The autumn chill in the capital arrived quietly after a night of rain.
Early morning.
Raindrops from the previous night still clung to the eaves.
Shen Zhiwei stood outside the workshop, gazing at the bluestone road gleaming after the rain, her brows faintly furrowed.
“Miss.”
Gu Changfeng approached from behind.
“Everything you asked for is ready.”
“What about the coal?”
“Thirty pounds.”
“The copper pipes?”
“I had the blacksmith forge another batch.”
“The sealing material?”
“Just as you instructed, we remade it with oil wax and hemp fibers.”
Shen Zhiwei nodded.
“Good.”
She turned and walked into the workshop.
A pile of scattered components lay on the table.
Copper pipes, iron plates, wooden wheels, bolts, gears, and a copper container slightly larger than a fist.
In the eyes of modern people, these things were laughably crude.
But for this era, they represented an enormous leap forward.
Shen Zhiwei picked up a gear.
The teeth were unevenly spaced.
The surface was rough.
Obvious burrs remained along the edges.
She set it down.
“No.”
Gu Changfeng froze.
“Still no good?”
“This gear will seize after running for only a short while.”
“But the blacksmith said this was the finest work he could do.”
“Then tell him to make it finer.”
Gu Changfeng gave a bitter smile.
“Miss, aren’t your standards a little too high?”
Shen Zhiwei glanced at him.
“I know.”
“But if the standards aren’t high enough…”
“We’ll be stuck making things that are barely usable forever.”
She placed the gear on the table.
“I want machinery that can run for a long time.”
“Not a disposable toy.”
Gu Changfeng fell silent.
After a moment, he nodded.
“I’ll find someone to remake it.”
Shen Zhiwei did not stop him.
She knew that true industrialization had never been something one genius could accomplish alone.
She needed craftsmen.
She needed materials.
She needed standards.
She needed a complete manufacturing system.
More importantly—
She needed time.
And time was precisely what she had the least of.
Just then.
A rush of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside.
“Miss!”
Qinghe ran in.
“What is it?”
“Someone from the marquis’s residence came and said you must return immediately.”
“For what?”
“A decree came from the palace.”
Shen Zhiwei’s hands stopped.
“From the palace?”
“Mhm.”
Qinghe nodded.
“They said someone from the Regent King’s residence delivered it personally.”
Shen Zhiwei’s brows lifted slightly.
The Regent King?
She was not unfamiliar with that name.
The current emperor of Dayong was still young.
The Regent King, Xiao Chengyuan, governed the court in his stead.
According to rumor, the Regent King was only twenty-seven or twenty-eight, yet already held supreme military and political power.
The officials of the court feared and respected him.
The people of the capital turned pale at the mere mention of him.
Some said he was cold-blooded and ruthless.
Some said he was decisive and merciless in battle.
Others said that during a battle in the northern frontier, he had driven back an enemy force of one hundred thousand with only thirty thousand troops.
There were even private rumors that—
If the late emperor had not personally entrusted the young emperor to his care, the man sitting on the Dragon Throne might have been someone else by now.
Shen Zhiwei, however, showed little reaction.
She only asked:
“What does the decree say?”
“This servant doesn’t know.”
“Then let’s go back and see.”
The Yongning Marquis’s Residence.
Main hall.
Shen Mingyuan had already been waiting for quite some time.
When he saw Shen Zhiwei enter, he raised a hand.
“Come here.”
Shen Zhiwei approached.
“Father.”
Shen Mingyuan’s expression was grave.
“The palace sent a decree.”
“It orders you to enter the palace tomorrow.”
Shen Zhiwei frowned.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Shen Mingyuan did not answer immediately.
But Madam Liu spoke first.
“What other reason could there be?”
She smiled gently.
“Obviously, you’ve been attracting too much attention lately.”
Shen Zhiwei looked at her.
Madam Liu drawled, “First, papermaking.”
“Then glassmaking.”
“And now you’re making some strange machine.”
“The entire capital knows about you.”
“Now even the Regent King has taken notice.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Her tone sounded like praise.
But schadenfreude lurked in her eyes.
Shen Zhiwei ignored her.
She looked at her father.
“Father, do you know why the Regent King summoned me to the palace?”
Shen Mingyuan shook his head.
“I don’t.”
“The only message we received came from the Regent King’s residence.”
“It said His Highness wanted to meet you personally.”
Shen Zhiwei fell silent.
Meet her personally?
A man’s image suddenly surfaced in her mind.
A black mask.
Cold, severe features.
And those words—
“You all right?”
Her heartbeat skipped.
Impossible.
She immediately rejected the thought.
There were plenty of people in the world with the surname Xiao.
Besides, that man had called himself Xiao Xuan.
The Regent King’s name, however, was—
Xiao Chengyuan.
There was no way it could be such a coincidence.
“Zhiwei.”
Shen Mingyuan’s voice pulled her back to reality.
“Speak as little as possible after entering the palace.”
“Especially in front of the Regent King.”
“Understood.”
Shen Zhiwei nodded.
Shen Mingyuan looked at her.
His expression was somewhat complicated.
“That man…”
“He’s dangerous.”
Shen Zhiwei raised her eyes.
“You know him, Father?”
Shen Mingyuan was silent for a moment.
“I served alongside him in the northern frontier.”
“What kind of person is he?”
Shen Mingyuan looked out the window.
“If you’re asking about the Regent King…”
“Then I can only tell you this.”
“He isn’t someone you can understand easily.”
The next day.
At first light.
Shen Zhiwei took a carriage to the imperial palace.
Qinghe sat beside her.
She spent the entire journey thinking.
Why did the Regent King want to see her?
Glass?
Papermaking?
Or the steam engine?
Or perhaps…
That runaway carriage?
If it was truly because of the workshop, things would be troublesome.
She was not afraid of the Regent King.
What she feared was his interfering too much with her scientific research plans.
Technological development required stability.
If the court intervened directly, many things would become even more complicated in the future.
The carriage slowly came to a stop.
“Miss.”
The coachman spoke quietly.
“We’re here.”
Shen Zhiwei lifted the curtain.
The towering palace gates came into view.
The vermilion walls looked extraordinarily imposing beneath the morning light.
She took a deep breath.
Then she got out.
“Miss Shen.”
A man dressed in black approached.
“His Highness ordered me to escort you.”
Shen Zhiwei nodded.
“Thank you.”
They passed through the palace gates.
The palace was even quieter than she had imagined.
The palace maids and eunuchs moved almost without a sound.
Every one of them kept their head lowered.
An invisible pressure permeated the air.
Shen Zhiwei walked for a long time.
At last, she arrived at a side hall.
“His Highness is inside.”
The black-clad guard stopped.
Shen Zhiwei looked at the tightly closed doors.
“I go in alone?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
Then she reached out and pushed the door open.
Creak—
The door slowly opened.
A faint sandalwood fragrance drifted toward her.
The hall was very quiet.
A man stood with his back to her in front of the window.
He wore a black robe.
His shoulders were straight and broad.
A scroll rested in his hand.
Hearing the sound, he did not turn around.
“You’re here?”
Shen Zhiwei’s steps faltered.
That voice…
It was too familiar.
Her heart began racing.
The man slowly turned around.
There was no mask.
His face was fully exposed to the morning light.
His features were deep and striking.
His nose was straight.
His thin lips were lightly pressed together.
His presence was cold and severe.
It was the man from yesterday.
The same man who had given her precision tools.
Shen Zhiwei’s pupils contracted.
“It’s you.”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
A faint smile flickered in his eyes.
“Miss Shen.”
“We meet again.”
Shen Zhiwei finally understood.
Xiao Xuan was not his real name at all.
Or rather, it was simply the name he used when traveling incognito.
She looked at him.
“You’re the Regent King?”
“Yes.”
“Xiao Chengyuan?”
“Mm.”
Shen Zhiwei fell silent.
After a moment, she suddenly said, “So you lied to me that day.”
Xiao Chengyuan raised an eyebrow.
“I never said I wasn’t the Regent King.”
“You only told me your name was Xiao Xuan.”
“And that name was real.”
“But you concealed your identity.”
“You never asked.”
Shen Zhiwei: “…”
She actually had no way to refute that.
She took a deep breath.
“Why did Your Highness summon me?”
Xiao Chengyuan did not answer.
Instead, he walked to the table.
Something sat upon it.
It was the first piece of glass Shen Zhiwei had made.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“What is this?”
“You made it.”
“How did Your Highness get it?”
“I want to know…”
He looked at her.
“What exactly is this thing useful for?”
Shen Zhiwei walked over.
Then she picked up the glass.
“Many things.”
“Windows, for example.”
“That’s only the most basic use.”
Xiao Chengyuan’s eyes shifted.
“What else?”
“Lenses.”
“Magnifying glasses.”
“Telescopes.”
“Microscopes.”
“Medical instruments.”
“In the future, it could even be used in electrical equipment.”
“Electrical?”
For the first time, Xiao Chengyuan displayed clear confusion.
“What is that?”
Shen Zhiwei fell silent.
She had almost forgotten.
People of this era had no idea what electricity was.
“A kind of force.”
“It can make machinery run.”
“It can brighten the darkness.”
“It can transmit messages.”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
“You can do that?”
“Not right now.”
“What about later?”
Shen Zhiwei did not answer directly.
“If the conditions allow it…”
“Yes.”
Silence descended over the hall.
Xiao Chengyuan suddenly smiled.
“Everyone says you’re crazy.”
Shen Zhiwei looked up.
“Does Your Highness think so too?”
“No.”
“Then what do you think I am?”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
“Someone who refuses to stay in her place.”
Shen Zhiwei smiled.
“That’s true.”
Xiao Chengyuan walked to the window.
“Three days ago…”
“Someone tried to warn you with a carriage.”
Shen Zhiwei’s expression darkened.
“You know about that?”
“I do.”
“Have you found out who it was?”
“Not yet.”
Shen Zhiwei was somewhat surprised.
Even the Regent King had not found them?
The people behind it were likely more troublesome than she had imagined.
“But I can tell you one thing.”
“What?”
“They aren’t ordinary merchants.”
Shen Zhiwei’s expression turned solemn.
“Then who are they?”
“Someone wants your workshop.”
“Why?”
Xiao Chengyuan did not answer immediately.
Instead, he picked up a sheet of paper from the table.
It was the steam engine schematic she had drawn several days earlier.
Shen Zhiwei’s pupils contracted sharply.
“You’ve seen my drawings?”
“Mm.”
“Who gave them to you?”
“One of your own people.”
Shen Zhiwei frowned.
“Gu Changfeng?”
“No.”
Xiao Chengyuan set the drawing down.
“Someone stole it.”
Her expression changed instantly.
“When?”
“Last night.”
Shen Zhiwei immediately turned around.
“I’m going back to the workshop.”
“Wait.”
Xiao Chengyuan reached out.
“Going back now won’t help.”
Shen Zhiwei stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“They weren’t trying to steal the glass.”
“They wanted your technology.”
She fell silent.
Xiao Chengyuan continued, “The glass is only the surface.”
“What truly interests them is what you’re researching.”
“Machinery.”
Shen Zhiwei looked at him.
“You know about steam engines?”
“No.”
“Then why do you say it’s important?”
Xiao Chengyuan pointed at the drawing.
“Because I can understand it.”
“This is something that can make a wheel turn on its own.”
Shen Zhiwei stared at him.
He had seen through the core concept from a drawing alone.
“Have you studied machinery?”
“Not really.”
Xiao Chengyuan’s tone was calm.
“I simply don’t like looking at things I can’t understand.”
Shen Zhiwei suddenly laughed.
“So that’s why you summoned me.”
“Just to ask about this?”
“Partly.”
“What’s the other part?”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
“I want to work with you.”
Shen Zhiwei was quiet.
“Work together?”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“It isn’t about what I want.”
Xiao Chengyuan said, “It’s about what I want you to do.”
“Do what?”
He pointed toward the drawing on the table.
“Continue.”
“Continue researching everything you want to research.”
Shen Zhiwei frowned slightly.
“What are the terms?”
“You need money. I’ll provide it.”
“You need materials. I’ll find them for you.”
“You need craftsmen. I can assign people from the Directorate of Armaments.”
“You need protection. I’ll give you that.”
Shen Zhiwei did not agree immediately.
“What do you want in return?”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
“A stronger Dayong.”
The answer left Shen Zhiwei stunned.
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Xiao Chengyuan’s gaze deepened.
“I also want to know…”
“Just how far you can take this world.”
Shen Zhiwei was silent for a long time.
She had to admit that this man’s ideas aligned with hers in ways she had not expected.
Technology.
To her, it was a tool for changing people’s lives.
To him, it could be a force capable of transforming a nation.
But…
She did not completely trust him yet.
“I have one condition.”
“Name it.”
“I make the decisions regarding my research.”
“Agreed.”
“The workshop cannot be taken over directly by the court.”
“Agreed.”
“I keep all experimental records.”
“Agreed.”
Shen Zhiwei was somewhat surprised.
“You agreed so quickly?”
“Because I want the results.”
“Not your secrets.”
She looked at him.
Then suddenly asked, “What if what I research ultimately overturns the existing order?”
Xiao Chengyuan was silent for a moment.
“Then let it appear first.”
“And afterward…”
“I’ll deal with the order.”
For the first time, Shen Zhiwei truly looked at the man before her.
She suddenly understood why he could become the Regent King.
This man’s ambition was far greater than she had imagined.
As Shen Zhiwei left the side hall, she reached the doorway.
Then she suddenly stopped.
“Your Highness.”
“Mm?”
“You saved me yesterday.”
“And helped me again today.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at her.
“Because you’re worth protecting.”
Shen Zhiwei froze.
“What?”
“Your talent.”
His tone was calm.
“It’s worth protecting.”
Shen Zhiwei looked at him for several seconds.
Then she asked no more questions.
She turned and left.
Only after she had gone far away did the hidden guard in the hall speak in a low voice.
“Your Highness.”
“Mm.”
“You seem to place great importance on Miss Shen.”
Xiao Chengyuan did not answer.
His gaze fell upon the piece of glass.
Sunlight passed through the transparent material and shone across the tabletop.
The light and shadows were crisp.
“She isn’t an ordinary person.”
“I understand.”
“And…”
Xiao Chengyuan paused for a moment.
“She’s more dangerous than I imagined.”
The hidden guard was startled.
“Dangerous?”
“The things in her hands.”
Xiao Chengyuan looked at the steam engine schematic.
“If she can truly build it…”
“Dayong’s military, agriculture, transportation, metallurgy…”
“They’ll all change.”
The hidden guard fell silent.
“Then should we control her?”
Xiao Chengyuan raised his eyes.
His voice turned icy.
“No.”
“Protect her.”
“Why?”
Xiao Chengyuan’s tone was indifferent.
“Because I don’t want anyone…”
“Before she truly succeeds…”
“To lay a finger on her.”
Elsewhere.
Shen Zhiwei returned to the workshop.
The first thing she did was check all the drawings.
Sure enough, one was missing.
The core structural diagram of the steam engine.
She stood before the table.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Gu Changfeng looked nervous.
“Miss…”
“Don’t panic.”
Shen Zhiwei reorganized all the drawings.
“It’s only one missing sheet.”
“But that one was the most important.”
“I know.”
“Then what do we do?”
Shen Zhiwei raised her head.
There was no panic in her eyes.
Instead, a cold gleam surfaced in them.
“Redraw it.”
Gu Changfeng stared.
“Redraw it?”
“Yes.”
“And…”
She picked up a pen.
“Starting today…”
“All core technologies will be stored separately.”
“No one is allowed to see a complete drawing.”
“Experimental data must be recorded separately.”
“Important components must be manufactured separately.”
“Add nighttime patrols around the workshop.”
Gu Changfeng nodded repeatedly.
“Yes.”
Shen Zhiwei lowered her head.
Then she began redrawing the plans.
The pen tip touched the paper.
Line after line quickly took shape.
And she did not know that the moment she redrew the steam engine plans…
The gears of fate also began to turn for real.
Her partnership with the Regent King, Xiao Chengyuan, would begin from this day onward.
It would gradually propel a small workshop toward all of Dayong.
And even toward heights she herself had never imagined.
What she knew even less was that—
At the palace gates that day, a man standing in the distance and watching her leave had formed a thought in his heart for the first time, one extraordinarily clear.
He would protect this woman.
Not because she was the legitimate eldest daughter of the marquis’s residence.
Not because she could make glass.
And certainly not because she possessed some world-shaking technology.
Simply because…
She was Shen Zhiwei.
The woman who had been the first to rush forward and save someone when the carriage went out of control.
The woman who was clearly afraid, yet never retreated.
The woman standing in this unfamiliar era, daring to raise her head and say—
“I want to make the world different.”
And Xiao Chengyuan did not know this.
This partnership was never merely an exchange of interests.
It would become the point where the fates of two people converged.
It would also become the first ray of dawn marking the true beginning of Dayong’s technological age.