Flowers began to awaken in March...
The warm and bright sunshine of spring made everyone so lazy that Yang Ge, with zero concern for appearance, sprawled on a rocking chair outside the inn, occasionally letting out a faint snore. Passersby who saw him from afar couldn’t help but smile knowingly and tiptoed past him with slowed footsteps.
Zhao Miao sat behind the counter, one hand supporting her chin and the other cracking sunflower seeds. The sunshine slanted through the inn’s door onto her, illuminating her dark hair with a translucent glow. Bored, she watched the pedestrians outside, occasionally craning her neck to glance at Yang Ge, who was sound asleep in front of the door. After a while, she would squint her eyes and grin foolishly, revealing a shiny canine tooth.
After some time, she suddenly saw Zhao Hong tiptoeing through the crowd, stealthily advancing towards Yang Ge at the door. When he saw her looking, he put his finger to his lips, gesturing for silence...
Zhao Miao, with a mouth wide in a comical grin, put down her sunflower seeds, eagerly waiting to enjoy the show.
As expected, Zhao Hong reached the rocking chair and with a flying leap, pounced on Yang Ge. But Yang Ge, who had been sound asleep just a second ago, suddenly lifted his foot and kicked, sending Zhao Hong flying back through the air with a scream.
Zhao Miao: "Wow..."
A group of guards in disguise emerged from the crowd, skillfully catching Zhao Hong with their hands.
"Thump."
Zhao Hong collided with the guards and tumbled into a heap.
"Ouch, ouch..."
Zhao Hong, rubbing his chest, got up and yelled indignantly at the distant Yang Ge, "You were pretending to sleep..."
Yang Ge simply turned around, his back facing him, and continued to sleep.
Seeing this, Zhao Hong, furious, dashed back into the inn, grabbed a stool, and slammed it onto the step beside Yang Ge.
Yang Ge twisted around, glaring at him: "Are you itchy for trouble?"
Zhao Hong sheepishly shrank his neck, then stubbornly said, "Young master has finished repairing the public toilet. Hurry and inspect it, don’t delay my important business!"
Yang Ge’s expression relaxed and, yawning, he stretched out his hand: "Where’s the blueprint?"
Zhao Hong was taken aback: "What blueprint?"
Yang Ge narrowed his eyes menacingly, "What blueprint did you say?"
"Oh oh oh, you mean the construction blueprint..."
Zhao Hong suddenly realized, and without turning his head back, he reached out: "That one, get the blueprints...augh!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was once again hoisted single-handedly by Yang Ge and thrown out.
The guards on the side quickly formed a human wall to catch him.
"Thump."
Again, he crashed to the ground.
"Ouch, ouch..."
Zhao Hong, rubbing his bottom, got up and angrily demanded, "Why did you throw me again?"
Yang Ge, sitting up and leaning on the armrest, asked expressionlessly, "How long have they been with you? Can’t you even call them by their names? Do you not care, or just not pay attention?"
Zhao Hong, stunned, turned around and looked at the group of guards, who were awkwardly looking around, and sheepishly pointed out each one while replying, "How could that be, Zhao Qin, Wang, Zhang, Ma Liu..."
Yang Ge, still expressionless, jerked his chin at him: "Keep going?"
Zhao Hong forced a smile, swallowed hard, and sincerely replied, "It was my oversight, I admit my mistake, I’ll change!"
Yang Ge gently exhaled, "Wang Jun."
A broad-shouldered imperial guard stepped forward, barely containing his excitement as he bowed with a clenched fist and shouted in a low voice, "At your service."
"Zhang Han."
"At your service."
"Ma Xiaoyuan."
"At your service."
"Zhou Ming."
"At your service..."
Yang Ge casually recited a list of names, and one by one, the excited imperial guards stepped out from behind Zhao Hong.
Not one more, not one less.
After finishing, he gestured emotionlessly for Zhao Hong to come over.
Zhao Hong, with tingling nerves, reluctantly approached and stammered, "Well, well, well, you yourself said ’no more than three’, and you’ve already tossed me twice today... go easy."
"Ouch."
He clutched his forehead, tears streaming down from the pain.
Yang Ge withdrew his hand and gestured to Zhao Qin, a junior flag officer, "Give me the drawings."
Zhao Qin immediately took off the leather drafting tube from his back, opened it, and handed over a stack of rolled-up drawings to Yang Ge with both hands.
Yang Ge took them and carefully examined each one.
The drawings included a map showing the flow of people and the distribution of public toilets, schematic diagrams indicating various materials used, and a price list of materials and labor...
No wonder this guy dared to joke with him today; he had indeed put a lot of effort into the work, and the final outcome was indeed very impressive.
After all, being a scion of the Wei royal family who had received top-level education from a young age, even though his head was filled with too much nonsense, there was true skill amidst the nonsense.
"Very good!"
After carefully reviewing all the drawings, Yang Ge, in a rare occurrence, complimented Zhao Hong, "From today, you may move into the Xuan-character room. I’ll also treat you to a good meal. Whatever you want to eat, as long as the inn has it, just order."
Zhao Hong, with tears in his eyes and without a second thought, replied, "I want to eat hotpot!"
Ever since the introduction of chili peppers, the inn frequently served hotpot, but he was never included; he could only stare longingly at the bubbling red oil in the hotpot broth, having never even tasted what hotpot was like until now.
Yang Ge nodded, "Alright, you set the time."
Zhao Hong immediately stood up and waved to the imperial guards behind him, "Brothers, tonight we feast on hotpot at the inn, eat your fill, don’t return until you’re drunk!"
Although it was impromptu, the imperial guards cheered loudly out of respect.
A slight upward twitch of Yang Ge’s lips went nearly unnoticed; after the guards quieted down, he spoke again, "Do you want to take a couple of days off, or continue working?"
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