Chapter 94: Pretending to be a Cultured Person!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhou Shu staggered and almost fell.
I spoke so softly, yet you still heard it?
So be it if you heard me. Can’t you pretend you didn’t?
!!
I’m embarra.s.sed by your question, okay?
“Grand Minister, you’ve heard wrongly! It wasn’t me. I didn’t say it!” Zhou Shu shook his head.
“Is that so?” Yin Wuyou’s voice was calm as she casually said, “Haitang, did I hear wrongly?”
“No!” Haitang said with certainty. “I also heard it. When Your Highness entered, this was what Superintendent Zhou said!”
Zhou Shu: “…”
“Superintendent Zhou, Are you looking down on me?” Yin Wuyou said coldly. “Do you think that I’m just in charge of the Forging Division and know nothing about poetry?”
“No, absolutely not.” Of course, Zhou Shu had to deny it. “I’ve never thought that way. Grand Minister, I’m just a blacksmith. It should be used to describe me. I don’t even recognize many words. I know nothing about poetry.”
“Is that so? Do you want to say that you heard it from the storyteller again?” Yin Wuyou said. “I remember that you haven’t given me the poems I asked you to write last time, right?”
“No!” Haitang echoed.
Zhou Shu rolled his eyes at her. We’re comrades who spent some time together. Can’t you help me out here?
“Grand Minister, there’s no such thing as composing poetry in the responsibilities of the 0th Workshop,” Zhou Shu said, bracing himself. “You can’t just abuse your authority—”
“So what if I abuse it?” Yin Wuyou said. “I’ll give you two choices. One is to make it up by completing this new poem, and the other is to complete the previous two poems.”
Zhou Shu: “…”
Is this a choice?
I have no choice.
“Grand Minister, what if I say I can’t complete them? Are you going to remove me from my position as the superintendent of the 0th Workshop?” Zhou Shu asked.
“It’s not to that extent,” Yin Wuyou said. “You’re a talent after all. I won’t go to that extent—”
“That’s good,” Zhou Shu mumbled.
“However, I can’t do what you asked me to just now either,” Yin Wuyou replied, “As the grand minister, my duties don’t include providing information to my subordinates.”
Zhou Shu: “…”
Women and villains are indeed hard to deal with.
Is being unreasonable really a woman’s talent?
What a bully.
I, Zhou Shu, will definitely not give in just for this!
…
Fifteen minutes later, Zhou Shu valiantly left the princess’ residence.
In the princess’s residence, Yin Wuyou held a piece of paper in her hand with a disdainful expression.
“What lousy calligraphy. Even three-year-olds can write better than him!” Yin Wuyou grumbled, endured the disdain, and read the words.
“Spring is at its prime; It is around the Cold Food Festival, the season of pear blossoms; Like crease free white silk fabric, but pervasively fragrant, their petals gather on trees like snow-flakes; The night is quiet, they flourish like light, saturated with the cold moonlight; On earth and in heaven, the world is brightened by their silver white.”
While Yin Wuyou softly recited, her eyes grew brighter and brighter. Her cheeks were slightly red, and they even felt a little hot.
“Just like Gushe Immortal, they are ethereal and graceful, and otherworldly and unsullied; With myriad flowers in array, who believe in the Dao? The blossoms have been aloof from other flowers; But their n.o.bleness, elegance, and extraordinariness have not been perceived by the earthly world; Only when they return to the Jade Pavilion, can their uniqueness be perceived.”
When Yin Wuyou finished reciting the last sentence, her pretty face had already turned as red as an apple. Her delicate and alluring appearance made one want to bite her.
Am I that good? she thought.
Who is this Gushe Immortal?
Yin Wuyou was a little puzzled. She had read a lot of books since she was young, but she had really never seen the name ‘Gushe Immortal’ before.
She had never heard of this Jade Pavilion before either, but she could vaguely guess its meaning.
“Your Highness, Superintendent Zhou wrote this poem to you. He’s really too bold!” Haitang exclaimed.
“Shut up!” Yin Wuyou lightly chided. “You didn’t see anything today, understand?”
Haitang rolled her eyes and whispered, “Got it.”
“Go to the 0th Workshop tomorrow and send the information of those Grand Craftsmen over. Also, ask him who this Gushe Immortal is.”
Haitang really wanted to ask, Didn’t you say I didn’t see anything today? Why are you making me ask about Gushe Immortal?
Of course, she didn’t dare to ask. If she did, the princess would be furious.
Haitang left the room. When she closed the door, she saw Yin Wuyou carefully folding up the piece of paper and placing it into a book. While she was doing this, her face was dazzlingly red…
…
Zhou Shu went all the way back to the 0th Workshop. He really felt like slapping himself a few times. Couldn’t he just concentrate on forging? Why did he have to pretend to be a cultured person…
When he stepped through the door of the 0th Workshop, his heart suddenly trembled. He stopped and looked around.
A moment later, he frowned and entered the door.
After the doors of the 0th Workshop closed, a faint sigh of relief sounded from a tree in the distance.
What this person didn’t know was that behind the doors of the 0th Workshop, the corners of Zhou Shu’s mouth curled up into a cold smile.
…
As the red sun rose, Zhou Shu woke up early as usual. He first inspected the cultivation progress of Zhang Yibei, Sixth Brother Wu, and the others, then gave them some pointers on how to forge. Just as he was about to return to begin his forging, Haitang arrived.
She didn’t come alone. She brought a couple of handymen from the Forging Division with her. These handymen were carrying a couple of two-foot square boxes.
Haitang asked the handymen to place the boxes on the table, then waved them to wait outside before she said, “These are the things you wanted. Her Highness asked me to deliver them.
“These are all secrets of the Forging Division. Her Highness has specially instructed that we must not let outsiders see them. Superintendent Zhou, after you finish reading them, inform me. I will bring them back.”
Zhou Shu nodded. “Don’t worry. Nothing will go wrong.”
This was a Forging Division workshop. It was heavily guarded, and ordinary people couldn’t enter.
Even if someone could sneak into the workshop through the guards outside, did they think he was a pushover?
Unless an expert above the third rank sneaked in, no matter who came, they would be finished.
“If there’s nothing else, you can go now.” Zhou Shu wanted to quickly look through Zhu Chuanfeng’s information and rudely waved his hand at Haitang.
Haitang’s feet seemed to have grown roots. She didn’t even move, causing Zhou Shu’s hand reaching for the box to stop.
“Anything else?” Zhou Shu couldn’t help asking.
“Her Highness asked me to ask you, who is the Gushe Immortal?” Haitang said.
Zhou Shu: “…”
He was speechless. He had never been more speechless in the past two days than in the past one year.
He deserved it. Why did he pretend to be a cultured person for no reason? Here came the trouble.
“Her Highness said that it’s fine if you don’t say anything. She won’t hold a grudge,” Haitang continued.
Zhou Shu rolled his eyes in his head. One had to listen to the opposite of what a woman said. If she said she wouldn’t hold a grudge, then she definitely would.
You’re a princess, yet you’re holding a grudge against a small fry like me. What’s the point?
Also, no matter what, you’re the grand minister of the Forging Division. Can’t you pay more attention to forging if you have nothing better to do? Why do you keep asking about poetry instead of doing your job?
He would rather offend a gentleman than a villain. He would rather offend a villain than a woman…
Zhou Shu sighed. “There are immortals living on faraway Gushe Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like young girls. They do not eat the five grains. Instead, they take in the wind, drink dew, ride on the clouds, mist, and flying dragons, wandering beyond the four seas.”
…
“There are immortals living on faraway Gushe Mountain, with skin like ice or snow, and gentle and shy like young girls,” Yin Wuyou mumbled to herself, her pretty face getting redder and redder. She turned her head away, afraid that her maid would see her.
This Zhou Shu is really detestable!
…
Achoo—
Zhou Shu sneezed and rubbed his nose. Who is scolding me!
The next moment, he flipped through Zhu Chuanfeng’s information.
Among the information Yin Wuyou had Haitang send over, there were several books on Zhu Chuanfeng. In total, there were probably hundreds of thousands of words.
This made Zhou Shu once again realize the power of the Imperial Court.
Although this was a world of high martial arts, the Imperial Court was not weak at all. They had such control over Grand Craftsmen.
This information recorded almost everything about the life of the Grand Craftsmen, including what weapons they had forged, what they were good at, and what their weaknesses were.
Yin Wuyou really trusts me.
If this information was leaked to enemies, then the enemies would be able to deal with the Grand Craftsmen.
The consequences would be unimaginable.
Zhou Shu carefully flipped through Zhu Chuanfeng’s information, not missing a single word.
The more he looked, the more shocked he became.
Although he had seen Zhu Chuanfeng several times, he never imagined that Zhu Chuanfeng was so powerful!
This fellow had simply grown up with the protagonist halo.
Before he was twenty years old, he was just a blacksmith in a village. He was not even comparable to a Forging Apprentice. When he was twenty years old, he coincidentally saved a Forging Master. Then the Forging Master accepted him as his disciple.
From then on, Zhu Chuanfeng seemed to have a cheat.
Just as Yang Hong had said, he had used five years to become a Forging Master. Ordinary Forging Masters would need at least seven to eight years before they could become a Forging Master.
If using five years wasn’t shocking enough, he had only used three years to become a High-level Forging Master. Most people needed ten years.
Afterward, he had only used ten years to cross the threshold that countless Forging Masters couldn’t cross in their lifetime and became a Grand Craftsman.
That year, he wasn’t even forty yet!
He had directly broken the record of being the youngest Grand Craftsman. Before him, the youngest Grand Craftsman in Great Xia had advanced successfully at the age of forty.
Not only that, according to the details, Zhu Chuanfeng had lost both his parents. He himself had no children nor wife. Even the information from the Forging Division said that he had no weaknesses!
According to the information, not only was Zhu Chuanfeng a genius, but he was also a perfect person with almost no flaws!