On our wedding night, my wife acted strangely.

Lin Yi hesitated for a moment.

Logically speaking, there's nothing wrong with just leaving, but since they've already spoken, turning around and leaving without saying a word would seem incredibly disrespectful.

She was, after all, a high-ranking imperial concubine, a first-rank official; we should at least give her some face.

Besides, Yang Siyu has been in the Prince's mansion for so long, and I haven't really sat down and had a proper chat with her yet.

Why not take this opportunity to see what she's thinking and whether she still has feelings for the Nangong family?

"Then I'll have to trouble you." Lin Yi stepped over the threshold and entered the house.

The house wasn't big, but it was decorated very elegantly.

There was a low table under the window, covered with a blue tablecloth, tea set, and two half-read books.

In a corner, charcoal was burning in a copper stove. There was no open flame, only a layer of dark red charcoal glow, allowing the heat to slowly rise.

Yang Siyu sat down at the low table and picked up the teapot.

Hongxiu wanted to come and help, but Yang Siyu waved her away.

"You may leave now, Your Highness. Please have a seat."

Hongxiu moved her lips, unsure whether she should advise the Imperial Concubine that being alone like this was not a good thing.

But after thinking about it, he ultimately said nothing and turned to leave.

Lin Yi sat down opposite her.

Yang Siyu poured tea with a calm and composed motion. The tea poured silently from the spout, swirling along the inside of the cup before stopping.

There were no unnecessary movements or airs; everything was very natural and coordinated.

Lin Yi noticed that she lowered her eyes when she poured tea, and her eyelashes cast a small shadow in the candlelight.

Her fingers were long, slender, fair, and delicate, with her nails neatly trimmed and unpainted.

Ultimately, Lin Yi did indeed prefer simple, clean hands.

I don't like those "spirited young women" of later generations who make their nails so long that it's a hassle to wipe their bottoms after using the toilet.

"Please, Your Highness." A cup of tea was poured and pushed in front of Lin Yi.

The latter picked it up, took a bite, and couldn't help but secretly praise the skill.

Actually, there are many things to pay attention to when brewing tea. In addition to good tea leaves, the temperature of the tea soup is of utmost importance. In the past, we would brew tea with boiling water and drink it after it cooled down a little.

Compared to that, drinking tea that way is obviously a bit rude, like a thirsty donkey.

But Yang Siyu was different; her water should have been just heated, around 80 degrees Celsius.

The tea brewed in this way has a light and sweet taste, without bitterness or astringency, and leaves a pleasant fragrance in the throat after drinking.

Lin Yi smiled and said, "Your Majesty has excellent skills."

"Hehehe... Min'er is so filial. Knowing that I love Longjing tea, she specially sent someone to the tea shop to pick it out." Yang Siyu also picked up her cup and took a sip. "This kind of tea is lightly roasted, so the water temperature can't be too high. Seven or eight tenths of a degree heat is enough. Using boiling water will ruin it."

Lin Yi hummed in agreement.

He didn't know much about tea ceremony, only a little.

Even if they knew, they wouldn't bother to learn or try.

In my past life, I simply soaked goji berries in an enamel cup when drinking tea; I didn't care about such things at all.

But Yang Siyu's tone of voice was very pleasant to listen to, unhurried and gentle, as if he were chatting or teaching someone.

The two sat across a low table and began to chat casually.

"Chengye has gained a few pounds these past few days," Yang Siyu said with a smile. "That child has a huge appetite; even two wet nurses can't keep up with his milk supply. I was talking to Min'er about whether we should find one or two more wet nurses so they can take turns caring for him... Min'er is recovering well, but she's still a bit weak. I've asked Hongxiu to cook her a bowl of red date porridge every morning to replenish her energy and blood..."

"Yes, Your Majesty has had a hard time."

"We're all family, so there's no need to talk about how hard it is." Yang Siyu waved his hand. "Also, it seems like we've run out of charcoal these past few days. The rooms on the west side are a bit cold. I had someone talk to Lin An about it, but I don't know if they've replenished it yet."

Lin Yi was a little puzzled. Min'er was in charge of these kinds of things, so why was she getting involved too?

But then I thought about it again and it made sense.

Although Yang Siyu was bullied in the palace before, she was, after all, a Noble Consort and had managed palace affairs.

After arriving at the Prince's Mansion, I had some free time, so I helped with household chores to keep myself occupied.

In short, doing something is better than being idle.

Because it's easy to get into trouble if you're idle.

Why do those women in the palace fight and struggle so fiercely, even to the point of bloodshed? It's because they don't have to worry about eating or drinking; they're too idle.

He had nothing to do all day except scheme against the emperor and his colleagues.

Thinking of this, Lin Yi nodded: "Okay, I'll have Lin An check it out later."

Yang Siyu smiled and poured him another cup.

Lin Yi glanced at the two books on the low table and was suddenly a little surprised.

The book that was opened was "The Agricultural Treatise of the Great Zhou Dynasty," and there was another book next to it, "The Comprehensive Study of Water Conservancy."

Would a concubine like to read this kind of book?

Yang Siyu seemed to notice his gaze and explained, "I'm just flipping through them when I have nothing else to do. I loved reading these kinds of books when I was young. After being cooped up in the palace for so many years, I can finally read a few in peace now."

"These aren't just random books, Your Highness is reading," Lin Yi said, holding his teacup. "The Great Zhou Agricultural Book was compiled by Lord Wu of the previous dynasty, and many people couldn't fully understand its contents even after a lifetime of study."

Yang Siyu raised an eyebrow slightly: "Oh? Your Highness has also seen it?"

"I've seen it."

"So, what does Your Highness think of Lord Wu's writing?"

"It's well written, but some parts are outdated. For example, the straight-shaft plow he mentioned is too inefficient; it would take an ox half a day to plow one acre of land."

Yang Siyu became interested: "Then how does Your Highness suggest we change it?"

Lin Yi hadn't originally planned to discuss these things in detail, but the conversation drifted to this point.

"I have created a new plow called the curved plow. The plowshare is curved, making it flexible to turn. It can be pulled by a single ox and is more than twice as efficient as the straight plow."

"Really?" Yang Siyu put down his teacup, leaning forward slightly. "How did Your Highness come up with this?"

"Just something I figured out by guesswork."

Yang Siyu looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Your Highness is not quite what I imagined."

"What's different?"

"Hehehe... When I was in the palace, I heard people talk about the Regent. They all said that you were a ruthless killer who led your troops around killing people and robbing and looting all day long. I never expected that Your Highness would know about farming tools."

Lin Yi sneered, "Ha, killing people is killing people, and farming is farming; they are two different things."

"Oh? Hehehe..." Yang Siyu was amused by his words again.

And she looks very beautiful when she smiles.

It wasn't an exaggerated laugh; it was just a slight curve in the eyebrows and a slight upturn of the corners of the mouth, conveying a sense of composure honed by the passage of time.

It's so delicious!

She chuckled twice, then stopped, dabbed her lips with a handkerchief, and said, "Your Highness, please don't think I'm being too talkative. Min'er has mentioned it to me several times, saying that Your Highness has built a large workshop outside the city, where wine is brewed, iron is smelted, and cement is made, all in one place. I've also heard His Majesty mention this in the palace before, saying that what the Great Zhou lacks is not silver, but things; those who can make things are the ones with real skills."

Lin Yi didn't respond, waiting for her to continue.

Yang Siyu put down the handkerchief, his gaze falling on the winter plum tree outside the window, his tone becoming somewhat distant.

"My father once managed the textile bureau in Jiangnan."

"The Weaving Bureau?" Lin Yi became interested.

"Yes, when I was a child, I lived in Suzhou with my father for three years. Every day I would wander around the weaving bureau. Those craftsmen would pull the silk from the cocoons, wind it one by one onto a bamboo frame, and then weave it on the loom. It would take more than ten days to weave a piece of silk."

As Yang Siyu spoke, he seemed to remember something, and the corners of his mouth curved up again.

"I was only seven or eight years old at the time, and I found it very interesting. A single thread is so thin that it breaks with the wind, but once woven into silk, it can't be cut by a knife. My father told me that this is called 'accumulating small things to achieve great things.' One person's strength is insignificant, but by combining the skills of hundreds or thousands of people, they can create something extraordinary."

At this point, she turned to look at Lin Yi.

"The prince's idea of ​​building a workshop is the same as what my father said back then."

Lin Yi held his teacup without speaking, but he was somewhat moved.

Having spent twenty years in the palace, enduring daily mistreatment and bullying, everyone thought she was a pushover.

But when he was a child, he spent three years in the weaving bureau with his father, saw how craftsmen turned silk into silk fabric, and understood what it means to accumulate small achievements into great ones.

These are not words that an ordinary woman would say.

"Your Majesty is right, but the workshops are far more complicated than the weaving bureau. Iron smelting requires building blast furnaces, brewing wine requires distillation and purification, cement requires burning lime... Each of these is a technical job, and cannot be accomplished simply by piling on manpower."

Yang Siyu nodded: "That's why the prince goes out of the city every day."

"There's no other way. I don't have many capable people under my command, and even fewer skilled craftsmen. There are some things I have to oversee personally."

"Your Highness has worked hard."

These words were spoken in a very plain manner, not as a polite formality or a compliment, but rather as a sentimental remark from an elder watching a younger person busy with various tasks.