Chapter 269: How did this living King of Hell come back!

When Gu Qingwan turned her head, the moonlight outside the window fell on this face she had been thinking about day and night, grinning and baring its teeth.

Gu Qingwan was about to get up, but instead she was held tightly in Lu Yuan's embrace, and he grinned and said:

"No need to get up, no need to doubt—it's your man, I just came back."

Feeling Lu Yuan's warmth in his embrace and hearing that intensely familiar, long‑filled voice, Gu Qingwan stared for a few seconds, then her nose tingled and she burst into tears.

Gu Qingwan's crying left Lu Yuan not knowing what to do.

In Lu Yuan's mind, his second wife had always been the sort of strong‑willed, domineering woman.

Unlike his first wife, who would cry over nothing.

And now his second wife is crying too?

Lu Yuan had never even imagined this before.

At this moment, Gu Qingwan came to her senses, her stunning face buried in Lu Yuan's embrace, voice trembling with tears as she said:

"How did you come back so fast? It's only been a month!"

Lu Yuan held Gu Qingwan and chuckled:

"I just missed you, so I came back early~"

"Of course, actually it's because of the materials matter and the Jingpu Dynasty matter, but sweet talk never hurts."

"Now, at this critical juncture, saying a few sweet words to coax my wife—what's wrong with that?"

"Is it illegal?"

Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Gu Qingwan was practically falling in love with this little man of hers; her stunning mature face kept rubbing against his neck, making him itch unbearably.

It seems this pregnant woman is not quite her usual self.

Before this, Lu Yuan never dared imagine that his second wife would one day act all cute and clingy with him like this.

"What about Liyan… how many days did you stay where?"

Gu Qingwan thought of something, suddenly lifted her head from Lu Yuan's embrace, eyes brimming with tears, voice trembling as she asked:

Lu Yuan lowered his head, looked at his second wife, gave a grin, then reached out to cradle the back of Gu Qingwan's head, pulling her back into his embrace and chuckling:

"I stayed there for several days, it's fine; in another two or three months Liyan will be back too, and by then it'll almost be New Year."

After saying that, Lu Yuan stroked Gu Qingwan's beautiful back as he said:

"How's everything at home over the past month or so? Nothing happened, right?"

Gu Qingwan's lovely face pressed against Lu Yuan's chest, she whispered:

"When you left, you took care of everything—I don't have to worry about a thing. This past month there's been nothing at all, and now it's all good news."

After saying that, Gu Qingwan paused, then added:

"Exactly, when you came back, did you see our capital? I never dreamed that one day the Great Zhou Dynasty would be this prosperous and strong in our midst."

"Huh?"

Lu Yuan blinked, then said:

"I came out of that spatial rift, arrived right away, and haven't even checked out the capital's situation yet."

"I'll take a look tomorrow."

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, Gu Qingwan nodded and then said:

"Exactly, over the past month Qingbei Daxue has invented all kinds of amazing stuff—just wait till you see it tomorrow."

"Lots and lots?"

Lu Yuan blinked, not doubting it.

Before leaving, Lu Yuan had taught a lot of knowledge to those people; for the folks at Qingbei Daxue who already had a foundation, producing research in a month like an erupting well is actually quite normal.

It's like saying Lu Yuan taught them that one plus one equals two.

So naturally they could also figure out that two plus three equals five.

And the affairs of Qingbei Daxue are the top priority for the Great Zhou royal family nowadays; basically, Qingbei Daxue submits a petition in the morning and the cabinet approves it by noon.

In the afternoon they immediately order the Ministry of Works to supervise the implementation.

Naturally, everything gets done quickly.

Lu Yuan is just curious—what strange and wondrous things has Qingbei Daxue come up with this past month?

The two chatted on and on until they drifted off to sleep.

Although both are cultivators, they're not exactly the orthodox sort.

So some of their habits are still just like ordinary people's.

Moreover, after visiting the Linglan Sword Sect this time, Lu Yuan had no intention of saying he would henceforth live like a true cultivator.

That kind of life simply doesn't suit him.

Take his first wife as an example: she gets up at four or five in the morning for morning cultivation, continues until about eight or nine, then starts practicing various immortal arts.

By noon she also has to practice all sorts of miscellaneous things said to cultivate body and nurture nature.

The same goes for the afternoon and evening.

Basically, if a cultivator has nothing to do, the whole day is spent sitting with eyes closed, cultivating.

In Lu Yuan's view, that's practically like an old turtle.

Just sitting there, doing nothing else.

Even if such a lifestyle could add a few years to one's life, what's the point?

So it's the mortal's way of life that's lively.

Sleep when tired, eat when hungry.

That's the kind of life that's lively.

Upon waking up, it was already past nine in the morning.

Lu Yuan stretched a big yawn on the soft big bed, eyes closed, letting out a comfortable sound.

After Lu Yuan finished stretching and opened his eyes, he saw the senior eunuch had already entered.

Seeing Lu Yuan lying on the emperor's bed, the senior eunuch, already accustomed to it, hurriedly said:

"My lord, have something to eat; the emperor is holding a grand court audience."

After sitting up, Lu Yuan said:

"You don't need to busy yourselves; I'm going out to eat, I won't be back at noon, but I'll return in the evening—tell my wife for me."

Having been away for over a month, there's plenty to do upon returning.

I need to visit various places, especially Qingbei Daxue.

Moreover, Lu Yuan also needs to study something else.

Research a super steel furnace.

Lu Yuan has already researched a new material, hasn't he?

The research has been done, but the problem is……

How are we supposed to make it!

We can't possibly have Lu Yuan refine this material every day, can we?

Goodness, how many tons of material does one airplane need?

If we make a few hundred of them, does all the material have to be refined by Lu Yuan?

Wouldn't that exhaust Lu Yuan to death?

Including future star‑destroying warships and ballistic missiles—all these miscellaneous items require special materials.

We can't possibly expect all special materials to come from Lu Yuan's alchemy furnace, can we?

Then Lu Yuan really wouldn't be able to live.

He'd just drop dead from exhaustion.

So, this thing is inevitable.

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, he got out of bed, put on his shoes, and headed out of the Chonghua Hall, while the senior eunuch hurriedly followed, saying:

"My lord, where is your little car at the eastern side gate? I'll take you there."

Lu Yuan nodded and followed the senior eunuch out of the palace.

Passing the eastern side gate, he saw a familiar Imperial Guard veteran; as usual, Lu Yuan handed him a cigarette.

The veteran looked at Lu Yuan somewhat bewildered, seemingly not quite understanding when Lu Yuan had returned.

"Let's go."

After Lu Yuan said that, he followed the senior eunuch in another direction.

Only the Imperial Guard veteran remained, looking somewhat bewildered at Lu Yuan's back.

When Lu Yuan followed the senior eunuch to the parking lot outside the palace, he was a bit bewildered.

"So many cars?"

Lu Yuan blinked his eyes at the parking lot; there were certainly dozens of vehicles.

Meanwhile, the senior eunuch, while leading Lu Yuan to find a car, turned back, smiling at Lu Yuan and said:

"My lord, you may not know, but the automobile factory here in Huangcheng can produce several dozen cars each day, and it's quite fast."

After hearing the senior eunuch's words, Lu Yuan nodded slightly and then asked curiously:

"Then these cars..."

After Lu Yuan finished speaking, the senior eunuch laughed again and said:

"These are the cars of the court officials; some officials are old and can't learn to drive, so the emperor has also assigned them drivers."

Hearing the senior eunuch's words, Lu Yuan blinked, about to ask whether these people could afford them.

But Lu Yuan quickly realized.

They don't need to buy them.

This is surely being provided free by the Imperial Court.

Speaking of which, automobiles really aren't something just anyone can afford.

At the very least, they cost tens of thousands of dollars now.

Just in Huangcheng, probably only a few hundred people can afford to buy them.

As for the localities, perhaps only one person per county could afford one.

Speaking of making automobiles, Lu Yuan never said he wanted to make money from it.

The main purpose is to make engines, then some large jeeps and such, to be driven out on the grasslands later.

It's mainly for military use; once the military production is done, the production line is already running—we can't just shut it down, can we?

That's how industry works: once a production line is started, it can't be stopped.

So it seems Gu Qingwan took money from the treasury to give these officials cars, but actually it's to keep the production line from stopping.

Now the treasury of the Great Zhou Dynasty is very rich; providing cars for these officials is more than enough.

Moreover, even if we didn't give them cars, we'd still have to provide horse carriages or sedan chairs, which also cost money.

Given that, we might as well go all the way and just put them in cars.

This also counts as domestic sales.

But…… on what grounds do we give them free use?

If we gave them sedan chairs, the wages for the bearers would also have to come from their subsidies.

So, when we go back, we should discuss making these people pay for the vehicles' depreciation.

Hmm~

Just do it like that.

Following this senior eunuch to the front and back of his little Benz, Lu Yuan took a look; it was still quite clean, it seemed his wife had people clean it every day.

Lu Yuan got in the car, but instead of going to Qingbei first, he went back to the grand residence to have a look.

When Lu Yuan left then, the house was almost tidied up; another month has passed, and with Liu Shoucai and his crew's speed, Lu Yuan felt it was basically done.

After being away for so long, he definitely should go home first to have a look.

As for moving house, let's not move for now.

Wait three months later, when Su Liyan returns from the Linglan Sword Sect, the whole family will live together in the new house.

For now, let's go take a look; if anything is not good or unsatisfactory, we'll have it fixed.

Along the way, Lu Yuan also saw the changes in the imperial city.

No wonder Gu Qingwan couldn't help but say that last night.

Over this month, if we talk about changes, they are indeed quite big.

Even for Lu Yuan, a modern person, he can't help but marvel at these changes; before he time-traveled here, there had never been such rapid change.

However, after a little thought, it's actually quite normal.

Taking a piece of land as an example, on Earth you first have to bid; after the bidding, the company then looks for a construction team to prepare, then plans, then prepares for construction.

Just this step alone would likely take at least a year or two.

Then the construction crew numbers in the thousands for large projects, hundreds for small ones; mainly to control costs, plus some miscellaneous stuff.

But the Great Zhou Dynasty is not like that now.

Now it's a nationwide mobilization for infrastructure; even building a small house requires nearly a hundred people.

What is this? It's the whole country constructing without regard for profit; you could say as long as it doesn't lose too much, the treasury foots the bill.

What is this? It's the country's current major policy, major direction.

Because of this, all supporting things, like building materials and approvals, are done as quickly as possible.

What Lu Yuan saw along the way was still in the old city district, but it too is changing day by day.

Those old storefront houses and such have long been given a new look.

Also, some roads that were dirt have now been replaced with stone tiles, even paved with cement.

If it were the new city district, the changes would probably be even greater.

And now Lu Yuan doesn't even need to go to the new city district to see many high-rises there.

To be honest, there is still a bit of a sense of accomplishment.

The Great Zhou Dynasty has become even more prosperous because of him.

Along the way, Lu Yuan also saw many vehicles.

Private cars are high-end consumer goods; currently, not many individuals can afford them, but trucks are different.

Nowadays, the large trucks everywhere are under the Ministry of Works.

The current Ministry of Works is quite formidable.

The Great Zhou Dynasty's national policy now is infrastructure; naturally, the Ministry of Works is the top-tier formidable department of the current court.

When the Ministry of Works says it needs vehicles, they must be provided; if the Ministry of Works says it needs something in the morning, the cabinet approves it by noon, and in the afternoon the Ministry of Works takes the approval slip to the Ministry of Revenue to request money.

Even if the Ministry of Revenue doesn't want to give money, they still have to.

These vehicles transport various goods, shuttling through the city; this scene really resembles the landscape of Earth in the 1980s-90s.

Moreover, what's more important is that Lu Yuan also discovered utility poles!

Have the cabinet already researched things like storage batteries?

Looks like the research is almost done.

After checking the house later, Lu Yuan will go to Qingbei University to inquire, and by the way, hand over his flight log.

That flight log not only records what Lu Yuan saw and heard while flying his plane over the past month, but also includes some technical aspects of the aircraft and some directions for improvement.

Speaking of this flight log.

Lu Yuan then thought of something.

Damn it, the Southern Tang Dynasty even stole half a plot of his potatoes, and they aren't even sweet potatoes!!

We must get it back!!

While Lu Yuan was thinking, he suddenly saw a very familiar person ahead.

Lu Yuan stepped on the brake.

He then grinned and laughed hehe.

"Hey, Old Kang, what a coincidence, going to lunch?"

Former Vice Premier Kang Linfei, seeing Lu Yuan's head poking out from the car window, was startled and then shivered.

How did this living King of Hell come back!!

(End of chapter)