Chapter 56
However the facts will be proof that the worries of Leng Ruofeng and the others would all be superfluous. Within an hour, Leng Ruofeng had gone out of the palace and has welcomed Xu Lao, who was temporarily placed outside the palace. Xu Lao is already 60 years old, yet he was still strong and vigorous despite his age, his graceful bearing not diminished in the slightest.
Hearing that the emperor himself had asked him to enter the palace saying that someone had indicated that his drawings were flawed, the old gentleman flicked his two elegant white moustaches back and he immediately followed the Leng Ruofeng back running as fast as he could with his walking stick. He wanted to know exactly which of the ignorant youths that still stunk of their mother’s breast milk had dared to casually pick at his own intricate designs.
How would he know that when he first stepped into the door of Qian Qing palace hall, he did not see the ignorant youth like he imagined, instead he would see the rumoured magnificent and pampered Consort Qing.
After learning about the whole story, Lao Yezi’s beard shook more and more and his walking stick was knocking on the bright marble floor. When he opened his mouth to speak, it was a mouthful of cynical irony.
Lao Yezi = polite appellation for an elderly male
“Your Majesty please do not blame this old man for speaking impolitely, but the charm of a woman is the downfall of the nation. Building dams to benefit the people, how could this national event be treated as a trifling matter by His Majesty? Even though Consort Qing is indeed beautiful, but in the end blablabla...” The words of this old man came out one word after the other. It was as if he was a machine-gun firing, completely unable to stop!
Xia Yuqing originally had adhered strictly to the customs of the Chinese people, which is respecting the elderly and cherishing the young. However, the more she listened to this old man’s trivial speech, the more she thought what the old man was saying was wrong. That old man seemed to be speaking about the charms of Da Ji, a femme fatale who caused the fall of King Zhou. But why does it seem like he was talking about... her!
This time Xia Yuqing was angry. If someone would offer me a foot, I would offer them ten. But if someone took away a point from me, I would take away ten. In a short moment, she was burning with anger, overflowing with a murderous aura.
Therefore in front of these few dumbstruck people, one old and one young had begun a battle of words.
“You old fart, you keep on repeating over and over about how the charm of a woman is the downfall of a nation, but so what if I’m beautiful? I’m beautiful and arrogant. Do you think everyone would be born like you causing spectators to feel bad for your appearance? It’s so amazing that you would still dare to come out looking like this to scare people. I wonder how many people were scared to death during the Ghost festival?”
Although Xu Lao couldn’t make sense of Xia Yuqing’s words, but he can still see the sarcasm from Xia Yuqing’s face.
How dare this little girl say that he was ugly, and also taunted that he looked like a ghost? Damnit, when this old man was young, I was loved by all, a beautiful man who would cause flowers to bloom. How dare she even say that I was unworthy to be shown to spectators. This is unforgivable!
“This Ya Tou who still hasn’t even grown out all her hair, when is it a woman’s turn to be able to participate in this major event of our country?”
“Women? What about women? Can women not care about national events? Women can’t comment on things that they don’t agree with? This is sex discrimination! Why do you look down on women? If there were no women, who would wash your hands? If there were no woman who would make you soup or sew you new clothing? No woman ... If there were no woman, could your dad give birth to you by himself? Do you think you’re a self-pollinated hybrid?”
“...” The four of them looked across from them where saliva was splashing everywhere. They had already completely forgotten about their existence. They were completely stunned.
After half an hour.
“And you’re still claiming to be a respected old man? I don’t even know why this place is using such a trapezoidal structure. When the flood comes rushing over to the side that would just make it fall apart too easily.”
“Trapezoid? What is that? You Ya Tou don’t pretend to understand when you don’t. The usual wooden wedge is this shape. Why can’t it be used in the corner of the dam?”
“...this old stubborn fool, clinging to stereotypes. A triangle shape is the most stable structure. This is the truth that later generations have summed up over thousands of years of experience.”
“Triangle?”
“The triangle is...” Xia Yuqing tore out a piece of paper and began painting on its surface to explain.
“Hearing you say that, there does seem to be some reason to it, but isn’t this the same?” The old man was rather puzzled, unable to make any sense of the matter. The original thunderous mood has long dissipated now, replaced by a senior’s regard for careful detail.
“Similar? It differs by an insane amount. It’s like 10000 and 1. 0000 is different by just that small decimal point, but what they represent is as different as heaven and earth! How could you use ‘about the same’ to lump different matters together? We must do everything so it’s foolproof. Otherwise, we will have a good chance of killing people.” Once it came to her old profession, she will become an incarnation of Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Xu Lao did not expect to hear such words from Xia Yuqing, a young woman who had been raised in the deep palace. Stunned, his view of Xia Yuqing gradually changed.
Thus after another half hour.
“There is still a small corner that needs to be released. Otherwise, it will be difficult if it gets too close to the cliff.” Xia Yuqing pointed to an edge of the framework located on the blueprint.
“No, it is because of the close proximity of the cliffs that if there was one less corner. At that time, it would be very likely that the entire layout will be out of balance. This is the same reason that the thousands of miles of embankments are destroyed by the ants.” Xu Lao looked up. After watching Xia Yuqing, he smiled slightly. “Although this baby girl is extremely talented, there are still some things that are not fully mature!”
“...” The four people who had been paying close attention to the two were speechless.
How long has it been? How did this foolish girl has become a baby girl!? Xu Lao, where did your usual stubborn as a rock bad temper go?!