[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them":3,"chapter-i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-chapter-39":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Transmigrated to the Northern Song with Them",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2318929,4535,"Chapter 39: The Concubine, Lady Ma","i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-chapter-39",39,"\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she entered, Ma Xiao Jiao lowered her head and even closed her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was truly afraid that Zhao Yu would pounce on her with the lewd grin from her dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the dream, she could still dodge—but in reality, she dared not dodge, and no longer wanted to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking a few steps, Ma Xiao Jiao slammed straight into someone’s chest with a thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She thought she had collided with Liang Shicheng, who walked ahead, and hastily stepped back, apologizing: “Sorry! Sorry!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too startled, she accidentally stepped on her long skirt and nearly fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a pair of large hands circled her slender waist, steadying her body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao was startled and instinctively tried to struggle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then Zhao Yu’s voice rang out: “Do you always walk with your eyes closed?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao’s body froze instantly, her heart leaping with panic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She quickly opened her eyes—and there before her was Zhao Yu’s face, half teasing, half tender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao noticed: in his eyes, there was none of the lewdness from her dream, only a faint, almost imperceptible care and tolerance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Being held in the arms of the man who tormented her day and night yet haunted her dreams, Ma Xiao Jiao hesitated, then tried to pull away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she found his arms firm and warm, granting her an unprecedented sense of safety—as if some invisible force held her motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Ma Xiao Jiao was at a loss, Zhao Yu gallantly helped her up, then took her hand and led her before the group in the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao felt uneasy, yet for some reason, she did not resent Zhao Yu’s closeness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a confusing feeling—but it was her most genuine emotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Yu said to the old man in the center: “Master Su, this is my concubine, Lady Ma, whom I told you about.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man saw that the woman Zhao Yu had raved about—brilliant in mechanics, gifted with deft hands, capable of crafting wondrous devices—was merely a girl of sixteen or seventeen, heavily made-up, resembling nothing but a common courtesan, and immediately dismissed her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhao Yu was a Prince of the Blood, and held him in high esteem; he could not afford to insult him outright.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So the old man smiled at Ma Xiao Jiao: “Prince Shen has praised Lady Ma to the heavens—I hope you will not withhold your wisdom.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao was utterly bewildered, completely unaware of what was happening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And perhaps because she had been unable to serve in his bed these past days and had gone half-mad, her first thought was: “Chun said nobles of this era often give their concubines away—could Zhao Yu be planning to give me to this old man?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao dared not think further—if this were true, she might be the most tragic transmigrator ever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Zhao Yu introduced the old man to Ma Xiao Jiao: “This is Master Su, the Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, former Chancellor of the Shaozheng era…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Zhang Chun were here, hearing Zhao Yu’s introduction, she would have immediately recognized this old man as Su Song, mid-Northern Song official, outstanding astronomer, mechanical inventor, and pharmacologist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Ma Xiao Jiao was not Zhang Chun—she didn’t even know what the Shaozheng era was, let alone who its Chancellor was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Zhao Yu did not stop there, but continued: “Master Su is learned in classics, histories, the hundred schools, mathematics, geography, mountain texts, herbal medicine, philology, and musical scales—he understands them all. He led the creation of the ‘Water-Powered Armillary Sphere,’ the most advanced mechanical device of our age.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Ma Xiao Jiao understood: this old man was none other than Su Song, one of ancient China’s greatest naturalists and scientists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her eyes lit up as if facing her idol; she blurted out: “How did Your Excellency conceive the anchor escapement of the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A master reveals his skill with one move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment Ma Xiao Jiao named the core component of the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere, Su Song and the others—who had previously dismissed her—began to take her seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Gonglian beside Su Song asked: “Lady Ma, have you seen the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Su Song had been ordered to inspect the various armillary spheres used by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, and conceived that a device demonstrating celestial movements should accompany them. He gathered talent for the project and recommended Han Gonglian, skilled in mathematics and astronomy, to collaborate. Under Su Song’s direction, Han Gonglian wrote the “Nine Chapters on Trigonometric Measurements of the Celestial Sphere,” crafted wooden models, and together with Su Song, assembled a team of master craftsmen to build the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ma Xiao Jiao thought: “I’ve never seen the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere—but I’ve seen its restored model, studied its blueprints, and once dreamed of rebuilding it. But the scale was too vast, the space too great—I had to abandon it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she could not say this; she could only brazenly reply: “I have never seen it, yet I deduced it myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without waiting for Su Song, Han Gonglian, or the others to ask further, Ma Xiao Jiao poured out her understanding of the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that she had deduced the device’s workings nearly perfectly from pure reasoning alone, Su Song, Han Gonglian, and the others were utterly astonished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, they had suspected she had seen the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was: not only did she know it inside out, she had also optimized it—not slightly, but comprehensively. Even the designs Su Song and Han Gonglian had considered brilliant, she had improved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, no one doubted Zhao Yu’s claim: Ma Xiao Jiao was indeed a marvel of mechanical skill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The conversation that followed between Ma Xiao Jiao, Su Song, and Han Gonglian was beyond Zhao Yu’s comprehension.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Yu did not force himself to listen; instead, he sat alone in the corner, watching Ma Xiao Jiao radiate her unique brilliance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this time, Zhao Yu had not been idle. He continued selling soap to earn money, recruited talent, dismantled his own garden to build a row of workshops, and gathered every advanced tool, instrument, and machine of the age for Ma Xiao Jiao—creating a stage where she could fully unleash her talents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—Of course, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Zhao Yu did not recruit warriors. He recruited practical literati and craftsmen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among those Zhao Yu recruited were Han Gonglian and other scientists and master craftsmen who had participated in the development and construction of the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because Han Gonglian and others who had worked with Su Song for years had all been recruited by Zhao Yu, the retired Su Song—who no longer involved himself in court affairs—agreed to visit Zhao Yu’s private workshop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be honest, Zhao Yu did not know what these top scientists and master craftsmen, under Ma Xiao Jiao’s leadership, would ultimately create.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhao Yu’s heart brimmed with anticipation and longing—he hoped the union of Ma Xiao Jiao and these ancient technological giants would usher in an unprecedented era: a new age where technology and culture intertwined.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the conversation deepened, Ma Xiao Jiao not only demonstrated profound understanding and original insights into the Water-Powered Armillary Sphere, but also introduced modern scientific concepts that left Su Song, Han Gonglian, and the others enlightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Occasionally, Su Song, Han Gonglian, and the others shared their own understanding of technology and debated with Ma Xiao Jiao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching all this unfold, Zhao Yu felt as if witnessing a dialogue across time—ancient and advanced, tradition and innovation—colliding in a brilliant flash.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Yu thought: “Perhaps I can bring the Industrial Revolution forward by seven or eight hundred years…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1296,"2026-06-20T15:06:47.302Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9467d7302a413e22ece45792cbc5be672269971f09fdcefe13f9df9b2c9d31cd","i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-chapter-40","i-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-chapter-38",348,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-transmigrated-to-the-northern-song-with-them-cover.jpg"]