HNYWEF -Chapter 106 Wa People

Qianlong (Zhenguan) Year 4, 7th day of the 8th month

The heat was vicious.

The sun hung white and glaring above the head, baking the bluestone slabs in the alley until they felt hot to the touch. Even the air seemed scorched.

The door of the Zhou family blacksmith shop was open.

Zhou Yi stood in front of the long workbench, holding a damp cloth as he wiped down the finished tools one by one.

Kitchen knives, sickles, hoes, scissors—each piece was carefully cleaned, then neatly arranged.

His father and Zhou Hong had left early that morning. A household outside the city had ordered a batch of farm tools, and they were going to deliver them and collect some scrap iron on the way back.

They said they might not return until the afternoon.

After finishing the last sickle, Zhou Yi set the cloth aside and went to pour himself a bowl of cold tea.

He had just taken a sip when footsteps echoed from the alley entrance.

Not one person’s steps—several. Straw sandals scraping against stone, hurried and uneven.

Zhou Yi put down the bowl and glanced toward the door.

Three men.

The one in front dressed differently from Tang people. He wore a dark lacquered crown on his head, and loose robes made of good fabric, though the style was strange and unfamiliar.

Behind him were two others dressed the same way, swords hanging at their waists, faces stern and unwelcoming.

The trio stopped at the entrance of the shop.

The leader looked inside, scanning Zhou Yi and then the interior of the workshop.

He spoke.

His Han Chinese was stiff, every word forced out as if squeezed through his teeth.

“Is this… the Zhou blacksmith shop?”

Zhou Yi nodded.

“Yes.”

The man’s eyes brightened slightly.

“Your master… is he here?”

“He’s out,” Zhou Yi said. “Went out. Won’t be back until afternoon. What’s the matter?”

The man frowned.

“When will he return?”

“Afternoon, probably.”

The man did not answer.

His gaze swept over the neatly arranged tools, the cold furnace, and the ironwork hanging on the wall.

Then he looked back at Zhou Yi.

“Who are you?”

“I’m his son,” Zhou Yi replied.

The man straightened slightly, adjusting his robes and clearing his throat, shifting into a more formal tone.

“I am an envoy of the Wa Kingdom, sent by our sovereign to learn the advanced iron-forging techniques of the Great Tang. I have heard your workshop is highly skilled, so I have come to pay a visit.”

He finished speaking and waited for Zhou Yi’s reaction.

Zhou Yi stood there, expression unchanged.

He looked at the man for two seconds.

Then spoke.

“My master isn’t here. I can’t make decisions.”

The envoy frowned.

“You only need to report it.”

Zhou Yi shook his head.

“Even reporting won’t help. If I agree in his place and he comes back, he’ll scold me. If I refuse, he’ll still scold me.”

He paused.

“So please come another day.”

The envoy’s expression darkened—not red with anger, but heavy, sinking.

He narrowed his eyes.

“Do you know who I am?”

Zhou Yi replied calmly.

“You said it already. An envoy of the Wa Kingdom.”

The envoy stepped forward.

“Since you know I am an envoy, how dare you treat me so rudely?”

Zhou Yi didn’t move.

He just looked at him.

One of the guards stepped forward and raised his voice.

“You’re just a commoner. How dare you refuse an envoy’s request?”

Zhou Yi’s brow moved slightly. Just once.

He looked at the man and suddenly found something odd.

Wa Kingdom.

He had heard the name before. During etiquette lessons at the Ministry of Rites last year, Fang Xuanling had mentioned it—Wa, also called Yamato, located beyond the eastern sea. During the Sui Dynasty, they had once sent envoys to pay tribute.

Those envoys stayed at the Honglu Temple, guided by officials from the Ministry of Rites, and met the Emperor of Sui, offering tribute items.

But this man—

There was something wrong.

Zhou Yi spoke.

“How did you come here?”

The envoy froze slightly.

“What?”

Zhou Yi continued.

“Was it arranged by the Honglu Temple? Or did someone from the Ministry of Rites escort you here?”

The envoy’s expression changed.

He opened his mouth—but no words came out.

Zhou Yi studied his face and suddenly realized something.

If this man were a legitimate envoy, how could he not know what kind of place the Zhou blacksmith shop was?

Ordinarily, nothing about this workshop seemed special.

But officials from the Ministry of Rites would definitely know—this place was closely connected to the palace.

Cheng Yaojin came every few days.

Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong, Li Ji—generals and nobles all visited from time to time.

Even the Emperor himself had come in plain clothes on several occasions.

When official envoys arrived in Chang’an, the first stop was always the Honglu Temple.

The officials there would tell them who could be provoked—and who could not.

And the Zhou blacksmith shop belonged firmly in the “cannot be provoked” category.

But this man clearly knew nothing.

Zhou Yi suddenly smiled.

Very faintly.

The envoy felt deeply uncomfortable.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Zhou Yi said.

He stepped back, clearing the doorway.

“Would you like to come in and sit?”

The envoy stood at the entrance, unmoving.

The two guards behind him placed their hands on their sword hilts.

The three of them stood there, staring at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi did not speak either. He simply stood there, letting them look.

After a few moments, the envoy suddenly let out a cold laugh.

He stepped over the threshold and walked inside.

The two guards followed, standing left and right behind him.

The envoy paced around the workshop, examining everything. He picked up a kitchen knife, studied its edge, then put it down. He lifted a sickle, weighed it in his hand.

Zhou Yi watched silently from the side.

The envoy set the sickle down and turned back.

“I will wait for your master to return.”

Zhou Yi nodded.

“Alright.”

He returned to his stool, sat down, picked up his bowl of cold tea, and continued drinking.

The envoy stood in the middle of the shop, flanked by his two guards.

No one spoke.

Zhou Yi drank his tea and watched them.

And the envoy watched him back.