Chapter 58: The Taste of Indulgence

"Ah, Young Master, I can't do it anymore; let me rest for a while."

At the first light of dawn the next day, Zheng Xi'er, her face full of exhaustion and her eyes bloodshot, wailed and begged Zhang Yunxiu for mercy.

Last night should have been their wedding night, but Zhang Yunxiu had insisted on making her recite numbers all night long.

By the time day broke, Zheng Xi'er felt both physically and mentally drained.

Zhang Yunxiu also yawned, looked out the window, and saw that it was already broad daylight.

"Fine, let's stop here for today."

Having said that, he rubbed his eyes, got up, and walked outside.

Zheng Xi'er grew anxious; she hugged Zhang Yunxiu from behind, half-coquettishly and half-ingratiatingly saying, "Young Master, you have also been tired all night, let Xi'er serve you so you can rest."

"Weren't you just tired?"

"I'm not tired anymore," Zheng Xi'er murmured, her cheeks flushing red.

"Alright then, you continue reciting; I'm going out to have the kitchen prepare some food for you."

"Young Master!"

Zheng Xi'er stamped her foot and let out a soft, melodious hum, but before she could continue speaking, she felt her red lips blocked by someone.

A tingling, numbing sensation spread from her head throughout her entire body.

"So, you aren't a block of wood after all."

Zheng Xi'er muttered in her heart and immediately gave Zhang Yunxiu a passionate response.

Half an hour later, the wind died down and the rain ceased.

Zhang Yunxiu got out of bed, dressed, and thoughtfully pulled the silk quilt over Zheng Xi'er to cover her sweat-dampened, fragrant body.

Zheng Xi'er was about to get up to see him off, but Zhang Yunxiu pressed down on her shoulders and comforted her, "Just get some good rest; I will come to see you later."

"Then, Young Master, does that mean Xi'er is your woman now?" Zheng Xi'er asked nervously, clutching the silk quilt tightly.

"Tomorrow, I'll have Zhang Fu add two maidservants for you, and you can go buy some jewelry and clothes yourself. If there is anything you need done, just find Zhang Fu; if he can't handle it, then tell me."

"Thank you, Young Master."

"Don't be in such a hurry to thank me; you must continue to work hard. The next time I come, if you still haven't fully mastered these things, I won't be so polite then."

Zhang Yunxiu threatened her with a stern expression, and Zheng Xi'er nodded like a chick pecking at rice, replying, "Young Master, rest assured, Xi'er will definitely make you satisfied; I only ask that you do not forget Xi'er."

After tidying up the stray hair at the beauty's temples, Zhang Yunxiu stood up and walked out the door.

Inside the room, the flush on Zheng Xi'er's face had yet to fade.

Once Zhang Yunxiu left, she closed her eyes and savored the lingering taste and ambiguity of the moment; her melon-seed-shaped face was so flushed it felt hot enough to boil an egg.

On the other side, Zhang Yunxiu headed straight for the dining hall.

Zhang Fu had been waiting there for a long time; he busily welcomed him with a smile and teased, "Young Master, I thought you wouldn't be up until noon today; I didn't expect you to be up so early."

As he spoke, he caught sight of Zhang Yunxiu's dark circles and thought to himself: Youth is a wonderful thing; he must have put quite a lot of effort into that woman last night, look at how tired he's made the Young Master.

Yawning, Zhang Yunxiu glared at Zhang Fu, plopped down onto a stool, and gulped down a bowl of millet porridge.

After eating two bowls in a row, Zhang Yunxiu looked up and instructed, "Go send some food to Xi'er as well."

"Rest assured, Young Master, this servant has already prepared it," Zhang Fu replied respectfully.

Zhang Yunxiu nodded, stood up, stretched, and walked out of the dining hall.

Zhang Fu followed closely behind, asking with some curiosity, "Young Master, it's so early today, where are you going?"

"To see those Artisans."

The two walked one after the other out of the residence, heading straight for the place where the Artisans lived.

Fortunately, although there was some distance to where the Artisans lived, there were few pedestrians, and Zhang Yunxiu reached his destination without much effort. It was a dozen low, flat houses squeezed together, with a large open space to the left of the houses.

A few slightly larger jujube trees grew there, and the Artisans had tied ropes to them to use as poles for drying clothes.

Beams of warm sunlight fell from the dome of the sky, scattering into the clouds and mist in the courtyard, refracting strange rays of light.

The early-rising Artisans walked out of their rooms to fetch water, wash up, and light fires to cook.

Bathing in the sunlight, Zhang Yunxiu walked in.

A lean old man hurried to greet them; seeing that the two were dressed in expensive clothing, he lowered his hands and asked respectfully, "Noble guests, who are you looking for?"

"Who is in charge here?" Zhang Fu asked.

"This old man's surname is Fang, given name Youde, and I am the head of these Artisans," the old man smiled and introduced himself to the two.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled, pulled Fang Youde to a nearby stone stool, and sat down.

Once they were seated, Zhang Yunxiu asked impatiently, "Old sir, how many treasure ships can you Artisans build in a year?"

"How many ships?"

Fang Youde was stunned; he looked at Zhang Yunxiu as if he were looking at a fool, then suppressed a smile and replied, "If you are talking about the kind of large treasure ships that Eunuch Zheng uses for ocean voyages, with just the people we have here, we can only build one every year or two."

"If it's a Fu ship seven or eight zhang long and two or three zhang wide, we could probably build two a year."

"What if the materials and wages are fully provided?" Zhang Yunxiu asked again.

"Fully provided?"

A deep hesitation appeared in Fang Youde's eyes.

When had the funds allocated by the imperial court ever been fully provided? Not to mention the wages for the Artisans, sometimes even the money for the shipbuilding materials wasn't enough; they would delay as long as they could, and the Artisans could only grit their teeth and accept it.

"Rest assured, when I say fully provided, it will definitely be fully provided."

Zhang Yunxiu nodded to indicate his sincerity. Fang Youde looked at Zhang Yunxiu, pondered for a moment, and continued, "If it were fully provided, we could build one large treasure ship a year, and for the ocean-going sharp-bottomed Fu ships, we should be able to build four or five."

"Too slow."

"Young Master, is that still slow? Shipbuilding is not like planting crops in the fields, where you just plant them and they grow. This requires our brothers to work themselves to death just to scrape together the time," Fang Youde said with wide eyes.

"Presumptuous! How are you speaking!"

Zhang Fu stamped his foot and shouted through gritted teeth. Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand to signal Zhang Fu to sit down, then looked at Fang Youde: "Like this, I won't beat around the bush with you. I called you here to build ships; first, build twenty Fu ships for me."

"I won't set a time limit for you; the faster, the better. Once the inspection passes, we will settle payment per ship, with no cheating of young or old."

Fang Youde was secretly startled and couldn't help but ask, "Who is the young master?"

"Our young master is the son of the Senior Grand Secretary and the current Emperor's study companion," Zhang Fu said, pointing at Zhang Yunxiu with a sense of pride.

Old Man Fang was greatly shocked and hurriedly bowed to him, but Zhang Yunxiu supported him and asked, "Old sir, give me an honest answer: if we settle the wages per ship, with more work earning more pay, can you build two more ships?"

"I can," Fang Youde nodded, then added, "But the young master will have to advance some silver. Young master, you know that we are a small household and cannot afford to offend you big families."

"How dare you, you old thing! Do you look down on our young master? Do you think our young master would be short of that little bit of silver of yours?" Zhang Fu said, making a move to grab Fang Youde by the collar.

"Shut your mouth!"

Zhang Yunxiu glared at Zhang Fu, then turned his head to look at Fang Youde: "I can advance some money to you."

At this, Fang Youde had nothing more to say.

After a moment of silence, he looked at Zhang Yunxiu cautiously and asked with burning eyes, "Young master, I heard from that big shot of the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the imperial court is about to allow us Artisans to pay a ransom to leave the Artisan Registry?"

"As long as you work well, I can give you what you want."

"Yes, sir."

(End of this chapter)