Chapter 155
She never believed that one failure meant failure forever.
That person had taught her that one’s life must be fought for by oneself.
If you don’t struggle with all your might, you’ll never know how outstanding you are or what you can achieve.
Your heart must be ruthless to stand firm.
Your heart must be steadfast to go far.
She had been nothing more than a person of lowly status, easily ordered about, trampled beneath everyone’s feet.
She looked at the young lady of the house, cherished by thousands, married into a high family, loved by in-laws.
And herself? Her mother had been a maid brought in as part of a dowry, and simply because she had glanced at the head of the household one too many times, she had been casually married off to a manager covered in pockmarks.
She couldn’t escape the fate of being a dowry maid, yet she was even worse off than her own mother.
Who didn’t want to be on top? Who didn’t want thousands of people to adore them?
Born as humans, why couldn’t everyone be equal?
That person had been right. Born as humans, everyone should be equal. So I will also become that thousand-adoring, hundred-loving young lady; I will also marry into a high-ranking family!
But that person told her: marrying into a high family is nothing.
If she obeyed obediently, she could become a queen, second only to the emperor, commanding thousands.
Not only thousands adoring her, but all the people, all the commoners, would bow and pay respects!
How could someone born in the mud not yearn for that lofty paradise above?
She wanted to trample all those who had looked down on her in the past, one by one, under her feet!
She wanted them to know who the most capable person in this world really was.
Everything in her storyline had been laid out perfectly, so why was it that Lu Hanzhi—who, in her plot, was supposed to appear only briefly—kept stealing her things and blocking her way at every turn?
If Lu Hanzhi knew what Su Wan’ning was thinking right now, he would probably mutter: “I don’t know if I should say this, but mmp.”
It’s fine if you climb higher, but if you commit evil deeds, that’s your problem. Don’t blame anyone for stepping up to enforce justice.
Besides, your main objective was to have my husband die, my son die, me die, and my whole family go down with me.
How dare you have the audacity to blame me for getting in your way?
But the Lu Hanzhi who was currently in her way really didn’t have the time to block her every day.
Everyone had their own system; everyone had to serve their system.
For example, today, Lu Hanzhi was busy working on building the skyscraper. He had revised the model for the prefabricated panels repeatedly until he finally settled on a design.
The materials for cement and concrete had also been located by the men Yuwen Jue had sent out.
Non-chemical materials were actually not difficult to find.
Lu Hanzhi knew how to make prefabricated cement panels because, as a child, he had gone with his father to a prefab factory.
His father had been a contractor, and later, as he expanded, became a real estate developer.
He had even built a row of quaint, classical-style houses called “Chinese Garden Villas.”
It was really just a gimmick, with unit doors made to look like little eaves.
His father had been a clever man, unconventional in approach; the business grew larger and larger, and they even bought several properties in the city center.
After settling debts, only the villa they currently lived in remained.
Whenever Lu Hanzhi thought of this, it felt like a lifetime ago.
At his feet lay a heap of mixed sand, gravel, and concrete; not far off was the mortar pool; further still, the recently delivered burnt lime.
The workers were tossing the lime into the mortar pool, using a fishnet to lower it into the water.
The moment it touched the water, white steam rose like a boiling pot.
Lu Hanzhi had seen this scene before—this was how lime paste was made on construction sites.
Yuwen Jue covered his nose with a handkerchief and warned, “Wear your masks properly. Lime will burn your skin. Be very careful not to let any fall.”
At Yuwen Jue’s warning, a mischievous idea suddenly popped into Lu Hanzhi’s head.
He turned to He Ming and instructed, “Go fetch some chicken eggs and duck eggs for your young master! Fresh ones!”
He Ming thought he had misheard. “Huh? Chicken and duck eggs?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “Yes, yes, the big ones.”
Though still unsure why the young master had another sudden idea, He Ming obediently brought the eggs, and even a pouch of quail eggs.
Lu Hanzhi thought to himself that quail eggs were fine too—they would taste even better after being “cooked” in lime.
He directed He Ming to get a large basin, filled it halfway with water, then poured in the lime and stirred it evenly.
Then he tossed in the chicken eggs, duck eggs, and quail eggs all at once, making sure every egg was coated with lime.
Two minutes later, he removed the lime-coated eggs and placed them in an empty basin.
Once coated, Lu Hanzhi instructed He Ming to store the basin indoors and said, “Leave them for seven or eight days, then they’ll be ready to eat.”
He Ming’s lips twitched. “Eat? Young Master… at this stage, can you really eat them?”
Lu Hanzhi fanned himself. Late spring and early summer made it a little warm, and he grinned. “Eat? Of course! And they’ll be delicious!”
In grand banquets, ginger-soaked preserved eggs were an indispensable cold dish.
However, they were not suitable for frequent consumption—they contained high levels of heavy metals. Eating occasionally satisfied cravings; eating too much was harmful.
Especially for a pregnant Xiao Langjun like him, the frequency had to be limited.
For adults with alcohol, naturally, they could eat them.
Yuwen Jue, seeing him making such a rare and strange thing again, asked, “Hanzhi, remember to call me when it’s time to eat.”
Lu Hanzhi chuckled. “Don’t worry, Second Sister. I’ll make sure you get some.”
At that moment, a worker shouted, “Wang Ye, Wang Fei, it’s done!”
The two approached eagerly and indeed saw a semi-dry prefabricated cement panel had formed.
Lu Hanzhi felt an urge to take a photo for memory—unfortunately, he had no phone.
He clapped his hands. “Very good. Let’s continue and make more—let’s start with… five hundred pieces!”
Many officials borrowed from the Ministry of Works were present at the site. Each of them was stunned, all showing the expression: “So it can be done like this?”
Lu Hanzhi had brought them in to help survey the terrain and check the foundation’s stability.
However, when they heard he intended to build a ten-story building, they shook their heads and said it was impossible.
Not even considering the foundation, the wooden beams and stone pillars alone could not bear ten stories.
Lu Hanzhi smiled mysteriously and said, “And what if I can build a ten-story building? What will you do then?”
The officials laughed and said, “If Your Highness truly can build it, we will follow your orders from now on without any salary.”
Now, those officials regretted their words. Had they known, they wouldn’t have made such a promise.
As for serving Your Highness… could the salary issue be renegotiated?
Lu Hanzhi laughed heartily to himself. Of course, he wouldn’t owe these talents any wages.
At this moment, he was in need of skilled people. Good treatment ensured they would stay.
The convinced Ministry officials obediently went to supervise the foundation work. Seeing Lu Hanzhi’s method of laying the foundation, even the senior officials were momentarily silent.
In ancient times, laying a foundation usually just meant compacting the soil, and that was considered enough.
After all, ancient buildings rarely rose above one story—they were mostly courtyard houses.
Even if there were two- or three-story buildings, they wouldn’t be constructed like Lu Hanzhi was doing: digging a pit, compacting the soil, marking lines for the piles, excavating the earth, installing support panels, and filling the interior with steel and cement.
No wonder he had claimed he would build a ten-story building. Now the senior officials from the Ministry of Works truly believed him—he could indeed construct a ten-story building.
Lu Hanzhi said, “Buildings built like this are much sturdier. Not just houses—even bridges and city walls could be built this way. But we’re building this one as a school. If the children study here, their ears won’t hear anything happening outside.”
After all, there was nothing going on outside the windows.
Everyone laughed and continued working with full energy.
Lu Hanzhi looked at his mission progress bar. One mission wasn’t even a tenth complete, and another hadn’t even started.
He clicked his tongue and thought, This mission really is tough.
Improving people’s livelihoods in Great Zhao wasn’t easy.
It wasn’t like running a business, where demand was obvious and things could easily take off.
Livelihood projects also had demand, but there was a limit to how much people would accept.
Suddenly, Lu Hanzhi had a brainstorm: why not use the employees of Han Ji Fragrance House as pilot participants?
He could give them houses to live in for free, then deduct a third of their wages as rent. After ten years, the house would belong to them.
Wasn’t this basically the housing loan system of their era?
Is a housing loan good?
It’s a loan, so not exactly great, but it gives you fixed assets—it’s actually very useful.
Lu Hanzhi thought he was getting a little ahead of himself. Better finish the system missions first!
That night, when Lu Hanzhi returned home, he heard something interesting.
The emperor wasn’t in a hurry to make Zong Yuan a concubine, which puzzled all the civil and military officials.
Everyone wondered if the emperor, being older, was like a child, acting on whims as they came.
The next day, Lin Chongyun also came and recounted the previous night: “The emperor sent me to Xiaoyu’s residence. I took the child’s pulse and found that his monthly cycle had been accelerated by medication. He was probably just trying to get close to the emperor sooner. Luckily, we acted quickly—otherwise, he might really have succeeded.”
Lu Hanzhi raised an eyebrow. “So impatient? How could he even try? The emperor could have crushed him with one hand!”
It sounded like an insult, but in truth, it wasn’t far from the fact.
Yuwen Min asked, “What happened to Zong Yuan?”
Lin Chongyun replied, “He was knocked unconscious by the emperor’s single strike. There was some bruising on his neck, but nothing serious.”
Yuwen Min asked again, “Did the emperor say how to deal with him?”
Lin Chongyun shook his head. “I only treat the illness; I don’t meddle in other matters.”
That morning at court, the emperor looked anxious, probably worrying about his little “bird.”
Lu Hanzhi asked, “Where’s my second brother? Why isn’t he here?”
Yuwen Jue replied, “Oh, he accepted a duel from an Eastern Sea warrior. He’s fighting today.”
Lu Hanzhi was surprised. “Then why don’t we go watch? Are we just waiting here?”
Yuwen Jue said, “He said it wasn’t necessary. We should stay home.”
Lu Hanzhi shook his head. “We should go see anyway! A duel is understandable, but Eastern Sea warriors are tricky. Besides, it’s such a perfect chance to watch some excitement. Why shouldn’t we go? Let’s take Ah Chan, Ah Shu, and Xiao Liuzi and go see the fun.”
No one had any objections, so they headed to the martial training grounds.
To their surprise, quite a few spectators had gathered. Even the entire household of the Crown Prince had come, including Su Wan’ning, the Crown Prince’s side consort who hadn’t left her residence in days, now fully made up for the occasion.
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