Volume One, Chapter Six: The Water Tower

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At this moment, inside the Pingyang Prince’s residence.

Li’s servant wore a smug expression. “Your Highness, I have thoroughly dealt with Song Chenfei as per your orders and commanded him to return to the residence immediately today. Otherwise, he will wish he were dead.”

A guard from the prince’s residence chuckled, “After that beating, he’ll soon come back obediently.”

Another guard sneered, “Ungrateful wretch. The prince’s residence has already shown him great mercy by allowing him to return. Yet he is ungrateful and dares to refuse coming back.”

Song Qianshan, the heir apparent, curled his lips into a faint smile. “Well done. You’ve earned credit this time.”

Li’s servant bowed slightly, careful not to be presumptuous in front of the heir apparent—this was truly the prince’s son.

“Excellent, Li Dong, I admire this about you,” Song Qianshan said with satisfaction. “Once that good-for-nothing Song Chenfei returns, I’ll deal with this major nuisance and then take you to the Spring Breeze Pavilion to celebrate.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Li Dong was overjoyed. The Spring Breeze Pavilion was the capital’s most extravagant den of indulgence, where a single outing cost at least a dozen taels of silver—far beyond what he could afford.

“By the way, Your Highness, there’s something I need to tell you.” Li Dong hesitated briefly but dared not conceal the truth. He revealed the thousand taels of silver in Song Chenfei’s possession and produced it.

It wasn’t that he wished to pocket it secretly, but he feared the grave consequences if the heir apparent found out.

After all, it was no small sum.

“These must be the private assets Song Chenfei took from the prince’s residence. They belong to me and rightfully should be reclaimed. How could I allow that worthless scoundrel to squander them?” The heir’s eyes gleamed greedily as he quickly gathered all the silver, causing Li Dong’s heart to ache.

Suddenly—clang!

The door was violently kicked open.

Startled, the heir apparent dropped the gleaming silver onto the floor.

“Who dares kick open my door!” he roared angrily.

But the next moment, his anger vanished instantly.

“Father? Is that you?”

He quickly forced a smile and greeted warmly.

Pingyang Prince’s face was dark as night. Before entering, he noticed the silver scattered on the floor.

He picked up a piece and examined it carefully. On the bottom was the inscription: “Great Qian Imperial Household.” His head spun.

Sure enough, these were imperial gifts.

And indeed, they had been stolen.

“How dare you! Are you trying to get me killed?” Pingyang Prince shouted fiercely.

Everyone was stunned.

It was rare to see Pingyang Prince so furious.

“Father, what’s wrong?” Others fell silent in fear; only the heir apparent dared to ask boldly.

“Tell me, where did this silver come from?” Pingyang Prince demanded harshly, pointing at his son.

“Of course, I earned it myself,” Song Qianshan replied.

“You dare lie? Claiming you earned this yourself? Confess the truth, or don’t blame me for enforcing family law,” the prince bellowed.

At that moment, Pingyang Prince’s wife appeared. “Why are you yelling? Can’t you speak calmly? Over the years, Qianshan has suffered so much. How can you treat him like this?”

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Pingyang Prince recalled how much his son had endured, having sold pork in the market since he was a child. Before knowing the truth, he felt guilty.

“My lady, I acted impulsively. But this matter is serious and must be resolved.”

He dared not disregard the emperor’s orders.

“Are these really imperial gifts? Where exactly did you get them? The emperor summoned me to the palace to question me about this very silver.”

Hearing this, Song Qianshan and the others were alarmed. These silver pieces bore the imperial seal.

Impossible!

Yet, upon examining the bottom, the four large characters “Great Qian Imperial Household” were unmistakable.

“Speak quickly! Where did you get these? These are the emperor’s gifts—stealing them is a capital offense!” Pingyang Prince urged.

Song Qianshan kicked Li Dong sharply. “Damn you! Trying to get me killed! These silver pieces are imperial gifts. Stealing them is a crime that implicates three generations.”

Li Dong immediately dropped to his knees, pale and trembling. “I took these from Song Chenfei. The silver was on a table not far from him. The wretched fellow must have set me up.”

He loathed Song Chenfei deeply.

He refused to believe these were imperial gifts given to Song Chenfei; rather, they were placed there to trick him.

“What? You got them from Song Chenfei? Damn ungrateful wretch! I took you in out of kindness, and you want to betray the Pingyang residence?”

Pingyang Prince’s fury burned hot.

“How cruel! After all the love and care I lavished on him—feeding and clothing him as if he were my own son—how could he repay such kindness with treachery?” Pingyang Prince’s wife also scowled with rage.

“I won’t let you get away with this, Song Chenfei.”

Song Qianshan clenched his teeth, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.

It was Song Chenfei who had caused his father’s wrath.

“Pingyang, what shall we do now?” the prince’s wife asked.

“First, return the silver to His Majesty immediately and ensure nothing like this happens again. This must be a misunderstanding caused by traitors,” Pingyang Prince answered.

“And what about Song Chenfei? The Minister of War is pressing hard. We must summon Song Chenfei quickly. If the Minister reports this to the emperor, it will be disastrous,” the prince’s wife fretted.

Pingyang Prince was no fool. Anyone who became a prince had at least some wit, given their elite education.

“Be cautious. Investigate thoroughly first. Song Chenfei lives in the laundry quarters, worse than swine, how could he be involved with imperial gifts?” Pingyang Prince said.

“Agreed. We will investigate,” his wife nodded.

Time passed swiftly.

During this period, Eunuch Zhao personally brought doctors to tend to Song Chenfei’s wounds.

Remarkably, after treatment, Song Chenfei and Li Hao’s injuries improved greatly.

It was clear the doctors Eunuch Zhao brought were skilled healers, possessing miraculous hands.

Meanwhile, Song Chenfei did not forget his promise to the middle-aged man and worked diligently.

Fortunately, his craftsmanship was proficient and experienced.

In less than three days, all procedures were completed.

Song Chenfei immediately notified Eunuch Zhao.

Eunuch Zhao was overjoyed and reported to the emperor at once.

The emperor was ecstatic upon hearing this and immediately discarded his memorial, preparing to go.

“Wait, I almost forgot. We must bring the Imperial Tutor. He is our kingdom’s foremost craftsman and will certainly be interested,” the emperor suddenly remembered and summoned the Imperial Tutor.

The Imperial Tutor was not only the emperor’s teacher but also his father-in-law, the Empress’s father, and concurrently the Minister of Works. His status in Great Qian was unparalleled.

“Your Majesty,”

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The Imperial Tutor did not kneel in greeting, a special exemption granted by the emperor.

“Imperial Tutor, come with me. I have something to show you that will surely interest you,” the emperor said with a smile.

“What is it?”

In truth, the Imperial Tutor felt somewhat annoyed. He was not particularly interested and would rather spend his time refining his craftsmanship.

The emperor teased mysteriously, smiling, “You’ll find out when we arrive. Knowing you as I do, I’m sure it will pique your interest.”

At this, the Imperial Tutor’s curiosity was indeed stirred.

As the emperor’s father-in-law, clearly the emperor understood him well.

Even so, the emperor would not say this unless it truly was something remarkable.

What could it be?

The emperor led the Imperial Tutor to the laundry quarters.

Upon arrival, they immediately noticed a huge water-driven windmill in the river.

The waterwheel turned continuously.

Clothes were automatically washed repeatedly inside bamboo baskets, aided by rollers powered by the flowing water, rubbing the fabric cleaner and cleaner.

Nearby stood a tall tower, its purpose unknown. With the waterwheel in motion, river water was continuously pumped into this tower.

“What is this?” The Imperial Tutor’s eyes widened, filled with curiosity. Even with his extensive craftsmanship knowledge, he had never encountered such a device.

“This is certainly not comparable to the crude waterwheel we had before,”

The middle-aged man exclaimed, turning to Song Chenfei with a satisfied smile. “Song Chenfei, please explain this to the Imperial Tutor.”

Song Chenfei’s heart skipped a beat. Before him stood the renowned top craftsman of Great Qian, known as the King of Craftsmen, Minister of Works, and Imperial Tutor.

“Yes, sir.”

“This device in the river is called a waterwheel washing machine. It consists of two parts: one is the waterwheel providing power, the other assists in washing clothes. Hence, I call it the waterwheel washing machine.”

The Imperial Tutor nodded repeatedly, eyes gleaming. “Ingenious! Why didn’t I think of using river water as power? Such a wonderful idea! Only a genius could conceive such a clever invention.”

“And the washing function, using rivet technology combined with rotating rollers to rub the clothes—brilliant, simply brilliant!”

With his specialized expertise, the Imperial Tutor immediately discerned the technical marvels of the waterwheel washing machine.

Song Chenfei was surprised. It seemed that the craftsmanship in this world surpassed that of the ancient times in his previous world.

“By the way, what is the purpose of pumping water into that tower?” The Imperial Tutor glanced at the tall structure, puzzled.

The middle-aged man also looked toward the tower. “What’s it for? Why pump water inside?”

Song Chenfei smiled. “Sir, as I mentioned before, I have an extra surprise for you. That tower is the surprise—I call it the water tower. Please follow me.”

Song Chenfei led them about ten meters away and pointed to a faucet.

“This device is called a water tap. I had the blacksmiths forge it overnight. Once you open the tap, water flows continuously.”

“If you don’t believe me, sir, you can try.”

The middle-aged man reached out immediately.

However, Eunuch Zhao’s expression changed. “Sir, just in case, let me test it first.”

“No need. I’m not so delicate, and there’s nothing dangerous here.”

The middle-aged man grasped the tap and twisted it slightly clockwise as Song Chenfei instructed.

Suddenly, water gushed forth from the faucet, pouring into the basin below.

This scene was commonplace in 21st-century Earth, but in this world, water taps did not exist.