Aside from officials and craftsmen doing research together, Fu Tinghan didn’t like having people around him, especially when he was working at his desk.

So at night he basically didn’t have Fu’an attend him. Last night, if it weren’t for Wei Jie’s sudden visit, Fu’an would have gone to sleep.

This was the first time in three years Fu’an had kept watch outside all night, so when he woke up, he was still a bit dazed and didn’t immediately understand the situation.

He climbed up with a confused look on his face, leaning against the door trying to remember why he had slept outside. Hit by the rising morning sun, he shivered awake and quickly scrambled up.

As a result, his neck, which had been lowered all night, made a cracking sound and couldn’t move.

Fu Tinghan drained the water in his tea bowl and was about to pour more when he discovered there was none left. He set it down. Just then, hearing a cracking sound, he couldn’t help but look down at the teapot.

Wei Jie kindly said, “It seems to have come from outside.”

Fu Tinghan then stood up and opened the door, seeing Fu’an looking at him with his body tilted. “We’ve finished talking. You escort Master Wei back to his room. In a bit, have the kitchen send some easily digestible breakfast for Master Wei… What happened to your neck?”

Fu’an’s eyes welled up with tears, “Master, I twisted my neck.”

Fu Tinghan: …

In the end, it was Fu Tinghan who escorted Wei Jie back to his room, having servants go to the kitchen to prepare hot water and breakfast for him. He then led Fu’an to see a doctor.

The Governor’s Mansion had few residents, usually only Wang Shi alone, so there was no mansion physician. He could only lead him out onto the street to find one.

When Zhao Hanzhang heard about it and wandered over to find them, the doctor’s treatment had already progressed to acupuncture. Fu Tinghan, having waited too long, was leaning against the table with his hand propping himself up, eyes tightly closed.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Fu’an and gestured for him to stay calm and continue his treatment. He had needles stuck in him—if he stood up to bow at this moment and a needle went into his neck, what then?

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Zhao Hanzhang shuddered and quickly moved closer to look at Fu Tinghan. Seeing his long, steady breathing, he had actually fallen asleep.

Looking more carefully, she discovered the dark circles under his eyes had deepened, with a bluish tinge seeming to seep from beneath his skin—clearly he had stayed up late.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t disturb him and quietly walked to the doctor’s side to watch him insert the needles.

The doctor only inserted two needles in Fu’an—Zhao Hanzhang scanned them. One at Fengchi, one at Houxi. Never mind the Houxi point—it was on the hand. But she knew about Fengchi. At an angle, it was right by the major artery in the neck. When knocking people out, she usually liked to strike there. With just a bit of force, the person would pass out.

If they woke up dizzy and disoriented, pressing Fengchi would help somewhat.

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze swept past and she asked the doctor, “How is he?”

The doctor replied, “Magistrate, I’ve massaged him and it’s already somewhat relieved. Now with acupuncture, and coming back tomorrow for another massage, with proper rest, he’ll be fine.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded, then walked to Fu’an’s side, right where his head was tilted, and asked with clicking sounds, “Did you twist it while practicing martial arts?”

Fu Tinghan himself didn’t like exercise, and the attendant he brought didn’t like moving either. He had the guards assigned to him practice martial arts diligently every day and occasionally threw them into the army to charge at the forefront of bandit suppression, all to train their combat abilities to better protect him.

So Fu’an twisting his neck practicing martial arts was as unusual as Fu Tinghan exercising morning and evening.

Fu’an’s eyes brimmed with tears. He said guiltily, “Miss, I slept leaning against a door and accidentally twisted it.”

Zhao Hanzhang was curious, “So Tinghan really had an all-night discussion with Master Wei last night?”

Fu’an hummed in agreement, “They talked all night.”

Zhao Hanzhang really couldn’t imagine what they could discuss all night. So when Fu Tinghan woke up, he was met with Zhao Hanzhang’s curious eyes.

Fu Tinghan climbed up from the table, rubbed his eyes, and asked, “How did you get here? Is Fu’an better?”

“Not yet. He needs another massage tomorrow morning. After his massage, we’ll set off just in time. Since his neck is twisted, should we leave him behind?”

Fu’an’s spine stiffened. He quickly said, “Master, I’m already better. No need to leave me behind.”

Fu Tinghan said, “She’s teasing you. Tomorrow you just need to come early for treatment. Many people in the city will definitely see us off, so we won’t depart very quickly.”

Only then did Fu’an breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhao Hanzhang paid the fee and then led the two out of the clinic. “You both haven’t had breakfast yet. Let’s just eat outside.”

Fu Tinghan agreed.

The two found a dumpling stall by the road that looked decent, ordered three bowls of dumplings, and chatted while eating.

“Fu’an said you didn’t sleep all night.”

Fu’an: …I didn’t say that. You clearly knew it yourself.

Fu Tinghan acknowledged, and since some things weren’t good to discuss outside, he mentioned what could be said at this time, “We discussed improving power systems.”

Zhao Hanzhang bit into a dumpling and froze, “Hm?”

Fu Tinghan smiled at her, “I only learned last night that Wei Jie isn’t just good at philosophical discussion. He has the kind of persistence in getting to the bottom of things that only researchers have.”

This persistence applied not only to philosophy but also to engineering and technology.

“We discussed the water power we’re currently focusing on researching, but some places have little water, or the water’s location isn’t suitable for people to conveniently use water power, so other power sources are needed.” Fu Tinghan said, “When making the water-powered tilt hammer before, I discovered that the water power capable of making a hydraulic forging press could completely be used to crush ore. It could also be modified to use human power to drive machinery, which would still save more labor than simple grinding.”

“It’s just that switching to human power requires mechanical modifications. Shen Ruhui and I are still researching,” Fu Tinghan said. “I’m thinking, if the water-powered tilt hammer can crush ore, then can we make cement and directly pave a wider official road?”

Zhao Hanzhang’s hand holding the chopsticks tightened. She was very tempted, but after a moment she still shook her head with difficulty, “Now isn’t a good time. Set it aside first. There may be a locust plague next year, and we might have to go to war. At this time, manpower should still be focused on water conservation construction and agricultural cultivation.”

Fu Tinghan nodded, “Then I’ll do some research first. If we need to install water power facilities, I’ll reserve an opening. When we need it in the future, it can be connected right away.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded repeatedly, “That’s good, that’s good. Do the research first. We may not use it for now, but we need to know how.”

Zhao Hanzhang asked curiously, “Wei Jie understands these things?”

Fu Tinghan nodded, “A little, and he grasps things immediately. He’s different from Shen Ruhui, Cao Ping, and others. He gets to the root of things, asks clearly about principles, and then can draw inferences.”

Zhao Hanzhang listened and became thoughtful, “Then I know which area to have him focus on.”

This kind of person should be used in science.

Zhao Hanzhang came back to herself and said to him, “Wei Jie’s health isn’t good. When you collaborate, you can supervise him to exercise a bit. If he doesn’t like military boxing, he can do Five Animal Frolics or Eight Brocades. You already know them, don’t you?”

Fu Tinghan lowered his head to eat dumplings, acting as if he hadn’t heard.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him for a while and decided to disturb him every morning from now on. No matter what, she would drag him out of bed to exercise together.

After breakfast, the two walked back together. By the time they returned to the courtyard, they had digested their food enough. Zhao Hanzhang said, “Go sleep quickly. Don’t stay up late in the future. You’re working even harder than me—it makes me both ashamed and a bit afraid.”

Fu Tinghan glanced at her but didn’t say anything, silently going back to sleep.

Behind him followed Fu’an with his tilted neck.

Fu Tinghan saw him tilting his neck trying to make the bed for him and quickly waved his hand, “I’ll do it myself. You go down and sleep for a bit too.”

He said, “From now on when I stay up late, you don’t need to keep watch.”

Fu’an was uneasy, “Master, did I cause you trouble?”

Fu Tinghan paused, then shook his head, “No, I was just thinking about something. It has nothing to do with you.”

Fu’an breathed a sigh of relief and then took his leave.

Wei Jie caught up on sleep and didn’t come out, which disappointed those who came to the Governor’s Mansion to visit. With no choice, they could only change their visit to seeing Zhao Hanzhang off.

But Zhao Hanzhang didn’t have so many formalities and didn’t like wasting time on such matters, so she left everything to Wang Shi and the steward Chengbo to handle.

Wang Yu was rather bored and wandered around the Governor’s Mansion. When he wandered to the garden, he saw Zhao Hanzhang practicing with her spear. Chengbo came over holding two bolts of cloth. After she finished a set of spear techniques, he stepped forward, “Miss, the Yu family from Pingyu sent you gifts.”

Zhao Hanzhang wiped her sweat while going to look at the silk he was holding, curiously asking, “The Yu family? Why are they giving me gifts? I remember the Third Great Master of the Yu family and Seventh Great-Uncle have a good relationship.”

Chengbo smiled and nodded, “Yes, a very good relationship. It should be to apologize for their junior blocking the carriage on the street yesterday.”

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand, “Then they should send it to Master Wei. Why send it to me?”

Chengbo understood and bowed, “This servant will send it to Master Wei right away.”

Zhao Hanzhang handed the spear to Ting He and turned to look at a tree not far away.

Wang Yu paused, then walked out from behind the tree and bowed, “Wang Yu pays respects to Magistrate Zhao.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled, “Master Wang is too polite. Please come sit.”

Wang Yu, seeing she no longer called him maternal uncle, felt relieved.

Wei Jie was too eye-catching. Yesterday everyone talked to him, which neglected Wang Yu.

When talking with Wei Jie, Zhao Hanzhang had tried several times to include him, but he seemed unable to join the conversation. Zhao Hanzhang could only give up, not wanting to make things difficult for him.

Now with just the two of them, Zhao Hanzhang could probe what topics he could discuss. “Hanzhang is young. Since my grandfather passed away, Luoyang has suffered several disasters, and relatives have scattered. I don’t know the situation of my maternal family.”

Wang Shi also came from the Wang clan and had to call Wang Yu a clan younger brother. Actually, in terms of kinship ethics, Wang Yu and Zhao Hanzhang were closer. He and Zhao Hanzhang’s father were maternal uncle and nephew on the mother’s side, while Wei Jie and Zhao Hanzhang’s father were related through two maternal aunts. But Wang Yu was still Wang Shi’s clan younger brother, and Zhao Hanzhang still had to call him maternal uncle.

It was just that Wang Shi, because of the relationship between the Zhao and Wang families, didn’t particularly like Wang Yu, so she deliberately downplayed this relationship.

Wang Yu had most likely also sensed this, so he didn’t publicize it.

When Zhao Hanzhang asked, he spoke, “Many clan relatives are still in Taiyuan, especially around Jinyang. Some clan members in the capital left three years ago, and we still don’t know where they went. There’s been no news to this day.”