Chapter 150
After the emperor left, Imperial Concubine Rong immediately sent Er Ya out of the palace to deliver a message to Prince An’s residence.
Prince An was currently in the southern outskirts, observing Lu Hanzhi’s grand construction project.
He and Lu Xuzhi stood there holding swords, like two imposing guardian statues, completely baffled by the mansion Lu Hanzhi was building.
Everything Lu Hanzhi made tended to confuse people.
Yuwen Jue, however, integrated seamlessly, negotiating and discussing with Lu Hanzhi as if a magnificent building were already rising in their minds.
In ancient times, buildings were not very tall. Residences rarely exceeded four stories, while pagodas over nine stories were considered tall towers.
The reason was that ancient Chinese buildings were mainly wood and stone, whose load-bearing capacity could not support very tall structures.
Building higher often led to collapses.
It wasn’t until reinforced concrete appeared that high-rise buildings became feasible.
Lu Hanzhi now wanted to build a ten-story structure with hand-cranked elevators and steel-reinforced concrete floors.
Ancient China did have steelmaking technology. As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, steel smelting existed.
During the Three Kingdoms period, someone even forged three steel swords for Zhuge Liang, said to “cut gold, break jade, and slice iron like mud.”
Whether it could really cut gold and jade or slice iron like mud, Lu Hanzhi did not know.
But as the skeleton of a building, steel was perfectly suitable.
He and Yuwen Jue gestured over a blueprint. “This thing… we’ll call it steel reinforcement. You use it to make swords. I think Ah Chan’s father had a fine steel sword… though he filled it with lead, so it was very heavy. We won’t make swords—we’ll cast it into long, thin rods with patterns, like reinforcement bars.”
Yuwen Jue nodded. “Good. Steel reinforcement, and then?”
Lu Hanzhi produced another blueprint. “This… this is called cement.”
Lu Hanzhi explained, “We need limestone. Does Second Sister-in-law know about this?”
Yuwen Jue replied, “Yes, limestone—when it meets water, it becomes slaked lime.”
Lu Hanzhi gave a thumbs-up and said, “And clay—you crush it, add these auxiliary materials… then put it in a kiln to calcine it into a mature material. Then add gypsum, crush that too… that’s basically it. Let’s try making some first and see if it can take shape.”
Yuwen Jue nodded again. “Alright, Second Sister-in-law understands.”
Lu Hanzhi pulled out another blueprint and said, “This is concrete. At this point, we need to use our cement. After making the cement, set it aside, then add sand and pebbles. The ratio is 1:2:3. If you don’t have pebbles, crushed stones work too. Mix it all with water evenly, and you have concrete.”
The more Yuwen Jue listened, the more magical this seemed. Cement poured this way would probably be extremely strong.
Lu Hanzhi switched to another blueprint and said, “This is a cement panel, also called a precast slab. You take the concrete we just made and pour it into this wooden mold. Inside the mold are a few wooden rods and a certain number of steel reinforcements. You add steel according to the required strength, then pour in the concrete. Once it sets, you remove the wooden rods, let it dry completely, and that’s your finished cement panel.”
Yuwen Jue started feeling like his brain wasn’t big enough. He scribbled notes while saying, “This much? Is there more?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “Also… lime. You have to go to the mountains to mine limestone, then calcine it into lime.”
Finally, Yuwen Jue smiled and said, “Ah, I know this one—lime can treat wounds.”
Lu Hanzhi remembered then that in ancient times, lime was used mainly as a disinfectant; it was a kind of medicinal material.
He said, “Yes, that’s it. Second Sister-in-law can have people gather plenty of it—it’s top-quality building material.”
Used to make plaster for walls, it would look very nice.
In the past, walls were mostly plain in color. In princely mansions, walls were often decorated with wooden panels, which were too flammable.
That was why, after he transmigrated, so many villains used fire to cause trouble.
Because a single fire could solve everything—it was just too convenient.
But if brick-and-concrete were used, it would largely prevent such incidents, avoiding many tragedies.
Yuwen Jue put the blueprints away and said, “Don’t worry, Hanzhi. Second Sister-in-law will have all these materials ready before you start laying the foundation. While my own skills aren’t strong, my team is quite capable.”
Lu Hanzhi: …
Alright! Second Sister-in-law, you win.
After they finished one stage of work, they looked back at Ah Chan, who was catching grasshoppers with Xiao Liuzi.
Xiao Liuzi had caught a crisp green grasshopper for Ah Chan. Ah Chan called out, “Ji ji.”
Everyone: …
Ah, why hadn’t they thought of this before?
From now on, when the little ones went outdoors, every insect relative would be too embarrassed to get hurt.
Sure enough, the next moment, Ah Chan released the little grasshopper and said, “Ji ji, go free!”
Everyone: …
Lu Hanzhi: “Hahahahahahaha!”
Everyone was speechless. Ah Chan tilted his head and looked at his silly father, but since he was used to being teased, he didn’t react much.
Lu Hanzhi stepped forward. “Ah Chan, the whole mountainside is full of your little brothers—can you call them all?”
He suddenly remembered that some time ago, the house had been full of cicadas. He and the maids and attendants had caught over a hundred, only for Luan Feng to release them all.
She insisted that the little prince was called Ah Chan, yet they had eaten the cicadas—they were effectively eating the little prince!
He had strictly forbidden it, yet they were released, and she even bowed and chanted, “Bless our little prince with a long life.”
Lu Hanzhi had scolded them, saying, “You’re just being superstitious.”
Although he had told everyone that cicadas were for eating, after that the entire household stopped eating them.
Lu Hanzhi was a bit speechless but didn’t say more.
Fortunately, spider grasshoppers couldn’t be eaten; otherwise, the kitchen staff would have had to thank the insect army of the Yuwen household for sparing them.
Just as Yuwen Min was about to speak with Lu Hanzhi, a young servant ran over and whispered something in Yuwen Min’s ear.
After hearing it, Yuwen Min frowned, and his expression darkened.
Lu Hanzhi noticed and asked, “What happened?”
Yuwen Minforced a smile and said, “Mother Concubine sent word—Father intends to make Zong Yuan a concubine.”
Lu Hanzhi: …
He almost choked. Clearing his throat, he said, “This Zong Yuan… how old is he, fifteen or sixteen?”
Yuwen Minsaid, “Yes. In Great Zhao, girls above twelve can participate in the imperial selection. Once chosen, they enter the palace, and upon reaching maturity, they may serve the emperor in the bedchamber.”
Lu Hanzhi clicked his teeth together and said, “Being an emperor is great! The most beautiful women in the world, at will…”
Yuwen Min instinctively stepped forward and covered his mouth.
But Lu Hanzhi licked the palm covering his mouth, and Yuwen Min frowned and pulled back. “Listen, I’m asking—wasn’t Zong Yuan supposed to be promised to a noble family boy? Why did the emperor take him himself? Is he really trying to find you a new little mother?”
Yuwen Min sighed and said, “Apparently, Zong Yuan looks exactly like Young Master Ping in his youth. Not just in appearance—the way he moves, even his expressions are identical.”
Lu Hanzhi was shocked. “Wha… what?”
Lu Xuzhi also walked over and said, “Originally, Zong Yuan came to the Central Plains to meet the emperor—to show his face to him.”
Lu Hanzhi nodded. “So it’s a scheme, then? Such a clumsy scheme—could the emperor really not see through it?”
Then Lu Hanzhi understood and said, “Oh… the emperor is pretending to sleep. You can’t wake someone who’s pretending to sleep. He wants to use his affection to cover his past shame.”
Unfortunately, young Master Ping was already dead—otherwise…
Thinking of this, Lu Hanzhi’s mind suddenly flashed with the image of Mu Qingtong’s face.
He suddenly said, “Wait… ah! I just thought of someone.”
Everyone turned to look at him and asked, “Hmm? Who?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “Tell me—do you think there are many people in this world who look alike?”
No one answered, they just stared at him. As expected, Lu Hanzhi continued and gave his own answer: “Of course, there are many. But ordinary people are more likely to have lookalikes. Ask yourselves—how many absolutely stunning beauties are there in the world who look exactly alike?”
Everyone knew of Yin Pingwu’s beauty, but over so many years, there had only ever been one Yin Pingwu.
Yet in just one month, he had seen two people who looked like Yin Pingwu. How could there be so many people in the world who coincidentally had the exact same face as Yin Pingwu?
Lu Hanzhi said, “You’re coming with me to see someone.”
Everyone was puzzled. Yuwen Min asked, “Who are you going to see?”
Yuwen Min suddenly remembered something. He asked, “Hanzhi, do you mean you want to take us to see the person who looks a lot like Zong Yuan?”
Lu Hanzhi nodded. “That day, I saw Mu Qingtong in the courtyard of a manor. He wore plain clothes, decorated with just a cluster of bamboo. He was as serene as bamboo itself—though in simple clothes, he had an otherworldly elegance that made it impossible to look away. He was probably around forty, but showed no signs of age; instead, he had a clarity that came from enduring life’s ups and downs.”
At the time, Lu Hanzhi hadn’t thought much of it. Now he realized that such clarity and resilience, like bamboo, was not something ordinary people possessed.
Yuwen Min was surprised. “Why didn’t you ever mention this person before?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “I originally thought he was just an unimportant ordinary man. But his identity… I’m not entirely sure. Everything I say is speculation. But in this world, two people who look alike, are of similar age, and share the same temperament—unless they are twins—it’s nearly impossible. Besides, Second Sister-in-law said that Young Master Ping’s tomb was empty, right? That means Young Master Ping is still alive.”
Everyone agreed, and they hurriedly set off, with Yuwen Min carrying the slow-moving Ah Chan, running together toward the manor.
When they arrived at the manor, they discovered that Zhong Yao wasn’t there.
They asked a servant and learned that Zhong Yao usually stayed near the kiln, so they headed up to the mountain kiln.
Finally, they found Zhong Yao in a dragon kiln. After explaining their purpose, he still looked at them with his usual indifferent expression and asked, “Are you here to see my master? May I ask why?”
Lu Hanzhi thought for a moment and replied, “Ah… well, it’s like this. I have a new project recently and want to collaborate with him. Mr. Mu is a genius; I thought he might be interested.”
Zhong Yao’s eyes betrayed no emotion; he just asked, “How did the family head know that my master would be interested?”
Lu Hanzhi was momentarily at a loss for words. Zhong Yao continued, “You’re a step late. My master left three days ago. He’s traveling, with no fixed destination. Zhong Yao does not know where he has gone.”
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