying Ziye leaned in, grabbed the brush from her hand, and added a few strokes beside it.
“Add a flywheel—to store energy.”
“Brilliant!”
Gongshu Wan shouted, slapping Ying Ziye’s thigh.
Smack!
The sound was crisp.
“With a flywheel, the force becomes stable!”
The two of them lay on the bed, heads almost touching.
The red wedding quilt became their drafting paper.
Ink splattered everywhere.
The originally romantic wedding night turned into an intense technical discussion.
“Power source?”
Gongshu Wan suddenly stopped writing, frowning deeply.
“A machine this big—human power? That would exhaust people before it even starts turning.”
“Water.”
Ying Ziye pointed outside.
“The Wei River.”
“I will build a dam by the Wei River and install giant waterwheels.”
“Borrow the power of nature to drive machinery.”
Gongshu Wan froze.
She looked at him like he was insane.
But soon, that same madness appeared in her own eyes.
“Borrow the power of nature…”
She murmured.
Ying Ziye grabbed her shoulders.
“Wan’er.”
“I don’t just want you to build this.”
“Give me ten years.”
He stared into her eyes, word by word.
“I will create a machine that doesn’t need water or livestock—only coal—to generate immense power.”
“By then, even iron birds weighing tens of thousands of jin can fly into the sky.”
Gongshu Wan said nothing.
She simply grabbed his wrist in return.
Very tightly.
Her nails almost dug into his flesh.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked directly.
“Build it.”
Ying Ziye rolled up the blueprint and placed it into her arms.
“I’ll give you drawings, money, and people.”
“You turn them into reality.”
Gongshu Wan hugged the blueprints tightly and nodded heavily.
“Alright.”
This was the heaviest promise an artisan could make—to a kindred spirit.
The candles finally burned out.
Outside the window, the sky had already begun to turn pale, showing the first hint of dawn.
Only then did the two realize that they had not changed position all night.
Not even once.
The bedsheets and quilt were covered in ink stains.
Along with strange, incomprehensible sketches.
Ying Ziye rubbed his stiff neck.
“Morning already.”
Gongshu Wan only then reacted—her face instantly turned red.
She had actually spent the entire wedding night drawing blueprints.
And somehow, it felt even more exhausting than physical labor.
Creaaak.
The door opened.
Several old matrons and palace maids walked in carrying washbasins.
They kept their heads lowered, not daring to look around.
Until one maid stepped forward to tidy the bed.
“Ah…”
She gasped softly and quickly covered her mouth.
On the white bridal cloth, although there was no bloodstain, the surrounding bedding was covered in patches of black and red ink stains.
A complete mess.
The old matrons exchanged glances, each showing an ambiguous, awkward smile.
Young people…
They truly had no restraint.
They had gone so far that even the bedding was “painted” all over.
“Clean it up,” Ying Ziye said as he stood, stretching lazily, full of energy.
“Send this bedsheet—and that quilt—to my study.”
“Do NOT wash them!”
“That is the blueprint of Great Qin’s industry!”
The maids hurriedly nodded, blushing as they carefully rolled up the “evidence” and carried it away.
……
Zhangtai Palace.
Qin Shi Huang had just finished morning court.
He was in a good mood.
The fireworks from yesterday had earned him tremendous face in front of the remnants of the Six States.
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess are here to offer tea,” an inner attendant reported.
Ying Ziye and Gongshu Wan walked in.
Gongshu Wan had changed into formal attire. Although her gait was still slightly stiff, her temperament as a master of the Mo family made her stand firm among the palace attendants.
“Your son greets Father Emperor.”
Both knelt.
Gongshu Wan offered tea.
Qin Shi Huang took it, drank, and glanced at them.
Dark circles under their eyes.
It seemed last night had indeed been… quite “hard work.”
“Good,” Qin Shi Huang said, placing the teacup down and taking out a jade pendant he had prepared earlier.
“Since you are now married, you should focus properly.”
“Soon, you must give Great Qin heirs. That is the proper duty.”
A father’s most straightforward wish.
Ying Ziye stood up.
He did not accept the jade pendant.
“Father Emperor.”
“Having children can wait.”
“This son has a request.”
Qin Shi Huang’s good mood faded slightly.
Already making demands?
“Speak.”
“I want land.”
Ying Ziye pulled out the ink-stained “bedsheet blueprint” from last night.
It was Gongshu Wan’s all-night work.
“I request 3,000 mu of land outside Xianyang.”
“To build a Great Qin Academy of Science!”
Qin Shi Huang looked at the wrinkled cloth stained with unknown marks.
“Academy of Science? What is that for?”
“To study nature, understand principles, and create machines.”
Ying Ziye pointed at Gongshu Wan.
“I want all the world’s skilled craftsmen gathered there.”
“To work under her.”
“Not only to build generators, but also cement, cannons, and warships!”
“Even a blacksmith—if he has talent—can enter the academy, receive salary, and earn rank!”
The officials nearby almost blew their beards off in anger.
“Preposterous!”
“Craftsmen are lowly registered people—how can they be granted rank!”
“This is chaos! Chaos in the order of society!”
Ying Ziye ignored them.
He simply looked at Qin Shi Huang.
“Father Emperor, do you want that iron carriage that can travel a thousand li a day?”
“Do you want cannons that can blast down city gates?”
“Or iron birds that can fly into the sky?”
“Give me this academy.”
“Three years.”
He raised three fingers.
“In three years, I will change how Great Qin’s army lives and fights.”
Qin Shi Huang stared at his son’s burning, almost fanatic eyes.
Then at Gongshu Wan, who remained silent but equally determined.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then—
Bang!
He slammed the jade pendant onto the table.
“Granted!”
Qin Shi Huang stood up and waved his sleeve.
“Give you people, give you money!”
“I want to see what kind of new world these two little lunatics can build for me!”
“Pass the decree!”
“From this day forth, establish the Great Qin Academy of Science!”
“Gongshu Wan shall be its first Head!”
“Rank raised three levels above ordinary officials!”
Discussion
Comments
0 comments so far.
Sign in to join the conversation and keep your activity tied to this account.
No comments yet. Start the conversation.