When there was no need for urgency, Liu Xian’an would never be urgent. In his opinion, renovating Xiao Wang Palace was not an urgent matter, so he was idle. He would often feel sleepy when he sketched and drew, and immediately dropped his brush and ran to the couch to sleep for the entire afternoon. Such was the case that the slow progress of the whole process made even A-Ning wonder if he would have to wait ten years to see the young master’s new house.

Naturally, Liang Shu would not press him on such a matter. If he didn’t feel like drawing, then he wouldn’t draw. As for the craftsmen, the masters didn’t rush them and everyone was happy to be idle. Thus, the place remained simple and humble, and everyone was quite comfortable.

There was only one thing that was rather annoying when it rained heavily, and it happened to be a very rainy autumn. Liu Xian’an slept comfortably in Liang Shu’s arms all night. When he opened the door the next morning, he was nearly splashed by the muddy water that had accumulated in the courtyard.

A-Ning had to push a cart of bricks, and while building a path in the courtyard, he accidentally fell and lay in bed for three days before being able to get up.

Repairs to the main house were imperative!

The lazy fellow had no choice but to say: “Then let’s get started.”

He was forced once again to work hard, leaving early every day and coming back late every evening, and stayed in the study for more than half a month. At last, all the designs were finalized.

Liang Yu rewarded his younger brother with a batch of good timber, and stone bricks entered the palace cart by cart. Liu Xian’an asked: “Then are we moving to another courtyard?”

Liang Shu said: “Let’s go to the Imperial palace to stay for a while.”

When he was a child, he lived in Zhenxiang Hall, located on the southwest side of the Imperial gardens. Although its appearance was not magnificent and its location was extremely remote, it was still much better than Xiao Wang Palace, which was rustic everywhere. The old steward was busy arranging for the servants to clean. Liu Xian’an walked around and found that the study was small, but there was an extremely large open space in the back courtyard, with many weapon racks piled up randomly. He said: “This does look like the prince’s residence.”

“There are many vacant rooms. I will find the largest and brightest one for you and arrange it as a study.” Liang Shu put an arm around his shoulder. “Do you see anything that is missing?”

Liu Xian’an yawned: “I don’t need anything.”

His requirements for food, clothing, housing, and transportation had always been very low. He often imagined himself wrapped in the roughest cloth, walking barefoot in spring and listening to the endless sea of bamboo in the mountains. When he was hungry, he would bend down to catch white fish, make a campfire and roast it casually, and then eat it without oil or salt.

“That won’t work.” Liang Shu reminded him: “You can’t catch fish.”

Liu Xian’an thought for a moment: “Then I will bring the prince with me next time.”

Liang Shu was in a very good mood, feeling that he was very useful.

Liang Yu was already very experienced, and would always ignore the radiant appearance of his unfortunate brother, so as not to ask a lot of useless questions again. Thus, he could only send the Imperial chef who was proficient in Jiangnan cuisine to serve him. As a result, the chef entered Zhenxiang Hall the first day, and His Royal Highness Xiao Wang failed to attend court in the morning the next day because of abdominal cramps.

Liang Yu was furious, and was about to have the Imperial chef questioned. Fortunately, a palace attendant ran back panting, just in time to report that the Jiangnan Imperial chef had just entered Zhenxiang Hall and had not had time to take charge of the dishes. The meal served to the prince the previous night was cooked by Second Young Master Liu himself.

“……”

The attendant continued: “It seems that the recipe came from some ancient book. He cooked a big bowl, and the prince did not want to give it to anyone else, so he was the only one in the residence who fell ill.”

Liang Yu really didn’t want to hear anymore.

In Zhenxiang Palace, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was lying in bed with a handkerchief on his head, eating a bowl of noodles with green vegetables and soft meat in a dignified manner. Lieutenant General Gao had returned to the northwest, otherwise he would not be able to stop laughing at this grand scene for three days.

Liu Xian’an analyzed: “Perhaps something was not cooked enough.”

Liang Shu said magnanimously: “It doesn’t matter, I will cook it with you next time.”

Liu Xian’an refused on the spot. After experiencing a spoonful of peach jam, and after this person poured down the “Five Fresh Ingredients with Vinegar Residue,” he no longer intended to believe in the so-called ancient recipes, and decided not to cook them again in his life.

Liang Shu held back a smile: “That is good too. Then just stay home and have a good sleep. When you wake up, take A-Ning around for a walk. There are a lot of fun places in the palace.”

“En.” Liu Xian’an agreed and continued to warm the other’s stomach with a hot medicine bag.

Liang Shu was in good health, and after only lying down for one day, he returned to the court full of energy and continued to busy himself with the talent selection. That afternoon, A-Ning pulled his family’s young master up from bed, coaxing him to take a walk for digestion. He also said: “The First Young Master specifically ordered in the family letter that the young master must walk eight thousand steps every day.”

Eight! Thousand! Steps! When he heard this number, his legs immediately began to ache, so he hugged a big tree to think of an excuse. Suddenly, he remembered that he still had some carpentry work to do.

A-Ning was easier to talk to regarding this matter. In any case, so long as his family’s young master was willing to move instead of sleeping all day long, then anything was fine. Then he asked: “What kind of carpentry work is it?”

“It is fun.” Liu Xian’an tugged on his sleeve and pulled him back to Zhenxiang Hall. After giving up the cookbooks, he had recently read a book called “The Collection of Mortise and Tenon,” which was devoted to various exquisite mechanisms. One of the articles was about a poor scholar in ancient times who couldn’t get a wife, so he carved a peerless beauty out of wood. Not only did it look like a real person, but it could even dance in the wind like a graceful willow. When it was released, all the men in the village were charmed.

The scholar named the wooden figure “Charm.”

A-Ning felt that this legend was boring. Why did these scholars not study to gain renown, but instead recruited vixens, fairies, or beautiful wooden figures all day long?

“Although the story is bad, the mechanism is interesting. Let’s give it a try.” Liu Xian’an said, “It doesn’t seem to require much material, and it happens to be windy in late autumn.”

He did as he said, because if he didn’t, he would have to walk eight thousand steps every day. Eight thousand steps was truly frightening!

The guards of Zhenxiang Hall obeyed Second Young Master Liu and quickly found the wood, nails, and leather bands he listed. Liu Xian’an sat on a small bench, put a piece of cowhide over his knees, and sawed the wood in a professional-looking manner. A-Ning stood nearby and sighed with the vague feeling that he had been deceived, because the lazy fellow still wasn’t moving much.

Later, Liang Shu also heard about Liu Xian’an’s intention to restore an ancient mechanism, so he went to the back courtyard to see him in person, asking: “Is it the Wind Wing you saw in a book a couple of days ago?”

“No, that Wind Wing is too big. This material is not even enough to make a tip of its wing.” Liu Xian’an handed him the drawing. “It is a wooden figure who can dance in the wind.”

Liang Shu was amazed: “It can really dance?”

“Really. I also made a small improvement and stretched strings in its belly, so that when the wind blows, there will be music.” Liu Xian’an said, “The prince can just wait and see.”

Liang Shu nodded in agreement: “Okay. You make it slowly, and I’ll wait to see it. But just stop here for today. Let’s go eat first.”

Liu Xian’an stretched hard and stood up, patting the wood residue off his body. While walking back slowly with him, he asked casually: “How was the prince’s day in court?”

“I met a stubborn old man,” Liang Shu said. “His name is Zhang Xu. I told you about this person before, right? He is not pedantic or dogmatic, but stingy. This isn’t allowed and that isn’t allowed. He holds onto money and is reluctant to spend it, and feels that prudence must be of the utmost importance in everything.”

As for what was prudent, in Zhang-daren’s eyes, all plans put forward by His Royal Highness Xiao Wang could not be considered prudent. Therefore, after listening to each answer, he would give a lot of vehement justifications. After hearing this, Liang Shu felt like his head was going to explode. When it came to political opinions, there was never an absolute right or wrong answer. It all depended on everyone seeking common ground while reserving their differences on various opinions. So Liang Shu actually had no objections to Zhang-daren, but having no objections didn’t mean that he wasn’t angry.

Liang Shu said: “Coax me.”

Liu Xian’an patted his chest: “Do not work without knowing how to rest. Can you live forever? Just relax your mind a bit and ignore him.”

“Kiss me.”

“Okay.”

Perhaps kissing a couple more times was also fine.

. . . . . . 

Liu Xian’an made a plan to do the left arm today and the right arm tomorrow. He was very active and diligent at the beginning, but later became lazy again. A-Ning assisted him and commented by the way: “The legs are just two wooden stakes? Why don’t you carve them in detail?”

“The mechanisms. The important thing is the mechanisms. Appearance doesn’t matter.” Liu Xian’an assembled the piles of wood and asked, “Where is the head?”

A-Ning brought over a wooden ball covered with a simple adhesive. He had pinched this face all afternoon, and finally managed to get an outline. He said: “I’m going to get some oil paint. Young Master, let’s paint a beautiful face!”

“You paint it, I still have some work to do.” Liu Xian’an was busy knocking wooden wedges.

“Me?” A-Ning was embarrassed. “But I can’t paint.”

“There is nothing impossible about painting eyes and a nose. We are not the scholar in that story. We don’t need it to look alluring. Just paint casually and make it look roughly like a human being.”

Look roughly like a human being. This seemed to be a fairly low requirement. A-Ning thought he could give it a try. He picked up the wooden figure’s head and painted carefully with breathless concentration, trying hard to carve out a great beauty. It was a pity that his skills were very limited. After painting for half a shichen, it still didn’t look good. He said with a downcast expression: “Young Master, I feel like what I painted doesn’t look like a human being, but more like a ghost.”

Although the features were very straight and were in the locations they should be, there was no aura at all. The face was pale, with black eyes and bright red lips, as if it had just eaten someone. When placed in a courtyard on a cloudy day, the horror effect was doubled.

Liu Xian’an looked it over a couple of times and said: “This is fine.”

A-Ning: “…..Where is it fine? Young Master, this requirement is really too low.”

“It mainly looks odd because it is bald and has no clothes,” Liu Xian’an said. “I can finish these strings in an hour. Is the prince back?”

“Not yet. The prince is staying in the palace for dinner tonight.” A-Ning said, “Then I will get the clothes and hair. Young Master, take your time. We will definitely be able to adjust the wooden figure before the prince returns.”

Presently, the sky was growing dark. A-Ning lit the lanterns hanging in the courtyard one by one. Looking back, mommy, it was even scarier!

He quickly picked up the wig cover and dress he bought specially outside. After dressing the wooden figure, he stammered as he asked: “Y-Y-Young Master, do you really think this is better? I think it would be better bald.”

“Aiya, don’t worry about it. It’s fine if it has long, flowing sleeves and is able to dance.”

Liu Xian’an brought a wooden leg over and asked A-Ning to hold the torch closer so that he could assemble the wooden figure more easily. A small hammer struck with a clang, clang, clang. When he was done hammering, Second Young Master Liu took two steps back with satisfaction to appreciate it carefully. A-Ning couldn’t bear to look at it, and covered his eyes. Like this, it would really scare a scholar to death.

Liu Xian’an suddenly said: “The wind is coming!”

The north wind in late autumn could penetrate tens of thousands of li of deep forest and easily blow a thin wooden figure. Among the fallen leaves in the courtyard, one could see its two pink sleeves rising instantly, entwining with one another in the air. The stout wooden legs also stepped forward, the shoulders leaned back with a crack, and the strings in the belly instantly began to tremble with a long, drawn-out sound. The neck swayed, the waist twisted, and it actually began to dance in the wind!

Liu Xian’an was very satisfied, and felt that the woodworking book was indeed more credible than the cookbook. Although it looked a little strange, the current wooden figure was just a rough prototype. If he had time to modify it in the future, it would definitely dance very gracefully.

The wind whistled and the wooden figure danced more and more wildly, which even amused A-Ning. Just when he was about to call the other people in the palace over to watch the fun, the wooden man changed its behavior all of a sudden and, whoosh, unexpectedly jumped up to the roof!

“Ai!” He was given a shock.

Liu Xian’an was also shocked, mainly because when “Charm” flew up, its wooden arm nearly slapped him in the face. He took two steps back and looked again. The wooden future was already flying away in the air with its head held high and chest out, driven by the force of the mechanisms and the wind!

“Quickly, get it back!”

“Okay!” A-Ning hurriedly ran out the back door to chase after it. Liu Xian’an was worried, and called a few guards to quickly follow along with him.

The master and servant were out of breath, but the wind was very strong at this time, and there was only a pale full moon in the sky, so the wooden figure vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

“……”

On the other side, Zhang-daren, who had just finished handling the official business at hand and was preparing to return home in a sedan chair, happened to pass by the Imperial Gardens — he wanted to take a side road to save some time.

As a result, there was a knocking sound, and something unknown suddenly flew in front of the sedan chair and plunged heavily into the mud!

“Ah!” The two bearers fell to the ground in fright. Zhang Xu was shocked by the jolting, and reached out to open the sedan curtain: “What happened—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw two black eyes looking directly at him. Its grass-like hair flew everywhere, its lips were bright red, and it had a strange smile. Its long sleeves were wrapped around its neck, and mournful sounds came not from its mouth, but from its belly!

Ca-clack!

Under the influence of the wind, the wooden figure danced stiffly again, its head spinning in a full circle.

Zhang-daren’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted!

“There’s a ghost, ah!” As soon as the bearers shouted, they each received a blow to the neck, and their voices were completely strangled in their throats.

The guards of Xiao Wang Palace lowered the hands they had raised to knock them unconscious, picked up the wooden figure, and turned around to flee. At the same time, they did not forget to pick up their own family’s lazy young master who was very slow. Finally, before a large number of Imperial troops arrived, the door of Zhenxiang Hall was successfully locked with a bang!

The years are peaceful, there is nothing to see here.

The unlucky Zhang-daren was carried to the Imperial Hospital with great commotion.

Liang Shu was passing by on horseback. Hearing the noise in the distance, he was puzzled. He sent someone to ask, but they said that Zhang Xu seemed to have bumped into a ghost in the Imperial Gardens.

Liang Shu had always taken things like gods and ghosts as a joke. Upon hearing this, he was quite happy, and felt that he had probably mistaken some shabby clothes and a torn kite for a female ghost. Therefore, he returned to Zhenxiang Hall with this interesting story, wanting to laugh about it with his family’s lazy egg.

As a result, when he opened the door, he saw Liu Xian’an standing in the middle of the courtyard, staring back at a strange wooden figure.

“Ga!” The wind blew the wooden figure and it twisted again.

Liang Shu sucked in a cold breath of air: “Hiss!”

Liu Xian’an was very depressed. It seemed that the mechanism was too flexible, and would just float away.

Liang Shu laughed for nearly half a shichen after hearing the whole story.

Liu Xian’an was unwilling to pay attention to him at first, but then he couldn’t stand it anymore and raised a leg to kick him with a rare bit of anger: “You are not allowed to laugh!”

“Okay, okay, okay, I won’t laugh.” Liang Shu cleared his throat and controlled his face. “There is no need for you to make an announcement about this matter. I will report to Emperor Brother in the morning.” So that he could also laugh.

Liu Xian’an was unaware of the second half of the sentence and didn’t intend to ask about it, let alone see the wood figure again. Liang Shu sat on a chair, hugging and teasing him. During this time, he glanced at the female ghost standing by the table now and then. No, the wooden figure standing by the table. Then he thought again of the scene where this thing suddenly landed in front of Zhang Xu…..pfft!

Liu Xian’an: “……”

Liang Shu: “Not laughing, not laughing.”

Then he went to the palace the next day to report and laughed almost ten times in twenty sentences. Liang Yu also wanted to laugh, but at the same time, he had a headache. Then he pointed at him and cursed: “You’re still laughing, I think it is you who is making mischief.”

Liang Shu was scolded unjustly. I didn’t, I’m not.

Fortunately, Zhang-daren was not seriously injured. Liang Yu said: “Let it pass, the matter ends here. Don’t be in a hurry to confess. He has been displeased with you recently and is very petty. If he knew that the wooden figure was made by Second Young Master Liu, there are eight or nine chances out of ten that he will think you are the mastermind behind this. Then he would have to cry and scream for justice, which would be really troublesome.”

Liang Shu: “Yes.”

Liang Yu continued: “But it will not happen again! Who is going to be frightened next? I am asking only you. Tell me, apart from that wooden figure, are there any other strange things piled up in your back courtyard?”

“There are no more.” Liang Shu said, “Apart from the wooden figure, the remaining designs only have a Wind Wing. The Wind Wing is not frightening, just a bit larger. Hm…..perhaps half the size of Muyang Palace.”

Liang Yu: “That big?”

Liang Shu stretched out his hands and gestured. So big.

A Wind Wing half the size of Muyang Palace. Liang Yu felt his eyes darken at just the thought. He had no doubts about Liu Xian’an’s hands-on ability. After all, the other party had successfully created Wind Wings twice, to attack the rebels and to find the dense forest tribe, but those two times were in the boundless mountains and wilderness. If there was such a large vessel in his palace that would sway everywhere with the wind…..

Liang Shu explained: “It hasn’t been built yet.”

In the end, he was kicked out by his frightened brother.

Liu Xian’an asked: “We can’t continue to live in the palace?”

Liang Shu said: “En, the emperor ordered me to handle my official duties here as soon as possible and then move out.”

Liu Xian’an hesitated for a moment. “Then I won’t make the Wind Wing.”

“That won’t work, I know you want to do it.” Liang Shu picked him up from the waist and said with a smile, “So after we move out of the palace, we won’t go back to Xiao Wang Palace for a moment. Emperor Brother allowed me half a month’s leave. I will take you to stay somewhere good!”

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