Chapter Sixty-Nine: An Incident in the Palace of Heavenly Purity

Although Zhu Youxiao and Gongshu Ban both harbored deep doubts about Zhu Hao's words, neither voiced them. At this moment, these two fanatical inventors were utterly absorbed, their gazes fixed unblinkingly upon the blueprint Zhu Hao had drawn for a folding bed, as if it were a priceless treasure. Their eyes shone with fervor and longing.

After a while, their burning gazes shifted from the blueprint to Zhu Hao, and their expressions resembled those of lecherous old men beholding a beautiful maiden. This startled Zhu Hao so greatly that he retreated several steps, nearly blurting out, “I’m not made of glass!”

The two inventors did not cease their behavior despite Zhu Hao’s retreat; instead, they hemmed him in from either side. Gongshu Ban offered an awkward, ingratiating smile, while Zhu Youxiao, standing to the side, kept rubbing his hands, his face aglow with an embarrassed grin.

Witnessing such abnormal conduct, Zhu Hao almost bolted, secretly praising himself, “Is my handsome and charming aura so potent now that even men are bewitched by it? This is really not a good thing!”

Just as Zhu Hao could no longer bear their intense scrutiny and was about to flee, Zhu Youxiao, still rubbing his hands, spoke up: “Brother, does the ancient book containing this blueprint also record detailed manufacturing instructions? Could you share them with me?”

Gongsun Ban quickly chimed in, “Indeed, Your Highness! If you could tell me the finer points of how this blueprint is made, Gongshu Ban is willing to concede and recognize you as his master!”

Hearing their words, Zhu Hao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally relaxing his tense heart. He thought, “So they’re just interested in the blueprint—scared me half to death!”

Zhu Hao then carefully recalled the technical details of the folding bed and replied, “Yes, the ancient book does include detailed instructions, but I don’t remember all of them.”

Upon hearing that the ancient book contained such details, Zhu Youxiao grew excited and asked, “Brother, where is that book? Could you bring it for me to see?”

Zhu Hao mused silently, “What ancient book? I can hardly take you to the twenty-first century to fetch a folding bed blueprint! Even if I could, I wouldn’t know how to return!”

With that, his face showed visible difficulty, and he compromised, saying, “Brother, I only glanced at that ancient book so casually that I didn’t even remember its name. Finding it now would be tough. If you have any questions, you can ask me; my memory is decent, and I recall most of its contents!”

Zhu Youxiao, thrilled, jumped like a child given sweets, all dignity of a crown prince forgotten. He grabbed Zhu Hao’s arm and said, “Brother, are you serious? Then tell me, what is the function of this spring?” He pointed to the spring on the folding bed blueprint.

Zhu Hao began to explain, “This spring is...”

For the next while, Zhu Hao thoroughly instructed Zhu Youxiao and Gongshu Ban in the craftsmanship of the folding bed, including triangular mechanics, stability principles, metal smelting, and more.

Driven by these two manufacturing prodigies, Zhu Hao was compelled to repeatedly explain the intricacies of twenty-first-century folding bed technology in the Linglong Pavilion. Time slipped by until midnight, and it was only on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month of the first year of Taichang that Zhu Hao was finally released, still leaving the two inventors unsatisfied. Exhausted, Zhu Hao dragged himself back toward his own quarters.

Just as he left the Linglong Pavilion, the system prompt sounded again, but this time, the notification brought a smile to Zhu Hao’s face.

“Ding!”
“Congratulations, host, for gaining the recognition of Luban in craftsmanship!”
“Luban’s favorability toward the host has greatly increased!”
“Luban’s loyalty has risen by fifteen points!”
“Luban’s current loyalty is thirty points!”

After the prompt ended, Zhu Hao clicked his tongue in astonishment, secretly sighing, “The loyalty of these five-star talents is truly hard to raise! This is the first time the system has prompted ‘favorability greatly increased’; previously, it was only ‘favorability increased’ or ‘favorability generated.’ Even without specific numbers, one knows which is greater, but even so, Luban’s loyalty only rose fifteen points. Five-star talents are really hard to command!”

Lost in thoughts about loyalty, Zhu Hao soon found himself back in his chambers. Upon arrival, he saw Wei Xiaobao, his face flustered and anxious, rushing to greet him, “Your Highness, where have you been? Something major has happened! I couldn’t find you anywhere, so I waited here for you!”

Zhu Hao knew that when Wei Xiaobao spoke of major events, it surely meant something had changed in Qianqing Palace. He quickly asked, “Has something happened in Qianqing Palace? What’s happened to my father? Tell me now!” Worried, Zhu Hao grabbed Wei Xiaobao by the collar, lifting him up so abruptly that Wei Xiaobao nearly choked.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao’s face turn purple, Zhu Hao realized his mistake, quickly released him, took a deep breath, and calmed himself before saying, “I was too agitated just now. Xiaobao, tell me what exactly happened.”

Wei Xiaobao, having narrowly escaped suffocation, took several deep breaths and hurriedly replied, “Your Highness, since yesterday, His Majesty has issued two imperial edicts, urging Prime Minister Fang to bring Li Kezhuo, the official from the Honglu Temple who presented the immortal medicine, into the palace. For some unknown reason, Prime Minister Fang has not moved. Just now, His Majesty flew into a rage and sent the Imperial Guards with a third edict to forcibly bring Prime Minister Fang and Li Kezhuo into the palace. The issuance of such edicts from Qianqing Palace is a major event. I dared not conceal it—when the first edict was issued, I immediately came to report to you, but Your Highness was not in your quarters.”

Upon hearing Wei Xiaobao’s account, Zhu Hao initially wanted to scold him for not searching, but realized that Wei Xiaobao truly had no way of knowing his whereabouts, and at this moment, scolding him was trivial. More pressing was the historical calamity—the Red Pill—that once claimed his father’s life, and now seemed unstoppable. If his father took the Red Pill, it would be beyond saving. All of this stemmed from the hateful Lady Zheng, who barred him from seeing his father, leaving him powerless to intervene. What should he do?

Zhu Hao grew increasingly anxious yet helpless. Finally, he thought of his eldest brother and ordered Wei Xiaobao, “Xiaobao, don’t go to Qianqing Palace. Find a way to create trouble on the road from the palace gate to Qianqing Palace, delay Prime Minister Fang and Li Kezhuo from entering. I’m going to find the Crown Prince. This concerns my father’s life; we must not take it lightly!”

Wei Xiaobao, hearing the gravity in Zhu Hao’s words, dared not delay. He nodded at once, “I obey, Your Highness. I will complete the task!” With that, he turned and left Zhu Hao’s chambers.

Having no other recourse, Zhu Hao could only rely on his elder brother Zhu Youxiao to prevent their father from taking the Red Pill. At present, only his brother—the Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao—could help and enter Qianqing Palace.

After Wei Xiaobao left, Zhu Hao followed suit, leaving his chambers and thinking to himself, “Tonight will surely be a sleepless night!” He then ran toward the Eastern Palace.

When Zhu Hao arrived at the Eastern Palace, Zhu Youxiao was still in the Linglong Pavilion with Gongshu Ban, studying the folding bed blueprint Zhu Hao had drawn. Seeing Zhu Hao rush in, Zhu Youxiao exclaimed excitedly, “Brother, you’ve returned so soon! Have you changed your mind and wish to join me and Mr. Gongshu in studying this blueprint through the night? There are a few aspects I still don’t understand—come and explain them to me!” As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao handed Zhu Hao the blueprint.

But Zhu Hao was in a state of utmost urgency. He swept the blueprint from Zhu Youxiao’s hands and, grabbing his brother, hurried down the Linglong Pavilion, saying as he ran, “We can talk about the blueprint later—right now, there’s something far more important that you must do!”

Taken aback by Zhu Hao’s sudden action, Zhu Youxiao was first confused, then somewhat displeased, and finally deeply puzzled after hearing Zhu Hao’s words. He did not resist Zhu Hao’s grip, but asked, “Brother, what has happened to make you so frantic? Where are you taking me, and what do you want me to do?”

As they spoke, Zhu Hao had already dragged Zhu Youxiao out of the Linglong Pavilion, out of the Eastern Palace, and was running toward Qianqing Palace. Hearing Zhu Youxiao’s question, Zhu Hao was at a loss as to how to explain. He stopped in his tracks, looked earnestly at Zhu Youxiao for a moment, and asked seriously, “Brother, do you trust me?”

Zhu Youxiao, hearing this abrupt question and recalling Zhu Hao’s earlier odd behavior, thought to himself, “My brother once suffered from hysteria—could it be a relapse?” With this in mind, Zhu Youxiao quickly said, “Brother, are you feeling unwell? Let me send for the imperial physicians!”

Hearing this, Zhu Hao realized his behavior had startled Zhu Youxiao, but he had no time to explain. He shook his head, fixed his gaze on Zhu Youxiao, and said with utmost seriousness, “Please, Brother, answer me—do you trust me?”

Faced with Zhu Hao’s repeated question, Zhu Youxiao, though still confused, was moved by Zhu Hao’s resolute tone. He concluded that his brother was not relapsing and nodded, “Of course I trust you! Why do you ask?”